City of Witches

1.

What could her concern be when everything in her life had been going on perfectly, you ask?

It was none other than her daughter’s—Diana Yesod—chronic disease; her laziness.

Though, recently, that problem seemed to be fixing itself quite nicely.

After Lucy kicked the girl out of the house with tears in her eyes…

Not only did the girl faithfully obey her orders for over a week, she also went out of her way to study on her own during her free time.

But…

“Baby…”

“I don’t want to eat dinner tonight…”

“Is there something troubling you these days? Are you feeling sick?”

“No… Sorry, Mom, I wanna sleep early today.”

Lying down on her bed, Diana answered as such in a weak voice before turning her body around, refusing to even glance at Lucy.

Lucy thought about patting her shoulder to comfort her, but in the end, she decided that it would be best to just leave quietly.

In any case, this was the new source of her worry.

Diana’s reclusiveness, which had been getting better lately, became worse than ever before all of a sudden.

Before, she only refused to leave the house, but now, she’d even skip out of her meals and refuse to show her face during tea time.

It was obvious that she had been avoiding Lucy though, making the poor countess think that this was indeed her second rebellious phase.

“Haa…”

Maybe forcing her to go out was a bad idea…

Reproaching herself, the countess let out a sigh.

Forcing Diana to go out was for her own sake, even Diana should know that.

After all, a witch’s life was long.

There were more than enough bumps on the road that they’d face.

A witch had to devote their life for their magic advancements, even when it seemed impossible for them to achieve in their whole life.

Fighting to overcome the thick wall of frustration and failure, that was the essence of a witch’s life.

Intuition and talent wouldn’t be enough to overcome that.

What one needed to have was experience in various fields and ample rest so that they could have an easier time to deal with all the inevitable stress.

So that they could enjoy all the beauties this world had to offer.

If a witch couldn’t do that, then no matter how talented she was, it would be meaningless.

In that case, they would start looking for an apprentice to pass on everything in just a few years, this was what Lucy tried to avoid, so that Diana wouldn’t end up like that.

“If only…”

With a heavy heart, Countess Lucy headed towards her private library.

At that moment, she was reminded of something.

“Come to think of it, when she was still meeting up with that male witch, she was more lively than she had ever been…”

She was like a completely different person back then…

What was she doing with him again? Right, Witch Board, they were competing on that!

She even said that he was skilled enough to match her, even their scores are really close…

Ever since she had heard about the fact that Diana had been visiting the male witch, the countess had been paying close attention to that man.

Though she didn’t think that her daughter would foolishly fall for him, she figured that it wouldn’t hurt to leave a countermeasure, just in case.

“Huh? Wait a minute…”

Now that I think about it, that male witch quit his job as a host recently, no?

The timing matches quite well too, the moment he quit, Diana’s mood started to worsen…

I don’t know if there’s a connection between the two, but…

If this will improve her mood, maybe it wouldn’t be bad to bring him here as a gift to her…

“…Let’s put that matter aside for a moment…”

Today is a rare day when my work finishes up sooner, after all.

The countess then skillfully manipulated the statue inside her private library, opening a whole new room inside.

Her tiny study room, filled with the tickling scent of ink, the place where she could indulge in her secret hobby.

“Hohoho… How long has it been since I last came here, hm?”

Sitting down on the chair, the countess picked up her pen.

Her face was bright and cheerful, as if forgetting all her worries already, showcasing how happy she felt currently.

It had been ten years since she picked up the hobby of writing erotic novels.

The currently serialized series, ‘The Devil’s Delivery Service’, wasn’t the only novel she had written. ‘Madame Butterfly,’ ‘Dangerous Games,’ ‘Paradise Lost,’ and dozens of single-volume novels were among the ones she had written.

Although some of them received harsh criticism since they had the same theme of ‘a witch submitting to a man,’ it was those fussy witches who’d flock to grab the new installments of the novel the moment they came out.

Even Gehenna’s civilians praised those books and would cause a big stir whenever a new volume was out.

Of course, from the writing to the publishing process, everything was done in secrecy, so no one knew that Lucy was the author of the books.

Which was exactly what she wanted to begin with.

The countess moved her pen, filling up the blank paper with words upon words without any hesitation.

“For today… Let’s go with this scene~”

But, why would she do this? After all, she was still a noble witch, a countess, it was unsightly of her to indulge herself in such a vulgar hobby.

It was because in the past, she used to have a lover.

