The luxurious banquet hall in District 13, located in the heart of the city, was shining brightly under the lights of the chandelier.

Many prominent figures from the city had gathered for the banquet, but the one who stood out the most was Sylvia Astra, known as the heir of Astra.

As she greeted guests passing by at the center of the hall with a radiant smile, everyone’s attention was drawn to Sylvia’s shining appearance.

However, probably no one knew that her mood was at its worst despite her smile.

‘…I just want to rest today.’

Having shed tears over what happened at school earlier, Sylvia was feeling mentally exhausted.

Yet, as Astra’s successor, she couldn’t avoid showing her face at an event filled with influential figures of the city.

While she grumbled inwardly, Sylvia was forced to maintain a bright smile on the outside.

As she pondered how to escape from the center of the hall, her eyes caught sight of someone who had just stepped in.

A middle-aged elf with silver hair, just like hers, was frowning and looking inside the banquet hall with gloved hands.

“This is my chance,” thought Sylvia as she quickly moved away from the center of the hall and approached him to greet him.

“Uncle Sator, it’s been a while!”

“Oh, it has been a while, Sylvia.”

When Sylvia greeted him, the man relaxed his frown, adjusted his glasses, and returned the greeting.

He was Sator Astra, her uncle and a widely recognized authority in the field of psychic powers.

Even though they were both part of the Astra family, they didn’t see each other often enough to be very close, but Sylvia’s mind was now filled with thoughts of wanting to escape, even if only for a moment.

However, this was rare.

He was known for being so engrossed in his work that he rarely showed up at family events, and he was also said to have a slight aversion to social interactions.

Sylvia, puzzled, said,

“I never expected to see you here. Didn’t you dislike crowded places?”

“It’s not that I dislike crowded places, but I hate dusty ones. I had no choice but to talk about research institute matters today…”

Sator replied while waving his gloved, white hand in front of his face.

He wore a clear expression of disgust for such places.

Hearing the mention of the research institute made Sylvia recall an article she had seen earlier this year.

It was about a major fire that had occurred at the psychic research institute where Sator was the director, burning the building down to a level that would require nearly complete reconstruction.

Sylvia asked Sator,

“I heard about the institute. Is the reconstruction going well?”

“It seems it will take some time. While we can deal with the research data, all the samples we were working on were also lost… Hoo, all the research achievements over the years have gone up in flames. We thought we were close to getting results after just a few more trials.”

“I hope everything goes well from now on. Would you like a drink?”

“…Thank you.”

Sylvia took a glass from a passing staff member and handed it to Sator, who was sighing deeply.

As Sator accepted the glass, he stared intently at Sylvia’s left hand with the ring on it, wrinkling his brow as he said,

“…But what is that ring on your hand? It looks a bit, well, inferior compared to your outfit. Should I get you a new one?”

Although Sylvia was angry at the comment about it being inferior, she didn’t show it on her face.

However, there was a bit of emotion in her following reply.

“It’s a ring I bought to wear with a friend. I picked it out myself.”

“Oh, I see. I didn’t mean to be rude. But a friend… a friend…”

Sator, upon hearing Sylvia’s response, displayed a complex expression.

After pondering the word “friend” for a moment, Sator took a sip from the glass of wine he was holding and began to speak.

“Sylvia, let me tell you a story.”

His face was slightly flushed, perhaps from the effects of the alcohol.

“I have a friend too. Someone I’ve known for a long time, and ever since I became the director, we’ve worked on research together. But after the fire at the institute, that friend has been distant, and recently, they don’t even reply to my calls. That’s when I realized that, in the end, friendships can be that fleeting.”

His gaze rippled quietly behind his glasses.

“So, Sylvia, it’s best not to invest too much into friends. People tend to swallow what’s sweet and spit out what’s bitter; friendships can end in an instant.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’ve rambled on for too long. I have many people to talk to, so I’ll be taking my leave now. Sylvia, do take care until we meet again.”

After saying farewell to Sylvia, Sator rubbed his nose with his gloved hand and slowly walked deep into the banquet hall.

As he faded away, Sylvia stroked the ring on her finger as she thought.

There was no way her friend would ever end up like that.

*

Saturday rolled around, and since it was a week we had to go to school, I showed up.

Even though we had classes six days a week on a biweekly basis, today’s kids would probably be shocked to hear that.

During history class today, the history teacher opened the textbook and began explaining its origins.

“The reason our academy has classes every other Saturday is to honor the achievements of the heroes who defeated the Witch of Gluttony, who was considered impossible to defeat. The heroic founder of the Aegis Academy, the great hero Aegis, was part of the expedition that fought day and night for six days, ultimately succeeding in sealing the witch. Well, it’s a famous story, so you probably know it already.”

Indeed, the children nodded their heads in understanding.

It seemed I was the only one who didn’t know that story.

To think such a tale existed not in some random book but in a history textbook was truly a sad affair.

“This story isn’t very well known, but when Aegis first established the academy, he had students attend every Saturday. He thought to himself, ‘I fought for six days, so what’s so hard about going to school for six days?’ He was a man strong enough to have survived two witch-hunting expeditions, so he considered it that way. After students cried out that it was too much, he changed it to every two weeks and left this remark when passing the position of principal to his son.”

The history teacher cleared his throat and recited the words of the great hero from the past.

“Ah, these days, the young ones lack tenacity. No tenacity at all…”

This wildly human-like line made the kids burst into laughter.

Even someone dubbed a great hero was human after all.

Seeing the students’ reactions, the history teacher chuckled and said,

“Don’t think too much of attending school on Saturdays as a hassle. Even if witches don’t appear anymore, consistent training is necessary to protect citizens from monsters. Show that you have some tenacity, too.”

The students responded loudly to the history teacher’s words.

The class continued after that, and I slowly read through the history textbook.

So far, there were a total of seven witches listed in the history textbook.

Each was named after one of the seven deadly sins.

The Witch of Pride, said to have been defeated by a hero from long ago.

The Witch of Lust, who was submerged by an expedition of 70 in the sea of the western city of mermaids.

The Witch of Wrath, who burned on the World Tree in the northern forest and perished along with the expedition gathered by Astra.

The Witch of Greed, who shattered with the last bastion of the Celestials and the Humanoids and fell from the sky with the island.

The Witch of Sloth, buried deep underground along with the ancient dwarven city at the base of the eastern mountains.

And the Witches of Envy and Gluttony, defeated by the great hero Aegis.

Perhaps because it was a story from hundreds of years ago, the textbook lacked detailed information and felt more like reading a storybook.

The only one that had relatively detailed information was the infamous Witch of Gluttony.

I mulled over the history teacher’s words.

“Witches no longer appear, huh? Is that really true?”

In the original story I read, the only witch that appeared as an enemy was the resurrected Witch of Gluttony.

But that only meant that Yun Si-woo had directly fought the Witch of Gluttony.

I wanted to believe that all the witches had been defeated, but I knew certain things, and I had seen things.

I recalled the image of the girl with dark purple hair who summoned monsters in the gymnasium.

In a world where controlling information to prevent social chaos was considered the norm, it wouldn’t be surprising if they pretended that a witch had been defeated when she hadn’t.

Aside from the Witch of Gluttony and one other witch whose identity I knew, there were still five remaining.

So, who was that girl among them?

After a moment of reflection, I closed the history textbook.