City of Witches

For fifteen days, Sharon and Siwoo had been living happily together, enjoying each other’s company.

To summarize, their typical day usually went as such:

From 2pm to 6pm…

Was their free time; They could do whatever they wanted without any fixed plans.

Usually, they spent their time doing the things that they enjoy.

From 6pm to 12am…

Would be Sharon’s time to go to her part-time work, while Siwoo would focus on studying magic.

Then, from midnight to 3am…

Sharon would be back from her part-time job, and it would be her time to put up flyers everywhere.

Or, rather, it was time for her to hunt for the Homunculi, as putting up flyers was only something she did on the side.

She hadn’t found any so far, though.

From 3am to 6am…

Was the time for them to watch some movies while having late-night snacks.

Originally, the time slot was reserved for a short snack break, but because of Sharon’s love for movies, it turned into their time for a movie marathon.

Deciding on what movie they should watch while doing their daily task became an enjoyable part of their routine.

After that, from 6am to 10am…

The brief time was reserved for napping.

With Sharon’s bed arriving, they no longer had any arguments about sleeping arrangements.

And lastly, between 10am to 2pm.

Under the guise of covering for her food and rent, Sharon held her elemental magic class for Siwoo.

During these past weeks, she had been passing on various magical knowledge to him.

And now was that very same lecture time.

“Okay, today we’re diving into the second major element, ‘Water.’ You’re really picking this up quickly.”

“All thanks to your insightful guidance, Master.”

“Hm, do you mean that~?”

They became so close that they could playfully joke around.

To lighten the mood, Sharon tapped the whiteboard with a marker.

As they became closer friends, they started joking around and teasing each other a lot, but, when it was time for their lessons, they became incredibly serious.

“Previously, we learned that the element Earth is the foundation that helps things mix together and stabilize them. As for Water, it controls the flow, movement and change. To put it simply, it’s the second most important element. And…”

In fact, what Sharon was teaching Siwoo, wasn’t something at a very advanced level.

Rather, it was the most basic of the basics that were taught to apprentice witches.

To begin with, he already had a deep understanding in a certain field, as he already mastered his self-essence magic. Coupled that with his knack for learning things quickly, he absorbed the knowledge like a sponge.

It was to the point that Sharon was amazed at his aptitude.

The speed of him understanding what she taught him made it as if he was only reviewing the things that he already knew beforehand.

“…Just like how the element Earth was crucial in understanding all the elemental magic, the element Water serves as the basics for you to comprehend the other elements. After all, just as 70% of the human body is made up of water, it’s also the most important element that connects the external world where magic takes place with the internal world where magic is performed. Do you understand so far?”

“Yeah, sort of.”

If his memory was the only part of him that stood out, Sharon wouldn’t be as amazed.

Indeed, his memory was superior to that of an average person, but compared to the prodigies among the apprentice witches, it was at most at an ordinary level.

But, magic wasn’t just about memorization.

If everything could be solved through calculations and memorization, then a computer would easily become the world’s strongest witch.

After all, no matter how exceptional a witch’s thinking and procession abilities were, it still couldn’t match a computer.

Really, what made Sharon amazed was his ability to find connections between things and his creativity to look at things in different ways instead of sticking to the traditional ways.

Whenever she taught him something, he didn’t only absorb the knowledge, he also expanded it, and came up with new ideas that even Sharon herself had never considered before.

“I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

He only needed a few hours to learn the theories that took Sharon a long time to learn back when she was an apprentice witch.

She didn’t need to explain everything thoroughly to him.

Instead, she only gave him some clues and that was enough for him to figure out the rest.

“Today’s lesson is a little complicated…”

Sharon had only planned to explain the properties of different elements, but by the end of her lecture, Siwoo had already started thinking about how the two elements of Earth and Water interacted with each other and came up with his own ideas about it.

Yet, despite this incredible progress, he didn’t seem to be satisfied.

It seemed like he didn’t realize how great his achievements were.

And Sharon didn’t go out of her way to tell him about it either.

After all, pride could get in the way of studies.

“Which part?”

“Well, everything in general? I mean, magic is kind of like math to me. You input numbers into formulas then you get a result out of it. If there’s something wrong in the middle, that means I either have to use a different formula or I have to find a new one. But, your way of teaching me… Is way different than that… By the way, I’m not blaming you or anything, things just feel a little unclear to me…”

From the way Sharon taught him, he felt like she treated magic as an art, like paintings or music; Something that was related heavily to one’s creativity.

“Does that mean my lessons are useless to you?”

“No, of course not. It’s just, I have difficulty when thinking about how to apply what you’ve been teaching me. It feels like I have to solve everything artistically…”

He let out a bitter smile, disappointment and frustration were mixed in.

Seeing his expression, Sharon couldn’t help but give it an intense stare.

In truth, she liked it when he made that kind of expression.

She couldn’t explain why she did, but chances were it was because she found his effort to hide his frustration amusing.

“Come here.”

“Do I have to hold your hands again?”

“You don’t want to?”

“It isn’t like I don’t want to, but you know…”

Sharon spread her fingers, offering her palm to Siwoo.

He accepted it, interlocking his fingers with hers, firmly holding her hand.

It was a way for them to connect and understand each other’s emotions.

Typically, the more physical contact they used, the more they would be able to resonate with each other. However, due to their difference in genders, they decided to compromise the action by only holding hands.

At the very least, Siwoo’s heart didn’t beat as fast as before, as he was getting used to the feeling.

Both of them closed their eyes at the same time.

“No need to rush.”

But today, things were a little different.

Sharon reached out and pulled out his empty hand and held it.

Siwoo blinked in surprise, startled by her sudden action.

