1.

    Diana made a tower of books, placed a handkerchief on top of it, and sat on it.

    While lightly kicking her legs, she brought up an old conversation.

    “So, you were wondering why am I so lazy, right?”

    “...Huh? Ah, right, back during the fishing trip...”

    Diana nodded at that before bringing her knees closer to her chest.

    Though it seemed like she already decided to talk about this, there was a hesitation in her expression. As if what she was trying to say was something quite complex.

    “I’ve told you about my status quo bias, right?”

    She reminded him of the term she used in response to his question back then.

    “It’s a bias to avoid change, to wish that tomorrow will be like today, and the day after to be like tomorrow. I don’t want anything to change, I want everything to stay the same... And I...don’t want to become a full witch... I don’t want mom to disappear...”

    She turned her head towards the window.

    “...I want her to stay. Forever.”

    Her voice turned slightly hoarse.

    “It isn’t hard to throw my laziness away and become the diligent daughter that she wants me to be. I just need to work myself a little harder than usual.”

    “...”

    “But, if that happens... She’s going to disappear, right...? And I’ll be left alone...?”

    “...”

    “That’s why, I don’t want things to change. I want us to stay like this forever.”

    In witch’s society, ‘inheritance’ was something to be proud of.

    All witches took it as an honor, as it meant that they were inheriting knowledge that had been passed down for hundreds of years.

    To be fearful of it, to the point that one refused to pass on their brand to their apprentice even though they clearly couldn’t continue developing their brand anymore...

    Or to be fearful of it just because one didn’t want to see their predecessor disappear...

    Were both considered as foolish and shameful in witch’s society.

    Because such feelings showed their incompetence as a witch.

    Hence why Diana averted her gaze. She didn’t dare to look at Siwoo’s face.

    The thought of him giving her a disgusted look over this shameful attitude of hers scared her.

    It made her regret telling him all this.@@@@

    “Strange, right?”

    “A little.”

    “...You don’t need to be polite, I know what I’m saying is stupid.”

    I knew it...

    There’s no way he could understand...

    Well, I never expected him to anyway... I just wanted to vent a little...

    “Oh, no, I think you misunderstood... You see, since you’re Yesod’s apprentice witch, I thought you’d have a more orthodox view of such a thing, Ms. Diana. That’s what I found strange.” R?Α?????o???S

    Hearing that, Diana quickly turned her face towards Siwoo.

    There wasn’t even a trace of a judgmental look she expected from his face.

    Instead, he just blinked at her, wearing his usual gentle expression on his face.

    “You...don’t think my view is strange...?”

    “Of course. It’s normal for a child to wish for her parent to live a little longer, no? I also wished for my parents to live a long and healthy life.”

    “But, I’m an apprentice witch...”

    No matter how she thought about it, she just couldn’t understand his carefree reaction.

    So, she stared at him, wondering if he was just saying all this to make her feel better.

    “Witch or not, they’re still a ‘person’.”

    Hearing that, Diana averted her gaze again.

    She decided to confide her deepest secret, but for some reason, what she got was the hot sensation in her cheeks.

    It was strange.

    She revealed her insecurities to Siwoo, someone who was pretty much a stranger to her.

    And then she found out that he could actually understand what she was trying to say, and that made her happy.

    Actually, ever since that incident in Border Town happened, she had been experiencing strange things.

    For example, whenever she had nightmares, she’d dream of his back, protecting her from harm.

    At one point, she felt resentment towards her mother, even though she loved her more than anything else in the world.

    And there was that surprise kiss that she did...

    In any case...

    Strange things had been happening, and were currently happening.

    Hence why she found it hard to continue her next words.

    Because it felt like she was forcing herself to say something she didn’t want to say.

    But, she had to say what she had in mind out loud.

    It wasn’t because the lingering feeling left her, though, she just didn’t have the leniency to indulge in those feelings as right now, she had to show an appearance that befit her status as a noble.

    Also, the moment she breathed in the misty air of Border Town, her pent-up anger boiled over.

