Ru Hiana woke up from her sleep, and had trouble falling asleep again. While lying on the bed, she looked around the room and felt a bit overwhelmed. It seemed just yesterday that she had slept out in the open, near where the statue of Shahnaz was. But the last couple of days, she was able to sleep where she wanted and walk freely around the fortress. The memories of her being tormented by hunger or hesitating to even take a couple of steps outside seemed like a dream. Just because of a single person’s return, it seemed everything had changed.
Although she felt a sense of her own incompetence as a hero, Ru Hiana felt more joyful than anything else; this was partly because she had the utmost rosy view of Chi-Woo. But soon, these feelings made way for an anxiety that she couldn’t quite put into words.
Questions like ‘What if it was all a dream?’ and ‘What if he disappeared again?’ rang through her mind. After rolling around this way and that, she abruptly sat up.
“I can’t stand it anymore,” she murmured before getting off the bed and going outside.
What she was planning to do wasn’t illegal trespassing at all. She was doing this simply out of concern for the well-being of a great hero whom she admired. She would just check to see if Chi-Woo was sleeping peacefully and return. Stealthily, Ru Hiana trespassed into Chi-Woo’s house, but soon burst out in distress. No matter how thoroughly she searched, she couldn’t find Chi-Woo anywhere.
‘Did he go to the bathroom? But isn’t he taking too long? There’s no way it will take so long unless he has constipation? No, he could’ve gone for a morning run…or is that not it?’ All kinds of thoughts rushed to her head, and as more time passed, she became more worried. Click, click. She bit her fingernails and looked around worriedly. Even if she went out to search for him, she couldn’t search the whole fortress by herself. In the end, she looked around nearby and hurriedly returned to wake Ru Amuh from his deep slumber.
“Ru Hiana? What is it? It’s still dark…what?”
One of Ru Hiana’s greatest perks was her ability to escalate nothing into the greatest emergency. Thus, Ru Amuh asked, “Calm down first. What if he just went to see the injured?”
“No, I already checked that place, and he wasn’t there.”
“Really? Then, maybe he had some personal matters to attend to…”
“At this time, really? And gone for this long? For what?”
Now that Ru Amuh thought about it, although it had been long since the moon rose, there was still a lot of time before the dawn would break. Ru Amuh finally began to think something was a bit strange and got up.
“Ru Hiana, you search from the inside. I will go outside to look for him.”
Thus, the pair went to find Chi-Woo. Ru Amuh didn’t act like he was suffering from PTSD like Ru Hiana, but inside, he had his doubts. It was truly strange that Chi-Woo had left his room for so long. If Chi-Woo really had something important to do, what was the reason why he went outside of his house by himself? As Ru Amuh debated with himself, he quickly passed the three castle walls and was about to exit the entrance when he stopped. He felt not one but two unfamiliar presences with his synesthesia. Following his senses, Ru Amuh looked up to the castle walls.
* * *
“Please give me some time to think,” Chi-Woo said after some thought.
“Time to think?”
“I want to hear other people’s opinions.”
“Why?” the witch asked. “I didn’t come to ask about your entire group’s opinions,” the witch said while motioning to Chi-Woo beside her and added, “I came to ask what you think.”
“But I am an individual inside a group,” Chi-Woo replied. He was telling her that there was no guarantee that everyone would simply follow what he said, and she shouldn’t make such a distinction.
“How long? I can’t wait too long.” The witch spoke like there was no room for argument.
“Hm—Maybe about three or four days?”
“No.”
Chi-Woo stared at the witch. Hearing that she couldn’t wait long, he had given her a shorter time frame than the one he had in mind, but his suggestion got shot down right away.
“One day. I can’t wait longer than that.”
“That’s tomorrow.”
“Yes, tomorrow. When the moon reaches its highest point in the night sky, let’s meet again here.”
Chi-Woo groaned softly. What the witch told him couldn’t be taken lightly. They were serious matters to consider since it wasn’t just about protecting the fortress, but hunting mutated mutants outside. Even though they didn’t have many options in their current situation, he didn’t want to make any hasty decisions. He wanted to ask several people for their opinions and ensure he had some time to sit on his decision; after all, it was one that would place not only his life but everyone’s life inside the fortress at risk. And of course, he had another goal, and to materialize it, he certainly needed more time.
