Chapter 74.2

Seeing this, Arina’s lips pressed tightly shut.

She didn’t say another word.

Her heart was heavy with fear and foreboding.

Arina sat blankly on her pure white throne, waiting for Arad to arrive.

Her thoughts drifted to Isabelle and the witches.

‘Come to think of it, we don’t know much about Isabelle or the witches.’

As she waited, Arina reflected on the nature of Isabelle and the witches who had been by their side for as long as she could remember.

‘From the very beginning, Isabelle and the witches were always with us.’

The witches had been part of the Northern Grand Duchy since it was first established 213 years ago.

Isabelle had already been at the High Tower before Arina was born, and she had always appeared as an elderly woman.

Her late father had told her that Isabelle was incredibly old.

Even when her father was a child, Isabelle had been at the High Tower, overseeing the witches.

Her grandfather, and even his father, had also seen Isabelle in the same form, performing the same role.

‘Father said even he didn’t know the details of the witches’ restriction, and neither did Grandfather. When I asked the old lady and the witches about it, they always said they couldn’t explain it properly because of the restriction’s “conditions.”’

Up until now, she had never found that strange.

The people of the Northern Grand Duchy accepted it as naturally as the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon.

Sure, it seemed odd that a person could live for so long, but Isabelle was a Grand Witch—not an ordinary witch, but one of the highest-ranking witches.

It wasn’t strange for a superhuman to have an extended lifespan.

Even Swordmaster Balzac was over 100 years old, after all.

‘Even Balzac said he doesn’t know much about Isabelle and the witches. He said Isabelle was already at the High Tower when he was a child, and she looked exactly the same as she does now.’

But no matter how much of a Grand Witch she was, it was undeniable that Isabelle’s lifespan was unnatural.

If she had been around since the Northern Grand Duchy was first founded, she had to be at least over 200 years old.

Even a superhuman had limits. No ordinary human lifespan could explain this.

‘The old lady once said that the blood of the elves—those who disappeared from Arcadia—flows faintly within witches.’

Arina recalled the reason why Isabelle and the witches had such long lifespans.

‘She said that as a witch’s rank increases, that elven blood becomes thicker, affecting their lifespan.’

Among all the witches, Isabelle’s lifespan was the longest.

In fact, since the founding of the Northern Grand Duchy, Isabelle was the only witch who had survived from that time until now.

‘I know so little about the witches and the old lady.’

Even as the ruler of the North, Arina didn’t know much about the peculiar restrictions imposed on the witches.

She only knew that it was a limitation that prevented them from freely teaching or learning magic.

She had been curious, of course, but she never pressed them for answers.

‘If I’d been too pushy and driven the witches away from the High Tower, it would have only hurt the North. The witches were our only lifeline in a land with no magic or divine power.’

The North was the only region on the continent where witches could live openly, but that didn’t mean the witches had nowhere else to go.

They could still head to the Eastern Continent, or they could emigrate to the Southern Continent, where elves, dwarves, and beastfolk had already established settlements.

‘They’re such a secretive and stubborn group.’

On some level, Arina understood why outsiders viewed witches as no different from black sorcerers.

They used curses, sorcery, and spirit magic, and they were incredibly insular.

Occasionally, they even dabbled in black magic when the situation called for it.

It didn’t help that, during the Era of Savagery, the elves—whose blood flowed in the witches—had been at the forefront of the movement to exterminate humans.

‘Humans are quick to reject those who are different and quicker still to fear the unknown.’

Even the people of the North weren’t particularly fond of the witches.

But it was too late to drive them out.

After all, the bond between the Northern Grand Duchy and the witches had been forged over centuries of shared history and hardship.

‘That witch with the bell… There’s definitely a connection between her and our witches.’

Her nerves on edge, Arina finally rose from her white throne.

She approached Isabelle, who was still trembling and breathing heavily.

“Old lady, it’s okay.”

“……!”

Arina moved closer to Isabelle.

“It’s okay.”

She reached out and gently massaged Isabelle’s trembling shoulders.

“It’s okay. This time, trust me, Arad, and the North.”

Her soft words of reassurance filled the air.

***

After the collapse of the Golden Age, the continent entered the Age of Fanaticism and later the Dark Ages.

During these eras, wizards and witches were harshly persecuted.

Wizards eventually escaped persecution by proving their usefulness during the Era of Savagery, but the same was not true for witches.

Witches only accepted female disciples, strictly adhered to one-on-one inheritance, and remained an isolated group.

This behavior left them politically isolated.

Adding to their troubles, the fact that witches carried traces of elven blood—the blood of a race that had once tried to exterminate humans—became a stain of original sin that they could never wash away.

Their practice of spirit magic, which no one else on the continent could use, earned them the jealousy of Tower Wizards.

And their development of sorcery that surpassed even the black sorcerers of the Devil’s Den provided the Imperial Church with a pretext for witch hunts.

Even though there wasn’t much difference between a female wizard and a witch, it was always the witches who were persecuted.

Only in the North—specifically, under the protection of the Renslet Family—were witches guaranteed safety and support.

‘That’s why the witches fought to the very end for Northern independence.’

In the original game, “The Silver Age 1,” the witches were the heart of the Northern Resistance Army.

One of its leaders, Mary the Grand Witch of the Snowfields, was a literal nightmare for the Northern Governor’s Office alongside Sun.

“I hope Mary is okay…”

But now, the witches who had fought so fiercely for Northern independence had suddenly become powerless.

‘This never happened in the original history. Not even when the Empire fought the Northern Resistance.’

As expected, the Empire had hidden its trump card well.

‘In the original history, the Northern Resistance fought not only the Imperial Army but also the black sorcerers of the Devil’s Den, the extreme northern orcs, and the barbarians of the Manus Mountains.’

In the original timeline, there had been no need for the Empire to subdue the witches.

Or perhaps, in the original timeline, the Grand Witch of the Snowfields, Mary, had broken the curse on the witches herself.

“Clay Witch Lulu, are you alright?”

“Uuugh…”

I was checking on the condition of the witches, drawing on my memories from the original story.

“Sir! We’ve gathered all the collapsed witches into one location! We brought them in from both the factory and the High Tower!”

I heard a report from Chief Teo in the distance.

‘The Grand Witch of Spring, Isabelle, must still be at the royal hall.’

Hearing Teo’s report, I looked around.

The soldiers and knights had gathered the fallen witches from all over the High Tower and the factory and brought them here.

The only one missing was Isabelle.

“Well done! From now on, all production is halted. Focus all efforts on containing the plague!”

“What about you, sir?!”

“I’ll look after the witches! Believe it or not, I’m pretty good at healing!”

“Understood!”

The witches were vital to the operation of the Renslet Factory.

Their spirit magic was a key component of the factory’s heavy machinery.

That’s why, the moment the witches collapsed, I immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…”

I checked the condition of a young witch lying in front of me.

My max-level skills in magical engineering and healing were put to full use.

‘It’s mana exhaustion. Total mana depletion.’

I quickly identified the problem.

The witches weren’t suffering from poison or disease—they had completely run out of mana.

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