Amelia was taking a particularly long bath this time.
And Siwoo, who had been kicked out of the Treehouse, was puffing on the cigar that had been offered to him earlier.
"Sigh, that was tough…"
All of the events that occurred today with Amelia were somewhat surprising to him in many ways.
Up till now, she had consistently been harassing Siwoo but had abruptly changed her attitude toward him.
If he had remembered back to the conversation from the night he had first met her five years ago, there was enough room for him to misunderstand what she meant.
That day, she told him to come to her chambers after he had finished his work in the evening.
The way she had told him to visit her late at night without providing him the reason behind the invitation, no man would assume that she was trying to make him her assistant.
Takasho, who was always by his side and egged him on about everything, also played a major role in his misunderstanding of the circumstances.
Telling him things like, Amelia, a blonde who appeared to be an adolescent girl, had fallen in love with Siwoo at first sight.
Maybe Siwoo himself really wanted to believe that she had really fallen for him.
Along with the clear sound of rain, an embarrassing image flashed through his mind.
When he had asked Amelia, "Didn't you approach me 5 years ago to serve you during the night?" he had no idea how dumbfounded she must have been.
They were meant to spend the day at this villa after Amelia had taken her shower, but just thinking about it made him anxious.
Siwoo debated whether or not to enter the villa after hearing the bathroom door close.
He was unable to picture spending the night with her and even if he fell off the balcony while nodding off, he really wanted to just crouch on the balcony.
After the bathroom incident, he found it hard to look her in the eye.
Gulping his saliva, Siwoo opened the door.
After all, she should have left the bathroom fully clothed, and slaves must accompany the witch after her baths.
Siwoo knew that Amelia would not accept any cheeky excuses for him leaving the treehouse to get some fresh air.
"...."
As he opened the door, he caught sight of Amelia paying close attention to something that was lying on the bed.
Her cheeks were peach-colored, possibly because of the bath from before.
Moreover, looking at her starlight-like eyes, it was clear that she was troubled by something.
Siwoo caught sight of the thing Amelia was staring at when he followed her gaze.
What he saw was a piece of babydoll nightie.
Amelia did not realize that Siwoo had returned, so when she picked up the nightie, he was able to observe the design in more detail.
Well.
What should he say?
It was a see-through nightie.
It wasn't one of the cheap products sold in erotic costumes at adult goods stores, instead, it was made with expensive fabric and would reveal her skin below as soon as she put it on.
Amelia cocked her head as she carefully looked at it.
Siwoo immediately recognized that it was "a nightie to please a man," but Amelia saw it differently.
Because by Amelia's standards, 'a piece of clothing that showed her skin whenever she wore it, was useless and not an outfit.'
Since it was designed like a piece of clothing, he couldn't help but wonder what it was for.
However, Amelia, who guessed that all of this was Sophia's trick, soon figured out the purpose of the cloth.
– Squeak!
The baby doll nightgown, rumored to incite lust in males, let out dying throes as Amelia tore it apart, despite never having been worn.
"It's a useless thing…"
Amelia shook her head as if she were perplexed, but before she realized it, Siwoo was standing next to her.
Her body stiffened, holding the two tattered pieces of the nightie in her hands, as soon as she saw him.
"Ah…"
A pink flame rose from Amelia's hand and burned unceasingly.
"Please, wait a minute!
Siwoo instinctively crouched down thinking that she was about to shoot the flame at him.
Contrary to his expectations, it was the torn pieces of nightie in her hand that burnt in the flames containing temperatures of thousands of degrees.
The nightie was burned so thoroughly that, by the time it was done, there was not even a trace of ash to be found, making it appear as though it had disappeared into thin air.
Amelia then pretended that nothing had happened.
"The room is cold."
Siwoo, who had been watching everything since the beginning, realized that she didn't want to talk about it and feigned ignorance.
This villa belonged to Amelia's friend and she was probably a witch who was very fond of men.
That's why the villa was decorated like a love hotel and contained those kinds of nightgowns.
"Really? I'll light a fire in the fireplace right away."
This small design villa was complete with all the facilities one would need.
When Siwoo walked to the fireplace.
