Those Who Almost Lost a Loved One (1)
1.
Sharon was crouching in the corner.
Seeing her like this brought Siwoo back to the day when she got kicked out of her rooftop apartnt.
Except that she looked more depressed than back then.
Even her once flowing and lively hair seed limp and lifeless.
Siwoo
She called out to him with a shaky voice.
Her appearance looked incredibly frail.
I heard you got hurt because of are you okay?
It had been a while since he had seen her looking so low-spirited.
Though Sharon had a slightly quirky side, there was always this lively and energetic aura around her, as if that was her life motto.
He wanted to comfort her, so Siwoo sat on the edge of the bed.
anwhile, Sharon shook her head after hearing his words.
Im fineIm not hurt or anything, b-but
After stuttering a few more tis, her body shuddered as the shocking scene from earlier flashed in her mind.
Her voice and body trembled like a hypothermic patient as she clutched his hand tightly.
I-I thoughtsothing really bad would happen to you! I-I really thought you weregoing to die! H-Hic! Uhh
Her cry almost turned into wail as she snuggled into Siwoos arms.
Fresh scent wafted from her body, Siwoo could feel its softness when he embraced her.
He patted her back to comfort her as her shoulders shook due to her sobs.
It wassoso scary! I-I was so scared! Waaah!
Dont worry, in the end everything turns out fine, isnt it? See? Im perfectly healthy now.
B-But Icouldnt do anything!
Relief, powerlessness, fear and despair enveloped her heart all at once. Sharon found herself tightly clinging to Siwoo.
With him holding her close like this already brought her comfort.
Seeing her like this reminded Siwoo of his own helplessness at the monts when he almost died.
He could relate with her, and so his heart welled up in emotions.
Anger towards Duchess Tiphereth who made Sharon cry, and gratitude towards Sharon herself, who had cared so much for him; Both emotions engulfed his heart.
See? Im doing well. My injuries have all been healed already. So, stop worrying and relax, okay?
M-MmI-Ill try tocalm down
anwhile, the twins who had been following Siwoo all this while only watched the scene from behind.
Odile nudged Odettes side, grabbed her wrist and quietly closed the door.
Knowing that it wasnt a good ti to make a fuss, Odette stayed silent for a good while before finally breaking the silence with a question.
Why?
Just let Unnie be. She needs to let her emotions out, more than us
But, I want to be hugged by Mr. Assistant too
Didnt you already do that with him yesterday?!
That was only to get even with you, Sis!
The twins settled onto the comfy living rooms couch.
It had been quite a day for them.
When they thought about Siwoo lying helplessly on the rooftop, their hearts started to race.
The mory brought back the traumatic experience of them having to face the Witch of Aquarius back in Gehenna.
Anyway, right now Unnie needs Mr. Assistant more than we do. We should be considerate.
But I have a bad feeling about all this! Sothing just doesnt feel right!
Sa here, but what can we do? Mr. Assistant helped us before, and hell continue to do so.
Odile knew from her master of the state Siwoo was in when he returned to the modern world.
He was practically stranded, unable to form normal relationships with humans due to his ties to the world being severed.
Moreover, he had to face the danger of being targeted by Homunculi and Exiles.
When she first saw Sharon, she felt that she was being betrayed by Siwoo and she was a little bit angry at him, but at the sa ti, she felt thankful towards Sharon.
Especially after she saw how Sharon imdiately rushed to the battlefield after hearing that Siwoo was left alone there. Odile knew that as long as Sharon was by Siwoos side, he would never feel lonely again.
This is what it ans to be mature.
Aww
Why dont we try on the new pajamas we bought?
Fine
While Siwoo was comforting Sharon, the twins changed into different outfits, settling on the couch for a casual conversation through the long night.
2.
The Gwanghwamun branch was abuzz with activity.
Ever since its inception, it was the first ti that the branch ever had to deal with such an overwhelming workload.
Not only the witches belonging to the branch were being offered hefty rewards for the job, as they also offered the sa thing to the Exiles.
So much work
The branch manager, Sua, lanted, as she massaged her temples.
She spent most of the day responding to a flood of complaints coming from the Hotline, so it was fair for her to feel like she had expended a years worth of ntal energy.
In a single day, more than three thousand lives were lost, and this incident happened without anyone deploying a single interdinsional barrier.
And they ended up having to manipulate the mories of over 15,000 people because of this.
The South Korean governnt had to forcefully take control of the dia and temporarily isolated every single witness, including all the police and the military personnels in the area.
Unlike the old days when rumors could only spread from mouth to mouth, with the existence of wireless networks, news in the modern era spread like wildfire, so they had to move quickly to prevent that from happening.
Exactly ten witches perford mass hypnosis to erase and manipulate those peoples mories, and the branch had to request help from other branches to do this.
Handling such a large-scale incident really felt like trying to put out a massive wildfire with just a bucket of water.
Though, despite all the odds, they still managed to et the deadline, albeit barely.
Considering that the branch had to respond to the situation quickly, and she had to control witches from another branch as well, this outco was pretty much a miracle.
The governnt would wrap up the incident as an accident caused by a gas leak.
Theyd probably put the bla on the architect or the company who owned the building. There really wasnt a better option than this.
Because the Korean governnt, along with other superpowers like the US, China, and Japan, wanted to avoid revealing the existence of witches to the world.
