episode_0057

#12

In accordance with the vampires’ national rules, he did not sink his fangs into Dorothy’s neck or anything to drain her blood.

I was an educated man, so of course I would use a syringe to draw blood.

“읏… .”

“Are you sick?”

“It stings a little.”

“Please be patient.”

Let’s just pack some… about 50ml.

If you ask for blood again later, it’ll be a bit weird.

After drawing an appropriate amount of blood into the syringe, I covered the area where the needle was inserted with an alcohol swab.

Without being told to do so, she pressed the cotton firmly to stop the bleeding at the wound.

“What are you going to do with my blood now?”

“You said you were looking for your family, right?”

“Yes.”

“But there is almost no trace of the family left.”

“… That’s right.”

“Then, using your blood, my blood relative, I will create an artifact that will help me find that family.”

“Ah! Can I do that?”

I kept watching her reaction carefully.

I thought Dorothy was a suspicious witch, and I thought she might change her mind and attack me at any moment.

However, the reason she was brought into the workshop was because, at least for now, she was the only connection to Dorothy, the renowned healing witch.

But, seeing that you like it so much…, it seems like my worries up until then were for nothing.

Are you really just looking for your family?

As I was creating an artifact using her blood, I subtly recalled the suspicious part about Walpurgis Night that I had heard from Ina-san.

“Ms. Dorothy.”

“Yes.”

“You said you went on Walpurgis Night.”

“Oh, yes.”

“But I don’t remember seeing Ms. Dorothy. Where were you?”

“Uh… That’s… .”

She scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile.

Are you trying to attack me because you found out I was lying!?

Her large eyes trembled without mercy, then she lowered her head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Are you trying to confess? No! If you’re an impostor, you’ll remain an impostor until the end!!

I have to see the real Dorothy!!!

“Dorothy is… my mother.”

“Huh?”

Mom… you said?

If the mother is a witch, then the daughter is also a witch?

But why did you lose your mother? You.

I waited silently for her to speak, wondering what kind of complicated story it was. Dorothy… no, the Pink Witch, who was presumed to be Dorothy’s daughter, opened her mouth with a small sigh.

#13

Her name is Clara.

As the daughter of the witch Dorothy, she inherited her mother’s genes, but unfortunately, it is said that she also inherited her identity as a witch.

But she didn’t want to become a witch or something.

He says he never dreamed of living a life where he would be buried in an unknown world, locked in a room, lonely and alone, and spend his entire life doing research.

They both have to risk their lives to fight monsters, but witches worry that they will be misunderstood as monsters and subjugated, rather than being recognized for their efforts. On the other hand, aren’t hunters treated as heroes who protect the city, the country, and the citizens?

Her fragile adolescent sensibilities simply did not want to accept such irrationality.

So I ran away.

Unable to overcome Dorothy’s pressure and coercion to follow in her footsteps and become a witch, she ran away in the middle of the night.

“So you came to Korea?”

“Yes. That’s right… . My father was Korean. So I knew how to speak Korean… . I, I have citizenship.”

“Then, have you ever thought that your mother might come to Korea to look for you?”

“Mother? Me? No way… .”

She shook her head with a bitter smile, her complex emotions toward her mother dripping down her face.

“Your mother, Clara, hates you?”

“I think so.”

“Maybe?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“My mother is a woman crazy about research. The reason she sent my father away in such a ridiculous way must have been because of my mother’s madness.”

“Father?”

Just as a dam once burst cannot be undone, the torrent of her overflowing heart began to flow out uncontrollably.

She began to detail how her mother, Dorothy, had been a neglectful woman, and how cold and indifferent she had been to her father and to herself.

“When Mom was locked in her room doing some boring research, Dad got seriously ill. I took care of Dad diligently in Mom’s place. Every time, Mom would nag me and try to educate me, saying, “You have to become a witch.” Even though she was a witch who was well-versed in healing arts, Dad had no intention of treating him.”

“… What was your father’s illness?”

“It was cancer. Pancreatic cancer.”

“… … !!”

“When I was in the final stages of pancreatic cancer and it was no longer possible to recover, I cried and told my mother, “I’m going to become a witch, so please save my father.” I told her that since she was a witch, she could save him.”

If it’s pancreatic cancer….

It’s the disease that our Sujin has!

I listened to Clara’s words following me with a trembling heart.

“Do you know what I said?”

“What did you say?”

“There’s no way to fix that.”

