Chapter 900 – #196_Cataclysm(3)
#894
One.
Now, until external communication through the door is restored, everything is just table talk.
The conference, which lasted for about 8 hours, ended in vain without clear guidelines or conclusions.
Not everyone fully agreed with Duke Erelim.
It was the same with Count Kohab.
Just because you’re a lover doesn’t mean you have to be honest about everything.
Furthermore, there is a big gap between Count Yvonne Cohab and Duke Blanche Erelim.
Age, distribution in witch society, and hierarchy.
“Blanche.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know Blanche was thinking like that. I wish he would have told me…”
Even if I knew that, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of regret following the shock.
“I should have told you before.”
“But… I thought it was a joke at the time.”
“I don’t think there was anything wrong with me.”
As soon as the great meeting was over, Blanche, who brought a bunch of research materials to reset the ‘door’, answered lightly.
It seemed that he did not want to comment further.
However, Count Kohab rarely ignored Blanche’s implicit signal.
“… So, are you hiding the prophecy?”
“…”
“There is a way to fix this. Even two of them.”
In fact, Yvonne is Blanche’s secretary.
As much as she was in charge of everything, she also knew the contents of the prophecy that Duke Erelim stole from the prophecy agency.
They are the two most effective ways to set things straight as the discipline Keter created is crumbling.
However, Blanche did not mention the prophecy at the great meeting.
I heard the reason.
Because Blanche fears human progress.
Because this incident will greatly restrain human development and provide an excuse to dominate them.
“Come to think of it, there was something like that.”
The tone of Duke Erelim, who put down her pen, was plain, but Yvonne, who had been with her for a long time, knew.
Blanche is very uncomfortable and does not want to discuss the subject.
“I understand Blanche’s thoughts. But, is it necessary to go this far?”
“How far?”
“Not only humans will die, but witches too. I am…”
“Yvonne.”
He knew which of the two lovers was more dominant.
Even in love, there is a power difference.
However, it was the first time Blanche had stopped talking resolutely, as if conscious of such a difference in power.
“Please discard the two prophecies. All of the decrypted data.”
“…”
“If it is for me. Will you do that?”
Kohab closed his eyes and woke up at the soft request that followed the business-like order.
“All right.”
2.
She never thought of herself as a good witch.
As she was born as a villain, as she lived, she had no choice but to be.
She had no reason to die, so she just lived a sloppy life.
Thus, to Dorothy, her life was nothing but inertia.
It must be because of one man that she came to think that she wants to change herself.
Whether it was clearing up a business that served as a means of increasing wealth year after year with minimal management, being honest about being weak, or taking a risk to investigate the homunculus king.
Actions that don’t suit each other must be actions that came from the heart of ‘wanting to be different’.
[If that’s your will, I won’t stop you…]
“Okay~ Duke, I’ll pay enough attention.”
[Please be careful]
So, accepting a dangerous subquest from the cute pink duke to save Salome, a subordinate in danger, is also in the same context.
Dorothy has been running an arms trafficking ring on an international scale.
However, no matter how competent Dorothy is, it is impossible to run such a business alone.
Trustworthy human beings or outcasts were managed as middle managers, and among them Salome was a competent secretary.
Although their sexual orientations were decidedly different, they had never touched each other in bed, but they had known each other for over 120 years.
It’s like the relationship between a friendly boss and a loyal subordinate who have been drinking together quite often.
A radio call as soon as Dorothy arrived at the villa.
Salome said:
[Hexenacht’s retaliation began after Dorothy stole the male witch from Hexsenacht]
[Of course, I don’t mean to resent you, but… I was hiding in the B-32 hideout, but the tracking net got tighter and I was eventually discovered]
[Fortunately, I broke off the chase and hid in another hiding place, but I’m injured and can’t even move…]
[You don’t know when it will be discovered, and if it does… Dorothy is the only one I can ask for a favor right now…]
Although her abilities as a witch were outstanding and she was difficult to say, Salome was capable and loyal.
She even possesses an unbelievable sincerity for being an outcast, and she is a horse.
It was not for nothing that Dorothy took a leisurely vacation, entrusting her with full control of the business.
If such a Salome is to the extent that she is cornered, she is one of three cases.
Wasn’t she pretty lucky?
She was in Hexenacht as much as she meticulously loosed her dog.
Is this itself a trap?
Dorothy cleared her mind after a few simple confirmation questions.
She had already informed the cute Pink Duke that her mission might be a little longer, and was confirmed.
“Haa~ I’m done being stupid~”
No matter how many times she chewed it, it was foolish.
There is little information, no time to obtain additional information, and no confirmation from existing information.
The best option you can do in this situation is definitely ‘pretend you don’t know’.
However, the more he tries to avoid Salome, the more Siwoo’s face comes to mind.
How would he have behaved if he had been here?
Even though he was captured by Hexenacht, Siu managed to escape with three pieces of luggage.
It goes without saying what choice he would have made if the object to be saved was a loyal subordinate who had been loyal to Dorothy all his life.
“Well, with an honest face like a fool, he’ll say, ‘Let’s try to find it first’…” .”
