Chapter 563
Chapter 563
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 563
Chapter Title: Trouble (3)
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1.
"Tch..."
He smacked his lips quietly.
Judging from Lurie's initial delighted reaction, it had been exactly the deep-seated grudge he'd anticipated. If only he'd properly acknowledged his mistake and apologized, she would have forgiven him easily.
"Ha... am I really an idiot?"
Lurie's joyful expression upon hearing his apology and her furious one, with her hair standing on end like a hedgehog once she learned the truth, flashed alternately in his mind.
Of course, the facts were a bit different, but given how mad she'd been, no excuse would have gotten through to her anyway.
"I should have just asked why she was angry..."
In any case, the undeniable truth was that out of countless options, he'd picked the single dumbest one.
Like a wife yelling at her drunken husband stumbling home late, "Don't you dare set foot in this house!" Lurie had declared a submarine entry ban.
With no energy left after completing the trial and no clue when she might capriciously return, Siwoo had sat quietly at the table, waiting for her.
But even after an hour passed, then two, Lurie didn't show up.
"Should I have chased after her right away?"
She might still be fuming somewhere, grumbling, "What the hell are you still doing?!"
If staying put or going to apologize both had a fifty-fifty chance of getting him scolded, at least making the effort to apologize was the better move.
And even if staying had been the right call, her personality was such that a sincere apology would have her accepting it readily.
With that, Siwoo reboarded the submarine.
He returned to the interior via the upper observation deck, as usual.
Since the entire submarine was Lurie's domain, she must have noticed him boarding, yet there was no sign of her.
Two possibilities again.
She was so angry she truly didn't want to see him.
Or she wasn't coming out to greet him but secretly hoping he'd come find her.
This choice wasn't hard either.
Lurie would count the mere fact of him coming to see her as a mitigating factor.
Even without such calculated thinking, he genuinely wanted to apologize sincerely.
Searching the submarine room by room, Siwoo suddenly froze.
"So...! ...! ...! How was it?"
Lurie's voice, brimming with excitement from somewhere, reached his ears.
It sounded far too delighted to be mere mumbling from someone unable to contain her anger.
The source was the malt bar stocked with ancient whiskies salvaged from sunken ships.
Is she chatting with the crew?
Harboring the doubt, Siwoo stepped inside—and was met with a completely unexpected sight.
A nun in habit was sitting there, beaming kindly and gesturing animatedly as Lurie's enthusiastic conversation partner.
Siwoo, who had taken off his eyepatch at that moment, immediately recognized her as a witch.
The loose nun's habit failed to fully conceal her voluptuous figure.
Glimpses of powerful magical residue emanated from various parts of what appeared at first glance to be an ordinary habit.
From the back down to the long dangling sleeves on both arms.
They formed a massive cross, constructing a symbolic framework.
Judging by the flowing patterns like magnetic fields, it was likely defensive.
Given the density of mana, it seemed like a top-tier artifact capable of nullifying all but the strongest spells.
Even without that, any nun who could enter this submarine couldn't be an ordinary human woman.
"...So, like I was saying..."
"Oh~ we have a guest~"
The nun spotted Siwoo and offered a gentle bow with a soft voice.
Her ash-gray hair swayed, and her strikingly unique silver eyes caught the attention.
"Perfect timing."
Lurie paused briefly, then hopped down from her chair as if bestowing a favor, grabbed Siwoo's arm, dragged him over, and planted him in front of the nun.
"Who... is she?"
"She's my first friend! Dorothy, this is Shin Siwoo I mentioned earlier. From the Nukelavi Kingdom... a slave."
Petty revenge, it seemed—he'd been demoted from envoy in the diplomatic letter to slave overnight.
He'd probably be reinstated soon, so no big issue, but Siwoo had no leisure to dwell on such childish jokes right now.
Was it because he'd been through so much hell lately?
Or was it his instincts honed from dancing on the edge of death?
Standing before the excessively sensual "nun"—a beautiful witch—he felt a sticky repulsion seep into his skin.
It was the same instinctive emotion as when seeing a vibrant mushroom or a carnivore with jaws wide open.
He didn't show it outwardly, but he heightened his senses, ready to fight at any moment.
"......"
"......"
The two stared at each other with strange looks, while Lurie tilted her head between them.
Dorothy broke the silence first with a greeting.
"Hello, I'm Dorothy Sahaquiel. They call me the Cross Witch. It's an honor to meet the queen's envoy."
"Shin Siwoo. No witch title."
