That night, when the moon was at its highest point, Chi-Woo headed toward the promised location. As he walked up the castle walls, Chi-Woo saw a woman sitting on top of the wall. Her hair sparkled as if the night sky had dissolved onto her head, and her eyes shone a bright red like rubies; she was the witch, Onorables Evelyn. Evelyn turned around and upon seeing Chi-Woo, she let out a sigh of relief.
“You came!”
“How long have you been waiting?”
“It’s been exactly 47 minutes and 25 seconds since I arrived here.”
“…I am much later than I thought. I’m sorry.”
“No, I came early and waited for you. And I’m thankful that you’re even here.” Evelyn reached her fist out to him, palm down, and asked, “Can you come closer?”
“?”
“I want to apologize to you for what happened last time we talked.” It seemed it still hung on her mind that she had laughed at his name. But just in case, Chi-Woo walked warily toward her. Evelyn opened her small fist and revealed a seed on top of her peerlessly white palm. Outside its deep blood color, it looked like a leftover persimmon seed.
“It’s the seed of a spirit,” Evelyn answered in response to Chi-Woo’s curious gaze.
Chi-Woo tilted his head and asked, “So, if I plant this seed on the ground, does a baby spirit pop out or something?”
“Of course not. You must not know about the spirits of this world at all.” Evelyn smiled faintly and added, “Try growing it. If you’re lucky, you might get something you really need.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s up to you when, where, and how you plant this seed. But you must give it parts of your body as its nutrients.”
“Sorry? W-What again?”
“Any part is fine, such as your hair or fingernails. I personally recommend your blood. You can just give it one or two drops whenever you remember it.”
Chi-Woo hesitated whether he should accept this seed. The instructions she gave reminded him of the steps to prepare for a curse, and it didn’t seem so far-fetched that this witch might be trying to screw with him.
“It’s fine. There’s only one left, and I can’t even grow it anymore. You can accept it without feeling burdened.” But Evelyn seemed to interpret Chi-Woo’s hesitancy as him being reluctant to accept such a precious gift.
“…Thank you.” In the end, Chi-Woo decided to accept it. After all, he didn’t feel dark energy from the seed, and he had a feeling that taking it wouldn’t do him harm. As soon as Chi-Woo took the seed, Evelyn smiled.
“Have we made up now?”
“Um, I think I responded too sensitively last time. After all, there are things like cultural differences.”
“No. I thought about it, and I would have been disappointed if I was in your position. Even though you didn’t laugh or ridicule me when I told you my name, I did that to you.”
Chi-Woo began to like the witch more and more, and he swore that he hadn’t had a change of heart just because he received a gift.
“Hm. Aren’t you busy?” Chi-Woo fake-coughed and changed the topic while putting the seed into his pocket.
“Yes. Very,” Evelyn answered and straightened her posture. It was time for her to hear Chi-Woo’s reply now.
“I accept your offer,” Chi-Woo replied coolly. “We reached a consensus to go hunt down the groups of monsters wandering near the former Salem territories.”
“Really?”
“Yes, we will do our best so your empire could focus all your attention on the incoming war with the Sernitas.”
“How?”
“As soon as we finish our preparations, we will leave the minimum number of people we can at the fortress and make our way across the borders, taking care of the monsters along the way. Our goal is to reach the capital in the end.”
“Why the capital?”
“We believe that the monsters originate from the capital. It’s been some time ago, but it’s information that one of our members had personally confirmed.”
“Oh, I see. That makes sense.” Evelyn seemed satisfied with Chi-Woo’s response; he was approaching this matter more forwardly and seemed willing to get to the bottom of it all by going to the capital.
“Not bad. Yes, not bad at all.” Evelyn got up from her seat. “That’s probably the best you guys can do on your end. I understand. I’ll leave this matter to you.”
“Are you already planning to go back?”
“Hm?”
“Even though you came all the way here?”
“Why? Do you want to stay with me longer?” Evelyn said indifferently and turned around.
“Still—since you have spent your precious time coming all the way here…” Chi-Woo stepped forward and said, “Shouldn’t you at least take something worthwhile for the time spent?”
