Chapter 828 – #173_Diagnosis
#822
1.
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
Looking around again, I saw my master blinking heavily, as if just waking up from a dream.
My lovers and the Soul Witch were sighing in relief.
After the incident where Elroa grabbed Siwoo and gave him a passionate kiss, oblivious to the gazes around them.
The group sat down together with the Soul Witch in the reception room next to the workshop.
There had been various incidents due to the unexpected event, but the reason they had traveled this far, with an introduction from Yebin, was to have my left arm examined.
Now, they were finally getting to the main point.
“Okay, before the examination, I need to have individual interviews.”
“Interviews?”
Amidst the commotion, the Soul Witch clapped her hands to get their attention.
It was suspicious why she needed to call them out one by one, but among those present, there was no one weaker than Gretel in terms of personal combat ability.
“Well~ shall I go first? That suspicious witch might try some strange tricks.”
“What are you talking about? I wouldn’t do that.”
Dorothy was the first to step forward.
Also, Dorothy, being quick-witted, had a vague idea why Gretel wanted to have a one-on-one meeting under the guise of an interview.
Gretel, who had returned to the workshop where Elroa and Siwoo had been lying just a moment ago, approached a built-in bookshelf.
She lightly pulled three of the thick books that were haphazardly stacked, and with a deep grinding sound, the bookshelf rotated.
Beyond the bookshelf, a dark, cave-like opening was revealed.
It was a so-called secret passage.
“Ooh~ quite old-fashioned, isn’t it? I didn’t notice it at all.”
“That’s because it’s made with a mechanical device. Come in.”
Gretel, holding a candlestick, bent her waist and carefully moved forward, making sure not to bump her head.
From the outside, it looked like a cave, but once inside, the walls and ceiling were beautifully finished.
The height was also high enough to stand up straight and walk.
“Here.”
Gretel opened a door on the left side of the hallway.
It felt like a secret room that every noble’s mansion had.
As soon as she entered, Dorothy was shocked.
She had expected it, but seeing it with her own eyes was a different experience.
“Wow~ this is really bad taste, isn’t it?”
The secret room, about twenty square meters, was filled with cat’s eye stones that shone like cat’s eyes, as its name suggested.
They were not processed high-priced chrysoberyls, but cat’s eye stones made of moonstones, which were relatively inexpensive semi-precious stones.
Generally, these cat’s eye stones were used as USBs by witches back when scientific video storage technology didn’t exist.
And these were probably used for the same purpose.
“I have to make a living too.”
Gretel accepted Dorothy’s comment with a nonchalant tone and rummaged through the shelves, taking out one cat’s eye stone.
Unlike the items that were left carelessly, this one had been placed on a stand with a magic formula drawn on it until just now.
“I guess you’re expecting it, so I’ll get straight to the point. This contains the dream you had after meeting Piggy today. I don’t know what kind of dream it was, though.”
“No need to lie. You’ve already seen it all.”
“You don’t have to believe me.”
There was no way she hadn’t seen it.
By peeking into the ‘ideal world’ of a guest whose purpose was unknown, she could grasp their humanity.
But Gretel didn’t stop there.
“Anyway, I don’t know what kind of dream you had, but since you’ve come all this way, why not buy it as a souvenir? This is the only video of your dream stored here.”
Everyone’s dreams are different, but originally, fantasies are something you’d be embarrassed to show to others.
Moreover, most witches are strict, solemn, and serious.
They would never allow their unsightly dreams to be in the hands of others.
She was using that as a weakness to sell it for money.
She was a real thug.
“Hmm~ okay. How much?”
She didn’t think it was a particularly embarrassing dream, but it might be nice to watch it occasionally for a change of pace.
“200,000 dollars. I also accept it in kind. You know how to use it, right?”
Considering the target was a witch, it was a reasonable amount that would make them say, ‘It’s annoying and bothersome, but let’s just settle it with money.’
By using the obvious excuse of a souvenir, she didn’t leave the impression that she had taken advantage of their ‘weakness.’
Besides, Dorothy was an uninvited guest, wasn’t she?
This much teasing was something she could overlook.
“I’ll write you a check.”
“I’m glad we see eye to eye. I’ll even wrap it up nicely for you.”
Gretel wrapped the cat’s eye stone in a box with a straw nest as cushioning material.
Dorothy gladly accepted the box.
“Oh, by the way.”
“Yeah?”
“How much would it cost to buy other people’s souvenirs? With the condition that ‘the person doesn’t know’?”
Gretel pondered for a moment what that meant.
Combining the dreams she had seen, the answer was simple.
Surprisingly, they were all lovers of the male witch.
In other words, this was a great opportunity to check or spy on their rivals.
For the first time, a smile appeared on Gretel’s face.
“I understand what you mean.”
“Hehe.”
Dorothy and Gretel lightly shook hands.
2.
The next in line was Amelia.
“It’s stored?”
Amelia looked at Gretel with wide eyes.
“Yeah, it’s a souvenir for the occasion, so buy it.”
“Can I watch it anytime?”
“That’s right.”
“Okay, I’ll buy it.”
Amelia opened her wallet without even asking the price.
