Chapter 661
Chapter 661
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 661
Chapter Title: A Bizarre Date (2)
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I got lucky.
The destination for today's date was Dignity Town, the deepest part of Hexennacht.
The official purpose was a date combined with buying the magic crops and herbs that Yebin had listed out for me.
It was a golden opportunity.
Not only could I observe the door, but with Rinne away from home, I could ask Alice and Yebin to search the mansion for any hidden red branches.
"Master, I'm coming in."
Si-woo headed to Rinne's room early in the morning and was a bit surprised.
Rinne, who always insisted on wearing nothing but black training robes or yukatas, looked different from her usual self.
She was still head-to-toe black.
But the kimono wrapped around her body was adorned with gorgeous gold threads embroidered like a single oriental painting.
"The outfit suits you well."
Up to that point, he might have just thought, Ah, she's in the mood today.
But what was this?
Rinne had even done her makeup.
Especially the red eyeliner tracing her eye corners was as beautiful as blooming plum blossoms.
Plum blossoms symbolized chastity, but on Rinne—who never dolled herself up—it exuded a strange sensuality instead of any sense of purity.
"You even did your makeup...?"
"If it makes you feel desire, it benefits me as well."
He understood what she meant.
Mana amplification had been failing for three straight days now.
Rinne must have analyzed the cause on her own and come up with a solution.
She probably figured that if he felt sexual attraction toward her—even if it wasn't exactly to his 'taste'—the resonance would trigger.
That said, her stiff manner of speaking was going to need some work first...
Still, he didn't butt in.
"Well, alright. You look great."
After some trivial chit-chat,
they left the bamboo grove of Fragrant Moon Pavilion and headed to the elevator.
The elevator sank endlessly downward, heading to the bottom of this massive underground city whose depths were impossible to gauge.
Inside the rattling iron box,
Rinne was walking slightly ahead of Si-woo, giving him a view of her small nape.
"Mm."
He got hard.
No helping it.
He felt like Pavlov's dog.
Lately, every time he looked at the back of her head from this angle, the situation had always been the same.
Just as he was awkwardly slipping a hand into his pants to readjust,
the elevator doors opened.
The moment the doors blocking his view vanished, a massive noise drilled into his eardrums.
At the same time, he was hit with a volume of light that stung his eyes.
Si-woo stood there with his mouth agape.
He had peeked under the drawbridge once before.
But he never imagined such a vast otherworld would greet him right away.
Unlike the residential districts of Arcana Town, it connected straight to the plaza, so the first sight was overwhelmingly expansive.
The first thing visible in the open plaza was a witch's cauldron.
Except on a completely different scale.
Beneath the brass cauldrons reminiscent of blast furnaces, bellows hissed like wind to stoke flames like the fires of hell.
And there weren't just one or two—four or five of them—so the whole area was bruised crimson like dusk.
"Come on."
Si-woo, who had been standing frozen, followed after Rinne.
If Arcana Town maintained at least the scenery of the Industrial Revolution era, Dignity Town had shed the look of any historical city from real-world history, presenting an entirely alien landscape.
Gigantic gears of unknown purpose and pipes tangled everywhere like vines.
Every now and then, bursts of steam would play discordant notes like a bungled orchestra,
at which point Si-woo recalled the word "steampunk."
Steampunk always blended past, present, and future as its core theme.
Fitting that vibe, the buildings crookedly encircling the plaza like staggering drunks varied wildly in size, proportions, and architectural styles.
Some looked like they belonged in Border Town, with rundown timber and slate roofs,
while others seemed at least ten stories tall with glass facades.
Some resembled the "witch's house" from fairy tales, topped with massive distillation equipment instead of a chimney,
and others were pointed towers whose spires stretched all the way up to the upper districts.
Chaos upon chaos.
Turning his gaze from the plaza to the streets only doubled the disorientation.
On the solidly paved asphalt rolled cars at times, horse-drawn carriages at others, and palanquin bearers staggering along with their loads.
One could grudgingly accept that much, but the retro-style streetcars trundling along the suddenly laid rails made a mockery of the "witch city" label.
There were so many witches it felt like rush hour on a subway,
yet among the massive crowds, the number of great witches could be counted on one hand.
Well, even in Gehenna, few stayed long-term in Border Town, so it made sense.
Witches who favored quiet spots for their research probably didn't want to linger in a place like this.
"This is insane."
"This way."
Maybe that's why the witches who eyed Si-woo with greedy stares would turn away upon spotting Rinne.
Some licked their lips with lingering regret, but none dared approach or throw a flirtatious glance.
The first stop was the apothecary.
Following the signpost at the plaza's edge into an alley, the dizzying noise began to fade.
"Super creepy in here."
The alleys constricted as the two passed through.
Dignity Town let in not even a sliver of moonlight, so all light came from artificial sources.
