City of Witches
chapter-293

1.

The feeling of going through a portal was like getting motion sickness on a turbulent airplane ride.

Though Siwoo could handle even a plane crash as long as he stayed calm, the sudden dizziness he felt upon crossing the portal overwhelmed him, causing him to collapse.

“Ugh…”

As a groan escaped his mouth, Eloa gently tapped his back.

“Are you okay, Siwoo?”

“I…still can’t get used to this…”

“Well, they did say that those with a strong affinity for mana tend to feel dizzy when crossing over.”

“But, you seem completely fine, Master.”

“Haha, I’m not weak enough to show a pathetic sight in front of my own disciple.”

He took Eloa’s outstretched hand and stood up.

Compared to the power she possessed, her hand was incredibly soft.

Raising his head to survey his surroundings, Siwoo’s gaze fell upon a familiar sight.

The lounge of the immigration office.

This was the platform that linked the Modern World and Gehenna, allowing travel between them.

I think this is my second time coming here.

Really thought I would never see this place again.

Nostalgia washed over him as he caught the distinct smell of Gehenna, the scent he had grown accustomed to after five whole years living here.

The air was pleasantly cool, though slightly humid due to the light drizzle falling. There was no smog nor dust here.

As he tried to focus, he felt the witches’ intense stares as they stopped doing whatever it was they were doing to look at him.

The attention he received was a little overwhelming to him.

If they were just staring at him, he could handle it somehow, but those witches were all covering their mouths with fans or hands, staring at him with their eyes wide open.

Then again, the famous Duchess Tiphereth showed up at the immigration office with a guy. It was natural for them to react like this.

“...Why don’t we find another spot?”

“Yeah, that might be a good idea.”

Wearing a wry smile, Eloa guided Siwoo to the exit of the immigration office.

And so, they faced the familiar, yet unwelcome scenery.

Cargo ships, coming and going from the harbor through the giant gate, was all the thing they could see through the coastline.

Amidst the dispersing drizzle, men in raincoats were busy moving those cargo.

The sight of containers being unloaded from a modern cargo ship by magic and then transferred into carriages was quite the spectacle.

“Hurry up, you lazy bastards!”

As they heard that voice, a sharp crack of the Overseer’s whip echoed behind the slaves, who were practically in their underwear, carrying the loads.

Seeing this scene brought back an old memory for Siwoo.

When Amelia was on the verge of killing a slave, he stepped in to intervene.

Little did he know back then that these slaves were death row inmates that were sent here by treaty between various nations…

Most countries had a relatively clean punishment system where they didn’t hand down death sentences for minor offenses.

While in developed countries, there were many cases where they sentenced someone to death, but never actually carried out the execution, only ended up wasting taxpayer’s money.

“I need to meet the immigration officer for a moment, will you be okay on your own?”

“Yeah, go ahead and do what you need to do.”

“If an unfamiliar witch starts talking to you, don’t just follow her around. Also, hold back on the snacks, I’m planning to cook something to celebrate our return to Gehenna.”

Siwoo made a promise to Eloa as they crossed the center of the dock, interlocking their pinky fingers, just as they always did.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t attracting as much attention as he did back at the immigration office.

Only a few people glanced at him to take a look at the large object he carried on his back; The Red Branch that he wrapped with his black ribbons.

But then again, even Larissa, the woman who backstabbed Siwoo, and Fyodor, the guy who was turned into a mackerel, never made much fuss about other people’s appearances. They said that ‘smugglers’ preferred practical, comfy, earthly attire.

That was why his outfit didn’t feel out of place here in Border Town at all. With his eyepatch on, it felt like he was someone working in that field.

“This place is the same as always…”

The sight of smugglers gathering together while puffing on their cigarettes…

Houses with panels on their roofs, clustered together in the distance…

Merchants grappling in a fight over bargains at the Meeting Point…

And witches, confidently striding with their chins held high as they went about their business.

“Ah, that should be it, huh?”

In the distance, he spotted the Cloud Mushroom Village, the village that Sharon had destroyed in the past with her massive tree.

