Ch.127Chapter 127. The Witch Who Dreams of Reunion

Demon Tribe and The Undead, Beastman and vampires….

In an era where countless entities existed to throw the world into chaos, humanity could only desperately yearn for salvation with every moment of their existence.

The Orion Empire was the only hope reached by those who wandered in search of such salvation.

Everyone firmly believed that if they gathered their strength in that place where civilization still remained intact, they would surely be free from all dangers targeting them.

-Knock, knock.

The deepest room on the first floor of the imperial palace where the empire’s leadership resided.

A maid carrying a tray of food quietly knocked on the door and spoke in a tense voice to the person beyond.

“Um, excuse me, Lady Vivian. May I come in? Are you there?”

Vivian Platonis.

An honored guest personally invited from the magic tower by the imperial family, the rulers of the empire, and someone they themselves defined as the “Hope of Humanity.”

Yet despite being called a savior, what the servant felt as she opened the door to enter was an emotion best described as fear.

“Um… L-Lady Vivian?”

-Crash.

“Eek!!”

As soon as she stepped inside, something collapsed with a loud noise.

The maid screamed, quickly covering her mouth, fearing it might be an attempt to pounce on her, and began looking around the room.

The room was so dark that not even an inch ahead was visible despite it being daytime.

Not only were the curtains drawn, but any place where light might pass through was blocked by piles of books and documents.

The previous noise was probably caused by one of the stacks of books near the entrance collapsing.

-Creak.

But the problem wasn’t the cause of the noise, but whether its result might disturb the other person.

-Creak, creak.

Inside the room cluttered with piles of documents.

The figure half-lifting the chair in front of the desk and swaying her body seemed as if she found the current situation tedious.

No, beyond that, as if she were in a trance.

Along with her unkempt hair, her cloudy eyes and pale skin gave the impression of looking at a walking corpse.

“Um, um, um…”

“Leave it there and go.”

The servant froze in surprise at the sudden response from that state.

After briefly stopping the chair-swaying motion, Vivian’s gaze slowly moved toward the frozen maid.

“I said leave what you brought there and go.”

Her dry, weak voice showed no sign of displeasure.

Realizing that she hadn’t disturbed the woman’s mood, the servant silently followed her instructions and placed the meal she had brought on the table.

That was until she saw numerous trays that someone had presumably brought earlier.

‘She hasn’t eaten anything at all?’

Despite the elaborate decorations befitting food served at the imperial palace, there was no trace of it being touched, and it had apparently been left untouched for quite some time as the moisture had dried up and it was giving off an unpleasant smell.

There had been no news of her leaving the room, yet she had been skipping meals for days while immersed in her work?

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“Y-Yes! I-I’m sorry!”

Yes, the other person was someone she shouldn’t dare take an interest in.

Worried about possible harm, the maid closed the door and left, arriving at the arms of colleagues waiting for her in the middle of the corridor, clutching their chests anxiously.

“H-How did it go? Are you safe?”

“You don’t have any missing limbs, do you?!”

“Y-Yeah, fortunately…”

Each concern was brutal.

But the maid who had delivered the meal knew best that these weren’t unfounded worries.

In fact, some of those who had visited her room had returned as corpses, and most of them for the reason of “disturbing her mood.”

Nobles, knights who came to deal with the nobles’ disturbances, and even a hero who resented her getting more attention than himself…

“I heard that recently a hero who entered her room without permission had his lower body disappear in the blink of an eye?”

“Y-Yeah. I saw it. He was screaming with his lower half gone, and then his head disappeared too…!”

“H-Hiik. Why did the imperial family bring such a dangerous person to the palace? Shouldn’t she be put in prison quickly?”

“It’s beyond that level. Seeing how she faces no consequences for killing nobles or heroes, it seems she’s been granted complete immunity…”

The collective murmuring formed around the maid who had returned alive.

It showed how miraculous her survival seemed, but even such fervent impressions and fear would soon be interrupted.

-Clank, clank.

The sound of armor friction began to be heard.

The sound came from across the corridor, where soldiers were rushing somewhere urgently.

