Chapter 676 – #137_Turning Point
#676
One.
Since ancient times, Eastern culture has been a symbol of mystery and luxury.
As most of the successors are witches in Western culture, such perception continues to witches as well.
In the same context, if you visit the rich witch’s mansion, there is a ‘China Room’ where oriental paintings decorate the walls and keep your dishes separately.
In that sense, the tea room of Hyangwolru, which boasts a quiet atmosphere and scenery, although small in scale, was a suitable place for a special and mysterious experience.
A sense of beauty that pursues harmony with nature, not ostentatious splendor.
A different world where you get away from the world for a while and realize the abundance in seclusion.
Even the static and profound artistry that cannot be grasped by appearance alone.
If there is a mysterious tea room like this, anyone would want to drink tea.
There were only a handful of witches who set her foot in the tea room of Wollu, Gutaehyanghyang.
This is because there are few witches with whom she has a relationship with her original body, and many people do not care about her Rinne regardless of her achievements and outcasts.
According to the world’s perception, the sword witch was a poisonous species among poisonous species that must be put to an end if it is pierced somewhere, and a strange species among strange species that challenged Duke Tiphareth several times just because of the pursuit of strength.
Therefore, after moving to Hexsenach, the tea room that no one but Siu had set foot in.
There is a guest in front of Rinne, who is on her knees without disturbing her an inch.
He is the owner of the Solidus Merchant and a key member of the Moderate faction, whose power has increased like a snowball since the appearance of Hexennacht.
This is Lydia Magnus, the witch of gold coins.
Linne, wearing her kimono and sticking to her pretty old-fashioned hairdo, and Lydia, wearing a chic dress, sitting side by side in her tea room reminded me of something like a cultural exchange.
“It smells good.”
Despite her light praise, Linnaeus didn’t respond.
She just stirred her tea and put it out in front of her.
Like her second name, with her golden hair, she followed her Linnaeus and knelt down to accept the teacup.
Lightly rotating the teacup to say yes and drinking three times.
I don’t know about the details, but overall it was a clean etiquette with no flaws.
“It tastes great…. I want to say, but it is too bitter for my taste.”
As Lydia put the teacup down with her candid scathing, Linnaeus opened her mouth.
“What are you doing?”
“I heard an interesting rumor. After hearing the rumors, I wondered what you were thinking.”
Having said that, Lydia stared at Rinne’s face.
Rinne’s expressionless mask didn’t shake at all even when he looked at her penetratingly, as if trying to figure out her intentions or as if evaluating her worth.
Lydia didn’t think she would be able to see through the sword witch to this extent.
She gathers information from all sides and turns her head around but can’t find an answer.
“You took a male witch as your disciple, right?”
“Yes.”
Lydia’s eyes narrow as she sees Linnaeus admit it without a moment’s hesitation.
“What the hell are you thinking?”
“It is my spoils.”
“It certainly is. But you haven’t forgotten that the purpose of bringing him is to attract Duke Tiphareth, right?”
“…….”
“It’s strange that you take bait as a disciple.”
The appearance of Hexsenacht was a great turning point in the history of witches.
And at a great turning point, various factions and ideologies always follow.
After the revelation of the prophecy agency that the Duke of Keter was unable to move,
In the early days of Hexsennacht’s appearance, it gave inspiration and ambition to many achievements.
The persecution, sorrow, and absolute limiting freedom in the past have disappeared.
In a short period of half a year or so, achievements and exiles comparable to Gehenna’s strength gathered in one city.
If so, shouldn’t it be repaid?
To the witches of Gehenna who hid in the shadow of Kether and controlled the order of the world.
Shouldn’t we show them that the times have changed, who forgot their duty as witches and persecuted their own people, steeped in easygoing ideas such as coexistence?
Thus, the early days of Hexsenacht were seething with a desire for supremacy and a thirst for war.
It was a natural course for the hawks and radicals, who were united around the remnants of Qliphort, to lead the city’s policies.
They used Hexsenacht as their base and attacked location points all over the world.
To prepare for war, they gathered information and planned to build the Duke of Tiphareth, which would be the biggest stumbling block.
The ‘Rabbit Hunt’, in which the Witch of Whispers and the Witch of Sword were put in, was also a plan that had been proposed during that time of upheaval.
The first plan is to kill Duke Tiphareth.
