Chapter 68 : Chapter 68

Chapter 68 - Eclipse Doesn't Stop

Forest Witch.

The next Great Witch, said to possess the greatest talent and skill since the Great Witch Baba Yaga.

The reason she was only called the next Great Witch, and not the Great Witch.

It was because of her obsession.

An obsession with life.

A wish to create life with her own hands.

But a witch could not bear a child.

So she made the cauldron she stood before every day her womb.

She made the solution of boiled villains her amniotic fluid.

The child born from a magical umbilical cord was cherished and raised in her own way.

But she could not let another's hand do it.

Another's hand. Millesdusk. The Youngest Son.

“There are plenty of empty seats, so sit wherever you like. Forest Witch.”

“......”

He nonchalantly offered her a seat.

But she did not sit.

She didn't come here to leisurely grill some deer meat.

“Before I kill you, I will ask.”

“Make yourself comfortable.”

The words were cut off again.

Did he not hear that she would kill him?

Or was he saying he wouldn't resist, so kill him comfortably?

The Youngest Son. This man had an excellent talent for leaving people speechless.

The mouth that had been momentarily lost for words moved again.

“Why did you kidnap Kio to this place.”

“Kidnap, you say.”

“Why is Halsin colluding with you.”

“Colluding, you say.”

Two questions. Two counter-questions.

This time, the Youngest Son asked.

“Why do you think Kio was kidnapped.”

“...Kio. Is not a child who would ever return of his own free will. A direct blood relative of Millesdusk. What weakness are you holding over him.”

“There is certainly that path, but. Not this time.”

That route had too many side effects.

As I did not particularly prefer the annihilation route.

The way I brought Kio was also sufficiently humane.

Of course, sending him flying deep into the forest was sufficiently inhumane.

But the process of getting here was very much of his own will.

“Kio has decided. He found the father he wanted to kill but did not kill him, and he saw warmth in that.”

“......”

“He must have felt that warmth a little when he was being raised by you in the past. Though he probably doesn't remember well, having almost died so many times.”

“That can be postponed. Not dying and being alive comes first. Only then can you feel warmth.”

“The Kio of now will not die. He has a rather dependable father by his side. If a mother like you is there too, he'll be safer than with me.”

“Kio does not wish for me to come near.”

The Forest Witch raised her hand from within the darkness of the forest.

Her trailing sleeve fluttered with it.

But I was not without a bodyguard either.

The snoring that had stopped at some point.

The owner of that snoring, instead of a gentle purr.

“Krrrrrrrrrr─”

The growl of a beast sank lower than the shadows.

The giant wolf that had lowered its body with it looked as if it could easily chew up a person, even while crouched.

The teeth visible between its fiercely opened mouth were a flesh grinder.

“...For a Noble of Blood. You have a strange thing with you.”

The Forest Witch's hand swept horizontally through the air.

It was a gesture devoid of any magical feeling.

And yet, the air current changed.

It changed to be hostile to the outsider.

It openly detested the one who dared to enter the forest and defy its master.

The mountain breeze that had gently stroked my hair had become sharp and was now pricking my skin.

It was as if the mountain itself had murderous intent.

“KRAAAAA─!!”

The wolf charged.

Rather than charging, it stretched its neck forward.

A distance that was close even for a human was within reach for the wolf with just a snap of its jaws.

KWADEUK─!

But the werewolf's maw only chewed on the empty air.

The figure of the Forest Witch that had been here vanished.

The stinging wind grew even stronger.

A wind that seemed sharp enough to cut raged fiercely.

A grey-furred wolf under the moonlit night.

Its bright yellow eyes scanned all directions without flinching.

Its eyes pierced through the darkness, and its nose tracked the scent.

The werewolf swung its front paw faster than it could turn its head.

An attack based solely on the evidence of its senses.

The direction was to the left.

KWADDEUK─!!

...There was no satisfying impact this time either.

