City of Witches Chapter 134

"I want you to return to the Mortal Realm."

Siwoo, now alone with Albireo.

As soon as Deneb left, she began with a resolute voice.

"To be more precise, please consider the option Deneb proposed—'to remain with the Jemernai Count Family as a vassal'—as non-existent."

Was it purely his imagination that the goodwill she had shown him earlier seemed to have cooled somewhat?

With the newly received information still not fully processed, Siwoo looked at her face.

"Why is that?"

In barely over thirty minutes, her face looked incredibly weary.

Albireo opened her mouth.

Simultaneously, the magic power around them rippled, captured by Siwoo's left eye.

"What did you and Odil do... out there tonight?"

Instantaneous focus.

His concentration, spreading from his left eye, perceived all phenomena occurring around him as if in slow motion.

The surrounding magic power rippled in response the moment Albireo opened her mouth.

Her voice, through breath, tone, pronunciation, and pitch, manifested like a single Magic Formula.

The air from her lungs, vibrating her vocal cords, harmonized with the ambient magic power, materializing into extremely fine black feathers.

As the dozens of feathers thus created flew towards Siwoo.

His left eye shone.

Siwoo reflexively raised his hand and swatted them away.

Siwoo's hand, enveloped in magic power so faint it was nearly invisible, scattered the feathers and dispelled them outright.

He specifically cast a dispel because he had intuitively sensed the nature of the Magic Albireo used.

At this timing, if she were using innate magic, there was only one possible application.

Probably the Poem of Confession.

He wanted to avoid, at all costs, having everything that happened with the Twins blurted out.

"No?"

That was the first time Siwoo heard Albireo's voice tinged with bewilderment.

Albireo watched with wide eyes as the Poem of Confession was disrupted.

Seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn't believe it.

The level of the Poem of Confession Albireo used was incomparable to that of the Twins.

It was that much more covert, that much more natural, and that much more difficult to dispel.

It wasn't something one could defend against simply by covering their ears and blocking sound.

Yet Siwoo detected it instantly and, without any fuss, cleanly scattered the structure of the formula.

"How did you do that?"

"Ah, I just did it without thinking..."

"I asked how you did it."

To dispel innate magic on the spot, no less.

As one who walks the Magic Path, how could she not be curious and let such a thing pass without question?

"I simply brushed away the Magic Formula I saw."

".....Sir Siwoo, you continue to surprise me. Could you see my innate magic?"

"Yes. After my body recovered... the flow of magic power naturally became visible to me."

Albireo fell into thought for a moment.

He can see the flow of magic power?

Does simply being able to observe the flow of magic power mean one can dispel innate magic?

Impossible.

He was misunderstanding the nature of his mysterious left eye.

He would realize it soon enough.

Albireo felt a wriggling, impulse-like surge of scholarly curiosity about magic.

For a Witch, scholarly curiosity is a very natural and intense desire, much like how humans feel hunger, sexual desire, and the need for sleep.

But she forcefully suppressed that impulse.

This place, right now, was not for her Magic Research.

"I'm sorry for suddenly using magic. It seemed like there was something you weren't saying honestly and were hiding."

"........"

But to use the dreadful magic called the Poem of Confession out of the blue.

Once with Odil, once with Odette.

Having already experienced it twice, it was a Magic Siwoo never wanted to experience again.

"Sir Siwoo, you have entered into a physical relationship with our Twins, haven't you?"

As expected, the intuition of a Witch who had lived over a century, and a mother's intuition at that, was not something Siwoo could easily deceive.

The fact that she used magic immediately meant she had already captured sufficiently suspicious circumstances.

Judging that there was no need to falsely confess and incur her displeasure when she already had overwhelming circumstantial evidence, Siwoo soon nodded.

"That's correct. But I can explain everything."

He had been found out in the end, but the thought 'so what, anyway?' came to him first.

The cruel truth he had just learned moments ago had dealt Siwoo a great blow of disappointment.

To be honest, even if he were to die in this very place, he didn't think he'd feel much of anything.

A five-year dream, the goal he had looked to and relied upon, had shattered in an instant.

Albireo looked at Siwoo speaking impassively, then gently closed her eyes.

Wasn't it a fact she had already sensed?

After Siwoo collapsed, the Twins diligently visited him every week, and the look in their eyes as they gazed at him was so affectionate—she never thought it was solely directed at the benefactor who saved their lives.

She had anticipated some unknown relationship was mixed in.

"Hoo...."

Nevertheless, the moment she heard the definitive answer, she suppressed the anger that suddenly welled up and cooled her head.

When Albireo opened her eyes again, her pupils were cleanly washed of any trace of anger.

"I already know that Sir Siwoo is a sincere and righteous person. Such a person wouldn't recklessly approach Apprentice Witches. Was it also the Twins' curiosity that initiated the relationship?"

"That's correct."

Siwoo was slightly surprised at how accurate Albireo's deduction was.

"I don't intend to overprotect the Twins to the point of faulting them for natural feelings that arise between a man and a woman. Both Odil and Odette are of an age to awaken to love. Daring to make a judgment, I believe Sir Siwoo is a person worthy of receiving that love."

"I can only thank you for your understanding."

"However."

Albireo conveyed her intent with a stern voice.

"I have no intention of disrespecting the feeling of love itself. Nor can I deny that Sir Siwoo is a benefactor to our family. However, before I am Albireo of Gemernai, I am the mother and teacher of those two children. I cannot shake the thought that keeping you by the Twins' side is too dangerous and premature."Even if they forcibly separated Siwoo from the Twins, if he remained within Gehenna, the Twins would find a way to meet him somehow.

It was impossible for the busy Countess to constantly stay by the Twins' side.

