Chapter 641
Chapter 641
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 641
Chapter Title: City of Night (4)
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1.
"Not bad. Sword Witch."
Was using informal speech a mistake?
This thought struck him belatedly on the back of the head.
The blatantly villainous line had felt perfect, but he'd ridden the atmosphere too far.
To make excuses, this performance was pure ad-lib with no script whatsoever.
His mindset and setup hadn't been prepared at all.
But spilled water couldn't be undone.
Linne now saw Si-woo as something like a "male witch hiding dark ambitions while pursuing strength."
Backing off awkwardly to polite speech now would shatter the character entirely.
"So, is that why you brought me here?"
Just keep it natural, natural.
Repeating that to himself, he tossed out a subtle question.
At the same time, he sharpened his senses, determined not to miss even the tiniest clue.
Uncovering her reason for bringing Si-woo here was the top priority.
It was a chance for crucial information—and he'd have to shape his future plans based on her answer.
But.
"……."
Linne said nothing.
She simply stared.
With an eerily blank expression, not even blinking once as she fixed her gaze on Si-woo.
Failed?
Or was the informal speech the problem after all?
He nearly swallowed hard without thinking.
Desperately holding back so his throat wouldn't bob suspiciously, he locked his eyes in place.
"Strange."
Her vermilion lips parted.
"Indeed, strange."
By the second repetition of her suspicion, Si-woo was certain.
She'd seen through him.
It wouldn't screw him over immediately, but his plan to subtly close the distance had failed.
Should've stuck with polite speech.
The informal tone seemed to have planted the seed of awkwardness, and it stung.
"You said I'm like you. What a perfect mask—the expression, the vibe, all of it."
That was the twist, right when he'd thought as much.
Unbelievable.
Was that just now an expression of admiration?
Yeah, her blinking had slowed a bit.
But the fact that an utterly motionless face—even her eyebrows—counted as "surprise" was even more astonishing.
"P-Perfect for lowering one's guard."
Si-woo patted his chest down and probed the atmosphere carefully.
In a situation with so little information, there was no upside to opening his mouth first.
She stared at him with that same expression for a long while, but still gave no answer to why she'd brought him here.
"Come to the training grounds by witching hour tomorrow. And don't step outside the Fragrant Moon Tower."
That was all. She turned her gaze away and drew her sword once more.
No real information, no proper communication—but for now, he'd take surviving the tiger's den.
It wouldn't just be for today, after all.
2.
As he stepped out of the training grounds, Yebin appeared at the far end of the corridor, her eyes filled with worry.
She beckoned him urgently, so he approached, and she whispered,
"How'd it go? What happened? Nothing bad, right?"
"Yeah, unfortunately no useful info."
"Sigh..."
She clasped her hands in front of her chest and let out a small sigh.
Now that the sigh had passed, his eyes finally drifted to her chest.
He often recalled their steamy nights together, but seeing the real thing up close made him think, Yeah, they were always that big.
He even remembered she had a subtle masochistic streak, but he set that aside for now.
His mind wasn't relaxed enough for that.
"Let's head to my workshop first."
Yebin lightly tugged Si-woo's sleeve and headed toward the inner quarters.
"Is it okay to wander around like this?"
"No other instructions?"
"No, just not to go outside the Fragrant Moon Tower... This mansion is the Fragrant Moon Tower, right?"
"Yeah. As long as you don't go beyond the walls, you're free to roam inside without issue."
No restrictions on mana use, and guaranteed free movement within the mansion...
It was by far the most lenient confinement he'd experienced.
Of course, that didn't mean a clear escape plan had suddenly appeared.
"Here. Wait just a moment."
She excused herself and entered the room first.
After a long bout of rustling sounds, the door slid open again.
Yebin averted her eyes as if making excuses.
"I... haven't cleaned up..."
"My room's probably worse."
He tossed in some light teasing and stepped into the workshop.
What a bizarre sight.
A vast room where three partitions had been lifted to merge spaces.
Pouches reeking of herbal medicine dangled thickly from the ceiling, while lab-like glass flasks and beakers stood in neat rows on the desk.
A strange East-meets-West fusion, that was for sure.
Her claim of not cleaning wasn't a lie—junk had clearly been shoved hastily into corners, and the bedding lay rumpled where she'd gotten up.
The whole place felt cluttered.
"I usually keep it cleaner than this."
"Haha..."
Yebin scratched her cheek, looking embarrassed.
The familiar comfort melted away the tension that all the recent chaos had built up in his body and mind.
The power of someone from the East, huh.
"By the way, does the Sword Witch know we're acquainted?"
"No, I didn't mention it specifically... but she'll probably figure it out soon enough."
Part of him wanted to chat leisurely.
But with no clue how much time they had before the lady of the house noticed, this was the moment to share as much information as possible.
