Several days had passed since Yoon Si-woo had 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 about Yoon Si-woo potentially 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 of Marin‘s father, Lucas.

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

Lucas had 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 treat Lucas in that state, but with the power of the artifact, we were finally able to heal him.

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

Lucas had been in a state of unconsciousness, and moreover, Natalia, Marin’s mother, had sacrificed herself to seal the Witch of Gluttony, meaning Marin had 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, Lucas awakened to receive the news of Natalia‘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.

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

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

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

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

Unlike Lucas, who, despite his absence, was a superpower user with minimal drawbacks, Yoon Si-woo was 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-woo seemed to mock their concerns by showcasing that he had become even stronger, leaving everyone astonished.

Though Yoon Si-woo had 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, witnessing Yoon 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 asked Yoon Si-woo, only to hear Lucy respond on his behalf: [He had me practice swinging my sword while I was out cold.]

Yoon Si-woo himself 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 stronger Yoon Si-woo became, the less he’d have to rely on the witch’s powers.

Ideally, I would have liked to see Yoon Si-woo get 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-woo would have defeated the Witch of Gluttony in 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, Lucas and Yoon 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 the Witch of Lust being hunted down, the city was regaining a hopeful atmosphere that had long been lost.

…At least on the surface.

*

“I suppose Yoon Si-woo waking up means we’re finally in the clear, right?”

“Isn’t that right? We even succeeded in defeating the Witch of Lust without Yoon 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-woo really 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 approached Sylvia, who was slumped against a corner of the lab.

“Sylvia, I’m here.”

“…Ah, Scarlet, you’re here?”

“…What’s the result?”

Sylvia weakly shook her head and gestured ahead with her chin.

Following Sylvia’s gesture, I noticed Dwight approaching us with a slightly furrowed brow.

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

“…So, it seems impossible?”

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

Dwight sighed 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 the Witch of Gluttony with 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 the Witch of Gluttony.

Thus, with Dwight and 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 the Witch of Gluttony before.

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 the World Tree and the Tears of the Ocean, it was utterly impossible to confront the Witch 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 what Eve had meant when she said that we would need at least three artifacts to contend with the Witch 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 the Witch of Gluttony personally 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 the Witch 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, Sylvia muttered 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 discourage Sylvia.

“We don’t have any clues to track artifacts, and even if we searched haphazardly, in this situation, we don’t know when the sealed Witch of Gluttony will 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 brought Sylvia down.

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.

As Sylvia and 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 the Witch of Gluttony rises 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, both Sylvia and 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.