Chapter 202
Chapter 202
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 202
Chapter Title: Those We Almost Lost
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1.
Sharon huddled in the corner.
Her appearance reminded him of the day she had been chased out of her rooftop room and come looking for Siu.
No, she looked far more depressed than that.
Even her once-lustrous hair seemed wilted, dry and brittle.
"...Siu..."
Sharon called his name in a cracked voice.
It was heartbreakingly feeble.
"I heard you almost got hurt because of me... Are you okay?"
It had been a really long time since he'd seen Sharon this drained.
Even with her quirky side, she lived her life boldly and energetically, as if that was her motto.
He quietly sat on the edge of the bed to comfort her.
Sharon shook her head vigorously.
"I'm fine. I didn't get hurt... But... but..."
Sharon stammered a couple of times, then shuddered as the shocking scene from earlier flashed in her mind.
She gripped Siu's hand tightly, her voice and body trembling like a patient with hypothermia.
"I... I thought something bad had happened to you... I thought you were dying... Hic... Hic..."
Her voice filled with sobs, soon turning into full-blown weeping as she crawled into Siu's arms and clung to him.
The fresh fragrance emanating from her entire body and the soft touch of her form.
He embraced Sharon's head, which was heaving as if her shoulders might shatter, and patted her back.
"It was so, so scary... So scary... Waaah...!"
"It's okay. Don't cry over something like this. I'm fine, see?"
"I couldn't do anything... Nothing at all...!"
Relief, helplessness, the terror and despair of that moment all crashed over her at once. Sharon clung to Siu so tightly it seemed she couldn't hold on any harder.
Just having Siu—the one she'd feared losing forever—safe in her arms brought a wave of relief.
Yet the memory of her own powerlessness in that moment when he nearly died haunted her.
Faced with her tangled emotions, Siu felt his own chest tighten.
It was anger toward the Tiphereth Duke for making her cry like this, mingled with gratitude for how much she worried about him.
"Look, I'm right here, aren't I? My injuries seem all healed up too. Calm down, Sharon."
"Yeah... Yeah, I'll calm down... Yeah..."
Meanwhile, the twins who had followed Siu and were watching the scene from behind.
"........."
"........."
Odil poked Odet in the side, then grabbed her wrist and quietly pulled her away, closing the door behind them.
Odet had stayed silent, feeling like she should, but finally spoke up.
"Why, sis?"
"Let's just give them space. She's bawling her eyes out."
"I want to hug Assistant too..."
"You hugged him yesterday!"
"Like I said earlier, you betrayed me first, sis."
The twins flopped down on the living room sofa.
It had been a day full of so many events.
Thinking back to Siu lying on the rooftop like he was dead still made their hearts sink.
It was because it had played out just like the time the Aquarius Witch had raided Gehenna.
"Anyway... I think the one who needs Assistant more right now is that sister. We're more mature than that."
"I feel kinda uneasy. Annoyed."
"Me too. But what can we do? She's someone who helped him while he was in the mortal world, and he'll help her too."
They knew from their master what state Siu was in upon arriving in the mortal world.
A lonely existence where his karmic ties had dissipated, unable to form normal human relationships.
On top of that, it was a precarious situation where homunculi or exiles might target him at any moment.
So when they first saw Sharon, they felt betrayed and angry toward Siu, but also grateful.
The moment they heard he'd been left alone on the battlefield, her eyes had rolled back in fury as she rushed to him. That confirmed she was someone who stayed by his side so he wouldn't be lonely.
"This must be what adult magnanimity is."
"Hng..."
"Wanna try on the new pajamas we bought?"
"Yeah, sis."
While Siu was calming Sharon down, the twins changed into their pajamas and sat on the sofa, chatting away.
2.
The Wizpoint Gwanghwamun branch was incredibly hectic.
There had never been this much work since the branch's founding.
An emergency summons had gone out to not only Wizpoint witches but also ordinary exiles, offering hefty rewards.
"What a lavish display..."
Sua Branch Manager sighed, pressing her temples.
She felt like she'd burned through a year's worth of mental energy just responding to the hotlines that had been ringing off the hook with complaints and issuing orders.
In just one day—and without even an inner barrier—there had been around 3,000 casualties.
The number of survivors whose memories needed altering was more than five times that.
They had issued media blackouts through the Korean government and temporarily isolated eyewitnesses, including military and police in the area.
Unlike the old days when rumors spread mouth-to-mouth, in the modern era, information proliferated through data and networks, demanding swift action.
Ten witches were running themselves ragged performing mass hypnosis for memory erasure and manipulation, and they had even requested help from other Wizpoint branches.
It felt like trying to put out a massive wildfire with a single bucket.
Still, to cut to the chase, they had just barely met the deadline.
