Chapter 732 – #157_Healing
#732
1.
Self-attribute magic maximizes its effectiveness when its purpose is focused on one thing.
It’s like how Duchess Eloa Tiferet modified all her magic to be related to combat.
She may have given up flexible adaptability and efficiency, but she achieved an overwhelming martial prowess that was second to none in terms of explosive power in short battles.
However, even with this advantage, it’s quite rare to see all magic concentrated to such an extreme.
The reason is simple.
The reason Tiferet was able to do that was because she was a 22nd-tier witch at the time, having inherited the vessel, and was a high-tier witch who would soon reach the 23rd tier.
In other words, you need to be at least 22nd tier to minimize the disadvantages that come with selection and concentration; otherwise, the magic itself will have serious flaws.
Yebin, who had poured all her stats into healing magic, was the same.
As befitting her title of ‘Healing Witch,’ the past Smirnas had focused all their magic on healing the human body and spirit.
As a result, she became the weakest witch in the world, but she was able to become an authority on healing magic even before reaching the 19th tier Great Witch.
Although she failed to achieve a complete cure for an unknown reason, and there were several embarrassing incidents in the process.
Wasn’t it Yebin who restored Siwoo’s brain, which had been turned to mush?
“Done!”
She used the herbs from the apothecary and her own abilities to the fullest, and pulled Linne back from the gates of the underworld, where a death sentence had essentially been declared.
Since she didn’t have the equipment necessary for the procedure, it was far from a complete cure.
It was important to have absolute rest for at least a month, but it was an achievement that no other witch could imitate.
Even Lydia had completely confirmed Linne’s slow death.
“……”
However, at this point, another unexpected problem was waiting.
The healing of the spirit was definitely over.
All that was left was to wait for natural recovery.
However, Linne was still in a semi-comatose state.
She showed reflexive reactions when given strong stimuli, but there was almost no voluntary movement, and she barely reacted even to pain.
“This is…”
Yebin intuitively knew that this was not a surgical problem.
If there was a commonality between the spirit and the body, it was that they were both significantly affected by emotions and will.
Linne was in a state where she had no will to wake up on her own.
This kind of case is not uncommon.
There are cases where consciousness is trapped in a wall and cannot awaken, not by choice.
If a patient who has been treated with great effort does not come out of a coma and ends up in a state of brain damage or brain death, it is useless.
The magic created to diagnose and awaken them is the Palace of the Unconscious.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Yebin jumped into Linne’s unconscious and opened the most noticeable door.
“What is this…”
And Yebin, who had taken a firm stance as a medical practitioner, rarely regretted it.
The imagery read into the Palace of the Unconscious naturally reflects the life of the person.
And the first scene Yebin saw was a vast, white quicksand under a black night sky.
Here and there in the swirling sand, broken and chipped swords were densely floating.
It was clear at a glance.
This imagery was on the ‘dangerous’ side.
It was a violent unconscious that could forcibly drag in Yebin, the observer, if she wasn’t careful.
After much deliberation, Yebin avoided deep entry.
Siwoo, who heard the situation from her, said.
“Then, I’ll go.”
The self-attribute magic that he had obtained through his relationship with Yebin was also, coincidentally, the Palace of the Unconscious.
Siwoo had used it to peek into Amelia’s memories and awaken her from her rampage.
Moreover, even though she had been kidnapped, Linne had saved his life.
Siwoo was not so cold-hearted as to stand idly by when she was in danger.
Siwoo entered the Palace of the Unconscious and jumped into the middle of the quicksand, and after many twists and turns through her imagery, he rescued Linne.
2.
“……”
Linne’s eyes blinked slowly.
Her body felt stiff, as if she had woken up from a very long sleep.
It had been a long time since Linne, who didn’t need sleep in many ways, had closed her eyes for so long.
“Are you okay?”
She felt a worried voice and the sensation of fingers intertwined at the same time.
Looking to the side, she saw Shin Siwoo, who looked no different from what she had seen in her memories.
Linne’s disciple.
The person who would present her with a new form of life.
A family she had finally found after a long wandering.
She soon realized that the rough, bumpy knuckles were Siwoo’s.
Siwoo, who had been lying next to Linne, had been holding her hand tightly, just like when he had pulled her out.
“Ah, this is…”
Siwoo, who seemed to have noticed Linne’s gaze, made an embarrassed expression and belatedly added.
“It was a necessary procedure to save my master.”
He made an excuse because she was staring so intently, but Siwoo was even more embarrassed because it felt like he was going through the steps in reverse after having mixed bodies so thoroughly.
It might seem a little strange, but it couldn’t be helped.
Until recently, Siwoo had not understood Linne at all.
He didn’t know what kind of person she was, what kind of life she had lived, or even why she was trying so hard to save him right now.
