(Part 1)

Ding-Dong

It was the hour when the sun climbs to the highest point of the sky. In a corner of the city, a copper doorbell gave out a satisfying sound. At the same time, an old woman put her head around the open door, peeking into the shop.

“My, having another busy day, aren’t you?”

 The smell of baked wheat filled the nostrils. Long tables were placed against the four walls of the room, and over them the many types of bread and pastries we offered were arranged in rows: round ones, square ones, ring-shaped ones and more. All of them were faintly giving off steam, making it clear that they were freshly made. The place, which could never be described as big, was currently bursting with people that had come searching for a tasty lunch.

“Welcome!” While I served the clients in front of me, jotting down their bill, I turned to the new arrival with a smile on my face.

“A loaf of bread, please.”

“I want that one sprinkled with lots of sugar, and two jars of marmalade. Berries, please.”

“Yes, please wait a minute. I prepare the orders in the order they arrive.”

After receiving payment, I grabbed the sugar-top bread from the shelf and the jam under my arm to ready them. It was a motion brisk and smooth; despite myself, I had become accustomed to the job.

“Your skills have really improved,” commented Mrs. Rose, the customer that had just stepped into the store. “How long has it been since you started working here, Lucca dear? It was really hard for you at the start, wasn’t it?” The old woman nodded her head, narrowing her eyes as if recalling something from the distant past. Her smiling face was just like the expression of a grandmother overjoyed by the growth of her own grandchild.

“Heh, I couldn’t stay useless forever, after all…Ah, welcome!” After responding to the bell and its announcement of a new client, my mind went completely blank. Huh? What was I supposed to do next?

“Lucca, the change! You haven’t given me the change!”

“Ah! So-sorry.”

My regular client gave out a big laugh, waving the loaf of bread with one hand.

***

(Part 2)

“It’s getting quite chilly, isn’t it? And to think not so long ago it was summer…Jeez!”

Meyrin and I went to a park with the waterworks. We sat on a bench, and she rubbed her legs which stuck out from her short skirt.

“If you’re cold, you should wear something more suitable,” I began to argue.

“Being fashionable means you endure this sort of thing,” Meyrin stated wagging her finger, before I could finish my argument. “Anyway, I’m starving. What’s in the menu today?” Meyrin’s ardent gaze, full of expectations, focused on the basket I held. Her eyes were twinkling and she was drooling a bit. Unlike me, she was a woman that displayed her feelings openly.

I took out one of the pastries I brought from the stores and handed it to her; she munched it with zeal.

More Witch Hunt.

“Lucca, that man just now, where did he go?” He inquired while helping me get up.

“That way, but…what in the world is going on?” I pointed towards the road the man chose to escape, but there was no longer any trace of him in that direction; just the peaceful scenery of the city spread out before my eyes.

“Dammit, he got away! He took all the earnings of the store!”

“Eh? He stole your money?” I cried out loudly without thinking. Then, I recalled my previous conversation with Ms. Rose: ‘There are a lot of robberies lately, so be careful.’ At the time, I didn’t think the news concerned me in any way. I was sure I was just going to complete my shift and finish the day like usual. There was no way thieves would come into our store…even now, I could scarcely believe it.

“How could this happen with you inside the store?!” It wasn’t strange for me to be surprised, in my opinion. The boss didn’t have a face suited for the service industry; obviously, that wasn’t something I’d say out loud, but he stated it himself. On top of that, he had a body so big that you could easily mistake him for a bear. Being so muscular, he was able to lift without effort things I couldn’t at all unless I used my magic.

But in contrast to his appearance, my boss was always concerned about the well-being of others, so he let me handle the customers while he slaved behind the scenes, in order to avoid ‘scaring the kids’, in his own words.

Still, even though he was alone tending the store while I was out relaxing with Meyrin, I could’ve never dreamed that a man like my boss could become a victim of a robbery during business hours.

And your favorite spotlight-stealing girl makes her debut!

Remember, kiddos. Luka in this story is named Lucca and Miku is Michelle.

( Part 4)

Since I spent some time discussing things with my boss, the thief had probably managed to get quite far from the store. I didn’t know where he was going, but I followed his ‘invisible silhouette’ until finally I reached a big marketplace.

This marketplace, En Passant, drew huge crowds of people every day, especially at that hour of the day, when it was so jammed with shoppers that it made one wonder if everyone in the city was gathered here. I had no choice but to thread my way through the crowd; my intent was to run, but it wasn’t possible to do anything but walk in the direction I was heading.