“… … .”

what?

She is said to be a witch of healing arts.

She’s a witch famous for her healing skills. But why can’t she cure pancreatic cancer?

Mystery is the power to change the laws of the world.

You can break the rules set by the disease called pancreatic cancer. Why do you say you can’t?

“That can’t be true.”

“… Yes?”

“You’re a witch famous for her healing powers. But why can’t you cure pancreatic cancer?”

“I guess that woman’s ability was lacking. If that was the case, I don’t know why she was locked in the room every day. That’s how I lost my father and ran away from home. A house with only my mother was definitely not a place I wanted to live.”

… … .

It was the moment when the hopes I had been hoping for were shattered.

Even if Dorothy came looking for Clara herself, who was pretending to be her.

Can’t I fix Soojin?

Negative emotions such as emptiness, despair, anger, and resentment welled up in me.

Then why on earth is this woman?

Are you selling the name Dorothy to find a mother you don’t even like?

Even though I knew I shouldn’t have, I ended up taking my anger out on Clara.

“Why are you trying to find a mother you don’t even like? Since she hasn’t come looking for you yet, I guess she just wasn’t interested?”

“… … .”

Clara’s lips were tightly shut.

Her arched eyebrows and flushed face spoke volumes about her emotions.

Then she reached out and grabbed me by the collar.

“What do you know… .”

My frail and light body was dragged helplessly by the strength of her grip, and soon I was hanging like a scarecrow.

That image… honestly was funny.

So much so that even the deep emotions that had been bubbling up between us were washed away.

“Ugh… .”

“Phew… .”

Without anyone saying anything, we burst into laughter and soon found ourselves laughing out loud and wiping away tears.

Thanks to…?

The atmosphere that had suddenly subsided became smooth again as if lubricated.

“No. How light must a person be to be hanging like this?”

“Huh. That one’s heavy. You should go on a diet.”

“Me? I only weigh 40kg?”

If you’re 40, it’s a bit serious.

Of course… she is on the shorter side, similar to Ryu Se-hwa wearing heels.

So, what? Am I so weak that I can’t even beat a woman in the 40kg weight class?

At this point, I guess I can’t even beat a real neighborhood stray cat?

“Ah, anyway. I’m weak. Treat me with care.”

“For someone so weak, you really scratch people a lot… Don’t you get hit wherever you go?”

“No? Me?”

Of course, it was my younger sister Haneul, my older sister Gyul, and Ryu Sehwa who got hit too… .

But I’m not the type of person who goes around getting hit.

“I think you’re lying.”

“No!! W, just answer my questions! Why do you want to find your mother!!”

“Um… . First of all. I should start by saying this. I really didn’t want to become a witch. As I said, it wasn’t just because of my mother’s oppressive education.”

“Yes. So you escaped. But why do you want to go back to your mother?”

“Dol… I had no choice but to go.”

“Yes??”

What does that mean?

“I didn’t believe that becoming a witch was my destiny. But, as I grew up, I came to know. What kind of destiny is that… No. A curse? ”

“Curse?”

“Yes. If you were a witch, you would know, right? How many monsters are around us.”

“… Can you see that?”

“Is that all I can see? They came looking for me? It’s a lie. It can’t be true. I ignored them and shouted, but nothing changed. Instead, it became a general ward where I had to live with insomnia, depression, and nervous breakdowns.”

“So, are you looking for your mother?”

“Yes. That’s right. I couldn’t sleep for almost two days because of the strangeness, so I thought I was going to die. I even thought that it would be better if I threw myself in front of a dump truck in front of a traffic light.”

I’ve heard that story before.

The story of a daughter who was about to receive a divine possession, who ran away from home, saying she never wanted to become a shaman, but eventually, she was unable to overcome her illness and accepted the divine possession.

In this world where such mysteries become reality,

Escaping the shackles of a given fate would have been… nearly impossible.

Like Clara, who is trying to accept her own fate.

“I’m a half-witch. No. It’s not even half. I’m just a crumb that’s not even half. I can’t do magic like you, I can only sense strange things. It’s like my mother taught me before, but. There’s nothing I can do. I forgot everything. I just wanted to live a normal life.”

“You’re going back to your mother. You’re thinking of becoming a proper witch.”

“Phew. I can’t live a normal life… But still, I can live as a witch.”

Her laughter looks more like crying than laughing.

Why is that…?

No. But it’s a bit much to make such a serious expression with a pinky.