Chapter 300. Right Under Your Nose (2)

Chi-Woo had a lot of things to think about when he returned home. After seeing the tower, it really dawned on him that his brother was trying to bring about change for the progress of humanity on Liber. Like the time they first moved to Shalyh city, it was still hard to tell whether these changes were for the best or not, but the definite thing was that the current him had no power to go against these changes. He needed to simply accept them, and his brother was already in the finishing stages of the tower’s development with Zelit as the lead. If Chi-Woo didn’t want to be in the dark about what was going on again, he needed to adapt and prepare before the tenth reinforcements came.

***

Philip had a new habit. To be more exact, it was a habit that he developed long before the expedition team went to conquer Hala Forest. It was to watch over one particular lady whenever he had the opportunity. Though one might think that Philip would be able to easily spy on people whenever he wished since he was a ghost, this was not as easy as most people thought. There were surprisingly quite a few people who had the ability to see ghosts such as Chi-Woo, Byeok, and Evelyn.

Yet it wasn’t like Philip would get in trouble for his new habit since he wasn’t doing anything bad. No matter how lecherous he was, he didn’t desire women to the point of going against heavenly laws by coveting someone of the same bloodline as him. And since Chi-Woo was at home, Philip got an opportunity to see Eshnunna again.

“Good work. You can rest for today.”

“Yes, master.”

After greeting Evelyn politely, Eshnunna headed back to her room. Her complexion didn’t appear good as she walked. Her face looked solemn and down, and Evelyn also let out a soundless sigh as she watched Eshnunna from behind. Philip had the sense to not step in. If he could, he wanted to pat Eshnunna on the shoulders and encourage her, but Eshnunna couldn’t hear his voice. In the end, he dropped the hand he was holding up. He stood still for a while and only turned around when Evelyn spoke up.

“Aren’t you going to chase after her? The training is over for today.” Evelyn already knew that this perverted ghost came to watch Eshnunna whenever he had the chance. She simply let him be because he didn’t hinder her with the training.

—Um…

Philip cautiously flew toward Evelyn. He scratched his head, looking hesitant. Evelyn tilted her head and met his gaze curiously. It was rare seeing this ghost so serious.

—That child just now… Is she not making much progress in her training these days?

“Why do you ask that?” Evelyn smirked. “Do you want me to ask if she is interested in seeing a ghost for you? Since you are someone Chi-Woo trusts to be on his side, I am willing to look crazy for a bit to my disciple.”

—No, that’s not it, mademoiselle!

Philip quickly waved his hands and answered.

—The truth is…she is…

Philip proceeded to explain his relationship with Eshnunna, and Evelyn looked surprised. Now she understood why Philip had been watching over Eshnunna so intently. Though they were too distant to even be considered grandfather and granddaughter, Eshnunna was still his blood kin with the Salem last name. Furthermore, she was the only remaining member of this family line. It was a situation that he couldn’t help but pay attention to.

“It certainly isn’t…easy.” Evelyn sat on the chair and licked her lips.

—Is the child really lacking?

“Um…rather than that…” Evelyn didn’t continue immediately. It seemed she didn’t know how to answer.

—Please just tell me as it is.

“At this rate…she will become someone who could be called a witch,” Evelyn said, “But the problem is this world.”

Philip understood everything with this one sentence. From what Evelyn saw, Eshnunna would become quite an impressive witch—at least in a world with a normal level of danger. Yet Liber was in a mess. The level of difficulty was so different that the standard Eshnunna must reach was also different. At level 30, she could beat a stage of normal difficulty, but she would be nowhere near enough to challenge a stage of hell-fire difficulty.

“She is passionate to learn and puts in the effort. She seemed to have talent too,” Evelyn said. “I don’t know how you’ll take this information, but I’m sure there must have been a witch among your close blood relatives—a considerably powerful one at that.”

Yes, it wasn’t that she didn’t have talent. It was just that…

“The bloodline became very diluted.” Evelyn sighed after placing her hand on her forehead. “It’s really a pity the more I think about it. It makes me wonder how powerful the pureblood witch must’ve been if Eshnunna still shows so many signs after so much time has passed… Still, the purity of her blood is about 1/512 of the original…”

Philip had listened carefully since he was completely ignorant about witch matters, but here he asked:

—I’m asking because I don’t know well, but is the purity of blood that important for a witch?

