“At last! We're finally here!” I shouted excitedly.

Fae and Komraad were also excited, you can literally see their eyes sparkling.

“Ms. Ina, can you see that? This place is so bright and colorful, it's so pretty,” Fae said.

“I hope there's lots of food inside!” Komraad said while drooling.

“Both of you behave, remember why we came here? Learn about myself and maybe ask someone who uses magic for help, but you know what, let's have some fun too while we're at it.”

When we arrived at our destination, we were shocked by the number of people going in and out of the place. It's like a tourist attraction.

“Whao, there's a lot of people here,” Fae brought up.

“I know right, I didn't expect this place to be like this,” I answered.

We were minding our own business when someone from behind shouted.

“Move out of the way! VIP coming through!”

A carriage passed through us, nearly destroying our carriage.

“Move, you peasants! We nobles are a high priority here," an old man riding the carriage stated.

“Hey, you! Watch where you're going!” I shouted angrily.

“Daddy! A talking cat! I want one!” His spoiled little brat demanded.

“Oh sweety, of course, you can get a talking cat. Hey, you filthy dog! How much for the talking cat?” The old man asked.

“What did you call me?!? Hey cat, let's teach them a lesson!” Komraad angrily suggested.

“Don’t mind them Komraad, they're not worth our time. Let’s get going, all eyes are already on us.”

“Tsk, fine, he agreed.”

I'm glad he’s easy to reason with.

We were near the entrance of the Witch's Isle when the old man's little brat started throwing tantrums.

“Daddy! I want one!!!”

“Ms. Ina is not for sale!” Fae defended me and got angry on my behalf.

“How dare you talk back to a noble?! My guards! Arrest these peasants!” The old man commanded.

“Ugh, why do we always encounter such people? I'm getting tired of these scenarios. Just keep going Komraad.”

“How dare you ignore me? Wait, guards! Why did we stop all of a sudden? follow those peasants and arrest them!”

“I’m sorry Sire, but our tires are deflated and won't move. We were pretty sure we double-checked it before we left,” the guard answered.

We somehow managed to get out of that sticky situation.

“Thank goodness! I'm glad that fiasco is over,” I sighed in relief.

At the gate of Witch's Isle, two witches approached and handed us pamphlets while talking in unison.

“Welcome to the Witch's Isle! Where fun and wonder never end. We have cafes, Inns, shops, and many more, please enjoy your stay!”

As we passed through the gate, the beauty of the place was highlighted even more. You can see a lot of witches around accommodating strangers.

I was actually expecting something like flying brooms and magic wands but this is kinda fine too.

“Whoa, It's even better on the inside!” Fae said.

Fae and Komraad are literally itching to walk around and have fun.

“Both of you, calm down,” I said to them.

“Hey cat, what do we visit first? Let's go find some food!”

“Sigh, all this dog thinks is fighting and food.”

“Let's go find an Inn first, then both of you can do anything and go anywhere you want.”

We parked our carriage and walked around to find a place we could stay. Luckily, a witch was advertising their inn outside and we noticed it so we approached her.

“Hey Komraad, you do the talking,” I whispered to him.

“I know people will start freaking out again when they hear me talk so I'm gonna lessen my interactions with others,” I added.

“Hey, you! How much for the house?!?” Komraad shouted at the witch.

“This dumb dog!!!”

The witch was intimidated by Komraad.

“S-sorry sir, this place is not for sale.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I'm sorry about my big brother. We're actually looking for a place to stay in and we heard you said this was an Inn so we thought we could stay for the night,” Fae explained.

“Nice save Fae!”

“Oh, that's what you meant. Of course, you can stay. It's 3 silver coins a night,” the witch replied.

“Is that cheap or are we getting scammed?” I whispered to Fae.

“It's actually a pretty decent deal Ms. Ina,” Fae whispered back.

“I see, let's grab it.”

We took all of our baggage and entered the Inn.

“Wow, our room is so comfy,” Fae said while hugging a pillow.

Komraad was jumping on the bed like a kid.

