City of Witches Chapter 360

They were a perfect match.

A father who dragged his reluctant daughter along on a fishing trip.

A daughter who complained it wasn't fun even after arriving.

A father so excited he didn't care about any of that.

It was widely known that Gehenna's natural landscapes maintained their pristine state.

Especially in these uninhabited areas, untouched by human hands, the rivers were teeming with fish.

It was no joke—even with Siwoo's clumsy fishing, he was getting bites almost every five minutes.

But Siwoo's happiness didn't end there.

A stroke of luck had come at just the right time.

He had originally come thinking he'd catch some freshwater fish, but it happened to be the season when migratory salmon swam upstream to spawn.

Thanks to that, plump red salmon, not yet fully crimson, kept greedily biting his clumsy lure.

The taut, heavy pull as the rod bent.

The resilient vitality he felt in his fingertips with each turn of the reel.

Seeing the 50cm salmon splashing on the water's surface like skipping stones, he couldn't help but think, Damn, this is what fishing's all about.

Before, he'd be lucky to catch a few fish all day, but he'd already caught two.

Both were personal bests.

"Wow, insane. You're really not going to try?"

"I'm fine."

"Miss Diana! Look at this. It's huge!"

Siwoo proudly showed Diana the heavily flapping salmon.

Even when its tail splashed river water on his cheek, he was just plain happy.

Diana, sitting sulkily at a distance, looked at Siwoo with a slightly incredulous expression.

Salmon.

She'd eaten plenty, but it was her first time seeing one alive and flopping like that.

Moreover, his face as he reeled in the heavily bent rod looked so excited that even she felt a flicker of curiosity.

What on earth is so great about fishing?

The question arose.

At this point, efficient energy management was already a lost cause anyway.

Wouldn't it be better to try it once rather than just sitting here blankly?

"Just try it once. It's way more fun than you think."

"Just once."

Diana picked up a fishing rod beside her and took off her shoes.

As she dipped her feet into the shimmering current, an icy chill spread, raising goosebumps on her skin.

"How did you say to do it?"

"It's not hard. You don't need to cast too far, and you shouldn't cast too close either. See this part here? Hold it, give it a flick, and then just let the hook drift with the current."

Listening to the explanation and watching him do it, it didn't seem very difficult.

"Like this?"

Diana held the rod Siwoo had adjusted for her and flicked the line.

The water was shallow, so the line, carried by the strong current, flowed away quickly.

"Yeah, like that. If you think it's gone too far, just reel it in and repeat."

"It's nothing special."

"Right."

It was as easy as it looked.

It seemed like she could start hauling in big fish just like he did any moment now.

"It's a problem if our lines cross, so I'll move a bit away. Bad luck, and they might get tangled."

Saying that, Siwoo continued fishing, keeping about 15 meters between them.

Diana watched him for a moment, then cast her line again.

The hook drifted leisurely.

It had drifted quite far, but she felt nothing, so she reeled it in.

Cast.

Drift.

Reel in.

Cast.

Drift.

Reel in. Cast. Drift. Reel in. Cast. Drift...

"......"

No matter how many times she tried, Diana's rod brought no news.

Meanwhile, next to her.

"Oh! Got one! Got one!"

"Wow~ How many centimeters is this one?"

"This guy's no ordinary salmon! But no chance! Foot Technique!"

Diana looked at the pile of salmon accumulating beside Siwoo, then looked forward again.

-gurgle gurgle

"......"

She saw her fishing line helplessly drifting away with the flowing river.

Diana quietly reeled in the line and examined the hook closely.

Did he give me a defective rod?

But the lure, sinker, and hook were all identical to what he had shown during his demonstration.

"Nice! Got another!"

"Kehahaha!"

"There are more fish than water!"

Siwoo, looking utterly thrilled, and Diana, feeling strangely and inexplicably irritated.

If she had gone fishing alone, she would have given up, thinking, 'Ugh, this is boring and annoying.'

