Stars emitted from Sylvia’s hands flowed into the tree.

Then the tree began to emit light, which spread throughout the entire forest.

The light that enveloped the forest, which had been filled only with death, brought life back to it.

Little sprouts began to emerge from the ground, which seemed like nothing could grow.

What can I even say about the sight of the trees reclaiming their greenery?

If I had to describe it, it was a miraculous scene.

I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and stared at the one who created this miracle.

“Everyone, is there any objection?”

“Do as you wish, new star.”

After commanding the people and observing their responses, Sylvia seemed to feel my gaze and turned her head this way.

Perhaps it was the starlight shining like a halo above her head.

Something about her made me feel like she was an amazing person, and as I stared blankly at her, she seemed aware of it and smiled as if asking, ‘What do you think?’ after retracting the light above her head.

“Hmm, I told you to just trust me, didn’t I?”

Believe it or not, what on earth just happened…?

Maybe it was just because I saw something so unbelievable.

I even felt a slight nausea.

I took a deep breath to somehow regain my composure and asked Sylvia to explain the situation.

“Uh, Sylvia, can you tell me what exactly is going on…?”

“Well, explaining this is a bit complicated. In short, I revived the World Tree that had been burned? You can understand it that way.”

“The World Tree….”

I mumbled while looking at the tree that had just emitted an enormous amount of light.

So, is this the sacred relic of the elves, the World Tree?

Even though it wasn’t shining like before, it emanated an energy that was clearly unusual. It indeed felt worthy of being called a sacred relic.

As I stared at the World Tree in a daze, the dizziness I had been feeling earlier intensified, and my body swayed for a moment.

“Ah, Scarlet! Are you okay?”

Suddenly, Sylvia, startled as I staggered, grabbed me with a worried expression and asked.

“C-could it be because the magic was purified when the World Tree was revived…?”

Seeing my staggering had possibly affected her, her expression darkened sharply.

Not wanting her to feel guilty, I quickly shook my head and spoke.

“It’s not that, so don’t worry. I’m just a little dizzy. Maybe I was just too surprised, ahaha…”

Sylvia could think it was due to my being a witch, but I didn’t believe it to be the case.

If magic had been purified and hit me, I wouldn’t just feel slightly dizzy—I’d feel a lot worse.

Thinking back to how I felt when I crossed the barrier…

I shivered slightly at the unpleasant memory, but upon reflecting, I found it curious that I hadn’t felt anything when the World Tree purified the magic.

Certainly, seeing that all the magic that had filled the surroundings had disappeared, there should have been some effect on me as well.

Could it be that the World Tree cleansed everything but me?

If that’s the case, I thought I should sincerely thank the World Tree.

“Twinkle,” it shone softly.

In response to my thoughts, the World Tree seemed to lightly twinkle.

Surprised, I wondered internally, ‘Did it just acknowledge me?’ as it twinkled once more.

It felt too definite to dismiss as just a coincidence.

It seems the World Tree was being considerate of me, a friend of Sylvia.

The one who burned the World Tree was the Witch of Rage, and here I was—perhaps I was an enemy to the World Tree—yet it was still concerned for me.

Truly, it seemed like a great being; well, in this case, perhaps I should say a great tree. I thought it quite noble and bowed my head to it in gratitude, expressing my thanks.

After expressing my gratitude to the World Tree, when I turned back to Sylvia, I noticed she looked like she was on the verge of tears for some reason.

“Ugh… I’m glad you’re okay, but it could have seriously harmed you just now, Scarlet…”

Even though I assured her I was fine, the fact that I could have been affected seemed to be quite shocking for Sylvia.

It was obvious she would sulk if I left her to her thoughts, so I hurriedly spoke to lift her spirits.

“B-but, Sylvia, you did an amazing thing! You purified all the magic in this vast forest! That’s truly incredible!”

“Eh?! Incredible, you say? I didn’t really do a big deal. Most of it was thanks to the World Tree, and I just added a spoonful to it…”

Although Sylvia humbly claimed she didn’t do much, I hold a valid psychology degree in Sylvia.

The way her ears perked up like that showed she was secretly pleased.

From the movement of those ears, I felt that her inner thoughts were screaming, ‘More! Praise me more!’ so I did my best to elevate her.