For a little while, she lead me through the mass of people, and it struck me how smoothly we proceeded past them, like mermaids skimming across the waters. My surprise grew as we reached the road I was originally aiming for, at the other side of the marketplace. Barely a few minutes had passed.

“Thank you…that was incredible!” I expressed both my surprise and my gratitude with that exclamation, and she responded by laughing awkwardly and taking off her hood with her left hand. Her hair gathered in twin tails spilled out and fluttered at both sides of her head, catching my eye. It reflected the sun’s rays with a pale blue-green shine. She then gasped and her right hand quickly dropped mine.

“That was amazing, it really was.” I continued. “I’ve been in this country for a year, but everything is still so unfamiliar to me…” As I gazed at my left hand, which still had a trace of her warmth on my skin, I muttered, “the way you moved just now…that was just like magic.”

I immediately regretted speaking my thoughts so freely. The people of this country had such a negative view about discussing witchcraft that she was sure to take offense. I stole a peek at my benefactor’s face, increasingly nervous, and found that her expression was the opposite of what I expecting.

“Hehe, magic? Wouldn’t that be something! But if I were a witch, I’d have to be careful to keep the Society from noticing me, right?” She quipped laughing. “Oh, by the way, weren’t you in a hurry?”

It's always surprising to me when I see or read about people drawing blood out of their thumbs by biting them. How is this even a thing?

(Part 5)

There were many roads to choose from, beyond the marketplace. Even though I wasn’t certain that the road I chose was the one the thief used to escape, it was the most intricate road crossing the residential district, with many side roads connected to it as well. Another thing of note was that there were cords stretching freely from home to home. The people that lived there had a great number of shirts and undergarments hanging from them, so the clothing would dry in the sun. The garments fluttered in the breeze above my head; for the most part, sunlight didn’t quite reach the ground…all in all, it seemed like a very convenient road for someone looking to hide, like a thief, given the reduced visibility.

But it also was convenient for me. If the culprit came to his sector…I had a chance to capture him.

Once I made sure no one was near and there wasn’t anyone peeking through the windows of the residences around me, I placed the thief’s shoe on the ground. This road had little pedestrian traffic, but if the worst happened and someone saw me doing this, I would be in great danger. While my mind was focused on my surroundings, I bit on my thumb; the tip of my finger felt hot and ached, as drops of blood trickled down to the ground. With the liquid, I drew a perfect circle around the shoe on the sand.

“Pactum et ritus! (Covenant and Ritual)”

My hair and the laundry rustled, streaming in the wind. Above me, the clouds began to cross the sky at an incredible speed. Inside the magic circle of blood, a whirlwind came to life; a moment later, the sun hid behind the huge silhouette of a cloud.

“Please, search for the owner of his shoe,” I stated my command in as low a voice I could manage, while still watching my surroundings carefully. The blood I used to draw the circle evaporated and a faint laugh began to reverberate through the air.

I looked around searching for the origin of the laugh, and out of the blue, a fairy about the size of my fist peeked out from between the male undergarments hanging out to dry above my head. It regarded me with huge eyes, its bug-like wings fluttering.

It was a type of wind fairy, Sylph.

Even for fairies, they were notorious fickle. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve never called upon one of them within a city like this. But these was an extraordinary situation, so I didn’t have time for hesitation.

“Shh, be as quiet as you can!” I mouthed without using my voice to convey my meaning.

The sylph examined the shoe placed on the ground, then flew away with incredible speed. An instant later, the multicolored laundry along the street wavered in response. The owner of the shoe (that is to say, the culprit that stole the money) was at the end of the trail of shirts, undergarments and sheets affected by the sylph’s movements. Once again, I hastened my steps while looking up at the fluttering articles of clothing.

You better believe I laughed when I saw how Luka uses her magic powers here XD

(Part 6)

I fervently followed the culprit’s footsteps, taking care not to lose sight of the trail that the fairy was leaving behind.

If I made even a small mistake and confuse the sand and ordinary dust in the air for it, I would lose the chance to capture the thief. That thought was firmly engraved in my mind, and I believe that’s why I was able to chase the fairy without losing track of it until the end.

Finally, I reached a street called Diagonal Alley and followed it for a while, until I saw a figure I recognized. A small, slender man with only one shoe…that silhouette was unmistakable. It was the man that bumped into me in front of the bakery and ran away.

Diagonal Alley was full of drinking establishments and was a lively place at night, but at noon there was little activity. Despite being somewhat close to the En Passant Marketplace, the difference in population density was staggering.  The thief probably had chosen this street to take a breather, since it was deserted; he was sitting by the shade of some barrels placed on the street, with the bag of stolen money open before him. He seemed to be in the middle of counting his loot.

