City of Witches

1.

Siwoo, who had been kicked away without even getting the chance to talk to Diana properly, let out a long sigh.

He could try to justify himself, telling her that it was the countess who made the first move and seduced him.

That their subsequent physical intimacy was the result of a mutual agreement in order to further their magic research.

But even he knew that would just come up as an excuse.

In any case, whether their sex was a means to enhance their magic or not, or if it meant losing the chance to sleep with someone as stunning as Countess Yesod…

He decided it was time to sort things out.

With a heavy heart, he knocked on the countess’ door.

She probably wouldn’t react as severely as Diana did, but he doubted that things would go smoothly.

Hearing her graceful voice, he carefully opened the door.

This was the countess’ private study, the place where they held their classes, and also the place where they shared passionate nights together.

“It’s been a while.”

“Indeed.”

“I heard you came to visit me while I was recovering. Thank you.”

Clad in a thick fur coat that enveloped her body tightly, she received his greetings.

But something felt different about the atmosphere around her.

There was a noticeable gap in her polite welcome—a gap that hadn’t been there before.

Given how the countess had acted the last time they parted, it wouldn’t have been strange if she had thrown herself at him the moment they reunited, showering him with kisses.

Especially considering that he barely made it back alive.

And yet she was just sitting there, quietly sipping her coffee.

“I must say, I’m impressed. To think that a man who studies magic without a proper master could defeat the Witch of Desire in a magic battle.”

“You’re giving me too much credit. I was just lucky.”

In truth, Siwoo felt awkward about such praise.

After all, it wasn’t even him who led the fight to a draw, but his unconscious self that had gone berserk.

There was also Bianca who made a blunder and trapped herself in a narrow cage—despite her main way of fighting being zoning and poking.

And that wasn’t all. Without Amelia’s help, he would’ve lost his life in Bianca’s last counterattack. This was why he didn’t feel particularly proud of himself.

“Modesty. Too much of it could be a bad thing, you know? What you’ve done was something remarkable, something that will go down in the history of the witch society, Mr. Siwoo. It’s an achievement worth celebrating.”

In any case…

He hadn’t come here for a tutoring session.

But to set things straight, to make their relationship clear, and to offer an apology in his own way.

Even if their relationship had started casually, with them only thinking about physical relationship and not anything deeper, he thought that at the very least, he’d have to show some courtesy before ending it.

Just as he was trying to find the right moment to bring that topic up, the countess spoke up first.

“By the way, I was a little surprised.”

“About what?”

“I had no idea Mr. Siwoo was hiding something so big.”

“Hiding…what?”

Siwoo tilted his head, confused as the countess took the roundabout approach to get to the point.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Mr. Siwoo? That your lover is Duchess Tiphereth.”

For the first time, the countess’ composed expression wavered.

But it wasn’t anger or a sense of betrayal that flickered across her face.

Their relationship had always been casual, and they did it partly for magic research.

She already knew that another witch had a place by Siwoo’s side.

“First, I want to make it clear. I don’t feel betrayed or anything like that.”

Indeed, the reason why the countess grabbed her head sulkily was because of all people, his lover was none other than Duchess Tiphereth—the witch who was revered as the Goddess of Combat.

“It’s just! Couldn’t you at least give me a heads-up that the other person was the duchess, Mr. Siwoo?!”

She was a witch whose power matched her title. One of the only 3 duchesses in Gehenna.

Excluding Keter, she had personally purged more witches than anyone.

And, most importantly, she was known to be the most ‘upright, unyielding, and strict’ witch of all.

“You just said that she was your master! Of course I didn’t dare to make any further connection than that!”

Countess Yesod stood up abruptly. Her frustration was clear in her stance.

The faint shadow under her eyes hinted at the mental strain she had endured.

Pursuing one’s own self-essence magic to higher levels was a witch’s purpose in life.

Hence, Gehenna’s nobility titles didn’t hold much weight among them.

After all, those titles were originally just rewards from Duchess Keter for the witches who were of great help in establishing Gehenna. They weren’t positions with inherent privileges, like ministers or deputies in the Modern World.