“Yes, it’s very important,” Evelyn replied. “Whether one is a witch or a saintess, I think of them as fundamentally the same things, only with different names.” If a saintess listened to a god’s voice, a witch listened to mana’s voice. And like how a saintess needed to get chosen by a god, a witch needed to be chosen by mana.

Though he was usually a talkative guy, Philip didn’t say more. He knew he couldn’t even begin to think about refuting someone who had reached her peak as a witch at one point in time and was originally chosen as the saintess. In the end, he realized this was a matter that one couldn’t solve with effort and willpower alone.

Philip wondered what he should do and let out the sigh he had been holding in. He went through the wall and sought out one person.

—What do you think about our Eshnunna?

“Ah what the hell! You surprised me!” Chi-Woo exclaimed seeing Philip suddenly pop out in front of him. “What are you saying all of a sudden?”

Rather than responding to Chi-Woo’s question, Philip simply continued.

—If you think about it, you and I met thanks to Eshnuuna.

Philip said in a thoughtful voice with his arms crossed.

—In your opinion, do you think I was of help to you?

“Well, that’s…” Chi-Woo nodded. Philip had saved his life before and taught him a couple of things. Seeing that, Philip spoke like he had been waiting for the chance.

—Then you must repay the favors you owe me. But since I’m in no position to receive anything right now, you have the responsibility to give it to someone else.

Philip proclaimed like he had the moral high ground.

—For example, there’s my blood relative.

Chi-Woo stared curiously at Philip, wondering what this ghost was going on about suddenly.

—…No. Well…

In the end, Philip couldn’t keep up his solemn attitude and turned back to his usual self. He rubbed his hands together and asked with a pleading look on his face.

—I am asking if you could use that…

Chi-Woo looked downward and saw the gold-silverish chain in his hands, and his eyes widened.

“Are you asking me to use The Power to Rule the World on Ms. Eshnunna?”

—Come on, hear me out.

Philip hurriedly tried to convince Chi-Woo as Chi-Woo raised his voice.

—You know how hard Eshnunna trains, right?

“I know that, but…”

—And furthermore, she’s Evelyn’s disciple. Do you think Evelyn took her in as a disciple out of boredom? There’s no way. She saw Eshnunna’s potential and decided to teach her.

Philip quickly made his point.

“But still…The Power to Rule the World is…”

Chi-Woo responded hesitantly. He stroked his chin and moved his head sideways like he wasn’t thrilled about the idea. Considering the enormity of the favor he was asking, Philip thought Chi-Woo’s response was understandable.

—Of course, I don’t think what your brother said was wrong. You shouldn’t waste it, but I think you should use it when it’s necessary. Are you just going to keep fumbling it around when you don’t have much time? No matter how valuable something is, it’s going to waste if you keep it unused.

—And it’s not like you know everything about this tool. Won’t you be able to learn more about it after you use it? If you consider all that, this isn’t a bad proposal.

Philip fired a string of convincing statements like a shotgun. Chi-Woo didn’t say anything in response for a while. He looked deep in thought, and Philip stopped speaking. Philip knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince Chi-Woo once he made up his mind about something. Many people thought that Chi-Woo had an easy and soft personality, but these days, Philip was changing his mind about Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo had this firm conviction that made him resolute in many situations, and it was almost impossible to change his mind

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Philip knew that he couldn’t cross the line that Chi-Woo had drawn for him if he wanted to maintain a good relationship with him. However, Philip believed he had done just that with the request. It was then, after tapping his fingers on the desk, Chi-Woo got up. He left without saying anything.

***

Chi-Woo studied Eshnunna for the coming days. He sometimes watched her focus on her training and then looked back up like he was pondering about something. Philip kept glancing expectantly at him, but Chi-Woo didn’t do more than that.

