Witch Hunt Chapter 3 part1

Another chapter from Lucca's perspective, thankfully. And it's finally time for a certain meeting...

(Part 1)

“Michelle, thank you for today! Come to the shop some time, I’ll have something special for you.”

“Yay! I’ll go for sure!” The petite girl rejoiced with an innocent smile.

Not once, but twice, this girl had saved me. In the end, it had been too heavy a burden for a half-witted and useless…no, a half-breed useless witch like me, to recover on my own the money from those strong thieves. If she hadn’t been there, I could still be there rotting away in the marketplace. Although I’d been lucky enough to get to the culprit, I ended up almost succumbing to their violence.

Truly, I was glad to have met that girl at that place and time.

My own inclinations as well as the rules of courtesy suggested I invited her to have tea with me somewhere. However, I had to hurry back; I needed to return the money to the store and ease my boss’ anguish. So I relegated the desire to talk some more to Michelle to the back of my mind and began to ran back to the bakery.

When I turned back to look at her, Michelle was still waving her hand, which made me unknowingly smile.

Michelle had the gentleness to save those in need, plus the strength to face others when needed. If I had met her sooner, my days might’ve been much more colorful, for sure. However, apparently she travelled abroad around the same time I first came to the country. The bad timing of it all made me somewhat disappointed, but at the same time, the fact that we had managed to meet either way seemed so marvelous that it made me overjoyed.

When she comes to our bakery, I should make something really special for her. My boss will surely allow it; after all, she was the shop’s savior. Maybe she could try the new pastries I suggested. I want to speak more with her, when there aren’t so many clients around. Maybe she could have lunch with me the days when Meyrin wasn’t around, that would be nice. And…and…

‘It’s not like witches and humans can be friends.’ Suddenly, the words Meyrin once uttered echoed in my mind. Those sad words damped the high hopes I was beginning to harbor. If I’m not mistaken, Meyrin said that phrase a few months before; she was staying at my place and we were drinking fruit wine together.

‘Why?’ I recalled myself asking.

‘Because we’re witches and they’re humans!’ She answered roughly.

Certainly, humans and witches were two races with different lifespans and senses of values. Long ago, before the incident with the grand sorceress, it seems like relations between the two groups weren’t as rocky, but nowadays in the modern world, humans hated witches and witches lived in fear of humans.

As for me, I was attempting to make friends with people that didn’t know I was a witch; however, there was the possibility they might denounce me to the Society, if they discovered my true identity. That’s why a witch has to lie. No matter how close the friendship, she has to live hiding her true self.

‘Can you call them true friends, despite that?’ Even now, I can’t forget Meyrin’s sad, resigned smile.

It’s merely conjecture, but perhaps long ago Meyrin became friends with a human, and then they betrayed her…I didn’t explore the topic too deeply.

'Then, what about romance between and witches?' It’s not like I had interest in the subject, I just tried to ask so that I wouldn’t have to endure an uncomfortable silence. Meyrin countered by asking if I was wondering whether her maiden heart had been pierced by some human or perhaps I was fixed upon falling in love with someone.

Perhaps I had fallen in love with a frequent costumer; or maybe, I was waiting for a fateful meeting with a handsome prince from a foreign land, one I had yet to meet? Or maybe I harbored a forbidden love for my boss Mr. Bread…and so on.

After Meyrin had her fun for a while posing wild theories, she reached inside her ingredients box and handed me a potion labelled ‘Love Potion X’ which she had just brewed the previous evening. Then, she excused herself and went to sleep. That suspicious-looking potion is gathering dust in the back of one of the shelves in my room. I’m pretty sure the day to use such a thing will never come.

Finally, I turned a street corner and couldn’t see Michelle any longer.

A witch and a human. Someone that has magic powers, someone that doesn’t. Such a small difference, and at the same time it constituted such an insurmountably huge gulf between us. And yet, I wished from the bottom of my heart to be friends with Michelle.

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Chapter end