Chapter 181 – #39_Enjoyable Daily Life (3)

#179

One.
Originally, the homunculus maintained its existence by hunting witches.
Even hundreds of years ago, this was only possible because there were enough witches and few homunculi.

However, as time passed, the number of witches decreased due to various incidents, suicides, and murders.
In contrast, a long time passed and according to the arrangement, the number of homunculus awakened from hibernation increased.
If the ratio between a witch and a homunculus before the Middle Ages was about 10:1, an extreme ratio reversal of 1:1 through modern times and 1:10 in modern times has occurred, and this difference is rapidly widening.

From then on, the homunculus, which lacked prey, began to eat humans.
There is no way to know whether there was such a means originally, or whether the homunculus, suffering from extreme starvation, came up with some kind of means, but the homunculus has a way to replace human ‘kites’ with magic power.

Therefore, the vast majority of homunculi chose to flock to large cities where far more prey were clustered together than to roam the remote and rugged terrain.
This is why most location points are located in large cities.

The first place Eloah Tipperet, who moved to the Han River through the ‘Moon’ of Border Town, visited was the location point.
Among them, along with the Macau, Odaokou, and Shinjuku branches, the Gwanghwamun branch was the most active hunting activity in the eastern part.

“……”
“……Five.”

As soon as Eloa climbed her lift and stepped into her crowded office, her son-in-law fell silent, as if she had come to the library.
And witches and human staff alike took a small silent bow and set up a bow.

Even if it was Tipperetra who founded Location Point, she laid down all her powers 50 years ago.
However, all information about her subjugation is shared through the location point DB, and it is the outcasts, not the witches of Gehenna, who feel the achievements she has achieved.
The courtesy they gave to Eloa was that of living legends or saints.

“Everyone go to work.”

Tipperette, who responded by raising her hand, went straight to the branch manager’s office on the top floor.

Most witches are independent and self-righteous.
Nine times out of ten, if a witch who has to find her own ‘correct answer’ is placed in an important position with her duties and duties fixed, she will run away.

However, not all witches had the same tendency.
Some felt comfortable with a stable order, control, and management.
Agatha Sua, the head of the Gwanghwamun branch, was also one of those people.
It was because Tiphareth approached him first before he could appoint anyone and filled the position of branch manager, which was full of troublesome things.

The top floor, reached by climbing the stairs, reminded me of an old-fashioned nobleman’s house or a fairy.
Instead of Western-style wooden doors, there are rows of windows coated with Korean paper, and you have to take off your shoes to enter the floor with an ondol floor.
When Elroa took off her shoes, the windows that blocked her were opened one after another, revealing a spacious office.
Branch manager Sua set a tea table in front of a folding screen with the four gentlemen on it and was in the middle of brewing tea.

“It’s been a while, Sua-sensei. It still hasn’t changed.”
“See you in 10 years. Please sit down. I brought in good tea from Hadong.”
“Not so.”

A calm expression and a relaxed attitude as usual.
Dressed in a beautiful hanbok, as if she had just jumped out of the island of beauty, finely braided black hair and gray eyes as clear as a beautiful woman.
The figure of Sua, who was sitting quietly and pouring tea into two cups, was elegant like an orchid and neat like a bell flower.
Sua’s eyes, polished with intelligence and reason, looked at Eloa with a hint of compassion.

“The fact that you have taken such a precious step must have been the news that the Witch of the Infantry Palace, whom you were chasing, had died, right?”
“Yes.”
“You must be heartbroken.”
“There is no such thing as heartache. Wasn’t it because I was procrastinating?”

Eloah calmly opens her mouth as if brushing off raindrops on her clothes.
In spite of her scattered resentment in vain, the figure of Elroa, who sat with her back straight, was an attitude worthy of being called a model of a warrior, but it was visible in the eyes of her old friend Sua.
Her sleet-like melancholy and wandering weighed heavily on her eloa’s shoulders.

“The girl also heard the rumors and immediately sent a message to you…”
“I know. Because the first contact I checked was from Mr. Sua. She did not come here to hold on to what has already passed.”
“What if?”
“The enemy knight I was chasing escaped here. She would like help pinpointing the exact location.”
“Are you talking about the red knight?”

Sua showed a rare surprised expression.
Sua asks Eloah, who nods her head kindly.

“Don’t you have a courtesy ‘contract’?”

Among the contract magic that Tiphareth mainly uses, there is a clause that says, “We can specify each other’s location.”
Using that contract, the homunculus that caught my eye once was the one I tracked down without difficulty.

“There was. However, it suddenly disappeared. As if it had disappeared.”

But while Eloa stopped by Gehenna for a while.
Like a lie, the contract was broken.
I don’t know if it’s a feat, but I wouldn’t have the intelligence to cancel a contract with a homunculus.
Therefore, the location point was found.

“Oops…”
“Could you check the missing person statistics?”
“The most recently updated information was three months ago… Will you be okay?”
“I want to see you first.”

Red knight.
At the news of the escape of the infamous homunculus, Sua stood up from her seat while raising her eyebrows as if drawn with her brush.
Stepping lightly on tabi, Sua brought a document in front of her chief of staff, which was packed with all sorts of papers.

“I am here.”
“Thank you.”