But watching her empty net while he kept hauling in fish beside her sparked a subtle competitive spirit.

After some thought, Diana approached Siwoo.

"Excuse me."

"Yes? Yes. Oh, did you catch a lot?"

"...No. Let's switch spots. That spot seems good since you're catching so much there."

"You think so?"

Siwoo readily swapped places with her.

The fishing resumed.

Since he had been catching fish nonstop from this spot, it was undoubtedly the prime location.

The rod was the same too.

He didn't seem to have any special technique.

Diana, inwardly buoyant at the thought of finally catching plenty of salmon.

"Wow, this spot's good too!"

"Salmon for dinner tonight!"

"What kind of fish is this one?"

And the situation repeated itself.

After switching, Siwoo started catching fish nonstop from the spot where Diana hadn't gotten a single bite.

Meanwhile, Diana continued not fishing, but rather practicing the art of getting her lure wet.

"......"

Diana felt a quiet rage simmering inside.

Her insides were boiling.

Though likely unintentional, his joyful demeanor felt like he was taunting her from the side.

"Excuse me!"

Diana summoned Siwoo, who had just caught another salmon as thick as a forearm.

"The reason I agreed to come out was for outdoor activities. Pay some attention to me too."

"Ah, right. Sorry. I got too carried away."

"Teach me some tips."

"Okay, look here."

Siwoo gave a more detailed explanation, but to Diana, it all sounded the same.

Wondering if it was simply luck, she even borrowed Siwoo's fishing rod.

But the result remained unchanged.

Seeing Diana striking out so spectacularly and Siwoo tilting his head, thinking, 'Huh? Why is this happening?' only fueled her frustration.

"It's been a good 30 minutes now. I'll cast one more time, and if I don't catch anything, we're going back."

"As you wish."

Seeing Siwoo's lukewarm, somewhat regretful reply, Diana flicked her line.

The float drifted leisurely.

Still no bite.

Just as she was about to sigh, thinking this time was no different.

"Huh?"

It came.

A powerful bite.Anyone would have thought a fish had bitten—such an intense force was felt.

Diana tightly gripped the fishing rod she had almost dropped in that instant.

“It bit!”

“Wh-what do I do now? What do I do?”

Diana, who hadn’t expected this at all, widened her eyes at the sudden situation.

Just as Siwoo, excited by the obviously massive bite, was about to give advice from the side…

A scene straight out of a comic unfolded.

“Hueghk!!”

Diana, who had been holding the tautly bent fishing rod, was dragged away with a single shriek.

The riverside was already difficult to keep balance on due to the strong current, even in shallow water.

Pulled by a force so intense it seemed about to snap the rod, Diana flopped face-first onto the water’s surface as if diving.

• Splash!

An intense splash.

Siwoo, a moment too late, leaped forward, catching Diana’s body with a Ribbon and grabbing the fishing rod with one hand.

Diana, sitting by the campfire next to a simple chair, wrapped in a blanket.

Though she had used Magic to instantly dry her soaked clothes and hair, maintaining body temperature was important.

“…….”

“Um, are you okay?”

Diana, who had been successively outwitted by salmon in less than an hour, was the very picture of low pressure.

Her expression was dark, as if the eye of a storm was drifting above her head.

Siwoo, who had caught nearly over 30 salmon today and released all but one for dinner, glanced at her mood.

Actually, this was unexpected trouble number two.

Until now, only salmon as thick as an arm and the occasional rainbow trout had been caught, so he thought there were only those two types.

But the salmon that had performed a water ghost act on Diana was a king salmon, reaching up to 1.5M in length and nearly 60kg in weight.

When a salmon as heavy as herself pulled on the rod, it was no wonder Diana, who had been off guard, was the one who got caught instead.

“…….”

“Still, the one you caught is the biggest.”