Though it seemed they were currently preventing the Vessel from being contaminated through quasi-sexual acts or other methods (I could guess, but I didn't want to think about it in detail), a momentary mistake could lead to irreversible consequences.

Therefore, it was thought that the best course of action was to send him back to the Mortal Realm as he originally wished and separate him from the Twins.

"If Odil and Odette formally inherit the Brand, there will be no need or method for me to interfere like this. It won't be long. Just about five more years—could you understand the heart of an unworthy mother?"

Siwoo had no major complaints.

Though the Twins had initiated things at first, from then on, he had plenty of opportunities to refuse.

In the end, hadn't he lost to his desires?

Rather, he thought Albireo's response was quite reasonable and humbly intended to accept the decision.

"You might feel this is arbitrary, Siwoo. Being brought here against your will and now being told to leave just as arbitrarily. I'm sorry."

"No, I can understand perfectly well. Besides, if I hadn't been brought to Gehenna, I would have been dead anyway."

A brief silence.

"Before that, I hope my request doesn't go too strongly against your wishes. Do you still want to return to the Mortal Realm?"

"Yes, there are things I must do. And things I want to do."

"I suppose that's a relief, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Siwoo hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

The risks she mentioned were matters Siwoo could prevent if he remained cautious.

Albireo showed a hint of apology as she spoke.

"Finally, it will take about a week to prepare a place for you to live in the Mortal Realm and complete the procedures at the Gehenna City Hall. I hope you can wrap up your life here during that time."

"I will do so."

"Until then, you can stay in this villa. I'll try to return as soon as possible."

"Yes."

Albireo went upstairs, took the Twins who were sound asleep under her arms, and returned to the mansion. Left alone in the house, Siwoo took out some alcohol and drank by himself until the sun was high in the sky.

He felt the impermanence of life.

The woman he thought was a good person and the first woman he ever thought he liked turned out to be the woman he terribly disliked. And his return to the Mortal Realm, which he had prayed for while enduring hardships for five years, might be the beginning of new trials.

"Ugh... did I sell out my country in a past life?"

The living room, dim even in broad daylight due to being built in a shaded alley.

Siwoo sprawled on the sofa, blowing his nose and grumbling.

Beside him lay a mountain of liquor bottles.

He had gone down to the basement storage to drink the beer Odil bought, but there were so many expensive-looking bottles that he brought them all up and was comparing their tastes one by one.

Each one was disgustingly tasteless and strong.

Yet, he didn't know why they went down so smoothly.

Was it because his heart felt empty?

Siwoo staggered to his feet.

If he kept drinking here, he felt like mold would grow in his heart.

Thinking he should meet someone first, Siwoo immediately headed to the Academy using a Portal.

He had plenty of gold coins that could only be used here, and he was promised substantial support once he returned to the Mortal Realm, so he didn't feel particularly wasteful with money.

Walking through the familiar corridors of Trinity Academy toward the eastern dormitory, he saw a familiar face.

It was Takasho, sweeping lazily like an NPC.

"Whoa...! Oh...! Ooooh!!!"

"Shut up, man."

As soon as Takasho spotted Siwoo, he threw down his broom, let out a scream, and ran over, hugging him tightly.

With his immense strength, Siwoo almost vomited.

"You bastard! You're alive. You're fine!"

"Hey, hey, get off me. It's creepy."

Takasho continued to tear up and welcome Siwoo for a while longer.

Since they couldn't make a scene in the hallway, they moved to a nearby bench and sat side by side.

"Where did you disappear to all of a sudden? I was wondering what happened, buddy."

"I heard you visited me often in the hospital. Thanks."

"You jerk, of course I'd go if my friend was on the brink of death. But I held back because I thought you might keep pretending to sleep if I visited too often. By the way, what's with the eyepatch? Are you Kakashi?"

"There's a reason for it."

"Speaking of which, the Witch who treated you was really pretty. Do you keep in touch with her?"

"No, I don't even know who she is. I should thank her, though."

Even Takasho, who had initially welcomed Siwoo warmly, seemed to sense something off about Siwoo's mood.

Even though he was fully healed and should be jumping for joy, he seemed incredibly gloomy.

And he reeked of alcohol.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm like this."

Siwoo poured out everything as if vomiting.

What happened with Amelia and the complicated feelings it caused.

What would happen when he returned to the Mortal Realm.

He went on and on for almost an hour.

The funny thing was, there wasn't even a hint of tears in his eyes.

"Ugh... really, I don't know what to say. You must be really troubled, buddy."

Takasho patted Siwoo on the back.

"So, even after all this, do you still have to go back? I didn't want to say it because it might seem like I'm holding you back out of selfishness, but can't you just stay here with us?"

"I still have to see my parents. They must be so worried."

Even Takasho, who tried to persuade Siwoo to stay, fell silent.

"So, what are you going to do? About Associate Professor Amelia."

"I'll just forget and move on. But she ran around everywhere to save me, so should I thank her for that? Ah, damn, I don't know."

"Isn't it okay to say that much? According to what you said, you won't be seeing each other again anyway."

"I don't know about that either. Honestly, I..."

I want to meet and talk to her.

I want to ask why she did it and what she was thinking.

The image of Amelia sitting and crying still wouldn't leave his mind.

And at the same time, he didn't want to see her face.

Her cold face, the complete opposite of the warm memories, came to mind.The cold sting of betrayal twisted inside him, realizing every one of those smiles had been nothing but deceit.

It wasn’t just the five years that were the problem.

Everything in Gehenna only served to confuse and torment Siwoo further.

Siwoo hung his head and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke from the cigarette Takasho had given him.

Still, no tears fell.

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

Amelia!!!!

I don’t remember raising you to be so weak!!!!

Hang in there for at least one hit!!!!