Chapter 76
"W-what are you looking at?!"
When Jinseong burst into hollow laughter while looking at her chest area, Ella, misunderstanding something, covered her chest with both hands and twisted her body sharply to the side. Then she glared at him, her expression half embarrassment and half shame.
"Staring at a lady's chest as if to bore holes! How dare you sexually harass a maiden of marriageable age like this!"
She shouted loudly as if angry.
Instead of reacting to her angry words, Jinseong spoke to her as if dumbfounded, as if pitying her.
"Where did you come from under the influence of sorcery?"
"What?"
Ella, who was about to get angry, had to swallow her anger at Jinseong's rebuke asking if she had come under the influence of sorcery.
"Sorcery...? You're saying I've been affected by sorcery?"
Watching Ella ask with a hint of anxiety, Jinseong sighed heavily. Then, as if his head was throbbing, he put his hand to his forehead and slightly furrowed his brow, and sighed again.
"This is terrible."
He snatched the paper Ella was holding and brought it in front of her.
"I should explain to you how serious the current situation is."
"Yes, what?"
"This pattern you say you saw. It's the human sacrifice pattern of Crom Cruach. It's a pattern used in human sacrifice sorcery rituals in Celtic cultures in the past."
"What?!"
Jinseong made eye contact with Ella, looking at her as if pitying her.
"I'll say it bluntly. Right now, Frau Winter, you've become the target of that evil sorcerer. Yes. The fortune-teller you felt was strange. You've already been marked as a sacrifice for that person, and without someone's help, you'll probably be caught soon and used as material for human sacrifice."
"What?"
Ella kept asking back, either not understanding Jinseong's explanation or not wanting to understand. But Jinseong grabbed her cheeks firmly with both hands and made eye contact as if telling her to snap out of it.
Ella instinctively tried to pull back to restore her face being squished in Jinseong's hands, but the attempt failed as his grip held her face firmly like a vise.
She had no choice but to listen to his resolute words while maintaining eye contact with Jinseong.
"Focus, please! Frau Winter! I'm saying you're in danger right now!"
He maintained eye contact with her for a long time.
And only after she seemed to understand and mumbled that she understood with a squished pronunciation did he finally let go of her.
She kept rubbing her face with her hands, wondering if there might be hand marks on her cheeks, but Jinseong just maintained a serious expression, not caring whether she was concerned about her appearance or not.
"Frau Winter. I want you to take this matter, the danger that has befallen you, seriously. And all that awareness must happen quickly. As quickly as possible. In the current situation where we don't know how that fortune-teller will act to secure you as a sacrifice, there's no better self-defense than you realizing the danger yourself and preparing a solution."
He spoke to her resolutely.
And as if worried.
"You're not someone who should end your life as a sacrifice caught by such an evil fortune-teller. So please, recognize that danger has come to you. And let's find a solution together. For the sake of Lee Arin, my sister and your friend, and for your own sake."
Faced with Jinseong's earnest attempt to persuade her, Ella found herself nodding without realizing it.
As soon as he saw her nodding, he slightly leaned towards her and reached out to lower one of her hands that was blankly resting on her face, trapping it between his own hands.
Ella, suddenly having her hand held by a man, raised her head in surprise at the warmth she felt, but soon lowered it again when she saw him looking at her seriously.
"Please trust me. Although I may look young, I pride myself on having accumulated quite a bit of knowledge about sorcery. I have some knowledge about the human sacrifice that fortune-teller is trying to perform, and although not completely, I have some ways to crush his tricks, so you don't have to worry for now."
"What? Oh, I understand..."
"But me protecting you isn't a fundamental solution. In the end, it won't be of use unless we find and catch that fortune-teller. No matter how hard we defend, wouldn't everything be in vain if we're attacked once? So..."
Jinseong slightly applied pressure to her hand to better transmit warmth.
"Please listen carefully to my explanation."
Jinseong explained again slowly and clearly so that Ella could understand, with a serious face.
"I, I understand. Not completely, but I understand that it's serious."
Seeing that she seemed to understand his explanation to some extent, Jinseong concluded resolutely.
"It's not something we inexperienced ones can solve alone. We need help from those with professional and powerful strength. We absolutely need it."
"I... guess so?"
"That's right."
Ella thought for a moment at Jinseong's words and then said.
"...How about asking the school for help?"
Her own solution that came after a moment's thought.
But Jinseong shook his head.
"That's not a very good idea."
"What? Why not? The special high school for supernatural abilities has plenty of capable teachers, and they have contracts with security companies. Moreover, they can't ignore it. There are many people from good families."
