City of Witches

1.

Just like the guest room in Countess Gemini’s Mansion, Diana’s room was a spacious room with two living rooms, a guest room, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a courtyard.

Since it was so spacious, there were naturally a lot of things inside.

Including the level three first-aid kit that was conspicuously placed on the shelf.

After Diana shouted about weakness or whatnot and boldly kissed Siwoo…

She ended up spectacularly falling and twisted her ankle.

Since she couldn’t stand up properly as her ankle was completely swollen, Siwoo had to lift her and laid her down on the sofa where they usually played Witch Board together.

“Are you okay?”

“…”

First, she misunderstood his intention greatly, then she kissed him after saying nonsense about his weakness or whatnot, ran away and fell down spectacularly, and now, he had to carry her to the sofa because she couldn’t do anything.

She was too embarrassed to lift her face up, there was no way that she’d have the capacity to answer Siwoo’s question. Not that he expected her to, though.

He laid her legs on the sofa, then after asking her permission with his eyes, he lifted her skirt slightly.

“Oh, wow…”

Her ankle was swollen red.

While it didn’t seem like it was bad enough that she had a fracture, it must’ve been hurt.

It was hard to believe that a simple fall could cause her leg to be this swollen.

Then again, the sound that she made when she fell down was unnaturally loud.

“If it hurts, please tell me.”

During his training with his master, injuries weren’t a rare occurrence.

That was why he was familiar with fixing them using magic¹.

He reached out his hand and wrapped her ankle.

Healing spirit bodies wasn’t as difficult as one might think.

Especially if the injuries were far from the main organs, Siwoo could easily fix them by just using his mana.

“Bloom.”

He unleashed his mana and wrapped it around her injured ankle.

Then, he controlled it to reduce the swelling and calm the tense muscles.

It wasn’t a difficult thing to do, but it took some time to finish it properly.

In the meantime, let’s admire how pretty her feet were.

They were clean and white, without any blemishes.

One could find traces of her slender genes in her toes which were small, yet thin and long.

When Siwoo touched these little toes to inject some more of his mana, they wiggled around, as if she was enduring the pain.

“So, why did you do that, Miss? I still won’t tell even if you didn’t, you know?”

“…”

After keeping silent for a long time, Diana finally spoke out, mumbling her words through the cushion that she was covering her face with.

“…Mom told me that you need to know your opponent’s weakness so you can negotiate safely…”

“I-I see…”

It was a rather Machiavellian reason.

But, that didn’t make her decision to use a kiss as a means for blackmail any less strange.

Come to think of it, back in Border Town, she also ran away from me out of nowhere…

I just can’t figure her out sometimes…

“…Mr. Siwoo.”

It was hard to see it from the way she usually acted, but Diana was a real noble lady.

And it went without saying that she could act like a proper one, just like her mother did.

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, since this will take a while.”

“This might be a little strange question…”

“…Okay, ask away.”

Diana never took the pillow away from her face.

After that, she went silent for a long time, opening and closing her toes several times before she finally took a deep breath and asked her question.

“How long have you been together with my mom?”

“…That’s your question…?”

“Yes. I need to know.”

It was truly a strange question to ask, and he genuinely didn’t know how to answer it. But, it wasn’t like he could just keep his mouth shut here.

“A day?”

“Lies. Why does everyone keep lying to me…?”

“No, it isn’t a lie. Yesterday was our first time.”

“…Really?”

Diana slowly lowered the cushion covering her face.

Determined to know the truth, she set her gaze on him.

Even though they didn’t share the same blood, she gave off a similar impression to her mother’s.

Especially the way her eyebrows turned tense…

“Do you…like her…?”

“…”

Another tough question to answer.

Although the answer to that question was pretty much set…

It was still hard for him to actually say it out loud.

“Does she…like you back…?”

“…Apparently.”

That marked the awkward QnA session, and Diana covered her face back with the cushion again.

Coincidentally, the treatment had also ended at the same time.

“It’s finished. Try to move around.”

“Yeah, it’s fine now. Thank you”

“No need to thank me, I was part of the reason why this happened in the first place anyway…”

One convenient thing about having a spirit body was that as long as one’s injury wasn’t caused by magic, it was easy to fix it.

It hadn’t been long, but Diana’s swelling had already gone, and she already could move her ankle around.

“Mr. Siwoo.”

Diana then carefully sat down next to him, moving her body in a way that she wouldn’t lift her skirt up. For some reason, she looked calm, considerably calmer than before.

It was hard to believe that this was the same girl who had been making a fuss not too long ago.

“Can you…make her completely fall for you…?”

“Sorry?”

I…didn’t hear that wrong, right…?

“You heard it right, I’m asking you to seduce my mother.”

“Am I really hearing things right…?”

How could she ask me something like that out of nowhere…?

Up until a moment ago, this whole thing has been unfolding like a romcom, but now it’s turned into a drama…

Diana looked straight at Siwoo, seemingly having made up her mind. Then she muttered in a low voice.

“Please.”

2.

Today, Diana was wearing a sable long coat.

To explain what a sable long coat was, it was the fluffy-looking brown coat that rich wives in dramas usually wore.

Though it was called a sable long coat, most of the time, it wasn’t purely made out of sable fur because it would be too expensive if it did. Instead, they usually mixed it with mink and cashmere furs as well.