“You are very firm about the time I have.” In some ways, it was a surprise. The witch had seemed to respect his wishes until now, but in this regard, she insisted and relayed the conditions one-sidedly.
“…I told you. I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place.” Still she had risked coming to this fortress. Seeing Chi-Woo’s value, she thought she could use him to her advantage and make things better for her empire.
“I want to give you more time… But three or four days is too dangerous. Even two days…is going to be difficult.” The witch added apologetically. “One day. Just one,” the witch emphasized as if she was going above herself to just give him this extra time.
“I guess it can’t be helped.” Chi-Woo raised both hands like he was lifting a white flag. Since it didn’t seem like pleading would change anything, he got to his feet and turned to her.
“Thank you.” The witch smiled slightly, interpreting Chi-Woo’s sigh as agreement. She was about to get up too when she said, “Onorables Evelyn.”
“?”
“That’s my old name.”
“Ah.”
“I just wanted to tell you my old name since you saw my appearance from the time I was alive.”
“Onorables Evelyn… That’s a unique name.” Chi-Woo stroked his chin.
“If it’s fine with you, can you tell me your name?”
“Yes, well.” Chi-Woo clutched his head. He wasn’t stupid. He knew the witch revealed her name first because she wanted to know his.
“My name is Choi—.” He was about to give his name without any thought when—
“Teacher!” One person jumped over the castle walls. Chi-Woo’s eyes turned wide seeing the blonde young man.
“Mr. Ru Amuh?”
“Here you are, sir.”
“How did you…”
“Ru Hiana told me you disappeared, so I was looking for you. But…”
Ru Amuh’s eyes darted toward the witch sitting on the castle stones. He saw her shining red pupils and astounding beauty that would make anyone widen their eyes when they saw her. Yet, Ru Amuh instantly recollected his mind and narrowed his eyes. It was because although her appearance was different, she exuded the same energy as the skeleton on the pole.
“You are…” The witch responded similarly. Her eyes slightly widened seeing Ru Amuh, but then she turned back to Chi-Woo without showing any more interest in the newcomer. Witches tended to be like that. For things they thought had value or had an interest in, they spared no time nor anything else; for things that didn’t interest her, on the other hand, she considered thinking about them for even one second wasteful.
“Choi?” the witch asked.
Chi-Woo flinched. He tried to not make it a big deal, but he furtively glanced at Ru Amuh and chewed his lip.
‘Shit…’ Why did Ru Amuh have to come now, of all times? It was way too coincidental. Since the witch was not a recruit or a hero, he thought he could just reveal his real name. Chi-Woo thought that he should quickly move on and said he’d tell her next time, but—
The witch asked, “Choi? Is your name Choi?”
“…Choi?”
Chi-Woo gritted his teeth as Ru Amuh tilted his head. If there was a god of names in this world, they must really want Chi-Woo to be known here with a shitty name. “No, I’m sorry to say but you’ve misheard. It’s not Choi but…” Chi-Woo ground both of his molars together tightly. There was no more time. He really didn’t want to say it, but rather than revealing the secret and being found out as a liar, he said, “…It’s…Chi-Chi….bbong….”
Chi-Woo finally managed to say it with an uncomfortable face. Then the witch asked, “What?”
“…It’s Chichibbong.”
When he repeated himself, he heard a ‘keuk’. Or maybe, it was a ‘pfffff’. But what he was sure of was that it came from the witch. Moreover, he clearly saw her small lips move up in laughter.
“Ah—. Sorry.” The witch managed to control her expression and continued, “Well, how should I say it? It’s really a unique name—pfff. Sorry, sorry.” She laughed again and apologized without seeming apologetic at all. Her careless tone made it hurt even more.
“Are you angry?” The witch realized he was glaring at her and tilted her head. “Is it something to get so mad about? For a name?”
Chi-Woo was also aware of how funny his fake name sounded. Even though there were a lot of different names due to cultural differences, there was normally still a limit to what sounded right. While the witch’s real name, ‘Onorables Evelyn’, was a little odd, it was still within the range of an acceptable name. If the witch who looked so powerful and elegant and exuded a royal aura said, ‘Actually, my name is Pop-pop’, he would also laugh in earnest. He knew that. He really did, but he was still hurt.
