City of Witches

1.

“You should also turn in after this, okay?”

“Alright, Duchess. See you.”

After seeing Sharon off, Eloa took a deep breath.

Lately, they had become drinking buddies.

After hearing Eloa’s story, Sharon expressed her sympathy with her circumstances, and from then on, she often stopped by to have a drink and chat with her at night.

She’s a kind witch, a fitting partner to Siwoo…

Sharon had never expressed any particular possessiveness towards Siwoo, not even once.

If anything, just now, after they’ve drunk quite a few glasses…

She suggested that Eloa should tell Siwoo about everything.

Of course, Eloa rejected that idea.

After all, to her, Siwoo was his disciple, just like Ravi.

Their current relationship—where she could watch him grow as they trained together—was satisfying enough for her.

“…I’m such a coward…”

Although, deep inside her heart, she knew.

That every single part of her being…

Yearned for him, and missed him.

Every single night, she’d dream of being in his embrace.

In the end, her words where she said that she was content with just staying by his side was just a cowardly lie that she told to herself—using her moral compass as an excuse to run away from her feelings.

Wearing the pajamas that Siwoo had bought her, letting her hair flow down, Eloa stood by the window—where the moonlight seeped through.

Her long, pink hair swayed around, gently caressing her clothes.

Maybe it was because of the alcohol. She failed to think clearly, and her mind felt a little hazy.

That gap in her mind made some memories resurface.

The memories of his rough hands, grabbing her by the waist, and his rough breaths, tickling her ears.

“Siwoo…”

She bit her lips, trying to shake off those memories.

I guess it’s another cold shower night…

As Eloa was about to go to the bathroom, an envelope caught her eyes.

Immediately after, all the alcohol’s influence and all the distracting thoughts that had been plaguing her disappeared.

“…”

She summoned her Sword of Covenant.

Up until Sharon left her room…

The envelope wasn’t there.

And she knew for sure that no one other than Sharon had entered the room tonight.

“Hereby, I declare a covenant.”

A pinkish light glowed in her eyes.

Her gaze, able to pierce through lies and illusions, scoured through the surroundings.

Yet, she couldn’t see anything suspicious.

This was Gehenna, and she was currently inside the highly secured mansion of Countess Gemini.

How many witches could fool the eyes of the 20th-rank Grand Witch Sharon Evergreen and 23rd-rank Grand Witch Eloa Tiphereth and pull off something like this?

Without letting her guard down, she quietly took the envelope and opened it.

Inside, there were three pictures.

“This is…”

Her pupils narrowed in shock.

One of the pictures depicted a bunch of shabby buildings, densely packed like cardboard boxes, with neon signboards hanging between them.

In the middle of the bustling crowds, there was a witch, holding food in both hands.

Her hair, cut short, above her shoulders…

With deep red eyes, just like a pair of rubies…

She looked exactly like the Criminal that Eloa had been trying to hunt for her whole life.

Ea Sadalmelik.

All three pictures were pictures of her, taken secretly.

Eloa hurriedly flipped the picture over to see the place and time written on them.

The time was yesterday, the place was the Red Light District in Kowloon, Hongkong.

To be exact, in Mongkok, just across the Nathan Road.

“…”

Surprisingly, even after seeing this, she was calmer than expected.

If it was her in the past, she’d rush towards the place written in the back of the pictures without a second thought.

Because she’d be consumed by too much of her rage to think about doing anything else.

Now, instead of doing that, she pondered about the situation calmly.

To place those pictures on her desk, one had to go through the thick layers of security that Countess Gemini had set up.

If the person behind this anonymous tip had well-intentions, they wouldn’t go this far and would just hand the pictures over in a normal way.

Which meant, for whatever reason, they couldn’t do that.

And there was a high probability that this was a trap.

“Siwoo.”

Suddenly, she thought of Siwoo.

If he was here, he would probably advise her to not do anything foolish.

There was no way that he’d let his beloved master walk right into what seemed to be a certain trap.

But, the problem here was, even if he were there, would she listen to him?

Her contemplation didn’t last for long.

Anger that poured down like a torrent enveloped her heart and mind.

Whether it was a trap or not, she didn’t care.

Since there was someone out there trying to mess with her reverse scale, she decided to make sure that they wouldn’t breathe the air of this world again.

Even if it was a trap, she was confident that she could pulverize everything no matter what.

Her body shot out towards the direction of the Gate.

2.

Ever since Clara helped Amelia to recover…

They had grown considerably closer.

But of course, there was still a noticeable wall between them.

“Clara.”

“Yes!”

“Why are you trying to stop me?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

Amelia asked such a question to Clara, who was busily arranging their meals on the table.

“My next target… You are trying to stop me from going…”

Her non-stop hunt left Amelia with no magical power left.

It was to the point that she had to deactivate her autonomous defense and receive mana injection directly from Clara.

After that, Clara brought her back to her workshop and kept giving her various foods.

At first, Amelia thought that she was just trying to let her rest for a while.

But then it went on for a while.

It became clear that she was doing all this to prevent Amelia from continuing her hunt.

She kept on cooking for her, showing her various dishes from all over the world.