Soldiers running inside the imperial palace, not on a battlefield?

Isn’t that enough to assume a serious situation has occurred?

****

“This isn’t right.”

But for Vivian, the commotion outside the door was of no concern.

From the beginning, she cared little about the imperial palace, the magic tower she belonged to, or even humanity’s future.

Her sole purpose was to expand the passage to other dimensions by completing her research.

Since her cooperation with humanity was solely for that research, she felt no sense of duty to intervene in problems arising in the imperial palace.

Yes, she had moved her laboratory here to receive support from the imperial family beyond the magic tower, but…

“…This isn’t right. This isn’t right at all.”

Yet that research had stalled at some point, repeating the same steps as if completely blocked.

No matter how many books she searched through or how many formulas she calculated, it seemed impossible to create a better summoning formula than the current one…

“Everything is wrong. With this…”

She couldn’t achieve results.

It was impossible to open a path to another world, which was her goal.

As such days continued for months, her unorganized mind finally became filled with a grayish color.

That fog-like phenomenon was so thick that she couldn’t even recall the purpose she had initially set.

‘What was I researching for again?’

It must have been an important purpose.

The fact that she had been obsessed with research since she awoke must mean that purpose was that important.

But now, when she tried to recall that important purpose, she couldn’t remember it.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t slept for days due to the lack of progress in her research, or perhaps because she was hungry.

-Growl.

And brainwork requires calories too.

Feeling that hunger being fueled by her frustrating state of mind, Vivian reached for the plate the servant had brought earlier.

A sandwich meticulously prepared by the imperial chef with premium, fresh ingredients.

As Vivian was about to take a bite, she dropped it to the floor and exhaled deeply.

“…I don’t want to eat.”

Isn’t it strange?

Despite being served food made by the best chefs with the finest ingredients.

She didn’t even feel the minimum appetite necessary for nutrient replenishment.

‘When was the last time I properly ate?’

As she searched through her foggy mind for the rising hunger, a flash of light illuminated the room as the window opened.

-Thud!

Yes, someone had invaded through the window.

Vivian raised her guard and looked toward the source, where the figure of someone appeared through the gap in the curtains, backlit by the sunlight.

A masked man with a black cape and tailcoat, looking like a gentleman.

“Oh my, I came here to hide briefly, but there’s a guest already?”

“…Who are you?”

“Just a passing uninvited guest. I’m not grand enough to warrant a proper introduction, so I’d like to leave it at that for now…”

A suspicious man by anyone’s standards.

After descending from the windowsill, he began to casually scan the cluttered interior of the room.

As if habitually surveying a new place he had entered.

“…Are you here to interfere with my research?”

Her hand reflexively raised as his gaze fell upon the results of her research.

If she flicked that hand, the space where he stood would be isolated, and parts of his body would be drawn into the dimensional gap and disappear.

If she aimed for his limbs, they would be cut off; if she aimed for his head, his life would end…

“That’s not it. As I said before, I just came here to hide myself.”

The unidentified man, seemingly unaware of the danger, bowed his head in apology before Vivian.

“But that’s my circumstance, so you don’t need to consider it. If I’ve disturbed you during your work, I apologize.”

An attitude that showed more courtesy than previous intruders.

Of course, she could use her power if she found him unpleasant too, but she didn’t feel like it now.

With her concentration broken due to the lack of progress in her research, even if someone came to her, it couldn’t be called interference.

“Ah, no… it’s okay. I’m ta-taking a break now… so it’s not really a disturbance.”

“Hehe, thank you for being understanding. I appreciate your consideration.”

The intruder felt relieved at having gained her permission.

Afterward, he looked around with his masked face and began examining the research results in the room one by one.

Complex yet extremely precise formulas. Even without related knowledge, anyone could guess she was a remarkable scholar from the abundance of content.

If he took just a few pages and sold them on the black market, scholars from the magic tower might show interest in purchasing them for large sums.

“Come to think of it, I heard there was a scholar personally invited by the imperial family… Hmm?”

