City of Witches Chapter 163

Sharon immediately treated Siwoo.

Just as humans were molded from clay in many myths, in the elemental system, the role of healing and restoring the human body belongs to the earth element.

Sharon generously used six jade pieces, each the size of a millet grain—offerings of the earth element she had been saving for important moments.

"Balance."

As soon as Sharon swung her staff, the jade pieces placed all over Siwoo's body melted like ointment and seeped into the wounded areas.

The reddish-purple areas, like fallen autumn leaves, and the areas where blisters were about to rise like bubbles subsided, and new flesh immediately sprouted.

Siwoo watched the scene with wonder.

"Wow, it heals incredibly fast?"

"Of course, it's Magic."

Judging by the extent of the injuries, fortunately, Della had likely held back, as they were mostly first-degree burns.

Siwoo's body is a Spirit Body.

For such minor injuries, he would recover within a week, but Sharon couldn't possibly leave him like that.

He got injured while confronting Della because of her, of all people—how could she hesitate over a few measly gemstones and leave him untreated?

"By the way, you're really amazing. How did you take down that Della? Her personality is trash, and she's ugly, but her skills are undeniable."

"There's always a way. Who do you think taught me?"

Siwoo grinned confidently.

Seeing that, Sharon felt something surge in her chest.

Forcing it down, she glanced at her watch and spoke.

"Ah, it's already time for my part-time job. What about skipping class today?"

"It's fine. I think I need a day off too. Let's have a nice meal together later."

"Then I'll wash up and get ready for work. Rest a bit."

"Yeah."

Sharon hurriedly headed to the bathroom, leaving Siwoo's faint smile behind.

She stripped off her clothes and turned on the shower.

Then, crouching in the bathtub, she covered her mouth.

-Sssssssssss!

"Sniff... Sob..."

Even while treating his wounds, she had almost burst into tears several times, but now the sobs she had barely held back poured out like a flood.

In front of Siwoo, she had enthusiastically played along with his story of defeating Della, but in truth, Sharon didn't believe him at all.

She couldn't believe it.

Who is Della Redcliffe?

A Great Witch of the 20th Hierarchy, and in the field of the fire element, she is an unrivaled soloist.

Siwoo's Hierarchy is far below even Sharon's, let alone Della's.

In a typical Witch duel, if the Hierarchy difference exceeds two levels, a fight doesn't even take place.

Arguments about compatibility or combat experience only apply when the Hierarchy difference is about one level.

Didn't she, a 17th Hierarchy Witch fairly proficient in Elemental Magic, get subdued effortlessly?

And that was after offering cigarettes specially treated with Magical Power and volcanic ash as offerings.

"Sob... Sob..."

But Siwoo said he defeated Della.

There's only one reason he would tell such an unbelievable lie.

It was for Sharon.

The burn marks all over his body and his shattered magic circuits clearly proved there had been a fight.

Considering Della's personality, he was probably toyed with like a plaything and brutally defeated.

In this world, there are differences that can't be overturned no matter how hard you fight.

How helpless must he have felt?

How difficult must the battle have been?

How painful must it have been?

Sharon dared to say she could empathize with his feelings.

From experience, she knew how brutally cruel it is to face an insurmountable wall while striving for something.

Even in such pain, Siwoo told an obvious lie.

Knowing that Sharon would blame herself if she realized his injuries were her fault.

At the very least, he tried to lessen Sharon's guilt by saying he defeated Della.

It was just like Siwoo, inherently kind and gentle, to comfort Sharon with an obvious lie.

A kind lie.

Knowing its meaning, Sharon also pretended to firmly believe Siwoo.

Without showing a hint of doubt, she accepted his consideration and played along.

Thinking about it, Siwoo was always like that.

Knowing it would endanger him if other Exiles noticed, he still went out to hunt Homunculi.

Though it was presumptuous, as soon as he heard Sharon was struggling with debt, he offered to pay it for her.

He took in Sharon, who had nowhere to go, and comforted her.

For Sharon, who always wanted to eat something delicious, he never insisted on his own preferences and waited for her to choose the menu.

And today, he confronted a dangerous Witch for Sharon.

Even after being brutally defeated, instead of expressing his own sorrow, he worried about Sharon and lied for her.

"Ah..."

Perhaps because she had cried so frantically?

Her heart suddenly pounded as if she had an arrhythmia.

Then, an unmistakable, vivid impulse arose.

The desire to run to him and hug him right away surged within her.

"Sniff..."

It was strange.

Sharon shook her head vigorously and finished her shower roughly with Magic.

When she returns from her part-time job, she should treat him well.

She must absolutely not show any suspicion or disbelief and go along with his consideration.

She'll also avoid bringing up the topic so he doesn't have to tell unnecessary lies.

Making that resolution, Sharon left the bathroom.

Sharon's Magic effect was remarkable.

Whether it was because his Spirit Body healed quickly or not, his injuries, muscle pain, and tattered magic circuits recovered in an instant.

"Hmm..."

As soon as Sharon left for her part-time job, Siwoo sat at his desk.

It was to review the battle with Della that took place under the bridge.

Today's events confirmed it.

In this harsh world where anything could happen, having the means to protect himself was essential.

What would have happened if Siwoo had lost to Della then?

First, Sharon would have been captured.

She could have suffered anything at Della's hands.

Also, information about Siwoo being able to use Magic might have spread like wildfire, or even if not, Della, having noticed his existence, might have attempted to kidnap him.

Today, various conditions aligned favorably, and he won, but no one knows about the next time.