It was also the place when he almost spent a night with Amelia at Sophia’s villa.

He could also see the Coiled Serpent Inn, the place where Larissa’s gang tried to kidnap Amelia in the distance…

Suddenly, a wave of memories about his crazy escape plan to escape from Gehenna came rushing in like a flood and his mood shifted immensely.

Back in the Modern World, he had been focused on things that happened there, so he never really thought about Gehenna all that much.

Looking back, he really had a rough time.

Even though he had to endure the physical discomfort in terms of food, shelter, and clothing, the fear over the fact that he might just lose his life if he were to disobey anyone was his biggest source of stress.

Five years…

He had to endure all those things on his own with sheer will, even though he was at the age when he shoulda spent his youth to the fullest, even though he never asked to be sent here in the first place…

And the worst of all…

The one that got him the most in those five years was the torment that Amelia gave him.

Until the very end, before Amelia changed her attitude towards him, she was insufferable as a boss. She’d constantly look for opportunities to make his life miserable.

But, it wasn’t like he harbored only negative feelings towards her…

It wasn’t the case at all.

He came to understand that her behavior towards him was because of both her immaturity and inability to express her emotions properly. Well, probably.

“Anyway, is that chicken skewer lady doing good?”

The lady he was talking about was that one lady that gave out a buy-two-get-one-free deal.

Since Eloa told him to go easy on the snacks, he decided to stroll through the narrow alleys to see if she was still there.

-Bump!

Due to his brief moment of inattention, someone bumped into his shoulder as he walked past him.

With two people trying to pass through this narrow alley that was also filled with boxes, it was bound to happen.

“Watch where you’re going, punk.”

Without a moment of hesitation, the other person immediately cursed at him, even though according to traffic laws, a head-on collision like this was both parties’ fault.

Siwoo looked at the person’s face.

He had pale sunken eyes, resembling those of a drug addict’s.

A scar ran diagonally across his face and his head was shaved clean.

Just by looking at him, it was clear that he was a slave. His muscles were as buff as Siwoo’s spirit body.

“Oops, my bad.”

Back in the day, this kind of back alley thug would’ve scared the living daylights out of Siwoo the moment their eyes met, but now, he was just a joke to him.

Even if I don’t use magic, I can beat him easily.

“What the hell is that, you punk?”

But, maybe his calm reaction provoked the thug slave in some kind of way, the thug twisted his lips and tried to grab him by the collar.

Siwoo wasn’t really up for a fight, but…

In such squelchy muddy ground like this, he figured that the slave wouldn’t die if he were to plunge him into the mud, so he decided to stand his ground and fight back. At that moment…

“Hey, Jack! Stop messing around and get over here!”

He heard a voice, probably the slave’s Overseer’s.

The man called Jack glared at him, as if he wanted to kill him, and opened his mouth.

“I won’t forget your face.”

Then he vanished down the alley without a backward glance.

“What an ass.”

The threat was pretty pathetic.

It wasn’t like they’d see each other again.

Even if they did and he tried to start something, Siwoo could handle him while yawning.

“Feels good not to have to worry about those guys.”

Hopefully I can say the same towards other Criminal Exiles or Homunculi.

After looking around the town for a bit and when Eloa finished her business, he joined her.

Of course he didn’t even bother to mention the little scuffle with the thug.

2.

Siwoo was finally ready to head to Gehenna, but he had to wait until he could conceal the Red Branch’s distortion field with his ribbons.

Since he wasn’t sure how long it would take, he didn’t bother telling the Geminis or Sharon about this.

Because he didn’t want them waiting around for nothing.

So that as soon as he finished covering the Red Branch, he could come over to surprise them with his visit.

There was one little problem though.

“Master, they said that the portal is under maintenance.”

“Under…maintenance?”

After they climbed up the zigzagging cliff path and stairs, he reached the platform to the Border Town.

Unfortunately, the portal’s routine maintenance was set to wrap up by tomorrow afternoon.

The receptionist let out a sigh, expressing her regret for the inconvenience, then suggested a few nearby accommodations to them.

She also added that the accommodations would give out a discount if they mentioned her name.