When he opened his eyes, he found her standing incredibly close to him, to the point that their noses almost touched each other.

“Magic will become dull pretty quickly if you view everything as numbers and calculations. What you need to do now is to feel and accept the elements as they are.”

Sharon whispered right in front of him.

Not long after, their consciousness sank simultaneously, as if the ground beneath them disappeared.

“Draw a pointillist picture in your mind, keep your eyes closed. What you should draw are the elements. Remember that magic isn’t always about knowledge. It’s also about feelings. The feelings of being moved and becoming one with it.”

-Drip!

“…Huh?”

“Can you feel it?”

For a moment, he sensed the sound of water droplets.

In that pitch-black void behind his closed eyelids, a clear droplet of water fell, creating ripples in that dark world.

Then, the world changed, as if it had turned into a vast ocean.

At that moment, he opened his eyes.

A breathtaking sight unfolded before him.

It was a world that seemed to be hosting a festival of water fairies.

The brilliant blue light filled the vast expanse of the otherwise empty world.

Giant swirling blue particles soared, twisted and spun, encompassing the expansive world.

Before him, the world was magical and full of excitement, like a fun festival where everything was constantly changing, melting and dancing.

And amidst that surreal world stood Sharon.

She stared at him with a curious gaze, still holding his hand firmly while wearing a teasing smile.

And then…

“Ah…”

She let go of his hand, ending their short journey.

They found themselves back inside their room.

“Elements are things that could exist everywhere, but at the same time, they couldn’t exist anywhere. As such, we can only believe in their existence while earnestly pray for a miracle to happen, ‘Please bestow your miracle upon me’ or something like that~”

As she spoke, Siwoo still couldn’t stop thinking about the breathtaking scenery he just saw.

Though his body was back in the real world, his mind was still trapped in that place.

He found this feeling familiar, after all, he felt the same way when he first encountered Ain.

It felt like he was about to break through another wall in his effort to understand magic.

“Every witch has a different perspective on this. Some believe that controlling and efficiently using those elements is the way to go, while others believe that those elements are merely something that shape a world, without any concepts of good and evil. As for me, whenever I encounter such breathtaking views, I find myself instinctively compelled to pray.”

“Sorry, I want to try something real quick.”

“Okay.”

Hearing his calm words, Sharon quickly left the room.

Sharon knew that when he spouted such sharp words like that, it meant that he had gained a significant enlightenment.

Observing him sitting at the table with closed eyes, she quietly exited the room to avoid disrupting him.

“I’m so jealous…”

Then, she let out a quiet sigh.

Unlike Sharon, who failed to make any progress, under her tutelage, Siwoo made significant progress every single day.

‘If he had been born a girl and inherited a brand officially, I wonder what kind of monster he’d become?’

His talent was so blinding, enough to make her, his own tutor, feel pathetic.

Sometimes, that feeling turned into jealousy.

“I feel like he should be the one teaching me instead.”

Although they had just begun with the basics, she believed that her lessons weren’t useless.

In fact, the questions Siwoo had brought up gave her small insights on numerous occasions.

“Wait, this isn’t the right time for this.”

As today’s lesson ended a little earlier, it gave her some extra time.

She took another quick glance at the closed door before delving herself into her own research.

2.

Like every other day, it came to an end eventually.

Both Siwoo and Sharon had snuggled into their respective beds, but Sharon’s eyes were still wide open.

A heavy feeling weighing on her mind.

“I’ve been having too much fun lately…”

Indeed.

Because she was too used to live a demanding life, she felt like she had been way too carefree lately.

For a while, she forgot about her money problems. All she had been doing was watching movies and having fun deciding what she should eat.

Thanks to Siwoo’s generosity, her living conditions rapidly improved and she no longer had to pay rent.

But that didn’t mean her debt had magically disappeared.

With almost three weeks of failure to find any Homunculi and the loss of her crypto business, she was concerned about gathering enough money for the payment deadline in two months.

“Haah…”

She let out a deep sigh and abruptly sat up.

Sleepless nights weren’t something that she was a stranger to as she used to spend all her time making money. But, ever since she started living with Siwoo, it had become natural for her to sleep…

The sudden change in her life; The comfy bed, abundant meals, and enjoyable hobby had somehow detached her from reality.

At that moment, a specific memory flashed in her mind.

Siwoo’s proposition when they first met.

‘I do have plenty of spare money… I can help you pay off the interest—’

Of course, she rejected it without any hesitation.

If anything, his offer only pissed her off and made her feel uncomfortable.

Despite her current debt-ridden life, she still held her pride high as a witch.

And that pride of hers was also the only thing preventing her from risking everything and using her magic to make money.

“Ugh.,..”

But, that was back then, now the situation was a little different.

Back then, she knew nothing about Siwoo and his meager sympathy made her feel uncomfortable, but after living with him, she realized that his kindness was genuine.

They grew so close that even when she accepted his help, it didn’t make her feel emotionally distant.

It made her wonder that she had been taking advantage of his kindness without realizing it all this while.

Not only that, she also thought that she probably felt less desperate because she believed Siwoo would help her even if things went really badly for her.

With these thoughts in her mind, Sharon changed her clothes.

Clutching her robe and wand, she prepared to cast her spell.

“…I can’t do that.”

Siwoo was a good friend to her.

She knew that if she found herself truly in distress, he’d readily lend her a helping hand.

That was why she didn’t feel inclined to rely on him any further than this.

She wanted their relationship to be equal.

If she accepted material help from him, she believed that it would disrupt this equilibrium.

Even if he didn’t care about it at all, she believed that she wouldn’t be able to erase the feeling of her owing him something.

With this in mind, Sharon opened the door to the balcony and jumped out.

Her goal? It was to hunt for the Homunculi.