Although it was just a dream, it was a dream that contained memories with her master.
She had also shown Siwoo to her master and boasted about it, and they had all cleaned the house together.
She thought it would be a meaningful remembrance if she watched it occasionally later.
“Thank you so much.”
Amelia, who had received the wrapped cat’s eye stone from Gretel, bowed her head in gratitude.
Even if she suspected that the original intention wasn’t entirely good, she was still grateful.
“You’re welcome.”
Gretel, who was a bit flustered by this unexpected reaction, still felt good that she had made some pocket money and done something good.
The next customer was Sharon.
“Huh…? My dream…?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you, by any chance, see it?”
“I didn’t. Of course, if I keep it, I might get curious and watch it. Or maybe I’ll accidentally lose it.”
Looking around, there were indeed many cat’s eye stones that didn’t seem to have been purchased.
If they were left like this, wouldn’t she end up watching them out of boredom someday?
Sharon felt her heart sink.
She hadn’t done anything particularly strange.
But she had gone on and on about being Sharon Super-Rich Evergreen.
And someone was going to see that?
Maybe she would lose it?
It was practically a veiled threat to buy it.
She was worse than the touts who took photos at tourist spots and demanded money.
“What are you worried about? You’re going to buy it anyway.”
“How much is it?”
“400,000 dollars. I also accept it in kind.”
“F-f-four hundred thousand? There’s no such thing! This is my dream! If you want it, pay me royalties! I should be the one getting paid!”
400,000 dollars.
Even converted to Gehenna gold coins, it was close to 600 pounds.
With that money, she could focus on her research for a month without any worries.
This was an outrageous rip-off.
“Then I’ll give you half off. 200,000 dollars.”
Gretel, like a merchant trying to rip someone off, drastically reduced the price.
“Hmph…. Seriously, what is this…. I really don’t have any money….”
“That’s why I’m giving you half off.”
Sharon’s eyes welled up with tears, but she eventually gave up.
She could force her way through if she wanted to, but she was a witch who would soon be examining Siwoo.
What if she offended her and she did a sloppy job?
Gretel had probably calculated that and deliberately arranged this transaction before the examination.
“One gold coin, I can’t give you more than that.”
“How much are you trying to lowball me? You can’t even buy this cat’s eye stone with that.”
“Don’t lie! This is made of moonstone!”
Sharon, who was well-versed in gems as she often used them as offerings, stubbornly tried to haggle, and Gretel sighed deeply.
Since she had someone else’s dream video in her hands, Gretel wouldn’t lose anything.
Even if it was far below the expected price, it was still profitable to sell it off.
“Let’s make it a hundred gold coins. I can’t budge more than that.”
“Okay. This should be enough.”
Sharon placed a tiny red ruby on the table, and Gretel carefully examined it and put it in her pocket.
It was a reluctant deal.
“Are you telling me to buy my own dream?”
The next guest was R’lyeh.
And not long after she brought her into the secret room, Gretel regretted it.
One of the old witches who had been veiled in mystery, the ‘Witch of the Deep Sea.’
She should have avoided unnecessary haggling with R’lyeh Nukelavee, if not anyone else.
They were uninvited guests.
According to the etiquette of the witch society, which was rooted in noble customs, the host would willingly treat even uninvited guests as guests, and in return, the guests would somewhat comply with the host’s demands.
The fact that the previous three had gone along with the obvious excuse of ‘souvenir’ without much complaint was in the same vein.
But the witch with long, dark blue hair in front of her didn’t seem to have such common sense.
The way she raised her chin and lowered her eyes was an attitude that personified the words arrogance and insolence.
“Your petty tricks are laughable. I was already feeling frustrated, and now I’m even more irritated. Very well. I have decided. You have offended me, so you will pay me compensation.”
“No….”
“How long do you think it would take for this insignificant mansion to be swept away by my waves? Three seconds. I’m willing to bet.”
“Wait a minute….”
“The compensation is 10 billion dollars.”
Just before a pale blue light began to emanate from R’lyeh’s eyes.
Gretel raised her hand.
“I’ll give you a free gift instead!”
“A free gift?”
“It’s the dream of the man you adore. Is that enough?”
R’lyeh, seemingly intrigued, calmed her magic.
“Hoh, let’s hear it.”
Gretel desperately offered good conditions to persuade her.
She even spouted nonsense about how it would be beneficial to know her lover’s ideal world.
“What kind of crazy woman is that?”
In the end, R’lyeh threw a pittance, far below the original price, and bought the cat’s eye stone containing the male witch’s and her own dream.
Now, except for Duke Tiferet, who failed to extract his dream due to over-immersion, only the Sword Witch, Linne, was left….
“Let’s give up.”
Gretel shook her head.
Dorothy was a public figure, but she was a witch who was relatively easy to talk to.
The ‘Sword Witch’ was someone beyond Gretel’s expectations.
Besides, considering the content of her dream, she might actually die if she tried to play a prank.
Just as she was about to wrap up her pocket money and head out for the examination.
“Soul Witch.”
Linne, who hadn’t been invited, stepped into the secret room.
Her face was bright red.
She had drawn her sword, which shone with a sharp blue light.
“Give it to me.”