He could sense that something wasn't quite right.
Black smoke billowed through the windows created by the ventilation above the fireplace.
"What's going on?"
Siwoo opened the window and climbed over the fireplace and looked down.
He found the root of the black smoke.
The pink flame that had previously burned the baby doll nightie swayed at the base of the enormous oak tree that was carrying the tree house.
"There, Ms. Amelia."
It was not an ordinary fire.
The prominent flames created by her mana were soaring up the wooden poles with unbelievable momentum in search of anything to burn greedily.
"It looks like we're in big trouble."
"What's going on?"
"We have to get out of here quickly."
"Where are we going to go at this hour…"
Flashing!
The magnificent Tree House had been consumed by the magical flames within 15 seconds of Amelia's question being answered.
The magic to create flames was very easy.
Fire, wind, earth, and water were four elements that the caster could easily express with a single pass. She didn't have to go through a complicated character transformation to create flames with her mana since it was one of the four elements.
Not being able to notice that the flame wasn't diminishing and that it was on its way to engulfing the villa meant that Amelia, who had reached the 22nd level within the hierarchy of witchcraft, made a mistake in trying to control the simple magic correctly.
When Amelia flicked her fingertips, the flame that had been pushed into the villa with intensity, as though a flame radiator had been used to ignite it, vanished as if it had never been there.
However, the villa that had already been burned by fire had been reduced to nothing more than ruins.
As Siwoo landed next to Amelia with the help of her magic…
– Crash boom!
The tree, which had become charcoal all the way to the core, collapsed sideways.
The villa was left in a miserable state after being destroyed, resembling the aftermath of a bird's nest after a typhoon.
"Ms. Associate Professor,"
"...."
"What shall we do now?"
"...."
Amelia and Siwoo stood in the pouring rain for a long time, staring at the shattered tree and the remains of the Treehouse. They resembled displaced people caught in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
"We can't spend a day in a crude house like this."
"Is that why you burned down the house?"
"Be quiet."
Amelia appeared to be trying to cover up the earlier magical error.
Siwoo remained silent, not wanting to say anything that would aggravate the situation. They were both left in an uncomfortable silence.
– Caw! Caw! Caw!
In the middle of the silence, a crow's screech could be heard.
2.
Siwoo didn't care, but Amelia was a noble and the circumstances they were in at the time weren't suitable for her.
It had been pouring all night and there would most likely be dew and drizzle the next morning, so there was no way to spend the night in such a situation.
After a considerable amount of walking, the two eventually made their way off the forest path and returned to the dock in Border Town.
They'd been gone for three hours, and it was past midnight when they returned, yet the dock was still packed with slaves carrying luggage.
It was open 24/7 because it was the port responsible for delivering all of Gehenna's supplies.
"Let's look for an inn nearby."
Ensuring that Amelia didn't get wet, Siwoo held an umbrella over her head as he hurried from place to place looking for accommodations.
There were no lodging facilities in inland cities like Tarot Town and Lenomond Town.
This was because the citizens of Gehenna were practically nothing more than serfs, and weren't allowed to travel freely.
Even if they had to stop by other towns or villages for business purposes, it was common for them to have to pay a certain amount of rent to a tavern to stay there in an empty room.
But things were different in Border Town.
Sailors and captains traveled regularly between the modern world and Gehenna, and many witches who lived in the modern world also visited Gehenna for extended periods of time. As a result, there was a high demand for large accommodations in the city.
The problem was that many of those accommodations were often packed with other guests.
While it was occasionally possible to get a room, getting two rooms for two people was far more difficult.
After searching all kinds of inns, the last inn Siwoo visited had the sign of a 'Coiled up Snake.'
It was a three-story wooden building, and like any other inn, the first floor served as a bar, with rooms on the second and third floors to welcome guests.
"Cheers!"
By the way, the bar was packed with people.
There were individuals there with tanned skin and bulging physiques.
Men who were dressed as sailors were conversing in loud voices.
"Everyone pay attention! Next is our captain's toast!"
"Gulp! Just drink!"
Siwoo, who squeezed through the pouring laughter and jeering, asked the innkeeper standing at the bar counter if there were any vacant rooms.
