The Greed Witch’s Return

Reyn’s eyes snapped open.

He sat up, a dazed expression on his face, and rubbed his eyes vigorously. His gaze, initially vacant, fell upon the cluttered documents on his desk for three seconds before gradually regaining its clarity.

‘Had he fallen asleep?’

He exhaled softly. The coffee on his desk had grown completely cold. After taking a small sip, he was about to immerse himself in his work once more when a sudden blue light flared in the distance.

Reyn whirled around, his gaze fixed intently on the towering blue flames reflecting in the night sky.

‘That direction… it’s the Lower City!’

‘Damn it!’

He forgot all about his appearance, scrambling out the door in a panic. Without even calling for a servant, he personally mounted a horse and galloped wildly towards the stone bridge.

Indeed, the entire Lower City was engulfed in blue flames. His steed reared its front hooves high, letting out a terrified shriek.

Reyn decisively dismounted and ran into the heart of the blue inferno.

His eyes darted frantically, searching for any sign of life. When a figure entered his vision, before he could even feel a glimmer of hope, the person slowly turned around. Their entire body was ablaze with an eerie blue flame, and a radiant smile bloomed on their face. “Ah, you’ve arrived.”

Reyn halted, staring intently at the figure. His voice was hoarse. “Where are you?”

“I am right here.”

The surrounding blue flames suddenly converged into a mass, gradually taking on a human form. As the flames dissipated, a green-haired girl wearing a fox mask appeared before Reyn.

She slowly reached up and removed the fox mask from her face, revealing delicate, pale features. Her emerald eyes gazed at Reyn with profound affection, and her blood-red lips parted slightly. “Young Master, it’s been a long time.”

Reyn stared blankly at the familiar face before him. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and he clenched his jaw tightly, his voice low. “Shut up.”

Deep sorrow flickered in the girl’s eyes, yet she forced herself to maintain a sweet smile, as if unwilling to let her beloved see her vulnerable side. “Young Master, have I not done enough? Ah, it doesn’t matter. This is just the beginning; these magnificent blue flames, usurping everything, will surely ignite the entire world. Then, whatever you wish to do, you can freely control.”

“Don’t call me that in this body!”

Reyn roared at the girl like a madman, his distinct black and white eyes revealing profound anger. It was anger directed at his enemy, and at himself.

He once again deeply understood his own weakness. All that fury now transformed into the most humble plea. “Whatever you want, just take it! Everything I possess—this body, even my soul—you can have it! So, give her back to me.”

Confusion and incomprehension gradually surfaced in the girl’s eyes. “Young Master, what are you talking about?”

The expression on the person before him seemed to mock Reyn’s insignificance. The rage, which had been drowned by sorrow, reignited once more. “That silly person who only knew how to try her best to please others, give her back to me!”

There were many people in this world with the same name. When Reyn learned the Greed Witch’s true name, he had tried his utmost not to think in that direction. But when the truth appeared before his eyes, he could no longer escape the desperate reality.

The girl remained silent for a long time, a deeply sorrowful smile slowly appearing on her face. “If that is what you wish.”

Silence descended upon the blue flames, neither of them speaking. After a long while, the girl looked at Reyn with some confusion. “You… won’t take it back?”

“What trick are you playing now?”

“But this power was originally bestowed by you. I don’t know how to return it to you.”

“What are you saying? What do you mean this power was bestowed by me?”

The confusion in the girl’s eyes vanished little by little. She vaguely sensed that something was amiss. She asked directly, “What exactly is it that you want?”

“Stop playing dumb! Give me back the one from whom you took everything!”

The confusion in the girl’s eyes completely disappeared. She understood everything now, yet couldn’t be certain. “Are you saying that everything was usurped from me by the Greed Witch?”

“Are you still trying to mock me?!”

“No, I didn’t mean that. It’s just, Young Master, when we first met, my name was Victoria.”

