Chapter 294
Chapter 294
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 294
Chapter Title: Return (2)
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1.
Come to think of it, we naturally ended up sharing the same room, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
It was probably just a habit from our recent days living together in that officetel.
The first floor felt way too crowded anyway, so we asked to have our meals sent up to the room.
Eating under those burdensome stares from the witches earlier would've given us indigestion for sure.
The room was a "special" double with two single beds.
Truth be told, it was a stretch to even call it special.
The buildings in Border Town were shabbier overall than those in Tarot Town.
This room alone felt like some rundown old pension—what else could you call it?
It had a fireplace and a makeshift shower-toilet combo in the corner powered by magic, but you couldn't shake the seedy vibe.
"It's much better than I expected."
But our Master Eloa didn't seem fazed in the slightest.
"What do you think?"
"This is plenty good enough for me."
After five years surviving in a hamster cage, give me a clean bed without bugs and I can sleep anywhere.
Siu and Eloa dragged the table over, using the facing beds as chairs to finish a simple dinner.
With the liquor that came up alongside dinner placed in the center, a casual conversation flowed naturally.
"Staying somewhere like this now and then makes for fond memories, don't you think?"
"Absolutely, Master. It's got that quirky pension charm—I like it."
The weather was already chilly, and with the fine drizzle falling, it felt downright brisk.
Eloa sat comfortably by the fireplace, accepting the glass Siu offered with a languid expression.
She finally asked the questions she'd put off while buried in her research on controlling the Red Branch.
"Master... what are your plans going forward?"
"Hmm. I haven't fulfilled all the contract payments yet, so I need to rest up fully until I'm recovered."
Eloa had burned through too many contracts at once in that last brutal fight.
She'd need a solid one or two months of proper rest.
"After that... I'll keep doing what I was doing."
Rafi's words that weren't quite a dying wish.
A promise that wasn't fully a promise.
She meant to honor it.
To protect those dying in ignorance.
To purge the impurities fouling the world.
She'd wander the earth, hunting homunculi and public enemies.
But it would be different from before.
Nothing like the days when she'd wallowed in guilt, repeating meaningless atonement.
That alone filled Eloa with deep gratitude toward Siu.
"Please don't push yourself too hard."
Siu knew Eloa's circumstances well enough that he had no right to try stopping her—and didn't think he could anyway.
But no matter how strong she was, he'd witnessed her in peril right up close.
The moment where, if he hadn't stepped in, she might've lost her life.
Eloa smiled softly at Siu's worried gaze.
Her pink eyes flickered in time with the fireplace flames.
A disciple fretting over his master. A master gazing fondly at her disciple.
"You really worry too mu..."
A sound sliced through that tender moment.
From the room right next door, no less.
'Ahhn~ I told you that's sensitive~'
'Hehe, after drenching you like this, what're you whining about, you prickly she-cat!'
It wasn't their senses picking it up—they weren't superhuman or anything.
The Reclining Serpent Shelter was, as the name implied, a wooden building in an old style.
Soundproofing? Just log walls between rooms.
"You really worry too mu..."
Eloa's attempt to ignore it and press on fell flat as another perfectly timed "local broadcast" blared out.
'Hng~ Yeah! There... haa... right there...'
'You like it here? Spread wider.'
'How much wi—ahhn...'
Eloa, who'd barely been opening up to defuse things, clamped shut like a clam.
Unable to meet Siu's eyes, she glanced away on instinct—her pupils vibrating at ludicrous speed.
Eloa wasn't the only one flustered.
Siu had frozen stiff from the sheer awkwardness.
From dinner onward, he'd heard laughter and figured they were just a lovey-dovey couple.
Never dreamed it'd escalate to this kind of stimulation.
But Siu wasn't the clueless virgin he used to be.
Sitting there listening to the next room's lovemaking would only make it worse, right?
He forced the most nonchalant grin he could muster to brush it off.
"Haha, they seem pretty tight."
"......"
But jokes like that need someone to play along.
Eloa just hugged her knees tight, silent and utterly lost.
"C-Cough!"
Her trembling hand snatched the glass; she sipped and promptly choked.
-Slap! Slap!
'Ang! Ang! Ahn! Ahn! Harder!'
'You damn firecracker...!'
Aware of their plight or not, the couple next door kicked into high gear.
So rough you could hear flesh smacking—the classic "pounding rice cakes" rhythm.
Even with a platonic female friend where romance was zero possibility, it'd be mortifying.
But this was Eloa. Unavoidable or not, they'd shared bodies before.
And Siu knew she was hyper-aware of it, super conscious.
The way she never breathed a word about that time...
"...L-Lately, must be the contract payments... my ears aren't working right. I, I'm gonna wash up."
"Understood."
Eloa folded the blanket from her lap and stood.
Maybe realizing how odd that sounded, she quickly backpedaled.
"J-Just washing! Means nothing..."
Obviously, not the reaction of someone who'd heard zilch.
Just panic-spouting nonsense.
Siu bit back a laugh at Eloa, the picture of a guilty conscience.
"......"
