Chapter 600
Chapter 600
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 600
Chapter Title: I'm Home (8)
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1.
Though outmatched in raw power, Lürye was bursting with pride after subduing the pink-haired witch with a charisma that made even the plants tremble.
His only regret was that an unfortunate mishap had kept him from demonstrating their difference in strength, leaving him to roll across the rocky outcrop instead.
At any rate, Lürye's exploration continued.
He wandered the mansion freely until he reached the annex, then stepped inside without a hint of hesitation.
To Lürye, he was an honored guest.
No matter that he hadn't been formally invited—he felt no fear in letting his feet carry him wherever they pleased.
"Come here!"
The annex had a slightly more dated feel compared to the main building with its long gallery, but it brimmed with a charming vintage allure, like a well-preserved antique rather than anything rundown.
"Hmm, this would make a fine royal residence."
Lürye took an immediate liking to the annex.
Of course, the opulent main building appealed to him too.
But servants were constantly bustling through it at all hours, and its excessive splendor felt somehow uncomfortable—like a party dress that looked beautiful but promised anything but comfort, compared to cozy woolen pajamas.
Lürye, who had lived quietly with his silent familiars in a secluded spot, found this enclosed space far more reassuring than the palace-like vastness of the main house.
"I shall claim this place for myself."
As Si-woo had advised, he needed to stay in Gehenna for a while to recover his strength.
Lürye was already half-decided to make this his lodging.
But one couldn't judge a residence by its exterior alone. He moved to inspect the guest rooms and beds.
Not just the lobby—the rooms lining the stairs upward all pleased him too.
Beds neatly made up with white sheets, pristine despite no recent guests, pillows absent but impeccably tidy.
Furniture without a speck of dust.
Especially the serene central courtyard in the annex's boxy 'ㅁ' shape—the glass corridor windows opening inward let him admire it from anywhere in solitude. That was the biggest plus.
After all, Aquila's garden amounted to little more than hydroponic trays of vegetables and herbs.
"Planting a mango tree with Si-woo, maybe some pineapples too—that could make for a nice hobby."
Even the bold Lürye found wandering an unfamiliar place alone tiring after a while.
His tense lips finally relaxed amid happy imaginings.
"Hm?"
Amid it all, one room caught Lürye's eye.
It was on the third floor.
Diametrically opposite the lobby, yet seemingly the largest by far.
The door was markedly bigger than the others too.
Resolved to make it his bedroom, Lürye flung it open.
Needless to say, no knocking.
-Clunk!
"Hm, what's this? Oh?"
What entered Lürye's view were two witches.
True to its name as the witches' city, witches everywhere he went. He marveled anew and examined them closely.
One was a golden-haired witch.
Her eyes, blinking in surprise at the sudden intruder, were a striking sky-blue, like watercolor diluted in a palette.
Her face was quite pretty too.
The other had deep green hair.
She looked just like a nymph from legend, barefoot and singing to flowers in the woods—if such beings existed.
Her face was quite pretty too.
"Who are you?"
The green-haired one with the larger chest asked.
The blonde beside her turned to her.
"Don't you know her, Miss Sharon?"
"No, first time seeing her for me too."
Such talk treating him as an intruder didn't faze Lürye in the slightest.
"Ah, carry on with your business. I'm just looking around."
He waved a lazy hand, as if brushing off an annoyance.
His mind was fully occupied with touring this house that had already won him over.
Besides, after dealing with the twin apprentice witches and the pink-haired one, he had no desire to waste more energy.
Regrettably, Gehenna was a backwater where the Deep Sea Witch's fame hadn't fully spread, and scolding every ignorant fool would only tire Lürye out.
"Hmm... All cheap swill."
Lürye rummaged through the liquor cabinet like it was his own home, tossing out casual critiques.
Sharon, too stunned for anger at first, was just starting to feel the urge to speak up.
"What do you think you're doing?"
A voice spread chillingly—several times colder and more piercing than Sharon's full-throated yell.
Indeed.
Amelia was the sort even Trinity Academy whispered about as a terrifying associate professor with a fierce temper.
She'd softened a bit from recent experiences, but she wasn't merciful enough to overlook such arrogant behavior right in front of her.
"Hm?"
Lürye, idly examining a bottle's label, turned his attention.
He pointed at his own chin, eyes widening round.
"Yes, you."
"Ha, this is why rootless witches are..."
When had the Queen of the Deep Sea, exalted enough on reputation alone, ever needed to prove her greatness herself?
But as before, this was a backwater.
Si-woo's warnings made punishing ignorance feel excessive, so he was about to graciously reveal his identity.
"Rootless? Isn't the rootless one the person who barges into someone else's mansion uninvited, interrupts their conversation, and rummages through cabinets like a thieving stray cat?"