Reyn suddenly fell silent, his brows furrowed in thought. Victoria calmly began to explain. “If everything was usurped from me by the Greed Witch, then the ‘me’ you first knew was the ‘me’ from whom everything had already been usurped by the Greed Witch.”

“So…”

“Young Master, I am the Greed Witch.”

Reyn’s eyes widened instantly, his mind utterly blank from the shocking news.

‘What do you mean the person I sponsored is the Greed Witch?’

He rubbed his throbbing temples, his voice utterly weary. “There might be a misunderstanding between us… I didn’t know you were the Greed Witch.”

“Are you saying this power wasn’t bestowed by you?”

“Victoria, I am just an ordinary person. I simply don’t possess such immense power.”

“But this power only emerged after I met you.”

“That was just a coincidence, Victoria.”

No, it was absolutely no coincidence. Victoria was firmly convinced. Therefore, the problem lay with Reyn Rheinhebo.

Facing those emerald eyes, Reyn offered a bitter smile. “I apologize for letting you misunderstand for so long. I am not as powerful as you imagined, and I’ve disappointed you.”

If Victoria had always believed he had bestowed this power upon her, then he could understand why she harbored such a distorted affection for him. That affection was the yearning of a devotee for their god.

Victoria lowered her head in a daze, putting her mask back on.

‘How could such a thing be?’

The man she deeply loved was not the man she had believed him to be.

‘How could this be…’

‘How could it be—’

‘So wonderful!’

Her body trembled as she desperately suppressed the surging emotions within her. The corners of her mouth, hidden beneath the mask, twitched uncontrollably. It turned out he knew nothing.

‘I can’t smile, not yet.’

She lifted her head once more, her bright emerald eyes fixed on Reyn, and said softly, “So, Young Master is just an ordinary person then?”

“That’s right.”

“But I still can’t believe it.”

As she spoke, she suddenly quickened her pace, closing the distance to Reyn, and once again removed the mask from her face, revealing her delicate, alluring red lips. “I need to verify.”

Just as Reyn was pondering what she meant, a soft touch suddenly brushed his lips. By the time he registered what had happened, Victoria had already stepped back half a pace, lightly touching her own lips with her index finger and revealing a mischievous, impish grin. “You couldn’t even dodge that. It seems Young Master truly is just an ordinary person.”

Reyn lightly touched his own lips, then suddenly smiled gently. “Or perhaps, I didn’t want to dodge it?”

Victoria’s eyes widened slightly, her pearly teeth gently biting her red lip. She whispered, “Then… Young Master isn’t ordinary?”

“I am.”

“How annoying.”

The surrounding blue flames rapidly merged into Victoria’s body. She put her fox mask back on and said softly, “I have returned everything to the Lower City—”

“Greed Witch!”

From beneath the collapsed ruins, a figure completely enveloped in light suddenly shot out, interrupting Victoria’s voice.

Victoria frowned slightly. Her mind had been so flustered by seeing the Young Master that she had completely forgotten about this fellow.

The young Holy Knight, Arthur Haim, gazed at his enemy with eyes burning with holy fire. “The Holy Light will not be defeated—”

His voice abruptly cut off, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the figure beside Victoria. There, an empty human-shaped void existed, as if a piece had been forcibly torn from this world solely to sustain its presence.

And within this human-shaped void, there were remarkably beautiful eyes. As beautiful as the night sky. No, those eyes contained the brilliant starscape from beyond this world!

“Ah!”

Arthur Haim, the young Holy Knight, let out the most piercing scream of his life. His eyes burst open, unable to withstand the immense power. His mind was flooded with a torrent of unknown whispers and murmurs, and his limbs began to twitch uncontrollably.

Reyn stood rooted to the spot, at a loss for what to do, and instinctively cast a questioning glance at Victoria.

Victoria shook her head. “It’s his own problem.”

‘As a human, he tried to remember knowledge he shouldn’t touch. How pathetic and foolish.’