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→ The Darkness that Came from the East (1) ←

1.

As planned, they bought all the clothes they picked out.

Next thing on their to-do list was grocery shopping at the department store’s food corner.

Eloa turned out to be surprisingly good at cooking. After their training, she’d sometimes invite Siwoo over to cook him a meal.

Today too, she planned to do that, as a thanks for buying her clothes.

“Hmm…hmm~”

Eloa hummed a tune while sporting a flowy shirt dress, her heels clicked at times.

Beside her, Siwoo, who was pushing the shopping card, was trying hard to contain his laughter.

Normally, she would act reserved.

She’d kept her feelings to herself, though he didn’t know if it was because she wasn’t good at expressing it, or if it was because of her warrior’s upbringing to not reveal their emotions easily.

Most of the time, she never even expressed her likes or dislikes.

Seeing her in such a good mood was a clear sign that this shopping trip was a huge success.

As Eloa strolled excitedly through the grocery aisle, she suddenly realized something before throwing Siwoo a subtle glance.

Then, she stopped humming.

It was because she noticed his calm expression, with a teasing gentle smile on his lips.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Stop grinning like a fool.”

He’d love to tell her that it was because he thought that she was cute, just like a cheerful puppy, playing on a sunny day, but he didn’t want to make the atmosphere awkward.

And so, he decided to praise her outfit instead.

“Those clothes suit you well, the shoes look nice on you too.”

The first half of his sentence was something that he said repeatedly when they were shopping for her clothes, but even so, she still responded in the same way when she heard her compliments.

Feeling skeptical of his words, going ‘Really?’ in her head, but still letting out a cheerful smile anyway.

“I don’t know about that. It’s my first time wearing heels like these…though it does make me feel a little taller. Do you think they stand out too much?”

“They all go well together.”

“…No, they don’t.”

“Really, they suit you well.”

“Stop teasing me.”

Usually, she’d just nod along whenever Siwoo threw her compliments during their training, but it seemed like all the compliments on her appearance and her clothes made her feel embarrassed as she almost always replied with ‘Stop teasing me’.

Siwoo thought that it was adorable for her to react that way and it made him want to keep on complimenting her.

“Oh, I just remembered something.”

“What is it?”

“Thank you for buying me these nice clothes. It’s the first time I’ve ever shopped for clothes at a department store.”

“Well, technically, I didn’t use my own money to buy them. Besides, I’ve received many things from you, Master, no need to thank me, really.”

Hearing his modest answer, Eloa quickly barraged him with facts.

“Countess Gemini isn’t only an outstanding witch, but also a skilled businesswoman. For someone like her, no matter how much money they have, they won’t spend their money thoughtlessly. The Countess provided you with financial support, that means you’re someone worthy of receiving it, not out of favor, pity or anything like that.”

“Uh…”

Now he understood what Eloa had been feeling whenever he complimented her clothes.

A mixed feeling between unease and embarrassment.

So, the reason why he could enjoy such luxury in the modern world was because he quite literally sacrificed his life when he confronted Ea Sadalmelik.

He still didn’t understand how the fuck did he have the balls to confront someone as fearsome as Ea when he couldn’t even cast a single combat spell, but…

Never once did he think that his action was something extraordinary.

He always thought that anyone else would make a similar choice in his position.

“Take some pride in yourself.”

Eloa playfully nudged his back before walking ahead.

After filling the cart with enough groceries and paying for them, the pair got in the car.

It was the supercar he received from Periwinkle.

Truth to be told, until he actually drove it, he thought that he’d just park it somewhere in the lot and he’d hardly ever drive it.

He wasn’t that into cars to begin with and driving this thing would draw so much attention because compared to Ferraris or Lamborghinis, this kind of car was rare to be found in Seoul.

But once he grabbed the steering wheel and hit the road, he became addicted to it.

Its smooth, yet powerful exhaust sound and the feeling of being one in the car captivated him.

This well-crafted machine felt like it was alive.

Siwoo smoothly exited the underground parking lot.

Meanwhile, Eloa sat in the passenger seat, checking over her clothes.

Observing her cheerful demeanor, he realized that this was the perfect time to tell her what he had heard from Periwinkle.

Because the matter didn’t only concern his own safety, but a plethora of other matters as well.

“Master, I have something to tell you.”

“Why so dramatic? Just tell me what you have in mind.”

Leaning back against the seat, Eloa held back a smile that kept trying to show.

But, a single word turned her expression stiff.

“Do you happen to know anything about a witch called Periwinkle, Master?”

The moment he mentioned ‘Periwinkle’…

She instinctively turned to look out the window.

Periwinkle?

Why would he bring her up all of a sudden?

Thanks to her enjoying herself all throughout the shopping session, she completely forgot that she has spent the past two days watching what essentially was VR porn.

She watched him and Periwinkle having sex for 36 hours straight and she experienced the unabashed arousal it brought her.

The embarrassing incident that she couldn’t possibly tell anyone about overwhelmed her mind.

She couldn’t help but wonder if he actually found out about her peeping them for more than a day.

O-Or maybe he’s trying to gauge my reaction?

“I-I-I don’t know! Really! I don’t know anything!”

Her face turned pale as she blurted out that response.

Noticing her panicked response, Siwoo stared at her, puzzled.

If he wasn’t holding onto the steering wheel at the moment, he might have noticed her ears turning red as they peeked through her hair.