That was why being a countess or a duchess didn’t necessarily imply a hierarchy of power.

Yesod Family was one of the wealthiest in Gehenna.

In contrast, Tiphereth had unstable finances and would go bankrupt overnight without the support of the few witches who respected her.

Yesod’s influence in the Modern World was greater. There really was no reason for her to feel inferior to Duchess Tiphereth.

But she had met Tiphereth before.

She had seen firsthand what kind of person she was.

Her cold, emotionless expression, and curt tone.

Like a vengeful spirit, she relentlessly hunted down Criminal Exiles, and all the Homunculi that she could find, driven by a burning desire to avenge her disciple against the world that stole her life.

Her violent inaction and sharp, blade-like gaze could intimidate even the usually fearless Lucy Yesod.

“Was it really that big of a deal?”

Through their back-and-forth, Siwoo finally realized what the countess was truly afraid of.

He had heard how a lot of witches mentioned how they ‘revered’ Duchess Tiphereth?

The word ‘revered’ had two parts in its original meaning: ‘to hold in esteem’ and ‘to fear’.¹

In other words, Countess Yesod feared Duchess Tiphereth, just like everyone else.

And it made sense.

His master’s actions, to put it mildly, made her like a smaller version of Keter.

He had just overlooked it because of the gentle smile she usually wore, but when he thought of their first meeting, she had been truly terrifying and hard to deal with.

“Of course it was! You’re being taught by her, aren’t you? Out of all people, you should know what kind of witch she is, Mr. Siwoo!”

“No, really! She isn’t as scary as you think!”

“To you, maybe! Who’d thrust a blade to their lover’s throat, huh…?!”

The countess patted her chest in frustration, then gulped down the hot coffee as if trying to calm her nerves before sighing deeply and spilling her feelings.

“Honestly, I can’t say I was completely in the right either. You told me that you had a lover, Mr. Siwoo, and I was the one who pushed forward, ignoring your words.”

“I’m equally at fault. It’s not just on you, Countess.”

“Still, I thought I could handle it. I even hoped we could make our relationship official one day. But I’ve never expected that your lover is Duchess Tiphereth…”

In truth, even if she stopped to ask his lover’s identity back then, Siwoo would’ve mentioned Sharon instead.

After all, at the time, his memory was still bound by his master’s seal.

The countess, now almost in despair, gripped Siwoo’s arm tightly.

“You’re sure she hasn’t found out, right? I…guess if she had, she’d already pay me a visit…”

“You should try to calm down, Countess.”

“Calm down… You really have no idea who Duchess Tiphereth is, do you?”

“She’s a reasonable person, not just with me but with everyone else as well. She wouldn’t lash out over nothing.”

Sensing that her anxiety was overblown, Siwoo tried to reassure her.

For the sake of his master’s reputation, who was likely oblivious to the situation, he felt the need to give her a proper explanation.

“Really…?”

“Of course. She might seem stern and intimidating, but as long as you explain things properly, she’ll understand. She won’t get mad.”

From Countess Yesod’s perspective, this evaluation came from the duchess’ lover, so…

She couldn’t trust its objectivity fully.

However, the genuine trust in Siwoo’s tone was enough to ease her worries.

The Countess stared at Siwoo with her deep red eyes, as if to judge the truth of his words, then finally sighed heavily, almost like a resigned puppy.

“…If that’s true, then I can be at ease. I can’t believe your words fully, but if half of what you say is right, I can at least calm down a little.”

As if all her strength had left her, the countess collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted. She let out several long sighs.

“I guess doing reckless things really isn’t worth it.”

“Yeah, living a straightforward life seems like the best way to go.”

Siwoo sat down opposite her, sharing a bitter smile.

He felt some of the weight lift off his chest.

Rejection wasn’t just tough for the person on the receiving end, after all. The one doing the rejecting also bore a certain amount of burden.

Although their relationship started out lightly, they started getting really into it and everything turned into a hot mess. Hence why Siwoo had been concerned about how she would take it all.