Then, suddenly one day, when Eshnunna was on her way to visit her master because she got stuck on something while studying late into the night, she saw that her master’s room was occupied by another guest. It was Chi-Woo. He was discussing something with her master while sitting face-to-face. The wavering candle lights lit up their profiles, and their serious expressions suggested that they were discussing something important. Eshnunna got back outside, thinking their conversation would take a while.

Though she now had some extra time on her hands, she didn’t waste it. As she always did, she immediately got into training, and soon afterward, ice formed all over Eshnunna’s body. It seemed that she would be locked into a glacier at this rate, but—

“…Ah.”

The ice stopped forming, and they didn’t gather more than they already did. Eshnunna raised her head.

—The root of a witch is a shaman.

—In terms of the method to control mana, they are closer to a sorcerer than a magician. It’s because they don’t follow a set form of rules and pursue their own path.

—Of course, from a magician’s point of view, what everyone does may seem blasphemous. Those guys try to control mana under set rules, but that’s not for us. I mean there are light magicians and dark magicians, but have you heard the same for a sorceress?

Eshnunna thought about what her master told her.

—The important thing is that you must find a mana that suits you and listen to its voice. That’s the basics you must achieve. Then you must make that mana wholly yours and keep it captive so that it can’t exist without you.

—You don’t know what I mean by that? The fact that you can’t understand what I’m saying means that you are still looking at mana from a magician’s point of view and not a shaman’s.

—Don’t try to wield it forcefully. You know neither man nor woman finds that sort of behavior attractive.

—Beware that you are a witch. That means you are a woman of mana that only a very few could ever be. Speak to it and communicate with it. Then join hands with it and walk the same path together.

Eshnunna thought she sort of understood what her master meant. She tried to do her best according to what she heard, but things didn’t go as she wished. After she awakened her powers, she learned how to draw out her mana, yet that was it. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t make more progress than that. At times when she was frustrated, she tried to forcefully drag out more of her power, but every time she did this, the mana disintegrated into pieces. She didn’t know the exact reason that happened, but she had an inkling.

‘Something is lacking.’ She wanted to hear the mana’s voice a bit more and converse with it, but she couldn’t hear it well. It was so faint that it was barely audible. It was as if their hands were near, but they kept barely missing each other. Eshnunna felt like her heart was going to explode in frustration, but there was nothing much that she could do. She thought she might be able to progress much more rapidly than now if what was lacking was filled, but she couldn’t fill it.

“…” Eshnunna weakly opened her eyes. As soon as she could see, the scene from earlier kept lingering inside her mind—the image of Evelyn talking to Chi-Woo. What were the two talking about? They were probably discussing Liber’s future. The more she thought about it, the more bitter and sad Eshnunna felt. In the forest, she had at least been one of the people with whom Chi-Woo could discuss the future and what to do going forward.

‘…No.’ Eshnunna shook her head. ‘I shouldn’t be swayed by emotions like this…’ She needed to attempt her training one more time if she had the time to mope around. Thus, she was about to focus again when another voice called out to her.

“Lady Eshnunna.”

Eshnunna jerked her head around. She didn’t know when he had approached her, but Chi-Woo was looking down at her from the porch.

“Have you finished talking with my master?” Eshnunna hurriedly got up and asked.

“Yes.”

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“What were you two talking about at such a late hour?”

“Well…just about this and that.”

“…Is that so? Then...” Eshnunna lowered her head again and made a bitter smile. She was about to hurriedly run past him before Chi-Woo grabbed her arm. In surprise, Eshnunna looked up, wide-eyed. Chi-Woo had turned around and forced her to turn back to him, and the two looked at each other.

“Let’s talk for a bit.”

“Sorry? About what?”

“I heard that you’ve been working very hard on your training these days,” Chi-Woo said. “I heard that a hero introduced a new god recently. And it’s a god who will be a great help to those who specialize in mana control.”

Eshnunna’s eyebrows wiggled slightly. She had heard that a famous hero, one of the Celestial Lights, had brought a new god; it was a god of magic who could be greatly beneficial to the current situation. Of course, Eshnunna went to check out the god once she heard the news. Having a progress system made a world of difference, but she already got her result for this attempt.

