Chapter 240 – #55
#238
One.
With the courtesy of Mr. Sua, I was able to rent a penthouse located on the top floor of a building with location points.
Originally, it was a place for the branch manager to live, but Sua willingly handed over her card key, saying that she could spend her time freely in her office anyway.
Pleasant sunlight poured in through the large windows that filled the entire wall.
It may not be such a good light for someone who is sleeping soundly.
Siwoo, who is lying soundly on the bed, and Sharon, who is next to him, are also sleeping soundly.
Elroa knelt down at the head of her bed and looked at her Siu.
She looks like a mother nursing her child or a priest praying.
“…….”
Eloah silently stroked Siwoo’s cheek.
The texture of her skin was so damaged that she was said to have become crumbly just overnight.
She wasn’t hurt, but her drawn face and the sunken pits of her eyes gave us an idea of her last night’s troubles.
“…….”
If only she had lost this time too.
If I had the same experience as before, helplessly, without even using my hands.
Could she have been like this herself?
Even if it was a selfish feeling, it was okay even if it was a somewhat immature relief.
However, I am grateful and thankful that Siwoo came back without any major injuries.
Elroa squeezed Siu’s hand tightly and held back her tears.
Here, she thinks, ‘It’s fortunate’, and Elroa doesn’t have the right to cry to her heart’s content.
As if he had become Siwoo’s teacher, he had a bond with him, and said he would protect him, but he put him in danger with poor countermeasures.
Sharon is already seriously injured, and she could have gotten even worse had it not been for Periwinkle’s help.
With what kind of face can you shed tears and rejoice?
“Um…”
At that time, Siwoo’s hand, which was caught in Eloa’s slender fingers, flinched.
He frowned as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, so he slowly looked at his hand and turned his gaze away to meet Eloa’s eyes.
“…Duke?”
“Are you awake?”
Eloa welcomes his return with an uncomfortable smile.
While slowly reflecting on how this happened, Si-woo’s body shook violently as if having a convulsion.
The last scene he saw before collapsing.
Black and cold seawater that was up to his waist.
A rusty harpoon that pierces Sharon’s body.
And the slowly collapsing Sharon and her own powerlessness.
It all jumped out as if played in reverse.
“Now…!”
“Calm down, calm down… Come here.”
“Go, Duke, now… Where is Sharon…?”
Drowned witch.
Xochitl is a mighty monster that has been concerned for over a hundred years, so the analysis of him has already been completed.
Eloa, who had hunted and pursued numerous achievements, knew the identity of the homunculus.
The Drowned Witch stimulates the fear of hostile targets.
Just because someone is physically strong doesn’t mean they’re strong on the inside.
I would probably be insane if I had fought against an opponent who would tear apart the human mind and consciousness like paper without proper action.
Stress beyond the limit will make your head boil.
So he just stretched out his arm and hugged Siu.
Siwoo’s body trembled like an ailment patient.
The vibrations are transmitted one by one.
“Miss Sharon… First of all, she’s fine. All her physical wounds have been repaired, and all that’s left is to slowly remove the poison that has dug in. Now, look over there.”
Pupils narrowed in fear and heavy breathing.
Siwoo, who had reacted violently like a survivor of a terrorist attack, gradually calmed down.
Eloa hugged Siu tightly as if he would not let go of him and patted him on the back.
“Right, are you okay?”
“Go, thank you. First of all, I want to check on Sharon’s condition.”
“That’s right.”
Of course, not everything was restored to the extent of Eloah’s hug.
His lips were still quivering, and he seemed to be floating somewhere, as if he had just woken up from a terrible nightmare.
When I saw Sharon sleeping soundly next to me, the strength drained from her tense body.
“Thank god….”
The shadow cast on that face was mixed with relief and… Another emotion that was very familiar to Elroa as well.
Self-loathing and guilt.
Elloa knew better than anyone else the feeling of eating away at the heart like a disease.
That it effectively and reliably destroys humans like pests that eat green trees.
“Siwoo you…”
Therefore, Eloa clumsily tried to offer her consolation.
But before that, a voice full of regret cuts in.
“…I didn’t do anything.”
“…….”
“Why?”
In movies and cartoons, in a moment of crisis, the main character generously sacrifices his life to save his comrades.
There are many jokes in the real world as well.
In fact, Siwoo has risked his life for others quite a number of times so far.
Larissa, who was a slave in Border Town, a cheater in a magic tool shop, and the president of a blue snake reception.
More specifically, for Odile Odette, Sharon, and Amelia.
Most of the time, I didn’t have much, and my actions were out of proportion, but…
Still, his body moved first.
Because he believed it was right.
No matter how powerless he was, no matter how childlike his sense of justice was, he didn’t try to calculate this or that at that moment.
Even if you can’t be a hero.
He has been thinking of becoming a little courageous human being.
But this time it was different.
A feeling of helplessness.
