Back on Earth, during the old times, people explored the world in search of something called the "Fountain of Youth". It was said that whoever drinks or baths in this fountain's waters acquires temporary immortality, that is, their old bodies get restored to their youths.

Lots of expeditions were made, and countless lives were lost in the process, all for the sake of looking for a fictitious place that was never found.

Why does humanity want to live longer?

Is it because of our desire to continue living, or is it to see the unforeseeable future of our civilization?

In my opinion, we will never fully know, never fully understand the real reason as to why.

But one thing is for certain.

Immortality is not only a blessing.

It is a curse.

The curse of immortality.

I'll get straight to the point.

You'll outlive everyone.

Eventually, everyone you love and care about, will all meet the same fate at the end.

That is, to return to the ground.

The pain and heartbreak of seeing everyone you love dying in front of your eyes hurt.

It hurts.

And, even though I am now the most powerful witch this world has ever seen, no amount of magic or skill could ever lengthen their years or bring them back to life.

There is nothing I could do to prevent the inevitable.

"Please, watch over our offspring, Hisami. You will live longer than me, so I trust you with the safety of my family with all my heart."

Those were the last words of Alene dedicated to me as she lay on her deathbed until she finally breathed her last. I was sitting on a chair beside her bed, surrounded by her whole family, weeping.

She was the last of the four to die of old age.

Alene, along with Dralk, Gala, and Werd, was buried in the Royal Cemetery, side-by-side.

Now here I was, having these depressing thoughts, mourning them in the rain.

Alene's patch was fairly new, while the others had grass growing on them already.

My cheeks were wet, but I don't know if it is because my tears were coming out or the rain that was drenching my whole body.

All the time we spent together, will become nothing more than memories that will forever be engraved in my mind.

"Auntie..."

A voice called out to me behind. It was Halan Galdren, the current Hero. He was holding an umbrella, which he used to shield both of us from the rain.

"Thank you, Halan. Why are you here?"

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"I was also planning to visit their grave when I saw you in the rain, Auntie Hisami. So I brought an umbrella with me. You could get sick in the rain, Auntie, even if you were immortal.

Well, I think you can, he said.

I chuckled at his statement.

"Thank you for your concern, Halan. When I came out here, the sun was still shining. The rain only started a few minutes ago."

"Oh, I see."

........

We stood there for a couple of minutes in silence.

"...Father and Mother were great, weren't they?"

"Yes... They were the best comrades one could ever have..."

This time, I was sure tears were rolling down from my eyes. My shoulders were shaking, and I couldn't contain the small sniffs that accompanied them.

I then realized that I was crying out loud, wailing at the top of my lungs.

I missed them.

I missed them I missed them I missed them.

I missed them so much.

All the emotions trapped in my heart were now being released, like a dam letting go of the water it holds under immense pleasure.

And I couldn't stop it.

Halan said nothing, but he took his free hand and hugged me, patting my hair to comfort me. I hugged him too, making his shirt wet with my tears.

Both of us stood there mourning those who had already passed on in the afterlife while comforting each other.

Only those who watch from above knew how long we mourned for them that day.

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To honor the commitment I made to Alene, I continued to get in touch with not only hers but with Gala and Werd's descendants as well.

For the first fifty years or so I still had contact with almost all of them. Although, even if I couldn't visit the Hero's descendants who were still living in the Palace, I visited the Vesdrel family in their ancestral home in Iscove once in a while.

Once I tried to visit those in the Palace, but none of the staff or even the current king knew who I was, so they didn't allow me to visit them. They thought that I was just a normal stranger, trying to get a look inside one of the most exclusive buildings in the world.

It seemed that our secret was kept by the former king too well, so I gave up trying.

Luckily I managed to track down some of Alene's kids who moved out of the Palace, so I regularly maintained contact with them.

Despite the original party of heroes gone, we still did the annual family reunion event in my place, which honestly made me happy.

But all good things, if not immortal, must come to an end.

At first, the number of guests was plentiful, enough to fill almost half of my large mansion, but as time passed, the number of attendees dwindled, until about 90 years later it only became one.

I gleefully entertained the only one left that came, who was a descendant of Gala and Werd. We both chatted merrily with each other the whole day until it was finally time for him to head home.

"Don't worry. Next year, I'll persuade my whole family to visit you, Miss Hisami!" He declared before leaving.

A few months later, I got word that he died in an expedition accident.

And with that, the yearly reunion ended.

I still tried to get in contact with all of them, but it was either they moved away to someplace I didn't know, or just vanished, without a trace.

There were also the Hero's descendants in the Palace, but it's been so long I doubt they even know me anymore.

I was alone.

I spent year after year in my house, with nothing to do, while the dust was settling on the halls that once burst with activity.

Of course, my secret couldn't stay hidden for so long when you have a teenage-looking girl living in a mansion that didn't seem to physically age who lives a few miles from your town, so my reputation as a powerful immortal witch began to spread around Sirvaelin.

At this point, I didn't mind at all, so I told the townsfolk this under the agreement that they wouldn't spread around information about me too much around the Human Empire. This town was pretty isolated anyway, so they quickly agreed to it.

Starting at that point I've received numerous A-tier job requests in my mailbox that offered huge amounts of money in exchange, so it eventually became my job to complete these. There were even times where I would receive rare S-tier requests, making me richer as time passed. Mostly the jobs were about clearing high-level monsters near the town and in the mountains, which also increased my level as well. Heck, aside from my magic, even my physical abilities stats skyrocketed, making me perhaps the strongest human being alive.

It wasn't an exaggeration to call me overpowered at this point.

My good reputation quickly spread across town, and now it seemed everyone took a liking to me. I was getting discounts everywhere, from clothing to food, furniture, necessities, etc. I think I even heard a folktale about me that they made one time.

Over time, the people there often refer to me with a title, one that could only belong to the lonely, immortal witch living inside a luxurious mansion, who day-by-day helped the town with their troubles.

And that title was:

The Witch of Langle Field.