Chapter 106 : Chapter 106

Chapter 106 - The Crazy Interview

The family's judicial body, the Execution Department.

An institution created to capture and judge fellow sorcerers.

It was a waste of breath to even say what their duties were.

Not only the family's sorcerers but also members of other institutions wouldn't even look towards the Execution Department.

To those who lived on Millesdusk's land, the farther away from the Execution Department, the better.

The sharpest sword of such an institution, the Executioner Knight, was something one shouldn't even see in their dreams.

In such an infamous land.

“Stay quiet.”

Kuung─

The Forest Witch Lores was imprisoned.

This place, named Purgatory, was by no means terrible in appearance.

The Execution Department I saw on the way in was the same.

The spiral stone tower, which narrowed as it went up like a cone, was lofty.

I went inside it.

“It’s a forest.”

A forest stretched out inside the tower.

I wondered if it was possible.

A forest inside a tower?

It didn't make sense.

But there really was a forest here, and there were people.

Now that her restraints were off, Lores strolled through the forest, looking at the people.

“…They're under a curse.”

The eyes of the people walking aimlessly through the forest were lifeless.

They just walked endlessly, staring into the empty air.

But everyone was walking towards the same place.

“I was feeling dizzy since earlier. It seems I fell under a curse the moment I set foot here.”

But it couldn't penetrate the 2nd Great Witch's curse resistance.

I looked up at the sky.

There was no ceiling that a building would have, and the sun, which was fine even when looked at with the naked eye, was there.

“That big kid is supposed to be here too. Do I have to walk a little more?”

A forest that didn't smell like a forest, even though it was one.

I took a step into it.

I kept seeing people, and they didn't recognize each other.

They just walked in one direction.

“A prison is a prison.”

The pupils of the sinners were powerless, having forgotten where and what they were.

Moreover, I occasionally saw people with overgrown beards, hair, and untrimmed fingernails.

Such people's steps were noticeably slower than others.

So slow that I suspected they might have stopped altogether.

How long had they been trapped here?

“Where would you be?”

Lores roamed freely through Purgatory.

She was free, but it felt bad.

Because the feeling of being in a fabricated world was palpable.

But the guy I was looking for didn't feel any of that, just like the others.

“Land-grabber.”

A face with no consciousness, but a build that was hard to hide.

Land General Manager Felson was heading somewhere with slow steps.

I had seen it on the way, but everyone's walking speed was different.

Felson was on the slower side.

First, I had to break the curse that made him that way.

“It’ll sting a little.”

I placed my hand on Felson's forearm.

My magic power spread out from that point in an instant.

Like dropping a drop of ink into a glass of water.

A single speck of magic power, which had spread in the blink of an eye, sharply revealed its presence.

“…!”

Light entered the dead fish-like eyes.

The needle that had formed inside his body burst the net that had bound his mind.

“…Forest Witch-nim…?”

“Hello. It’s been a while.”

“Ugh….”

Felson collapsed without even having a chance to reply.

His limbs, as thick and hard as logs, trembled uncharacteristically.

It was natural, as his body had been walking for days even without his awareness.

Thud.

Lores also sat down next to him.

“I’m sorry….”

He offered something other than a first greeting to his benefactor.

The benefactor nodded.

“I’ll accept it.”

“…Really?”

“It seems you’ve paid for the sin of selling me out here. What's the point of me getting more angry?”

There was another reason.

“Thanks to you, I think I’ll be able to do a good money-making job.”

“Are you planning to ascend to the Elder position?”

“Yes. A spot is vacant.”

“Then… one of the Elders was killed by the Fourth Son.”

That answer was half right and half wrong.

“One Elder died at the hands of the President and the Fourth Son. His name was Kian, I think.”

“…The Fourth and Fifth Sons, together…?”

“It's arrogant to want the world to revolve around your thoughts.”

Because beings who could do that were few.

And Lores, who had come here by the order of such a few, asked.

“The President wants to get you out of here.”

“That is a difficult task.”

“And at the same time, it’s none of your business. What can you do while you're trapped?”

