Despite Baek Yu-Seol's abrupt declaration that he would kill her, the disheveled woman didn't seem startled. Instead, she responded with a calm expression.
"You want to kill a witch hunter? Why?"
Her unexpectedly bland reaction made Baek Yu-Seol doubt himself.
'Did I mess up?'
For a moment, he wondered if he should have pretended to be a witch hunter from the beginning. But since he had already committed to the idea of killing witch hunters, there was no turning back now.
So, he decided to add some detail to his narrative to make it more convincing.
"This bracelet..."
He raised his wrist, displaying the bracelet.
"Do you recognize it?"
"There's… the presence of a witch imbued in that bracelet."
"Sharp observation."
The woman before him was undoubtedly a witch hunter. However, all Baek Yu-Seol knew about her was that, for some reason, she had abandoned her witch-hunting days and secluded herself in the forest.
Any further details were scarce, even in the Senitent Spec. He had no choice but to rely on his instincts and act accordingly.
"This bracelet was a gift from my mentor and closest friend, a witch."
The woman's expression slowly hardened at his words.
It was a gamble.
If a part of her still identified as a witch hunter, Baek Yu-Seol would undoubtedly become her target.
As a human mage who admitted to being close to a witch, he might be killed on the spot.
After all, many witch hunters in history had wiped out entire villages simply because they suspected the residents had harbored a witch… whether they knew it or not.
To admit to being close to a witch in front of such a dangerous person was nothing short of gambling with his life.
But...
'She wouldn't have given up witch hunting and hidden herself in the forest for no reason.'
Even the guide adventurer Panallet, who was cautiously watching from behind, was undeniably a witch, though her bloodline was slightly diluted.
The fact that this woman had let Panallet enter her hut, hadn't killed her, and even seemed to have met her multiple times suggested she might have abandoned witch hunting long ago.
The decisive evidence was that Panallet knew the exact way to this place.
A witch hunter's hideout discovered by a witch, and yet the witch was left alive?
That was anything but an ordinary story.
"The one who gave me this bracelet… she disappeared. For a long time, I was in despair, but after gathering myself and thinking rationally, I realized the truth."
"…She was killed by a witch hunter, is that what you're saying?"
"Yes. That's why I'm hunting down every witch hunter I can find. To personally slit their throats."
"Wait, hold on! You never mentioned that part!"
Panallet, flustered, tried to interject, but the disheveled woman bowed her head slightly and let out a hollow laugh.
"Ha."
At that, Panallet, overwhelmed by fear, retreated 100 meters away and hid behind a tree trunk.
Baek Yu-Seol, who had been ignoring her antics, intentionally furrowed his brow.
"What's so funny? I've already killed three witch hunters. Don't think you'll be spared."
Adding a number to his story made it sound more detailed and believable.
While it was true he had killed a witch hunter before, it wasn't as many as three.
'A touch of exaggeration is essential to make a lie believable.'
Whoosh!
A gust of wind swept through, rustling the towering trees that seemed to block out the sky.
The woman remained silent, her eyes with prominent dark-circles staring at Baek Yu-Seol for a long time before she finally spoke.
"…I see. When I said you reeked of a witch's scent, I didn't expect such a story behind it."
As the woman slowly raised her head to look at the sky, Baek Yu-Seol suddenly felt a chilling sensation coursing through his entire body.
'This…!'
Flinch!
An overwhelming surge of mana swept across the area, so immense it sent shivers down his spine.
The sheer amount of mana surrounding the entire forest was incomprehensible, far beyond what he could measure.
The sky momentarily turned red, then shifted to yellow, transformed into a pale purple, and finally returned to blue, as if nothing had happened.
Baek Yu-Seol wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
If—just if—he had to fight her to the death, could he have won?
'...I wouldn't win.'
Witch hunters were inherently beings beyond normal standards.
In Aether World, they were akin to irregulars, their power nearly impossible to predict.
'Though their strength is bound by the condition that it can only be used for witch hunting…'
Even so, considering how many ordinary people and mages had been killed under the guise of witch hunting, witch hunters could rightfully be called a scourge upon Aether World.
But the woman before him seemed to have completely abandoned that path.
"You don't need to be so tense. Even if you intend to harm me, I will not attack you."
"…Why is that?"
Only then did the woman smile faintly.
"Because you and I share the same mission."
Finally, the answer Baek Yu-Seol had been hoping for. He quickly dropped his defensive posture… not because he feared he might actually die if she attacked, of course, but because there was no need to continue the act of intimidation.
"You've given up your mission as a witch hunter."
"That's right. Thanks to that, I'm now a washed-up relic who can't do much. Still, I get to enjoy my time here, living quietly in the forest. Your name?"
"Baek Yu-Seol."
"The name I once went by was Syclen. Feel free to call me that."
With that, Syclen turned and headed back to her mansion.
The large mansion looked completely out of place in the middle of the forest, but at the same time, it exuded a fairytale-like charm, making it oddly fitting.
No, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call the mansion's unique grandeur beautiful.
'She used to be a witch hunter…'
In reality, Syclen might be one of the rare witch hunters with whom one could hold a conversation.
She had hunted witches for a very long time, meaning she likely possessed a vast amount of information about them. There was even a chance she knew something about Scarlet's true form.
"What are you doing? Not coming in?"
As Baek Yu-Seol stood still, Syclen turned back from the mansion's entrance to call out to him. Only then did he store his staff into his subspace and follow her.
"What about me?!"
"You can stay out."
Her response to Panallet was cold. But despite being told to stay behind, Panallet clenched her fists and clung to Baek Yu-Seol's back, following him into the mansion.
A witch entering a witch hunter's hideout… how bold.
