#Side Story 76. Witch Blessing the End (1)
* * *
Palang.
quietly.
As the bookshelves turn over.
What you see is curved text.
What I smell is the smell of old parchment and ink.
The letters were written one by one by hand, without even using a printing press, and are difficult to recognize because of the unique handwriting.
The parchment, which is not only musty but also smells musty, is so old that it feels like it will crumble just by turning the pages.
Of course, most documents are created and preserved in the electronic world rather than in the physical world.
It is a very shabby old book in this era when most of the books that remained have perished due to the crisis of destruction.
fluttering.
But rather, that’s why.
She liked books.
In a hand-written book like this, each word reflects the writer’s tastes, emotions, and interpretation.
Unlike electronic documents, which can be copied indefinitely, even important knowledge becomes insignificant, even the most insignificant knowledge is cherished.
Above all, it has withstood a long period of time without weathering, even when paper would crumble.
fluttering.
okay.
Yes.
That it’s old.
It deserved respect in itself.
Gold and jewels, which do not change no matter how much time passes, are considered precious.
Even bone fragments or ceramics become fossils or antiques and become valuable simply because they are old.
This is because withstanding Kronos’ scythe (Time), which cuts down everything equally, is such an amazing and great feat.
fluttering.
so that.
She liked old things.
Especially the rarer and rarer it is.
Apart from its practical use, the more rare it is, the deeper mysteries it holds as a magical fetish.
This is because a unique being that has existed alone for a long time possesses a magical power that cannot be compared to any other.
“―It was in a place like this.”
That was why.
Although my long-awaited reading was interrupted.
The reason why she didn’t feel offended by the voice that came out of nowhere and instead smiled softly.
“I didn’t even send you an invitation, but I’m glad you found me.”
“That shouldn’t be surprising, right?”
“Hehehe, you mean that lie that you can’t run away from the Sword Master?”
“I’m not lying.”
“Well, at least it’s true for you, baby.”
Lamps and candles.
Books and scrolls.
Cauldron and glass bottle.
Everything is so old and outdated that it feels like you have returned to hundreds of years ago.
Even the flow of the times is unclear due to the laptops, coffee pots, and analog phones seen here and there.
A woman with dark red hair, who was sitting in front of the fireplace in the workshop where everything seemed truly mysterious, welcomed the uninvited guest through the cotton thread that covered her face.
“Welcome baby.”
“….”
“Well, no matter how much I am your slave, you don’t even greet me anymore?”
He is the one who taught magic to Na-kyung Yu and played a remarkable role from the fight against the liberation brigade to the apocalyptic war.
However, in return for maintaining the gates of Valhalla for too long, the Great Witch quietly went into hiding after the law of eternal life was broken.
Even in Sir’s greeting.
Limon did not answer.
After looking at her with heavy golden eyes…
I just asked softly.
“Why did you do that?”
Sir slightly tilted his head as if he didn’t understand the meaning of the unexpected question.
“What do you mean?”
“….”
“….”
The silence gets longer.
A deepening gaze.
After looking at the golden eyes that were getting colder as time passed.
The tilted head straightens up.
A witch’s mouth gently curves.
“―Did you notice?”
“Thanks to Na-kyung.”
“Oh, was that also the case?”
It seems a little unexpected.
But it doesn’t seem surprising.
Sir nodded at Limon’s answer and continued speaking lazily with a faint smile on his face.
“I guess I had the wrong disciples in my later years.”
“….”
“I thought other great witches wouldn’t notice it for at least a few years, but I never imagined that they would already be able to interpret it.”
This is why a disciple must be moderately incompetent.
I never thought that the innocent blue bird would have such great talent for magic.
Is it admiration?
Is it lamentation?
Or maybe it’s both.
Sir let out a faint exclamation that made no distinction, and ended his sentence with an eye smile.
“―I had no idea that Myeongsaek would sell out his teacher like a devoted partner by falling for a man.”
I thought they would at least come by to check in advance, but I never thought they would let me know right away.
It was a real shame for Sir.
It’s not that the last disciple didn’t believe in him in the end, but that he was much smarter than expected and suddenly ended up meeting Limon.
“Ask again.”
But her regrets.
Limon didn’t bother to acknowledge it.
Even though he hesitated and worried so much, he believed without a doubt the words of the blue bird who told him what he had realized.
I just looked at Sir with eyes as cold as ice and asked again.
“Why did you do that, grandma?”
And…
snarl.
Sharp metallic sounds.
A blade pulled out of a sheath.
The movement was rather slow than fast, so that I could observe the entire process.
However, it was only after he felt the cool metal in the air that Sir realized that the blade had been pressed against his neck.
No matter how much it was Limon…
or rather, Limon, who had always called her a grandmother and respected her in his own way, was an unbelievable outrage.
But that too.
Even her.
I didn’t find it strange.
Limon had his reasons, and Sir also knew it.
Because…
“-I’m asking you why you put a curse on my teacher.”
Pretending to help him achieve Buddhahood, he placed a curse on the teacher he revered and respected the most in the world.
Binding them to this world with black magic.
Even fool yourself.
Use it as you please.
It was only natural for the guardian deity of humanity to reveal his intentions to a cunning and evil witch.
“There are many reasons.”
However, even under his gaze, which would have frightened not only most absolute beings, but even the constellations, Sir did not even raise an eyebrow.