    She descended through the winding path, heading towards the Cloud Mushroom Village that was surrounded by the oak trees.

    ‘The Rebellion of Jack the Cutter,’ a case when a normal human was mutated into a Homunculus.

    Jack, one of the slaves, a former death row inmate who didn’t know his place, attacked Diana and was promptly apprehended. The Border Town guards had handed him over to the countess.

    Right now, he was in the hand of another witch.

    On one side of the village—where the place was turned into a whole forest because of an accident that was caused by a certain someone—there was a workshop that happened to survive through the accident.

    Arriving in front of it, the countess opened the door without hesitation.

    “Welcome, Countess Yesod.”

    “I’m in a hurry.”

    The person who greeted the countess was Shriya Shitala, an 18th rank witch who was well-versed in necromancy and mind magic.

    While the countess wished to interrogate Jack personally, she knew that this sort of matter should be left to the experts.

    Considering that Shriya had solved several crimes prior to this, she was the right person for the countess to rely on.

    “Come this way.”

    They walked through the messy workshop, towards the basement.

    It was a little rude for Shriya, but the countess felt like the place was a little too desolate and gloomy.

    Shriya opened the door, and behind the door, a white man could be seen, sitting on a chair, fully restrained.

    His limbs were flabby, as if his muscles had shrunken.

    His mouth was gagged to prevent him from killing himself, and his eyeballs were bulging out, as if they might fall out at any moment.

    He was also acting unusual.

    Even though the countess came in, he showed no reaction whatsoever; he just kept staring blankly at the sky like a vegetable.

    “I’m saying this so you don’t misunderstand me, Countess. I haven’t tortured him.”

    “Even if you do, I wouldn’t mind.”

    The countess circled around the chair, examining him.

    “The moment I started interrogating him, his brain turned unresponsive. It took less than 15 for his cerebral cortex through his limbic system to fail completely. After that, his limbs started to melt.”

    “Hmm...”

    Human turning into a Homunculus wasn’t a case that was unheard of.

    There were countless Homunculi roaming around in the world, and there were more of them who were still sleeping or lurking in the dimensional rift.

    Among those Homunculi, it wasn’t unthinkable that one of them had the power to take over humans’ bodies.

    However, humans’ bodies were too fragile to withstand Homunculi’s power.

    Which meant, the moment those monsters possessed their body, their body would start failing.

    Whenever this happened, the Homunculi would usually just abandon their hosts, leaving them crippled if they were lucky, but in most cases they’d just end up dead.

    In any case, it wasn’t strange that Jack ended up like this.

    “Still, he went out without saying anything...? What’s the possibility of him being implanted with a ‘gag’?”

    “Can’t be sure for now, I’d have to rip his head open first. However, I believe that’s an extremely likely case.”

    “How likely?”

    “90% chance.”

    The reason why Shriya was so sure was because Jack was fully conscious before the interrogation began.

    In fact, he was shaking, fearing what was about to happen to him next.

    It was extremely unnatural that he suddenly turned like this in merely 15 seconds as soon as the interrogation began.

    Hence why the possibility of another witch’s intervention was quite high.

    “Can you continue your investigation?”

    “Currently, I am in the middle of scouring through the smugglers’ records and interrogating the witnesses.”

    Duchess Keter’s inaction.

    The unusually active Criminals in the Modern World.

    And the fact that Gehenna had been invaded twice in a single year.

    Although this particular incident wasn’t really a big incident, and one could just treat it lightly without any repercussions, Countess Yesod had a bad feeling about it.

    Her instinct as a businesswoman screamed so.

    “So, how should I handle this?”

    Shriya pointed at Jack’s crippled body and asked.

    “Do you even need to ask?”

    “Alright then. I’ll use every flesh of his body to look for all the pieces of evidence I can find.”

    “Oh my. If someone were to hear what you said, they’d misunderstand, you know?”

    After saying that, the countess turned around and left.

    Offering not even the slightest mercy towards the scum who almost brought harm to Diana.