Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Della Redcliff
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1.
Heading out boldly had been fine up to that point.
But just a few hours earlier, she had finished searching the area with Siwoo.
If things that hadn't been working out just fell into place smoothly with nothing but the mindset of "I must earn money diligently!", Sharon wouldn't be struggling like she was now.
"Haa..."
The rooftop of the university hospital, where the bustling streets of Sinchon stretched out in a dizzying bird's-eye view far below.
Sharon slumped atop the water tank, gazing at her compass with a grim expression.
"It always disappears right when I need it most. So damn annoying."
She could feel the crisp morning air heating up as it met the sun's rays.
On the other hand, Sharon's own heated ambitions were deflating like a punctured balloon.
She had combed every inch for two hours straight, but nothing had turned up.
The time to teach Siwoo magic was approaching, yet the compass needle mocked her ignorance, spinning lazily in circles.
"What now..."
Was it because she had been taking it too easy lately?
The pressure she now faced after so long felt heavier than usual, weighing down on her chest.
What if she couldn't scrape together the money to pay back by the end of two months?
The Gemernai family was famously wealthy and wouldn't come knocking after just a day or two of delay.
But that didn't mean the pressure wasn't there.
"It'd be better if they did show up—at least then I could explain my situation..."
From experience, failing to meet the exact payment date or amount meant an added late fee tacked onto the quarter's sum under the guise of penalties.
In other words, the next quarter would require her to come up with nearly three times the original amount.
It was an outrageous condition, but as good as penniless, Sharon had no choice but to sign debt documents loaded with all sorts of toxic clauses to borrow that kind of lump sum.
"I can't let that happen."
Sharon ended her brief rest and set off again, lightly stepping along the treetops in search of homunculi.
"Oh!"
And then.
Did her desperate prayer finally reach the heavens?
The needle, which had been spinning aimlessly, suddenly locked onto a direction.
Sharon bolted after it without a second thought, bouncing along nimbly.
A homunculus at last!
At least a million won!
A walking third-prize lottery ticket!
Before long, Sharon slipped into the inner domain naturally generated by the homunculus.
"Become fertilizer for my repayments, you cute little bastards."
A dim underpass with train tracks overhead.
But it was so old, and with a new tunnel dug to the east, no cars or people passed through this desolate spot.
Sharon greeted the homunculus she had encountered after so long with a satisfied grin.
Her head tilted curiously as she confirmed its identity.
-Grrr... grrr...
"A dog again?"
It was the same black dog-form homunculus she had met last time—and today, there were five of them.
She had seen a few already, so she figured she might run into more...
But this many? It was easy to suspect someone was mass-producing them.
"Still, good to see you, pups."
What did it matter, anyway?
She didn't know the details, but when life got tough, peripheral details faded from view.
A mere single eye? Even if dozens attacked, she was confident she could handle them all. To Sharon, these five homunculi were nothing but walking bundles of cash.
"Balance!"
Sharon offered up the water from a carefully stored plastic bottle as a sacrifice and swung her wand.
2.
The long-awaited hunt ended without much trouble.
The greatest danger in homunculus hunting was facing them without knowing what magic they might wield.
After all, every homunculus used unique spells based on the legacy it carried.
Well, single-eyes almost never had any, but still.
In that sense, the pack of black dogs posed no threat to Sharon.
Their attacks were just feeble physical strikes, and she was already familiar with their nimble movements.
Killing the beasts that bounced at her like rubber balls from below the underpass was as simple as chopping the head off a fish on a cutting board.
"Hehehe, look at all this."
Sharon crouched amid the rubble of the half-destroyed underpass in the hunt's aftermath.
She rummaged diligently through the homunculi remains, extracting the crystals.
As expected, no legacies in sight—not even a glimpse.
Still, these crystals alone were worth about six million won.
It felt like a breath of fresh air after all that stifling frustration, drawing a grin from her.
But Sharon's smile didn't last long.
-Click-clack, click-clack.
The sharp sound of high-heel shoes echoing through the underpass pierced her ears.
Followed by an arrogant, overbearing voice—pure witch tone—dripping with disdain as it turned toward Sharon.
"Hmm~ What are you doing here?"
"Can't you tell? Hunting."
Sharon straightened up, already sensing a migraine coming on before the conversation even properly began.
There stood that bitch in red... no, Della Redcliff, dressed to the nines in her crimson gown.
From the heel clicks, to the voice, to laying eyes on Della herself—Sharon's face twisted like a kid staring at a plate piled with bitter eggplant. It was a natural progression.
"That's why I'm asking—why are you hunting here?"
"Well, obviously...!"
Oh.
Sharon glanced around, trying to shake off the source of all her woes—Della.