After we took care of our baggage, we proceeded outside to walk around and have fun. We visited different facilities such as clothing stores, parks, flower shops, and many more. We actually managed to buy something thanks to the money Stephany gave us.

It’s been hours since we started having fun and I noticed something was off.

“Hey, is it just me? But I've never seen anyone use magic, I asked both of them.”

“You know what Ms. Ina, you're actually right. Not even one of the witches we saw ever used magic,” Fae replied.

I was worried my hunch was correct, that this place isn't what I'm expecting it to be. To prove my point, I asked Fae to approach the witch working in the clothing shop and ask her if she knows any magic.

“Excuse me Ms. Witch, I'm actually a big fan of witches and I've never seen magic before. Is it okay if I see you perform magic?”

Unlike Komraad, Fae is very good with impromptu. I don't know what to do without her.

“Haven't you read the pamphlet?” The witch asked.

“Ohhh… No one bothered reading the pamphlet.”

“No one has ever used their magic for over 7 years due to a certain reason,” the witch told us.

I was frustrated and disappointed.

“What's the point of going here if no one uses magic?”

After hearing the bad news from her, the witches started gathering the crowd in the middle of the Isle for an announcement.

“Oh just in time, the head witch is about to say something, you guys probably wanna listen to what she's about to say.”

Everyone listened to the head witch's speech. We also blended in with the crowd to hear what she was about to say.

“Welcome once again to our wonderland! Are you all having fun?!?” The head witch said to the crowd.

Everyone was shouting and cheering but one of the crowd shouted something that caught everyone's attention.

“We thought you people were real witches?!? Where’s the magic? We came here to watch a magic show but unfortunately, all we see are women in hats and robes!”

Everyone went silent for a while, realizing the same thing.

“About that…”

“We witches used to live our lives with nothing but magic, and we are proud of that. People loved us for our magic, but a curse fell upon us, thus resulting in us being unable to use magic.”

“Now we live a humble life. Even without magic, we still want to serve people. But fear not, for the child who was born to free us from our curse will finally fulfill her fate!”

A witch with green hair came to the stage. It was the little girl the head witch mentioned.

“In the upcoming three days, we invite all of you to witness the thing that we witches are known for, the thing that we are proud of the most. After our curse is lifted by this girl, we will finally be able to use magic again and we will perform the greatest magic show of all time!”

Everyone in the crowd started cheering, clapping, and shouting. They were all excited about the upcoming event.

“Ms. Ina, did you hear that? What a great news!” Fae said.

“Once they regain their magic, you'll finally be able to ask for their help,” she added.

“Yeah, the more reason for us to stay,” I answered.

“So, what are we gonna do for three days?” Komraad asked while trying to suppress his excitement.

It's pretty obvious on his face that the answer he wants is for us to enjoy our stay here and have fun in the meantime. After the announcement, we continued enjoying ourselves until it got dark.

“This place is even prettier at night, The lights are very pretty,” Fae stated.

After resting for a while, our stomachs started growling.

“I'm hungry, let's go eat,” Komraad suggested.

“Yeah, let's go find a restaurant,” I answered.

We walked around and found a restaurant selling seafood.

“Ah… finally! Food.”

Komraad entered the restaurant. Fae and I were about to enter when a witch employee suddenly blocked us.

“I'm so sorry little girl but no pets are allowed inside the restaurant.”

“Oh I forgot, I'm just a pet to strangers.”

“Fae, it's okay, you can just buy me food inside and bring it to the Inn. I'm gonna head there first. you probably should enter now, Komraad might cause a riot inside, or even worse, he might end up losing all our money,” I whispered to her.

“Okay Ms. Ina, take care, and see you later.”

Fae entered the restaurant and we split up for a while. I was on my way back to the Inn when I felt something. It's the same with Fae and Nessie. I felt a strong emotion somewhere so I followed it. It led me inside an alley and saw someone in there.

It's the little girl we saw on the stage with the head witch earlier. She was reading a book in the corner hidden from everyone's sight.