“No, it’s the fact that you revived the World Tree that is amazing, so it’s truly a great deed. You’re incredible, Sylvia! Amazing! Wonderful!”

“I-is that so…? Eheheh…”

Fortunately, it seemed that made her feel better, as she broke into a smile and began to chuckle.

Anyway, having successfully lifted Sylvia’s spirits, I was able to continue our conversation.

“By the way, Sylvia, what do you mean by that head of the family you mentioned earlier?”

I asked while glancing at the Astra people collectively kneeling towards Sylvia over there.

I was curious why they had switched from opposing to obeying Sylvia the moment she mentioned the head of the family.

Then Sylvia nodded in response to my question.

“Oh, the head of the family? The head of Astra is someone chosen by the spirit of the stars, the World Tree. Do you see this? The light shining from above my head is proof I was chosen as the head of the family.”

Sylvia pointed to the starlight adorning her body, shining like a halo above her head.

I stared intently at that light and asked.

“You mean you were chosen as the head of the family, Sylvia? How did that happen?”

“Well, the thing is, I don’t really know either. I just woke up and realized it happened, you know? Anyway, I was lucky. Thanks to that, I was able to gain the voluntary cooperation of the First Elder. People belonging to Astra have to obey the head of the family unconditionally.”

She said it with a bright smile, yet I couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable.

If they must unconditionally follow orders, how can that be considered voluntary cooperation?

So, feeling uncomfortable, I conveyed my concern to Sylvia.

“Um, you aren’t forcing them to comply or anything, right…?”

“Huh? Forcing? What do you mean?”

“Well, just a moment ago, those people were against letting me into the city… and honestly, I can’t say I understand the reason for that.”

I appreciated the offer to help, but I wanted to make sure they didn’t push something unreasonable onto me.

That was my honest feeling.

While I did have a desire to return to the city, I understood that it wasn’t an easy situation.

The animosity people felt towards me for hurting Yoon Si-woo.

I didn’t need to ask how intense that feeling was.

So I thought that rather than force Sylvia into a difficult situation, it would be better for me to simply give up and stay outside.

I nodded when the First Elder said I’d be let go without being killed, asking me to live discreetly out of sight.

“Therefore, I hope you don’t make me follow orders for something that has little chance of working because of me…”

While thinking that, I conveyed my opinion to Sylvia.

Upon seeing me like that, Sylvia sighed and muttered.

“You seem to see me as some kind of dictator.”

She shook her head for a moment before continuing.

“Don’t worry. I’ve thought things through before giving my orders. Sending you back to the city is no longer such an impossible task. Right?”

“That’s right, ma’am.”

In response to Sylvia’s question, the First Elder, still kneeling, affirmed her.

What’s this? Wasn’t he the one who just said it was nearly impossible?

I couldn’t understand why his opinion suddenly changed and stood there in a daze when Sylvia spoke.

“Well, I can understand why you’d think that, Scarlet. It’s true that it was just like that until a little while ago. But the situation has changed. So let me explain.”

Sylvia opened up as if explaining.

“To hunt the witch, Astra dispatched a hunting squad. The squad faced the witch.”

“…Yes.”

“However, that witch encountered by the hunting squad didn’t attack them; instead, she protected them from the lesser demonic beasts. Moreover…”

Sylvia pointed to the World Tree.

“The hunting squad that unexpectedly stepped into their homeland followed the witch’s guidance and revived the World Tree, reclaiming their homeland. Without the witch, that wouldn’t have been possible.”

“…”

“Now, do you think everyone who hears this story will only think the witch is bad?”

In a daze, I replied.

“No…”

“Exactly. The World Tree revived, and since the forest was purified, people should have seen that with their own eyes in the city. There’s now sufficient evidence to argue that you’re not bad, Scarlet.”

Sylvia positioned herself representatively in front of the prostrate Astra people.

Then, looking at me, Sylvia spoke.

“Scarlet, we don’t forget our gratitude in Astra. And we owe you all a great favor. Now that there’s some possibility, no one among us will refuse to repay that favor. Isn’t that right, everyone?”

“Yes!”

“Did you hear that? This is the will of all of us in Astra.”

With a solemn voice, Sylvia, representing Astra, spoke to me.

“So please, trust us. We will definitely bring you back to the city.”

The confident smile she wore while saying that seemed so trustworthy.

Without realizing it, I nodded my head in agreement.