Evelyn stopped. She looked curious, “…What are you trying to say?”
“It’s simple. Are you just going to go back with a ‘yes’? Or ask for double the terms?”
Evelyn didn’t answer immediately.
However, Chi-Woo could clearly see the change in her expression; her face had been growing increasingly impassive for reasons unbeknownst to him, but now traces of interest were resurfacing.
“Ask and go double…” Evelyn turned to him. “Could you explain?” She sounded calm, but she seemed intrigued if the way she sat back down was anything to go by.
“Before I tell you, may I ask you about the current situation?”
“The situation?”
“The events that led up to the Abyss empire defending from both ends.”
“…I suppose I don’t have any reason to keep it from you.” Evelyn sent on to introduce the four factions vying for control over Liber. There was the Sernitas—the alien species who invaded Liber, and then the Demon Empire, which had continuously attacked the Middle World since the beginning of times, with the demon lord fighting at their forefront; then there was the Indigenous Monsters Alliance, who had once ruled the Middle World with humans; and finally, there was the Abyss, who had been locked deep below the surface of the world since mythical times. If one had to rank these factions in terms of power, the order would go like this: Sernitas, Abyss, the Demon Empire, and the Indigenous Monsters Alliance. Still, even the faction at the bottom of the pecking order was no pushover; they had their own merits, and thus, Evelyn explained the ranking was based on her own personal opinions and nothing more.
Although each faction boasted themselves to be the best, in reality, the Abyss, the Demon Empire, and the Indigenous Monsters Alliance had been wrestling against each other. Yet there was one exception: the Sernitas. They were a giant cosmic federation of several criminal organizations, which was established by a space pirate warlord. There was no disagreement among the other three factions that Sernitas was the most powerful of them all. Thus, whenever the Sernitas attacked, the three factions joined hands and kept them in check. Recently, however, this partnership had been broken. It all began when the Demon empire attacked the Indigenous Monsters Alliance. There was no way the Indigenous Monsters Alliance would sit still and do nothing.
The two forces immediately went to war, and naturally, their guard against the Sernitas weakened. Then the Abyss, upon realizing the war between the two factions was largely futile, immediately attacked the Demon Empire. They expected the Demon Empire to stop attacking the Indigenous Monster Alliance. However, contrary to their predictions, the Demon Empire had endured persistently instead and patiently waited for an opportunity to retaliate against the Abyss.
It was clear that the Demon Empire couldn’t afford to attack two factions at once. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have used the cursed ones to secure territories instead of their own forces. On the other hand, a problem the Abyss couldn’t ignore burst upon them. Like a sleeping bear that had been hibernating, the Sernitas stretched out its arms and awakened from its slumber. The Sernitas launched a major offensive against the Abyss in not only the disputed lands, but also territories under the influence of the Abyss.
“We think that there’s some kind of deal between the Sernitas and the Demon Empire.”
“Yes, it definitely sounds too coincidental.” Chi-Woo nodded and looked at Evelyn. “ Lady Witch, the reason why you’ve come here is to—"
“Since I’ve told you my name, you may call me Evelyn. And you’re right. I’m here to stop the Sernitas, who will soon take an additional offensive stance here.” It didn’t seem to be a lie that a war was breaking out near the border. Or in simpler terms, if the situation developed unchecked, the recruits would become little shrimps caught in a battle between two whales. Thus, they needed to find a way to not only safely escape the crossfire, but also grow in size.
“Then.” Chi-Woo organized his thoughts and said, “Lady Witch—no, Lady Evelyn, if you stop the Serintas and attack the Demon Empire so that it ceases fire on the Indigenous Monsters Alliance, wouldn’t it be worthwhile for you to invest your precious time on us?”
Evelyn looked significantly more excited. “How?”
“It’s simple.” Chi-Woo took a deep breath and continued, “You just have to attack the Demon Empire as you’ve previously planned.”
“Hmm?”
“And on your way, it’ll be great if you can get rid of the monsters.”