A lover that she couldn’t forget, even though so many decades had passed.

The man who managed to thaw her frozen heart with his fiery love, something that she’d be willing to exchange her everything for.

Their hot and passionate nights, the unforgettable moments…

“Hm… It would be lewder… Here… Like this…”

But, time was a cruel mistress. Before she realized it, it had already taken him away from her.

After introducing the countess to a whole new world, he disappeared without a single trace, leaving her to cope with her own loneliness for years.

Of course, she could always try to hook up with other men, but she felt that it would be a betrayal to him.

That was why she chose to write those erotic novels instead, as a way to vent out her pent-up desire.

After writing for a while, the countess eventually dug his hand into her clothes.

For the whole night, she satiated her hunger for affection, all by herself.

2.

The next morning.

Siwoo, who had just finished his training with Eloa, returned to his lab.

Countess Gemini had over twenty magic labs, so Albireo had no qualms whatsoever to lend one to Siwoo.

Thanks to this, he completely changed his original plan to stay in Gehenna for only a week and instead, put all his concentration and effort in his research of the Red Branch since now he had all the facilities he could get here.

“Haaa… Fuck, it’s so hot…”

Winter was rapidly approaching Gehenna.

This was the season when Siwoo started to learn how to read Gehenna’s writing back when he was a slave.

However, even though the air was supposed to be cold, he had just got back from his training, so his upper clothes were completely soaked with his sweat.

He thought that it was too much of a hassle to go shower, so he just took off his top and wiped the sweat off with a towel instead.

Then, he poured some warm water on his sweaty skin, steam rose out from it, as if he had just opened up the Eight’s Inner Gate Formation¹.

After he gulped down some water to hydrate himself, he headed over to the Red Branch, which was tied to the fixture inside the lab.

Though tied by the black ribbons, covered with various suppression spells, the red spear was floating in the air a little.

If he didn’t place all those suppression spells there, all sorts of trouble would definitely arise due to the spear emitting out its distortion field 24/7.

Now, if the distortion field was a normal one, it wouldn’t cause a problem, but that thing was strong enough to cause a spirit form to collapse from inside and to damage even the sturdiest artifact.

He even confirmed the latter himself, as the magic box he had received from the twins was damaged by it².

Since the distortion field worked closely to that of an electrical field, he assumed that the artifact was damaged some time during the battle with the Red Knight.

“Anyway, let’s take a look at the samples for today…”

Siwoo took out one of the talismans he placed under the Red Branch, checking the accumulated pattern of the distortion field for the day.

Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary talisman, it was a talisman engraved with alchemy magic. It could record even the finest magic wave on it.

“Hmm…”

He could see traces of the distortion field spread around the talisman, filling it up completely.

That was good and all, but the problem here was that this was the exact same pattern that he had seen ever since he started doing this. Which meant, he failed to progress even half a step further in his research.

“There’s nothing…”

It also meant that he failed to gain any insight whatsoever to solve this problem.

Actually, this was a normal result. Barrier magic wasn’t his speciality to begin with, so it wasn’t a wonder that he struggled so hard with it, even though he was extremely talented with magic.

Especially considering that the thing that he was researching was a ‘mystic code’.

“Excuse me.”

As Siwoo was racking off his brain, with a towel wrapped around his neck…

An unfamiliar voice could be heard from behind.

Actually, this place wasn’t secluded or anything, so Eloa, Sharon, the lively twins, and even Albireo and Deneb sometimes, would stop by to have a chat with him.

Though it was called a lab, it felt more like his second living room or something.

When Siwoo turned around to see who it was, a witch with a very noble-like bearing stood before him.

From his experience working at the host club, he quickly figured out the witch’s identity.

She gave off a ‘white’ impression.

A white lace dress that showed little of her skin and corset made of whale cartilage.

Spotless, clean-looking white stockings and garter belts, visible through the thin fabric.

With a fan, made of swan feathers, in her hand, she looked like a bride whose marriage was scheduled today. Every single article of clothing that she wore was white.

“Greetings, Madame Witch.”

Even in Gehenna, the city that was filled with old-fashioned witches, only the conservative witches would ever wear such clothes.

Judging from the material of the fabrics and the accessories on her outfits, he could infer that she was a noble, at least a Baroness.

Her ash-colored hair, tied up high by a pure white flower that looked pretty fresh, as if it was alive, glistened beautifully.

She looked familiar to Siwoo, but it was only when he saw the glint in her red eyes that he could tell who she was.

