City of Witches Chapter 53

Yeongsan.

As I had previously known, it was a magical crop cultivation plant jointly owned by Count Gemernai and Duke Keter.

To explain in a bit more detail, the production of magical crops does not occur at Yeongsan itself, but at 'Latifundium,' a gorge formed where the mountain's foothills meet in a U-shape.

To cultivate magical crops, a mist created by atomizing magical power water is essential, and the optimal place to contain this mist was a gorge formed across the mountain.

In other words, Yeongsan embraced Latifundium within its form.

"Wow..."

Siwoo couldn't hide his admiration.

He had only heard about it, but he never imagined the entrance alone would be such a breathtaking sight.

It wasn't the typical image of a rocky gorge one might imagine.

The gorge, easily 100 meters wide, was densely forested from the entrance with trees of extraordinary grandeur.

"Impressive, right? It's the off-season now, so there aren't any other managers. This is the only time you can look around so leisurely."

Odil wore the expression of someone showing off a golden calf in their own home.

It was a very boastful expression, but it was understandable.

"You'll be even more amazed once we go inside."

The trio, having started walking together after stopping the carriage as the path became bumpy.

The closer they got, the more they had to crane their necks to see the sky, yet it was difficult to even capture the treetops in their field of vision.

Each tree filling Latifundium was an ancient tree that had lived for hundreds of years.

It was as if there were several World Trees.

"What's the off-season?"

"Yeongsan is located in a place with incredibly strong soil fertility, but even so, if you grow too many magical crops, the land quickly gets exhausted. After six years of cultivation, it's given a year of rest. We can't just spray chemical fertilizers."

With Odette's kind explanation, as they walked into the gorge, it grew dark as if night had fallen despite it being midday.

It was only natural, with cliffs flanking both sides and dense branches and leaves forming a ceiling that completely blocked out the sky.

Odette and Odil, as if it were nothing, created three or four ornamental flames each and briskly led the way.

Siwoo followed, carrying a lunch basket and looking around.

He once went to a cave on a school field trip, and perhaps because it was dark and damp on all sides, it felt like he had come to a large-scale cave.

And after advancing about 30 meters?

What greeted Siwoo's party was a curtain-like drape of vines hanging from a dizzying height down to the ground.

It was clearly man-made.

They stood in a straight line like theater curtains, covering the entire gorge.

"What is this?"

"From here on is the main production area. It's a barrier set up to prevent the mist made from magical power water from escaping."

"Assistant, you must stick close to us. We only have one pass."

"Yes."

Led by Odette's hand, which had become much more cheerful than before, Siwoo stuck close.

As Odil rolled up his sleeve, a rosary that seemed to be made from tree seeds was revealed.

A faint light emitted from the rosary illuminated the vines, and the layered vines parted like dominoes, clearing a path.

And Siwoo could immediately understand why Yeongsan was so praised for its beauty.

In a word, it was a fairy forest.

A dreamlike landscape and atmosphere where fairies might live.

A narrow stream of water flowed between the large forest paths.

The hazy mist breathed vitality with every breath, and the giant trees stood tall and straight like pillars supporting Latifundium.

Up to this point, one might think such a place could exist somewhere on Earth.

"Assistant, your jaw must be on the floor."

"We were exactly like this when we first came too."

The giggling laughter of the twins just brushed past his ears.

Siwoo was completely absorbed in taking in the remaining scenic beauty.

Large glass bottles hung like fruit from each branch, containing liquids of various colors, from which light flowed.

It was as if a scene from a lantern festival had been photographed and frozen in place.

Thanks to that, even though they had walked to the middle of the gorge, the area was as bright as if streetlights were lit.

"What are those?"

Looking closely, hoses extending from the glass bottles, like IV drips, were directed towards the tree roots.

"It's a kind of nutrient solution. We inject various reagents into the trees to create an environment suitable for cultivating magical crops. Since they shine so brightly, they also serve as lights."