An impertinent retort he hadn't expected.
Lürye had plenty to say up to that point.
But the voice was like the room temperature plunging below freezing.
No furrowed brow, no raised voice—yet her blank expression terrified more than any threat, sealing his words.
"I won't ask who you are or where you're from. I don't want to know. Put it back and get out. Now."
It was intimidation befitting an empress's wrath.
Just like the fear when his master scolded him.
Lürye felt thrust back to his apprentice days.
"Didn't you hear me?"
But the witch before him wasn't his scolding master, and Lürye was no apprentice.
He steeled himself forcibly.
Backing down here, even pretending, was something his pride wouldn't allow.
"I hear you fine. But I refuse."
"Refuse?"
Lürye flinched at the icy blue glare.
"It's fine, Lady Amelia. She's just looking around."
"Etiquette and manners exist through mutual respect. Overlooking such brazen behavior is..."
"It's fine. Really."
"If you say so, Miss Sharon... Sorry for butting in."
Sharon, who had flinched at Amelia Pierce's intensity, belatedly reined her in and finally asked the intruder's identity.
"Um, who are you, exactly?"
Compared to the blonde, her softer demeanor let Lürye shake off his lingering unease.
As if he'd been waiting for the cue, he launched into his rehearsed introduction.
"I am the legitimate successor of Shalith Nukelavi, the ancient witch feared since time immemorial and worshipped as the mother of the seas! Queen of the Nukelavi Dynasty, ruler of the profound depths, with none higher in heaven or earth! Lürye Nukelavi, who watches over all peoples and sinks any who dare oppose without mercy!"
A grand introduction pieced together from various sources to sound as impressive as possible.
He'd expected the blonde, who had stared him down so insolently, to start trembling, and the green-haired sidekick to froth at the mouth over her past irreverence.
"......"
"......"
Silence.
Utter silence.
"Ah..."
Sharon broke it.
Even she, a great witch, belatedly sensed the faint vibration rippling across the wineglass surface.
Tiny wine droplets floating as if in zero gravity.
-Whummm!
Suddenly, light objects around the room levitated like feathers.
In the blink of an eye, the area was Amelia's domain.
"The Deep Sea Witch?"
Amelia still bore painful memories from Ea Sadal Melik's prior intrusion.
No guarantee it wouldn't repeat—especially now, with the Deep Sea Witch who had kidnapped Si-woo right before her, she had no intention of holding back.
The moment dazzling magical refraction gleamed at Amelia's eyes.
Lürye felt a more visceral terror than with the pink-haired witch earlier.
The blonde was 23rd Hierarchy, like the pink one.
No time to lament why such lofty witches kept appearing wherever he went.
What mattered was he had no way to resist this immense power.
Lürye sensed tiny mana particles infiltrating his body bit by bit.
Particles that would naturally dissipate in normal conditions—but with a catalyst, they could balloon explosively in an instant.
A vivid deathly fear, incomparable to the ordeals, gripped his throat, paralyzing him.
"Wait! Lady Amelia!"
"She admitted it herself."
"We can talk first! We don't even know the situation!"
"We'll talk. And I won't hurt her badly."
Some witches he'd thought beaten would unleash deadly poison.
Others dug traps in unimaginable ways.
The public enemies Amelia had faced were viperous types who knew no bounds.
And the Deep Sea Witch was perilously close to public enemy status, an exile.
No word from the countess, the mansion's owner.
If the Deep Sea Witch roamed it like her own home, illegal intrusion was highly likely.
She seemed weakened at a glance, but if this witch had infiltrated with ill intent, Amelia judged full force suppression first was correct.
"...Urk..."
Differing experiences led to differing judgments from Amelia and Sharon.
Their argument ended in a flash.
"...Uuurk..."
Lips bitten tight, desperately holding back tears—but it was futile.
The Deep Sea Witch shed droplet tears with wide rabbit eyes, as if she'd never imagined this.
It was a vulnerability far beyond their expectations.
Even Amelia, who'd hardened her heart, wondered if she'd erred and swiftly dispelled her magic.
"See? She's crying, Lady Amelia..."
"No... What is this..."
"I-I'm not crying."
Lürye was simply too fragile to withstand Amelia's full killing intent head-on.
At the same time, the anguish of the powerless erupted.
Deep down, he knew.
That ever since returning to Gehenna, he'd been getting crushed everywhere.
If only his magic were intact, he could've taught those haughty twins, the pink-hair, the blonde, and the green one playing sister-in-law a proper lesson...
"I won't let any of you off...! Tormenting me like this! I'll tell Si-woo everything and have him give you all a scolding!"
Neither Amelia nor Sharon could stop Lürye as he bolted out sobbing.
The gap between their mental image of the Deep Sea Witch and the reality was as vast as the distance between galaxies.
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