“Big Sis, I’m back.”
Inside the luxurious Great Hall, a woman with golden hair stepped in—it was Ander, who had just been chasing after Roseithe.
Now, her gaze swept around, searching for the figure who was supposed to be waiting here.
This was the very center of the Sky Islands, and also the Great Hall where the Witch Summoning Ritual was held every hundred years.
“Did you bring back our mischievous little sister?”
As Ander’s eyes continued to search the Great Hall, a gentle voice suddenly sounded from behind her.
She turned around, but saw no one—only a cascade of silvery-white hair slipped past her.
What was odd, though, was that as the figure brushed by, Ander heard a faint “swish swish!” sound, like leaves rustling and brushing against each other in the wind. It was very soft, but she caught it clearly.
“Big Sis, I think I’ve told you many times before—this isn’t funny.”
The slender figure standing ahead had long silver-white hair and was facing away from Ander, seemingly unwilling to turn around.
“Oh come on, Ander, why so serious? I was just trying to joke with you a little. You and Anthera are still the same as ever—even after thousands of years, you can’t take a joke~.”
“……”
Ander didn’t respond to the teasing; she simply stood in silence.
With several thousand years of friendship, she already knew the best way to get her sister to stop teasing was to quietly stare at her.
The silvery-haired figure wasn’t particularly tall—her build was that of a girl around fifteen or sixteen years old, noticeably shorter than Ander, who appeared to be in her twenties.
But this seemingly frail figure had been born together with the Sky Islands beneath their feet and was now the 3,500-year-old First Witch.
“She… didn’t cause any trouble, did she?”
“No. After a few of us sisters sealed her, she gave up resisting. She’s been obedient all the way back.”
“That’s good. Don’t be too hard on her, either. She only does those silly things with good intentions.”
The tone of the silver-haired figure relaxed noticeably after hearing Ander’s report, but Ander frowned and asked,
“Aren’t we going to punish her? Even though most of the witches here are just watching and waiting when it comes to the Thirty-Fifth, Anthera and Roseithe—”
But before she could finish, the silver-haired figure ahead waved her hand dismissively.
“Don’t do anything. We’re all sisters, witches united as one. It wouldn’t be good if something like this caused a rift between us.”
At this point, she paused, glancing up at the extravagant Chandelier hanging at the very center of the Great Hall.
“Besides… in the end, our so-called personalities are just part of what Demon God planned when creating us.”
“What if they try to go down again…?” Andel still couldn’t help worrying. If they claimed it was the will of Demon God, Ander would never let them through.
In the past, as witches, they’d never dare to weave lies in the name of their Lord.
But now, Anthera and Roseithe’s loyalty to their Lord had already cracked.
Ander couldn’t be sure what they might do.
“Don’t worry.” The figure could hear Ander’s anxiety and chuckled softly to reassure her.
“The will of Demon God has already been conveyed to me. For the next two or three centuries, those two sisters won’t have any need to descend to the lower world. Ander, you just need to make sure they don’t go down.”
“…Demon God conveyed it personally? Understood.”
Ander was shocked by the news, but quickly forced herself to calm down.
She didn’t need to guess at Demon God’s will.
Since her Big Sis, the First Witch, said so, all she needed to do was follow orders.
That settled the matter of capturing Roseithe.
By rights, Ander should leave now to take care of her other tasks.
Mainly, she had to release Roseithe.
Otherwise, with the way the Sky Islands’ sisters treated Roseithe like a fierce tiger, even if she sent a magical message, probably no one would dare let her out of the cage.
But Ander didn’t leave right away.
She had something else to ask.
“Is there something else?”
Sure enough, seeing her standing there for so long without moving, the First Witch spoke up again.
Ander took the opportunity to bring up her question.
“Big Sis, lately Anthera keeps asking when you’ll be free. She wants to talk… about Lanafit.”
“…Anthera is as stubborn as ever. Fine, there’s no helping her. Tell her I’ll go see her in three days.”
“Got it.”
Ander replied, and with that, she had nothing else to say. Still…
Staring at the First Witch’s back, Ander frowned, feeling something was off.
“Big Sis, why have you been facing away from me this whole time?”
“Ah, well…” The silver-haired figure trembled, losing that mysterious, playful tone and stammering awkwardly.
“I’m just… keeping up a bit of mystery, you know?”
“Other than the Thirty-Fifth, there isn’t a soul on the Sky Islands who hasn’t seen your face, Big Sis. Especially me. What’s the point of mystery?”
Such a poor excuse only made Ander even more convinced her not-so-reliable Big Sis was hiding something.
“If you won’t say, Big Sis, I’ll just come over and see for myself.”
With that, Ander strode forward, and for the first time, the always calm First Witch panicked.
“No, no, no! I’ll talk, isn’t that enough?”
Hearing Ander’s footsteps stop, the First Witch let out a sigh, her voice helpless and tinged with a bit of grievance.
“Well, it’s just… today was a rare bit of free time, so Second and Third suggested we play cards. The loser has to stick notes on her face. You showed up so suddenly, I didn’t have time to—”
“All right, Big Sis, you don’t have to say any more.”
Ander felt a headache coming on. She could already guess what was going on.
“I—I won a round against both Second and Third, you know!”
For some reason, the First Witch suddenly started defending herself, sounding a bit anxious, as if she wanted to prove something. But she still didn’t dare turn around.
The card game wasn’t over yet, just paused, and the notes on her face couldn’t be removed until the end.
But Ander mercilessly destroyed her last shred of dignity.
“Big Sis, are you sure Second and Third didn’t just let you win once because they were afraid you’d start crying and making a scene if you lost too badly?”
Now it all made sense.
That “swish swish!” sound she’d heard when the First Witch passed by earlier—
It wasn’t leaves rustling in the wind outside, but all those notes stuck on her Big Sis’s face fluttering as she walked.