“Hmph. You’re the Bably’s Bewitching Whore after all.” Thus, he decided to insult her. When he saw the witch’s face stiffen, Chi-Woo mocked, “Why, are you angry? For an alias?”
“…Ah.” The witch finally understood the meaning behind Chi-Woo’s words and quickly made excuses. “No. I didn’t mean to laugh at you.”
“If you didn’t mean to do it, you should have acted better in the first place, so that I don’t misunderstand.”
The witch had nothing to say at Chi-Woo’s firm reply. After a short silence, Chi-Woo continued, “When you were alive, you must have had parents.”
“…Yeah.”
“It’s the same for me. Chichibbong is a precious name that my parents gave me.”
“Sorry, I just—”
“By insulting my name, you didn’t just insult me, but also my parents.”
“What? That’s not it at all. I won’t—"
“You said that hadn’t been your intention, right?”
The witch stopped talking as the conversation circled around; she tried to find the right words to say.
“I’m very disappointed. I thought we would be able to reach an agreement, but I didn’t know that you were such a rude person who can’t follow even the most basic manners,” Chi-Woo said coldly and turned around. “There’s no need for you to wait for me tomorrow.”
“…Uh, what?”
“I can’t trust such a rude person. I’ll pretend I haven’t heard anything today. Please excuse me.” With that, Chi-Woo slowly walked away.
“W-wait!” Not knowing what to do, the witch reflexively called out to Chi-Woo. “Two days!”
Chi-woo stopped.
“I’ll wait one more day.” One day had become two. Chi-Woo hid his pleased smile, but he didn’t say anything and continued walking.
“I’ll be waiting. You’ll come, right? I’ll be waiting here, okay?”
Chi-Woo turned away from the witch’s fervent cries and descended the fortress’ wall. Ru Amuh, who was confused by the sudden turn of events, decided to follow Chi-Woo for now.
But before he could do so, the witch stopped him, “Hey.” Even though she had no interest in Ru Amuh, she had a favor to ask him. “Can you tell him this for me?”
“Tell him….?”
“Yeah. Tell him I’m very sorry, so he should come here in two days. I sincerely want to apologize to him. And tell him to think of my suggestions in a favorable light.”
“A…suggestion?” Ru Amuh’s eyebrows twitched at this word. The witch did not reply. Before he realized it, she had gotten up and turned around like she was going to leave.
“I also have something I wanted to ask you.” Before the witch left, Ru Amuh quickly continued, “We…met before.”
“Yeah, so?”
“When we met last time, what you did wasn’t a suggestion, but a threat and extortion.”
“Yeah.”
“…But you just used the word ‘suggestion’ to him.”
“That’s right.” The witch readily agreed, and Ru Amuh ground his teeth together.
“May I ask why?” As soon as the question was out of his mouth, Ru Amuh bit his lower lip because even he thought it was childish. The witch slowly turned around, but she didn’t look at Ru Amuh. Her gaze was fixed on the direction Chi-Woo had left in. What was the reason why she had threatened Ru Amuh, but didn’t do the same for Chi-Woo? It was an easy question to answer.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to.” It was a very simple and clear reason. “It’s because I couldn’t.” The witch distinctly remembered the moment when she saw Chi-Woo for the first time.
Among beings that stood on opposing sides of beings like her, Chi-Woo was on the very edge; his very existence was the polar opposite of their existence. In fact, he had proven his powers by destroying the immortal lich, which used to be especially cherished by one of the great bosses of the Demon Empire. Moreover, when she met him again, Chi-Woo had La Bella, one of the top gods in the true neutral alignment, on his side.
What if she hadn’t turned around and decided to fight him when she first met him? What would have happened? If she had gotten hit by that transcending godly energy… Just the thought of it gave her chills. She wouldn’t fall to the abyss, but would instead return forever to nothingness with no hope. She could answer Ru Amuh’s question with a single sentence. “Because I’m scared.” With that, Onorables Evelyn disappeared into the darkness like a fog.
Ru Amuh blankly stared at where the witch used to be. [Because I’m scared.]
Her parting words kept ringing inside his mind—until Chi-Woo, who had been waiting for him below, called out to him.