“……”

“Don’t look at me like that. Unlike you, I’m not trapped. I'm an interviewee.”

Even though she was his benefactor, she was annoying as she shrugged her shoulders.

Even if she was the culprit who destroyed Hojeopgung.

This annoyingness must have played a part in the Elders imprisoning her here.

Felson smiled weakly with dry lips.

“I suppose. That’s why you weren't caught by the ‘Sinner’s Gait’.”

“Sinner’s Gait?”

“I’m talking about the people over there.”

Those whose walking speeds were all different.

“The heavier the sin, the slower the gait. They have to cross the forest with those slowed steps.”

“And then it's over?”

“The forest is the beginning.”

His finger pointed to the ceiling, the sky.

“You must have seen the tower on your way here.”

“Yes. It had 7 floors.”

“You have to pass through all seven floors of Purgatory to wash away your sins.”

“That's tough.”

“Yes. It’s not easy. Right here in this forest, the sinner is under a curse, forced to repeat the most painful memory of their life.”

The repetition continues until they pass through the forest.

And the forest wasn't the end.

If, as Felson said, there was this and another hell up to the 7th floor.

“It would be good for my health to get out quickly.”

“I suppose so.”

So now it was time to get to the point.

“How do you plan to get me out?”

“I haven't heard the President’s thoughts, but seeing as he entrusted this to me, I have a rough idea.”

In the past, Jubel had brought someone’s resource collection and journal to Hexa by the boxful.

When I asked what it was.

─It belongs to a man called the Chairman of the Physicians’ Council. He's a potion researcher who is now dead and gone, but this is his Elixir research journal, so please take a look. Ah, with Miss Josephine.

Elixir.

The Divine Blood that only the Wisdom family of the pure west could produce in extremely small quantities.

It was said that its power could cure any incurable disease and reattach severed limbs.

They also said that the moment you drink it, the limits of your mind open up, allowing you to see the future.

As rumors usually are, the Elixir was a mysterious potion about which only nonsensical rumors bordering on absurdity were rampant.

But this Elixir was soon.

“It’s the rope that will get you out of Purgatory. The President seems to think so. And so do I.”

“…An Elixir. You’re saying it can be made in the east?”

“Someone was already researching it diligently.”

But that someone had neither the military power, the authority, nor the financial power to move forward.

Thus, the one who inherited the journal.

The Youngest Son could continue the research with his military power, authority, and financial power.

Though it was a story hard to believe for the listener.

But even if that were possible.

“What help can a simple land-grabber like me be in the production of an Elixir?”

“Since you're a land-grabber, of course you have to look at the land. As for what kind of land that is….”

Kuung─

“I’ll have to tell you later.”

Not far away, the sound of a thick iron door opening was heard.

It was the same sound as when I was imprisoned here.

“I’ll take my magic power with me. Then you’ll fall back into the same curse as before.”

“I will be waiting. Please tell the Fifth Son thank you for remembering me. And that you are my benefactor.”

“Yes. I will.”

Tak─

She snapped her fingers.

The Forest Witch’s magic power, which had been moving piercingly inside his body, disappeared.

“……”

The pupils, once again lifeless.

Felson’s large body stood up as if possessed and began to walk somewhere.

As if his ankles were tied to iron balls, very slowly.

Lores watched his back, then walked back in the direction the sound had come from.

There was the jailer who had imprisoned her a little while ago.

“The Elders wish to see you.”

Leaving only those words, he stepped aside from the door.

As if to say, find your own way.

But there was no need for a first-timer to ask for directions.

As soon as I crossed the entrance of Purgatory again, the blurred surrounding scenery bent as if it would disappear, then flashed.

I was moved to a dark brown round table somewhere with a hydra carved on the ceiling.

Nine figures sat around here.

Lores looked at one of them.

It was the one who had moved her.

“I am Graham Docs. The Vice-Patriarch of the Dark Wheel and one of the 10 Elders. You must be the Forest Witch.”

“Yes.”

Answering briefly, she took off her hat.

