City of Witches

1.

“I wanna go home…”

Diana Yesod was feeling depressed.

It had been a week since Countess Yesod punished her and made her leave the house every day from early morning to the evening.

Finally, her spirit that had been falling off right crazy since day one had sunk to the bottom.

“Huu…”

Diana wasn’t an unfilial daughter.

She knew that her mother did all this because she was worried for her.

That was why she decided that she’d try to live up to her mother’s expectations a little, even though she’d normally find it bothersome to move around.

In fact, she was actually excited to go around at first.

During the week, she had been actively going around Ars Magna Town, spending every moment available to her busying herself.

In other words, she didn’t just sit in a cafe or sleep under a nice shade or something like that.

Instead, she’d walk around the town, watching all kinds of plays, and studying magic in the library.

Whenever she went back home and recounted everything that she had done to the Countess, while the latter would look at her lovingly. This also became a driving force of some sorts for her.

But, she had reached her limit.

Diana wasn’t the kind of person who’d force herself to do something she hated or had no interest in.

Especially when her initial burst of energy had run dry.

As a natural shut-in who had zero passion towards anything and a severe lack of perseverance, she hit her limit significantly faster than anyone.

“I want to go home…”

Diana sighed as she uttered the same complaint for perhaps the hundredth time this day.

“But I can’t go home now… What else should I do to pass the time…?”

Yesterday, she walked around the markets in Tarot Town to look at the daily necessities of the civilians.

The day before yesterday, she watched a dull and boring play at the theater.

Should I watch another play? But all the plays in Gehenna are boring…

All of them are just one to one adaptation of ancient books, no improvisations, no nothing.

The parasol draped over her shoulder felt particularly heavy somehow.

That, along with the terrifying realization that she’d be stuck to hang around outside for six whole hours weighed heavily on her heart.

Of course, she could always go somewhere without other people and just take a long nap there before returning home.

Even though the Countess technically kicked her out, she still gave her a credit card with no limits attached to it.

She could book a room in a hotel somewhere and spend the rest of her day lounging around.

But that’ll make mom sad, won’t it…?

Just like how Lucy loved her, Diana also loved her mother.

She already resolved herself to live up to her mother’s expectations, so she couldn’t just let herself go back to square one like that…

“But maybe, if it’s just for today…? No, ugh…”

She tried her best to maintain her weakening resolve.

All while the conflicted feelings in her heart followed her like a tail.

Seriously, isn’t there anything fun to do?

Anything stimulating, exciting, anything to pass time?

As she wandered around like that, Diana finally set foot in the Malkuth Gallery, the place she had decided to explore today.

Since it was the biggest market in Gehenna, there were many great cafes and shops that would definitely catch the eyes of the witches.

“Let’s see…”

I won’t disappoint mom!

Today, I’ll get back after I experience a lot of things!

As she thought ambitiously, a nice looking cafe caught her eyes.

She tried her best not to go there though.

Because she knew that if she were to get herself comfortable in that kind of place, she’d be unable to overcome her laziness anymore and end up sitting there all day long.

And so, she was struck in a dilemma.

To go and rest in that nice looking cafe.

Or to continue doing her best to make her mother happy.

But then, her scarlet eyes were drawn into a certain food that another witch was eating.

“Hm, why don’t I get that…?”

Diana then sat down and tucked her pretty gray hair behind her ear.

The sugar rush she was about to experience made her ears perked up happily.

2.

Diana ended up spending more time in the cafe than she first expected.

Then again, she couldn’t have expected that she’d get this comfortable here.

From this place, she could see all kinds of people and witches walking around while munching on excellent ice creams topped with sorbet made of the finest liquor.

She felt like she was being rewarded for all the hard work she had put in this whole week.

But of course, that didn’t mean that she suddenly stopped missing her home.

Her mother and master, Lucy Yesod, was not only a noble, but she also had a beautiful appearance, comparable to works of art.

Most importantly, she was a strict witch who’d never tolerate any kind of behavior that made one look less dignified.

As someone who grew up with her, Diana also valued elegance.

She believed that as the daughter of Countess Yesod, she couldn’t afford to show others a sloppy look, even if she were sitting inside a secluded cafe where barely anyone could see her.

To accomplish that, she had to keep her back straight, even when she was eating.

This in itself was a huge hardship for her and also part of the reason why she hated going outside.

After all, if it was inside her house, even if she were to go half-naked and let herself float in the pool like a dried leaf, it wouldn’t matter.

Diana was thinking of giving up everything and just going home when a conversation between two witches entered her ears.

“Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“The story about a male witch.”

“A male witch?”

Her ears immediately perked up.

She utilized all her focus to listen to this interesting topic.

A male witch.

They were a strange string of words, but this wasn’t the first time Diana had heard of them.

According to the rumors, the male witch was a male who possessed a brand.

Most witches who heard it dismissed it as mere rumors.

Even if they didn’t, they usually wouldn’t dwell on the subject much as it didn’t catch their interests.

A witch’s self-essence magic was culminated by several dozens of generations of witches.