Even when he heard Linne say that she would serve him as her husband, he was filled with absurdity.
He had only thought simple things like, ‘Was the sex that good?’
But now Siwoo knew what kind of person Linne was.
He had only quickly skimmed through her life, but he knew what kind of life Linne had lived.
What she based her actions on.
Even why she was so attached to Siwoo.
For others, the warmth they felt while sleeping together could be dismissed as a night’s sweetness, but for Linne, it was the warm affection she had longed for her entire life.
In this way, he had come to understand her so deeply that it was impossible to explain in simple words.
As such, it was not strange that Linne seemed like a completely different person.
“Are you going to let go of my hand now?”
“……”
Linne didn’t answer even when asked.
The moment Siwoo was about to quietly pull his hand away, she clasped her fingers tightly.
“Don’t let go.”
The curse of deprivation was still there.
Linne couldn’t feel anything.
Even so, the fact that she didn’t want to let go of this hand, the fact that she felt this hand was warm, was it just an illusion?
“Stay like this a little longer.”
That’s why Linne held Siwoo’s hand even tighter.
Not only that, but she tried to lift her body, which didn’t move well, and hug him, when…
“…Ahem.”
A short cough made her realize that this was not a space for just the two of them.
Yebin, who was next to them, was blushing and looking around, pretending not to notice.
Siwoo, who knew that Linne was more shy than she looked, even though she didn’t show it, quickly defended Yebin, worried that she might get caught in the crossfire.
“Yebin-ssi helped a lot with my master’s treatment.”
Linne, who had been as stiff as a wooden doll, quietly let go of his hand.
And then, for the first time, she called Yebin by her name.
“Yebin Smirna.”
“Y-yes…!”
“I am indebted to you. I express my gratitude.”
“No, it’s nothing. I was just doing my duty. You shouldn’t overdo it for a while.”
Linne thanked her politely as if nothing had happened.
And then, the soft atmosphere that had lingered even slightly changed sharply like a blade.
“What’s the situation?”
There was no need to hide anything since they were in the same boat.
Finally, Linne and Siwoo’s interests were united in ‘escaping Hexennacht.’
Siwoo gave a brief summary of what had happened.
How they had safely arrived at the apothecary and obtained Zlata’s cooperation.
How there had been no special events while helping Linne’s healing for about three days.
And how he had actually established a dimensional magic formula for escape, and now all they needed was to join Dorothy and receive the magic circle of the ‘door.’
Finally, he told her how he had awakened Linne.
“Because of how things have turned out, there’s nothing we can do for the time being except stay put.”
“……”
Linne, who seemed like she wouldn’t care since there were no special issues, closed her mouth like a clam.
“Ah, and… I’m also sorry for having hidden the fact that we were escaping until now.”
“I understand. There’s no need to worry about it.”
Well, he didn’t think he would be blamed for this part.
In the first place, the start of all the incidents was when Linne kidnapped Siwoo, and Linne herself had vaguely sensed that Siwoo had other intentions.
“……”
But Linne’s reaction was unusual.
It was an atmosphere that suggested she had something to say but wasn’t saying it.
No, to describe it in more detail, it was exactly like this.
It was like when you had a drinking session with a female friend you had a crush on, and then your memory was cut off, and the next day you were reluctant to ask, ‘Did anything happen?’
In short, it was the intersection of the desire not to bring up embarrassing memories by asking, and the desire to check whether she had shown any bad behavior.
“…I’ll ask just one thing.”
“Yes.”
“Is the Palace of the Unconscious… a magic that peeks into memories?”
“It’s not for that purpose, but… I did see a glimpse.”
Linne made a face as if the sky was falling down, very quietly.
It was as if she now knew why Siwoo’s attitude was subtly different from usual.
“……”
Her life had been dedicated to pursuing only strength.
But her childhood self was a weak version of Linne that she didn’t want to show to anyone.
“How much did you see?”
Linne, who had grabbed Siwoo’s sleeve, asked.
It was the first time Linne had looked so desperate.
Moreover, Siwoo was greatly relieved to confirm that Linne had not been randomly attacking any witch, contrary to the rumors.
Linne had received a lot of help and dedication, and even if she had a sad past, it would have been quite bitter if she had been a villain.
But Linne had always targeted witches stronger than her, and she did not take lives unless it was an opponent she was prepared to die against or a public enemy that she could not leave behind.
In particular, she avoided killing as if she had an obsession, especially with apprentice witches and witches who were about to inherit from apprentice witches.
“Quite a bit… I mean, from your apprentice witch days to after you inherited.”
In other words, it was just a pitiful struggle in life from Siwoo’s point of view, so he wondered if she needed to be so embarrassed.
However, Linne’s white cheeks, which had closed her eyes like a samurai about to commit seppuku, were flushed with a peach color.