And apparently, there wasn't enough infrastructure to extend that to the alleys—only dim green glows lit the ground at their feet.
"......"
Rinne moved forward silently, uninterested in pointless banter.
They wandered the ant-nest-like, cramped, winding alleys for about ten minutes.
Then Rinne stopped in front of a three-story wooden building.
It was no different from the structures crammed around it.
If not for the dubious wooden plank that barely qualified as a sign, he might have walked right past.
"This the place?"
-Creak
Rinne entered first without knocking.
The moment the door opened, acrid smoke stabbed at his eyes.
Having studied abroad before, Si-woo instantly recognized the smell.
The sour scent of dried herbs pickled in vinegar and smoked.
It was like hemp fumes.
Matching the exterior vibe, the interior furniture was all wood.
Nothing fancy.
Shelves lining the back were packed with glass jars heaped with dried plants, and a balance scale for weighing along with weights lay scattered on the table.
Among them were even magic crops bearing the certification mark from the Gemernai magic tool shop—strangely nostalgic.
Despite the bell on the door jingling,
there was no sign of life in the shop.
He'd guessed from the half-hearted sign that wasn't trying to attract customers—business was probably 90% hobby here, with crafting as the real focus.
Unable to wait any longer, Si-woo cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Excuse me."
"Get out."
A voice came from the curtained-off inner room.
The shopkeeper who emerged was a witch who looked Latin American.
Her hippie look, decked in psychedelic colors and patterns, was striking.
A crudely rolled joint with a paper filter was pinched between her fingers.
"Yaaawn... was in the middle of a good time..."
The witch, mumbling drowsily with glazed eyes, snapped alert upon seeing Si-woo—like cold water had been dumped on her.
But spotting Rinne beside him twisted her face like she'd bitten a bug.
Curiosity exploding over the rumored male witch, but pure unease at the Sword Witch's sudden arrival.
"Wh-what? Did I overdo it?"
"Came to buy goods."
"Eek! It's real!"
Rubbing her eyes, the witch only realized it wasn't a hallucination after Rinne spoke.
She shrieked in panic.
"The Sword Witch... why, why are you here?"
Rinne, infamous as a walking natural disaster.
Even in force-restricted Hexennacht, a one-on-one with her wasn't exactly pleasant.
"Yes, as you said—we'd like to buy something."
Judging there was no point shoving the intimidating Rinne forward, Si-woo took over the conversation.
Only then did the witch refocus on him, staring at his face before letting out a gasp of admiration.
"Whoa... a real male witch."
Her briefly sharpened gaze glazed over again.
She swallowed the drool trickling from her mouth with a smack, shaking her head.
Staring fixedly at his face, then warily glancing at Rinne from the corner of her eye—scatterbrained.
"So, here for herbs? Nothing else?"
It took a good full minute before the witch finally stepped behind the counter.
Seeing her bring the joint back to her lips, she seemed to have regained some composure.
"What items do you need? Fair warning—lots are out of stock. Still in the middle of restocking."
Si-woo handed over the note Yebin had written.
The proprietress fished out glasses from her cleavage and peered at the list.
"Hmm, red moss, artemisia, mandrake, bellan fern, angold herb, cat's piss grass... Huh?"
Even flustered by the sudden visit, the hippie witch showed solid professionalism as she read down the list.
"Huh?"
She looked from the note to Rinne first.
"Huh?"
Then from the note to Si-woo.
"Wh-wha?"
Then back and forth between Si-woo and Rinne.
Her pupils shook as composure crumbled.
She was more shocked now than when they'd first entered.
Because anyone could see the items on the list were ingredients for a tonic—or worse, a virility potion.
A male witch shows up alone in a secluded shop with the notoriously ascetic Rinne.
And the herbs he's ordering are for virility boosters?
A top-tier scandal unfolding right before her eyes.
"Hey, hey."
She glanced warily at Rinne before leaning in toward Si-woo.
He tilted his ear at her beckoning gesture.
"Won't charge you, so just tell me one thing?"
"Sure."
"This for making a virility potion, right?"
The hippie witch had sharp instincts as a pharmacist too.
It was an oversight he hadn't considered.
As he wondered if rumors spreading would be good or bad,
"Witch of Freedom."
Rinne spoke first.
"Y-you know me?"
"I do."
Her face lit up at the Sword Witch—a celebrity—knowing her witch name,
but crumpled at Rinne's follow-up.
"Your face. Your name. Your origins."
She wasn't dumb enough not to get the implication.
It meant keep quiet about this.
Break that, and she'd come calling—with the silver gleam of the blade in its fine scabbard on display.
"I swear. Lips sealed."
The Witch of Freedom paled and hurriedly gathered the items.
The moment they stepped out, the sound of the door locking echoed behind them.
Si-woo gave a wry smile.