City of Witches

༺ Twin Rush (4) ༻

1.

Siwoo had two ways to tell the twins apart.

By looking at their eyes and listening to the way they speak.

Technically, he could also tell them apart by the way he felt when he penetrated them in their real hole, but that wasn’t exactly practical for everyday situations, so it would be best to put that option aside for now…

With Odile, her eyes were always filled with determination.

There was a strong will, courage, and pride in her eyes, giving off the impression that she was someone who’d never give up no matter what the situation.

In contrast, Odette was more of a reserved and passive young lady.

Though his ability to recognize them by their eyes might sound odd, it worked wonder in this case.

But he didn’t always need to go into such detail to tell them apart.

Both of them referred to him with ‘Assistant,’ but Odile used contractions while Odette used honorifics.

While he could tell them apart easily in everyday situations, in this specific situation, where Odette tried her best to mimic Odile, in a dark room where he couldn’t see their eyes clearly, it was inevitable that he’d stumbled.

It took him a good moment to realize that the girl he thought to be Odile was actually Odette.

“She bullies me every day…it’s so unfair…”

Odette started to cry and complain, her tone reflected her sadness.

“I couldn’t even spend our last day together, Mr. Assistant…unlike Sis…”

“Back then you were asleep, I couldn’t just take you with me…”

“But you could have woken me up! I also wanted to go on a night walk with you! And swim in the fountain together…and visit the windmill…”

‘Oh, boy…’

Siwoo sighed inwardly.

In reality, that night was practically the last night he spent with the twins,

After he recovered from his bad hangover, he got up and spent his time with Odile.

To make things worse, when they returned a restraining order was issued against Siwoo by the Countess, and this fact must have lingered on Odette’s mind for a while now.

“Mr. Assistant, if you think that I’m cute, why did you only hang out with Sis? Why did you leave me out? Didn’t you think that I’m nice?”

“Well, there is a reason for that, Ms. Odette…”

Siwoo tried to explain, giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

But that couldn’t fully ease Odette’s pent-up sorrow.

“Lies! You’re so mean! You always liked Sis more than me! From doing things with her first, then only hanging around with her!”

“Ah…”

“She always teased me about everything! Maybe you thought that I’m just blindly copying her? Mr. Assistant, I did everything because it was you! I wouldn’t do it for anyone else!”

“Ms. Odette, please call down first…”

“Everyone always tells me to calm down! Even Sis! It’s annoying! Unfair! Waaah! Unfair!”

She vented her frustration by hitting Siwoo’s chest.

Of course he didn’t feel a thing when her small hands hit him.

But he could feel the frustration and the feeling of isolation that she suffered from.

Exactly how much pain had she been enduring to the point that she went out of her way to imitate her sister just to approach him? He had no idea.

Nevertheless, the thought left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Ms, Odette…”

“I don’t wanna hear it! I’m not done being angry!”

She covered her ears and huddled up.

Siwoo could tell that her emotions weren’t that of a possessiveness towards lover, but a sense of disappointment like, ‘Why do you leave me out?!’

Or at least, she didn’t seem to have any desire to monopolize him.

“I’m sorry, I really should have paid more attention to you. How about we take a nighttime stroll together later?”

“Really?”

“Yes. You’ll feel a bit more tired tomorrow, but whatever, I’ll show you around. Nighttime has its own charm anyway.”

“Really? Really, really?”

Odette’s eyes, which had been on the verge of shedding tears just a while ago, lit up with excitement.

“Then let’s go! Right now!”

Her joy was so palpable that Siwoo could see her trembling with happiness.

She looked so cute, but at the same time she looked quite pitiful.

In any case, since they had not seen each other for a while, they had plenty of things to catch up on.

“Sure, I’ll get dressed and get ready. Also, I’ll find something for you to wear, Ms. Odette.”

Going out carelessly would be risky, so Siwoo was always well-prepared for any possible dangers.

He brought along the music box to eliminate any traces of Odette’s presence.