In reality, Siwoo's battles often relied on luck and improvisation.He realized that not even thinking to hone and sharpen the power he possessed in advance had been a lax approach.

"Alright, let's organize things."

First, organizing the magic he possessed.

It wasn't simply about listing them, but extracting data on how they could be utilized tactically.

'Coordinate Movement Formula'.

Based on today's experience, the Coordinate Movement Formula couldn't be applied to combat immediately.

Magic battles with Witches were tense, fought in split seconds with a fast, relentless pace.

If Siwoo had leisurely tried to calculate a Coordinate Movement Formula mid-fight with the intention of running away, one of his limbs would have been charred black.

"So, this is on hold..."

It seemed more like an escape method worth trying in a do-or-die situation when he had no other options later, rather than something he could directly apply to combat right now.

'Maiden's Loom'.

One of the top contributors in today's battle.

The Ribbons woven from the Loom were powerful jokers that could be deployed for attack, defense, and support without being hindered in the slightest by the movement of his arms.

If he could use them even after increasing their number as he did now, his dispels would gain speed, and they could also serve as useful offensive means.

After all, Siwoo, who had clashed with Ea, knew best how fearsome the Ribbons were.

Ea's method of twisting the Ribbons and using rebound force was also worth referencing.

"Training to move them freely even after increasing the number... and also practicing shape transformation..."

'Law of Shadows'.

This magic held a very large share in the foundation that allowed Siwoo to fight a Witch.

If not for the Law of Shadows, he wouldn't have even dared to engage in a magic battle.

It provided the minimum protective gear for Siwoo, who lacked Autonomous Defense.

It assisted his raw strength like powered armor and also created direct means of attack.

In other words, the Law of Shadows laid the base that allowed Siwoo, who lacked fundamentals, to step into the ring.

Additionally, its peculiarity of interfering with Magic Formulas to partially nullify the opponent's magic, and its versatility of allowing limitless shape transformation, were already being put to good use in combination with the Maiden's Loom.

"The property of nullifying Magic Circles is really good..."

But there were also disappointing aspects.

Namely, its clear limitation of being essentially useless against dense magic power due to its specific nature of combining ultra-small Magic Circles.

To grow stronger than this, he fundamentally needed to improve this.

"This is it."

Siwoo set the direction of his goal.

Having fallen and gotten back up, he planned to tweak the properties of the magic a bit, just as the Law of Shadows had been applied to the Maiden's Loom.

Today, he set his self-study agenda to sketching out that blueprint.

But how?

Should he weave the ultra-small Magic Circles into a net-like form to reduce the degree to which they are affected by magic power pressure?

No good.

Doing that would ruin their current free operation and cause problems with the hardness of armor or shields.

"Hmm..."

Siwoo's contemplation deepened.

Sharon, having finished her part-time job, flung the front door open and entered the house.

"I'm home."

"You're a bit late today? What were you up to?"

Siwoo, who had been in his room and came shuffling out upon hearing the door lock sound, found Sharon holding plastic bags full in both hands.

Seeing Siwoo's surprised expression, Sharon gave a slightly awkward smile.

"This... I felt like I was always just receiving from you. I wanted to treat you to a meal too."

"What is it?"

"King crab. I just had them steamed."

As soon as her part-time job ended, Sharon headed straight to the king crab place in front of their house.

There, she spent a whopping 400,000 won, buying plenty of king crab.

She remembered that while Siwoo enjoyed eating all sorts of things, his satisfaction seemed particularly high when eating crustaceans or seafood.

It was the first time since arriving in the Mortal Realm ten years ago that she had spent such a large sum of money on food.

Because of that, her hands trembled when paying, but she didn't feel it was a waste at all.

"Ah, what's this. We agreed I'd treat you to meals in exchange for you teaching me magic. How much is it? I'll give you the money."

As expected, Siwoo made an embarrassed expression and took out his wallet, but Sharon firmly refused.

If she didn't express her gratitude like this, she felt she herself would be too uneasy to bear it.

"Don't do that. If you don't accept this, I'll really get angry."

"Even so, isn't this too much? It seems like you used gems for healing magic today too..."

"It's fine."

"No..."

"I said it's fine!"

There was a brief tussle, but seeing Sharon show no sign of backing down, Siwoo also gave a wry smile.

Truth be told, when Sharon was stubborn, Siwoo had never been able to out-stubborn her.

"Even so, it's too burdensome..."

"Enough, it's more burdensome for me if we just move on like this. Let's eat quickly before it gets cold."

Sharon and Siwoo spread out the king crab lavishly on the table.

Siwoo kept repeating "thank you, thank you" almost every time he ate.

Seeing that he seemed to like it and was pleased, she felt relieved.

Seeing that he seemed to think Sharon believed the lie about defeating Della, and that he wasn't showing any awkwardness at all, was fortunate.

Honestly, he wasn't very confident in his acting.

After putting away the last crab and devouring three packs of ramen, the two, feeling completely full, moved to the living room.

"Shall we watch a movie right away?"

"Sounds good."

Truthfully, with no core from the Homunculus hunted today and the huge expenditure, it was a situation where she needed to do something, but Sharon acted as usual.

She didn't want to unnecessarily infect Siwoo with the anxiety arising from her own circumstances.

Let him rest deeply today.

"Then I'll go change my clothes and come back."

"Shall I pick the movie?"

"Yeah, you pick today."

With their usual conversation, Sharon entered her room.

Author's Note (Author's Afterword)

Due to an appointment on May 11th, I'll likely take a break or only upload one part!

I'll try to keep up the daily uploads for the rest.