Chapter 450
Chapter 450
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 450
Chapter Title: Reunion (4)
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Siwoo emerged from the underground prison, briefly touching his lips where they had met Amelia's just moments ago.
He had wanted to observe how the interrogation was conducted, but considering Lady Albireo's position and the stubbornly resolute demeanor of Count Cohab, it didn't seem like he'd be allowed to linger by playing the spoiled card.
He hadn't noticed in the pitch-black depths of the dungeon, but dawn had passed, and the morning sun was now rising.
"Haah..."
For some reason, he felt utterly refreshed.
All the lingering worries that had weighed on him until now seemed to have been swept clean, wrapping him in a pleasant sense of clarity.
As Albireo had said, once the trial was over, everything would fall into place.
All that remained was returning to his happy daily life...
"Come to think of it, where is Master?"
Two days had passed since the incident.
No matter that she was in the mortal world, it was a massive event known to all of Gehenna.
It must have reached Eloa's ears by now...
It wasn't that he felt slighted by her lack of concern; he was simply worried something might have happened to her.
Of course, there were scarcely any beings who could put that master of his in peril.
"Hmm..."
He was mulling over whether to pay her a visit soon, since she had said she was heading to meet Branch Chief Sua first.
Then, from a shadowy corner of the corridor still untouched by the morning light, a figure lunged out.
"Odil! Odet! Attack!"
"Yes, Master!"
"What the—?!"
-Tadadadadak
The twins charged from both sides with the ferocity of setting the corridor carpet ablaze, while Sharon Evergreen trailed behind, directing them with outstretched hands.
In a move straight out of a wuxia film assassination scene, Odil leaped into the air, her toe lightly tapping Siwoo's thigh.
She grabbed his sleeve, wrapped her legs around his arm, and spun forward.
In that instant, heaven and earth flipped upside down.
It was none other than a Flying Omoplata.
He'd heard that jiu-jitsu was the martial art that most easily overcame differences in weight class.
Though Odil weighed only about half of Siwoo, by leveraging his own momentum into a spin and joint lock simultaneously, he couldn't withstand it.
"Kuaaagh!"
Siwoo crumpled forward onto his knees, collapsing flat on the floor like a criminal caught red-handed.
A moment later, Odet arrived and kicked his butt repeatedly.
"Assistant! How could you! How could you!"
Meanwhile, Odil, who had successfully pulled off a technique she'd only talked about before, forgot her anger and let out an exclamation of awe.
"Whoa! Did you see that, Odet? Did you? This is the first time it's ever worked!"
"Guhhh...! Tap tap tap!"
While Siwoo had been off to meet Amelia after regaining consciousness, the twins had woken up late, ground their teeth at his empty bed, and fumed.
The eagerly awaited night date during the Harvest Festival had fizzled out.
The surprise gift they'd prepared with such care had been confiscated by little Master, and even the assistant they'd nursed out of worry had vanished the moment he woke up.
Especially that last part—Sharon, who had stepped out briefly for some business, felt the same way, so they had conspired to give Siwoo a scolding.
Arms crossed, Sharon stood before him with a cold expression as his cheek pressed against the floor.
"Shin Siwoo, no matter how urgent it was, couldn't you have said a word to the people who were so worried about you?"
"Right! That was too much!"
"You have no idea how shocked we were when you got up!"
At Sharon's gesture, Odet stopped kicking his butt, and Odil finally released his arm despite the taps.
They stood beside her, hands on hips.
Siwoo had no defense for that.
Even if rushing to Amelia the moment he came to was urgent, and even if he hadn't wanted to wake the soundly sleeping twins...
If they felt that way, then he was guilty.
He could only bow his head deeply in apology from his kneeling position.
"I'm sorry... The thing is..."
Sharon and the twins hadn't yet heard the full story of Siwoo and Amelia's relationship.
The twins had witnessed some of it firsthand, and they'd helped with care afterward, so they knew a bit more.
But no matter what, the twins and Sharon were Siwoo's lovers.
He had planned to set a day soon to explain properly, so for now, he gave a brief confession.
But before he could even get past the beginning...
"Ugh, fine, I get it."
"That's all you're gonna say?"
Sharon, who had been listening intently with a serious expression, cut him off midway.
It wasn't in a negative sense—it was more like 'I've heard enough,' which surprised him even more.
He hadn't even gotten halfway through yet.
Sharon wasn't good at hiding her true feelings.
If something displeased her or something unfavorable happened, her cheeks would puff up.
But the expression she wore now was that of an older girlfriend magnanimously forgiving her immature boyfriend's antics.
"Get up. The floor's cold."
She grabbed his wrist, pulled him to his feet, dusted him off, and straightened his clothes.
Having received understanding before he could even fully explain left him feeling utterly ashamed.
Especially since, despite all his time with Sharon, he'd never even mentioned the conflict with Amelia.
"Sorry."
"As long as you came back safe, keeping your promise—that's enough. Now it's our turn."
As Sharon stepped aside with a sly smile, there stood Odil sticking out her lips and Odet suppressing sighs.
"Assistant, promise us one thing. No more reckless dangerous stuff on your own."
The twins' anger wasn't just from jealousy or disappointment.
It hadn't been long since he'd nearly died fighting Bianca, and here he was pulling another reckless stunt.
That was the biggest reason their hackles were up.
"You won't promise?"
"......"
But the promise Odil demanded was one Siwoo couldn't easily make.
He knew that if something similar happened again, he'd make the same choice.
He didn't want to make a promise he'd just break to get out of the situation.
"I'll do my best."