There is a saying that when you fall in love, you become alike.
But it’s not something that happens naturally even if you don’t do anything.
The deeper the love, the stronger the desire to be like that person, so it changes.
Dorothy moved between the buildings constructed in the style of old Spanish architecture, as if penetrating, wary of watchful eyes.
Not long ago, all of South America suffered from measles due to the Legion, but Bogota, the capital of Colombia and the hideout, seemed to have escaped the tribulation.
The streets were lively, and stalls on one side of the street were selling fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as dishes containing hot peppers that looked spicy.
Traditional hand-knitted crafts and handicrafts that only tourists buy overpriced are attracting attention.
We passed between houses made of colorful bricks and tall buildings and headed for the underground tunnel.
The tunnel, which had no lighting at all, was rotting with rainwater that might have fallen a few days ago.
As in any large South American city, next to a skyscraper built with splendid wealth, there is bound to be a slum that meets only the minimum human needs.
The B-32 hideout that Salome had been hiding in was also in a slum created in an old underground tunnel.
Because of her lofty disposition, the witch judges quality even in her lair.
Isn’t Dorothy’s villa a luxurious one right now?
That’s why no one hides in the semi-basement, infested with rats and cockroaches, unless they are in dire straits.
Rather, it would have been a good trick.
A last look around and opening the seemingly locked slate door reveals a camouflaged hiding place that appears to be collapsing.
“Salome~ I came?”
The worn-out floorboards shuddered as she tapped her floor with the heel of her shoe and pretended to be there.
“Dorothy? Are you really Dorothy?”
“Has there ever been a pretty boss like me?”
At the entrance to the basement, it was Salome who shoved her face like a mole and appeared limping.
Her face was very haggard, probably because she had suffered a lot in her heart.
“You really came… Well, to be honest, I didn’t expect much…”
“I mean~ I came here like this, but I know it won’t be fun if it’s a childish trap.”
“Please come in at once.”
She followed Salome up the steep steps to her hiding place.
Even if it minimizes her doubt by making her stand, it is a hiding place.
There are soft beds, shower facilities, sofas and tables, and laptops that can access the company’s internal network through a dedicated satellite.
Although it was a studio, unlike the surrounding scenery that was all crumbling, the interior of the shelter was still as good as a 1-star similar hotel.
“Wasn’t the monitoring more lax than I thought?”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, you bullied me or something. Or were you too scared and hiding?”
Dorothy sighs as she takes off her cloak with a magic formula for stealth.
In fact, I didn’t see any other witches.
I expected a stealth mission, but was it too easy?
“How are your injuries?”
“I can bear with it.”
“Show me.”
What had been limping from earlier is reflected in her eyes.
“…”
Dorothy frowned slightly.
Salome undid her clothes and saw her bloodied wound and the twisted thigh bone sticking out of her skin as she had barely finished her first aid.
“Oh, bear with it even if it hurts.”
“Yes… Ugh!”
With the bones protruding, the healed flesh was torn open and the bone fragments were fitted together with mental movements.
A wound that heals as if time was turned back when healing magic was used.
Dorothy asked, watching him closely.
“Now let’s hear the reason. Why did you sell me?”
“Yes yes… ?”
She was a dubious Dorothy, but she was convinced the moment she confronted Salome in her lair.
Since he’s a guy who’s never been good at lying, it must be something he can’t help.
It must have been a tremendous effort to trick Dorothy over the radio.
“I’m asking because I don’t think you dragged me into a trap to get the money you saved.”
Salome’s eyelashes sank heavily.
The eyes that were moving back and forth seemed to realize that lying in front of Dorothy meant nothing.
In the end, in her thin, trembling voice, she spoke of her own betrayal.
“A person you love… She was taken hostage.”
A blurry man’s face passing by in my head.
He was one of the executives in Dorothy’s company.
“Ah~ Was it Carlos? I think it was customs clearance. This is why I should have stopped dating in the office.”
After all, love makes people stupid.
Realizing that fact, Dorothy removed her hand from Salome’s wound.
It was cleanly healed as if it had never happened.
“Treatment is over. Look out.”
“I’m really, really sorry, Dorothy…”
“This is why I have to live by doing what suits me~”
I sat down alone in the shelter with a bitter smile and asked for a cigarette.
“Hmm~ This isn’t bad.”
It was a great choice to keep brandy in every hiding place.
As I poured alcohol into my On the Rocks glass and savored the bitter taste of betrayal, another witch came down shortly after.
Brilliant golden eyes and blond hair, as if made by melting a gold chest.
An elegant atmosphere that makes you mistake this shady underground hideaway for a palace.
Lydia Magnus, the ‘Witch of Gold Coins’ who leads the Solidus Merchant.
“Dorothy, long time no see.”
“That’s right~”
“What is this sofa? Are you cheap mash? I’m going to split all the clothes.”
Lydia, sitting across from Dorothy on her sofa, on her handkerchief, held out her glass as if to refill it.
“I’ll do the math. How much will it cost to pay for you fucking me?”
“Well, wouldn’t one drink be enough?”
The two exploits faced each other and laughed ferociously.