It was a miracle made possible by their immediate response upon the incident and the addition of nationwide administrative power to magic.
The Coex Mall incident would be wrapped up as a gas leak accident.
In such cases, the architects or the building's owning company would take the full blame, but there was no helping it.
Not just the Korean government, but leaders of major powers like the US, China, and Japan all dreaded the witches' existence becoming public knowledge.
In other words, foreign media wouldn't uncover the truth either.
Of course, perfectly controlling all data and information was nearly impossible.
With so many suspicious aspects, plenty of people would harbor doubts.
Some would even try to spread the truth.
But scientism, born from scientific progress, conveniently worked in their favor here.
People would trust official government announcements and credible foreign articles over eyewitness accounts of monsters chomping on people.
And as time passed, interest in the incident itself would fade.
Even if voices arose later, they'd be dismissed as conspiracy theories and lose traction.
In fact, numerous major historical disasters had been caused by homunculi or public enemies, but proper scripts and responses had kept the witches' existence hidden.
"Countess Deneb, this is Sua Branch Manager."
[Yes, go ahead.]
Amid the disastrous incident, there was a silver lining.
Countess Deneb, expert in large-scale mental manipulation, happened to be in Korea on business.
Her Nature Magic could affect thousands or tens of thousands of non-magic-resistant humans simultaneously.
"How is the progress so far?"
[Healing of survivors inside the building is complete, and we're treating the injured now. Let me see... We'll need about another 12 hours.]
"We are deeply grateful for your assistance."
[It's nothing. We'll discuss this matter later.]
Sua ended the call and contacted the Tiphereth Duke.
The second stroke of luck was that Eloa, who had been tracking the Contract Knight, was also still in Korea.
Even after temporarily losing her sight as payment for the contract, she had searched for the culprit right after the incident to prevent further disasters.
"My lady, can you hear me?"
[...I hear you.]
"Wouldn't it be better to take a short rest?"
But Eloa, with her tracking skills honed by long experience, hadn't found anything yet—which proved the black hand behind it had long since vanished, with no further threats imminent.
Sua knew well how cornered Eloa was in many ways and urged her to rest again, but the response was the same.
[I'll keep searching until I can't anymore.]
"Yes, as you wish, my lady..."
The curt, exhausted voice cut off the communication.
3.
Eloa scanned her surroundings with a blank expression.
The rural eastern outskirts, which a hundred years ago had nothing but mountains and fields, had flourished like this.
Dozens of skyscrapers clawed at the sky, overlooking the land, while ten million humans teemed through the spiderweb of complex urban streets.
But she had no leisure to marvel at the changes, nor the energy to desperately search for the culprit.
She was merely mimicking familiar actions convincingly, hiding her true feelings as ingrained habits dictated.
"........."
She thought she had found Ea Sadalmelik.
The circumstances were suspicious enough that anyone would suspect her.
More precisely, she still hadn't cleared her suspicions about the man once called Siu.
However.
Even with the purpose of her crumbling life right before her eyes again, no motivation stirred within her—not even a flicker of surprise.
Sharp voices pierced the crevices of her hollowed heart.
[How much... however much it is, I'll give it all... Siu would never do anything bad... The Duke... is a good person too... I knew it... You're mistaken right now... You'll regret it later...]
The green-haired exile who had offered her entire fortune to save him.
[He is a guest of our family! He has absolutely no connection to this incident! And he wouldn't do such a thing anyway!]
Deneb, who had rarely raised her voice in anger at Eloa.
[Is this what you made him into?]
An apprentice witch glaring at Eloa with eyes full of rage.
The reflection of herself in those eyes was still vivid.
Eloa couldn't deny that the apprentice had overlapped with Rafi in that moment.
The villain who had nearly taken someone's precious person away was right here.
"I... I..."
Eloa collapsed in place, hugging her own body.
She had thought it was the right thing.
In this chaotic world, out of sight, she had believed she needed to extend a hand to those losing their loved ones.
But now she couldn't tell what was what.
The boundaries blurred.
Right and wrong.
What must be done and what must not.
Justice and revenge.
Victim and perpetrator.
Insight and stubbornness.
Altruism and selfishness.
Everything tangled and surged up her chest like vomit.
It felt like she would crumble.
She wanted to run from it all like this.
There was no need to pass on the stigma either.
Eloa's apprentice witch had been solely Rafi Tiphereth.
'Tiphereth' ended here.
"No."
Eloa slowly rose to her feet.
Forcing her shattered heart back together piece by piece, she rallied her will.
It was as futile as tying strings to a corpse.
There were still things she hadn't finished.
She would end it only after confirming everything—not too late.
Not all suspicions were cleared yet, after all.
She would find that man.
Eloa launched herself into Seoul's night sky.
To find the clue that would tie everything up.
Does the crooked moon wail coldly?