Ella's doubt was natural.
If it was just a regular school, it was common to cover up when incidents occurred.
But that was something that could happen in just any school.
In a special high school for supernatural abilities filled with people from wealthy and powerful families, they couldn't cover it up like that.
And of course, they had to prioritize the 'safety' of students, which parents considered the top priority.
In Ella's thinking, if she told the school she was in danger, that she was being targeted by a fortune-teller, people would surely be dispatched to protect her.
That was common sense.
Perhaps Ella's thinking was right.
Even if she was targeted by a mage, martial artist, criminal.
Even an assassin, the school would have desperately protected her.
And that protection would have ended successfully.
But what was targeting her this time wasn't such a common sense being.
It was a sorcerer, treated as an eccentric, whose techniques and powers differed from person to person.
Using sorcery, especially methods belonging to black magic, there were countless ways to kill her even if she was holed up in a bunker plastered with magic behind a curtain of people.
Originally, since Jinseong's main job during his mercenary life before regression had been assassination requests, he knew better than anyone that killing one target was as easy as wringing a chicken's neck.
"The problem is that the opponent is a sorcerer. No matter how many strong martial artists or mages there are, it won't mean anything if curses keep coming from invisible places."
"But couldn't that much be blocked with talismans or magic..."
"It could. It could be blocked using cursed objects or artifacts. If the school isn't stupid, they'll surely have quite a few such items. But how long will that last?"
He looked at her with an expressionless face.
"It can block most things. But if a crazy sorcerer who performs human sacrifices keeps casting curses with determination, how long can that be blocked? Cursed objects and artifacts can't be used permanently."
"Then..."
"What if a curse is cast when you're off guard after being watched for a long time, or when the items Frau Winter is wearing aren't working properly? No. If they perform a black magic ritual accepting a huge price without delaying, can that be blocked? I guarantee that the moment it has even a little effect, dark clouds will gather over Frau Winter's life."
Jinseong recited this calmly.
As if this was the truth, as if this was the fact she needed to recognize.
Ella quietly recalled the school she had come to study abroad at.
Does our school have a sorcerer?
No.
What about the security company...?
No.
Jinseong sighed as he watched her pondering.
"I don't understand why you're pondering so much, Frau Winter. You can just call your master and ask for help. Why do you keep trying to choose uncertain methods that’ll throw you into danger instead of such an easy solution?"
"...My master? My master can't be reached right now, but I can contact someone else..."
Ella hesitated a bit.
"Did you have a fight? Or is it awkward? Frau Winter. Now is not the time to worry about such things. Unless they're your mortal enemy, it's a situation where you need to ask for help. Your life is at stake now. I'm saying you could become the target of human sacrifice!"
"No... It’s not that. Huu."
Ella took out her smartphone after hearing Jinseong's scolding.
And after much deliberation, she made a call.
And after how many rings?
A gruff voice was heard.
[ What is it? ]
A young woman's voice.
But it was a voice that seemed coated with spite.
"Grand Witch, it's me, Ella..."
[ Yes. I know. Do you take me for a fool who can't even use a smartphone? I can read your name at least. ]
"Well, I'd like to contact my master..."
[ Tsk. You want to contact your master who's finally enjoying a vacation away from a burden like you after a very long time? You sang about how much you wanted to study abroad, how you wanted to broaden your horizons in Russia, and now you're tired of it? What, are you going to whine about how hard it is? You've always been like this. Never able to stay focused on something, always turning your eyes to something else, getting bored quickly and then begging your master. ]
The voice could hardly be considered friendly even as a white lie.
[ I had hoped you'd grown at least a bit since you went to study abroad. But in the end, you couldn't even last long before calling. Is this disappointment all you have to give me after I sent you with expensive money? As I've said many times, you might be the only blemish and mistake among my disciples. ]
"That..."
[ Tsk tsk tsk. If you had any shame, you'd apologize and hang up. What favor do you have? ]
"I..."
[ No need to say. Isn't money all that matters anyway? I'll send you plenty, so don't think about contacting me. I can't help the day you return from studying abroad, but before that, I don't even want to think about you. ]
Jinseong frowned at the violent language coming from the smartphone.
Ha, truly, connections are unpredictable. To think she had a connection with the troublemaker I once killed in a carnival.
Surprisingly, that voice was one Jinseong knew well.
She was one of the people who had made him lose his temper if he were a nouveau riche, and also someone he had dealt with unofficially for causing trouble without properly paying the fee.
Jinseong approached the flustered Ella and snatched the smartphone from her.
And then he smiled brightly and spoke.