Chapter 370
Chapter 370
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 370
Chapter Title: Bianca's Interest
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Bianca Verille lounged languidly on the sofa, elegantly swirling her wine glass.
The crystal orb before her eyes tracked Jack's bloodied form as he was dragged away by the witch.
"Ho, is that all?"
Bianca was a powerhouse without needing any enhancements.
Whether through Nature Magic, her influence, or the countless relics she owned and crafted.
Few witches could stand against her.
She had personally buried double digits of them and seized their relics and artifacts, after all.
But what made Bianca an even trickier foe was her habit of going all out, even against the weakest witches.
She never gambled with her own life.
Life-or-death bets were best left to others.
Even if her opponent wasn't an archwitch—or even if it was just a lone male witch—she never let her guard down.
She analyzed her prey meticulously, preparing for even a one-in-ten-thousand variable before the hunt began.
And so, she had handed one treasure orb sealing a homunculus to her slave, Jack.
It was an orb containing a possessing-type homunculus that could enter a human body and seize control of their mind.
Not as troublesome as a named homunculus, but still a decent specimen, she'd thought.
Yet Shin Siu had crushed it effortlessly.
Rumor had it he'd trained in martial arts under the Tiphereth Duke, and it seemed the lessons had paid off.
"Stronger than I expected."
"Ugh... ugh... ugh..."
Ea Sadalmelik glared at the crystal orb with eyes burning in hatred.
Her reason had eroded away, her intellect regressed until she became nothing more than an obedient pet dog. Even as drool spilled from her mouth, she couldn't tear her gaze from the man inside the orb.
To still wear her hatred so openly even in this state.
How deep did that loathing run?
"Ugh, filthy thing. Come here."
"Euh... m-master..."
Bianca pulled a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped the drool trickling from Ea's chin.
Ea reflexively clung to her, nuzzling in.
It was a pity.
Ea Sadalmelik had been utterly broken not long ago.
Her fierce, crimson eyes that once gleamed with venom had dulled to the vacant stare of an autistic child. Now she was little more than a convenient vending machine for venting lust at the press of a button.
Perhaps removing her self-defense instincts and pumping her full of drugs had been a misstep?
Bianca, who had found even Ea's feral side endearing, couldn't hide her bitterness.
She'd thought there was still plenty of fun left to be had.
But for the time being, she rather liked Ea in this state.
"If I get bored later..."
She'd cross that bridge when she came to it.
At any rate, her analysis was complete.
A male witch with abilities like that.
No need to say how much more she wanted to add him to her collection.
If she could just lure the Tiphereth Duke away from his side for a moment, everything would proceed smoothly.
It was bound to be an entertaining event.
"Ea, come here. Shall we head to bed together?"
"Y-yes, Master..."
Bianca pulled out a syringe, grabbed Ea's wrist, and headed for the bedroom.
2.
The chain of events from today.
The incident dubbed "Jack the Swordsman's Uprising" in Border Town's daily rag, Canary, had wrapped up neatly.
The official summary went like this:
Jack the Swordsman had his body seized by a homunculus and murdered a fellow decurion. In the process, an apprentice witch from the Yesod family was attacked but repelled by Count Yesod herself.
As you can see, there were a few discrepancies from the facts.
For starters, the gang-rape motive behind the attack on Diana had been omitted.
And it claimed the countess, not Siu, had quelled the incident.
The reason was simple.
'We have to keep this a secret from Mom...'
'Huh? You sure that's okay?'
'What if Mom ends up labeled a Public Enemy...'
'Ah...'
Diana had talked Siu out of it.
If the insanely doting Countess Yesod learned the full truth, she'd raze Border Town to the ground regardless of circumstances.
Indeed, the moment Siu handed over the half-dead Jack, she'd dragged him off to the underground dungeon with a face terrifying enough to haunt nightmares.
She planned to subcontract other witches to uncover the backers.
The countess, crumpling her debt ledger and grinding her teeth with a mutter of "Those administrator scum...", exuded such bone-chilling fury that no one dared approach.
Siu's judgment also factored in that linking the sensational term "attempted rape" to a Yesod apprentice witch would be emotionally damaging for Diana, who already carried bad memories.
For those reasons, the pair had aligned their stories and swept the kidnapping and attempted rape under the rug.
The second issue was something Siu had directly requested from the countess.
'Please keep my involvement a secret.'
Just being a male witch drew enough eyes and attention; no need to stir up more waves.
Gaining confidence that his training hadn't been in vain—and that he could smash even a seventeen-eyed homunculus—was reward enough.
He'd even scored a strangely shaped hairband, so he was content to call it here.
Still, it had been a close call with potential disaster.
Countess Yesod canceled all her plans and spent the time in Diana's bedroom, coaxing and comforting her beloved daughter.
