Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Ruler III: Shin Noah 4
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So, if you were to ask what Archwitch Dang Seo-rin had done with this grand magic she had crafted over such a long time and with so much effort—
Nothing in particular.
"Undertaker, are you tough when it comes to pain?"
"I think I'm pretty resilient. But why do you ask?"
"Even if I hurt you, you'd forgive me and let it slide with your magnanimity, right?"
"......"
Something about this felt ominous.
"What's your angle?"
"Answer me first. Do you, or don't you?"
"...I wouldn't say it doesn't exist."
"Good. Undertaker. I'm going to show you something amazing."
No sooner had she said that than Dang Seo-rin pulled out a fountain pen and stabbed my right hand with it.
I let out a scream like Tom from Tom and Jerry. Wait, had she lost her mind?
"Wait! Stop the aura! Hold on! I want in on this too!"
"What?"
She then stabbed her own left palm. Blood dripped from the sharply honed pen tip. No, had she really lost her mind?
As I stared in bewilderment, Dang Seo-rin pulled off something even crazier. While both of us were bleeding, she suddenly started singing.
And then something astonishing happened.
"Ah—♪"
Whoosh.
A sky-blue "scale" appeared in midair, hazy like a hologram.
At the same moment, the wound on my right hand healed. Instantly. But then a fresh wound appeared on my left hand?
The exact opposite happened to Dang Seo-rin. Her left-hand wound packed up and moved to her right.
Blood drops then settled on both sides of the scale. And with a whoosh, the scale vanished from the air.
I was dumbfounded.
"This is...?"
"Ah, this is equivalent exchange—"
Dang Seo-rin flashed an otaku grin.
It was kinda creepy.
"Your wound for my wound. My pain for your pain. We swapped them."
"Incredible!"
I was genuinely impressed.
Our hands were still gushing blood like faucets—the wounds had just switched places—but it was undeniably impressive magic.
"What's the principle?"
"I told you. Equivalent exchange. It's me performing a trade I deem fair through magic."
"Wow. So, could I load up on wounds and then transfer them to a Ten Tribes abomination?"
If so, it could be a revolutionary game-changer against aberrations.
But Dang Seo-rin clicked her tongue with her signature infuriating expression and wagged her finger side to side.
"Nuh-uh—sorry, but that's pretty much impossible. This magic requires the target's consent to activate."
"Oh......"
I couldn't hide my disappointment. So that's why she'd asked those weird questions earlier.
"...Hang on, then what the hell can you even use it for? Trading pain for pain, pleasure for pleasure—the total amount stays the same. Can you convert energy to energy at least?"
"Ooh—great idea, but no dice. Like I said, it needs consent, and you can't get that from energy or matter, right? No brains. Oh, and obviously not from plants or animals either. They don't understand human language......"
"Then it's totally useless!"
"Magic is never useless!"
Dang Seo-rin's berserk button had been pressed. And she was the type to unleash attack spells the moment it happened.
Naturally, our fight ended with my victory. For her to even have a shot at beating me, she'd need to lay down Song Enchantments at least thirty minutes in advance. That was the matchup between an upright warrior and a sneaky sorceress.
How much time passed after that petty squabble?
Of course, thanks to my [Perfect Memory Ability], I could say precisely 398 days instead of glossing over it with "how much." Just a literary flourish. No one cares if I count the days like some servant syndrome case.
398 days, 16 hours, and 38 minutes later, I visited the Three Thousand Worlds headquarters for the first time in ages. But Dang Seo-rin wasn't on the train.
"Ah, you're asking about Archwitch Excellency? It's trial day today, so she's stepped out briefly."
A guild member who recognized my face told me. Her silver hair swayed prettily.
Her name was Yoo Ji-won, a talent I'd promoted starting in the 5th regression to serve as an executive in Three Thousand Worlds. She had solid skills, but her personality was that of a textbook psychopath.
As a side note, she was also a Latin major.
"Trial day? What's that? And why's someone at operations chief level manning the counter? Where are your minions?"
"The other guild members are mostly out at the square. I don't have much to do there, so I'm just guarding the fort."
"Hmm. So what's trial day?"
"Recently, we've designated the last day of each month in Busan as trial day."
The silver-haired psychopath adjusted her glasses with a flick.
"Archwitch Excellency personally judges criminals who've killed or gravely injured people. The citizens love it."
Oh, and just so you know, "Archwitch" was Dang Seo-rin's official title. Especially Three Thousand Worlds guild members had to use it without fail.
It was like how the Sword Marquis old fogey absolutely had to be called Sword Marquis.
Only I, back when I was sub-guild leader around the 5th regression, got to call Dang Seo-rin "Guild Leader" as a special privilege. Because that was the condition I'd demanded when she recruited me.
"She should be wrapping up the final trial by now. It'll still take about an hour, though...... Would you like to wait in the lounge? I'll get you a train ticket."
