City of Witches

༺ People Who Are Stuck in the Past (1) ༻

1.

After the unexpected incident, Sharon locked herself in her room, claiming that she wanted to focus on her research.

Siwoo didn’t blame her for that. After all, if he were to run out of the door naked, only to find out that there was someone else there, he would probably do the same thing.

As planned, he changed his clothes and left. Before he left, he checked up on Sharon to see what she was doing, only to find out that she wasn’t doing any research, but burying her face into her pillow, her whole body was covered with a blanket.

“Are you really not going?”

“Just leave me be! I won’t go!”

After hearing that answer, he laughed at her and a pillow flew in his direction.

Of course he managed to grab it before it hit him.

“I doubt that she actually cared about what happened.”

“Please, I beg you…just leave me be…”

After hearing her half-dying voice, Siwoo finally let her be and left the house.

He was wearing a nice pair of slacks and a short-sleeved shirt.

The air was getting colder and colder at night though, so he wondered when he would need to wear a warmer set of clothes.

When he opened the door, Tiphereth was still there, waiting for him.

“Sorry, that took a while. I thought it would be better to have more people, so I was trying to convince Sharon to come, but…uh…she said she has a lot of work to do…”

“Is that so? What a shame.”

Although he hadn’t known Eloa for a long time, there was one thing that he was certain about her personality.

She wasn’t the type of person who’d stick her nose into somebody else’s business.

That was why he already expected her to react like this.

It was clear from her face that she didn’t treat the unfortunate incident as a big deal at all and she also didn’t seem to let her imagination wander to think about their affairs.

She was like a well-polished sword, carrying her usual virtuous spirit.

“Is there anywhere you want to go to?”

That was why her answer to that question was a little unexpected for Siwoo.

“Since it’s a housewarming party…I’ll whip out something for you.”

“Huh?”

“But we’ll need to buy some groceries first, I don’t think I have anything suitable at home. So, can you guide me to a nearby grocery store?”

“Y-Yes, of course.”

He never imagined that she’d go out of her way to offer to cook for him.

Although he was dumbfounded by the development, he still followed her quietly into the lift.

From Sinchon Rotary, walk along the road and turn to the left, there was a department store there. The first basement floor was a food court and a grocery store.

Although the selection was limited, unlike a supermarket, this was the closest store from where they lived and the go-to place for Siwoo’s grocery needs.

They walked for fifteen minutes to said store and there wasn’t a single word being exchanged between them.

Since it was the first time he saw her in any other setting other than sparring, he took his time to admire her beauty.

No, he didn’t have any ulterior motives for doing so. It was like how one’s eyes would be drawn to a beautiful piece of art, he also found his eyes darted to Eloa.

His impression of her was…

‘If magical girls really exist in this world, I guess they’d look like her…’

An absurd and rather weird impression, but it was also an accurate one.

Except for her large eyes, long eyelashes and double eyelids, everything about her was small and cute.

She wasn’t tall, her head also wasn’t big.

Naturally, her nose and mouth were also small to fit that small face of hers.

Normally, he wouldn’t see her this way at all because of the aura she exuded, but she really was more like a little sister than a big sister.

If the twins were the energetic little sisters, then Eloa was probably the mature type of little sister.

Just when he was about to be lost in awe of her appearance, he realized something once again.

Her atmosphere was different.

There was indifference in her straight eyebrows and sunken gaze.

Her soft, small lips were closed shut without the slightest hint of smile.

Steady gait, not really frivolous, but if he were to take out a ruler, he’d definitely see that her straight posture would match it.

Noticing this, a thought came to his mind.

She really wasn’t someone that could be judged by appearance only.

“Ah, I’ll carry that.”

“Thank you.”

It was only when they reached the department store and grabbed the cart did Siwoo manage to say something to her.

Until then, he had only been staring at her. Then again, their relationship wasn’t so close that he could just thoughtlessly chat with her.

They headed toward the meat corner and Eloa grabbed two packs of chicken to be boiled inside the cart.

Then they went to the vegetable corner, this time she grabbed carrots, onions, potatoes, cabbages and mushrooms.

Seeing how certain her movements were when she picked up those ingredients, she definitely had already decided on what kind of food she wanted to make.

Perhaps because she looked more excited than usual, Siwoo couldn’t help but ask her.

“Do you like cooking?”

She widened her eyes in surprise, but that was probably because she didn’t expect Siwoo to talk to her.

Since they would be seeing each other often in the future, it would be better for them to occasionally talk like this, or so Siwoo thought.

“…I used to cook often.”

“Ahh…”

Too bad that Siwoo wasn’t a social butterfly.

Moreover, in the situation where their status was like heaven and earth, just like a professor and her student, he didn’t really know how to continue the conversation with her.

Unexpectedly for him though, he didn’t need to, as Eloa did that for him.

“Well, it’s been a while since I actually cooked something, so don’t expect much from me.”

After saying those words in a rather awkward tone, she walked to the seafood corner and grabbed a bunch of things.

She grabbed so many things that made Siwoo wondered what she even needed all that food for.

What she grabbed included cod filets, shrimps, lobsters, clams and many more. Lastly, she grabbed a few cooking herbs and bay leaves before paying them in cash.

On their way back.

Siwoo was holding bags filled with a bunch of ingredients in both hands.

Eloa offered to take some of them, but he unhesitatingly refused that offer.

“It’s fascinating.”

“What is?”