Strictly speaking, the salmon caught Diana, and Siwoo caught both Diana and the salmon…

But considering her mood, he phrased it as positively as possible.

“Look at this! It’s this huge.”

Even roughly estimated, it was over 1M in size.

He held up today’s dinner menu—a salmon weakly flapping, all its energy drained—in front of Diana.

“It’s big.”

Diana, still looking at the salmon with a sullen face, got up from her seat.

“Let’s go back now. It’s been over two hours.”

Fishing had been more fun than expected, and he would have liked to coax Diana into enjoying it until dinner tonight, but since things had turned out this way, there was no helping it.

He could just come again next time.

Packing up the gear he had laid out, he slung the backpack on again and roughly hung the salmon, wrapped tightly with Ribbon, over his shoulder.

Returning via coordinate movement would be fine too, but showing her this beautiful natural scenery was also part of the outdoor activity.

Walking together over the hills, he asked Diana, who still seemed to be in low pressure.

“Miss.”

“What.”

“There’s something I’m curious about—may I ask?”

“Go ahead.”

He had been curious for a while now.

While it’s possible for someone to dislike bothersome things and be reluctant to go out, Diana’s case was extreme.

But he couldn’t just ask ‘Why are you so lazy?’ so he asked indirectly, and Diana answered.

“What I do isn’t laziness.”

“Huh?”

“It’s more of a higher-level… for example, status quo bias.”

Wondering what she meant, he glanced at her profile and briefly met Diana’s eyes, expressionless as usual.

“My mother and people in general have branded laziness as a sin named sloth, but this tendency is actually very important throughout human development.”

“…….”

“The development of science and Magic for convenience ultimately stems from the feeling of ‘Ah, this is bothersome,’ doesn’t it?”

He had wondered if she would give a proper answer, but a rather serious response came.

“So, don’t unnecessarily urge me to go around and just do the Witchboard. I’ll talk to Mom properly.”

“That’s difficult. I have an agreement with the Countess.”

“Tch.”

Anyway, today’s lesson was also over.

He returned to the mansion with Diana.

As they passed through the main gate and entered the mansion, Countess Yesod could be seen in the distance, so Siwoo subtly handed the salmon to Diana.

“Could you hold this for a moment?”

“Wh-why this all of a sudden…! It’s, it’s heavy…!”

Staggering under the tremendous weight of the salmon, Diana shot a glare at Siwoo.

Just then, the Countess, spotting Diana from afar, came running over with quick steps.

“My daughter…! Did you have a good time?”

Only then did Diana seem to realize Siwoo’s intention.

Siwoo grinned and gave her back a push.

“You should go brag about it.”

Her annoyed expression vanished, and Diana quickly averted her gaze.

Giving a small nod, she dragged the large salmon along as she walked toward Countess Yesod.

“I’m back.”

“Oh my, oh my! Did you catch this, my daughter?”

“…Yes.”

“Amazing~ Let’s take a picture right away, I’ll go get the camera!”

Watching Countess Yesod pat Diana’s head, hug her, and shower her with storm-like praise, Siwoo felt today had also been worthwhile.

Author’s Note (Author’s Afterword)

Thanks for the support!

• Thank you for the 390 coin support from WinterTakoyaki-nim!

I’ll try to progress the plot a bit more with the cuddly moments hehe

• Thank you for the 200 coin support from Ebebebebe_623-nim!

I’m embarrassed by the sudden praise! I’ll strive to create more interesting episodes going forward

• Thank you for the 50 coin support from Riin-i-nim!

I’ll do my best!

• Thank you for the support from Traveler-nim!

We can’t just discard the duke either!

• Thank you for the support from Minseok_511-nim!

I’ll try to avoid long hiatuses as much as possible hehe

• Thank you for the steady support from Nickname-nim!

Even I think the Yesod mother-daughter pair is cute

• Thank you for the support from FruitBasket-nim, Eunggiithiya-nim, and Yurup-nim!