As his interest in her identity grew, the intruder’s gaze soon turned to a newspaper buried in the middle of the documents.

Among papers of immense academic value, the only printed material used to convey news from the outside world—wouldn’t it naturally pique interest?

‘Hero Killer, Hero Hunter… and the war at the Dragon’s Tomb a month ago.’

The moment he realized all the news in the newspaper converged on one person.

His eyes behind the mask began to gleam, and his gaze turned back to Vivian.

“Do you happen to know a man named ‘Hyoseong Woo’?”

-Crash!

The chair she had been sitting on fell backward.

Though pain shot through her body as she tumbled to the floor, Vivian didn’t care about her own condition and hurriedly directed her attention to him.

“W-Woo Hyo…?”

“I asked if you know a man named Hyoseong Woo.”

“Y-Y-Y-You. Do you know him?”

Vivian crawled toward him with trembling hands.

The sight of her looking up at him from below seemed not just unsightly but even pitiful, yet her eyes looking up at him were bright with excitement.

“Well, he was a friend I knew briefly. He used to attend to me.”

“At-Attend…?”

“Yes, he would carry my luggage when we entered dungeons. Have you received such help from him too?”

“Y-Yes. Woo Hyo helped me a lot. He cooked for me, cleaned… Eh, hehe.”

A face blushing shyly, a hand placed on a pounding heart.

Faced with the shy laughter that followed, the intruder quietly pressed down his silk hat and honestly expressed what he felt.

“Your expression has brightened.”

“Huh?”

“When I first saw you, you had a face like the world was about to collapse. Were you collecting news about him because you wanted to meet him?”

Vivian closed her mouth and looked blank at his question.

Did that mean she hadn’t realized what he had said?

That she hadn’t realized what motivated her to carefully cut out and keep only news about him, buried among piles of documents?

-Bang, bang!

A violent collision sound came from the exit during their conversation.

It didn’t take long to realize it was from those tracking him.

“Lady Vivian! Are you in there?!”

“The leader of the rebel army has infiltrated the imperial palace! We will enter for investigation, so please understand!”

Yes, the one who had infiltrated here was one of the most notorious wanted criminals in the empire.

There was concern about upsetting her mood by pushing in, but nevertheless, the soldiers were showing determination to enter at the risk of their lives.

She was a figure who could determine humanity’s survival, and protecting her was something that had to be done even at great sacrifice.

“Excuse me… mmph!”

“Make sure to eat properly.”

As Vivian, who didn’t understand the situation, was about to speak, the intruder put a sandwich in her open mouth.

That action, like his attire, was full of dignity and courtesy.

“If you don’t bear a grudge against him, he might be saddened to see your current state.”

“Mmph?”

“You can guess from the news you’ve collected, can’t you? That if he’s achieved merit, the imperial palace would surely take interest.”

From the news she had gathered, it was clear the imperial palace would be watching him.

Though there was a big difference from how he remembered him, he felt some expectation that they might meet someday if fate allowed.

Meeting someone who could share such a bond was one of the small achievements gained from this infiltration.

“Though it’s not an identity I can reveal publicly, if by chance you meet that friend, please convey my regards. Tell him that his old friend sincerely congratulates him on his success.”

Just as he jumped out the window with such friendliness, the entrance opened with a thud!

But by then, the intruder had already disappeared, and only Vivian remained sitting blankly with a sandwich in her mouth.

Of course, from the imperial palace’s perspective, she was a guest more important than even high nobles.

They might lose their heads if they displeased her here, but as protectors of the imperial palace, they had to check on her safety first.

“Lady Vivian, are you safe? The intruder…”

“…Heh, hehe.”

A laugh escaped from her lips as they approached tensely.

“Ehe, hehehe~”

“L-Lady Vivian?”

“After I eat this…”

After taking a bite of the sandwich, she put it down and turned to look at them.

The moment they faced her, their breath caught, because something they never thought would happen was occurring.

“If I eat well from now on… I can meet him again, right~?”

That the monster who had coldly dismembered everything that disturbed her was smiling so joyfully.

Isn’t it natural to feel chills?