But, Diana’s coat was made of pure sable fur, even though its color was pure white.

When he asked her about it, she told him that they made it from specifically albino sable fur.

Which meant, its price was astronomical to say the least.

Anyway, it was the kind of clothes that would make someone look like a nouveau riche if they didn’t carry the right ‘aura’.

But that didn’t apply to Diana. The outfit fit her perfectly as she walked down the streets of Tarot Town.

Not long ago, Diana had asked him to seduce her mother for some reason.

But, before he could even give out his answer, she already dragged him to the square market.

Because of the season and the heavy downpour last night, the streets were extremely chilly.

All that water had been turned into a layer of ice sheets, covering the streets.

However, despite the chilly weather, the square market was as bustling as usual.

“Dried firewood! Enough to last for the entire winter! Ten pennies a bale! Buy now, get a free flint!”

“Rose water! Rose water! It’s good to make your face look whiter, Ladies!”

“Get your roasted duck here!”

The merchants’ calls for the customers were reminiscent of a concert hall.

There wasn’t any place to stand around as the place was filled with stalls lining up in front of the merchants’ tents, filling up the entire sidewalk.

But, when Diana, who was holding her parasol, followed by Siwoo in his butler outfit, took a step forward, the road opened up, as if all the hustle and bustle was a lie.

Even to the civilians who didn’t know about the story of the albino sable coat, her coat must’ve seemed extremely expensive.

If they accidentally smeared it with mud, they knew that they’d instantly be stuck in a three-generational worth of debt at the very least to compensate for the damage.

“So, why are we coming all the way here?”

“Just follow me.”

Seeing everything unfolding was amusing, but Siwoo still hadn’t fully recovered from his shock over the fact that Diana invited him to do something outside like this.

As they walked through the alleys that were spread out like spider’s web, they came across some suspicious looking buildings.

Diana glanced around the area for a bit before immediately heading towards a certain three-stories building.

“Huh? The bookstore…?”

“I’ve been wanting to visit this place.”

While the average Gehenna citizens lived a life that was similar to the life in the Medieval Era, their standards of living were actually close to that of the people of modern times.

The sanitary standards were extremely high thanks to the water pipes that the witches had built with magic, the infant mortality rate was only 1% at most, and the crime rate was extremely low.

Since such things were directly connected to the witches’ convenience, the citizens could enjoy them for granted. Hence, it could be said that they were living a more comfortable life than those who lived in most third-world countries.

One proof of that was the fact that there wasn’t a single beggar operating in the entire market.

Also, basic education was mandatory among the citizens, hence quite a few of them had reading as a hobby.

This particular bookstore was opened to accommodate those citizens.

From the entrance through the entire building, countless bookshelves lined up neatly. There were also towering piles of books here and there, giving off the scent of old paper.

Dust particles could be seen at the parts of the bookstore that were illuminated by the dim light sources.

In fact, Siwoo had known about this place since a long time ago.

He just never went here.

Because back when he was a slave, he just didn’t have the time or money to buy novels. Besides, it wasn’t like he liked reading novels to begin with.

There was also no need for him to scour the place to look for magic books.

After all, the place where he worked at was none other than the Trinity Academy where such books were plenty.

“Are you looking for a particular book?”

“Wait here.”

Diana went past the dozing bookstore owner without answering and left him there.

And there she goes…

Well, since I’m already here, might as well look for some books.

He could find all sorts of books here.

From books about basic medicinal knowledge…

Books of food recipes, written in rough handwriting and crude format—probably to not waste any paper because it was rather expensive…

To journals whose author name he couldn’t recognize at all.

“Hmm…”

Meanwhile, Diana picked out a book out of the pile of books that probably reached ten thousands, not caring whether her coat caught the dust or not.

Before long, she already had a few books tucked under her arm.

“Huh?”

As for Siwoo, his eyes were locked into a particularly large, dusty book that almost overturned the bookshelf.

It seemed like it had been left there for a very long time.

The writing was old and worn, so it was hard for him to read it, but when he wiped off the dust off its cover, he could read its title.

[Criminals’ Records].

“Ah.”

He untied the leather strap that was tied onto the book as if it was a belt and opened its cover. To his surprise, the book was in a better condition than he had expected..

As the title had stated, the book listed the various Criminals roaming around the world.

From their actions, the major accidents they caused, their ranks, even their self-essence magic and artifacts.

It seemed like the book served the same purpose as the Criminals Database that one could access through the various Witch Points in the Modern World.

“…”

So far, he had been entangled with two Criminals, the Witch of Aquarius and the Cowardly Witch.

He knew that he would meet more of them in the future.

So, carrying this book around was handy. It would give him enough information so he could deal with them to some extent, just like how one would try to look up a guide to find out about a boss’ attack patterns in an RPG.

“I doubt it will be much of a help, but it’s still a decent book to keep…”

When Siwoo found a book that was worth reading, Diana had ten books tucked in her armpit.

“Why so many…?”

To that question, Diana just stared at him silently.

She hesitated whether she should say what was in her mind or not.

But in the end, after much pondering, biting her lips a few times, she finally decided.

“What I’m going to tell you here… Is a secret between us. Okay?”

1. Basically he can use his mana to fix things like twisted ankle, dislocated bones and stuff, not healing magic