Chapter 81

Alice and Seara were distributing food to people who lost their homes in the great earthquake. A long line of people waiting for food stretched out in front of them.

While handing out bread and water diligently, Gremory with a gloomy face pushed between Alice and Seara.

“I’ll stay here for a moment…”
“Ah! You startled me! Sis, why does your face look like that? What happened?”
Alice looked Gremory’s face from side to side. Gremory muttered as she handed bread to a person in line.
“That bad woman… really a bad woman…”

“What’s wrong? Did you fight with Isolen again?”
“Don’t ask. I don’t want to think about it.”

“That lady is really harsh. Why did she suddenly act so mean?”
“Humans tend to show their true nature when a crisis or anxiety comes.”

Pouting her lower lip, Gremory handed bread to the next person. Alice gently patted Gremory’s shoulder.

“Isolen’s personality is strong, but she’s rational too. She surely knows this situation isn’t your fault.”
“She took off the jeweled necklace I gave her and wore a holy relic necklace instead. And it’s a really powerful one.”
“Oh, she probably wears it for protection from Etna or other witches. Look, even our Seara is wearing a holy relic ring.”
“No. She definitely does it because she dislikes me.”

Pouting seriously, Gremory drooped her mouth and handed water to the next person.

After handing out all the food, night had already fallen. Just like Count Sien said, the temperature dropped sharply at night.

Gremory was grateful for the robe that Count Sien gave her. Without it, she would have been quite cold.

Sniff sniff But why does this robe smell like Isolen?

Since it was from Isolen’s family, it might carry her scent, but Gremory felt strangely uncomfortable. She recalled Isolen’s angry face when she had left.

Seara tightly held Gremory’s hand, who looked downcast.
“It’ll be alright. I promise. Because Isolen has been with Cession for three years. If she were really a bad person, Cession wouldn’t have kept her close for so long.”
“…Okay, I’ll trust you.”

A little energy returned to Gremory’s face. Seara smiled proudly and pulled Gremory’s hand.
“Come on, let’s go to the church. They say injured people are gathering there. Our Mori sister has to go help.”
“Okay, let’s go.”

So the two witches and one person headed to the church. Although it was night, the church was bright. It was all lit up with lanterns inside and outside.

Gremory opened the church door and entered first. Many patients were lying down groaning inside. Nuns sent from Duke Edel were busily running around to treat them.

Gremory spotted Isolen far away, disinfecting a patient’s wounds.

“…”
Gremory ignored her.

The head nun, who noticed Gremory first, hurried over.
“Oh my, you must be tired from restoring the territory. Why did you come here? Leave this to the nuns and please rest.”
“Why are you treating them yourself? Have you used up all the ‘Beauty Potion’?”
“Yes. There were so many injured people. Even after using it on those who needed urgent care first, we still didn’t have enough medicine.”
“Are there any critically ill patients now?”
“Yes, a few.”
“Then I’ll go see them myself—”

At that moment, Isolen noticed Gremory and walked up wearily.
“Go away. I don’t want to see you.”

Alice and Seara who were watching from behind were shocked, and the head nun was embarrassed.

Gremory, anger rising, confronted Isolen.
“Are you crazy? There are so many dying patients, and I can save them, but you tell me to go away? What’s wrong with your head?”

“Go away. I said go away. These patients are all because of you. If you have any shame, get out now.”

Isolen pushed Gremory’s shoulder roughly. At this, Gremory’s anger exploded, and she pushed Isolen’s shoulder hard.

“Shut up and get lost.”

“Ah!”

Losing her balance, Isolen was pushed back into the wall. The lantern hanging there broke and caught Isolen’s long hair on fire.

Startled, Gremory quickly grabbed a nearby bucket and poured water over Isolen.

The head nun trimmed Isolen’s hair with scissors. After cutting off the burnt parts, Isolen’s hair became short, very similar to Gremory’s.

The green robe Isolen was wearing also got scorched. The head nun looked very troubled and handed over a spare robe.
“This is all the spare robe we have…”

It was a deep blue robe similar to the one Gremory was wearing.

“Ha.”
Isolen nervously changed into the deep blue robe. Their eyes met.
“What are you looking at? Annoying.”
“I’m annoyed by you too.”

The two, now looking similar, turned their heads away from each other. It was very awkward.

Isolen left the church immediately, saying she was going to help with the bodies of the dead.

Gremory went into the church to treat the critically ill patients. When people curiously asked how she healed them, Gremory casually said, “If you use black magic stones well, you can heal too.”

After treating the critically ill, Gremory finally slumped into a chair to rest. She was extremely tired after working so hard today.

As she sat, her eyes closed naturally. Her head nodded drowsily.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she sensed something strange.

‘What is it?’

A strong ominous energy was coming from near the church.

Jumping up, Gremory grabbed the passing head nun and asked,
“Do you know what’s over there?”
“If you mean that way, it’s toward the plains. It’s where the bodies are being collected. That’s where Isolen went.”
“Damn it!”

Feeling a bad premonition, Gremory hurried out of the church. She mounted the black horse tied at the stable and headed toward the plains.

The closer she got, the thicker the dark energy became. It seemed Etna and Marbas were up to something again.

‘I hope Isolen isn’t caught up in this.’

On the way to the plains, Gremory saw a terrified crowd running away. She stopped and asked a man,
“Why are you running like that?”
“The corpses suddenly became monsters, came back to life, and are eating the living!”
“What about Isolen? Have you seen her?”
“I don’t know! I know nothing!”

The terrified man pushed past Gremory and ran away again.

Gremory hurried her horse, checking if Isolen was among the fleeing crowd.

As she got closer to the plains, memories of Isolen flashed through her mind.

When she first met the drunken, belligerent Isolen and calmed her down.
When she saved Isolen from a puppeteer’s attack and felt relieved.
When they held a tea party together.
When Isolen gave her the emerald necklace she wore every day.

‘That’s something you cherish. You wear it every day.’
‘If you give something precious to someone precious, it doubles the happiness.’

Gremory still wore the emerald necklace Isolen had given her around her neck.

Finally arriving at the plains, it was chaos. The revived corpses were howling like beasts and searching for living people.

Those who couldn’t escape had hidden inside a nearby civilian house. They had locked the wooden windows and doors tightly.

Corpses swarmed around the house, scratching the walls and doors fiercely.

Luckily, the house was quite large. Many people could take shelter inside.

‘Isolen, I hope you’re inside too.’

Gremory waved her hand in the air. The dark energy leaking from the corpses faded, and the corpses collapsed, purified. Gremory recognized the dark energy as Etna’s.

‘Damn, this is tough.’

After a whole day of overexertion, dealing with the dark energy of a top-tier witch like Etna was exhausting. She even felt dizzy for a moment.

Gremory got off her black horse and knocked on the house door.

“Open the door and run away quickly! I’ve dealt with the corpses nearby!”

The people opened the door and rushed out.
“Thank you! We won’t forget your kindness!”
“Oh my, what did you do? Did you purify them?”
“Saint! The saint saved us!”
“Yeah, I’m a saint. So stop hesitating and run!”

Gremory impatiently evacuated the people, protecting them from the corpses that occasionally tried to attack.

However, until the last person came out, Isolen was nowhere to be seen.