Chapter 181
Chapter 181
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: Enjoyable Daily Life (3)
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1.
Homunculi had originally sustained their existence by hunting witches.
Hundreds of years ago, there were plenty of witches and very few homunculi, which made it possible.
But as time passed, their numbers dwindled due to various incidents, suicides, murders, and the like.
In contrast, the homunculi kept awakening from hibernation in accordance with some inscrutable design, their population steadily growing.
If the ratio of witches to homunculi before the Middle Ages had been about 10 to 1, it shifted to 1 to 1 through the modern era, and by the present day, it had reversed to a stark 1 to 10—a gap that was widening at an alarming rate.
From that point on, homunculi plagued by a shortage of prey began devouring humans.
Whether they had always possessed such a means or whether some starving homunculus contrived it in desperation is unknown, but they have a method to convert a human's 'karma' into mana.
As a result, most homunculi opted to flock to sprawling metropolises, where far more prey clustered conveniently together than in remote wildernesses or rugged hinterlands.
This is why the majority of Location Point branches are situated in major cities.
Elroa Tiphereth, who had passed through Border Town's 'gate' to reach the Han River, headed straight for a Location Point.
Among them, she chose the Gwanghwamun branch—one of the most active hunting grounds in the east, alongside those in Macau, Odaogou, and Shinjuku.
"........."
"......Oh."
The moment Elroa stepped out of the elevator into the bustling office, a hush fell over the room, as if she had entered a library.
Witches and human staff alike offered quiet bows in respect.
Even though Tiphereth had founded Location Point, she had relinquished all authority fifty years prior.
However, all subjugation intel was shared via Location Point's database, and it was the exiles—rather than Gehenna's witches—who truly appreciated her accomplishments.
The deference they showed her was that due a living legend, or even a saint.
"Back to your duties, everyone."
Raising her hand slightly in acknowledgment, Tiphereth made for the branch chief's office on the top floor.
Most witches are independent and headstrong.
Forcing them—each in pursuit of their own 'truth'—into structured roles with assigned duties would send nine out of ten fleeing.
Yet not all witches share the same disposition.
Some find comfort in stable order, control, and oversight.
The Gwanghwamun branch chief, Suah Agatha, was one such witch.
She had seized the burdensome position before Tiphereth could even nominate anyone.
The top floor, reached by climbing the stairs, evoked an old yangban household or a traditional Japanese ryotei.
Instead of Western wooden doors, papered sliding panels lined the hall, and the heated ondol floor demanded shoes be removed before entry.
As Elroa slipped off her shoes, the panels parted one by one, revealing a spacious office.
Suah, the branch chief, was in the midst of brewing tea at a low table before a screen painted with the Four Gentlemen.
"It's been a while, Teacher Suah. You haven't changed a bit."
"Ten years, my lady. Please, sit. I've brought in some fine Hadong tea."
"Very well."
Her expression serene as ever, her demeanor leisurely.
Clad in elegant hanbok as if stepped from a beauty scroll, her black hair neatly braided up, her clear gray eyes limpid as a mirror-still pond.
Suah, seated demurely as she poured tea into two cups, was graceful as an orchid, fresh as a hydrangea.
Her gaze, honed by wisdom and intellect, turned to Elroa with a hint of pity.
"For one such as yourself to grace us with your presence... it must be news of the witch from Borbyeong Palace, the one you pursued, having perished?"
"Indeed."
"My deepest condolences."
"No need for that. Isn't it my own dawdling that allowed it?"
Elroa spoke plainly, brushing it off like raindrops from her clothes.
Straight-backed amid futile regrets, her bearing was the epitome of a warrior's ideal.
Yet Suah, her longtime companion, could see it:
the sleet-like melancholy and aimless wandering weighing heavily on Elroa's shoulders.
"I sent word to you immediately upon hearing the rumors myself, but..."
"I know. Yours was the first report I checked. I'm not here to dwell on what's already passed."
"Then...?"
"The enemy knight I was tracking fled here. I'd like assistance pinpointing its location."
"An enemy knight, you say?"
Suah betrayed rare surprise.
She turned to Elroa, who nodded readily.
"Don't you have that 'contract' of yours?"
Among the contract magics Tiphereth favored was one that specified mutual locations.
She could track any homunculus that entered her sight with ease.
"I did. But it vanished suddenly. As if it just... disappeared."
Yet in the brief interval Elroa had visited Gehenna...
the connection snapped like a lie.
A public enemy, perhaps—but a mere homunculus shouldn't possess the intellect to sever a contract.
Hence her visit to Location Point.
"Goodness..."
"Can you pull up the missing persons statistics?"
"The latest update is from three months ago... Will that suffice?"
"I'd like to see them first."