This underpass wasn't on her patrol route.
In her desperation to follow the compass earlier, she hadn't noticed crossing into another territory.
And seeing Della strutting in like she owned the place...
"No, wait—I didn't do it on purpose!"
"Tsk tsk. I thought you were just dumb and pathetic, but no shame either."
Della had clearly pieced it all together from Sharon's flustered reaction.
Even Sharon wouldn't have set foot here if she'd known it was Della's turf.
But to Della, brimming with glee at catching her in the act, the truth hardly mattered.
"Didn't you promise after that duel—never to hunt in my territory again?"
"........."
Sharon instinctively backed away from Della's approach, her face twisted in malicious delight at having the upper hand.
Those ruby-red eyes felt deeply unsettling, like...
Like a snake eyeing its prey?
"I wasn't breaking my promise. Here, take it."
Sharon bit her lip and tossed the crystal to Della.
Better to swallow the shit and move on than pick a fight.
But separately, an unbearable irritation welled up.
Having to bow to Della of all people grated on her.
Della elegantly snatched the sparkling crystal mid-air.
She rolled it around her palm for a moment before casually dropping it to the ground.
It clattered across the asphalt, scattering haphazardly.
-Clatter!
"What would I need trash like this for? It isn't even worth much."
Sharon's eyes—those of a slave to capitalism—sadly watched the crystals scatter mournfully.
Too late, she tore her gaze away, but Della just chuckled mockingly.
"Only a cheap, broke witch like you would bother picking them up. Right?"
"...I gave you the crystal. I wouldn't have come if I'd known it was your hunting ground."
"A thief caught stealing returns the item to its rightful owner... and that's supposed to be the end of it?"
Sharon ground her teeth.
Della was one of the wealthier witches.
Sharon had never heard of her hunting low-grade homunculi like these.
So why not just let her bag a few instead of interfering and calling it theft?
Della's twisted personality was something Sharon could neither understand nor wanted to.
"So what do you want? Like you said, I'm a broke nobody—I don't have a penny to give you. Step aside; I'm leaving."
Her mood was utterly ruined.
As Sharon stormed past Della with a huff, mocking laughter stabbed into her back.
"Of course~ Piled high with debt, kicked out of your house... I'm not cruel enough to squeeze money out of a penniless wretch like you~"
Sharon's steps halted abruptly, ignoring the taunting song of ill omen.
Kicked out of her house?
A puzzle piece clicked into place in her mind with an audible snap.
Sharon's eyes narrowed.
"...How do you know that?"
"What do you mean?"
"How do you know I got kicked out of my house?"
"I have my ways. I've been keeping a close eye on you, Miss Sharon. Just in case you do something illegal... You have no idea how worried I am."
Sharon's suspicions hardened into certainty at Della's shrug and oily smirk.
Della had somehow been involved in her eviction.
"Want proof?"
Della remained utterly unfazed under Sharon's glaring, gritted-teeth stare.
After all, their duel had ended in Della's overwhelming victory.
And right now, no matter how Sharon thrashed, she couldn't even graze Della.
"Get lost."
"No, I want to show you proof of how much I care and worry about you."
Della artfully kicked a crystal with her pointed heel.
It rolled to a stop at Sharon's feet.
"I'll even let you pick up that pittance. It's just bar tab money to me, but not to you, right?"
Humiliation made her clenched jaw tremble.
What grudge could justify this thorough, vicious torment? Sharon couldn't fathom it.
Crazy bitch, psycho.
No amount of inner cursing eased the rage.
"Not picking it up? It's a decent haul. Just bend over and grab it—save yourself pasting thousands of flyers."
".........."
Sharon clamped her mouth shut and turned on her heel.
She didn't want to deal with her anymore.
She wasn't worth it to begin with.
Yet Della kept provoking from behind, as if grasping at her ankle.
"Hehe, trying to preserve your pride is why you're still scraping by without paying your debts."
"........."
"You toss aside the work I offer, oblivious to your place— that's how you end up living the miserable life of a debtor."
"........."
She told herself to ignore it, dismissed it as a mad dog's bark.
But the words flew like daggers, stabbing deep.
"Your Evergreen ancestors must be so disappointed. The successor they finally raised can't even properly inherit the stigma, let alone handle her debts..."
Sharon's footsteps stopped dead.
She had endured a lot.
Really endured.
"Fine. I get what you want."
A chilling voice echoed through the underpass.
The low, icy tone brimmed with barely contained fury and passion.
"Oh? What? I don't have any particular intentions."
Della smirked at the sight.
"You bitch—let's throw down again."
Sharon pulled a long pipe from her cloak and clamped it between her teeth.