Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

Chapter 112: 68th Chapter: The Flower-Crowned Maiden under the Twin Trees

Although the bar was decorated exactly to Hexia's liking, she couldn't help feeling nervous when it was time to perform.

After all, it was her first time, and she didn't know how it would go.

After work that afternoon, about 20 maids gathered in this small room—if there had been space, likely even more would have entered.

"Botis, aren't you coming in?" Inside the bar, 'Sai Gong' cleaned up after closing, now having a moment to rest, she sat inside looking at Botis outside who wanted a drink.

"I'd rather not." Botis held a glass of wine in one hand, gently swirling it.

"There are already so many people inside, squeezing in with the juniors just feels wrong." She tipped back her head and drank most of the wine in her glass, seemingly a bit tipsy.

"Ah, that's rare to see," 'Sai Gong' did not wish to guess at Botis's complicated emotions, she leaned against the inside of the bar, looking up at the simulated sky above, which was now showing a fiery sunset.

"When feelings run too deep, it's easy to get hurt," 'Sai Gong' said something rather cryptic.

"Most who come here to drink do so for the taste, but some purely want to vent their sadness."

"Are you afraid that after Dantalion goes off to school, you'll find it hard to let go when the time comes to part?"

"You may know quite a few people from working in the shop, but you just talk occasionally during work; usually, you're in the jungle dealing with poisons. Having someone to keep you company now must be quite pleasing, isn't it?"

"'Sai Gong,' you may be from the Bull Horn Tribe, but you're always so broad-minded yet attentive," mused Botis, resting her head on the bar, feeling sleepy.

"Should I take that comment to mean that I seem rather plump?" 'Sai Gong' laughed, not offended in the least.

"The Bull Horn Tribe naturally has larger frames; in ancient times, they were often fierce generals on the battlefield. Actually, I am considered quite slender among my people."

"Enough about that." She shook her head, no longer looking at the clouds overhead, but sat up instead.

"Are you really leaving the world of songstresses for good? It feels like a pity. I've heard your songs before too, 'Emerald Serpent,' truly a fitting name."

"Don't mention that nickname in the shop, it's not good," Botis said, somewhat inebriated.

"Alright, it won't be mentioned. Do you want another drink? If not, I'm going to close up shop."

"Another 'Serpent Green'."

"Okay~"

With the sound of liquid pouring into the glass, a cup of emerald-clear alcohol was placed in front of Botis.

"Here you go, your biggest impact back in the day at Four-leaf Crystal was this 'Serpent Green'. Many rockers and racers loved to have a taste," shared 'Sai Gong'.

"Like jade, this absinthe mixed with just a touch of anise liqueur and cranberry juice, then shaken with ice cubes, reaches an alcohol content of 89%. Taking a drink, the aroma of alcohol and ice mixes in the throat, chilling the body and clearing the mind, followed by the kick from the alcohol, feeling as if your body is on fire. A slight drunken illusion emerges, almost as if transforming into a beast in the night."

"Back then, when I was working in the night market bars of South District 3, I saw it several times before an underground race, groups ordering a round, then dashing off toward death—it was simultaneously astonishing and incomprehensible."

"Seeing you now so mild and sentimental is something I didn't expect," 'Sai Gong' said after finishing tidying up the bar and then slowly lowering the white metal curtain. She came out and sat with Botis.

The two continued to talk about the past, about the legends that once swept the Four-leaf Crystal Underworld: stories of band members and racers rushing towards their demise.

On the other side of 'Dream of Glazed Glass,' within the newly built circular library.

About 20 maids of differing appearances surrounded the figure seated on the high stool in the center; they either sat or leaned, and the surrounding environment was a sea of flowers gently stirred by the breeze.

The large picture book in her hands was spread open, completely covering Hexia's legs, and it depicted a world of autumn-yellow leaves.

Elvish tones strung together like a light and ethereal song, as Hexia told an ancient story about a flower-crowned maiden named Isenisha.

This Color Level Songstress, who would later be known as 'Golden Flame Rose,' lived on a sparsely inhabited planet before she became famous.

In the Fourth Epoch, various pioneer fleets set out from Mother Earth in search of new settlements in the vast universe. Some brought back surprising news, while others disappeared into the starry sea, their traces and wreckage perhaps to be discovered thousands of years later.

Isenisha's ancestors were one such group, crash-landing on this barren planet. Unable to return or contact Earth, they had no choice but to endure and develop on this planet.

Generation after generation struggled; from initially grappling with the brink of death to slowly finding stability and eventually migrating to find more suitable places to live.

And so, this group slowly took root on the planet, and with gradually restored technology, they began to try and transform it.

Two saplings were planted, representing new hope and the future.

As the saplings grew, melodious flute sounds filled the air. The people gathered under these two transcendent gigantic trees, and the planet's pervasive toxins were gradually cleansed, providing spring water that flowed between the trees—pure enough to drink without treatment.

As centuries upon centuries passed, the two trees grew to reach the skies, so tall that rumors abounded one could overlook most of the planet from the top of the canopy, and between the branches, cities hung like golden fruits.

"The giant trees that hold up the world, named the World Trees."

People prayed and sang, celebrating the festivals year after year, and the one who sang under these giant trees was the most beautiful girl with the most enchanting voice, chosen by the people themselves.

Isenisha, daughter of a human father and an elven mother, was the 312th flower-crowned maiden beneath the twin trees. She was a common half-breed on the planet, who, from a young age, played and grew up with friends from various species under the trees, and aside from differences in appearance, there were no distinctions between them in her eyes.

As time gently rolled by, countless Stellar Years later, when a lost starship passed through the barren void and reached this Stellar System, they were astonished by the emerald-like planet.

"Like verdant amber, it encapsulated the legacy and beautiful dreams of humanity from the previous epoch."

Following the long and arduous war that swept through the Milky Way in the Fifth Epoch, many inhabitable planets were either destroyed or polluted by radiation and toxins, rendering them unsuitable for life. A well-preserved paradise-like planet such as this was exceedingly rare.

The starship set its course for this uncharted planet and descended slowly.

It brought the lost faster-than-light travel technology to the planet's inhabitants and informed them of the current state of the Milky Way.

The Fourth Epoch had long ended, and now it was the Sixth Era—a time of ruins and remnants.

Two years later, the starship departed once more, now with a golden-haired woman in a golden dress among its crew—Isenisha, and her legendary story was slowly unfolding.

...

With closed eyes, listening intently, the girl's delicate voice, like sunlight and dew threading through leaves, seeped into the restless heart, bringing it gradual calm.

Technology has made everything convenient and fast-paced, but anxiety spreads through every nook and cranny, infesting the heart with no place to hide. Cities and the interstellar network are awash with complex and abundant information that overwhelms the senses, stimulating every desire and unease. It's as if an invisible web ensnares and binds, leaving no escape, nor can one forsake it.

The figure seated beneath the dappled shade of the trees, opening the picture book in hand, with a voice as melodic as a song, frees you from this mortal cage, taking you to that vast history and legendary past. There shine the once bright stars and rise and fall the stories that, while recounting days gone by, reflect each individual's life ahead as if in a mirror.

Now, have you gained the courage known as 'serenity,' the strength to face life without anxious fear?