Yebin readily agreed.
"For me... I went out to the present world for medicine and got caught. I've been confined here for months."
Having been here longest, Yebin had the most info and spoke first.
As she'd explained right when Si-woo woke up, Hexennacht was a city of outlaws.
Exiles and criminals numbered in the four digits combined, with about 1% being grand witches.
New residents were still pouring in, most setting up temporary workshops inside for immediate safety rather than fully relocating their main ones.
She'd only seen it once on the way in, but entry and exit were possible only through the "gates."
"Gates? Isn't that the Keter Duke's magic?"
"Yeah, but it's just an imitation at best. This city is definitely an imperfect pocket dimension."
Yebin paused briefly, then pointed at the sky visible through the window.
"This city only has night. And it's always like early winter."
"No wonder it's so chilly..."
That single remark was enough.
Thanks to Little Mother-in-law's teachings.
No matter how many great witches gathered, perfectly replicating Gehenna's seasons, day-night cycles, and weather in a pocket space would be tough.
So they'd dialed down the difficulty—like a fishbowl—limiting it to "winter" and "night."
Probably no weather changes either.
This short exchange had already yielded key intel for escape.
Si-woo had once researched dimensional magic to break out of Gehenna.
After gaining citizenship, it would've just led to fines for illegal entry, so he'd paused—but recently, he'd partially succeeded by summoning the Red Branch to Akula.
He still remembered that sensation.
If this pocket space had a cruder barrier than Gehenna's, maybe he could devise an escape using dimensional transfer.
"At least that's something."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Keep going. Tell me about the Sword Witch too?"
"The Sword Witch..."
The explanation continued with details on Linne.
She was exactly the witch she'd appeared to be.
Where other outlaws would do anything for magic, she simply swapped "magic" for "strength."
That explained why she'd brought Si-woo here, too.
She must've seen him as a kindred spirit, pursuing the same ideals she'd called him out on.
And with tomorrow's meeting at the training grounds before dawn, she was probably looking for a sparring partner.
Witches who specialized in close combat were rare; those who'd honed martial prowess were even rarer.
The most effective way to improve swordsmanship was sparring with fellow martial artists, which bolstered his hypothesis.
"And she's incredibly blunt. I've barely talked to her, honestly she's kinda scary."
"How does she usually spend her time?"
"Mostly in the training grounds. The rest in the tearoom, but I don't know what she does there since I haven't seen."
"Outings? Frequency or timing?"
"Super irregular. Sometimes gone 2-3 days, other times back in 2 hours."
In short, even Yebin had almost no personal contact with her.
She talked scary but never actually harmed anyone on the spot.
And she neither slept nor ate.
Finally, details on this "Fragrant Moon Tower," which sounded like a fancy Chinese restaurant.
"No servants at all?"
"Yeah, Hexennacht isn't as organized as Gehenna yet. Aside from dock laborers and magic experiment subjects, no humans allowed."
"Must leave a lot of free time."
"Yeah, witch visitors to the mansion have only been twice so far."
Guaranteed personal freedom, viable escape magic, lax surveillance—the perfect trio.
Compared to his worst-case assumptions, the situation was downright favorable.
He even entertained thoughts of gains beyond escape—bordering on overconfidence.
This city was bound to become a hotbed of trouble ahead.
Internal intel on Hexennacht, stricter on entry than Gehenna, was priceless without infiltration.
In a way, a precious opportunity to help his teacher.
Anyway, he mixed Yebin's info with what little he'd gleaned himself and laid out his "current character setup" and key precautions.
The reason the Sword Witch had brought Si-woo here.
How he planned to act accordingly.
And the most critical point.
"Mana amplification during sex absolutely cannot be discovered."
Yebin's eyes widened briefly before she nodded furiously like a squirrel.
Si-woo being a male witch was research-worthy enough; mana amplification and recharging was an intuitive ability needing no study.
Already in a precarious spot, it could turn catastrophic—so that had to stay hidden.
Lost in thought, he noticed Yebin staring at his profile.
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just... kinda impressive."
"Huh?"
"When I first got captured, I was in total panic... cried for a whole week, couldn't do a thing. But you, Si-woo—you're somehow reassuring."
"Not really."
As expected, it was the kind of praise that embarrassed the recipient more.
It wasn't anything as grand as Yebin made it sound.
Just a "how much worse can it get?" mindset honed from constant struggle.
The conversation had started rushed, but they had plenty of time until tomorrow's witching hour.
Si-woo and Yebin exchanged light updates on their lives since, easing the fog of anxiety hanging over them.
Thus ended Si-woo's hopeful entry into Hexennacht—or so it seemed, until the next day when harsh reality shattered it to pieces.
The Sword Witch was a madwoman.