Chapter 319
Chapter 319
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 319
Chapter Title: Gehenna's Host Bar (2)
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1.
After their belated vacation, the time had finally come for Siu to accomplish his original goal in Gehenna.
Siu was rummaging through the library at Trinity Academy.
Normally, outsiders couldn't just wander in freely, but with the full cooperation of the administrative staff, he'd obtained a pass that let him come and go like it was his own home.
Essential knowledge of field magic, required to decipher the Red Branch.
He'd gathered every related book he could find.
It didn't take long.
Back in his slave days, his official duty had been maintaining and managing the library, so he knew exactly where every book was like the back of his hand.
"Even just roughly gathering them, there's a ton..."
Even a casual collection of books on field magic had piled up the table high.
Each one was thick as a phone book, and there were easily over a hundred volumes.
Of course, they weren't all advanced materials.
Those were kept in places like the Secret Archives in Ars Magna Town or the Assembly of Truth and Principle.
Witches sometimes traded them privately at auctions, too.
In any case, the academy library was packed with ancient tomes, and given how magic progressed over time, "ancient" meant somewhat outdated.
"But even if I looked at the good stuff, I wouldn't understand it... This is probably for the best."
Siu's grasp of field magic was too rudimentary to comprehend advanced texts right away.
Better to study books focused on the basics.
According to Sua Branch Manager, it would take at least ten years to properly wield the Red Branch anyway.
He had plenty of time to spare.
No need to rush.
"Hmm... Shall I start with this one?"
For the first time in ages, he spread out the books and got to work with his pen.
Field magic followed a vastly different path from other spells.
For instance, the magic Siu had researched so far was like sketching an outline, coloring it in step by step, building to completion.
Field magic, on the other hand, completed the whole thing in one go.
Mana was an incredibly vague force.
It had substance yet lacked it, obeyed physical laws yet defied them.
Field magic—spreading mana broadly to induce specific effects—was essentially a battle of how well one could control mana’s inherent ambiguity and irregularity.
Paradoxically, field magic began by denying the properties of mana itself.
Humans simply couldn't deploy a field while accounting for every variable from the start.
"Mana is under the caster’s control, behaves regularly, and obeys standard physical laws."
Within this arbitrary force field, the caster freely constructed their desired image.
This was the first stage of field magic in the "Imaginary Realm."
However, what occurred in an artificially imposed field was, strictly speaking, hardly worthy of being called "magic."
It was no different from a child's boundless imagination, free of all principles and concepts.
The second stage, in the "Symbolic Realm," involved conceptualizing that imagination, grounding it in laws and rules, and making it concrete.
It imposed limits on impossible imaginings and guided their expression into the real world.
But reaching this point brought a problem.
Magic imagined in the Imaginary Realm couldn't exist because it violated the world's principles and laws.
Magic in the Symbolic Realm bent to conform to those principles, drifting far from the original imagination.
Finding the midpoint and manifesting it in the "Real Realm" was what perfected field magic.
It had to obey real-world principles and laws while matching the image from the imagination.
"...Easier said than done."
It was magic where you couldn't verify the process or results until perfection.
To put it simply, it felt like cooking in the dark without tasting as you went.
The fact that Siu had managed, on his own, to partially shield the Red Branch's distortion field was nothing short of a miracle.
No other magic delved so deeply into the realm of pure sensation.
As he groaned through it alone, lunchtime came and went before he knew it.
"Still better than doing it completely by myself, though."
His neck was stiff, and the road ahead was steep, but he felt like he'd at least gotten a sense of it from having nothing before.
That was enough for today.
He couldn't bring something as dangerous as the branch into the academy, so he'd safely stowed it in the annex of the Jemernai estate.
Back home, he'd extract a mana sample, analyze the field, and test out the new concepts he'd picked up today.
"Shall I go see Takasho?"
The twins and Sharon were probably deep in their studies anyway.
To make up for lost time, he used a teleportation formula to head straight to the Malkuth Gallery in Lenormand Town.
"Ugh."
As expected, given the hour, there were way more people than last time.
Hunched over to avoid catching any witches' eyes, Siu hurried to the door of Takasho's host bar and pushed it open.
"Welcome!"
Twelve flower boys—six on each side—lined up and greeted him with radiant smiles.
The sight of these sharply dressed hunks offering their welcome was pure goosebump material.
Apparently, anyone who just opened the door got this treatment...