But their conversation just now clearly veered towards, ‘Let’s stop this affair’.

“Now that we’re on the topic, I think it might be a good idea to bring our research to a close as well.”

He chose his words carefully, watching her reaction.

By research, of course, he was referring to their experiments involving mana amplification during his ejaculation.

“What?”

But, the countess’ reaction was far from what Siwoo had expected.

“Do you mean…we should stop seeing each other?”

“Rather than stop seeing each other…. I think we should stop having sex, at least for the sake of keeping things between us decent…”

“No way…”

Showing a completely different reaction than the one she had during the conversation earlier, the countess was in shock, as if she had just been told they were breaking up.

And just a minute ago, she had been worried about Duchess Tiphereth’s anger.

“Research is important, but there are other things that matter more…”

“No. To me, studying your body, Mr. Siwoo, is a very, very important task.”

Her firm voice interrupted his words, making him pause.

Before he knew it, Countess Yesod had directed her intense gaze at him.

It was a gaze that was filled with a strong sense of expectation that went beyond just physical desire.

“Take a look at this.”

With a wave of her hand, a thick stack of documents that had been sitting on the table flew over to her.

She laid them out in front of Siwoo. These were data that she acquired from their research.

Even though he was still learning, Siwoo had come a long way from his days as an untrained witch.

He had enough basic knowledge to grasp the general idea just from observing and learning.

While he couldn’t fully understand everything that Countess Yesod showed him, he could make sense of about half of it.

“See? During our intercourse, you didn’t just charge me with mana, but with pure mana. You practically mimicked the circuits that were engraved in the brand.”

The countess showed Siwoo the data that contained all sorts of complicated graphs and drawn messily, in a voice full of enthusiasm. She explained each item one by one.

More specifically, she explained how his mana interacted with her self-essence magic during their sex.

“I see.”

“Do you have something in mind?”

The countess’ words clicked with what Siwoo had already figured out.

All the magic that was added to his Ain came from those he had creampied during sex.

First Yebin, then Ea, Sharon, Eloa, and Lucy.

He had copied their self-essence magic and kept it within him.

Siwoo then shared this realization with the countess, along with what he had recently observed in the memory palace.

Apparently that confirmed her hypothesis as Countess Yesod suddenly clapped her hands. Her eyes shone with excitement.

Gone was her earlier nervousness, now replaced with boundless energy.

“See, Mr. Siwoo! If we can get this right, we could make brand ‘transfer’ possible! An apprentice witch might be able to inherit a brand without her predecessor having to pass on! Of course, we would require detailed adjustments and a lot more data samples, but the result would definitely be groundbreaking!”

“Ah…”

That was when it finally hit Siwoo.

Just as Diana didn’t want Lucy to leave…

Lucy also didn’t want to leave Diana behind.

This meant his involvement was their only lifeline to escape the difficult circumstances.

Whether Duchess Tiphereth approved their relationship or not became a lesser concern now.

“Mr. Siwoo, please… Proceed with this research, just for a little longer. I can’t say that there’s no personal feelings involved in this, but… Diana and I desperately need your help.”

The countess held his hand, pleading.

He could see that even a hint of refusal from him would make her strip herself naked and fall to her knees.

“…Okay. I can go with that…for the time being…”

Despite feeling uneasy, Siwoo decided to see this through to the end.

However, it wasn’t because he wanted to satisfy his lust. He just couldn’t bring himself to refuse her.

After all, a life was on the line here. There was no way he could just walk away.

“I’ll do my best to explain it to her.”

“Thank you, thank you so much, Mr. Siwoo…!”

With that in mind, Siwoo felt that perhaps his four women would be able to understand.

Thinking that, he gave her a positive answer. At least for now.

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Author’s note: This is Sharon comforting Eloa, from the fanart that Blessing-nim provided. Thank you for the beautiful art.

Footnotes

1. 1. The word '경외' combines the characters '경' and '외', '경' means 'to respect,' while '외' means 'to fear.' So, '경외' implies a sense of both respect and awe, or /genesisforsaken