I was watching her behind a box when I accidentally knocked something over creating a loud sound. She freaked out when she heard it. She immediately hid the book she was reading behind her back. She was so scared, it was like she doesn't want anyone to see her read a book.

“W-who's there?” She asked.

I revealed myself and pretended to be a normal cat.

“Meow*

“Oh thank goodness, it’s just a cat.” She felt so relieved when she saw I wasn't a person.

She resumed reading her book. I approached her and she patted my head. I looked at the book she was reading and noticed it was a book about magic.

She looked distrustful and suspicious of everything. If I start talking now, she might not trust me anymore and I won't end up getting any information from her.

Thanks for accompanying me, but I must go now. She's probably looking for me now. I don't want her to get suspicious of me.

I don't know who she’s talking about but the fact that she keeps secrets from someone means something is off. Before leaving, she hid the book she was reading under a rock.

I wanted to read the book for myself but I can't read any of the words written in it. It's in a language unfamiliar to me. The only one who can help me is this little girl so I decided to follow her.

After following her for a while, we finally arrived at her destination. She entered a place that looked like a warehouse. I wasn't able to follow her inside because she immediately closed the door. I was thinking of how I could enter without anyone noticing when I suddenly saw a small window above me so I flew up and entered it. I was shocked by what I saw, a lot of witches gathered inside, even the head witch was there. I couldn't hear what they were saying so I moved a little closer to eavesdrop. Something was up with them, everyone was giving something to the head witch, I think it was a bag full of money.

“What a great haul today everyone,” the head witch complimented them.

“Keep at it and all of you will be free in no time,” she added.

“What does she mean by them being free?” I was confused about what she meant by it.

“So, who's going to report next and give their share of the profit?” The head witch asked.

“Me! I'm the one who runs the flower shop.”

She approached the head witch and gave her a bag of money, but it was smaller compared to what the others were giving.

“What is this?”

“It's my share for today. I didn't have enough customers for today so-”

Before the witch could even finish talking the head witch interrupted her.

“Silence! Are you telling me that this is all your worth?”

“I-it's not like that head witch, it's just that today wasn't that great.”

The head witch stood up and brought out a stick, it was a magic wand. She pointed it at the poor witch and a fireball came out of it injuring and burning the witch's hand.

“Argh… it hurts.”

The poor witch was crying due to the pain inflicted by the head witch. Everyone was shocked with fear.

“Remember everyone, the moment any of you isn't of use to me anymore, you will all end up like her. Ugh, what a waste of magic. That's it for tonight, someone tend to her wounds. I'm gonna get some beauty sleep.”

“Oh, I forgot. Everyone, don't forget to prioritize our upcoming event. It's gonna be the biggest one yet. Earn me as much money as you can and after that, all of you will be one step away from your freedom,” she added.

“Wait, what the hell just happened? D-did she just used magic?! She said earlier that they can't use magic because of a curse. Was all of those a lie? God, I have so many questions!”

...

“Oh... I think I get it now. The announcement of an event earlier was for them to earn more money and scam those tourists. They aren't really cursed but the head witch is just using them at the same time for her own benefit.”

All of the witches dispersed. The only one left was the head witch and the little girl I followed earlier.

The little girl approached the head witch.

“Good Evening Mother,” she greeted.

“Oh Hi Rein, darling. I've been looking all over for you, Where have you been?” The head witch asked.

“I see, so the little girl's name was Rein and the head witch is her mother, now that's valuable information.”

“I was in my room fixing my hair, " Rein answered.

“Oh I see, that's good. You gotta be perfect inside out. You're going to be the center of attention in our upcoming event so don't forget to look presentable and act like one okay?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Anyway, mama's gonna be having her beauty sleep. You sleep now too, you gotta preserve your beauty.”

The head witch left and soon after, Rein followed.

I proceeded to go back to the inn. I stayed too long, Komraad and Fae are probably worried sick.

“Earlier, Rein just lied to her mother about being in her room. She didn't want her mother to know that she was reading a book about magic. Why is that? She's probably hiding something, and I ought to find it out.”