While a male possessing a brand was a potentially interesting subject, they didn’t need to look at him to know that his self-essence magic was of a lower level.

Moreover, the first time a rumor about him was spread, he went to the Modern World not long after and only a handful of people actually saw him.

Because of that, the witches’ interests around him died down quickly.

But, recently, something big happened.

For the first time in history, Gehenna granted an official pass and citizenship to the man.

A total of three people guaranteed his identity.

Sua Agatha, the Gwanghwamun Branch’s Witch Point’s Head.

Countess Gemini, a powerful noble of Gehenna.

And Duchess Tiphereth, the renowned Criminal Hunter.

They were like celebrities among celebrities in Gehenna.

Since such notable and powerful witches went out of their ways to guarantee his identity, that meant the male witch had proved his worth. Such a sentiment started to circulate around the witch’s society.

Along with that, various rumors followed like an avalanche.

There were rumors about him being a hidden weapon being developed by Countess Gemini.

After all, it was only with their level of wealth that one could ever dream of developing a male witch.

There were also rumors about him being Duchess Tipereth’s mistress.

The fact that there were sightings of him and the Duchess renting the same room at the inn in the Border Town strengthened this rumor’s credibility.

There were also rumors about him being an experiment of Duchess Keter’s.

Or him being the disciple of Duchess Keter.

No, no, no!

That one’s a little too far-fetched, isn’t it?

Of course Diana had no way to know which rumors were true and which ones weren’t, but it didn’t matter. The important thing here was that she had to hear what the two witches had to say.

“Really? He has a self-essence magic? And it’s at least at the 10th rank?”

“Yes~! One of my friends met him personally not too long ago!”

“Where?”

“You know there’s a newly opened host club at the end of the Malkuth Gallery, right? He’s working there~”

Host club?*

*

What’s that?

Of course, the witches ignored the confused Diana and continued to talk.

“I heard that if you go there and order a drink, you can meet him for fifteen minutes there. Why don’t we go?”

“Sure, that sounds interesting.”

“Alright! I have a few coins to spare anyway, let’s go! Where else can you get an opportunity like this? Also, they said that they have a long list of reservations already, so we need to go quickly!”

“Why don’t we go now?”

The witches then stood up from their seats and left the cafe.

Meanwhile, Diana wolfed down her remaining ice cream, with dignity, of course.

“A male witch, huh…?”

Throughout history, there were reports of men utilizing magic before.

And to no one's surprise, they were all frauds, scandalous con artists that claimed they possessed self-essence magic.

Of course, they had paid dearly for their lies and deceits after they were caught.

If those rumors are true…

And he turns out to be the first real male witch…

Maybe it’s worth it to visit him.

A creature that supposedly comes out of a fantasy book is right here, it won’t hurt to see him for a bit, no?

“Hm…”

A frown appeared on Diana’s face.

Not because she felt annoyed or anything.

Rather, it was because somehow, even though she hadn’t met the so-called male witch, a feeling of aversion toward him sprouted in her heart.

To describe that aversion in one sentence, it would be…

But, a male using magic?

To witches, magic was sacred.

Even though she was still an apprentice, Diana could already appreciate its beauty and intricacies.

The more one delved into the world of magic, the more one would feel that their knowledge was but a drop of water in the middle of an ocean.

A male is doing that?

She remembered the words that her mother used to tell her.

When it was late at night and she was just about to go to sleep…

‘Men are inferior creatures, so don’t even come near them! Only lies and deceits will come out of their mouths! They’ll deploy all kinds of trickery to eat you!’

When they were eating…

‘All men are wolves! The only thing they want is to take advantage of your lovely and cute appearance! Oh, my adorable daughter!’

And when they were taking baths together…

‘Good men exist in this world, of course! But, the moment he approaches you, he stops being a good man! If a man ever calls out to you and tries to talk to you, call your mother! Immediately!’

In addition, her mother kept on telling her that witches should marry fellow witches and that was it. Love between witches and men just couldn’t exist, as men were nothing but pitiful creatures that were unable to handle mana.

Even though Lucy herself had a male lover when Diana was younger.

In any case, due to this extremely biased education, up until Diana was eleven, she wholeheartedly believed that men were able to turn into wolves at night to eat unsuspecting women.

Even when she was old enough to understand that all her mother’s teachings were extremely biased, the prejudice still remained in her heart.

Such a lowly creature is using magic…

The thought simply went against the prejudice she held for the longest time.

That was why she couldn’t accept the existence of a male witch.

She just couldn’t.

But, she knew that this kind of discriminatory thought was bad, that was why she had never expressed it.

Still, it was because she was holding such a thought that she felt uncomfortable with the thought that a male witch did exist.

“...I’ll meet him myself.”

Although Diana had reached the epitome of laziness, she still possessed the traits all witches and apprentices alike had.

An inquisitive mind and the desire to find out the answer to her questions.

Without those traits, no matter how talented Diana was, there was no way that she’d be able to succeed the brand from her mother in three years.

After leaving the cafe, she immediately knocked on the door to the host club.