After finishing breakfast, I stretched my hands out with a moan. I haven't showered for a whole day and my whole body was sending its signal to my brain regarding how awful I felt for not feeling the usual splash of water at this time of the morning. Roy looked at me as he fidgeted his fingers with an unsure gesture. He closed his eyes for a second before opening his mouth.

“So um, are you gonna leave the village now, Miss Mashiro? My grandpa said sorry that he couldn’t bid a farewell. A fisherman must work before the sun rises, or so he said.” Roy asked.

“Do you want me to leave, Roy?” I asked, while exaggerating my hands rubbing my eyes pretending to cry with a playful expression.

Seeing this, Roy was flustered but he quickly tried to cover it up with a cough. He avoided my gaze as his eyes were occasionally staring at my tail and fox ears.

“Please stop teasing me, Miss Mashiro!” He yelled with a cute pout.

I smiled a little bit as I asked, “Hey, Roy. Is there any job here in this village I can do? Any odd line of work is fine. Ideally, I want to start working and stay in an inn.”

‘But why? Miss Masihro is a noble lady. Miss is rich and probably lives in a mansion somewhere. Surely Miss Mashiro doesn’t need to–” Just before Roy continued, his eyes were stuck on the dress I was wearing. As if some kind of gear turned inside his tiny child brain, he looked down with a sorrowful shame. “Sorry, I shouldn’t say any of that when I don’t even know Miss Mashiro’s situation.”

Seeing his face darkened, I couldn’t help but rush towards him and hugged him. Although I was just a normal college girl, the bed I was used to sleeping in was much more luxurious compared to the bed here. There was no distraction, no smartphone I could grab and surf whenever I wanted to. Even though it’s only been a day, I wanted to go back home already.

Roy let go of my hug and coughed as he went back on track. “I think you’re referring to the adventure guild, however, this village is small and doesn’t need any kind of odd job like that. We don’t have to worry about monsters or raiders because of the protection of a witch living alone on the hill not far from here, but…”

Just before Roy could continue, a loud noise of someone barging the door could be heard from the front door of the house followed by a lively voice of a little girl. It’s a voice I’ve recognized, the village girl that worried about Roy yesterday.

“Good morning, Roy! Let’s play!” said the little girl with a glowing pure and energetic voice.

As soon as she said that, I bowed to her. “Dear little lady, I’m sorry to be a failure to society, please forgive me,” I said sincerely, and readied to sprint away from the house.

However, just before I could even take my second step, Roy and the village girl immediately grabbed the collar of my dress with a synchronized movement. They were surprised by my behavior and stared at my eyes for answers, but I simply avoided their gaze.

“Sorry, it was a reflex. Your soul is too pure for me. I can’t be nowhere near you,” I said while reminiscing on how I spent my time. College, gacha, repeat. For someone like me, engulfed in negative energy with no use to society, I couldn’t bear to look at the innocence of the little girl. It reminded me too much of how I used to be so pure and before I realized, dark thoughts started to pour into my mind.

Without any real purpose, I walked into the corner of the living room and sat down. I could hear a worried conversation between Roy and the village girl. They were talking for a while but I ignored their voices and was in my own bubble world. After a while, I looked up to see them walking slowly towards me.

“Um… Miss Mashiro, I heard that you need a job and a place. Why don't we talk to the witch of the hill? She might be able to help you!” said the girl, with an energetic suggestion.

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Hearing this, Roy reacted with a surprise to the girl on his left, “Eh? Wouldn’t that cause a problem, Elise? The witch warned us to not go near her house again unless there's an emergency…”

“This is an emergency! Mom said we need an adult to consult with problems like this, and the witch is the oldest one here, therefore she’s the best consultant!” said the girl cheerfully. I couldn’t fault her logic at all, so I simply muttered, “I see…” with a quiet nod.

The girl took my hand and started taking me outside of the house with a smile. Roy looked hesitant at first, but still followed us after he closed the front door. We walked in the middle of the village, meeting a few villagers who gave us a warm greeting. I caught a glimpse of them preparing to work as they carry various tools such as shovels, hoes or milk churn.

I felt a little bit uncomfortable at some of the villagers' gaze as I could feel them staring at my tail and fox ears, but I put on my poker face and greeted them back.

We left the village as the green scenery of a meadow welcomed us alongside the breezy wind. It had been around twenty minutes since we started walking, and I could already see a lone house on the top of the hill from a distance. I felt that it wouldn't take us long to reach the place.

We had a little conversation as we walked. However, for most of the time we spent simply listening to the birds chirping and admiring scenery in silence. While we were walking, a blue blob jumped up and down in front of our path. I looked at the eyes of the girl holding my hand with a sense of worry.

“Um.. Elise, right? Why are you looking at that thing the same way as how I roll my gacha…?” I asked.

Elise looked at me with a smile and let go of my hand. She immediately ran off to grab a stick lying around somewhere and started beating the crap out of the blob. With a competitive spirit, Roy also took part and grabbed some rock to throw at another blob coming from the distance.

As I watched them mercilessly beating those little blobs in silence, two ice arrow projectiles flew from out of nowhere as they pierced the blue creatures and turned them into ice before breaking apart into little pieces.

“Stop it, you two! Don’t you feel bad bullying such weak creatures?” A charming voice from a distant place.

I looked towards in front of me to see an adorable girl, who looked no older than my age wearing a witch hat with a charming yet lovable black robe. Her red hair peeked out of her witch hat, and her red eyes complimented her hair color.

“Eh… but you were also killing the slime, Miss Catherine…” Elise complained with a disappointed voice.

The witch ignored Elise’s complaint as she walked towards the place where the blue blob shattered into pieces. The witch bent down to pick up two pieces of small crystal and stored it into her pouch she was carrying alongside with her.

“Free exp is free exp! Anyway, I warned you two to not come here. So, what makes you two come back?” The witch asked.

Immediately, Roy and Elise turned their bodies and pointed towards me at the same time. “Her,” they both answered in a synchronizing voice. Perhaps since I was further back while those two were beating up the slime, the witch hadn’t noticed me.

The witch’s red eyes were wide open as there was an audible gasp coming from her mouth. However, her expression calmed down rather instantly and she bent to match the children’s height.

“I see. Listen, go home or play somewhere else, okay? If not, I’ll turn you two into mushrooms. So, hush hush.” The witch said with a playful voice as she spread her arms out, pretending to scare off the children.

With a chuckle and laugh, the children replied, “Aaah, scary!” as they ran off into the village with a smile.

After the children left my vision, the witch grabbed her staff she was holding and led me in front of the house. There was a rather big terrace alongside some chairs and a circular table. The house itself is a colorful yet simple two story building with a garden besides it, I could see plants like watermelon and cabbage on it

“Sit down, I’ll make some tea.” The witch said as she waved her staff around. A teacup set flew from inside her house into the table on the terrace.

Following her direction, I sat down on the wooden chair awkwardly as I moved my tail around. The witch also sat down at the opposite side as she put down her staff and started to pour tea on a cup.

“Well then, what does a rich lady like you need from me?” The witch asked with a smile as she slid a cup of tea in front of me.