“Really, I don’t know anything! I’m not lying, I swear!”

“I didn’t think you were lying, though…”

He found her response sounded a little suspicious, but he dismissed it promptly because it wasn’t a big deal.

“The other day when I left the house, I had a chance to chat with her privately. According to her divination, she said that I’d soon be in danger. Chances are…um…I’m going to die…?”

He mentioned that he had already resolved the issue halfway though, while leaving out the part where the divination said that he’d lose an arm and die.

Because he knew how badly his words could affect her, considering her past experience.

That was why he tried to bring up the topic cautiously, but her reaction was overwhelmingly intense.

She quickly turned to Siwoo, the panic in her gaze was clear.

“…What did you just say…?”

Her eyes shook and there was a palpable tension in the air.

Noticing how her breath had grown erratic, as if her trauma was triggered, Siwoo quickly added more details.

“W-Well! Thanks to her kindness, I got some help from her! She gave me a talisman that could save my life no matter what kind of danger I was in!”

“Elaborate.”

A murderous aura erupted from her, an aura so intense that it made his skin tingle.

It showed him how fierce she could be and how she’d kill anyone who’d threaten his life.

This reminded him of the first time he met her, how she thrusted her fist into his chest.

He figured that it would be better to calm her down first before continuing the conversation.

“It’ll all be okay! The matter isn’t as serious as you think, you don’t need to worry too much!”

“How can you say that?! The Witch of Fortune is a witch who is proficient in astrology! Her divinations hardly ever miss!”

Though she claimed to not know Periwinkle, this reaction of hers seemed to suggest otherwise.

“If something bad happens again…and I-I lose you…I-I…don’t know…”

She started to tear up and her voice turned shaky, as if she had already imagined the worst.

It was Siwoo’s turn to panic now as he pulled the car to the side of the road.

“Who could it be…? Why is this even happening? Do you have any idea why your life could be in danger…?”

Eloa grabbed his sleeve, clinging on tightly to it.

He tried to soothe her, laying out his thoughts calmly.

“Ms. Periwinkle said that she will be leaving Korea for a while, she said that she saw a future where even herself would get caught in danger in a month. Considering what the Cowardly Witch did recently, chances are she’s going to cause trouble again soon and I might get caught up in it…”

“Did she really say that?”

“Yes and I agreed with her.”

After the recent attack by the Cowardly Witch, there was a power gap not only in Seoul but all across Korea.

Witches who felt the urgency from the consecutive incidents decided to either return to Gehenna or flee abroad.

Branch Manager Sua tried reaching out for support from other Witch Point branches and Gehenna, but their responses were mostly lukewarm.

Because witches never had any obligations to save people.

Their only goal was to advance their self-essence magic to a higher level.

Moreover, most of them exerted efforts not for adventures but for their own safety.

For a witch, death wasn’t merely the end of an individual’s life, but an extinction of an entire ‘lineage’. That was why they always hesitated to get involved in events that seemed futile and risky.

“This is why I told you not to worry too much.”

Siwoo pulled out two four-leaf clovers from his cigarette case.

One was light green and the other was pink.

These were the things that Periwinkle had given him, claiming that they could save his life.

“She mentioned that even if my fate leads to my death, I’ll be able to get away from it once.”

Only then did Eloa’s tense expression eased, albeit only slightly. There was a glimmer of relief amidst her previously desperate demeanor.

The Witch of Fortune was quite famous among witches. Even Eloa herself had heard a few times about how useful her clovers were.

“I’m sorry, I overreacted…”

“No, Master, I was the one who brought the topic up all of a sudden.”

“So, what are you planning to do?”

“That… I don’t know that yet…”

Siwoo had already suspected that some incident would occur due to the Cowardly Witch.

However, he couldn’t decide what to do because he didn’t want to leave Sharon behind and flee.

Should I just stick around and face whatever fate waits?

But, considering that even a grand witch like Periwinkle could lose her life, wouldn’t it be better to just take Sharon and flee instead?

Such thoughts crossed his mind.

“Run away.”

Eloa said decisively, as if telling him that there was nothing for him to think about.

“Go to Gehenna and don’t come back until things settle down. It’ll be safer to stay there than here.”

“But, the Branch Manager said it would take time to discuss things about letting Sharon into Gehenna…”

“I’ll help speed things up.”

To grant special permissions for Exiles, they’d need to go through an extremely strict process of review.

With the administrative tasks in Gehenna moving at a snail’s pace, going through the official channels would take quite a long while.

However, if a big shot like the Duchess Tiphereth herself used her name and authority to push things through, there wasn’t anything she couldn’t pull off.

Though she had lost her wealth and influence, and her title was merely a symbolic one, she was still one of the three Duchesses of Gehenna.

“Really? You can do that?”

Siwoo let out a sigh of relief.

If she succeeded, his burden would at least lessen a little.

Above all, he was glad that Sharon, who was still unconscious, could get away from the place where the storm would strike.

“I’ll get it done within two days. You and Ms. Evergreen will—”

Eloa was about to suggest he go to Gehenna, but something clicked in her mind.

“…”

“Master?”

Puzzled by her momentary silence, Siwoo looked at Eloa.

Eloa clutched onto his sleeve desperately.

“While Ms. Evergreen seeks refuge in Gehenna, you…”

She grasped his hand tightly, as if refusing to let go.

“…Don’t go anywhere, stay by my side.”