"Oh my~ Just as I thought, the male witch making waves lately. Nice to meet you~"
Dorothy extended her hand for a shake.
Should he take it or not? As Siwoo hesitated, Lurie poked his side, giving him a pointed look.
Reluctantly, he lightly grasped her soft hand, shook it twice, and let go.
2.
The awkward first greeting passed, and the uncomfortable drinking session resumed, with the drinks as the host.
From Lurie and Dorothy's reactions, Siwoo seemed to be the only one feeling out of place.
"You still seem awkward, so let me introduce her properly. Dorothy is a close friend of my mentor and a top arms dealer in the mortal world these days. Even this Akula was procured by Dorothy."
"I see..."
He had no intention—or justification—to start a fight right then.
With nothing more than a bad vibe, ruining the friendly atmosphere would be rude, especially since Dorothy was Lurie's guest and friend.
It might even be an overreaction, a false lead.
"Do you reside in Gehenna by any chance?"
Thus, Siwoo naturally directed a question at Dorothy.
Above all, his information was sorely lacking; he needed to converse to uncover this unexpected guest's identity.
But instead of Dorothy, it was Lurie who frowned at Siwoo's question.
She looked thoroughly displeased, instantly grasping the intent behind it.
"Is that important?"
Dorothy, however, gazed upward shamelessly and replied with her drooping eyes curved in amusement.
"Exile—or more precisely, Public Enemy~"
Her utterly nonchalant response left him confused for a moment, but Dorothy continued her explanation in her characteristically languid tone.
"But it's just guilt by association from my predecessor's misdeeds. Nowadays, I quietly run a small business~ No need to be so scared."
"What kind of business?"
"Just modest arms trafficking and brokerage. Main clients are coup regimes, terrorists, cartels."
"Doesn't seem like something to brag about."
In capitalist society, nothing's unsellable if the price is right—but arms dealing? Knowing the machine guns and bullets sold yesterday might kill people today was something no normal nerves could handle.
At least, not for Siwoo.
In that sense, it was utterly fitting for a Public Enemy.
"Don't say that. My clients love securing bulk weapons with diamonds that are hard to liquidate, and I love turning warehouse rust heaps into diamonds. Isn't that a healthy symbiosis?"
"...Maybe."
"More people die from cigarettes than the weapons I sell~ Do you hate tobacco company CEOs too, Mr. Shin Siwoo?"
"Wasn't trying to play word games."
He politely deflected her nitpicking.
Listening to her, she embodied the death merchant with a thorough business mindset.
Wearing a nun's habit on top of that only made it feel like even worse taste.
Probably related to her autonomic magic, though.
Her business and outfit aside, there were plenty of questions.
The deep-sea witch was an exile and former witch.
Public Enemies mingling with exiles wasn't rare, so the connection between the previous Nukelavi and Dorothy wasn't awkward.
But the previous Nukelavi had earnestly warned her not to surface until after the trial.
Even freshly inherited, Lurie now held the 23rd Hierarchy, so the predecessor was cautious enough to install multiple safeguards.
For such a careful previous Nukelavi to carelessly let a 'Public Enemy' meet Lurie so soon after succession?
Had she truly trusted her as a close friend?
"What brings you here?"
If her purpose was shady, she wouldn't admit it outright.
But hearing the process would still help.
The suspicion-tinged question felt like an interrogation, and it clearly irked Lurie.
She yanked Siwoo's arm, trying to stop him.
"Shin Siwoo! What's with you since earlier?! She's my friend!"
"No, Your Majesty. It's not a big deal."
"Apologize for your rude behavior at once!"
Siwoo clamped his mouth shut.
His aversion to Public Enemies wasn't mere elitism or discrimination.
Bianca Bellili, Ea Sadal Melik, Paola Socitl.
Every Public Enemy Siwoo had met so far was a woman with something off in the head.
Unlike the somewhat pitiable Witch of Cowardice, Ea and Bianca were mad sadists.
Psychos who chose any means for their ends.
Blind trust just because she was Lurie's friend was an unreasonable, foolish demand.
"If you apologize, Dorothy will gladly forgive you, and I shan't hold your outburst in my presence against you."
But Siwoo didn't open his mouth.
He simply stared piercingly at Dorothy across from him.
To observe what expression she'd wear while watching this unfold.
"Follow me."
The observation yielded nothing.
Until Lurie, fed up, dragged him out of the bar.
Dorothy had merely gazed at Siwoo with a flawless, benevolent smile the whole time.