Letting her wear normal clothes would be the equivalent of them announcing to the world that she was a witch, so Siwoo dressed her up in his hoodie and Sharon’s shorts. This way, no one would recognize her as a witch even if they were seen.

“What do you think? I’m in modern world clothes now!”

“You look great.”

He stifled a laugh as he watched Odette put on the hoodie over her drawers and inner dress.

The hoodie was so big that even after he folded the sleeves three times, it still hung loosely. If she were to put the hood on, it’d cover her face down to her lips.

Even Sharon’s shorts turned into oversized pants when she put them on, so he had to fasten them up with a belt so it would fit her.

To put everything in simpler terms, everything was oversized on her.

Despite that, such oversized fits only made her already adorable appearance look even cuter.

“It’s so exciting, Mr. Assistant! What should I do? Oh, I can’t wait…!”

Odette couldn’t contain her excitement as she joyfully bounced around in front of the elevator.

Meanwhile Siwoo stood by her side, holding an umbrella.

She had only stepped out in front of the entrance, but she was already scanning through her surroundings, clearly curious about everything around her.

“I’ve been wondering about this since we got here, but is this a decorative light? It turns on automatically when someone comes near…”

“It’s a motion sensor light. Unlike in Gehenna, we don’t use decorative lights or oil lamps. Instead, we use electricity to power these light bulbs. Here, we use electricity instead of mana for a lot of things.”

“Electricity…?”

“Um…it’s a little hard to explain…”

If he were to start explaining the concept of the flow of electricity, he’d have to explain stuff such as electrons and the others. This would definitely evoke her curiosity even further, and since this wasn’t exactly a subject he was majoring at, he’d definitely struggle to answer her questions.

“It’s fine, Mr. Assistant! I know you can’t always know everything!”

“Thanks for the understanding.”

Luckily, Odette seemed to be in a good mood as she didn’t seem to be bothered by not knowing the answer.

After her upbeat reassurance, the elevator they were waiting for arrived, and the door was opened.

Odette focused her attention on the automatic door, as if it was something special.

Then, she stepped on the elevator cautiously, trying to make every step she took meaningful, just like Armstrong when he first landed in the mood.

Siwoo respected her actions, feeling that maybe he should hold his breath while she was doing that,

“Mr. Assistant.”

“Hm?”

“I should press the button with the number 1 on it, right?”

“Yes, you’re correct.”

“Yay! When we came up, Master also pressed these buttons!”

“Is that so?”

Odette cautiously pressed the elevator button.

When the red LED lit up on the square-shaped button with the number 1, she looked at Siwoo, as if to say, ‘How did I do? Praise me!’

“That was amazing, Ms. Odette!”

“It was nothing! Anyone could do that!”

He clapped his hands in feigned praise, while Odette couldn’t help but smile, feigning her modesty.

But she couldn’t hide the smug look on her face.

When the elevator started moving, she anxiously grabbed Siwoo’s hand.

“I feel like my body is floating upward…”

“It’s okay, it’s actually safer than you think.”

“If something happens to me, you’ll protect me right, Mr. Assistant…?”

“Of course.”

“Are we going down right now?”

“Yes, we are.”

After a pretty lengthy descent, the elevator finally hit the first floor, and as the door was opened, they were met with a scene of chaos.

-Kugugugugugung!!!

The street looked like it had been battered by a storm.

Though the ‘storm’ usually referred to massive waves on the water caused by the wind, in this case the metaphor was quite fitting.

The street was already ankle-deep in water, with small waves dancing on its surface.

Siwoo had caught a glimpse of this on the news, they called it the first typhoon in a decade.

At first he thought that it was just the usual scare tactic they did in weather forecasts, but now that he was experiencing it firsthand…

“…”

“Wow, this is incredible! It feels like it’s raining even harder than before!”

The wind was blowing so hard that raindrops were splattering into the lobby.

Siwoo looked at the umbrella with a doubtful look, wondering if it would even be enough to protect them from the pouring rain. On the other hand, Odette seemed to be enjoying herself. There was a twinkle in her eye.