Enemy knight.
Suah arched her finely drawn brows at the infamous homunculus's evasion but rose from her seat.
Padding lightly in her white socks, she retrieved a document from the densely packed shelves of files.
"Here it is."
"My thanks."
Tiphereth flipped through the pages, scanning the missing persons data.
Those devoured by homunculi vanish from worldly records, so standard stats from insurers or officials can't identify victims.
Location Point thus compiled its own statistics to analyze disappearance trends and pinpoint homunculus activity zones.
But nothing stood out.
In a metropolis like Seoul with its density, a hundred disappearances a month was hardly unusual.
"Any reports or suspicious signs otherwise? The thing was nearly dead—it must've targeted civilians to recover mana."
"Now that you mention it, today a witch exchanging a large batch of crystals handed over something dubious. The analysis lab says it came from subjugating an aberrant homunculus."
"Aberrant homunculus?"
"Yes. It had at least a thousand eyes, and bore something neither crystal nor byproduct."
"I'd like to see it myself."
"I'll guide you."
Before heading to the analysis lab together, Suah glanced at Elroa.
Elroa, who had abandoned even magical research to devote herself to vengeance and preventing others' suffering.
Now, having lost half her reason for living, what must her heart feel in carrying out her duty? Suah couldn't fathom it.
"My lady, why not entrust this to me and take some rest?"
Elroa paused, then offered a faint smile.
A fragile smile, as if prodded it might shatter into tears.
"I'll accept the sentiment, Teacher. Once this is done, I plan to rest a bit. You can't just pluck a fish that's taken the bait with your hands, can you?"
"Forgive my impertinence."
"No matter. Above all, I can't believe that wicked witch died so easily. That cunning, tenacious woman must be alive somehow, beyond anything I could imagine."
"Surely she is."
Even as Elroa spoke like one lost in delusion, Suah nodded and accompanied her to the lab.
2.
Sharon cursed the heavens once more.
"........."
"........."
"........."
They'd escaped the Location Point—a high-risk zone with Della on the prowl—without incident, only to run into her on the street of all places.
Her heart pounded.
Sharon had a guilty conscience toward Della.
One-sided bullying aside, she'd hunted in the territory Della had claimed via their duel and raked in billions, then exchanged it.
Della, who clung tenaciously without cause, playing schoolyard bully to Sharon.
If she learned of this, she'd surely demand the money or sneer about thieves.
And moreover...
Sharon glanced at Siwoo's face.
Siwoo had boasted he'd beaten Della for her sake; Sharon had played along, pretending ignorance.
But bumping into Della like this would unravel his lie and hers alike.
Better send Siwoo ahead elsewhere and handle the aftermath alone.
As Sharon thought to call to him...
"Hello."
Unexpectedly, Siwoo greeted Della first.
Her lips twisted downward.
Sharon had never seen Della make such a face.
A mix of weariness, clear revulsion, utter bewilderment.
The expression Sharon always wore around Della.
For Della—brimming with such narcissism and arrogance—to wear it? Impossible.
"...Hi."
As Della replied curtly to Siwoo's greeting, Sharon secretly pinched her thigh.
That haughty Della responding before picking a fight?
Ignoring Sharon entirely?
This had to be a dream.
"Sorry about last time. Are your injuries okay?"
"...None of your concern."
Injuries? None of your concern?
Sharon couldn't keep up.
She grasped none of the conversation's context.
"Well, we'll be off then."
"Uh... huh...?"
With a casual nod, Siwoo passed Della without further ado.
Arms linked, Sharon—stiff as a board—found herself dragged along.
No fear from Siwoo, no worry his lie might unravel.
Just nonchalance, like bumping into an acquaintance.
But Della, letting them pass so easily?
That woman with grudges like late-autumn mosquitoes and tenacity like a leech?
In her bewilderment, Sharon could scarce tell left from right.
"Hey."
There it was.
The world finally made sense.
Della would surely unleash a torrent of insults right on cue...
Yet Della merely turned, chewing her lip in displeasure before speaking.
"Next time we fight, I win."
Her glare venomous, like shooting daggers at a foe.
As if she might pounce any second...
Yet unable to.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't come at you again because I lack confidence—because we agreed. Got it?"
"Yeah... sure, whatever."
Siwoo trailed off, as if her fervor baffled him.
An ambiguous reply, borderline mocking.
Normal Della would've exploded thrice over...
But Della merely glared with blazing eyes before pivoting like a model and striding off.
That retreating figure felt oddly familiar.
Like seeing her own back, fleeing Della laden with resentment, unable to utter a word.
"What're you doing? Reservation time."
"Huh? Oh... right."
Sharon, dazed, let Siwoo lead her blinking into the pasta place.