The interior of the mansion was just as eerie and empty as its vine-covered exterior.
There was hardly any furniture, and the occasional statues scattered around exuded a chilling atmosphere. Paintings in meaningless frames seemed to follow their every move with their eyes, adding to the sense of dread.
Syclen led Baek Yu-Seol through the mansion with a staggering gait, as if she might collapse at any moment. At the end of the corridor, she opened a door and walked in.
Baek Yu-Seol had been expecting a reception room but was surprised to find a bedroom instead.
"Uh… what is this place?"
"Sit over there and rest for a bit…"
With that, Syclen flopped onto the bed and lay down as if she had fainted.
"Excuse me…?"
No response.
"Hello…?"
It seemed she had fallen asleep.
Baek Yu-Seol had never experienced such a bizarre form of hospitality before.
Unable to forcibly wake Syclen, who had genuinely fallen asleep, Baek Yu-Seol decided to explore the mansion.
There wasn't much to see, but the sunlight softly filtering through the broken windows was unexpectedly beautiful, giving him a feeling of serenity and cleansing his mind.
Though every second was precious, and he was tempted to wake Syclen immediately, he held back.
You'll need to be patient while she's still favorable toward you.
"So, how did you end up getting close to a witch?"
Panallet trailed after Baek Yu-Seol, bombarding him with questions.
"Every encounter starts with a coincidence."
"You must've been in a deep~ romantic relationship with her, right? This big sister can tell just by looking."
"It was a profound bond."
"How much did you love her?"
"A teacher's grace is as vast as the heavens. Measuring it would be disrespectful."
No matter what she asked, Baek Yu-Seol gave ambiguous answers, and before long, Panallet seemed to lose interest and pouted slightly.
"Ugh, fine, whatever."
It seemed like their conversation was over, but soon enough, unable to stand the silence, Panallet started talking again.
"Well, anyway, it looks like you're in the same boat as Syclen."
Panallet glanced out the window as they walked.
Though she had brought up the topic herself, her expression wasn't particularly cheerful, as if it wasn't a pleasant story.
"Syclen loved a witch too. Isn't it funny? Why is it that the one you fall in love with always ends up being someone you're destined to kill?"
After a brief silence, Baek Yu-Seol chuckled softly.
"Maybe it's precisely because they're such a forbidden match that you fall for them?"
"Ooh, so you're saying it happened to you too? Were you a former witch hunter?"
"No."
"Tch. How boring."
Despite her complaints, Panallet continued, "Well, either way, you seem to be in a similar situation to Syclen, so don't be too hard on her. You might even find her easy to talk to."
Baek Yu-Seol didn't hold any particular grudge against Syclen; he had only pretended to be hostile.
"She's the type who hates being hated. That's why she's living in hiding now. She couldn't even fulfill her duty as a witch hunter because she liked humans too much… Hm?"
As Panallet chattered on about Syclen's story, she suddenly squinted her eyes and looked out the window.
"Do you smell something burning?"
"Something burning?"
At her words, Baek Yu-Seol sniffed the air, but he didn't detect anything unusual.
However, when he glanced out the window, he saw dark clouds rising in the distance, and his expression immediately hardened.
It wasn't clouds.
It was smoke.
Smoke billowing from the forest as it burned.
"What... what's happening all of a sudden...?"
Without hesitation, Baek Yu-Seol leaped out the window and used his Flash to land on the mansion's roof.
Enhancing his sight with the Sentient Spec's zoom function and his superhuman vision, he quickly spotted a group of people approaching in the distance.
"Burn it down! Burn it all!"
"Kill the witch!!"
"Kill the witch!!"
The shouts rang faintly, like background noise in his ears. Baek Yu-Seol instinctively turned his head.
Standing there, now awake, was Syclen. She was still in the same disheveled state as before. Her dark-circled eyes were fixed on the forest, her expression calm yet hollow.
"…It's been a while since I had visitors, but it seems I won't be able to show them anything pleasant."
"What's going on?"
Syclen responded with a self-deprecating smile.
"What else? It's a witch hunt. They probably don't like the idea of some 'creepy lunatic woman' living in this forest."
"A witch hunt...?"
For a moment, Baek Yu-Seol was at a loss for words and turned his gaze back toward the forest.
Unable to enter the forest due to Syclen's magic, the humans seemed to have chosen to burn it down entirely instead.
'A witch hunt…'
Hunting a witch hunter under the guise of a witch hunt?
How absurd and ironic could this situation get?
"It's all our karma, isn't it? When I think of the atrocities my kind committed under the guise of witch hunting..."
Hanging witches publicly and burning them alive, destroying entire villages under the guise of hunting witches, sacrificing innocent women, killing and branding them with the image of evil.
"And now, if someone comes across an unsettling woman, they simply call her a 'witch.' Truly, the world has become an easier place for witch hunters."
Of course, it seemed there were barely any real witches left in the world anymore.
Syclen looked at Baek Yu-Seol with a bitter smile.
"You should go. I think I'll be burned alive today."
Witch hunters could not recklessly use their powers against ordinary humans.
Though countless witch hunters had slaughtered people in the name of identifying witches, the penalty for unjustly harming non-witches was eternal torment in hell.
It didn't look like Syclen planned to escape.
In other words, she seemed ready to give up and die today.
Saving someone from such a large mob was no easy feat. However, for Baek Yu-Seol, this wasn't about altruism. The urgency lay in obtaining information about Scarlet.
He let out a sigh and raised his staff.
"I'll try talking to them."
"That won't be easy."
"If it doesn't work, then…"
Baek Yu-Seol scratched his head with his staff and said, "I'll beat them all senseless until they listen."
With time running out, sometimes brute force was the most efficient solution.