༺ Witch of Fortune (3) ༻
1.
Periwinkle put her phone down and checked on the two people lying nearby.
First was Siwoo, who was knocked out by the Drowned Witch’s powerful mental attack and the other was Sharon, who had collapsed due to her lungs getting punctured.
She laid them side by side on the bed after the interdimensional barrier was lifted.
Anyone with spirit bodies wouldn’t die easily even from serious injuries like this.
Even if their limbs got chopped off, they’d still regenerate given enough time and in the case when their body got punctured, they could still be fixed, given proper treatment.
But, even considering that fact, the wound that Sharon suffered from was quite serious.
The harpoon used by the Drowned Witch was something made out of its black water, which was the same as seawater.
Now, while it was a magically materialized seawater, it wasn’t really much of a problem.
The problem here was that it was infused with fear and despair, turning it into a deadly concoction, pretty much a poison.
While the physical toll might not be significant, no one could say it was the same mentally.
Luckily, with Periwinkle’s intervention, she would avoid the ‘worst-case scenario’.
Befitting her moniker, the Witch of Fortune, her actions would go as she intended, and she didn’t particularly wish for Evergreen to die.
“Well, it’s none of my business anyway.”
As she let out a yawn while sitting on the couch, the person she had just called on the phone suddenly opened the door to the room and entered.
It was Eloa Tiphereth, who had been searching for Siwoo frantically all over Seoul.
Knowing that Tiphereth was one of the people who backed Siwoo up, when she saw her name on Siwoo’s contact list, she immediately gave the Duchess a call.
Judging by her disheveled looking cherry blossom-colored hair and bloodshot eyes, it was clear that she immediately rushed over here after that call.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Cybele Periwinkle— Oh my…?”
Ignoring her greeting, Eloa swiftly moved past her to check on Siwoo’s condition as he lay on the bed.
“Is Siwoo…okay…?”
Lowering the hand she offered for a handshake, Periwinkle shrugged.
Skipping greetings on their first meeting was a rude thing to do, but considering Eloa’s concern for Siwoo, Periwinkle just let it slide.
As she asked that question, Eloa checked on Siwoo, who was lying unconscious with a pale complexion like a corpse.
To her relief, she didn’t find any major injuries in his body.
But her relief was short-lived and she couldn’t help but feel depressed again.
Because Sharon, who was lying next to him, had some serious wounds.
“They’re both okay. A bit hurt, but they won’t die. Well, all thanks to me, of course.”
“What happened?”
In response to Tiphereth’s question, Periwinkle calmly explained what happened.
She was focused on her own actions though, while leaving out the part about her stalking them to watch them having sex.
“Would you like a drink?”
After she wrapped up her explanation, she casually strolled over and handed Tiphereth a cold can of beer from the fridge.
Instead of taking the beer, the Duchess reached out and grabbed her hand.
Then she bowed her head.
“Thank you…I genuinely…thank you…”
“Please, you don’t need to do this. Witches should help each other, after all. Still, if you insist, I won’t turn down a small gesture of goodwill from you, Duchess.”
“I’ll make sure to prepare ample compensation for you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
‘That’s that, I’m done.’
‘No need to linger in this gloomy place anymore.’
Periwinkle pulled out a business card and handed it to Eloa.
“I had a personal arrangement with him.”
“A personal…arrangement…?”
“Please tell him to contact me this time. That’s my only request. Alright then.”
“Wait, what arrangement are you talking about?”
Since it was related to Siwoo, Eloa pressed the issue rather persistently.
But Periwinkle didn’t even look back as she left the room while saying,
“He’ll understand if you tell him~”
2.
The hectic night finally came to an end.
Though Eloa was on the verge of experiencing another loss, she didn’t even have the lenience to drown in self-hatred and blame herself for what had happened.
Because she had to hurry and take Sharon and Siwoo to the Witch Point’s Gwanghwamun branch.
“Considering the unfortunate circumstances, it’s fortunate that this doesn’t seem to be life threatening.”
Sharon, with her top clothes removed, was lying on a neatly made bed.
Her body was covered in long silver needles and moxibustion that were burning down.
Since she had handed them over to Ms. Sua, someone who was quite adept in healing, Eloa could at least feel a little relieved now.
Despite not being fully focused, she at least felt some solace from the fact that she didn’t repeat the same mistake as the past.
As for Sua, after she straightened her disheveled hanbok, she approached Eloa, who was sitting at the tea table.
While Sharon’s treatment was crucial, there was a real reason why Eloa went straight to the Witch Point. Ms. Sua had personally requested her presence.
If it wasn’t obvious already, she wanted to talk about last night’s incident.
“Thank you…thanks to you, I have the face to see him again…”
“This subject is glad to be helpful.”
Despite Sua’s calm demeanor, a deep shadow hung over her face.
Eloa, Siwoo, Sharon, and Periwinkle were all attacked last night.
A large number of Homunculi controlled by the Cowardly Witch simultaneously attacked the witches staying in Seoul.
Four out of the twelve witches were killed overnight.
Although Sua managed to fend off the attack on her, her left arm was now partially paralyzed as a result.
“What the heck is all this chaos about…”
Eloa muttered.
She could simply dismiss the attack using Dagon’s Flute as the Cowardly Witch’s misdeeds, but this time, it was clear that something bigger was unfolding.