Which ant, they couldnt just let the truth be exposed to the foreign dia.
Of course, given its nature, a lot of people would doubt the situation.
So individuals would try to expose the truth, when they beca aware of how suspicious the situation was.
But they could rely on technology to solve this situation.
Because people tend to trust governnt announcents that were backed by credible overseas articles rather than hearsays, especially when the latter would claim sothing about monstrous beings wreaking havoc while killing everyone in their vicinity.
As ti passed, the interest and attention surrounding the incident would dwindle down.
Even if new voices were to erge later, theyd easily be dismissed as conspiracy theories, and lose their impact on a bigger scale.
This was what had been happening in history. There was a reason why even though such incidents involving Homunculi or criminal Exiles had definitely occurred before, but the existence of witches had never been revealed.
Countess Deneb, Branch Manager Sua is here.
[Yes. Speak.]
But, despite the heinous tragedy, there was still a silver lining.
Countess Deneb, a witch who possessed a formidable mind manipulation magic, happened to be in Korea.
Her self-essence magic should be able to affect thousands, or even ten thousands of people who had no resistance to magic.
May I know what the current situation looks like?
[Weve finished healing the survivors inside the building, and were currently treating the rest of the injuredwell need roughly another twelve hours before were done.]
Please let express my deep gratitude for your assistance.
[That will do for now. Lets discuss this matter further later.]
After that, Sua ended the communication and contacted Duchess Tiphereth next.
Eloa was the second silver lining, as she happened to be in Korea to track down the fleeing Red Knight.
Because of her covenant, she temporarily lost her sight, but after she recovered, she imdiately went and looked for the culprit of the incident.
Can you hear , Your Ladyship?
[Im listening.]
Would you like to take a short break?
But, even with her extensive tracking skills, Eloa had yet to uncover anything. Which ant, the mastermind had skillfully covered their tracks. Though, this also ant that there wouldnt be any imminent threat for a while.
Knowing that Eloa had been doing her best, Sua suggested she take a break, but her response was firm.
[Ill keep on searching as much as I can.]
If you say so, Your Ladyship
The communication ended abruptly with Eloas curt and weary voice.
3.
Eloa moved her gaze around with a blank expression on her face.
Just a hundred years ago, this eastern part of the world was rely a countryside. One could only see mountains and fields everywhere. But now, it has totally changed.
Tall buildings that stood tall, facing the heavens, bending the earth itself to accommodate dozens of their kinds. Millions of people that lived in the intricate cityscape that was akin to spider web.
Yet, she had no lenience to indulge in sentintal feelings toward this change. Let alone that, she didnt even have the spare energy to desperately search for the culprit of the incident, even though it was sothing that she had to do.
Instead, she simply went along with the flow, following where her feet would take her, all while concealing her true emotions.
She genuinely thought that she had found Ea Sadallik.
Put anyone else in the situation she was in back then, they would definitely share the sa sentint as her, or at least theyd feel suspicious towards the man called Siwoo.
Even after what happened, Eloa still wasnt able to drop her suspicion towards him.
However
Even though it was possible that her dying lifelong goal could be resurrected, she failed to find any motivation to actually resurrect it.
Because of the sharp voices that echoed from the depths of her worn-out heart.
[I-It isnt much! I-I dont really have muchbbut Ill give it all to you! S-Siwoo really isnt soone whod do sothing so heinousa-and I know youre a good person, Duchessy-youre just not in the right mind nowp-please dont do sothing that youll co to regret later]
Those were the words of a green-haired exile who offered her entire future to save the man as she pleaded desperately to her.
[Hes a guest of our household! Theres no way hes involved in this incident! Hes not the kind of man whod even start sothing like this!]
Those words ca from the rare burst of anger from Countess Deneb as she confronted her.
[Did you do this?!]
Those were the words that ca out of the apprentice witchs mouth as she accused her.
She could see her own reflection in that apprentices intense eyes.
At that mont, the image of Ravi overlapped with that apprentice.
And at the sa ti, it dawned upon her that she almost beca a villain who was about take the life of soone dear to that apprentice.
I
Eloa sank down, wrapping her arms around herself.
I thought I did the right thing
Maybe, if I could at least offer a hand to those who lost soone precious to them, it would bring them solace
But noweverythingI dont know anymore
All sorts of boundaries beca unclear.
What was the right thing to do and what wasnt.
The thing that she should have done and the thing she shouldnt.
Justice and revenge.
Victims and perpetrators.
Wisdom and hubris.
Compassion and selfishness.
As those boundaries dissolved, they churned within her in a form of nausea.
It felt like she was about to fall down.
I want to run away
Theres no need to pass on the brand anyway
Ravi Tipherethis my only apprentice
The na Tipherethwill end with
No.
She slowly stood up.
With all her strength, she gathered the shards of her shattered heart and steeled her resolve.
She knew that this was futile. A lifeless puppet wouldnt co to life just because one attached so strings to it.
Theres sothing that needs to be done.
It wont be too late to wrap things up after everything has been confird.
I havent cleared all the suspicions yet.
Thats whyI need to find that man
Eloa soared into Seouls night sky.
To look for clues and bring everything to an end.
The pale moon that decorated the night looked as if it was weeping silently.
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