Chapter 51
There were a few mishaps along the way, but somehow they managed to finish the hunt successfully. With only the cleanup left, it seemed he would finally be able to stretch out his legs and sleep in peace.
He extracted the inner core from the dead Iron Mask. Then he searched through the corpse’s belongings.
The iron mask.
A strangely shaped flute.
A pouch stuffed with gold coins.
And a black potion in a glass vial.
Judging by its appearance… it was the same type of eye drops Derek and Cedric had once noticed.
“So this is what it actually looks like.”
Woojin examined the potion closely.
Inside the pitch-black liquid, tiny larvae—no bigger than specks of dust—were swimming in clusters. They appeared to be some kind of aquatic insect, similar to mosquito larvae.
It was a dangerous item, but not something easily obtained. Better to keep it.
“As long as I’m careful not to lose it.”
After gathering all of the man’s belongings, he didn’t forget the witch lying face-down on the dirt. Now all that remained was to return.
The problem was… in this state, he wouldn’t pass inspection at the entrance of the frontier city. His body was still covered in patches of gray scales, and he was carrying an unconscious witch in his left hand. Anyone would find him suspicious.
There was no choice but to use the same method he had used to leave the city.
“I’ll have to go over the wall.”
Woojin leapt high and clung to the barrier, then began climbing upward as if scaling a cliff face.
As he ascended, he heard the guards talking. They were on night watch atop the wall, chatting idly.
“I heard there’s a leopard inside the city.”
“Drunk idiots talking nonsense, probably. Why would there be a leopard here? We don’t even see rabbits.”
“Yeah… damn it, I was sleeping just fine.”
The guards yawned and grumbled. There were more of them than when Woojin had left earlier. It seemed rumors about the leopard monster had begun to spread.
“They look busy gossiping.”
Woojin quietly slipped past the two guards. Absorbed in conversation, they failed to notice him. It was the same elsewhere, so returning to the city was effortless.
He moved across the rooftops, avoiding people’s eyes. Before long, his destination came into view.
“The Golden Maggot’s mansion.”
Golden Maggot Wolf had purchased a mansion in every major frontier city. Woojin and Cindy were currently using one of them as lodging.
Standing before the door, Woojin fished a key out of his coat—an extra key he had received beforehand—and stepped inside.
Hearing his approach, Cindy came out from an inner room to greet him. The moment she saw the witch he had brought, her eyes widened.
“...What on earth did you bring back?”
“It’s a witch. I want to bind her and lock her in a room. Is there somewhere suitable?”
“The basement should work.”
The two of them headed downstairs at once.
They brought in a chair and seated the witch. Then they bound her with chains and fastened multiple shackles around her body. They were made of steel—impossible to break easily.
“That should prevent any escape.”
They planned to block the basement door as well. Without outside help, she would have no way out.
Woojin studied the witch’s appearance.
Her face was not much different from a human’s. Pale skin, slick like seal hide. Webbing between her fingers was noticeable—but the most striking feature was—
“...She doesn’t have legs?”
“Looks like it.”
In place of legs was a seal’s tail. She resembled a mermaid.
Cindy tilted her head repeatedly.
“I’ve never seen a creature like this, not even in fairy tales… Do you know anything?”
“They call it a selkie. That’s all I know.”
“I’ve never heard the term.”
Cindy seemed just as clueless. The solution, however, was simple.
“I brought her to interrogate her. If we ask directly, we’ll get answers.”
The information she had obtained by approaching Duke Edwin. When they forced her to confess, they could also ask about her true identity and her transformation magic.
And once the interrogation was over…
Cindy would personally kill the witch.
In taking her revenge, both of them would achieve their respective goals. This witch hunt would finally come to an end.
“...But is she actually alive?”
Cindy asked cautiously.
Woojin placed a hand in front of the witch’s mouth.
A faint breath brushed against his palm.
“She’s alive. But I don’t know when she’ll wake. Probably not until tomorrow morning.”
“In other words… she could die before tomorrow morning, couldn’t she? She doesn’t look good at all.”
Woojin’s expression shifted slightly.
“...Did I overdo it?”
Right before confronting Iron Mask, he had struck her with quite a bit of lightning to prevent her from waking mid-fight.
He thought it would be fine since she had taken the form of a leopard monster… but that was only a transformation. Perhaps he had inflicted more damage than her real body could endure.
After hesitating, Cindy suggested,
“Should we give her a potion?”
“You have one?”
“Yes. I carry a couple as emergency medicine.”
Cindy opened the small, deer-hide bag at her waist—an expensive-looking piece.
From within, she pulled out a large glass bottle, like a magician producing a rabbit from a hat.
Woojin realized what the bag was.
“A relic?”
“Yes. Isn’t it lovely?”
She showed it off proudly. A relic imbued with spatial expansion and weight-reduction enchantments—far superior to Woojin’s own pack.
“I’m jealous… Where did you get something like that?”
Relics were difficult to find regardless of price. Woojin had saved up a considerable sum while working with the Church Alliance, but he had yet to find a suitable one.
Cindy smiled.
“I’ve collected a few decent relics. Once this is over, I’ll give you some as a gift.”
“...Then I suppose we should hurry.”
That was motivating.
Woojin took the potion and carefully poured it into the witch’s mouth.
Perhaps the potion was potent.
After about half the bottle, there was a reaction. The witch’s eyelids trembled.
Woojin stepped back.
“She’s about to wake.”
“Good. We can interrogate her right away.”