A single tree was split in half by the physical strength emanating from its natural body.

A piece of a robe fell with the debris.

It belonged to the Forest Witch.

But a werewolf's claws were not meant to simply tear a sleeve.

“Child of the forest's bloodline. Is that thing of such great value?”

A beautiful voice brushed past my ear.

Carried on the wind, it made it impossible to pinpoint the direction.

“Krrrrrr─”

The wolf gave up its attack and shielded the Youngest Son with its body.

It crouched, curling its body around him, and sharpened its claws.

It answered with this instead.

Roar.

In other words, Fear.

“──!!”

The grey wolf, with its head thrown back towards the moon, howled.

High and low.

Long and short, the reverberation echoed throughout the forest.

The awakened mountain birds took flight, and everything nearby froze solid.

It turned them into statues that forgot how to move and just breathed, hardened stiff.

But that was only for beings that breathed.

The Youngest Son's ears had not heard any heartbeat for a while now.

“News of me must not have reached as far as this Great Forest. You cannot kill me with such a wood clone.”

“...So it seems. It would be difficult to break through a hunter werewolf with something like this.”

“And. You didn't have any intention of killing me seriously, did you.”

“How would you know that.”

Her form remained unseen, and her voice, carried on the wind, flew in from all directions.

The wolf, still not letting its guard down, had its tail held stiffly.

The Youngest Son gently stroked the wolf's belly.

“It's a knack I developed because so many people want to kill me. Whether they're serious about killing me or not, I can tell just by watching what they do.”

That was a lie.

The Forest Witch was more connected to this forest than her physical body.

The fact that she conversed through the wind and used the forest without magic was proof.

The fact that she only used the wind among the many elements that make up the forest was evidence.

“...My son's mind is captivated by an absurd fellow.”

“He is the person who made the food that goes into your son's mouth three times more expensive. Show some respect.”

“Ha.”

The Forest Witch let out a scoff.

This time, the direction was clearly felt.

Straight ahead.

In the place where they first met, was the Forest Witch's wood clone.

The Youngest Son healed his body, which was cut here and there.

The blood he had shed before.

He gathered it into a single drop at the tip of his finger.

“Forest Witch. Meet Kio and Halsin. That is why I came.”

“Why would Millesdusk. Isn't it your nature not to lift a finger unless there's a profit.”

“Correct. But Millesdusk basically ensures the other party also profits while I gain my own profit.”

“...Neither Kio, nor that hunter. Nor I. None of us want to meet. What profit is there.”

The Youngest Son smiled faintly and pointed his index finger at the clone.

His hand formed the shape of a gun.

“I will set you free from your confinement in the forest. In the first place, didn't you push Kio away to get him out of the forest's curse?”

The voice that had been only monotonous.

“You. How do you....”

Made a creaking sound like a stringed instrument with a loose string.

I didn't want to tune it by giving her the answer right now.

“If you're interested, come and find me yourself. A deal is made between equals, is it not.”

Not with a clone like that.

PWAAAAAK─!!

A single drop of clustered and compressed blood flew like a bullet.

Riding the fingerprint instead of rifling, it spun and hardened, piercing the clone's body.

“To the, end. An absurd. Fellow.”

Thud─

After the last words, the doll collapsed.

The hood was thrown back, revealing a featureless, blank face.

The Forest Witch's puppet sorcery.

It was a terrifying level, just as I remembered.

To have the control ability to fight a werewolf on equal terms from an unknown distance.

“You can relax now. The Forest Witch is gone.”

Ppudeudeuk─

Ttuduk─

With the sound of bones twisting and shrinking, the body also shrank.

The whole body, engulfed in smoke along with it, revealed her original form.

Her expression was a mixture of apology and tearfulness.

The two were kneaded together.

“I-I'm sorry.... I tried my best, but....”

Her puppy-like face sniffled at the sight of her cut-up appearance.

Even though she was already healed and not even a scar remained.

