Several days had passed sinceYoon Si-woohad woken up.

Fortunately for us, there hadn’t been any major incidents to worry about in the last few days.

There were some unsettling moments due to whispers aboutYoon Si-woopotentially dying, but…

Well, the conclusion we came to was that as long as we didn’t engage in reckless battles that would require using the witch’s powers, we could at least ease our troubled minds about it.

Oh, by the way, when I say there weren’t any major problems, I mean there weren’t any negative incidents, not that nothing at all happened.

With the magical issue of the artifact we obtained from the Witch of Lust being resolved, research on its uses was actively progressing, and various results were coming in.

Among those, the most notable mention would surely be the treatment ofMarin‘s father,Lucas.

Lucas Eloise, who had been in a semi-comatose state, was the Vice Captain of theAstrafe 3rd Squadand had been unconscious since he was injured by the so-calledWitch of Pride,Frieda, during her invasion of the city.

Lucashad received a deadly blow that nearly severed his neck and had been frozen in place by his own ability, barely avoiding death.

Until now, there had been no way to treatLucasin that state, but with the power of the artifact, we were finally able to heal him.

According to the stories,Marincried a river when she saw her father open his eyes.

Lucashad been in a state of unconsciousness, and moreover,Natalia,Marin’s mother, had sacrificed herself to seal theWitch of Gluttony, meaningMarinhad effectively lost both parents.

Although she had acted brave during that time, she must have suffered greatly, and when her father, whom she believed had no hope of waking up, finally did, it seemed the dam broke.

In any case,Lucasawakened to receive the news ofNatalia‘s passing. Despite his immense grief, he didn’t fall into despair; instead, he immediately stood up and expressed his intention to return.

He had always prepared for the possibility of such an event, mentioning that he needed to pull himself together even more for the sake of his wife, who had protected everyone with her life.

Marinshowed remarkable determination, and it became clear how much she had been influenced by that inspiring mindset.

Moreover,Lucaswasn’t the only one to announce his return to the people.

Yoon Si-wooresumed his position as captain immediately after waking up as well.

When the news ofYoon Si-woo‘s return was first announced, there was a great deal of concern over whether he would be okay without a rehabilitation period.

UnlikeLucas, who, despite his absence, was a superpower user with minimal drawbacks,Yoon Si-woowas a martial hero who used a sword as his primary weapon.

Considering he had been bedridden for so long, it was natural people worried he’d be physically impaired and would require time to rehabilitate to adapt.

However,Yoon Si-wooseemed to mock their concerns by showcasing that he had become even stronger, leaving everyone astonished.

ThoughYoon Si-woohad previously been known for his exceptional swordsmanship, his skills had reportedly improved to the point that even those who were adept at swordplay were left speechless.

To prove that he was okay, during a monster hunt, one of the subordinates, witnessingYoon Si-woo’s combat, seriously questioned, “…Captain, you weren’t secretly practicing while pretending to be down, were you?”

So I became curious about what happened and directly askedYoon Si-woo, only to hearLucyrespond on his behalf: [He had me practice swinging my sword while I was out cold.]

Yoon Si-woohimself said he had no memory of training, just that he felt like he had suddenly become stronger upon waking up, which left me slightly dumbfounded.

What was he, some mobile game protagonist who automatically leveled up while asleep? Seriously, use some common sense with those cheat items!

Of course, I was actually more pleased than envious. The strongerYoon Si-woobecame, the less he’d have to rely on the witch’s powers.

Ideally, I would have liked to seeYoon Si-wooget strong enough to take down witches all by himself, without relying on such powers, but that seemed impossible.

Well, if that were possible,Yoon Si-woowould have defeated theWitch of Gluttonyin the original story and achieved a happy ending.

…But then again, if that happened, I wonder if I would have had any reason to come to this world.

I wished the original story had ended happily from the start, with everyone safe, but thinking about it meant I wouldn’t have met anyone.

No, it was pointless to think that way.

Having come here and met everyone, I genuinely hoped we could all reach a happy ending together.

In summary, though, the conclusion was that the uplifting news of the return of the two heroes,LucasandYoon Si-woo, was a significant blessing.

With the loss of such powerful figures, the return of two strong forces was indeed like a long-awaited rain during a drought for the city.

Moreover, with the news of theWitch of Lustbeing hunted down, the city was regaining a hopeful atmosphere that had long been lost.

…At least on the surface.

*

“I supposeYoon Si-woowaking up means we’re finally in the clear, right?”

“Isn’t that right? We even succeeded in defeating theWitch of LustwithoutYoon Si-woo. Now that he’s back, we can feel secure even if other witches attack!”

I heard the chatter of people out on the street.

Unlike the previously pessimistic discussions, those now exuded hope, and I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.