"Then what about those?"

Siwoo moved his finger to point at the sparks that rose from the ground like fireflies and then disappeared.

In a way, they resembled will-o'-the-wisps, but the difference was their very slow, leisurely ascent.

"The concentration of magic power here is incredibly high. Magical reflection light naturally occurs frequently."

"It's amazing."

A landscape that never grew tiresome no matter how long you looked.

While a commercial plant likely didn't intend for aesthetic beauty, it was a place where one could feel reverence for both grand nature and grand magic all at once.

"I'm really glad I came along. I've never been to such a fascinating place before."

"Right?"

"Assistant, if you have any questions, feel free to ask anytime."

Along with Odil, Odette, feeling proud, smiled frivolously and spun around Siwoo.

It was quite a familiar action, making him feel closer than before.

"First, we can't rest here, so we'll move to the production management building. Follow carefully and watch your step. It's slippery here because it's damp year-round."

Odil jumped down from the tree root he was standing on.

The tree roots exposed on the road surface were almost as big as trucks, befitting the grandeur of the giant trees, which surprised Siwoo a bit.

They walked along the path by the river running between the trees.

Judging by the water surface sparkling regardless of the light, the magical power water creating this mist was likely this river water.

The temperature itself was cooler than expected.

Based on the humidity alone, you could believe it was a tropical rainforest.

"Assistant, do you know a bit about magical crops?"

"No, I know almost nothing about alchemy. I didn't have enough time to study that far."

"So you only research Incantation Magic and Magic Circles? That's the most boring part..."

"Well, I suppose I needed to choose and focus."

"Then you'll need some explanation."

Thus began Odil's exposition of the world's workings."The types of plants that can be cultivated through Magic-induced mutation are quite limited."

"Usually, we cultivate a lot of moss plants or mushroom varieties. They're easier to breed and much simpler to manage."

Come to think of it, most things clinging to trees and rocks are either moss or mushrooms.

Their unusual shapes made them stand out immediately.

Like the faintly pink-tinted moss or the mushrooms emitting bright fluorescent light like a standing lamp.

"Is that a button mushroom?"

Siwoo pointed to one particularly appetizing-looking mushroom among them and asked.

They were clustered together blooming from a tree knot, and their appearance was unmistakably that of button mushrooms served at a pork belly restaurant.

"Would you like to try some? Eek!"

Odil slapped Odette's butt as hard as she could as she said that.

"What a dangerous thing to say!"

"Ah, unnie... I was just joking...!"

"You absolutely must not do that. Most magic plants are harmful if eaten raw. There's a reason why detoxification processes take at least three to four days, and sometimes even several years, just for preparing the ingredients."

"I-I see..."

Not just the scenery, but the various cultivated plants growing here were also of interest to Siwoo.

Seeing items he had only encountered as text and illustrations in books now spread out before his eyes made him feel like he had entered another world.

"What's that?"

"That's 'Redroot Moss.' It has strong nullification properties, so it's often used as a neutralizing agent."

"And what about that one?"

"That's Whitecap Fool's Mushroom. It's one of the few mushrooms that's safe to eat raw. It acts on the cerebral cortex, accelerating thinking and calculation speed."

"A kind of overclocking, then."

"You could say that. But Gemernai told us not to touch that one. She said that while relying on that mushroom might temporarily boost efficiency and make you feel great, it's not actually your own ability.

Well, actually, it becomes less useful as your Hierarchy rises anyway."

Odil and Odette tirelessly taught Siwoo about the plants.

It felt like visiting a botanical garden with two pretty guides.

The deeper they went, the narrower the Magical Power river became, and it had now become so shallow that calling it a stream would be more fitting.

"Hup!"

Odil and Odette hopped across the stepping stones that spanned it, taking the lead, while Siwoo carefully crossed to the other side, carrying a basket.

Climbing a gently sloping mossy hill, they came upon a fairly wide flat area.

The sap that had been hanging from tree branches was now stuck in the ground in bottles.