“When I first created a Witch Point here, Seoul didn’t look like this. Back then, there were more mountains than there were buildings, there were more trees than there were people. I’ve visited many countries, but the only place that has changed this much is probably Seoul.”

“Um, when did you set up a Witch Point here if I may ask?”

“It was around the 20s…? Yeah, it should be around that time. This place was the bridgehead between China and Japan, so we put a lot of effort into setting it up.”

He guessed that the timeframe should be that long ago at least from her words, but because of that, he couldn’t empathize with her feelings.

When she saw his reaction, she let out a wry smile.

“Right, you haven’t even lived for thirty years yet, have you? My words must sound like a bunch of nonsense to you.”

“No, I think it’s pretty cool. It’s like I’m witnessing a living piece of history…”

“This is nothing. Wait until you see Branch Manager Sua.”

As they spent their time chatting idly like that, they finally reached Eloa’s new house, the room right below Siwoo’s.

2.

When Siwoo first entered her house, he was puzzled.

Since the place was located in the same building as his house, its structure was exactly the same as his.

But, the atmosphere was noticeably different.

Even considering that less than a day had passed since she moved in, he couldn’t find any personal belongings of hers inside. There was only basic furniture inside like a sofa and table.

There were three blue boxes stacked in the corner of the living room, but it seemed to be filled with materials and papers.

From some of the papers that stuck out of the boxes, he could see that the paper was about Homunculi…

The place was so empty that it felt like this was a fugitive hideout rather than a person’s house.

It clearly showed what kind of state she was living in, what kind of things she sacrificed for her purpose.

“Put them on the kitchen table.”

“Y-Yes…”

Feeling rather awkward, Siwoo placed the bags on the table and took their contents out.

After coming to the kitchen he finally could see Eloa’s personal belongings.

Her various bottles of alcohol.

“This will take a while, is that okay for you?”

“Of course. Do you mind if I help you?”

“Yes, I’d appreciate it.”

Eloa took off her windbreaker and rolled up her sleeves.

The first thing she did was separating the ingredients with a quick movement.

She separated vegetables, the meat and seafood that needed to be cleaned, and everything that needed to be washed first separately.

“Can you take care of the vegetables first? No need to do something special. Just wash off the dirt.”

“What about the other ones over here?”

“Well, while you’re at it you can also clean those. Also make sure to clean any dirt.”

“Okay.”

Siwoo turned on the water and began to wash the potatoes, onions and the seafood.

Meanwhile, Eloa rinsed the chicken with water, dried it and marinated it with pepper, salt, and olive oil.

Somehow, her movements looked familiar to him.

“Give me the carrots and the onions first. Ah, also the garlic.”

“Here they are.”

Eloa placed the cutting board down and took out a knife.

Her hands began to move, as if they were dancing.

It took her less than ten seconds to peel off the skin of a potato.

-Tak, tak, tak!

“Ohh…”

Seeing her cutting down the vegetables to appropriate sizes made Siwoo sigh in amazement.

Her movements were fast and accurate.

All kinds of vegetables were beautifully cut every time her knife hit the cutting board, creating cheerful sounds.

It was a very skillful hand movement that he witnessed for the first time in a while.

“Hand me over the seafood.”

“Okay, I’ll wash them first, I haven’t got to do that.”

As he said that, he put more effort into washing the dirt that stuck into the lobster he was holding.

Watching him closely, Eloa said,

“You work hard at everything, don’t you?”

“Ah, well, maybe because I was a slave once.”

Taken aback by the sudden compliment, Siwoo replied shyly.

“Right, you were a slave in Gehenna. Who was your owner?”

“The Trinity Academy in Lenomond Town.”

“Lenomond Town, huh? You must have had a hard time dealing with those old-fashioned witches back in that town.”

“Old-fashioned…?”

Eloa took the living lobsters from Siwoo’s hand.

She closed her eyes for a moment, as if drowning herself in a prayer, before ending the lives of the three lobsters at once.

“Those witches living in Lenomond Town are the conservatives among the conservatives. Their way of thinking is stuck in the distant past, so I can imagine the pain you had to go through as a slave in that place.”

“I haven’t met many witches myself, but…it’s true that witches outside that town have a more…carefree atmosphere. Nevertheless, I met a lot of good people in Gehenna.”

“Do you not come to hate witches?”

“Part of me feels so, but if it isn’t because I became a slave in Gehenna, I wouldn’t be freed from my fate of death nor would I be able to study magic as I am now. Also, I made quite a few precious friends back there.”

Eloa glanced at Siwoo as he spoke.

Though a person’s facial expression couldn’t tell everything about them, their nature and attitude towards life would leave a mark on their face.

What Eloa got from Siwoo’s was the fact that he was a good-natured person without any malice.

“Ah…”

This prompted her to let out a light smile at him. Since it was so sudden, he didn’t know how to respond, as he could only smile back shyly.

“You also stared at me back when we were walking. Do you think I wouldn’t notice?”

“S-Sorry.”

“No need to. I’m aware that my hair color is a rarity even among witches. Honestly, I’d let you touch it if you ask.”

He wasn’t staring at her because of her unusual hair color, that was for sure.

But, there was no way he’d tell her that.

Before he knew it, the kitchen was filled with the fragrant smell of butter and stir-fried vegetables.

After he finished preparing all the ingredients, Siwoo had left with nothing to do.

“You can wait in the living room, this will take a while.”

“Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“I can only accept your sentiment. As the host, I really can’t make my guest work in my kitchen any more than this, can I?”

Hearing her words, Siwoo went to the living room and waited for a long time.