I just took out a long stick from my pocket and lit it on fire.
widely.
“First of all, the fact that the knife-wielding girl became a ghost was originally an accident.”
Yes it was.
The fact that the Sword Emperor’s soul remained in this world was an accident in itself.
This happened when the gates of Valhalla and the power of the stars clashed, and the Geomje cut them all down and reversed the aftermath.
Even for the legendary Great Witch, intervening in that situation was impossible.
But…
“Even the old woman knows that that is no excuse for binding the Master’s soul to this world by placing a curse when it could have made him become Buddha.”
“But it can’t be helped.”
It was so easy.
She recalled it again.
Although he was suspicious, he of course gave up his soul defenselessly because he was someone his disciple trusted.
As he was so ignorant about magic, he cursed him step by step for half a year, but from the point when the Geomje did not suspect it.
Everything went according to plan.
In the end, she achieved her goal.
Exactly….
“If you hadn’t done this, that sword-wielding girl would never have become your bride.”
“…The reason I cursed you and turned you into a ghost was to make you my bride?”
“That is the result.”
“Grandma, do you really want to be married?”
square.
The blade moves slightly.
Drops of blood flowing down the white neck.
That was proof that Limon’s lifeless manner was not just bragging, but…
“Hmm, I guess this explanation alone doesn’t seem to be enough to convince me.”
It’s like a life or death situation.
The half-human, half-god archwitch, who had lived for over thousands of years and had experienced countless times, was still unfazed.
Instead, he just held the stick in his mouth, sucked in a puff of smoke, spit it out, and then opened his mouth again in a more drowsy voice.
“Then how about this explanation?”
And…
the moment Sir continued speaking.
Limon’s face hardened.
“What if that has something to do with why you haven’t conceived a child or an egg yet, even after spending so many nights with twelve brides?”
* * *
Even before I left to fight the stars.
Even after returning from fighting the star.
Limon spent countless nights with his brides.
Especially after creating space for time and heart, we often made love, literally spending 47 hours a day.
And that was enough effort to fertilize an egg, no matter how precious a dragon’s hands were.
but.
nevertheless.
No bride has yet conceived his child.
Not only from the sword master who had no precedent for giving birth to descendants in the first place, but also from the dragon and fairy brides.
And why.
Cyr explained lazily.
“It’s the same for the dragon race, but it’s difficult for immortals to have children in the first place.”
In the first place, descendants are the result of preserving and developing the species by passing on one’s genes.
Like insects, it was natural that the lower the survival rate, the more eggs were laid, and the longer the lifespan, the more difficult it was to conceive.
In the first place, it was also natural that transcendental species or immortals such as the dragon race had low fertility.
Otherwise, the world would be filled with long-lived species and immortals, and there would be no place to even step on.
“This is especially true when the status of a partner and a living creature are different.”
“….”
Since they were of the same species,
it was natural that breeding with other species would be more difficult.
Not only are animals born from crossbreeds like mules or ligers rare, but even if they are born, they may lose their ability to reproduce or suffer from various disabilities.
Just as in the distant past when incarnations roamed the earth, descendants were precious even though many gods sowed seeds.
“But baby.”
And as one of the last survivors of the demigods so miraculously born.
Sir smiled coquettishly and asked.
“Do you really think you are on equal footing with other sword masters or dragon princesses?”
“…I have become so strong that my status as a species has changed and it has become impossible for me to have children?”
“It hasn’t become completely impossible. “Because miracles can happen anytime, anywhere.”
“….”
In other words, it is impossible unless a miracle occurs.
Even Sir’s words were mocking.
Limon could not object.
Because I knew it myself.
Even in the distant past when the dragon race was prospering, only the most outstanding women among the dragon race could accept the eighth form of psionics.
An unprecedented sword master who has produced descendants in the past hundreds of years.
That wasn’t enough, it even had the power of a constellation that ate up all the possibilities in the world and was reborn as a transcendent one.
Accept it all.
The result of absorption and fusion.
That he had become a being that transcended his species.
Because he was an absolute person who had reached the tip of the sword, and at the same time he was the Dragon King of Swords who ruled over all dragons.
And conceiving such a child of Limon was extremely close to impossible, even for a sword master or a transcendental dragon.
If there is an exception…
“It may be a bit more of a gamble, but if you combine it with a magical ritual, there is a way to forcibly bring out that possibility.”
“….”
“―If it costs you the lives of your brides.”
His brides.
All of your potential.
And by squeezing out their lives, all they can do is raise their own status, even if only temporarily.
…Even if the cost is to lose one’s life as soon as the egg or child is born.
“But then a better way appeared before my eyes.”
“….”
“The soul of the absolute of absolutes who can raise the ‘status’ of your bride to an equal level, even if only temporarily, through possession.”
“….”
“Especially since you have the sword of a dragon slayer that can keep even dragon psionics in check….”
It seemed like he realized what was going to happen next.
My face is colder than ice.
The veins on the back of his hand appeared as if he wanted to cut him down at any moment.
Nevertheless, looking at his master who had not yet moved the blade held against his neck.
A truly loyal slave.
The witch, who never hesitates to bestow blessings on those who wish for her, ended her speech with a meaningful smile as always.
“Baby, this is the only ‘tool’ that can help you have children without sacrificing brides.”
