The conference room had become peculiarly silent.

In the midst of this, the calm voice of the first elder of Astra was the only one that broke the eerie quiet.

“—Thus, we have been conducting experiments to create a weapon that can harness the power from the remnants of the witch that Astra had previously hunted. It seems rather meaningless now, so we decided to put a stop to it.”

It was already a bomb that had detonated.

There was no way to turn back, no matter what measures were taken.

Therefore, Sylvia could only watch in silence as he calmly laid out the circumstances of the situation. The words that escaped his lips were so shocking that it was hard to believe that the Astra family had engaged in such acts, just as the others around her stood there dazed, listening.

“This summarizes the outline of the plan.”

With the first elder’s explanation coming to an end, he scanned the room as if inviting anyone who had something to say.

Regaining composure from his gaze, someone shouted at him.

“That… that is absolutely unacceptable!”

“It is unacceptable. I am well aware of that.”

“Then why would someone who knows that do such a thing—!”

“Because we were that desperate, back then.”

Cutting off the cries of reproach, the first elder slowly turned to the onlookers and opened his mouth again.

“I wonder if anyone here remembers the events from fifteen years ago. There was an incident when the fourth squad of Astra, which was sent on an exploration mission to pioneer the northern forest, the original home of the elves, suffered significant damage and was forced to retreat due to the rampaging lesser demonic beasts. After the incident where both the previous captain and vice-captain were helpless against the enemies, the area near the northern forest became a no-go zone due to fears of provoking the demonic beasts. On the surface, that was the case. However, in reality, the northern forest, ravaged by demonic beasts and magic, was deemed not worth the risk of expansion despite the heavy losses.”

“What’s the relevance of that to this situation now?”

“That incident deprived the elves of their homeland and the opportunity to reclaim the World Tree. Even when we requested to go, at least among ourselves, we were rejected under the absurd reason of not taking risks. This led us to execute that ludicrous plan.”

The first elder responded and continued, speaking in a gentle tone.

“We were anxious. With each passing generation, we felt the connection between the spirits and the World Tree fading away. The World Tree is the foundation of Astra. If that connection were to be completely severed, we wondered if we could still remain as we are. We were deeply troubled. Thus, the plan to weaponize witches was chosen as a countermeasure. The characteristics of the lesser demonic beasts prevent harm to beings of higher status. Therefore, if we could create a weapon that could harness the power of witches, we could reclaim the northern forest, which contains the World Tree, without causing harm to the demonic beasts. Even if it meant borrowing the power of our eternal enemy, the witch, we wanted to restore our foundation.”

“…”

“We never expected human beings like you to understand the feelings that led us to that point. We don’t ask for your forgiveness. Nonetheless, we realized too late that it was a wrong action, and we wanted to convey that it was an unavoidable choice for us back then.”

The calm narrative of the first elder was detached, as if he were merely stating the facts without any plea for understanding.

Sylvia anxiously watched for any mention of Scarlet, feeling a swirling anxiety, yet she couldn’t help but think how adept the elder was at persuasion.

In an age where there were few surviving elves and discrimination between certain races, excluding witches, was regarded as evil, he implied a shared burden of guilt because the humans had prevented attempts to reclaim their homeland.

And if anyone were to speak against it, he cleverly instilled hesitation by framing it as a misunderstanding from those unable to comprehend the differences between races.

At the same time, he painted a sense of solidarity by framing both humans and elves as equally regarding witches as enemies.

Despite being in a condemnable situation, it was almost laughable watching him trying to twist the narrative in a slightly more favorable light.

Understanding the human heart so well, how could he commit such cruel experiments?

Sylvia lamented inwardly but knew very well that, as he stated, the existence of witches was a natural enemy that they should hate more than anyone else.

Using the location of such an enemy as a material for experiments meant they never intended to treat it as anything human.

As Sylvia mulled over these thoughts, the atmosphere in the conference room was changing in real-time.

Just as the first elder intended, the tension of being chastised for their actions began to fade.

It seemed that the acknowledgment of their wrongdoing and their intention to halt the plans had a considerable effect.

Yoon Si-woo, with a stern face nodding at the others who were gazing at him as if questioning whether it was an excuse or truth, confirmed this.

“…Why did you stop?” someone asked in a somewhat softened voice.

“…Because we realized too late. What makes Astra Astra is not the World Tree, but the spirit that has been passed down. That pursuit of righteousness is what we truly needed to protect.”

Sylvia caught the first elder looking at her as he answered.

In the emotion reflected in his gaze, she instinctively bit her lip.

“…I do not deny Astra’s sins. I am ready to accept the punishment. But I have one request.”

What filled his eyes was regret, remorse, and a profound affection.