Tiphareth flipped through the papers and began checking the missing person statistics.
Since the records of those eaten by the homunculus disappear from the present world, general statistics provided by insurance companies and government offices cannot determine who has disappeared.
Therefore, the trend of missing persons is analyzed by using the statistics separately prepared at the location point, and based on the analysis, the activity area of ​​the homunculus is specified.

But there was nothing unusual about it.
In a large city and population density like Seoul, it is not unusual to have about 100 missing people per month.

“Are there any other reports or suspicious signs? He’s near death, so he’ll try to restore his magic somehow by ambushing civilians.”
“Come to think of it, the witch who exchanged a large amount of crystals today handed over a suspicious item. According to what I heard in the analysis room, it was obtained in the process of subjugating a deformed homunculus.”
“A deformed homunculus?”
“Yes, it has well over a thousand eyes, and holds something strange that is neither a crystal nor an inheritance.”
“I want to see for myself.”
“I will guide you.”

Before the two stood side by side and headed to the analysis room, Sua saw Eloa.
Laying down even her studies of magic, she was dedicated to her only vengeance, and also to ensure that the pain she suffered would not be repeated.

She did not dare to guess what it would be like for her to do her duty now that she had lost half of her reason to live.

“Gwiju, how about leaving this job to the girl and taking a break?”

Eloa paused for a moment and smiled lightly.
It was a pitiful laugh that made you feel like you would burst into tears if you touched it.

“I’ll take your heart, sir, I’m thinking of taking a break as soon as this work is over. Shouldn’t she catch the fish once the hook is hooked up?”
“I’m sorry for the offtopic words.”
“No, more than anything, I can’t believe that the wicked villainess died so easily. That meticulous, tenacious bitch must be alive in a way I never thought of.”
“I will definitely do that.”

Even at Eloah’s words, which were nothing short of stupid, Sua nodded her head and entered her analysis room together.

2.
Sharon once again resented the sky.

“……..”
“……..”
“……..”

She got out safely to the location point where Della appeared and was dangerous, but she said she was facing her on the street.
Her heart thumps

Sharon had a crush on Della.
Although it was a one-sided deterrence, it was hunting in a hunting ground that had been taken away by a duel.
There she earned and exchanged billions of dollars.

Delada, who was in charge of Sharon’s work, persistently approaching and arguing with her no matter what resentment she had.
However, if this fact is caught, they will surely take money or be sarcastic about being a thief.

Furthermore…
She glanced at Sharon and looked at Siu’s face.
Siwoo bluffed that he had knocked Della out for her Sharon, and Sharon ignored it and let it go.
However, when he faces Della like this, both his lies and Sharon’s lies are useless.

If that’s the case, I’d rather send Siwoo to a different place first and handle the latter by myself.
It was when Sharon thought that he was going to call Siwoo.

“Hello.”

Unexpectedly, Siwoo greeted Della.
At the same time, the corners of Della’s mouth twisted downward.
It was the first time Sharon had ever seen Della make that face.

A look that seemed to be fed up with something or felt a strong sense of rejection, not knowing what to do.
When Sharon met Della, it was the look she always got on.
But she is narcissistic because she is so confident, and Della, who is so proud and so arrogant, has such an expression!
It is impossible.

“…Hello.”

And when Della responded bluntly to Siwoo’s greeting, Sharon secretly pinched her thigh.
That arrogant Della responds to a man’s greeting before he can pick a fight with her?
Besides, do you keep Sharon alone?
Because if it wasn’t a dream, it couldn’t have happened.

“I am sorry about what happened last time. Are your injuries okay?”
“…You don’t care.”

Are you okay where you were injured?
Nothing to worry about?
Sharon couldn’t keep up with the situation.
In addition, she could not grasp the context of the conversation between the two at all.

“Then let’s go first.”
“Uh… Uh…?”

Siwoo nods lightly as if he has no more loyalty than that and walks past Della.
The two were arm in arm, so Sharon, who was still stiff, followed him as if he was half dragged along.
There was no sign of fear in Siu, or any sign of concern that his lies would be discovered.
It was a carefree response that he met someone he knew by chance.

But was Della the kind of woman that could have passed so easily?
Her back end is like a mosquito in late autumn, and her tenacity is like a leech.
Confused not to know what was going on, Sharon couldn’t seem to tell her left or right.

“Hey.”

Then it is.
Now the world is going back to common sense.
If it were Della, she would pour out all sorts of insults at this timing…

But Della, who only looked back from her place, brought her lips closer as if disapproving of her, and opened her mouth.

“The next fight, I will win.”

It was a ferocious gaze, as if staring at an enemy.
It looks like it’s about to run…
No, it was also an eye that couldn’t run away.

“Don’t get me wrong. The reason I didn’t attack you again wasn’t because I didn’t have confidence, it was because I was so committed. Do you understand?”
“Yeah… Well, would you?”

Siwoo blurts out her words as if it is difficult to respond to her heated reaction.
It was an answer that seemed ambiguous and, in some ways, even sarcastic.
If it was the usual Della, she would have given three fucks with that…
Della just stared with her glowing eyes, but then she swung around like her model and started on her way.

How familiar is that look on her back?
Even though she harbored her displeasure with Della, she had to run away without saying a word.

“What are you doing, the reservation time will pass.”
“Uh? Uhh… I get it.”

Sharon, dumbfounded, was led by Shiu and entered the pasta house, blinking her eyes.