Ding! Dong!

When the boring class ended and the bell rang to signal the time of dinner, students dispersed to their various destinations.

Some would eat with friends in the dining hall; others might go out, and some might head straight to evening study sessions without having dinner.

Eisel usually enjoyed meals with her friends.

Despite being obsessed with her studies, she made sure to eat her meals regularly.

Previously, she couldn’t afford to eat, but now that she could, she prioritized her health.

She maintained her fitness through regular exercise, stuck to a strict schedule, and preferred healthy food. Eisel was meticulous about self-care.

“Eisel! Want to go out for dinner today?”

“... Huh?”

Even someone like her had two weaknesses; one of which was the requests from her friend Marlene. One of her closest friends at Stella.

“Ta-da!”

Marlene waved a flyer in both hands. It looked a bit crude to be officially made.

“It’s the ‘Witch Restaurant.’ You’ve heard of it, right? It’s super popular around here these days.”

“Well... I think I’ve heard of it.”

She vaguely remembered hearing students talk about it.

“The Witch Restaurant is kind of strange. You can’t find it by looking for it normally.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just what I said. No matter how much you search around the magical city of Arcanium, there’s no place called the Witch Restaurant.”

“Then how do people eat there?”

“That’s the weird part. As dusk falls, if you walk around the student district of Arcanium, the Witch Restaurant suddenly appears. There are tons of firsthand accounts from people who’ve actually eaten there.”

“... Isn’t that just a rumor?”

“Nope. You know Chaeli from Class C, right? She said she ate there. So, do you want to go out and look for it tonight?”

“Hmmm…”

Teenagers’ interests can sometimes explode into strange trends, leading to strange phenomena.

The Witch Restaurant, huh?

She wasn’t particularly interested, but since she had nothing better to do in the evening, Eisel nodded.

Normally, it was a luxury to go out to eat and she could never afford it, but lately, she had some financial freedom and found a way to recover some of her father’s assets, so it wasn’t a big deal.

“Alright. I’ll go with you.”

“What kind of menu do they have?”

“From what I’ve heard, they serve a variety of dishes. They said it’s international cuisine with something for everyone.”

Usually, a famous restaurant gains a reputation for a specific type of menu, but the Witch Restaurant was unique for its wide variety of dishes. All highly praised.

“Great! Let’s go!”

And so, Eisel, Marlene, and three other friends went out together.

The streets were filled with teenagers, all holding flyers, seemingly searching for the Witch Restaurant.

“There are so many people...”

The Witch Restaurant must have already become a hot topic in Arcanium. There were many students from the magic academies who had come to seek it out.

“It feels like a festival.”

Every fall, when the five prestigious magic academies in Arcanium held their festivals, the city would be crowded with people.

But it was unusual for it to be this crowded when it wasn’t festival time.

“But! I can wait as long as it takes for good food!”

… An hour later.

As the sun began to set and the girls grew tired of searching, Eisel shook her head.

Walking around looking for a restaurant could be fun, but it was inevitable that hunger would drain their energy if they didn’t find food.

The girls kept their lips tightly shut, reluctant to be the first to suggest giving up, but if someone did, they would all agree.

Eisel understood the psychology of teenage girls very well.

“Maybe we should just find a nearby restaurant for today?”

“Uh... Yeah. Let’s do that.”

“It’s getting late...”

The girls reluctantly agreed, but suddenly Marlene tugged on Eisel’s arm and pointed excitedly.

“Eisel, isn’t that it?”

“What?”

Turning her head, Eisel saw a unique building with ‘Witch Restaurant’ written in large orange letters.

“... It really is.”

She hadn’t expected it to be in such a dark, secluded alley.

While most buildings in Arcanium were colorful and nicely decorated, the Witch Restaurant had a gloomy, spooky atmosphere.

It was surprising that people would go there to eat when there were so many better-looking places nearby.

“Well, we found it so let’s go.”

“Great! There’s joy after hard work!”

The girls cautiously entered the Witch Restaurant.

“It’s nicely decorated.”

These days, interior design was said to make up more than half of a restaurant's appeal, and this place was no exception.

True to its name, the Witch Restaurant had a slightly dark and somber atmosphere, yet the purple and orange lighting gave it a dreamy, mystical feel. Beautifully inscribed magical runes on the walls added to the mysterious ambiance.

[If you don’t feel empty today means you are still happy.]

It was a very old language.

Perhaps it was from ancient Christon used around 400 years ago?

Eisel, who had studied various disciplines, could interpret it at once, but most, if not all, of the students present wouldn’t be able to understand it.

“What do you think that inscription means?”

“Maybe it’s some kind of witch’s spell?”

“No way, witches don’t use spells.”

“Really? I heard witches were the origin of spells.”

Even though the students at Stella studied witches, it didn’t mean they knew them well.

In other words, if even the students at Stella didn’t know much about witches, it meant that witches were shrouded in such a thick veil of mystery within the magical world.

Witches were mysterious, dangerous, and full of secrets—there was more unknown about them than known.

Most had disappeared, so there was no longer any way to learn more about them...

“Are there no other customers?”

The restaurant was quite spacious, but besides the girls, there were no other customers.

“Order please!”

Marlene shouted loudly as she took her seat, making Eisel feel extremely embarrassed as she quietly reminded her friend.

“There’s a bell right there...”

“Oh right.”

Upon pressing the bell, a waitress dressed in what looked like a stereotypical witch’s outfit came over.

“May I take your order?”

She smiled brightly... There was something oddly captivating about her charm.

“What’s with these menu names?”

Eisel frowned at the menu.

Phantom Witch Curry.

