Miss Witch Doesn’t Want to Become a Songstress

Swallow Garden Academy, Blue Porcelain Pavilion.

This was a hotel within the academy, exclusively for visitors from outside. It was now also open to students participating in the retest.

In the restaurant on the second floor of the hotel, many students were dining. Among them was Hestia.

She had ordered a T5-grade Flamefish set meal. Since she had never had this kind of fish in Arpeggio City, she wanted to give it a try. She had to admit, the taste was indeed excellent. The sweet and tender fish meat, slightly golden on the surface, paired with aromatic herbs, provided a rich flavor that was utterly appetizing.

“Stop staring, you’re not eating fish.”

The girl tapped the small serpent slithering on the table with the end of her chopsticks, coaxing it to behave before resuming her meal.

Her fine, light gray hair cascaded to her shoulders, soft and smooth. To fully focus on the retest, Hestia wasn’t wearing her glasses today, revealing her delicate features. However, her figure still appeared slim and not yet fully developed, making her blend in among the other students.

“Excuse me, may I sit here?” A short-haired girl with a simple hairband approached her.

“Sure.” Hestia glanced around and noticed the restaurant was gradually filling up. It wasn’t surprising the girl wanted to share the table.

Spotting the indigo serpent coiled on the table, the short-haired girl asked curiously, “Are you also a student here for the retest?”

“Yes.”

“That’s great! Me too. Oh, by the way, this is my ‘partner.’” She suddenly remembered something, flipped open her backpack, and pulled out a large blue-backed, white-bellied crab.

“Impressive, right? Hahaha!” She grinned, introducing her partner.

“This is a ‘Wavecaller Crab.’ We have these where I’m from. I didn’t expect to meet such a compatible partner for the retest!”

“Oh, I’m Miana, from 3rd District. And you are?”

“I’m Hestia, from 7th District.”

“7th District, huh? I’ve never been there. Seeing how pretty you are, it must be a nice place.”

Hestia shook her head. “It’s not much different from other northern areas.”

As the two introduced themselves, Miana suddenly heard someone calling her from nearby. She immediately stood up.

“Coming! One moment, I’ll grab my lunch.”

She left her backpack and crab on the table and quickly went to the counter to retrieve her tray.

The freshly grilled steak sizzled on a black plate, emitting an enticing aroma and a beautiful golden sheen.

“Finally, a proper meal today!”

She eagerly picked up her knife and fork, ready to dig in.

After savoring a piece, she happily chewed, enjoying the tender, juicy beef.

Then Miana cut a large, oil-dripping piece of steak and handed it to the blue-shelled crab beside her.

“My dear partner deserves the best!” she declared energetically.

Watching this, Hestia felt a pang of guilt. Not feeding her little serpent seemed heartless. However, feeding fish to a serpent felt odd, so she took out a snack pack instead and placed some meat pellets in front of the indigo serpent.

After warming up to each other, Miana began chatting with Hestia. She spoke like an unstoppable whirlwind, sharing her experiences and observations.

“You’ve got to treat yourself when you’re in 1st District! My dad finally gave me some money, and it’d be a waste not to spend it.”

…

“Saving money? That’s impossible. My dad checks my wallet balance, so I’d rather spend it all and have peace of mind.”

…

“We have a massive lake back home, and a lot of fish farms. I’ve had enough of fish, though—I’m more interested in other meats.”

…

“Have you been to 3rd District, Hestia? If you visit, I can show you around. Lake-bottom tours are pretty cool.”

…

“Our cities in 3rd District are mostly built along lakeshores and the water surface. The sunlight is so strong my skin got tanned—definitely not natural!”

…

“On the land without lakes, it’s all desert, but we have tons of solar power plants. They’re so bright you need sunglasses to go outside, or you’ll be blinded.”

As they talked, Miana became curious about Arpeggio City, where Hestia lived.

“Living underground—wouldn’t it feel hot and stuffy? I remember our teacher said the deeper underground, the hotter it gets.”

“That’s true, but Arpeggio City is built in a geological layer with relatively high elevation, so it’s not in a high-heat zone. The city has a heat circulation system that expels warmth to the surface, and the underground rivers also carry away a lot of heat. The temperature is very stable.”

“That sounds nice. Living underground must feel very safe,” Miana remarked, contrasting it with her own 3rd District, where everything needed waterproofing.

“Each place has its pros and cons,” Hestia replied.

After lunch, the two walked together toward the fourth stage of the assessment, continuing their conversation.

“My partner is a Tide Sequence 2: Blue-Claw Crab. Its main skill is a pincer attack, and its shell is tough but it’s not very agile. I have a feeling the last test might involve combat—they wouldn’t let us pass so easily.”

Hestia introduced her sleepy little serpent, which had dozed off after eating. She noted that serpents typically spend most of their time resting.

“Do you mean we should make our partners stronger?” Miana pondered.

“Exactly. Our ‘partners’ have limited abilities now. If we can help them develop, they might grow stronger.”

“That makes sense!” Miana exclaimed.

“The theme is ‘bond,’ so it must involve strengthening our partners. Otherwise, simply commanding them would feel no different from slavery.”

“Helping our partners grow stronger shows our value as participants. This is what ‘bond’ is all about!” She raised her blue crab, its shell gleaming under the sunlight.

“But how do we do that? Train them on the spot, or find a way to help them evolve?” She fell into deep thought.

“Evolve, huh…” Hestia glanced at her little serpent, then picked up her personal terminal to search the vast database of the Star Network.

The evolution paths for serpents were numerous—some aimed for dragon-like transformations, turning into mythical creatures. Others focused on amplifying unique traits or auxiliary abilities. In the modern world, the utility of extraordinary animals often extended beyond combat, such as venom production in Crystal Dream, where the protagonist rarely trained her creatures for fighting.

As she scanned papers and introductions, Hestia began formulating ideas.

“Hestia?” Miana’s voice suddenly brought her back.

“What’s wrong, Miana?” Hestia instinctively took a cautious half-step back—not because she disliked Miana, but out of long-formed habits.

“Can you help me look up evolution paths for the Wavecaller Crab?” Miana shook her large crab, which responded by blowing bubbles.

“Alright,” Hestia agreed.

Instead of hurrying to the assessment site, the two sat on the grass under a tree, discussing and flipping through data.

Time passed quietly.