Chapter 135: Tying Up Loose Ends (5)

༺ Tying Up Loose Ends (5) ༻

1.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

Siwoo quietly completed his preparations to leave Gehenna.

In truth, he didn't have much to do.

He didn't have anything to pack and the only person he needed to bid farewell to was Takasho.

As for Amelia, she wasn't even worth mentioning and for the twins, they were unable to meet him because of the Countess.

"Odette will be furious."

While Odile managed to create good memories with him during their night stroll, Odette hadn't even had the opportunity to talk with him.

It would be a lie if Siwoo were to say that he wasn't disappointed. After all, he considered her as his friend too.

'She won't fight with Odile over this, right?'

Suddenly, he felt a little concerned.

Nevertheless, in his current circumstances, nothing big happened in his daily life.

He just mostly drank by himself. Sometimes, he'd drop by the Academy to chat with Takasho after the latter was finished with his work.

Occasionally, he'd go to Tarot Town for a beer and some snacks, or just aimlessly wandering around the streets.

Ever since he received his brand, food and sleep had become secondary concerns to him. But, due to habit, he still ate three meals a day and slept on time every night.

Though, he could blame the latter on the fact that he spent his waking hours in drunken stupor.

To him, every moment felt like a hazy dream.

The more time passed, the closer he got to his goal; to return to the modern world. Yet, he found himself acting indifferent towards this fact.

There was no sense of excitement, anticipation or longing. It was as if his sense of reality had been numbed.

"Two days left."

Before he realized it, there were merely two days remaining until the due date when the Countess was scheduled to visit him again.

On his way back from the market in Tarot Town. He carried a ham tied with a string in one hand.

"...Excuse me?"

He suddenly heard a voice, but it sounded so soft, he didn't even realize that the owner of the voice was timidly calling out to him.

Naturally, he ignored it and continued walking, but that was when someone poked his back, prompting him to turn around.

There was a woman there, someone he had never seen before.

She had loosely tied up hair, wearing a comfortable-looking dress.

On top of her dress, she wore a brown cardigan.

The woman had an ample bosom, curvaceous hips and gentle-looking eyes with large irises.

Anyone with functioning eyes could tell that she was a stunning beauty.

"Are you calling for me?"

Siwoo pointed at himself while giving her a puzzled look.

The woman, who had been looking at his face for quite some time, suddenly let out a happy smile.

"Shin Siwoo, right...? Have you completely recovered?"

"Ah..."

At that moment, Siwoo remembered Takasho's words about how there was a witch who had healed his body from its battered state.

He said the witch was a Korean woman.

Although this woman in front of him had fair skin, it was clear that she was of Asian descent.

That was why...

"Are you perhaps, the witch, Smyrna?"

"Y-Yes! You're correct!"

"Hello. I've heard a lot about you. You went through a lot because of me, right? Thank you for everything you've done to me."

"N-No, I-I didn't go through a lot at all... B-Besides, I was unable to fulfill my duties as a doctor until the very end..."

"That's just not true."

To Smyrna, what she had done was turning the lifeless Siwoo into a mindless machine who could only think about magic.

After that incident, he completely blocked all of her attempts to heal him, rendering her unable to do anything else.

Nevertheless, she was glad to see the patient she had once taken care of walking around in good health.

"..."

"..."

Not only had she watched over Siwoo for nearly a hundred days, but he was also the first patient that she had properly treated. And he was also her first partner whom she had her first sexual experience with. Too bad, Siwoo had no recollection of that time.

The only thing he was aware of was her effort to save his life. Besides that, she was a completely unfamiliar person to him.

This ambiguous gap in emotions created an awkward atmosphere between the two.

"U-Um, maybe this is what we call fate? W-Would you like to come to my place and have some tea?"

"Ah... Sure, why not?"

In the end, it was Yebin who initiated the conversation.

Considering the efforts she had put in to heal him, Siwoo didn't feel like it was proper to refuse her invitation, so he accepted it, albeit a little awkwardly.

"Then, this way..."

"Okay..."

Carrying the stifling awkwardness with them, those two headed towards the square in Tarot Town together.

2.

As a reward for her efforts in healing Siwoo (although she wasn't completely successful), Yebin Smyrna was granted citizenship in Gehenna.