If a settlement is impossible, the student is used as bait to lure the duke into Hexenacht.
No matter how strong the duke is, he cannot handle all the witches in the city alone.
The duke, who was blinded by anger and ran to rescue his disciple, was about to be killed by hundreds of witches….
“Circumstances have changed from before.”
Things have changed.
As more and more outcasts entered Hexsenacht and a systematic system was established, the City of Merit naturally enjoyed a tailwind of prosperity.
Abundance given to witches who did not belong to Gehenna.
The integrated convenience facilities, entertainment facilities, and safety guaranteed in systematic discipline were enough to calm the witches who were intoxicated with the excitement of liberation.
The delusion that seeped into her heart overflowing with fighting spirit….
‘Is it really necessary to start a war?’
‘Isn’t it enough to divide hegemony like this?’
‘Aren’t we not fully prepared yet?’
It was such a moderate and somewhat lukewarm position.
Peace and abundance made us choose realistic security over emotional anger.
As a result, starting with the upper ranks of Solidus, moderate forces emerged, and the current fate of Hexsenacht was placed on the tension between the moderates and the radicals.
The Radicals hoped that by eliminating Duke Tiphareth, the central point of the location point would disappear and the effect of eliminating strong enemies in advance.
On the other hand, the moderate faction saw the possibility of incurring the resentment of Gehenna witches by breaking the peace by acting hastily.
Likewise, the “Rabbit hunt” To announce the start of the war was also put on hold without a clear promise.
In this situation, it was only natural for the eyes to be focused on ‘Shin Si-woo’, the disciple and bait of Duke Tiphareth.
Depending on how you use him, you can control the situation regardless of the intentions of the other camp.
If the radicals hacked him up and lured Duke Tiphareth by pretending to be the doctor of the whole of Hexsenacht, war would break out.
On the other hand, moderates should absolutely prevent that from happening.
In the midst of that, Rinne, who had maintained neutrality without expressing any stance, suddenly made him his disciple.
It was a confusing choice for both radicals and moderates.
A long silence without any question and answer.
Lydia sighed.
The one holding the hilt was Rinne.
It would be meaningless to try to save words and lead favorable negotiations.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what I want. Please hand over Shin Si-woo to our Solidus corps.”
“Refuse.”
“I will do plenty of cases. Priority….”
“I said no.”
Lydia shut her mouth.
The first possibility she thought of when she heard the news of the recruitment of a disciple.
“… Did she make the same offer on the other side?”
“…….”
If the radicals made the same proposal as Lydia.
To put it bluntly, Linnaeus made a very wise choice.
In the midst of the chaos of the faction fight, by sneaking away the most important person, he stood in a position to receive the best concession from both sides.
Although somewhat reluctant, she takes Shin Siu as her ‘disciple’ and has to pay a far greater price than if she were merely a bait before she can transfer his recruit.
Not only that.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
In this way, it shows no will to negotiate at all and induces more concessions.
Lydia felt a tingling sensation on her tongue.
“I will be honest. I succeeded in secret contact with the Duke of Erelim at the top of Solidus.”
“…….”
“If you hand over Shin Si-woo’s recruits, they say that they will push for a peace treaty to be signed between Gehenna and Hexennacht on an equal footing. Even if it’s not necessarily that, Duke Erelim doesn’t seem to want a war between witches.”
“…….”
“If a compromise is reached through negotiations led by the Solidus Merchant, the position of me and the Merchant will be further strengthened. Even at that time, I will not forget your cooperation.”
The number of archwitch belonging to the upper ranks of Solidus alone was in the double digits.
There’s nothing you can’t do if you press down with force.
However, no one would voluntarily fight for life and death with the Sword Witch.
Also, if Solidus, who claims to be moderate, does something against the rules in Hexsenacht, the justification will be too weak.
“I already answered.”
“…….”
“I refuse.”
Rinne must have taken that into consideration and raised her stake.
It was embarrassing, but it was a clean job that was actually praised.
“Huh, okay. I will do this for today. The next time they come, they understand it as a better reward plan and a request to come.”
Lydia, who came out of the tearoom alone without seeing her off, asked gleefully.
It is an opponent that cannot be forced or tricked by force.
A turning point was needed.
A reason to get out of a situation where neither one nor the other can be done.
The hem of her blue dress fluttered in the cold winter wind.