What I was able to do after seeing Sharon collapse in the midst of a crisis that I almost lost without a second hand
It was all that I was shaking like an idiot.
“All I could do was sit there trembling in fear. I learned so many things from the Duke… But I couldn’t use any of them properly.”
Siwoo turned all the blades at himself and said bitterly.
It looked very painful.
Was his heart, which he thought was courage, just brazenness?
Disbelief in himself turns like a poisonous snake and coils around his heart.
“Siwoo.”
What about the witch’s magic that Elroa was drowned in by such Siu, she couldn’t fight against your level…
I didn’t say anything like this.
I know that such an answer is not helpful in the first place.
This is because the question Siwoo is having right now is what Eloah has been struggling with every night.
Eloa hugged Siu tightly once again.
To heal his wounds with a kind voice.
“You know I lost her witch apprentice.”
“…..Yes.”
“That kid’s name was Raffy. He was a very special kid who was worth giving my all to.”
“…….”
“When he buried the child in her breast. Can you guess how I was?”
It was the first time she had talked about it in public since losing Raffi.
However, if this makes Siwoo even a little bit more comfortable, he would be happy to do so.
The memories of the past that he always saw in his dreams come to mind.
A heart and voice sinking heavily as if swallowed iron sands.
However, Elroa was able to face the past more calmly than she thought.
“I grabbed the child and cried on the spot for two days. It was unsightly, and I couldn’t do anything and cried out loud. If I had tracked down the witch of Aquarius right then, I might have achieved revenge. But I couldn’t.
After that, it felt like my heart was being ripped out. It was as if her heart was empty. She couldn’t seem to find anything to fill the place with, and she couldn’t find it. It’s painful as if only the body survived and became a dead person.
Because he had to realize every moment, every day, that nothing can be changed.”
Elroa separated from Siu for a moment and stroked his cheek.
“Losing someone dear to you is such a terrible and shocking thing. He shouldn’t blame himself too much for not doing anything right on the spot.”
Her eyes, so close that the tips of her noses touched, were so full of her warmth that I felt like I was going to be sucked in.
It was a sincere consolation that only a person who has suffered the same pain can give.
“Besides… Aren’t you different from me? Even though Miss Evergreen is injured, her life isn’t in danger. There’s always a chance to make amends and make things right. I also have the ability to make sure this doesn’t happen again. .You have a brilliant talent.”
“Duke…”
Like a dog with her tail lowered, Siwoo’s eyes, which had lost their fighting spirit and were dull and empty, begin to become clearer.
“The first step to all her accomplishments is knowing her own inadequacy. You’ve only just taken her first step.”
During Dalian, Xiu’s eyes were always shining.
He realizes that he is getting stronger and seems to be a personality with a high concentration on learning the original body, so it must be natural.
He would have gotten pretty good results if he had continued practicing on Eloah on his own.
In fact, it was so remarkable that it was difficult to compare it with before training.
However, if Elroa was a little more greedy, she also had some regrets.
Siwoo seemed to lack a clear purpose and clear motivation.
But he didn’t point it out.
Not everyone needs to live desperately and earnestly.
Knowing how tiring a life weighed down by purpose is, Elroa turned a blind eye to Siwoo’s somewhat lax sense of purpose, contrary to her enthusiasm.
“I want to become stronger.”
And she now feels that the last piece she lacked just a little bit has been filled.
“Good idea.”
“I want to go to a more overwhelming, higher place than now.”
“I will definitely make it.”
Eloa calmly brushed Siwoo’s hair.
2.
While Elroa was away for a while, an unexpected guest came to her.
“How are you feeling?”
Siwoo sat down next to Sharon and brushed her forehead before jumping to his feet.
Perhaps it was because he had just gone through something like that yesterday, or he was reflexively wary of any exploits.
“Don’t be surprised. The girl is Sua Agasa, the branch manager of Location Point’s Gwanghwamun branch.”
Only then did Siwoo feel relieved.
Even for Siu, who has encountered many witches, Sua was a unique character.
Should I say that she looks like a lady from a noble family?
It was not a hanbok that was improved in a modern way to be comfortable to wear and live in.
They are dressed in authentic hanbok, enough to mistake this penthouse for a moment as a quiet hanok.
Black hair and black eyes, which can be seen as somewhat plain among witches with full-color hair and eyes.
But that didn’t obscure her beauty.
Rather, it exudes an atmosphere like a bunch of hydrangeas in the beauty of an oriental painting that is restrained and refined.
“I’ve only heard the word. Nice to meet you. My name is Shin Si-woo.”
Siwoo nodded and offered to shake hands.
Sua looked at her hand as if a little surprised and politely responded with a handshake.
“I’ve come to talk to you for a moment.”
“Yes, I have plenty of time.”
You came here to talk?
I wonder if he has something to say, but he’s someone I’ve been curious about for a long time.
I also wanted to ask why he had notarized Siwoo, who had never met him.