“It's fine. It's my fault for not trying to block it.”

I patted her head.

It was a gesture closer to dusting her off, but Cailin still smiled brightly as if she liked it.

This hand, which felt gentle now.

Had just shot down the clone that was difficult to even touch a piece of its robe with a single shot.

“How did you do that? The red thing that shot out with a pook?”

“It's a magic Josephine taught me. It's a magic that allows you to freely control the three states of liquid. The name is... you don't seem particularly interested, so it doesn't matter.”

Magic? Three states?

To a werewolf, they were bewildering words.

Without understanding any of it, just accepting it as it was.

She lay down comfortably.

There was one thing that had changed.

“Come here!”

“...What are you doing now.”

Though it was an expression she wouldn't understand, Cailin hugged the Youngest Son like a bamboo wife.

The mountain breeze was still there, and it was night, and even though she wasn't covered by anything, the werewolf was a furnace in itself.

Just by touching her skin, I could feel the heat.

A crescent moon hung on Cailin's lips.

“You never know, right? There might be another attack, so we have to stay like this to be safe!”

‘Was she always this kind of character.’

Feeling a sense of doubt, I tossed and turned.

The smell of dog fur entered my nose.

With the feeling of sleeping while hugging a large dog, the Youngest Son's eyes also gradually closed.

***

The Land General Manager and the Construction General Manager.

In the midst of their busy schedule with Eclipse recently, another family request came in for the two of them.

Mystics.

It was a place whose name had been heard frequently these days.

“...Hey, Felson. You got it too, right? The request from Mystics.”

“Yes. I did.”

The two men's expressions were stiff.

They had read the request so many times that they still remembered its contents vividly.

“The Mystics' main stronghold in the upper part of the Fantasy Gorge. They say the yin energy supplied by Styx Falls has suddenly weakened.”

“To me, it said that the yin energy of Styx Falls has weakened, causing the foundation of Hojeopgung to become unstable. And that a detached building collapsed because of it.”

The two looked at each other.

Does this make sense?

“It doesn't.”

“Yeah. Absolutely not.”

It was another one of Mystics' tricks.

Since their sabotage using materials didn't work, this time they were planning to poach the manpower.

And among that manpower, they were trying to snatch the two key personnel.

As the Land General Manager and the Construction General Manager were the actual supervisors of the construction.

Without them, the work would not proceed, and there was no one to handle the rough laborers.

And yet.

“...We can't not go.”

The Construction General Manager Dred also nodded heavily.

“In the family hierarchy, Lady Moirena is clearly above the Fifth Son.”

“If something happened to her residence, it is right for us to go and see for ourselves.”

That was the family's law.

Just as Felson had chased away the merchants by citing the family law.

Moirena summoned the two by citing the family law.

Directly to the Fantasy Gorge, considered one of the most rugged areas in the East.

Furthermore, if the matter in the request was true, the construction of Hojeopgung had priority.

Because the family hierarchy was so, they could not refute it or raise an objection.

Felson let out a faint, long sigh.

“They're playing dirtier than I thought.”

“They're probably trying to buy time. They might be thinking of moving the Fourth Son in the meantime. Let's pack our bags first, Felson.”

“Damn it.... We were just about to pick up some speed.”

“Or maybe to that merchant named Marvin, no. This is different from playing with money, so he's not the right person.”

“If we had a proxy, we could at least make some progress.”

“I wonder if there's anyone useful.”

Seureuk─

The door to the barracks opened carefully.

A girl who had drawn her sparkling ideas all over a blueprint.

Dust was on her hair and face, as if she had just come from the site.

“...Josephine.”

“I-I heard you were both here. If you're in the middle of an important conversation, should I come back later...?”

“You're hired.”

“Ye-yes?”

“I mean, come in. There's something you need to do.”

Eclipse moved forward somehow.

And unintentionally.

It took the first step towards becoming the continent's first magitech city.

[A Hidden Quest occurs.]

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