"Nah, I'm good. Hanging with you lot would just waste expensive snacks. Where's the trial?"
"In the square just up ahead. Your Excellency."
I headed to the indicated spot.
It wasn't hard to find. It was the same square where Dang Seo-rin put on her infamous "Monster Dissection Show"—aka the execution grounds.
Even in the apocalypse, the well-maintained square was already in full swing with the trial. It was a grand affair. Glancing around, nearly six hundred citizens were sitting on makeshift mats, spectating.
"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
"Quiet! Please remain silent!"
A Three Thousand Worlds guild member's voice boomed out.
Probably [Amplification] magic. No singing meant [Silence] was layered on too.
'Factoring in the standard [Replay Loop] magic, that's at least three chants. Hmm. Dang Seo-rin put real effort into this setup.'
I turned my gaze.
In the center of the square stood a man with his head bowed like a defendant. Dang Seo-rin, presiding as judge, rested her chin gracefully on the table.
'This is a new one.'
In all my regression lives, I'd never seen Dang Seo-rin hold a public trial like this in front of citizens.
Intrigued, I watched from afar. As the square quieted, the guild member raised his voice.
"Please remain silent! I'll repeat: The sinner is a witch who joined Three Thousand Worlds six months ago and was assigned to the combat unit. During last week's expedition, when battle broke out with aberrations, she was supposed to fight alongside her comrades but fled first, breaking the formation. No deaths resulted, but two were injured, and the whole unit nearly faced disaster."
"Boo!"
"Coward bitch!"
A few citizens hurled stones. But with a barrier up, they bounced harmlessly off the judge's stand.
"Silence, Jeong Su-uk! Archwitch Dang Seo-rin will now deliver her verdict!"
The area fell silent.
The hundreds of citizens who'd been rowdy—throwing stones, jeering like it was a festival—now shut their mouths.
If an artist's talent is measured by how many people they can excite, a ruler's is by how many they can silence. This starkly showed the position Guild Leader Dang Seo-rin held in Busan's underworld.
"This sinner is a deserter."
Dang Seo-rin's voice flowed in via amplification magic. A dizzyingly beautiful timbre.
Gentle and languid, yet surprisingly quick—complex words and sentences hammered into listeners' ears rhythm by rhythm.
More breath than speech, it permeated the square's air.
The Three Thousand Worlds guild members gazing at her had a hazy reverence in their eyes.
Sure, it was a bit cringy, but as her former right-hand man, I got it. Her voice was kinda cheat-level.
"Deserters are usually executed on the spot. But here, no one died, and the deserter turned herself in the next day. That merits consideration."
"......"
"Deserter who sinned. Your flight nearly cost your comrades their lives. Do you repent?"
"Y-yes. I'm sorry......"
"Can you promise me you'll never do it again?"
"Of course, Archwitch. Naturally......"
That was the moment.
A blue "scale" appeared above Dang Seo-rin's head.
Not garish neon blue—this was the subtle azure of starlight filtering through a night sky, shimmering along the scale's edges.
"Then, you are forgiven. I, the witches of Three Thousand Worlds, and your combat unit comrades who had to hold the line because of you—we will never hold last week's desertion against you."
Whoosh.
From Dang Seo-rin and the guild members' chests, and far off from the train station where Three Thousand Worlds HQ was—thin, threadlike shadows wriggled like snakes, black smoke clouds converging.
The black threads gathered on the scale's left pan. With a clatter, balance broke, and it tipped sharply.
"In exchange."
Dang Seo-rin flicked her index finger.
"You can never retreat first from any battlefield. Even if forced to, you retreat only after all comrades have. Your battlefield includes civilians too. You can't withdraw until their safety is secured. In other words, you will always be the last to retreat."
"Ah......"
"......"
"Do you agree?"
The defendant's face was ashen.
Aberration battles were never safe. Strap on a wingsuit and cliff-dive for better odds.
But for some reason?
Relief mingled with the pallor on his face. Like someone finally at ease.
"...Yes. Archwitch. I agree."
"Very well."
Swish—
A white, writhing silk serpent slithered from the defendant's torso. Like winter breath exhaled not from the mouth but the whole body.
He stared blankly at the escaping breath-sound from his own form. The white tail squirmed skyward, coiling on the scale's right pan.
Clatter—the sides leveled.
"Balance is restored."
"Thank you....... Thank you......"
"Yes. From now on, fight at the forefront for your comrades—above all, for the citizens."
Ooh, some spectators murmured. Hundreds of citizens erupted in applause.
"......"
The scene hit me hard. Equivalent exchange—that "useless" grand magic—was now functioning as Busan's courtroom.
This was why, even in far-future regressions, Busan alone rejected the AI judge.
Dang Seo-rin's "Witch Trial."