Not only that, Countess Gemini had also arranged for her to have a residence of her own choice, and she decided to reside in Tarot Town.

After all, it was the most populous town in Gehenna.

Following her unsuccessful attempt to heal Siwoo, she realized her limit, prompting her to dedicate herself to her research. All while establishing a clinic where she could provide free treatment to the Gehenna citizens.

She brought Siwoo to a two-story stone building.

The first floor served as the aforementioned clinic, while the second floor was her house.

"It's a little messy, isn't it?"

Yebin said before closing the door and stepping inside. She then began tidying up things out of embarrassment.

Just by taking a quick glance, Siwoo realized what the place was for.

From the faint smell of strong alcohol and herbs, he inferred that this place was likely used for disinfection.

"Are you running a clinic here?"

"Yes, I noticed that Gehenna has a serious lack of medical infrastructure. While I might be lacking, I still wish to help..."

After saying that, Yebin felt like she was needlessly boasting, prompting her to blush and quickly shifted the subject.

"Um, I'll bring some tea, please wait here for a moment."

Then, she disappeared somewhere.

Siwoo was struck by his newfound impression of this witch.

She was a witch who had established a clinic for the sake of others, completely different from the image of a witch he had held all this time.

Not long after, Yebin came back with an unimpressive teapot in her hand. She sat down, looking hesitant about something, probably her tea brewing skill.

"To be honest, I wanted to talk with you, Mr. Siwoo. Oh, you probably already know, but my name is Yebin Smyrna."

"Yebin? Could it be...?"

"Oh, right, we're from the same country."

That was when Siwoo realized why he felt a subtle sense of familiarity from her.

"I'm Shin Siwoo. I had wanted to meet you and see what kind of person you are. Turns out you're an even greater person that I expected."

"Ah n-no, it's not like that..."

Yebin blushed as she shyly ran her hand through her hair.

Having seen witches only using their abilities to satisfy their selfishness, her selfless actions of helping others without expecting anything in return left him with a positive impression.

"Besides, you're an even more impressive person than me, Mr. Siwoo. You faced a renowned criminal to save the lives of a pair of apprentice witches. Not everyone can do that."

"Oh no, it's not like that."

This time, it was Siwoo who felt embarrassed.

If it was someone else's achievement, he sure would have thought that it was impressive, but he had his own thoughts about his own achievement. He couldn't help but think that what he had done was something that he had to do.

"What have you been up to outside?"

After they exchanged glances briefly, Yebin started the conversation in earnest with a question.

'Is it because I've been living a shitty life, like an octopus trying to live out of the water?'

'Or maybe it's because this witch has an aura that makes others feel at ease?'

Regardless of the reason, Siwoo found their conversation enjoyable.

The fact that they were both from Korea and they both missed their hometowns added to the liveliness of their conversation.

It was true that an enjoyable conversation began with a common interest.

"Ah, I really crave some chicken and beer... The chicken we used to have as a late-night snack was the best!"

"Honestly, I feel like going back to the modern world just to have those. Also, I thought you can go to the modern world whenever you want? You have Gehenna's citizenship, right?"

"Yes, but... I might have a rather high rank, but my combat abilities are non-existent. I don't really want to get entangled in unnecessary matters outside... Besides, my clinic hasn't fully established yet, so I still need to take care of it a little longer."

They only talked about random topics like this.

"Do you remember the stickers they used to sell in the stationery store back in the day?"

"Oh, do you mean those little round paper stickers? The ones with random characters drawn on them?"

"Yes! Those!"

"How about the water rockets the school always asked us to make on Science Day?"

"I've never managed to make one of those. They always break down for some reason!"

Their conversation was a journey through nostalgia, back to the days when their innocence was still intact.

As they indulged in the bittersweet memories and nostalgia, their conversation continued. Before they knew it, a few hours had passed.

It was a pleasant conversation, something that soothed both their weary hearts.

The setting sun painted a faint glow, as if bidding them a reluctant farewell.

Seeing Siwoo checking on his watch, Yebin showed a regretful expression.

In fact, her situation wasn't much different from Siwoo's.

She had no choice but to stay out of Korea for a while.

That was why she felt a sense of familiarity with him.

"I've been taking too much of your time. It was an enjoyable conversation."

"Yes. It feels like we've talked about everything we missed out on. I really enjoyed our conversation."