Originally, they had planned to proceed after resting. But thanks to the expensive potion, the problem was solved immediately.
Soon, the witch opened her eyes.
“Heh…”
She let out a hollow laugh. Perhaps realizing she would be tortured, she seemed to have resigned herself.
Woojin spoke quietly to Cindy beside him.
“Go upstairs.”
“I want to watch this.”
She refused to move, apparently wanting to witness the witch’s suffering.
Woojin respected her resolve.
“If that’s what you want.”
It was time for the interrogation.
Woojin dragged over a wooden chair and sat opposite the witch. He paused for a moment, thinking.
Where to begin.
He had experience torturing Enoch before, so he quickly assessed the approach.
“First, I need to break her spirit.”
That would loosen her tongue.
As Woojin began to gather lightning at his fingertips…
“Something’s off.”
A sudden sense of unease crept over him. Woojin stared quietly at the witch seated across from him.
She was grinning foolishly. Drool dripped from the corner of her mouth and hung from her chin like an icicle. Her eyes were dull and unfocused.
Cindy spoke carefully.
“She looks completely gone…?”
The witch was already broken.
***
It was possible that this cunning witch was merely pretending to be insane to escape her predicament.
Woojin voiced that suspicion, but—
“This feels strange.”
Cindy waved a finger in front of the witch’s eyes. The witch’s gaze followed the movement, but the focus was off. Her right eye lagged a beat behind the left.
Her eyes were moving separately.
“...Can someone even do that on purpose?”
“Maybe with special training…?”
Woojin offered the rebuttal, but he lacked conviction. No matter how he looked at it, the witch simply seemed ruined.
Cindy asked again,
“What should we do now?”
Woojin answered without much hesitation.
“Let’s rest a bit and head to the Third Frontier City. We’ll need Elder Bow’s help.”
No matter how clever the witch was, she wouldn’t deceive Bow’s Insight. They would return to the Third Frontier City and have him assess just how damaged she truly was.
After evaluating the situation, if there was no solution… they would kill her. The information would be a loss, but she was too dangerous to keep alive.
As Woojin said this, Cindy—who had been quietly listening—spoke hesitantly.
“Do we really have to kill her?”
“Didn’t you want revenge?”
“Killing her is too simple.”
As she spoke, Cindy pulled something from her bag. It was a necklace made of black thorny brambles. It gave off an unsettling aura.
“What’s that?”
“One of my family’s ancient relics. It’s been passed down for generations. I brought it specifically to use on a witch.”
Hearing that—
–Use it on the family’s sworn enemy.
The dormant memories of the two brothers stirred in Woojin’s mind. He understood what the item was for. And what Cindy wanted.
“...Alright. Do it your way.”
“Thank you.”
Cindy grinned mischievously and pressed her thumb against one of the necklace’s thorns. The tip of her finger pricked slightly, and a bead of red blood formed like dew.
She touched the blood to the gem set in the necklace. The white jewel turned crimson.
Clink.
The necklace was placed around the witch’s neck. Cindy murmured a short incantation.
“Cicatrix, Spinerum.”
—Crackle.
The necklace emitted black smoke before crumbling into ash. In its place, a tattoo resembling twisted brambles appeared around the witch’s neck.
Cindy extended her hand toward the witch, as if gripping her throat.
Crunch—
“Khk… guh…”
The bramble tattoo tightened around the witch’s neck. A strained groan escaped her lips.
Watching this, Woojin nodded slowly.
“The curse worked.”
The Thornbrand’s lingering mark.
A relic created to tame beasts. If the beast defied its master, harbored ill intent, or whenever the master so desired—the curse embedded in the mark would constrict its throat.
Beings with strong self-awareness could resist such a curse. Under normal circumstances, the witch would have rejected it as it tried to settle within her.
That was why Cindy had originally planned to wait—watching the torture until the witch weakened.
But the lightning strike had shattered her mind. The curse took root deep within her soul.
With that, Cindy’s revenge was complete.
“We can enjoy this for a long time.”
…And so it began.
***
Cindy generously shared command authority. As a result, Woojin could now issue any order to the witch whenever he wished.
The problem was—
“She doesn’t understand anything.”
“You’re right. I think she’ll need time.”
The witch couldn’t comprehend human speech. Commands were given, but she failed to respond, forcing the curse to tighten around her neck again and again.
“We’ll need to give her a new name. We can’t just keep calling her ‘witch.’”
“Should we call her Selkie?”
“Hmm… I don’t like the sound of that. I’ll think about it before I sleep.”
Cindy yawned.
It was very late. The sun had already set when the banquet began. In a few more hours, dawn would break.
“Let’s get some sleep.”
“See you tomorrow.”
They headed to their respective bedrooms.
Woojin lay down on his bed and pulled out an inner core from his coat—the Iron Mask’s core. He turned it over in his hands, examining it from different angles.
“...It feels a bit unpleasant to eat this.”
Iron Mask had chewed some strange drug near the end of their fight. There was a faint concern that its energy might linger in the core.
Still, it would likely be fine. Woojin had resistance to most poisons.
Crunch.
He bit down on the Iron Mask’s inner core and swallowed it. Staring up at the shadowed ceiling, he waited for sleep to take him.
Come to think of it…
He didn’t even know Iron Mask’s real name. Only that he had been Bow’s disciple. What circumstances had driven him to become a dark inquisitor?
“I’ll find out now.”
As he closed his eyes, familiar darkness came to claim him.