The events felt like they were connected, it felt like the sound of a rift was echoing.
Just like the calm before the storm.
“It’s this subject’s fault for not handling the matter properly.”
“No need to blame yourself. None of us could have predicted the Cowardly Witch would cause such havoc.”
There was also the matter of Duchess Keter, who hadn’t made her move yet despite the severity of the situation.
It was fair to say that no one could have seen this coming.
“Is she still staying silent?”
“This subject has sent multiple messages to the Ivory Tower, yet…she hasn’t replied even a single time…”
Eloa actually didn’t want to overly rely on Duchess Keter.
But, it was a fact that a significant portion of the witch society depended on her for their peace and stability.
Those Criminal Exiles, despite their power, threat, greed, and ambition, all of them were still bowing down because of Duchess Keter’s influence.
Looking back, the Cowardly Witch had already crossed the line twice.
She had ruthlessly massacred a large portion of the civilians without putting an interdimensional barrier, and now she took out a bunch of witches all at once.
Yet, Duchess Keter still hadn’t made her move.
‘Whatever her reason is, if her restraining power were to disappear…no, if it’s weakened…’
If other Criminal Exiles were to take up on the Cowardly Witch’s example and thought that, ‘It’s okay to go this far?’ the damage they would cause would surely be tremendous.
To them, they might cause some incidents to test the water, but in the process, countless witches and civilians would die.
“Let’s sort this matter out first.”
But they didn’t even have the luxury to worry about the future.
They had to figure out how to deal with the Cowardly Witch first.
Sua spread out the information about the witches who were attacked last night on the tea table.
“Most of the witches who were attacked had a close connection to the Witch Point, huh?”
“Those who were actively involved in hunting Homunculi were targeted.”
It wasn’t hard for them to see the connection.
The target selection was way too obvious.
All those witches had received substantial bounties at the Witch Point.
Basically, they were witches who were hell-bent on slaying those Homunculi, whether it was because they needed money or they just hated them for existing.
“This subject’s deduction is that…she’s planning to reduce the number of witches staying in Seoul…”
“I assume that some of them have already left?”
“Indeed…more than half of them have left Seoul…”
Four witches were killed in one night.
After knowing that the person behind the incident was the Cowardly Witch, the criminal notorious for her slyness and for how dangerous she was, it wasn’t hard for the witches to just decide to leave Seoul.
This matter would affect not only the witches who were attacked last night, but those who had been avoiding battles with the Homunculi.
The thing was there was no way that this was the only thing that Xochitl wanted. Eloa suspected that she was planning for something bigger.
“What in the world is she after…?”
Eloa was lost in thought.
With the Dagon’s Flute, she tried to get a ton of mana.
The Red Knight that she had chased vanished, replaced by the mysteriously cloned White Knights.
Then this time, she tried to drive the witches out of the area with this incident…
The most puzzling thing about all this was the fact that because of this, most of her force was wiped out.
Her notorious Homunculi like the Drowning Witch, Incubus and various other Homunculi perished in just a single night.
“If she’s not completely off the rocker, she must have done this on purpose…”
Eloa mumbled to herself.
She could tell that Xochitl definitely was a psychopath, but that didn’t mean she was dumb.
At the very least, she knew that she shouldn’t just throw her resources away.
“Have we still not located her whereabouts?”
“Since the person in question is proficient in hiding in the first place, no, we haven’t. Please forgive me.”
“No need to apologize. It isn’t like I’m in a position where I can do much…”
Sua hadn’t only been sitting on a cushion while sipping tea.
From the very start, she volunteered herself to become the Branch Manager for the Gwanghwamun Branch for the sake of safety and security for her homeland. She had been tirelessly searching for Xochitl’s whereabouts to eliminate as many variables as possible.
But most Criminal Exiles were pretty good at hiding their tracks to begin with.
The Cowardly Witch, especially, was a nightmare to track down. Firstly, she never fought directly, only sending her minions in her stead. If she wanted to hide herself, then there wasn’t a single way one could use to look for her. That was why, Sua’s effort had been fruitless.
“While we are at this subject, Redcliffe’s whereabouts are unknown.”
“The Witch of Ashfire?”
“Yes. Upon investigation, this subject found out that she was a former classmate of the Cowardly Witch at Trinity Academy, and she harbored a close relationship with her before she became a Criminal Exile. Strangely, she disappeared right before the incident occurred… Since it was suspicious, this subject has been trying to ascertain her current whereabouts.”
Eloa’s head started to throb.
‘How many more people would die or get injured from now on…?’
“Have you tried requesting assistance from Gehenna or other Witch Points at least?”
She asked that, but she already felt like she had given up halfway.
There was no way that those research-obsessed witches of Gehenna would leave their comfy nests to stop a runaway Criminal Exile.
While the witches from other Witch Point wouldn’t budge willingly, unless things got really desperate.
“Let’s see what this subject can do. We will start negotiating with the government to secure the funds needed to persuade them.”
“Thank you.”
“There’s no need. This subject only did this to protect the land this subject was born and raised in.”
And so, their meeting ended without reaching a clear conclusion.
Eloa thought that things would be much simpler if the enemy was right in front of them.
But with her whereabouts remained unknown, there was nothing that could be done.
She let out a sigh.
The sky outside was painted a gloomy black, the cold autumn rain began to fall.
