### Chapter 497 – Room 207, The Gate Room – Second Trial ‘The Witch’ (5)
—
– Lee Eunsol
The moment the Inquisitor bled out and died, the entire courtroom froze.
Not just the townsfolk of Ernhheim, but even Elena and I were momentarily speechless.
An astonishing shock swallowed all noise in an instant stillness.
Soon, time that had stopped began to flow again.
“AAAHH!”
“W-What the?!”
“Judge!”
“It’s the witch! The witch!”
People screamed in terror.
— SPLASH!
As if it had been waiting for this moment, a red liquid soaked my cheeks.
Confused, I turned my head to see the attendants who were tying me up lying on the floor, utterly defeated.
“… Oh my.”
The Inquisitor who had just issued my death sentence was now bleeding out, while the attendants who attempted to bind me were also crumpled like limp noodles.
At this point, there was no one left maintaining their composure.
“G-Get BACK! AAAAHH!”
— BANG BANG!
People flailed and scrambled away as if they were swimming in panic.
“Please! Please! Eunsol, just spare my life! I have a daughter… a young daughter!”
Out of nowhere, a man was begging for his life, claiming he had a little girl.
What a laugh.
What should I say?
I had anticipated the tide of events, but this was far more extreme than I expected.
I knew the witch’s nature was cruel and impulsive, but this was on a whole other level!
I never thought that in front of Elena, the one blessed by God, they would just go and kill everyone outright.
Just then, Elena’s sharp voice broke through the chaos.
“Capture her!”
Capture? Did they find the witch?
— FLAP!
No, it was her familiar they were after!
Pero swooped in like lightning and snagged a cat that had been perched on the window sill.
In the next moment, sensing the danger, the witch’s familiar transformed with a loud CRASH!
Within moments, it had grown to the size of a leopard, with claws sharp enough to slice through steel.
Of course, it wouldn’t matter if the cat turned into a tiger; size didn’t matter in this case!
Pero executed an elegant flip mid-air, revealing a giant monster bird no bigger than a human head.
“Meow?”
Seeing the monstrous cat freak out and meow made me giggle.
Did it not realize it was transforming into a monster itself?
Next came the chaos!
The makeshift courtroom erupted into destruction as wooden tables and chairs splintered amid the turmoil.
“AAAHH!”
Most townsfolk had bolted long before, but a few slowpokes got tangled up in the monsters’ ruckus.
Unfortunately, both the monstrous cat and Pero were too reckless to be concerned about the ‘small matter’ of civilian safety.
…
By the time the dust began to settle, Elena and I moved closer.
The familiar returned to its regular cat size, gasping for air on the ground.
“Long time no see.”
“…”
The cat tilted its head, seemingly perplexed.
Maybe it was because Elena and I approached in a calm manner?
“Are you okay? I have a few questions.”
“…”
“Can you tell us who the witch is?”
“You know already.”
“Maybe not?”
The name that came out of the cat’s mouth was someone I already suspected.
“Sister, did you have an inkling?”
“A bit. Oh!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Valentina… is she at your mansion?”
“Most likely. But I’m not sure.”
“…”
Valentina’s behavior these past few days had been a bit of a hint.
Though she openly disliked me due to family reasons, she never directly suspected me of being a witch.
I thought she was just building a kind of bond over time with the current version of me.
But that wasn’t it.
She either knew the true identity of the ‘real witch’ or had guessed it.
— SQUEAK! SPLASH!
Elena, the stunning beauty, sat on a half-broken wooden chair, looking somewhat disheartened.
“I thought it would be troublesome if Thomas was dead.”
“Me too.”
“He seemed like a ‘boss summon trigger’ of sorts.”
Elena picked up on that too.
From a detached viewpoint, Thomas’s presence itself was odd.
He was waving a torch, screaming to burn me, yet he was as plain as any ordinary human.
Maybe back when I first entered Room 101, I would have felt threatened.
But now, I had the ‘dream butterfly’ with me.
Even if ten of those humans came after me, they wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on me.
So why had the hotel placed such an NPC here?
“Sister, since everyone has already run away, let’s talk freely. Thomas is ultimately a pawn of the Vatican, and the Vatican is like a pseudo-administration bureau of this era. Although it seems to only manage Europe.”
“…”
“They can’t manage the world as intricately as the future administration bureaus will.”
