Miss Witch Doesn’t Want to Become a Songstress

After bidding farewell to Mr. Fernandi, Hestia resumed her busy life working at Crystal Dream. While she might receive some financial aid for high school, she found it more reassuring to earn money herself.

As her mother often said, “When you can earn your own money, you’ll feel a great sense of freedom because you won’t have to depend on anyone.”

The bar counter at Crystal Dream was still under renovation, but Hestia finally welcomed a short vacation.

Should she go out or spend the day at home?

Sitting by her bed, sunlight streamed through the window, casting a warm glow over her slender legs. Her fair skin glimmered in the light, and her toes had a translucent sheen.

Recently, life had been a whirlwind—work, learning music, and keeping up with school matters.

Lying back on the soft bed, Hestia gazed at the ceiling, her nerves slowly relaxing as her furrowed brow smoothed out. She closed her eyes again.

“Today, I’ll just stay home and sleep,” she thought.

The sunlight outside her window continued to bathe the room, while the fan gently circulated the air. Shortly after getting up, she had already drifted back to sleep, her legs first curling before relaxing into a sideways position. Her silky hair spilled across the covers.

Time flowed silently. With no interruptions and no work obligations, Hestia enjoyed the tranquility of her day off.

It was Sunday, June 5.

…

By afternoon, hunger finally pulled Hestia out of bed.

Yawning deeply, she stretched and shook her head to wake up, tossing her hair before standing.

A few steps took her to the mirror, where she leaned in to inspect her reflection. Her ash-gray hair contrasted with her dark eyes. Strands of her side bangs partially covered her ears, which she could fully expose only by pinning the hair back.

Sitting at her dressing table, she combed her hair, gathering one side into a neat tie that rested on her chest before doing the same on the other.

Satisfied with her look, Hestia stood and opened her wardrobe, picking a summer dress suitable for going out. She slipped on a pair of strappy sandals, ready to face the day.

The weather was sunny. After grabbing a small handbag and gathering her essentials, she left the house, planning to grab some food and explore the surface.

Since entering her final year of middle school, the pressure of academics and tight finances had consumed her energy. Her days revolved around studying, grocery shopping, cooking, and reviewing lessons—a monotonous cycle repeated endlessly.

With her father gone, Hestia had no one to rely on. Failing to gain admission to Erin Academy would mean an almost impossible year of retaking exams—financially unsustainable and mentally taxing.

For the past year, she had barely caught her breath. Now, with graduation a month behind her, she could finally relax—at least temporarily. Although she still worried about receiving her acceptance letter and her future career, the weight on her shoulders had eased.

Today, she decided to do something she hadn’t done in a long time: visit the surface.

While the underground simulated skies were impressive, they couldn’t compare to the vastness and grandeur of the real sky.

Taking the vertical elevator to the top of the shaft, Hestia watched the numbers climb until they reached “0.” The crimson steel doors of the elevator slid open.

As she stepped out into the passage leading to the surface, the blazing sunlight made her squint and shield her eyes with her arm. The warm wind greeted her as she ascended the dry, echoing steel staircase.

Gripping the handrail, she emerged from the stairwell and looked out.

A pale, gray-white expanse stretched before her. The hard, dusty ground carried grains of sand that brushed against her skin, leaving a faint grit.

“No wonder people rarely come out here,” Hestia thought. But despite its harshness, she found it oddly enjoyable.

Outside the surface shaft of Arpeggio City lay a desolate wasteland with no vegetation in sight. The only landmark was a large parking lot. Under the scorching sun, it appeared abandoned, with few vehicles coming or going.

Large trucks designed for surface travel occasionally delivered cargo here. After unloading, drivers parked their vehicles and descended to Arpeggio City below to rest before resuming their journey.

Walking further from the metal-plated ground near the shaft, Hestia stepped onto the parched earth. Her summer dress fluttered in the hot breeze. She brushed her windswept hair aside and crouched to examine the cracked soil.

Once a muddy surface during rains, the ground had hardened under the sun, forming irregular fissures. When she gently broke off a piece, it crumbled into grayish-white particles, disintegrating into fine powder between her fingers.

Long ago, this land had been lush with greenery. But acidic rain had long since stripped it bare of vegetation.

“Such changes in the world,” she thought, standing slowly. Her forehead now glistened with sweat under the sun’s relentless rays, prompting her to head back.

As she wandered the heated terrain, a truck approached from a distance, slowing as it neared the parking lot.

“Hey, little lady!” a voice called out from the truck.

The driver, a man in his forties with muscular arms and a stubbled face, leaned out.

“Out here all alone?” he asked.

“Yes, just taking a walk,” Hestia replied, raising her voice to be heard.

“Haha, a walk! Alright then.” The man chuckled, finding her amusing.

“Here, take this.” He tossed down a straw hat, its rough edges slightly prickly.