As for Siwoo, he felt like he was back in Korea again.

Seeing his happy smile triggered a smile in Yebin too. She then lowered her upper body to clean up the table.

Siwoo willingly lent her a hand, as he couldn't stand staying idle despite him being a guest.

"It's fine, you don't need to."

"Well, I still have my conscience. How could I just let you do everything?"

"Okay... Um, there's a utility room over there, so you can leave it there."

"Alright."

Perhaps due to their distance suddenly being shortened, he could smell a soft and pleasant fragrance from her.

It was a sweet, powdery scent, similar to milk.

She didn't seem to wear any perfume, yet that enticing and sweet aroma brushed against his nose.

"Are you okay?"

And that smell was enough to get his rod hard.

It was as if he had taken some kind of aphrodisiac.

'Why the fuck is this happening all of a sudden?'

He crossed his legs out of desperation, trying to suppress the raging hot rod that was trying to burst through his pants. With a strained smile, he asked.

"Ah, yes, I'm fine. Where should I put this again?"

What he was wearing were comfy cotton pants that closely resembled slacks.

His cock was positioned in an unfortunate angle.

Thanks to that, it erected up his pants to the point that the bulge was obvious for anyone to see.

The moment he moved away from the table, Yebin would probably realize what was going on.

But, it wasn't like he could just back down since he was the one who offered to lend her a hand.

'Technically, an erection is a natural occurrence and it can still happen even when one isn't thinking about anything, but it's still better to avoid any unnecessary suspicions.'

While Siwoo was contemplating about it for a moment, he noticed an escape route.

He picked up a conveniently placed napkin from under the table.

"While I'm at it, I'll tidy up the napkin too."

"I'd appreciate it if you do. It was on the back of my mind when we were talking earlier. Still, I didn't expect you to be such a meticulous person."

"That's just how I am."

Yebin didn't seem to feel uncomfortable, so all he had to do was to spread the napkin under the plate, hide his raging boner and leave.

He still wore the air of nonchalance as he passed Yebin by and went to the utility room to set down the dishes.

"...Phew."

Meanwhile, Yebin glanced at the direction where Siwoo had disappeared to and let out the breath she had been holding.

'It was that, right?'

'I wasn't seeing it wrong, right?'

In truth, when she happened to see him, she hesitated on whether to approach him or not.

First of all, the fact that she had a sex with him without asking for his permission bothered her. While she understood that it was for the sake of his treatment, she couldn't help but feel that way.

But, he was still the first patient she had ever treated. She wanted to talk to him at least once, so she invited him to her home.

After that lengthy conversation, it was clear that he had no memories of their sexual activities.

'But, what does that mean?'

She actually noticed the bulging rod that was visible through his pants.

The identity of that...large object, she had an idea of what it was.

'Maybe he actually remembered everything, but pretending not to?'

"No, that isn't the case."

'I don't think he's such a scheming person.'

Nevertheless, this reminded her of the time when she stayed at the Marigold Mansion to treat him.

The time when she sat on top of him naked and the time when he was grabbing her hair while roughing her up from behind.

Those memories kept her curling up on the bed every night while squirming.

Back then, she convinced herself that she had only done it because she had to. Eventually, she'd be able to forget about those memories and move on.

But now, as she faced him again, her thoughts inexplicably drifted to a peculiar direction.

His smiling face whenever he talked, his movements whenever he adjusted his sleeves, his graceful Adam's apple that moved around whenever he sipped his tea and finally his thing that bulged out of his pants.

Each time she recalled his overwhelming masculinity, anxiety dug its claws into her.

"...I'm going crazy."

Yebin gently touched her flushed face.

She was aware that she had a perverted side, but she had never acted like this in front of a real person before.

At that moment, Siwoo came back.

"Thank you for the tea. It was nice. But, I think I have to go back now."

Yebin tried to maintain her politeness, but her gaze was fixed between his legs.

The bulge between his legs had completely gone.

'That means what I saw earlier wasn't a mistake.'

'What should I do?'

'Should I just let him go like this?'

When she pondered as such, her eyes caught something on the table. It was a package of ham.

While pointing at it with her hand, she made a suggestion.

"Wouldn't that be good as a side dish for drinks?"

"...Sorry?"