“Please…return that money!” I shouted hotly at him, making him extremely startled. He jolted and immediately turned around. But when he saw me standing there with an angry expression, his face relaxed; I was only a woman, and moreover, I was alone, after all.

“What’s this, a broad?” With calm movements, he gathered the money on the ground and placed it back inside the bag. He seemed to be pondering what a nuisance I was, as he stood up.

“…That money is very important. Please return it!”

“How did you find me? You managed to follow me? Did you tell anyone?”

“Please give that money back! If you don’t…” Clearly, it was pointless to try and reason with him, since he was completely ignoring my insistent attempts. His attitude was completely mocking towards me.

“Oh, if I don’t…what are you going to do?” While he asked in a menacing tone, his hand slipped into his pocket. Suddenly, he threw something directly at my face, something shiny and pointy, aimed towards my left eye.

It was too quick for me to react; by the time I realized it was a knife, everything was already over.

Although the thief’s aim was precise, the thin blade changed course unnaturally, right before it could penetrate my face; it brushed past me, and I could feel the air shift and press against my eyeball.

“Wh-what the?! What did you do just now?!”

I hadn’t done a thing. No, I couldn’t have done a thing. I just stood there, with an image reflected in my eyes: the figure of the sylph floating behind the man, an instant before vanishing. It seems like the fickle fairy had done an extra service for me before parting, out of sheer capriciousness. Thanks to it, I narrowly escaped a harrowing fate. If the fairy had erred even a little, I would’ve ended up with an injury I would regret for the rest of my life…or I would be dead.

Thanks to the sensation conveyed by the blood running down my cheek, all of the sudden my body was assaulted by chills. My legs wobbled and my chest was bursting with fear.

I’m so scared, I hate this. I want to run away right now…but I can’t. I decided to do this, didn’t I?

I could never forgive this man for wronging my boss. Besides, even if I tried to escape at that point, the man before me wasn’t going to just let me walk away after seeing his face. There was no turning back now, I had to get the money from the store somehow with my powers.

I thought about my boss’ face and got my shuddering body under control. Then, I collected the blood flowing down my cheek in my hand, took a deep, slow breath and used the magic invocation.

“Pactum et ritus,” I whispered the words as softly as I was able, to keep the thief from hearing them. My voice was so shaky and thin even I would’ve laughed at it.

“Remissionis de magia (Magic Spell Cancel)” I curled up my body, bracing for impact and hit the man like a cannonball. This was the second time we crashed into one another, counting the time he exited the bakery and run into me. Unlike then, the one that cried out in pain was him.

“Aaarg...!”

The man’s body acted as a cushion, as I landed on top of him. My head hurt from crashing into him, but beyond that, I was unharmed. For his part, he sported a bloody nose and had fainted. Apparently, my head hit his face and since I had returned to my regular weight in the middle of the jump, I collided with him with the strength of a bullet. It wasn’t a surprise that he would sustain this kind of damage.

Ultimately, I had won. Thanks to this, I would be able to return the money to the store. My legs, moments ago shaking with fear, now quivered with joy.

I investigated the man, and retrieved the bag. It felt heavy enough to be a month’s earnings, like my boss had claimed. Once again, I enjoyed a sense of accomplishment. When I looked around me, I noticed that the impact had spilled some of the coins and bills from the bag. While I gathered them, I planned my next steps.

Once the money was back in the bag, I’d have to go inform the palace guard before the man woke up; then, I’d go back to the store to return the bag and give my boss the happy news. Then…

“Hey” Suddenly, a loud and hoarse male voice rang out behind me.

When I turned, I saw a man standing there, about my boss’ size…no, probably bigger. His face was full of scars, he had a slovenly moustache and one of his irises was whitish. He had an utterly creepy look, and the stench of tobacco and alcohol emanated from his body.

“What are you gonna do with that cash? Was it you that messed him up?” The man before me had appeared so suddenly, I could do nothing but look up at him silently.

It wasn’t a two-man operation, there had been one more thief with them. The small man was probably going to join up with this large one in that spot. It was embarrassing that an eventuality like this hadn’t even crossed my mind. My mood fell from the peaks of joy to the depths of despair.

“Say something, dammit!” The man lifted a rocklike fist.

I closed my eyes, but even after a long time passed, the man’s hard fist didn’t hit my body.

“Wh-what the heck…” After hearing that troubled tone coming from above my head, I opened my eyes, still afraid. The man’s fist was completely static, still in mid-swing.

“We…we meet again, don’t we?” It was the same girl I met at the marketplace, looking at me with an awkward smile.