Chapter 387
Chapter 387
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 387
Chapter Title: Shared Secret (3)
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Diana had made a chair out of a tower of stacked books, topping it with a handkerchief.
She swung her legs back and forth as she dredged up an old memory.
"You once asked me why I was so lazy, right?"
"Ah, you mean back when we went fishing."
Diana hugged her knees and nodded faintly.
She seemed to have already made up her mind to speak, yet she hesitated as if revealing a deep-seated complex.
"Do you know what status quo bias is?"
It was the term Diana had rattled off as an excuse when Siu asked why she was always slacking off.
"It's a bias where you resist change. You want tomorrow to be just like today, and the day after to be just like tomorrow. You hate anything different. I don't want to become a witch. And I especially don't want... Mom to disappear because of it."
Diana glanced toward the window outside the bookstore.
"...I really don't want that."
Her voice cracked slightly as she finished voicing what she'd held back.
"It's not hard to show Mom I've become more diligent. I just need to work a little harder."
"......"
"But if I do, Mom will disappear, right? I'll be left all alone."
"......"
"So I just want things to stay like this forever."
In witch society, at least, 'inheritance' was something to be proud of.
Inheritance was the honor of receiving a vision passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Even fearing to pass on the stigma to an apprentice witch whose growth had stalled was shameful.
Or avoiding it despite her being fully qualified, just to avoid losing one's master—that was foolish and embarrassing.
One could call it unqualified, and be done with it.
She couldn't bring herself to look at his face.
She was scared of the expression he'd make, like he was staring at something bizarre.
Regret bubbled up belatedly—had she brought this up for nothing?
"It's weird, isn't it?"
"A little."
"...I know it's pathetic."
As expected.
She hadn't expected easy understanding.
She'd just suddenly wanted to share this worry she'd been hugging to herself alone.
"No, not that part... Miss Diana, you're an apprentice witch of the Yesod family, right? You always struck me as the stereotypical witch type."
Diana whipped around to look at Siu.
There was no puzzled tone or expression like she'd anticipated.
Just his usual gentle face, blinking one eye softly.
"This... doesn't seem weird to you?"
"What's wrong with a daughter worrying about her parents? I hoped mine would live long and prosper too."
"Why? I'm an apprentice witch."
No matter how she thought about it, his calm reaction didn't make sense.
Was he just pretending to be nonchalant as a social tactic? Diana stared at his face and asked.
"Aren't witches people too?"
She turned away as he shrugged.
She'd confessed a secret she'd never told anyone, and all that was left was the heat rising in her cheeks.
It was strange.
Spilling her hidden complex to Siu, practically a stranger.
And feeling this happy the moment he seemed to understand.
Truth be told, things had been off since the day they returned from Border Town.
Her nightmares would start, only for his back to appear and protect her.
She started resenting her mom, whom she loved more than anyone.
And using her weakness as an excuse to ambush him with that ridiculous kiss...
Looking back.
Diana Yesod might have been off for quite a while now.
That's why it wasn't easy to bring up what came next.
It felt like forcing out words she didn't want to say.
But her mom was precious too.
She had to say it.
"If you make Mom fall head over heels for you... maybe she'll stick around in this world longer. Without passing the stigma to me."
"So that's how it connects..."
Diana handed Siu a book she'd carefully selected.
"Here, these are Mom's favorites."
"I haven't decided yet."
"Just take them."
The books piled up neatly in Siu's arms.
"Read these, find common interests, and chat her up to get closer?"
"In a broad sense, yeah. I bet you'd like them too."
Siu could guess what Diana was thinking.
But admitting he got it right away came with too many issues.
First, apprentices were reflections.
Unlike a witch's spirit body, they grew, and though much slower than humans, they did age.
So even if Countess Yesod kept putting off the inheritance, it didn't mean status quo forever.
Moreover, Siu doubted the countess would agree to Diana's idea.
A witch's stubbornness was formidable.
Even the twins, who revered and loved their master, showed no hesitation toward inheritance.
Would a countess who'd lived over a century as an orthodox witch wish for Diana to die without becoming one?
Not likely.
Second, this was still manipulating the countess's feelings.
Even if she fancied the relationship and seducing her was fine,
flirting just because Diana asked, with no real love involved? It didn't sit right.
Putting it together.
Either way, this needed to be resolved through honest mother-daughter talk.
If Siu meddled, they'd just spin their wheels without understanding each other.