The scent of a sun-drenched forest spread gracefully to the round table.

Graham chuckled.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the Great Forest. A nostalgic scent.”

“Did I pass?”

“Unfortunately, we are not perfumers. We cannot pass you based on scent.”

“Oh, my.”

As if genuinely disappointed.

The Forest Witch’s drooping eyes drooped a little more.

The one-armed Elder Kalsbach, who was watching this, shook his head.

‘…She's definitely a crazy bitch.’

While harboring such convinced thoughts.

Seuk─

The Forest Witch’s index finger pointed at him.

For a moment, Kalsbach’s eyes widened as if he had spoken out loud.

She said.

“Let's have me fight him, and if I win, you make me an Elder. How about it?”

A deep arc formed on Graham’s lips.

“You’re already accustomed to the physiology of our family. Very well. What say you, Elder Kalsbach?”

Kalsbach smiled.

“I will not shy away.”

Just because one of the ten was gone didn't mean anyone could enter.

Even if they were qualified, they couldn't enter.

Some proof was needed, and the most reluctant of them was a proof of strength.

Facing one of the nine already established Elders was a daunting task.

It could be a threat to one's political life later on.

Or it could be an immediate, real threat to one's life.

Yet, the Forest Witch pointed to one without hesitation.

This Kalsbach, without any fear.

“Since both parties have agreed, we will move to a different location.”

Clap─

Graham clapped his hands lightly.

The place where the ten people were was moved in an instant.

Even looking up at the sky, it was full of thick fog.

It was a strange place.

“For those who are here for the first time, this is the Dark Wheel Grand Temple within the Pantheon.”

The Scripture of the Dark Wheel’s temple.

I knew it.

There was a building of a similar style near Hexa.

“Elder Kalsbach and the Forest Witch may use the vacant space here. You may use your full power here, so please display your skills to the fullest.”

“Is that so.”

“Hohohot. Of course.”

“Then, without reservation.”

The Forest Witch put back on the wide-brimmed hat she had taken off a moment ago.

The wide brim doesn't just block the sunlight.

Of course, there was no sunlight to block here, but it also blocked sound.

The surrounding noise.

It filtered out unnecessary things and left only one voice clear.

Aaaaaah──

It took a long time to recognize that voice as a voice.

At first, it was like an auditory hallucination. Or perhaps hearing loss. Or perhaps simple tinnitus.

As time passed, the sound became clearer and remained in my head like a song.

Then, at some point.

I happened to meet a race with large ears and learned the identity of the voice.

“Great Tree. What shall we play today?”

The first among humans to hear the voice of the World Tree.

One who recognizes the branches that stretch out into the world.

The Forest Witch simply put her will into her magic power and pulled up the branches.

Such branches are usually in the sky.

“Strike down. Wood Thunder.”

Jjeojeojeojeok─!!

Piercing through the fog of the grand temple.

A clear brown lightning bolt fell.

***

“Miss Josephine. Are you there?”

The Head Maid came out of the Dark Moon Grand Castle and went to Belir.

The master of Hexa was absent now, but Belir was hot as ever today.

“Head Maid-nim. What brings you here?”

“The matter I discussed with Jubel-nim and Lores-nim last time. I came to ask about the current status as it seems the Young Master will be proceeding with it soon.”

“You mean the Elixir.”

Josephine’s expression also dried up as she wiped her sweat with a towel.

She had also read the Chairman of the Physicians’ Council's journal.

At the same time, she learned how many people had burned with fleeting hope for the Elixir.

The reason that hope had become fleeting.

The absence of the blood of a Wisdom bloodkin.

But since the Elixir wasn't made from blood in the first place.

“It's definitely not the answer. Lores-nim also called it pretty trash.”

She took out a reagent bottle from a box.

It was a jet-black color.

“I don't know why, but it has irregular and yin properties like a curse. To find out its effects, I think I'd have to pour it on a test subject that doesn't die from curses.”

“For now, I will take it to the Young Master.”

The Head Maid received the reagent bottle.

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