Phantom Witch Burger.

Phantom Witch Spaghetti, and so on.

There was nothing they didn’t serve, but every dish was prefixed with phantom, which didn’t add any unique flair.

“I’ll have this.”

“I’ll take the burger!”

After her friends finished ordering, the waitress smiled brightly and looked at Eisel.

“And for you, miss?”

Eisel quietly looked at the menu and pointed to the Phantom Witch Pork Soup.

“This one...”

She had a terrible experience with it before, but since this restaurant was famous for making everything delicious, it might be different.

“Got it.”

After the waitress left, the girls gathered and whispered to each other.

“Hey. What’s with that lady?”

“Why’s she so pretty?”

“She’s almost as pretty as Eisel!”

“... Why do you keep bringing up my name?”

However, Eisel felt a strange sense of unease. The waitress was attractive, but not to the extent that her friends were making a fuss about.

She had an ordinary look, but when she smiled, it was somewhat captivating... Just that kind of feeling.

But everyone found different things attractive, so Eisel brushed it off as just her being a bit different.

After a short wait, their food arrived, and her friends took pictures of the dishes with their high-performance cameras before eating.

They probably wanted to show off to their friends.

Eisel didn’t feel the need to boast but let them be since they were taking pictures.

“Eisel, what’s this dish? Soup with rice?”

“I don’t know either.”

She didn’t know but she planned to eat it anyway.

After taking their photos, her friends began eating with their knives and forks, and reacted loudly.

“This is amazing!”

“It’s heavenly...”

It seemed to be very delicious.

Eisel took a spoonful of her pork soup, but...

“Hmmm...”

It still didn’t suit her taste. It was not much different from the one she had with Baek Yu-Seol previously.

Wondering if pork soup was just inherently limited in flavor, she tried a bite of her friends’ dishes.

“... All just average?”

Eisel’s preference was not particularly sophisticated.

Since she lost her father, Eisel had tried to subsist on the cheapest and most efficient food possible, making her more particular about her meals.

But the food at the Witch Restaurant... To be honest, it was nothing special.

For someone like Eisel, who could eat just about anything, it was fine, but for a student from a noble background, they might have spat it out after the first bite.

"This is amazing. Seriously!"

Yet her friends were gobbling it up as if they were entranced by something.

“Is it really that good?”

“Yeah, yeah. Didn’t you like it?”

“It was just... average.”

“This is the best restaurant I’ve ever been to...”

“Not even the star chef’s restaurant tasted like this.”

Was it really that good?

She couldn’t tell.

Maybe her taste buds were too accustomed to cheap food to recognize something truly delicious?

As Eisel pondered, the meal came to an end, and the girls patted their bellies, looking satisfied.

“Ah! Let’s come here again.”

“I want to come here every day.”

“Should we ask the waitress how to find this place again?”

“Shall we?”

The girls went to the counter to pay and subtly asked the waitress.

“How do we find this place again?”

But the waitress just smiled and shook her head.

“Well, I don’t really know the exact way either. But if you want to find it, you will, so don’t worry.”

What kind of vague answer was that?

Still, her friends seemed to accept it quickly and left the restaurant. It was as if they were truly enchanted by a witch’s spell.

As Eisel was about to follow her friends, the waitress suddenly grabbed her.

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

“You... are like me, aren’t you?”

What on earth was she talking about?

“You know, I can clearly sense the aura of a witch from you.”

“What...”

“That’s a relief.”

The waitress smiled brightly.

What could be so relieving?

Eisel couldn’t understand, but the waitress seemed unconcerned and bowed slightly.

“Please be careful on your way back. I hope to see you again.”

“... Sure. I’ll go now.”

Eisel felt a bit uneasy but wanted nothing more than to leave as soon as possible.

“Phew...”

She realized her back was drenched in cold sweat.

“What was that all about?”

It felt ominous, but as long as she didn’t come back, there shouldn’t be any problem.

———-

… Later that evening.

In the Stella Academy’s educational material storage.

Around the wand storage room 11097, there was a strange commotion.

“Professor Valentina. Even though you’re in charge of the wands, asking to take out every single one is a bit much.”

“Well, I lost an important wand here.”

“We’ve been looking for the wand you described for quite some time, but there’s no such wand here.”

“Oh come on. You just can’t find it. How could you miss something so obvious?”

Professor Valentina, who taught the ‘Efficient Use of Wands’ course and managed all the wands used by students at Stella Academy, was in a bind.

Despite being the caretaker, asking to pull out all the wands was not feasible.

Wands that were not resonating with a mage were extremely sensitive.

Some wands could have violent reactions just from being exposed to the air.

“Oh. You all are so frustrating.”

With her vibrant, bronze skin and her reddish curly hair in disarray, Valentina was visibly irritated.

Losing that wand was exasperating. Especially since it was both dangerous and precious.

“Where did I lose it?”

A few days ago, she had secretly used the ‘broomstick wand’ to help Instructor Lee Han-wol set up the environment for student training in the Stella Dome, but she couldn’t remember where she left it because she was drunk that day.

“Even after the training ended, I couldn’t find it...”

Usually, the wands were stored in the warehouse, so she searched thoroughly, but it was nowhere to be seen.

“Did someone pick it up?”

The thought made her shiver. If someone found that wand...

“No! But nobody would recognize it for what it is.”

Valentina waved off the staff member.

“Alright. I’m heading back. If you find it, let me know.”

“Yes. Understood.”

She wanted to smash the indifferent worker’s head but held back.

Did that fool even understand how critical this was?

“Oh. My life...”

Finding the lost wand was just a matter of time.

But in the meantime...