Yoon Si-wooreally is reliable.

I felt a renewed appreciation for the position he held among the people. His presence seemed to contribute significantly to the bright expressions of the crowd.

Of course, he must have felt quite burdened by it.

After a brief smile, I slowly wiped the grin from my face and continued walking until I reached my destination.

As I opened the door to the building, the bustling scenery of the research lab welcomed me.

This was a facility created for research concerning the artifact we had acquired.

I wandered through the researchers diligently calculating something and approachedSylvia, who was slumped against a corner of the lab.

“Sylvia, I’m here.”

“…Ah,Scarlet, you’re here?”

“…What’s the result?”

Sylviaweakly shook her head and gestured ahead with her chin.

FollowingSylvia’s gesture, I noticedDwightapproaching us with a slightly furrowed brow.

I guessed the result judging byDwight‘s expression, but I asked him for confirmation anyway.

“…So, it seems impossible?”

“…Sigh, yeah. I can’t say it’s anything but impossible.”

Dwightsighed and answered my question.

At his response, I let out a sigh of my own and forced a smile.

While no special bad news had appeared in recent days, we had instead encountered some good fortune.

Despite this, our expressions were grim, contrasting sharply with the hopeful atmosphere around the city, and there was a reason for that.

The reason was simple.

“After all, there’s no way we can defeat theWitch of Gluttonywith just the single artifact we recovered.”

Despite the absence of any severe incidents, our current situation was already quite dire.

Since we obtained the artifact recently, we had been conducting various studies, but one fundamental aspect remained paramount.

That was finding a way to use the artifact’s power to defeat theWitch of Gluttony.

Thus, withDwightand the research team, we had been fully committed to discovering a way to amplify our strength by using the artifact as a consumable, just like we had done when we fought theWitch of Gluttonybefore.

Encouragingly, they succeeded in figuring out how to do that, but ironically, it led us to despair.

After running battle simulations based on our previous experiences, we concluded that with the artifacts currently possessed by the city, namely theWorld Treeand theTears of the Ocean, it was utterly impossible to confront theWitch of Gluttony.

Had there been at least a sliver of possibility, we might have considered it viable, but instead, we received the clean-cut conclusion of 0% chance—it was simply impossible, leaving us with no room for hope.

We realized only now whatEvehad meant when she said that we would need at least three artifacts to contend with theWitch of Gluttony.

This didn’t indicate that we could surely defeat her, but rather that to have even a 1% chance of success, we required a minimum of three artifacts.

To those unacquainted with the situation, this statement might seem ludicrous, but those who had faced theWitch of Gluttonypersonally could not help but agree with the results due to the fear ingrained in them and the overwhelming despair they felt at being unable to defeat her.

Anyway, the conclusion remained that to confront theWitch of Gluttony, we needed to find another artifact from somewhere, yet that was precisely the issue.

We barely had any information about artifacts at all.

There were vague rumors of something existing in the west. Or something mentioned in the east.

With such ambiguous information, how could we ever locate an artifact?

Reflecting our situation,Sylviamuttered with a gloomy expression.

“What should we do now…?”

“…Yeah, what should we do?”

What should we do indeed, we were in a bad spot.

I almost blurted that out but managed to phrase it more politely.

“We’re in trouble.” was less preferable than “What should we do?” after all.

No matter how grim the reality, I didn’t want to discourageSylvia.

“We don’t have any clues to track artifacts, and even if we searched haphazardly, in this situation, we don’t know when the sealedWitch of Gluttonywill resurrect, so we won’t have sufficient time for a search. This truly is a situation without answers.”

“Ugh…”

Unlike me,Dwight, lacking subtlety, ultimately broughtSylviadown.

But saying there was no answer really portrayed our current situation, so I could hardly argue with him.

“…Anyway, got it. I’ll think of a countermeasure before it’s too late, so I’ll take my leave for today.”

“…Right. If we keep talking like this, it’ll only get more depressing. For now, I need to rest a little as well.”

In any case, for the time being, there was nothing left to discuss but acknowledging this desperate reality, so we decided to disband.

AsSylviaand I left the lab, I saw the bright smiles of the people.

This was a result of only conveying good news to the general populace.

“…Everyone looks cheerful.”

“…Yeah, it seems so.”

People don’t know.

That it won’t be long before theWitch of Gluttonyrises again.

That in our current state, that witch is the end for us.

Still, we mustn’t let them know.

I didn’t want to.

I didn’t want to lose the smiles they had finally regained.

Perhaps sharing the same sentiment, bothSylviaand I smiled along with the people.

The fear imprinted in our hearts, the despair of feeling that defeating her seemed hopeless, swept through us.

Yet, we smiled.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com