Lavender, light green, light pink.

In any case, clusters of mist-like substances in pale colors were undulating and blooming.

"This area is for growing root crops. You've heard of mandrakes, right?"

"The ones that scream when you pull them out?"

Odette laughed brightly at Siwoo's naive response.

"In the past, there were so many people trying to steal them that Witches cast hallucination Magic over the entire field. They were popular plants because they were used as hallucinogens or aphrodisiacs."

"That's how the rumor got twisted."

"We're almost there now. Let's rest a bit."

By the way, even considering it's fallow land, there isn't a single person in sight.

Being able to almost exclusively enjoy such a wonderful sight made his heart race, as if he had rented out an amusement park to play in.

"This way!"

The place they finally arrived at was, like the other trees, a giant oak tree.

The only difference was that halfway up the tree, there was a treehouse hanging, similar to the one he saw in Border Town before.

Though compared to then, it was at a much more dizzying height.

"This is the production management building."

They climbed the spiral staircase winding around the tree and entered the management building.

It was higher than it looked from below, and the staircase seemed somewhat rickety, so he struggled a bit with dizziness.

Whether Witches just like high places or treehouses are trendy in Gehenna, he sure had a lot of encounters with them.

"So, what do we do here now?"

"Just look at the pretty scenery outside the window, drink tea, and chat, of course."

The treehouse they arrived at, dragging their trembling legs.

The inside was surprisingly bleak for its size.

Like Amelia's research building, it was filled only with papers and documents with something written on them, and the only place to rest was a solitary sofa placed in the center.

Still, the scenery unfolding outside the window was magnificent.

He wondered why they built it in such an unnecessarily high place.

But after looking outside, he understood.

From this treehouse, the entire Latifundium could be seen below.

"Pretty, right?"

Odil slipped in beside Siwoo, who was admiring the view blankly.

The mysterious bird's-eye view seemed to tickle his heart.

It was a bit of a stretch, but it felt like booking a fancy hotel and watching the night view with a pretty girlfriend.

"I'm glad you like it, Assistant. I was worried you might think my unnie dragged you here against your will?"

Not to be outdone, Odette popped out from the opposite side.

Siwoo gave a bitter smile and subtly stepped back.

Truth be told, both Odil and Odette were girls he found hard to handle.

Especially when both were together.

"Shall we open the basket now?"

"I was just thinking I wanted to eat something."

"Great!"

"Wait, I have something I prepared for today."

While opening the basket placed on the table in front of the sofa, Odil, who had been rummaging through a corner cabinet, brought out a large bottle.

The bottle alone was almost as long as Odil's upper body.

Judging by Odil's playful expression, it was wine.

"Unnie! When did you hide that?"

"I told the Assistant before. That I'd let him taste the red wine from Mendel Hills."

"You remembered that all this time?"

"Of course~ I don't forget promises."

Wine?

He felt a slight unease, but his curiosity was piqued.

A drink enjoyed while looking at such scenery seemed incredibly romantic.

"Huh?"

At that moment, Odette, who had been bouncing around excitedly about the secretly stashed alcohol, tilted her head.

Her gaze was intently fixed on a corner outside the window.

"What's wrong?"

"Unnie, didn't you see something passing by outside just now?"

"What thing?"

"Something black and big... I think it brushed past between the branches over there..."

Odil and Siwoo also pressed close to the window to look where Odette was pointing, but...

There was nothing.

Only sparkling magical sap hanging in clusters between the densely layered branches.

"There's nothing there?"

"Stop joking around and eat your sandwich."

"I'm not joking!"

"Who else would be here besides us?"

"Well, that's true, but... I definitely saw it..."

"You probably saw a hallucination because you didn't sleep well last night. Let's just drink this."

Odil pulled Odette, who kept glancing outside, back in.

And so, the proper picnic began.

Author's Note (Afterword)

I went to the hospital, and they said it's nothing serious!