“Damn you Furukawa Shiro~!” I shouted with a rather low volume in order to not make a ruckus right after waking up. I sighed as I rubbed my eyes while yawning loudly. I looked upwards to see an unfamiliar ceiling, and a familiar bed I just got acquainted with last night.
I looked around to see a plain small bedroom with a nearly empty wardrobe and other furniture that I wasn’t familiar with. I gathered all of my strength to wake up and open the window to see the sun barely getting up as the sky still had its own darkness.
“I want a bath…” I said while lazily walking towards the door. Still, with my new pajamas that Catherine lent me.
As I opened the door, I could see a neatly dressed Catherine in the hallway while holding a broom and her magical staff. “Good morning, did you sleep well?”
I answered by nodding lethargically. Without me noticing, there was a butterfly that kept following me on my side. After looking at it closely, the butterfly disappeared. I yawned and asked Catherine what we would be doing today.
“I’m sorry, but I have an emergency meeting with an old friend of mine in Thalradia, a human kingdom, so I can’t bring you there.” Catherine put her hand inside her pouch. She grabbed a bag of coins and a small box the size of the palm of my hand filled with various crystals inside.
“So, if you don’t mind, could you please run an errand for me? There would be a group of merchants that would be coming to the village, please sell these medium grade magic crystals for me. It doesn’t matter how much you can get them for, just sell them.”
With an unenthusiastic smile, I grabbed the box and the bag from her. With a half hearted attempt, I tried to make the box and the coins disappear just like my sword and the luminous gem I got, and it worked.
[+1 Box of Magic Crystal (50 medium grades)]
[+15 Silver coins]
Catherine didn’t look surprised at the sight of the box and the coins disappearing and just smiled as she walked towards the front door. “Feel free to use the allowance I just gave you. I’ll be back home in the evening. There’s a bar in the village where you can grab something to eat for dinner.”
I just nodded attentively as I paid attention. I felt a tingle of disappointment at not being able to show her my new skill, but I pushed it aside and gave a small wave. “Alright, take care, Catherine.”
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“It’s Miss Mashiro!” said a group of children cheerfully as I saw them running towards me. After splashing myself with water and changing from my pajamas to my usual pink and black dress, I descended from the hill and walked towards the village.
I saw Roy and Elise in a group of children alongside others that I didn’t know the name of. I simply smiled and greeted them as I started a conversation.
“Good morning, do any of you know if there are merchants coming to this village?” I asked.
I could see some of them holding toys like spinning tops or dolls made out of wood and some clothing made out of silk. Some of them even hold a small wooden sword and cane.
“The usual old men arrived this morning to sell their wagons for the month. There’s also a new guy that came and gave us some toys for free!” exclaimed one of the boys with an excited voice while holding the toy sword.
“Yes! He seemed really strong and cool! I heard he would be staying at my older sister’s inn for a few days,” Elise chimed in as she pointed towards the outskirts of the village while holding her wooden doll, “I think he’s still on the outskirts hanging out with the merchants. Miss Mashiro should go there and see him!”
With a lukewarm smile, I nodded and thanked the children. I waved my arm to bid a bye as we parted ways and walked towards the directions that Elise pointed. Some other villagers greeted me on the way, and I simply greeted them back while walking.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
I didn’t meet many villagers that were around my age, mostly elderly and some old fishermen that were walking towards the ocean while holding fishing nets and rods. While walking in silence, I could hear some of the villagers discussing how lonely they were ever since their children left the village to find a better job in the capital city of Thal something, the human kingdom that Catherine would be visiting.
After a long walk, I finally could see some wagons and the people that were sitting and repositioning a bunch of crates, while some of them were feeding the horses. I estimated that most of them were in their forties but I could see one really young adult that was dressed differently than the others.
I saw all of them wear a surprised expression as they saw me approaching, a bit more than normal. However, I swallowed it all as I tried my hardest to smile while walking towards the one closest to me.
“Excuse me, do you happen to know where I could sell magic crystals?” I asked one of the middle aged men that was sitting next to the wagon.
He seemed hesitant and unsure, no, it was more like he kept avoiding my gaze. “I’m sorry Miss, but I only buy magic crystals from the witch of the hill.”
I sighed in relief after he said that. As I waved my hand, the box that Catherine handed me appeared in my hands as I showed it to him. He was beyond surprised, even furious as he stood up straight and finally started looking in my direction.
“Where did you get that?! What’d you do to the witch, you fox?!” The middle aged man yelled.
My confidence instantly shrunk as others started to encircle me, “um, um…”
My tongue was stuck. I opened my mouth but no words came out as I watched them silently glared at me with an enraged expression. I wanted to run away, but I kept standing without saying anything. I tried to take a deep exhale, but the next breath I took ruined my rhythm as I couldn’t control my rising heartbeat.
You can do this, Mikan. I told myself, as I tried to close my eyes and opened it slowly. I’ve had to deal with worse situations like this, and they weren’t holding any weapons like the bandits. I tried to assess the situation calmly by observing four or five merchants looking at the man standing in front of me.
"Please, allow me to explain, I am—" My words were cut short as a tall figure stepped into view, his golden-blonde hair catching the light like a halo. His sharp jawline and piercing blue eyes could have been pulled straight from a shounen manga cover. He carried himself with an effortless coolness, his coat fluttering dramatically behind him despite the lack of wind.
“Excuse me, Miss. Are you by chance, Miss Catherine’s acquaintance?” When he spoke, his deep, confident voice practically radiated main-character energy. Placing a hand on the hilt of the ornate sword at his side, he spoke in a voice as steady and reassuring as a knight's vow, "I’ve heard something about you from the children."
“Y-yes, that’s right,” I muttered in such a low volume that I was practically whispering. All of my instincts were screaming, and telling me to run away from him. My hands fidgeted at my sides, and I could feel my face heating up as his piercing gaze stayed fixed on me. "I-I'll protect the light of the Sakura Star!" I blurted out, my voice unexpectedly loud and shaking with nervous energy.
Wait. What?! My eyes widened in horror as I realized I’d just shouted a random line from Luminous Dream: Magical Girl Cherry Blossom. His expression barely shifted, but I could swear I saw the faintest twitch of his eyebrow. Kill me now, I begged the universe silently, my body now frozen in place out of sheer embarrassment.
Please stop talking to me! I screamed internally, my mind practically begging for an escape route. My legs felt frozen in place, but my brain was running laps, frantically searching for a way out of this increasingly mortifying situation.
“So, can I please sell this?” I hurried to the middle aged man I was talking to first. I could tell that he was still distrustful, but he took the box and put it on his carriage while grabbing a bag sack filled with gold coins.
“Here, now get out of my sight.” The guy handed it to me with a hint of disgust. Still, I didn’t think of it much as I grabbed the bag. As usual, I made it disappear as the familiar text bubble materialized.
[+25 Gold coins]
25 Gold coins… If inside the box was filled with 50 medium grade magic crystals just like Catherine said, that meant 2 medium grade crystals worth approximately 1 Gold coin. Still clueless with the currency or what even medium grade means, I didn’t think much of it and would just talk to Catherine about it later.
“Hey, why are you so rude to her? Where is your professional courtesy as merchants?!” The blonde handsome young man interjected.
The other merchants didn’t seem to care much of his white knight attitude, “Shut up. You’re just a bodyguard. Stay in your lane.”
Hearing this, the handsome man held the hilt of his sword with a frustrated expression. As soon as he started to open his mouth, I panicked. Whatever he was about to say, I didn’t want to hear it—or give him the chance to say it. Without a second thought, I spun on my heels and bolted, running as fast as I could.