But the corner shower setup left much to be desired.
Plumbing was there, but no proper door—just a tent-like curtain.
Everything would carry, water noise or otherwise.
Siu tactfully rose from his seat.
"Then I'll step out for some air."
"O-Oh... alright."
Leaving Eloa red as a ripe persimmon, Siu headed out.
"Haa..."
Only after Siu left did Eloa finally exhale.
Next door, the ecstatic moans and beastly male grunts continued unabated.
How had she endured listening to that with Siu? Dizziness hit her anew.
"Uu..."
She shook her head wildly, stripped, and let the water cascade over her.
Nothing clears stray thoughts like a shower... except...
'G-Gonna cuuum...!'
The intermittent wall noise choked her breath short.
"Already said I can't hear a thing..."
Good thing Siu bought it, but suddenly bailing after that lame excuse would look suspicious.
Plus, contract-wise, it was bedtime for Eloa.
Small mercy: they'd wrap up soon?
Normal sex doesn't drag all day like Siu's special case—she'd learned that much.
With things peaking hard right now, him being away might actually be a blessing.
"Why does this crap only happen to me..."
Peeping Sharon's steamy night.
Witnessing Periwinkle and Siu screwing via guardian contract.
Pajamas suddenly slipping to bare her chest.
The whole world felt absurdly unfair to Eloa.
2.
"Phew, dodged a mega-awkward bullet there."
Siu stepped out front to smoke and catch some air.
First floor had seemed all guys earlier, but prime time now—hallway couples tangled up, sucking face and going wild the second he opened the door.
"Pardon me. Coming through."
Siu stylishly disrupted three couples before making it outside.
Perched on a decent hill, the Reclining Serpent Shelter offered a full panorama of Border Town's nightscape.
As Gehenna's goods hub, the distant docks glowed under work lights even now.
"Sssip... haa..."
He lit the cigarette, drew in smoke, and exhaled his worries with it.
He'd bailed because Eloa seemed so thrown, but it wasn't like Siu was unfazed.
"Head's spinning."
Popular kids hook up drunk with guy/girl friends at motels and shrug it off like nothing.
Not Siu's world.
For starters, memories from that rainwater tunnel were burned deep into his brain.
He remembered Eloa's body down to every detail.
Even clothed, he could picture her naked underneath, every inch.
Siu had done his best not to dwell, keeping distance so as not to fluster her.
But this fiasco dragged it all back up.
If things with Eloa had been more casual, body-wise...
In that moment earlier, couldn't he have playfully started kissing, heard her panting again?
Grab those overflowing tits from behind, unload deep inside?
"Can't shake these sleazy thoughts. Damn it! Finally lost it?"
As he clawed his hair amid the sticky obsessions, self-loathing sinking in.
"Honey, whatcha doing out here alone?"
"Gah!"
Sudden voice from behind jolted him.
He turned: a woman in a pointy conical hat poking his shoulder with her finger.
"Oh my oh my, had a hunch and bingo. It's you, right? The one who came with Tiphereth Duke earlier... hmm... male witch? Eyepatch is cool. Fashion statement?"
Her witchy beauty—not your everyday street look—clicked instantly: the one nursing drinks solo on the first floor.
"What's your business?"
Siu bristled with caution on the spot.
Habit ingrained from modern life.
Plenty good witches out there, sure—but some fixate hard on his uniqueness.
"Gotta have business to chat? Just wanted to talk."
"Sorry, gotta head back soon."
He sensed bad vibes from those sparkling eyes.
Can't hate attention from a pretty girl.
But witch curiosity as the root? Instant no.
"Hey hey hey! Hold up, why the rush?"
The witch snatched his wrist, beaming sweetly.
Siu spotted near-maniacal curiosity lurking in those pretty crescent eyes.
"Not scheming anything bad—just wanna grab a drink with me?"
"Nah, I've had plenty."
"So prickly."
He tugged, but her grip clamped like handcuffs.
"Got tons to ask, y'know. What's the deal with Tiphereth Duke? Friends with benefits or what?"
"Hey."
"If it's nothing, no harm hanging with me. Right?"
Super clingy.
Felt like a college girl getting hit on outside a club bathroom.
Give it a rest.
"Sorry, really gotta go back. Master's waiting."
"Master?"
"Eloa Duke."
"Casual with the name? So you are close."
Witches mostly march to their own beat.
Arrogant, self-centered—call it what you will.
Like those pampered chaebol heiresses in dramas being all picky: born witches, fawned over their whole lives, they carry entitlement like a wallet.
"No."
Siu yanked his arm free with a curt tone; the witch's face soured visibly.
No words needed: "A mere man rejects me?"
"Rude-ass rushed mutant! Think you're hot shit, huh...?"
Events veered right into predictable territory.
Win a fight?
Siu instinctively sized up his odds.
Then.
"He is something."
A familiar voice cut in.
"The man who killed that cowardly witch."
Supermodel stature, flawless proportions.
Wavy navy-blue hair, stunning dress.
Kybele Periwinkle, wrapped in effortless poise like a shawl, nightscape at her back.