"Oh? Shin Siu."
As Siu stood there flustered, a familiar face spotted him.
It was Paul, the blond guy who'd guided him the first time he'd come to the host bar with Takasho.
"Sorry, not here as a customer. Looking for Takasho—got a minute now?"
Gehenna really was inconvenient like this.
In the mortal world, a quick text or call would've sufficed.
Seeing it in full swing, he wondered if this was a wasted trip.
Of course, if so, he'd just wait till closing.
No other plans anyway.
"Sure, no problem. He's in the office right now, actually."
Against expectations, Paul ushered him right in without hesitation.
Through the front door, then the middle one, and there was the bar interior, decked out like a salon.
Not being open hours yet, it wasn't messy—no stray wooden crates or anything; everything was neatly tidied.
The cleaned-up shop and its romantic vibe, like it was already nighttime, naturally evoked the thought: They really did a great job with this.
But there was one glaring oddity...
Paul caught Siu tilting his head and gave a wry smile first.
"No customers, right?"
Exactly.
That was why Siu found it so strange: this huge sales floor—with twelve guys just at the entrance—had not a single customer in sight.
It was 3 p.m.
Sure, an awkward time for a regular bar.
But that was for mortal trade; this was Gehenna. The main clientele were witches.
Most witches didn't have proper jobs or fixed schedules.
On a fine afternoon like this, nearby cafes and bars were packed with them—their own golden hour.
Yet here it was utterly empty, not even a lone straggler...
"Especially empty today?"
"Nah, it's pretty much always like this. Over a month since the soft opening."
"What?"
Siu was stunned.
Last time he'd seen Takasho, he'd assumed everything was going great.
That he'd leveraged his talents and adaptability for a self-made success.
But digging deeper, it turned out Takasho Adonai the Earl had fronted the money for the venture, and they were still scrambling to turn a profit.
And a brand-new place had been like this for over a month?
"Tell me more."
He could tell this wasn't something to take lightly.
This wasn't just about business success or failure—it was Takasho's life on the line.
Why hadn't he come clean and asked for help sooner?
Paul hesitated a moment before speaking carefully.
"Truth is, we're all grateful to Takasho bro. Public slaves like us, about to waste our lives cooped up here—and he got us out of that. Trained us himself... At least we get hot meals, a dorm, and some freedom, right?"
"Yeah, I get that."
"But... sales are zilch. Losses piling up weekly instead. No customers means no booze sold, but upkeep costs keep coming, and the weekly liquor orders we committed to are stacking up too."
"We hustle arcade gigs at night, no pay, tightening our belts... but how long can we hold out...?"
Siu scanned the bar interior again.
The liquors in the showcase, the furniture, the carpets—everything screamed luxury, geared for witch clientele.
Even pooling every cent from their side gigs, one of those paintings would be a stretch.
"Hey, Siu. You made it?"
Takasho emerged to greet him—clearly tipped off—with a bright wave and smile.
But seeing Siu's grave expression, his face fell instantly.
He let out a deep sigh and came down.
"Damn it, Paul, you blabbed to him, didn't you?"
"Sorry, bro... Didn't you say he's tight with the witches? If the biz tanks, we just go back to our old posts... but you can't."
"Enough, kid. Get back to work."
Takasho lightly smacked the back of Paul's head—eyes misty with worry—and clicked his tongue.
With a bitter look, he stroked his beard and eyed Siu.
"Hah, didn't wanna show you this sorry state."
"That true?"
"What is?"
"Business that rough?"
Takasho pondered long, then flopped onto the sofa and admitted it.
Bitter taste in his mouth, he lit a cigarette.
"...Suck... Puff..."
Facing Siu across from him, he smoked it down to the filter in silence, then scratched his head.
"Well, y'know. Situation ain't great. Not 'rough' exactly—no, it is. Pretty damn rough."
Even to a close friend, spilling your guts about hard times wasn't easy.
Especially when you had to do it while keeping up a flashy front.
"Tried treating it like a soft opening, managing as best I could..."
"......"
"Turns out the world doesn't just hand you smooth sailing."
Takasho laughed it off like no big deal, but Siu felt uneasy.
Five years of thick and thin together.
Of course he wanted his friend to succeed.
"What's the exact issue? I can help."
"Move spots first? Kids might overhear."
"Sure."
Siu followed behind Takasho, resplendent in his flashy suit, toward the manager's office.