Odil and Odet twitched their eyebrows at his response before letting out long sighs.
"Sigh, knew it."
"Assistant never deviates from expectations."
From way back, their assistant had always been a meddler extraordinaire.
If he'd listened when they told him, none of this would have happened.
Besides, the twins owed their lives to that meddling twice over—telling him not to do it now would be ungrateful.
"Then at least ask for permission first. You always do stuff and ask forgiveness later."
"Right, that's basic courtesy to the people you love. Courtesy."
Odil patted his shoulder like a manager consoling a subordinate.
"Thanks for always understanding."
"But in return..."
Odet toddled over, grabbed his ear, and whispered something.
It was a request—or rather, a demand—for some 'playtime' to make up for the lost Harvest Festival night.
With nothing holding them back from little Master anymore, the twins held nothing back in explicitness.
Her bold proposal strung together shockingly indecent words, making his ears burn.
"...Got it?"
"Uh... uh... yeah..."
Sharon stared at Siwoo's gaping face and seemed to sense something.
"Hold on! What was that? Talking behind my back?!"
"Sharon sis, you've done all sorts of stuff during the Harvest Festival. Time to yield to us for once."
"It's only fair, right?"
"No, shouldn't we discuss stuff like this beforehand?"
"We did, didn't we?"
Sharon and the twins would join forces when interests aligned, but at their core, they were rivals.
Even scheduling dates was the result of intense games of chicken.
Even sharing love, for that matter.
"We did, but...!"
Unfortunately for Sharon, she couldn't exactly claim to have fully enjoyed the Harvest Festival with Siwoo either.
Sure, they'd done it briefly in the changing room, but that was like instant ramen.
She hadn't gotten the all-night, skin-to-skin, cuddly comfort-food-like time of pork soup.
"If you did it, that's good enough!"
"Sharon sis acts like she's full every day!"
The aggrieved Sharon and the twins, unable to comprehend her grievance, bickered on until Deneb passed by, spotted Siwoo standing there like a stone statue, and seized the chance to scold him.
2.
That very evening after Count Cohab's final interrogation concluded, Amelia's trial took place.
Duke Erelim had compiled the information from the Investigation Committee with Count Cohab's interrogation records and, after thorough discussion, produced a consensus resolution.
Reading it aloud and delivering the verdict was Duke Erelim's role, but it was merely ceremonial.
The nobles of the Tree of Sephiroth each served as jurors and judges, reviewing the negligence, sentencing, and records before collectively reciting the pre-decided judgment.
The large conference room was packed with witches.
It was probably the most spectators in Gehenna's trial history.
Naturally, Siwoo sat in the gallery, anxiously steadying his nerves.
Count Albireo had said it would be fine, but today was the final consensus day, and she was attending the meeting, so even Siwoo hadn't heard the judgment.
The outcome of the verdict was something they'd have to wait and see.
He gazed worriedly at Amelia's profile, barely noticing the sidelong glances from nearby witches.
"Baroness Merigold, do you admit to deploying unauthorized large-scale magic in Tarot Town on December 24th, 632 Gehenna Calendar?"
"Yes."
Amelia stood at center stage, while Duke Erelim loomed above, asking for her final statement.
With jet-black hair and chilling silver-white eyes, she spoke in a flat tone laced with inherent dignity.
"Do you admit to threatening numerous citizens and endangering Gehenna's very existence?"
"I admit it."
It was already acknowledged in the interrogation records, and the damage assessment was complete.
All Amelia could do was nod silently.
"Very well. Blanche Erelim and a total of thirty-one witches hereby publicly announce our consensus."
Duke Erelim held the judgment document and began reading.
"Amelia Merigold abandoned her noble duties, fell for the Whispering Witch's schemes, and disrupted order.
She failed to control her personal magic, posing grave danger to numerous citizens and the Great Barrier, and ignored multiple cessation demands on the day, accelerating the crisis.
Therefore, we confiscate Baroness Merigold's title, sentence her to 58 years' confinement for self-reflection, and declare exile without statute of limitations."
Siwoo's heart nearly stopped as he widened his eyes, while Duke Erelim slowly inhaled and continued.
"However, this committee takes the following into account for the sentencing.
Baroness Amelia Merigold's history of numerous contributions, the incident's extreme accidental nature with minimal actual damage, over fifty no-punishment petitions from Count Jemernai, Count Yesod, and Abenu beyond the baroness, her genuine remorse, and the Merigolds' historical contributions to Gehenna's development—all mitigating factors.
Thus, we suspend execution of confinement and exile for the next 10 years, provided the following conditions are met.
One, Baroness Merigold must relinquish her title.
Two, she must compensate each of the 182 affected witches with one thousand gold pounds.
Three, she must pay thirty thousand gold pounds in fines to City Hall.
Four, upon fulfillment of the above, confinement and exile shall be permanently suspended."
Siwoo mentally punched a calculator at the suspension terms.
The total gold Amelia had to pay: twenty-one thousand pounds.
Roughly estimating one gold at 800,000 won and multiplying...
"1.696 billion won...?"
In 10 years?
Could she pay it off?
While Siwoo's jaw hung slack and the surrounding witches buzzed at the staggering sum, Amelia—the one actually sentenced—remained utterly calm.
She almost looked like it was someone else's affair.
"The above judgment, derived from deliberation by Gehenna's supreme legislative and executive body, the Tree of Sephiroth, may not be appealed or contested by Baroness Merigold. Court is adjourned."
The trial was short and decisive.
It wrapped up in under five minutes, issuing Gehenna's highest-ever damages award.