Back in Gehenna, such dramatic weather was a rare occurrence. After all, the place was shielded by interdimensional barriers.

“Um, sorry for suggesting we go for a walk, Ms. Odette, but…”

“Hurry up and come, Mr. Assistant!”

Before he could finish telling her that they should go inside and think it over, Odette dashed outside without a second thought.

It didn’t even take three seconds for her gray hoodie to turn completely black from the pouring rain.

“Mmh–?!”

She was caught off guard when the rain poured down on her face harder than she expected.

Siwoo rushed out with the umbrella and quickly covered her.

But as soon as he opened the umbrella, it immediately snapped. One of its poles broke down.

‘Yeah, I don’t think it’s a good idea walking around on a day like this…’

“What are you doing? You’ll catch a cold!”

“I won’t! Actually, I feel refreshed and cool!”

The two of them had to yell so that they could overpower the howling wind.

Siwoo was about to tell Odette to go back but he couldn’t bring himself to do so when he saw her smiling face.

He didn’t want to ruin her fun.

“Fine, follow me Ms. Odette! I’ll show you around!”

“Okay! After you, Mr. Assistant!”

Both of them ran through the alley. Water splashed with each of their steps.

2.

“Woah, woah! So fun!”

The pair had been running around the alley for a while, splashing each other with rain, before going into a certain shopping mall.

Rain poured down on them, as if a hole had been opened in the sky.

Though they were inside a building now, they could still smell the rain.

They ran as far as they could in the dense fog that made it impossible to see anything in front or to the side, and they ended up entering the Shinchon Railway Station.

The whole shopping complex was closed and abandoned.

Since the wind ruined their umbrella, they ended up throwing it away. Thanks to that, they were soaked down to their bones, so they had to look for shelter.

As soon as they went inside, they let out a sigh of relief. Finally, they were safe from both the wind and the rain.

Their whole body was so soaked that they could inhale water whenever they took a breath.

Having a spirit body meant one wouldn’t get tired so easily, but for some reason, Siwoo felt so exhausted. Meanwhile Odette was full of energy, like a sprout that had just been given water.

“Getting hit by the rain feels great! Master would never let me do something like that!”

Her high-pitched voice echoed through the empty, closed-down shop.

“Shh, Ms. Odette, lower your voice…”

“R-Right! Shh, Mr. Assistant… You know, the echo makes this place sound like a ballroom.”

Odette said, bending her knees slightly, as if she was a noblewoman who had been invited to a waltz.

Siwoo had always thought of her as a shy girl.

But this late-night adventure seemed to have injected her with newfound vitality.

She casually took off her hood, as if the weight of her wet clothes was too much for her head.

Without the hood, her hair was so wet that it stuck to her head, making her already small head look even smaller.

Her mysterious purple eyes, shining like the eyes of a fairy out of a fairy tale, were filled with both excitement and anticipation.

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yes! That was an experience I’ll never forget! So many amazing things to see! The traffic lights, the tall buildings, the stories, the cars, even this building, everything is so amazing!”

“Since you’ve had your fun, let’s go back quickly. We’ll take a short break first though.”

Siwoo lowered his head and squeezed out the water in his hair.

The water then dripped to the floor.

Seeing this, Odette tidied her hair to the side then wrung it as if it was a towel.

“Can we look around for a little longer? This place looks amazing…”

She pouted, looking clearly disappointed.

In Siwoo’s opinion, they had already seen enough things for the night, but…

“Please, Mr. Assistant…! It’ll be a shame if we’d just go back like this…”

It was one thing if they were outside, but since they were currently inside a building, he figured out that it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

So, he nodded his head, agreeing to her plea.

“Fine.”

“Yay!”

Finally receiving his permission, Odette jumped up and started running towards the motionless escalator.

“Be careful not to trip, Ms. Odette!”

“It’s fine! Follow me, Mr. Assistant! Hurry, hurry!”

This was the most spirited state he had seen of her so far, so he couldn’t help but let her be.

So, he obediently followed behind her.