At first, Amelia was grateful for her kindness, but overtime, she grew more and more uncomfortable.

“…No, I am not. Besides, you haven’t recovered enough.”

“I have. My magical power is almost fully restored.”

“…”

“Is my target, by chance, someone you know personally?”

That was the conclusion Amelia reached. Clara was acquaintanced somehow with her next target, Bianca Belleli.

“No way in hell.”

Clara shook her head, strongly denying Amelia’s words.

Her answer made Amelia let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

If her next target happened to be an acquaintance of Clara’s—someone who was pretty much her benefactor…

Even she could tell that things would turn into a mess pretty quickly.

“It’s just… That witch… The Witch of Desires…is dangerous…”

“Dangerous?”

“Amelia, if you were to face her right now, there’s a huge chance that you’ll be the one who falls. That’s why, I want you to recover your strength as much as possible.”

Amelia could feel the concern and worry in Clara’s words.

For Clara, who respected Amelia’s will above all else, her cooking parade that lasted for a few days was her way to get her to stay put and rest.

Understanding her intentions, Amelia felt immense gratitude towards her.

“Thank you.”

“…What is there to be thankful for? Helping others out is just a normal thing to do…

After that, they finished their meals without talking any further.

Then, they got ready for bed.

It was thanks to Clara’s care and consideration that Amelia could catch her breath and rest like this.

When she heard Clara’s soft snore—proof that she had fallen asleep—Amelia slowly got up from the bed.

“…”

“Mmnyaa…”

Back when she was wandering around, broken, not knowing her limits…

It was Clara who lifted her up, both physically and mentally.

She wanted to indulge herself in her warmth and stay a little longer with her, but her work wasn’t done yet.

Long ago, she had told herself that until she had cleared up the killing list in her hands, she wouldn’t show her face in front of Siwoo.

If she kept on relying on Clara, she was afraid that she’d be burdened by her feelings and responsibilities.

And so, she decided that she had received enough help from her.

“Thank you.”

Amelia stroked Clara’s head, and put a bottle of perfume that she made specifically for her beside her.

Her resting time was over, and now it was time for her to make her move again.

Donning the cloak that her master had left her, Amelia set off into the night.

3.

“So this is what it feels like to be a successful businessman!”

Inside a royal suite room of a certain 5-star hotel, Periwinkle Hotel, Seoul.

Takasho was drinking his wine while basking in the night view inside the room that his average salary could never afford.

Cybele Periwinkle—the witch that he met through Siwoo’s introduction—kept her promise.

Not only did she save the host club that almost went bankrupt with her godly advice, she also introduced him to a distributor that was willing to provide him with high-quality liquors.

With permission from Countess Adonai, Takasho got to travel the Modern World together with the smugglers that were working under the countess for a week.

Since the liquors that Rose Glass needed weren’t the kind of liquors that could be found everywhere…

In addition to signing a direct contact with the suppliers—a famous brewery overseas—he was also introduced to three experts.

The problem that Rose Glass had was the lacking amount of high-end liquors they provided. This contract would definitely boost their sales by fold if it went through.

While it was true that he only could get this far thanks to Periwinkle and Countess Adonai’s help, at the end of the day, it was his pitch that got him to seal the deal, so he could definitely pat himself on the back for that.

“Can’t celebrate a successful deal without a toast.”

Although he found it unfortunate that there was no one to share the drink with, and there was no woman he could bed…

Takasho still couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

Back when he was still working as a slave in the Academy, let alone enjoying his time in such a place, he couldn’t even dream of setting his foot in the Modern World.

And it was all thanks to Siwoo.

“Haa… I don’t know how I am supposed to repay you, Dude…”

Maybe if Siwoo was right beside him, he’d just start sucking him off without hesitation.

Takasho took a sip of his wine again while taking in the scenery of his friend’s hometown.

“Tomorrow, I probably should go around shopping for the rest of the day…and pick up a gift or two for Ms. Sharon.”

It’s already this late…

He put down his glass and was about to go to bed and sleep, but then…

“Hello?”

A witch.

Her hair, ivory blond, with waves that looked like a curtain.

And her jade-like eyes, shining brilliantly through the room’s dim lighting.

Of course Takasho could figure out that she was a witch in an instant.

His six years of experience of dealing with witches wasn’t for nothing, after all.

Only a witch would have that kind of flawless appearance. If anything, it would be a miracle that she wasn’t a witch.

Thanks to his experience, he was always ready to humble himself no matter what kind of situation he was in—including when a witch suddenly barged into his room.

But, facing this witch, he couldn’t even gulp.

Actually, he couldn’t even blink.

It was because the witch—who looked like a French Doll—was exuding a sinister aura that he had never felt before.

Her mere presence rang the alarm in his brain, as the air turned suffocating, as if the oxygen had been turned into sarin gas.

Seeing him frozen in place, the witch threw him a smile.

“Feeling comfortable?”

The witch, who had been sitting on the bed, stood up and introduced herself.

“I am the fairy who grants others’ wishes. My name is Bianca Belleli.”

In the darkness, her jade-like eyes glowed in a sinister light.

“And I’m here to pick you up.”