"I'm not asking for nothing in return."
Diana hopped down from her perch on the books.
"If you succeed in seducing Mom..."
Her moist eyes turned to Siu.
This time, she looked straight at him without flinching.
The sudden sensual aura was worthy of the term 'mother-daughter electric shock.'
"Then... you can really... do it from behind or whatever... Ow!"
"Don't say things like that lightly."
But what met Diana's smooth forehead was Siu's flick.
Hard enough to snap her head back with a tick.
"You... hit me?!"
Diana bounced like a cat with its tail stepped on.
A flick was an unthinkable punishment for someone like Diana, who'd never been slapped.
"Shall we head back for now?"
"What about my offer?"
"It'd be better to talk when you're calmer. You seem pretty worked up."
"I-I worked up the nerve to say it!"
"I know, I know."
Good grief.
A daughter offering her body as payment to seduce her mom...
This wasn't some trashy erotic tale.
But it wasn't entirely off-putting.
Siu had already noticed Diana's tendency to stew alone and then spiral.
Give her time, and she'd rethink it and realize it wasn't right.
Leading the forehead-rubbing Diana, Siu bought the books and returned to the mansion.
2.
The passionate rendezvous with Siu from last night through this morning had restored some long-missing vitality to the countess's lips, softening them more than usual.
But the moment she stepped through the portal into Border Town, her expression flipped.
Secondarily, she needed to project noble dignity; primarily, she lacked the leisure for idle admiration or hugs.
The moment she inhaled the misty rain-scented air of Border Town, long-suppressed anger bubbled up.
She descended the winding cliff path toward Cloud Mushroom Village, thick with oak trees.
The intact human mutated into a homunculus in 'Jack the Ripper's Rebellion.'
The ex-death row inmate, oblivious to his role, had attacked Diana, and his custody passed from Border Town guards to the countess.
And the countess handed him over to another witch.
In one corner of the village, transformed into a literal witch's forest, stood the workshop of a witch unscathed by the disaster.
The countess opened the door without hesitation.
"Countess Yesod. You've come."
"I was in a hurry."
Greeted her was Shuriya Shitala, the 18th hierarchy witch expert in necromancy and mental magic.
She'd wanted to interrogate Jack herself, but critical tasks belonged to specialists.
Shuriya had resolved several Gehenna internal crimes before, making her all the more trustworthy.
"This way."
They passed through the cluttered workshop to stairs leading underground.
Impolite as it was, it looked utterly gloomy and eerie.
Opening the iron door revealed a white man strapped to a restraint chair.
His limbs sagged like shrunken muscles.
A gag prevented self-harm, and his eyes bulged as if ready to pop out.
Clearly not normal.
He showed no reaction to the countess's entrance, staring blankly upward like a vegetable.
"Just to avoid misunderstanding, we didn't torture him."
"I see. Even if you had, I wouldn't complain."
The countess circled the chair, inspecting him.
"His brain started breaking down the moment interrogation began. Cerebral cortex to limbic system in under 15 seconds, then muscles and joints melted immediately."
"Hmm..."
Humans turning into homunculi wasn't unheard of.
Countless homunculi existed in the world, some still dormant in dimensional rifts.
Some naturally occupied human bodies.
But human flesh couldn't withstand homunculus activity levels.
Their fate hinged on how long until the homunculus drew out the body's potential.
If it realized the limit and left, the host was lucky to be a cripple; usually, death followed.
So Jack's state wasn't surprising.
"He didn't utter a word... Odd. Any binding spells?"
"I'd need to crack open his skull for certainty, but nothing detectable now. Suspicion is strong, though."
"Odds?"
"Over ninety percent."
Yet Jack had been conscious before interrogation.
Trembling at what awaited.
His rapid deterioration right at the start—15 seconds—was unnaturally fast.
Meaning deliberate witch intervention in the attack was highly likely.
"Any more leads?"
"Checking smuggler cargo manifests and witnesses around the incident."
The motionless Kether Duke.
The present world stirring over suspicious Public Enemies.
Gehenna intrusions twice in the past year.
The incident itself might be minor, but as a businesswoman, Yesod sensed unease in the pattern.
"What to do with this?"
Shuriya pointed at Jack, now little more than a vegetable.
"Do I need to say?"
"Then, as ordered, we'll use every scrap for evidence extraction."
"My, someone might misunderstand."
The countess strode out without looking back.
No mercy remained for the criminal who'd nearly killed Diana.