Since that glint was similar to a certain apprentice witch who had been challenging him to games of Witch Board recently.

“What brings the exalted Countess Lucy Yesod here?”

Siwoo’s heart started pounding.

Is she here to give me an earful for hanging out with her apprentice?

It would be nice if she’s here to help me out with my research though…

I couldn’t find anyone with a better understanding regarding barrier magic compared to the Yesod…

With that in mind, he met the countess’ gaze.

“You know me?”

“Of course. Your work on the First Law of the Yesod Magic Field deeply astonished me. In fact, I always refer to it from time to time in my research.”

How was that? That was the ass-kissing skill I obtained through my time as a host!

Mixing in truths with your flattery always works so that the other person wouldn’t realize that you’re kissing their ass!

Just as he expected, the countess accepted his flattery well as the words that came out of her mouth next flowed out in a satisfied tone.

“Oho? That’s surprising. These days, many witches started to ignore pure magic and became obsessed with practical magic instead. It seems like you belong among the rare, yet upstanding witches. Even though you’re a man.”

“Please, you’re flattering me.”

Even until now she hadn’t mentioned anything about Diana, so Siwoo assumed that she didn’t come here because of that.

“By the way… Is that look… Normal for you?”

“Huh? Ah, sorry, I just finished sparring…”

The countess’ rather shy gaze made him realize that he was still shirtless at the moment.

In other words, his body, which was better than the people who went to the gym regularly, was completely visible to the countess.

After he started his training with Eloa, his muscle volume began increasing, it was to the point that even he himself would stop and stare to admire his body.

Still, that didn’t mean he didn’t feel awkward to show it off to someone he met for the very first time, so he quickly put on the shirt that she threw away nearby.

It was only then did Countess Yesod stopped looking around furtively and approached him with confident steps.

“Hmm…”

Then, she stared at the tied up Red Branch without saying anything.

“May I ask what business you have with me?”

“…”

The countess didn’t even bother to answer him, instead she turned around to look at his face.

She was quite tall for a woman.

If she were to take off her high heels, she’d probably stand tall at 168 cm, similar height to Diana’s.

Since that was the case, there was a risk that he’d whiff up her scent by accident, so he took a step back.

But the countess stopped him, grabbing his collar decisively.

Startled by this, Siwoo stared at her with a dumbfounded look.

Meanwhile, the countess let out a smirk, along with her voice that sounded sweet, like chocolates.

Licking her bright red lips, which contrasted with her pure white skin and dress, she…

“You buttoned your shirt wrong.”

Then, she started to unbutton it, one by one.

As if they were newlyweds, as if she was a wife who was about to see her husband off work for the first time. This development left Siwoo dumbfounded.

Before he knew it, the countess slipped her finger between his open shirt.

“This lab… Does anyone visit it often?”

She threw a blatant seducing gaze at him while grazing his chest with her well-groomed fingertips.

‘If people barely come here, why don’t we have some fun…?’

That was what her gestures were suggesting to him.

By this point, Siwoo was used to such a thing.

When he was working as a host, at least ten witches would try to drag him into bed every single day.

Though all those offers were tempting, he resolved himself to never receive those kinds of offers, so he had always been refusing them outright and this time should be no different.

It was just, he didn’t expect a countess would do this to him.

That was why he was a little dumbfounded, but at the same time, he felt extremely uneasy.

Because…

She exuded the same atmosphere as Countess Albireo just a while ago.

Not only that, the circumstances surrounding both cases were also similar.

Back then, Albireo tried to seduce Siwoo to see if he’d just sleep with anyone even though he had such an intimate relationship with the twins.

This time, there was a huge chance that Countess Yesod was doing the same thing because of his relationship with Diana.

“Countess Gemini occasionally pays me a visit. Also, pardon me, Countess, you still haven’t told me why you came here…”

“Is that so? Pardon me, then.”

From the way Countess Yesod backed down and straightened her posture, as if she had never asked such a risque question, Siwoo’s guess was correct.

The atmosphere that reminded him of a desperate widow that had been missing the embrace of her passing man had also disappeared from her.

“Ahem.”

After she cleared her throat…

Countess Yesod finally uttered the real reason why she was here.

“I’m here because I have an offer for you.”

1. A reference to Naruto, Might Guy\'s ultimate technique.2. This is the reason why Eloa was able to overhear his intercourse with Sharon tens of chapters ago, even though he turned on the music box.