Huh, maybe they’re taking some kickbacks from those accommodations.

“Alright, shall we get a carriage?”

“Is that necessary? Why don’t we just book a room at a nearby inn. Oh, if you have urgent matters, feel free to head straight to the inn, I want to explore a little more.”

“Okay, sounds good to me.”

If one of them had an urgent matter, they could simply run there without needing a carriage.

But there was nothing urgent for either of them, and Siwoo definitely didn’t want to ignore his master’s request to look around a little more.

Though she didn’t show it much, Eloa was still recovering from the intense fight she had the other day.

The two of them made their way through the drizzle to the ‘Coiled Serpent Inn’, the largest inn in the vicinity.

He didn’t want to stay here despite that, though, because he didn’t exactly have good memories with this place.

But what could he do when the other inns were fully booked.

As always, the accommodations in Border Town were bustling with activity.

“It seems like a lot of people are stuck here because the portal is down.”

“Yeah. The immigration officer said that many witches returned to Gehenna from the Modern World due to all the turmoil out there.”

“So that’s why there are a lot of them here…”

The inn didn’t change from the last time he came here.

It was a three-story building made of brick with a wooden interior.

The first floor had a bar that sold both drinks and food, while the second floor and above were where the lodgings were at,

“There’s nothing else around here… Then again, I don’t remember the place being that fancy…”

“Don’t worry, when I was out hunting, sleeping under the stars was common for me. If anything, having a bed to sleep on is a luxury.”

Siwoo hesitated for a moment before opening the creaky wooden door and taking a step inside the place that he didn’t have fond memories of.

In that instant, noise rushed in, as if someone suddenly cranked up the volume on the speaker while watching a movie.

The air was thick with the smell of stale cigarettes and alcohol, to the point that he actually felt dizzy.

“You're gonna lose all those shit tonight.”

“If I lose then I lose, what do you care?”

He also noticed some gamblers subtly engaging in a battle of nerves at the bar.

“Hehe, it’s the end of the world, I tell ya.”

“Smuggling some booze in will get even harder then, ugh.”

“Who the hell’s bringing in trashy shit like Dom Pérignon these days, huh?”

“I heard there’s a new bar in Lenomond Town.”

He also saw some merchants huddling together, reading ‘Canards’, the closest thing the Border Town had to a newspaper.

“Try this! It’s a sweet and tasty tropical fruit!”

Suddenly, a young boy with a pineapple strapped to his waist shouted those words, offering slices to anyone who’d take one.

…I swear I’ve seen that somewhere before.

In any case, things were similar to back when he last visited.

The only difference was that there were five or six witches sitting in a row in the corner of the bar.

With this level of noise, one’d think they’d cause a commotion here, but they were all focused on their own tasks, not paying any attention to their surroundings.

In any case, it really seemed like they were more witches in Gehenna now.

At the very least, there were enough of them to fill even this shabby inn (by their standards, of course).

“...Oh.”

But, the moment Siwoo and Tiphereth entered, the situation changed dramatically.

Unlike the ordinary citizens who barely gave them a glance, the witches immediately fixed their gazes on them.

The bored and annoyed expressions on their face completely vanished.

Replaced by astonishment, curiosity, and inquisitiveness.

They looked like fangirls who just spotted their idol in a public place.

“Don’t worry, I’m with you.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m not really worried.”

Eloa subtly comforted Siwoo by lightly touching his back.

After paying the innkeeper, Eloa went to the counter and settled the bill for a day’s stay, including breakfast, then she went together to the second floor with Siwoo.

Meanwhile, the witches watched the two of them go upstairs.

Before this, they had been sitting separately, but after those two were out of their sight, they got up and gathered together.

There was no way that they’d pass up this bewildering situation without discussing it.

“W-What did I just see?”

“That was Duchess Tiphereth, right? The one next to her is the famous male witch then?”

“They’re coming here?”

“I think they only booked one room.”

“Oh my goodness, could it be…?”

For a good while after that, the witches talked to each other, trying to interpret the unbelievable sight they had just witnessed.