"Do you happen to have any spare rooms?"
He was a tough-looking guy and didn't look like an innkeeper.
The innkeeper, while cleaning a beer glass and taking a puff from his cigar, looked at Siwoo's face and responded.
"I have a room left, but I can't accept guests."
"If it's because I'm a slave…"
"It's not that, the inn's been rented out by the Naga crew today."
That wasn't good news.
This was the last inn in town.
Just as he realized the trouble he was in, an unexpected face popped up next to the bar counter.
"Innkeeper, aren't you being too hard on him?"
The person that had appeared was Larissa, the woman who had given him a blowjob in the store earlier today.
She seemed to be in a good mood from drinking, and her face was inexplicably red.
"What are you talking about? Didn't you say you were going to have fun?"
"But I can lend a bed to a person who seems to be in trouble and has nowhere to go."
"Well, then. I don't mind."
The innkeeper shrugged, putting down the glass he was cleaning diligently.
"A day's stay in a double room, including breakfast, costs 1 shilling per person. There are still plenty of rooms available, so take your pick."
"Thank you!"
Siwoo, who had successfully found a place for the night, also gave a nod of appreciation toward Larissa.
"Thanks to you, I was able to find a place to sleep."
Larissa smiled and exposed her pearly teeth in response to his greeting.
It was a smile that somehow gave the impression that she was amusingly watching a shivering puppy.
"Did you really miss me that badly? You couldn't wait to slip it between my breasts, couldn't you?"
Larissa grinned as she gathered her breasts to reveal her seductive cleavage.
The sight made Siwoo envious of the necklace hanging down between the plump cleavage.
"That's not true. I didn't even know Ms. Larissa was here."
"Oh my goodness, how could anyone not know that I'm the only woman in the Naga Crew? The ship that supplies cargo to the blue snake has left the dock after all."
When he heard it, he apparently realized why she would have misunderstood the cause of his arrival at the inn.
She probably thought that Siwoo, who remembered the tantalizing suggestion she had offered earlier, couldn't hold himself back even for a day and ran to the inn where she was staying.
"But it's really not. The witch is still waiting outside."
"The witch? The one from before?"
For a split second, Siwoo noticed a subtle shift in Larissa's eyes.
Pausing for a moment, she flashed a bewitching smile before returning to her usual expression.
"In any case, the witch is here to sleep, right? If you have time at night, feel free to come to my room."
It would be troublesome if he kept Amelia waiting this long outside.
Siwoo looked around the room in a panic, clearly uncomfortable with the way Larissa was touching him when he noticed a savior.
"Larissa, you're trying to seduce another man? You don't have to lower your standards by that much. Come here. What could you possibly see in someone as pathetic as that kid?"
The husky voice belonged to a behemoth of a man; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe his body as a 'mountain of muscles'.
To an outsider's perspective, it seemed like if he ever had to fight a Gorilla in hand-to-hand combat, he would be evenly matched with it.
"You look like a moron, Fyodor. It's nauseating to look at. Does using your strength in bed make you horny?"
"No matter how much a bitch whines in the beginning, in the end, they all start moaning as soon as I shove my dick in them."
"I'd bet you'd cry in embarrassment like a little girl after finishing in 3 minutes."
Fyodor smiled, loving the way Larissa had responded to his taunt without a shred of hesitation.
Fyodor grabbed onto Siwoo's shoulders. He had attempted to sneak out as their conversation quickly turned from rated R19 to R29.
"Hey, kiddo. Don't think of any nonsense and go to sleep. Unless you want to break your back and turn into a half-wit."
"Shut up, you moron! Why are you scaring him?"
"It's a joke! Just a joke."
The impact of his tap on Siwoo's shoulder was enough to make his head ring.
Siwoo tried to ignore the gorilla and politely excuse himself.
"Anyway, thank you for your help, Ms. Larissa."
"There's nothing to be thankful for. Let's have a drink later."
"I'll take you up on that offer whenever I have the time."
The sight of Larissa's waving silhouette slowly faded into the crowd as Siwoo headed for the exit to pick Amelia up