“…” Evelyn became silent. Chi-Woo was passing on the task of getting rid of the monsters to her, which was what she had originally requested from him, and he was even telling her to attack the Demon Empire. Even though his words were ridiculous, she didn’t get angry; instead, her face was full of expectations. “Are you telling me to give up on defending against the Sernitas’ attacks?”
“No, I’m not telling you to give up,” Chi-Woo shook his head and said. “I’m telling you to leave it to us.”
“…What?”
“It’s fortunate you are talking to me.” Chi-Woo pointed at himself.
Evelyn closed her mouth; she slightly narrowed her eyes and even gulped. It was only much later did Evelyn speak again, “…Are you saying that you’ll fight a god?” Her voice sounded hollow. “By yourself?”
“Well, yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I block the Sernitas’ attacks, you’ll have that much leisure to focus on other tasks.”
“Why?” She urged him to quickly explain. Chi-Woo smacked his lips; he wanted to just gloss over the details rather than explain fully, but Evelyn wasn’t stupid—no, she was quite a formidable opponent. Since she had explained her situation to him, he needed to reciprocate it by telling her more about his thoughts.
“Honestly, you don’t need to go out of your way to attack them.”
“…”
“If it can’t be done, you can just pretend to attack them.”
“…”
“But you need to do this in a specific area.”
Evelyn, who had replied to his last few statements with silence, finally spoke again, “Where?”
Chi-Woo took out the map he had prepared and opened it in front of her, pointing at one area. “Here.” It was the road going across the northern part of Liber, adjacent to the border of the Abyss and Demon Empire. Evelyn followed the path with her eyes and stopped at one place—the center. She looked at the area, and her eyes narrowed.
“…Now that I think about it…” It seemed as if she was struggling to recall a previous memory. “I’ve…heard something about it before.” She continued with a groan, “The Demon Empire tried to forcefully take over a small faction, but they were defeated…and I heard that they received near-devastating damage instead…” She spoke in a dazed voice, “All because of one person.” Her eyes gleamed as she turned to look at Chi-Woo. “You were their comrade.” She began nodding continuously as if she finally understood what he was getting at. “You’re trying to call them here. Yeah, that’s what you’re trying to do.”
Chi-Woo gulped. As expected of a witch, she correctly identified his intentions despite him talking in a roundabout way. However, it was the first time he heard this news. He couldn’t believe that his brother was able to overwhelmingly defeat the Demon Empire.
[It’s because of Choi Chi-Hyun.]
Chi-Woo suddenly recalled what the fifth hero recruit, Siegres Reinhardt, had told him. [He’s a great strategist. He’s earned every bit of his reputation, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that the central base remains standing only because of him.]
Even though Evelyn had described it as ‘small’, Chi-Hyun had developed a force that could be called a faction. It seemed that Siegres Reinhardt hadn’t been exaggerating back then.
“Ah—” A gasp came out of Evelyn’s mouth. “It’s surprising.” She tilted her head back and sighed. “I can’t believe I’m pondering this matter so much. You surprised me.” She looked up at the night sky and murmured to herself. “I thought it was inevitable for all this to end tediously, but… Good. Yeah, it’s good that I came here.”
Then Evelyn slowly floated down to the wall and lay down as if it was her bed.
“Lady Witch?”
“I’m fine.”
Taken aback, Chi-Woo tried to approach her, but Evelyn raised one hand to stop him from coming closer. “When I’m contemplating seriously, I need to be in the most comfortable posture possible…” She dropped the hand she had raised and gazed vacantly at the night sky with her dark hair fanned out on the castle wall.
It was definitely a matter to ponder deeply about. If she made the wrong decision, she might be bringing a tiger into her home to keep a wolf in check. However, considering the situation, it was clear that the Sernitas had made a pact with the Demon Empire. It wouldn’t be enough for the Abyss to only have the Indigenous Monsters Alliance on their side. It was certainly not a bad idea to gain a new ally. Was she going to keep to her original plan, or ‘go double’?
She reached her decision after a long time. Evelyn, who had been lying down with a blank expression, looked up at Chi-Woo. Then she finally spoke.