“Probably because of limitations in their capabilities, resources, and technology.”
“The Inquisitors are like canaries in a mine.”
Canaries in a mine.
In the past, miners used to keep small birds like canaries or finches in the mines, serving as an air quality indicator.
If the canary died, it meant danger.
In a similar vein was the role of the Inquisitors.
They spread trained commoners throughout Europe, receiving periodic reports while letting them pass judgment on minor ‘corruptions’.
If they died and reports stopped coming in, it signaled a dangerous situation.
“According to the setup, there were already temple knights dispatched to Ernhheim.”
Meaning Cha Jinchul.
“What does that imply?”
“It means the Vatican was already suspicious of Ernhheim.”
“Exactly. And now, with Cha Jinchul dead, the follow-up Inquisitor is also dead.”
“…”
The canaries dispatched by the Vatican had all been killed.
So soon, the ‘real’ one will come.
“It must be a boss, right?”
“Probably.”
“What about the witch? Is she also a boss summon trigger?”
“Maybe….”
Standing up, I tightly grasped Elena’s hand.
I felt like I needed to confess something awkward right now.
What kind of companion is Elena?
Using the sacred sun power she’s charged up, besides the midnight maze, she was the strongest in the party.
So what kind of monster would the trial’s boss she was paired with be?
“… Elena.”
I couldn’t quite guess the identity of the ‘judicator’ that the Vatican would send, yet one thing was obvious.
In the battle against that and Elena, I would merely be an obstacle.
“Go.”
“… I’m sorry.”
“Why apologize? We all have our roles. You have to handle the witch.”
“…”
“Sister, listen.”
“Yeah?”
Was there something she wanted to say?
“On the first day, I mentioned receiving a letter from Kain, right?”
“Yeah. It said we should proceed together.”
“Thanks to that letter, we learned why Jinchul failed.”
It was probably due to the incident that happened at the Egypt party.
Considering the traits of the time-looping timekeeper, the answer was straightforward.
“That made me think….”
“What did you think?”
“Trains travel on a single continuous rail.”
“…”
“Ancient Egypt, medieval Europe, modern America, contemporary Korea—all share a single rail. Past events influence future events in this structure.”
“I get it. It’s like a butterfly effect.”
“Butterfly effect? Nice phrasing. Let’s think about that together. So let’s go for it!”
“Let’s do it!”
— CLICK!
As I strolled through the chaotic Ernhheim, I pondered the ‘butterfly effect.’
The negative consequences set off in Egypt led to Jinchul’s death.
A similar incident could happen again.
What if we failed to defeat the boss and created a ‘negative butterfly effect’?
That aftermath would surely burden Ari and Grandfather Mooksung.
…
Couldn’t we trigger a positive butterfly effect instead?
If I could plant seeds for future companions arriving hundreds of years later, things would ease up!
… Oh.
The moment I reached that thought, I vaguely understood what I needed to do next.
*
When I returned home, the first thing I found was piles of luggage everywhere.
“Valentina.”
“You’re back! I didn’t expect you to actually show up! I want to congratulate you, but as you can see, there’s no time. Let’s hurry and pack!”
A few utensils and some gold that was left behind by the husband she supposedly lost, plus a bit of food.
“Preparing to evacuate?”
“Of course! The witch killed the Inquisitor, right? If it goes on like this, we’re in danger. We need to escape Ernhheim immediately.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure the witch will kill you and me if she’s potentially offing everyone else.”
Valentina froze like a statue.
“Are you suggesting we逃 away from the witch, or that we take her with us?”
“Lee Eunsol.”
“When did you know?”
“… Two years ago.”
“Right, right. First, I need to talk with Sophia.”
Over the past few days, the witch had displayed behaviors that led to reflection.
She had sent her familiar to brutally kill Bruno.
It seemed like she was setting me up for a trap.
Yet, when I actually encountered the cat, it warned me to run because someone else was coming.
Adding to that her extreme behavior today made the answer quite clear.
As the familiar noted, it was a question that didn’t even need to be asked.
“Mom!”
Out came the cute girl from the room, beaming with a smile.
My daughter, the one who loves me the most in this world.
A witch, Sophia.
“…”
She killed Bruno as a threat against me and then executed the Inquisitor and his attendants for trying to burn me alive.
