SON OF THE HERO KING

[SALEM]

The pocket dimension was created by Ambrosia in order to accommodate the witches and hide them from the persecution of the outside world.

Salem.

The haven of all witches in a certain way.

Salem was under the control of four great departments.

The Hunters, also known as the Executioners, whose job was to eliminate all witches that had gone astray from their destined path. They were under the direct control of Kali, the witch of Destruction.

The Judges, whose role was, as the name implied, to judge criminals or civil cases, and also decide if a witch had committed a sin great enough to be put on the hunting list. This department was controlled by none other than Persephone, the witch of Life…

The Finance Department had complete power over the funds of the council and decided how to attribute them to witches who needed them for their projects. Those funds were given to promising but poor witches and would be taken away if the witches showed no results. This place was controlled by Freya, the witch of Space…

Finally, the council of wise women also known as the Council of Walpurgisnacht, convened regularly to establish the different regulations and take care of the everyday life of the witches. Which was technically under the control of Medea, the witch of Time. [1]

Sadly, because of Medea's prolonged absence, she had lost a great part of the control she once held.

It didn’t help that because of her past decisions, the witches had to face some hard times which many judged to have been a waste of their time and energy and more importantly… life.

Because of all the above reasons, when Medea appeared after a few centuries of absence and asked that the gate of Salem may open to the mortal world once again, the council had been understandably upset.

In this matter, Ambrosia had decided to act as a neutral party and did not help Medea in any way in convincing them. She was going to completely leave it to her daughter for the time being…

Thanks to that, the discussion had been ongoing for hours and days without any signs of ending any time soon, but Medea didn't intend on giving up. They had dismissed her demand at first and put the discussion on hold.

But as time passed, Medea was able to slowly bring some of the witches to her side.

After all, at the end of the day, Medea was still a legendary witch. She still had a great appeal to the young witches who very much admired her for her amazing feats and equally amazing power and the position she held as a Cardinal Witch.

But… This wasn’t enough.

Medea needed at least ⅔ of the assembly to accept her motion, but it wasn’t going well in the slightest…

This was mainly because Medea's case lacked one determining point.

Benefits.

What benefits would opening the gate for her give them?

Salem was a self-sustaining dimension. It could even be referred to as a world of its own.

Not only were the witches present here, but there also existed a great number of natural or artificial spirits who served to take care of the realm.

The witches who specialized on earth would take care of farming and the likes. Some witches worked on manipulating the weather.

Some others worked on water and some on energy resources and distribution.

In a way, despite their low numbers, Salem was akin to a super nation and only the Angels and perhaps the Dwarves had higher technology than them.

If it wasn’t enough, witches could travel to and from the Astral realm at will and many witches explored different worlds and planets there and brought strange resources to continue sustaining the realm.

In short, should Salem open their gates, the ones to benefit would only be Lustburg, the nation of humanity.

Medea still had an ace left with her… Sol Dragona Luxuria, her lover, the reason for her existence…

But she did not want to use that ace.

No matter how small the loss of lifeforce was, it didn’t change that having an intimate relationship with witches did drain him off a little of his life.

Whenever this happened, Medea could not stop herself from feeling guilty and sad. She simply could not accept using Sol as a bargaining ship without his consent.

‘Perhaps I should give up.’

Standing in the midst of another heated reunion, Medea couldn’t help but smile bitterly and in defeat.

In the end, she decided to not use her ace. She simply could not do something like this in good conscience.

But it was then,

“I just received some important news!”

One of the witches who had been absent until now, #10, as we may refer to her as, barged into the room. Even though she was entirely clad in a black cloak from head to toe, like all the ten non-permanent members of the council, it wasn't hard to discern the shock in her voice.

"#10, Not only are you late, once again, but you are creating a ruckus and undermining the authority of the council. Hold yourself properly."

The one who spoke was #1. The number did not mean a ranking of power but simply a time of arrival in the council.

#10 was not at all cowed by the harsh voice.

For one they were all equal and the only leaders were Medea and Ambrosia. Secondly, she had been one of the first to join Medea's side.

After all, she wanted to visit the mortal world once again and the news she just heard might really help.

"Hahaha don't mind this."

Taking her place, she immediately opened her operator and shared the information she had received.

A blue screen appeared above them with an article scrolling down.

At first, most of the witches looked with simple curiosity but the more they read the more baffled they became.

Term like, "Blessed", "War", "Order vs Chaos", "Dragon Emperor" and more importantly, "Sol Dragona Luxuria" kept appearing, making them wonder if they were put into an illusion.

The one who was the most shocked was none other than Medea herself, as she was left completely speechless.

In the end, she clenched her fist.

'You are truly a wonder, dear.'

Initially, she didn't want to use Sol as an ace for the simple reason that all he could offer was his body.

For the Witches, this was the extent of Sol's usefulness.

But this was only about the Sol of the past.

If this information was to be believed, then her beloved had gone through great changes.

She worried if he would still be the same man she loved but now…what she had to do was simple.

"My dear sisters, I believe it's time for new votes."

Sol had given her a golden opportunity and she would not miss this chance.

[1]: Read the Special chapter, the witches’ council to remember.

(AN: In my note, this chapter should have been a special chapter coming just after the end of Book 2. But I totally forgot about it. Which makes this placement a little awkward. But well. Better now than never.)