The desolate hilly region loomed ahead like a fortress carved from mountain cliffs.
A girl with orange-white golden hair drew a perfect arc in the air on her broomstick before turning through the kingdom’s main gate.
“Welcome.”
“Welcome.”
Two guards nodded slightly in greeting.
Hilxi slowed down, flicked her golden hair that had slipped onto her shoulder, and smiled at the two of them with her teeth showing: “Hm, thank you both for your hard work.”
So gentle.
The guards’ stern faces flushed red.
“No hard work, it’s just our duty.”
“Exactly,” the other guard nodded as well.
I want to marry her.
Hilxi kept smiling as she brushed past them, then raised her head slightly to look ahead.
Though only a day had passed, she still felt deeply moved.
This was the first time she had entered through the kingdom’s main gate.
In the distance, magicians floated on reddish-brown rooftops, boys competed in broomstick races, and people rode broomsticks carrying passengers or cargo—various sights all caught in her eyes.
“Kingdom of Magicians, huh… I’m back again.”
Hilxi sat sideways on her broomstick, flying toward the inn where Saya stayed.
Along the way, she didn’t stop for the people or shops in the air.
Although it was her first time entering through the main gate, having lived here for over a decade, there was no sense of strangeness or anything interesting enough to make her pause.
The Kingdom of Magicians was still bustling—countless magicians everywhere.
A few minutes later, she arrived at the inn where Saya worked.
She flew on her broomstick through a window just big enough for one person under the eaves, then saw a rope hanging down.
She grabbed the rope and descended.
“Welcome!”
A somewhat oily male voice came with a smile.
After reaching the first floor, Hilxi looked over.
At the inn’s former registration desk where Saya used to be, now sat a middle-aged man who seemed to be the new employee in charge of registration.
Hmm? Where’s Saya?
“Hello, may I ask where the black-haired girl about fifteen or sixteen years old who worked here is?”
“Oh, you mean Saya, right? She’s no longer an employee at this inn.”
“Hm? Not anymore?”
Hilxi was taken aback by this.
What’s going on?
I was only gone for one day, how did she disappear?
“Oh, you’re her friend, aren’t you?” the employee suddenly asked.
“Yes.”
“Then it must be you. Your room will be taken back tomorrow. Are you still going to stay?”
“No.”
With money, why stay in this rundown place? And no maid… cough, plus no good friend Saya around, it’s lonely to stay alone.
“Then pack up and leave quickly.” The employee’s expression soured immediately, so surreal.
“OK.”
Hilxi ignored him and quickly went to her room. Folding a few sets of clothes into her backpack, she left. She didn’t have much, so no big packing was needed.
Returning to the registration desk, Hilxi asked the employee:
“Do you know where Saya went?”
“……”
The employee was engrossed in reading a newspaper, ignoring her.
Is your service attitude supposed to be this abstract?
Seeing he had no intention to respond, Hilxi suddenly reached out and said:
“Return my money, please.”
“What money?” This time he spoke.
“Didn’t you say the room will only be taken back tomorrow? I’m not staying anymore, so you should refund me one silver coin.”
Hilxi said matter-of-factly.
But the employee suddenly slammed the table, anger tinged in his voice: “If you’re not staying, then get out! Don’t disturb my work!”
So you want to pocket that silver coin, huh?
Hilxi helplessly tapped her head. Raising her hand, her Magic Wand appeared:
“One silver coin? Really?”
Her slender, fair fingers spun the glowing tip of the wand like a pen, then she aimed it at him with a sly smile curling her lips: “Let’s calm down.”
“Wait! What are you going to do? It’s not allowed in this kingdom—”
“Yahaha!”
Swish!
A colorful beam shot from the Magic Wand, striking the flustered employee, disappearing into his body in an instant.
But it seemed to have no power.
“…What did you do to me?” he asked confusedly, no longer angry.
“Obviously, I dispersed your anger. Now you can talk to me calmly, right?”
Hilxi played with her Magic Wand as she said this.
This was the happiness collection spell, another use of Emotion Dispersal—expelling emotions.
She had discovered this interesting use on her way home. It was the first time using it, and it seemed effective.
“…”
The employee was silent for a moment, then obediently took out a silver coin.
From his perspective, a magician who mastered such a strange magic clearly wasn’t a small fry. No need to offend over one silver coin.
“Tsk tsk, so, can you tell me where Saya went?” Hilxi asked while using Item Manipulation to pull the coin toward her, tilting her head.
“…Uh, I don’t know where she went,” the employee said awkwardly, shaking his head, looking like he wasn’t lying.
So you just didn’t speak earlier because you didn’t know!
Hilxi rubbed her forehead.
“Fine, do your work.”
Leaving the familiar inn, Hilxi flew over the rooftops on her broomstick.
She casually bought freshly baked bread nearby, munching on it as she scanned the magicians around, trying to spot a familiar figure.
Various signs hanging from rooftops flashed before her eyes. Passing a shop, she suddenly stopped and flew into the rooftop entrance.
A dazzling array of goods appeared.
All were common items used by magicians—Magic Robes, Triangle Hats, Magic Wands, and Broomsticks.
“Hello, what would you like to buy?”
An elderly woman in deep purple approached. Already old, her attire made her look like a witch… well, she probably was one.
“This.”
Hilxi picked up a rather ordinary Magic Wand.
Although she already had one, the Magic Theory book had mentioned it’s best to have a spare Magic Wand just in case.