The tears she'd shed could have filled half of the countess's personal bath.
"Phew..."
In truth, Siu couldn't feel entirely blameless.
It had been an accident, plain and simple.
Sure, Border Town's security was rough, but that applied to commoners only. Any witch was safe anywhere.
This wasn't the present world crawling with homunculi and Public Enemies.
But regardless, Diana had faced that ordeal and the homunculus attack because Siu, her supervising instructor, had brought her to Border Town.
Worried the countess's wrath might extend that far, Siu let out a deep sigh.
3.
"My daughter... are you really okay on your own?"
"I'm fine, Mom. Really. See? No serious injuries!"
"Huhu... hu... I'm so sorry I couldn't be by your side..."
"I'm telling you, it's fine. You don't need to apologize."
The moment Countess Yesod heard about Diana, her rage had pierced the heavens.
Her roar of mana, like a mother dragon mourning her lost hatchling, had blown the roof off the building where she was working.
She'd been set to reprimand Border Town's administrators and erase the town's very existence as the root cause, but now she just clutched Diana and sobbed uncontrollably.
"Tonight, you sleep with Mommy, okay?"
"...Yeah. But I want a nap right now. I'll rest a bit."
"You'll be okay alone? Want me to stay?"
"No, it wasn't really dangerous. I'm good."
"That's my girl... so brave! Good job!"
Diana finally stemmed her mother's tears and shooed her out with an excuse about wanting to be alone.
Once Mom was gone, Diana sighed in relief.
Her mother's suffocating hugs warmed the heart but drained the stamina.
"......"
Today, Diana had brushed death.
As a witch, she'd nearly been killed—first by a sharp dagger to the throat, then by the homunculus.
She recalled the stinking hands of men pinning her to the cold, rough floor. The leering yellow teeth and stench of lust pouring over her body.
And the homunculus she'd only heard of in stories—one with seventeen eyes no less—coming for her life.
Diana was timid.
As a child, she couldn't sleep alone, and even now, thunderstorms sometimes kept her tossing.
She knew it well.
By her nature, she should have been far more terrified.
Utterly shocked and traumatized.
Shaking with chest-tightening fear, seeking her mother's arms in tears.
But.
"......"
Diana felt strangely calm—unnaturally so.
And she knew it was thanks to the back of one man who appeared in her moment of crisis.
Shin Siu.
Right before she crossed the point of no return.
A hero who appeared like a prince and crushed the band of vile thugs.
It had been a nonstop chain of surprises.
Stigma not in the womb but the left eye.
No inherited stigma, total novice witch (though now handy with the Wizboard).
That had been Diana's impression of Siu up to then.
He should've taken a bullet and been tossed at her feet.
"......"
Diana recalled the scene.
It had been so frantic, and she half-panicked, so details were fuzzy, but...
His opening line as he burst in...
'How dare you?'
'Touch a single finger to this lady, and you'll lose your lives to my magic, you vermin.'
Something like that?
Close enough.
Then came bone-crunching sounds and sprays of blood—a brutal scene.
When she was taken hostage by the worst of them.
Siu said,
'Diana, please trust me. If it means saving you, I'll give my life.'
More or less that vibe.
And Siu's heroics didn't stop after blasting the thugs with magic to free her.
Then the villains somehow turned into a homunculus.
Diana had frozen in terror there.
Street punks might fall to magic, but homunculi changed the game.
That's when a magnificent black suit of armor suddenly enveloped his body.
Not the crude, tacky kind from books or illustrations.
A sleek, beautiful one that clung naturally, allowing fluid joint movement.
He shielded her from the man trying to blackmail her with filth, unleashing gem-like lines.
'No, not curious at all. All I care about is how long your head stays on your shoulders.'
'Is that all you've got? Then it's my turn.'
With dazzling footwork, he dismantled the homunculus.
Diana mostly saw Siu blurring too fast for afterimages and the homunculus flying in chunks—but the dominance was clear.
Believe it?
The male newbie witch she'd pegged as amateur swung a massive spear wildly, beating down a single homunculus—a terrifying one with seventeen eyes, no less.
"Hoo..."
Recalling how she'd ended up in his sturdy arms, bawling her eyes out, made her cheeks burn.
Embarrassing, but that moment, all fear and worry had melted away like snow.
With the day's twists fully settled, her eyelids grew heavy.
Mentally and physically exhausting.
"......"
It had been a horrific, terrifying memory.
Never in her life had she faced such concentrated malice head-on, or been in such peril.
She'd learned firsthand how grotesquely "lust"—that unfamiliar, fear-tinged fixation—could burst through a human facade.
Yet she wasn't afraid.
Behind her closing eyelids, a broad back dispelled the thick darkness.
Even in nightmares, he'd swoop in handsomely to save her.
Soon, only soft, even breathing filled Diana's bed.