“Lady Sylvia here has no connection to this matter. Please do not hold her accountable for the sins committed by us, who are solely at fault.”

At his words, Sylvia began to understand why he had seemed so relieved when he revealed this confession.

Perhaps he had intended this all along.

Secrets always come to light eventually.

So rather than being exposed later, he chose to reveal all now and shift all blame onto himself, ensuring that it wouldn’t affect others.

The words he once spoke to her echoed in her mind.

You are Astra.

Is this your way of cherishing Astra?

He was frustratingly contemptible, yet there was an undeniably convoluted feeling in her heart that made Sylvia want to cry.

“Lady Sylvia, is that true?”

Someone asked.

Inside, Sylvia murmured to herself.

No, she actually knew.

However, to protect those precious to her, she couldn’t answer that way and shook her head, replying.

“…No. I have no knowledge of this.”

“…It’s the truth.”

Yoon Si-woo, with a stern expression, lied to prove his own innocence.

Watching him, the first elder wore a look of approval, as if this was sufficient.

Sylvia blankly stared at her own reflection in the scenario around her.

Someone muttered in a voice tinted with pity.

“…Understood. We won’t hold Lady Sylvia accountable.”

“…Thank you for your mercy.”

“However, I would like to hear a bit more detail about the experiment conducted…”

“There is a bit of a problem regarding that…”

With a rush of mental fatigue, she thought about just burying her head in her pillow and forgetting everything.

However, the subsequent words from the first elder forced Sylvia to set that thought aside.

“The one who knows most about the witch weaponization plan is Sator Astra, the head of the Superpower Research Institute. However, for some reason, he has gone missing for a while. So there is another person who knows the experiment quite well. I was thinking it might be good to request cooperation from that individual.”

“Who is that?”

“The vice-head of the Superpower Research Institute, Luke Aegis.”

The crisis where Scarlet’s true identity might be revealed loomed ahead.

Thoughts of wanting a break from it all felt extravagant.

*

A commotion ensued.

It was shocking news that the Astra and Aegis families, names known to all, were simultaneously involved in the same incident.

And likely the most startled among them was Mark Aegis, the principal of Aegis Academy, who suddenly heard his family name.

With a grave expression, he muttered.

“Are you saying that my brother is involved in such matters?”

“It’s not just involvement levels; he was a crucial stakeholder in conducting the experiments alongside Sator. Were you unaware?”

“…I had no idea. The Aegis family tends to sever ties with anyone who hasn’t inherited the principal position. We occasionally keep in touch, but I never imagined he would be involved in something like this…”

The first elder spoke to Mark, whose voice was filled with concerns.

“Could you summon him as a witness? Something seems off, and our attempts to contact him aren’t being well-received. A family call should be taken seriously.”

“…Understood.”

Mark nodded at the elder’s request. Letting out a deep sigh, he took out his phone and dialed.

[…Brother? What’s going on? You should have contacted me first…]

After a few rings, a confused male voice came through, wondering why Mark was calling.

“Luke…”

Mark hesitated before asking a question.

“Have you ever heard of this so-called witch weaponization plan?”

[…] “Who told you about this?”

His words changed from ‘what is it?’ to ‘who did you hear this from’ as Mark, realizing his brother might be genuinely involved, replied with a trembling voice.

“…They said at Astra that you’re connected to it.”

“…Is that so.”

“…They want you to come in as a witness. What are you going to do?”

“Of course, I have to… If they say that at Astra, then it’s already too late to hide.”

“…”

[…Brother.]

“…What is it?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Ha… fine. Got it.”

*

A brief break was granted in the conference room until Luke arrived.

Sylvia felt the vibration of her phone in her pocket and stepped outside for a moment to pull it out.

“…”

She had received a text.

From a familiar number she had messaged not long ago.

[Miss. Are you there as well?]

The number of the burner phone she had created just in case.

Of course, it was Luke’s.

When she replied with [Yes], a message came back instantly.

[…Alright. May I ask for permission? It seems I’ll have to lower your family’s honor a bit to keep the kid from getting exposed.]

On reading that message, Sylvia let out a small chuckle and replied.

[Go ahead.]

[Thank you.]

With that brief expression of gratitude, there were no further messages.

Glancing up at the sky for a moment, Sylvia took a deep breath and carefully called out to Yoon Si-woo, who had been quietly seated in a corner of the conference room, eyes closed.

To his stiff expression, Sylvia said.

“…Yoon Si-woo, Luke will be here soon.”

“…Yeah.”

“…Can you match your story?”

“…Got it.”

Once the secret meeting concluded, not long after, Luke arrived at the conference room.

Sylvia sat down, her expression set.

The awkward spectacle to protect a girl was about to unfold.