“This one is very ordinary.” The old woman furrowed her wrinkled brow, pointing at another wand:
“Look at this one next to it, look carefully, widen your eyes.
It exudes an ancient aura, wrapped in dark gold all over. You can tell it’s the king among Magic Wands! Its noble and extraordinary temperament is like that of an emperor. Just holding it is enough to scare off opponents. Isn’t it better than the one you chose?”
“Will magic cast with this wand be stronger?”
“No, not really.”
“Then I’ll buy this ordinary one.” Hilxi rolled her eyes, ignoring the old woman’s sales pitch and decisively paid.
I still have to find my good partner, no time to listen to your nonsense.
Back in the air over the street, Hilxi took another bite of her bread and flew slowly, her thoughts racing.
“Hm… Saya’s work attitude was so good, it probably wasn’t that she was fired. Maybe she resigned on her own. But why would she do that?”
“Could work have caused her some trouble or inconvenience? Hmm… oh right, the Magic Test is in half a month. Maybe she quit to have more time to practice magic?”
Hilxi felt this guess was reasonable.
But she was a bit puzzled.
Why not wait until I came back? Would it affect your practice? That can’t be, right?
Speeding up on her broomstick, Hilxi took another bite of bread, her blue eyes scanning the distance.
“So, is she in the forest or the grassland over there? Whatever, I’ll go look around. Maybe I’ll run into her.”
Why not somewhere else?
That was pretty well known. Magicians trained more efficiently in places rich with plant life, like forests or grasslands. The principle was that plants absorbed sunlight and produced Mana, which magicians could naturally absorb.
That said, areas where plants grew too densely or Mana was excessively abundant were forbidden zones for living beings. No need to explain that here.
Saya-san wasn’t an idiot and understood this well.
Yet an hour passed.
Under the blue sky, Hilxi broke through a thick green forest and helplessly brushed leaves off herself.
She had been everywhere suitable for practicing magic in the kingdom, but hadn’t seen even a shadow.
Oh wait, there had been a Ghost in that forest just now. She greeted it briefly and left in a hurry.
The sun hung low, afternoon was falling.
Hilxi sighed several times without knowing, continuing to fly on her broomstick toward a certain place.
If Saya wasn’t training, then that was the most likely place she’d be.
If not there, she’d have to consider putting up missing person notices or maybe getting a fortune-telling scammer to help.
Ah, she really didn’t want to spend money.
Among the buildings stood a grand, literary atmosphere-filled structure. Reddish-brown bricks neatly arranged, large floor-to-ceiling windows glinting in the light, and a giant three-dimensional book emblem fused with the building itself.
This was the Magic Library.
As the name suggested, it was a library with countless books on Magic.
“Please come in.”
A young female librarian nodded slightly.
After paying one silver coin, Hilxi entered.
A faint, subtle fragrance greeted her, easing the frown that losing her money had caused.
Rows upon rows of neat dark brown bookshelves appeared before her.
They stood over two meters tall, filled so densely with books that someone with trypophobia might perish on the spot.
“This… is a maze, isn’t it?”
Hilxi sighed as she walked on the wooden floor, a cloud of worry settling on her cute face.
Not only were the bookshelves numerous, their internal structure was even more terrifying for those with trypophobia.
And the height was unfriendly, making it impossible to see to the top at a glance.
“Excuse me.” A magician holding a book walked past.
Hilxi sighed happily, then felt a surge of motivation.
Once she found Saya, she’d give her a good scolding! Only then could her one silver coin finally rest in peace!
Actually, shouting out loud would probably work better in this situation, but surely no one would do that? It wasn’t ladylike and might get you kicked out.
So Hilxi obediently strolled through the sea of books, observing everyone she saw.
Taller than 1.7 meters? No.
Male? No.
Blue hair? No.
Well-endowed? Definitely not.
Just as Hilxi’s eyes were about to twitch, she turned a corner and saw someone sitting on the floor.
Squinting, she used the glow from the overhead magical light tube to examine the person.
Black hair matched, height matched, and on their head was a familiar Triangle Hat… Yes, that was her.
Ah, finally found you!!
After her excitement, Hilxi immediately adjusted her expression.
She walked over with a dark look, planning to give her friend a surprise.
“Training methods for Item Manipulation… I see, starting with small items, huh? Hmm, I’ll try it when I go back… huh? Where’s this murderous aura coming from?”
“You… go… ah.”
A voice as indifferent as the deep sea flickered with a trace of blazing fire.
In short, it came out through clenched teeth.
A shoulder was grabbed tightly, a few strands of golden hair falling in front.
Saya’s body trembled as she slowly turned her head.
Her features were shadowed from the backlight; her blue pupils seemed to flash a hint of scarlet.
The smile on Hilxi’s face was cruelly kind as she stared at her.
“Good Saya, finally found you…”
“Hi hi hi hi Hilxi-san, you… you… wha-what…”
“You want to ask when I came back, right? This morning. That means I’ve been looking for you since morning until afternoon.”
A cold hand moved from her shoulder, touching her black hair, then her soft, warm neck.
Saya instantly panicked, hastily picking up the book in her hands:
“Uh, Hilxi-san, look, is this theory correct?”
“Are you changing the subject?” Hilxi’s eyes showed she saw through it, then glanced at the book’s content: “It’s correct.”
“That’s good. Hilxi-san, can… you move your hand off my neck?”
“Nope, I’ve decided. You’re going to hell to repent!!”
“Ah ah ah! Stop! You’ll lose me!!”
“I don’t care anymore!”