Before Hestia could respond, the truck rumbled away, heading for the parking lot. Mechanical arms moved to unload the cargo, transferring the containers onto freight elevators bound for the city below. With his task complete, the driver’s workday was done.

Hestia examined the straw hat in her hands and put it on her head as she walked toward the parking lot. Before long, she saw the middle-aged man emerging, holding two bottles of chilled mineral water.

“Want one?”

He tossed a bottle her way, and Hestia fumbled to catch it—not because her reflexes were slow but because she’d never experienced something like this before.

It was an ordinary bottle of mineral water, likely the basic T7-grade emergency drink. Other than quenching thirst, it had no additional functions. It was so inexpensive that it could even be produced using small personal automated machines.

As they approached, Hestia could see that the man’s face was flushed, his body covered with coarse hair. He wore a work uniform stained with grease and grime and carried the lingering smell of sweat.

“Why don’t you rest for a bit in the parking lounge? It’s not as sunny there, and it’s safer.”

“Alright.” Hestia was curious, as she had never been to this parking lot before.

“You’re a kid from Arpeggio City, right?” the man asked casually as they walked.

“Yes. What about you, mister?”

“Me? I’m from Flying Thorn City in the Northern 6th District. I’ve got a daughter about your age, in her second year of middle school.”

“You came all this way?” Hestia knew that Flying Thorn City was at least 200 kilometers from here.

“Well, you go where the work is. Distance doesn’t matter,” he replied nonchalantly.

“And you? Wandering out here on your own—don’t your family worry about you? If a bad person snatched you up, there’s not even a single security camera around here.”

Although the Federation was generally safe, there were always exceptions, especially in remote areas.

Hestia blinked. “I’m just walking around the edge of the skylight, not too far away.”

“That’s good, then. Arpeggio City’s surroundings are pretty safe. But if you were out in the wild, dozens of kilometers from the nearest soul, people are no different from animals out there,” he remarked with a hint of melancholy.

“A lot can happen on the road, and nothing happening is the best outcome.”

“Every trip, I’m on edge. It’s only when I get to my destination that I can finally relax a bit.”

Reaching the sparsely populated parking lot, the two climbed the stairs to the lounge area, which was noticeably cooler.

The entire lounge was constructed from steel, with a weatherproof and corrosion-resistant roof overhead. The roof was ^-shaped, and the area below was an open, breezy resting space furnished with fixed steel chairs and beds. Underneath, the structure was elevated, allowing wind to howl through, creating a whistling sound.

Although the Federation had luxurious high-tech buildings, in many remote or lower-income areas, practicality and cost-efficiency were prioritized.

Leaning against the elevated walkway outside the lounge, the wind swept away their sweat, offering a refreshing coolness. Gazing at the baked and cracked earth in the distance, they continued their conversation.

“I envy you kids,” the man said, resting his arm on the steel railing.

“You can live carefree, even if you have your worries. Looking back now, I realize those were probably happy troubles.”

“What about you, mister? What have you been through?” Hestia asked curiously.

“Me? Back in the day, I fought someone over a girl I liked.” He grinned widely.

“Too bad, though—I won the fight, but the girl still didn’t end up with me.”

“Did she like the guy you fought?”

“No, she fell for some new guy she met later. To be fair, he was pretty handsome. Even I have to admit that.”

“I was heartbroken at the time. I bawled my eyes out with my buddies and swore I’d wait ten years for her to change her mind.”

“And?”

“Well, now I can’t even remember what she looked like. All I recall is that she liked wearing white dresses. Maybe it was her silhouette that stole my heart that summer.” The man stared into the distance, taking a long swig from his bottle of water.

“People are like that. The things you care so much about at the time—eventually, you just forget.”

“Alright, enough chit-chat with a little girl. I need to find a spot to sleep now,” he said, crumpling his water bottle and tossing it into a nearby trash can. He turned toward the lounge behind him.

“When I first saw you walking alone, I thought you might be upset about something. But after chatting, it turns out you’re fine. Really, kids these days,” he said, shaking his head.

“Head home soon. The sun’s intense out here, and I’m off to catch some sleep.” He waved her off, dragging his tired feet to a private room in the lounge to rest.

“Uh, thanks, mister,” Hestia said, a bit amused but also touched by his kindness.

She had planned to return the hat to him, but since he had already gone inside to sleep, she decided against it.

Turning away from the parking lot, Hestia wandered around the skylight area for a while longer before heading back down the steel stairs.

Although she hadn’t seen anything particularly spectacular today, her mood felt much lighter.

Like a frog born in a well, she had always believed the world within the well to be her entire existence. Inside, she had people she liked, moments of sorrow and joy, things worth celebrating, and reasons to cry.

But as time passed and the day came when she ventured beyond the well, she began to realize that life within it was just a tiny part of her story. There was still a vast, unexplored world outside, filled with unknown landscapes and infinite possibilities waiting for her.