She probably didn’t contemplate the consequences of those actions beforehand.
She’s too young and lacks the judgment to consider the aftermath.
“Mommy! Mommy! Was today okay?”
“… Sophia.”
Her nonchalant demeanor after killing numerous people showed no remorse.
Clearly, she was far from a normal human.
I could understand why the Vatican was going after this witch with such determination.
“Mom has something to apologize for today.”
“Hmm?”
Does she not have a trace of a human heart? No, that’s not it.
She loves me, her mom, and she cares for her aunt Valentina too.
There’s some bond formed from our personal relationships, at least.
Yet, when it comes to others, she shows absolutely no mercy.
“Sophia’s cat… well, I ended up killing it.”
“Timmy? No worries! I can make talking cats all day!”
“…”
“… Oh.”
In a split second, she admitted her identity as a witch.
If I had suspected her from the start, I might have caught on to this the day the trial began.
Had I known earlier, would the developments have changed?
“Mom, ummm… there’s something—”
Surprise, shock, and a hint of fear.
“Are you scared I’ll scold you, Sophia?”
“… I just wanted to protect you.”
Watching the girl defend herself instinctively made me realize something.
What does it mean for someone to worry about getting scolded by me?
It means even though she’s lacking most of her conscience, she understands her actions are viewed as ‘evil’ by others.
So….
Sophia can never grow into an upright human being.
However, she can mimic being a good person.
“Sophia, come here.”
“Okay!”
“…”
As I embraced Sophia, filled with pure love, I thought about it.
Our most incomprehensible companion.
One who plays a game of Go all on her own, leaving nobody able to understand her.
…
I decided to mimic Kain a little.
I might not be able to compare my skills with a great Go player who’s designed the history of Room 207 for five millennia…
But maybe I could handle something like 200 or 300 years?
*
“… A chaos disaster of at least level two has occurred in Ernhheim. The temple knight Cha Jinchul and the Inquisitor Thomas Torquemada have been struck.”
“Release Fortuna.”
“Fortuna? If so, does that mean the Gray family—”
“I won’t say it twice.”
—
– Elena
From the morning, things had been going less than stellar.
The statue hanging on the wall seemed almost intent on assassinating me as it was smoothly sliding around.
Even the delicious buttered bread oddly rolled across the floor.
The table corner, which hadn’t snagged me once before, sharply tore at my clothes today, and the chair I tried to sit on suddenly had one leg rotting away.
Each example was enough to count a ton of unreasonable misfortune, rainning down endlessly.
At some point, even my family began to feel a sense of ominous presence; they grew quiet, like mice in hiding.
Thanks to the incessant rain pouring since morning, the mansion felt eerily gloomy even in broad daylight.
Then, cutting through the raindrops, appeared the shape of a cross.
Finally, the Vatican had sent someone.
Up until that time, the lord of Ernhheim, Duke Gray, maintained a nonchalant attitude.
“After days of unease, the Vatican has finally sent an extermination squad!”
“…”
“I’ve been anxious ever since I heard the witch escaped in the courtroom; it’s such a relief!”
“…”
“Elena, let’s go greet them together.”
“Sure.”
The Duke’s calmness had to have some basis behind it.
After all, the evil witch was causing chaos in the city; what crime could the Gray family possibly have?
Especially since there was even a daughter blessed by the Lord in the family!
There might be a minor reprimand for neglecting the city’s management, but it wasn’t a big deal.
…
From the shadows, he appeared.
Even when the knight clad in pitch-black armor lifted his crossbow, the Duke still did not understand the gravity of the situation.
— SWISH!
The arrow that flew like lightning pierced the Duke’s head, and in that moment, he realized.
The Vatican had deemed the Gray family ‘fallen’ as well!
Could this really happen?!
Hadn’t it been said I was the ‘blessed’ daughter?
Are they seriously attacking the Lord’s daughter like this?
Or could it be—
— SWISH!
Just as the next arrow came flying towards me—
「‘Self-defense’ has been activated.」
A golden scale, shining like a star, immediately shattered the arrow, sending it hurtling back at the knight.
“Uh?”
Did he just… deflect my scale?
Nope.
He was simply walking straight ahead….
This time, the scale missed him entirely.
Just like all morning, I was out of luck again.
Or perhaps, I was dealing with come obnoxiously lucky foes.
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