“I already tried,” Eshnunna replied calmly since there was nothing to hide.

“Should I congratulate you or comfort you?”

“Both are fine,” Eshnunna replied.

“I suppose you were rejected.”

Eshnunna shrugged. “The god pondered about it a lot. But they said…I was…a bit lacking…” Then she looked up at Chi-Woo and tilted her head. “Are you really that curious about that?”

Chi-Woo shook his head and said, “Can I ask you one thing? It’s about Mr. Yohan Salem.”

Eshnunna flinched hearing a name she didn’t expect. Salem Yohan was Eshnunna’s younger brother. When Giant Fist and Mua Janya sacrificed themselves for Chi-Woo to grow, other natives like the middle-aged couple and Yohan also stepped up to sacrifice themselves. It was thanks to them that the rest of the group could escape from the forest. Thus, Chi-Woo could never forget Yohan Salem and the last words he told him.

“Have you been pushing yourself so hard in your training because of your brother?” Chi-Woo asked. It was a question bearing many meanings. Eshnunna was a native of Liber. Although she used to be a princess at one point in time, she was now not any different from the rest of the natives in the land, with no background or anything else. Even though the natives had their own work to deal with, they still didn’t compare to the responsibilities of the heroes.

Eshnunna could’ve lived like the rest of the natives and led a life where her survival wasn’t guaranteed, where she had so few options that she would have no choice but to succumb to the harsh reality around her. Yet Eshnunna refused to live like that, or at least was resisting it. Even when no one would rebuke her if she gave up, she still undertook the risks to step into danger. Thus, Chi-Woo was curious about what Eshnunna’s purpose and intentions were.

Sometime later, Eshnunna finally broke the silence.

“I think you are…a very consistent person. Of course, I mean this in a positive way.”

Though Chi-Woo didn’t know where she was going with this, he listened quietly.

“You didn’t change. You are still the same as before.”

Starting from the forest to the border fortress and the ex-Salem capital, and now Shalyh city, Chi-Woo was always the same wherever he was. He was always the first one to jump in when a problem arose and came back after fixing it. Even from the time when he asked her for an opportunity to earn her trust and ran into a greenhouse filled with evil spirits, he had always spoken with actions before words. Thus, others naturally began to place their trust in him, including Eshnunna.

Eshunna had so much trust in Chi-Woo that she became angry whenever people around her said that the legend was the best. She thought Chi-Woo had put in the greatest and most genuine effort for Liber’s future and had made the most contribution. She didn’t know what was so great about a hero who spent all day doing administrative work in an office. In her head, the belief that Chi-Woo was the only hero who could truly save Liber had already taken root.

That was why she sometimes felt worried when she didn’t see Chi-Woo for a long period of time. She worried if something had happened to him, and it felt as if the hope she had been clutching onto would disappear if he was gone, and everything would return to how it used to be. It was in these situations that made her look back to herself, especially how she stayed up all night in worry whenever Chi-Woo went somewhere dangerous. She thought it was ridiculous and laughable.

Eshnunna sighed and said, “I also haven’t…changed one bit either. Just recently…all I did was talk to Ms. Byeok on the porch.” She didn’t speak in a positive tone this time. Instead, she sounded negative and reprimanding when she said she didn’t change. Chi-Woo had always spoken with actions rather than words, while all she seemed to do was blabber. Eshnunna loathed this fact more than anything and couldn’t bear it.

“Yohan is a big reason I’m training so hard, but now, I’m also doing it for myself.”

“For yourself?” Chi-Woo asked.

“Yes, because right now…above all else….” Eshnunna glanced at Chi-Woo before quickly shifting her eyes elsewhere. “…There are other things to consider.” Unlike her usual self, she hesitated to respond.

Chi-Woo blinked fast.

“Of course, I won’t be able to bear all the burden on your shoulders, but…” She evaded his eyes, and her gaze suddenly lost focus as she chewed on her lower lip. With her fingers clutched on her dark navy skirt, she continued, “But if you could…you should offload some of your burdens to other people… Can’t you do that?”

Her ears were as red as a river dyed by the sunset.