The crisp air, the rustling sound of leaves stirred by the wind—in such an environment, Hilxi suddenly noticed that not far away, there seemed to be two people searching for something.
So, she drew closer.
In her view, this was an opportunity. If she could help them find what they were looking for, she’d surely earn a good sum of money, and with that, she could finally stay at an inn!
And if the thing they lost was something valuable, there’d be even more money!
Of course, if that was the case, pocketing it for herself might not be a bad option either… Hilxi thought mischievously.
“Elaina-san! I didn’t find anything over here!”
A girl with a somewhat androgynous appearance, riding a broom, called down to the person on the ground.
She could use magic—looked like a Magician.
“Sigh, nothing over here either.”
A girl wearing a large, pointed magical hat and a long robe sighed, her cute face shadowed by clouds of worry.
Sigh… To think I actually lost the badge my teacher personally pinned on me—am I an idiot?
“What are you two looking for? I can help!”
A slightly expectant and curious girl’s voice came through. Elaina turned her head and saw a girl with orange-and-white long hair, blue eyes, and clothes with a hint of Eastern style standing not far away.
“Ah, I accidentally lost my Witch Badge. Have you seen it?”
“Witch Badge? Is that the badge that signifies you’re a Witch?”
“Mm, that’s right. Have you seen it? My name is on it—Ashen Witch, Elaina!”
“Sorry, I haven’t seen it, but I can help you look.”
Hilxi was a bit astonished inside.
The cute girl in front of her looked about her age, but to think she was already a Witch!
You have to know, a Witch is the pinnacle of the Magic System!
Even her original self was nothing more than a low-level Magician, and there was still the rank of Apprentice Witch between them.
“Sigh, thank you so much.”
Apparently not getting the answer she wanted, Miss Elaina looked a little gloomy.
“Don’t be discouraged! With me joining in, it’s only a matter of time before we find it!”
“Mm.”
“Elaina-san! Who are you talking to?”
The androgynous girl flew down from the rooftop and spotted Hilxi at a glance.
“Eh, you’re… Wait, blonde hair, blue eyes—you’re that Delinquent Hilxi?”
“……”
Hilxi’s face immediately showed annoyance.
What a lousy nickname! Am I really that bad? I just knocked out a Magician with a brick and gave her CPR for a few minutes, that’s all! Did I really do anything wrong to her?
“Delinquent… Hilxi?” Elaina tilted her head.
“Ah, Elaina-san just arrived, so she doesn’t know. A few days ago, she used a brick and blah blah blah…”
“Oooh~” Elaina made a surprised sound.
“Hey! Don’t go slandering me right in front of me! Don’t you think that’s pretty rude? Ma… Elaina-san, don’t listen to her, those are all rumors, all fake!”
“Is that so?”
“That’s right!” Hilxi looked very resolute.
“How could it be fake? There were so many people who saw it at the scene…”
Hilxi glared at her, and the androgynous girl gave a sheepish smile and instantly fell silent.
“Let’s not waste time—let’s hurry up and find the badge, it’s already so dark.” Hilxi changed the subject.
The two nodded and then began searching for the badge. After asking roughly where the badge had been lost, Hilxi joined in the search.
But after half an hour passed, even with one more person, they still couldn’t find the missing badge. It was as if the thing had simply vanished into thin air, without a trace left behind.
Hilxi’s hands were almost scraped raw, yet she’d found nothing, and felt a bit dejected.
Without the badge, there would be no money.
Without money, there would be nowhere to sleep.
Ugh… So annoying. After searching for so long and still not finding it, someone else must have picked up that badge.
Forget it, there’s no point in continuing, the chances are slim anyway. Might as well just go back and ask for some compensation for my trouble.
Hilxi returned to the original spot, and by coincidence, Elaina and the androgynous girl had also come back.
“We’ve been searching for ages and still haven’t found a thing. Elaina-san, are you sure you lost your badge and didn’t just leave it somewhere else?”
“I really did lose it…” Elaina shook her head and simply explained the reason to Hilxi.
“So, because Saya-san messed up and crashed into you while flying her broom, you lost your badge?”
“Could you not put it so harshly?” the androgynous girl, Saya, muttered.
“Yes, that’s what happened.”
“Ah… it’s been so long and we still haven’t found it. Maybe someone else picked it up, or maybe it fell into some crack somewhere. It’s too dark now. Maybe we’ll have better luck if we look again tomorrow.”
“That makes sense,” Saya nodded.
“That’s all we can do,” Elaina sighed, then looked at Hilxi and sincerely said, “Thank you for your help, Miss Hilxi. Well then, until fate brings us together again.”
“Hey, wait!” Seeing the two about to fly off, Hilxi panicked—verbal thanks? That’s not what I want!
“Is there something you need?”
“Ahem, could you give me a little something for my trouble?”
“……”
Meeting Hilxi’s expectant gaze, Elaina felt helpless.
“What’s this? Didn’t you volunteer to help?” Saya said, crossing her arms.
“There’s no way I’d help search for free for so long!”
“But you didn’t even find it.”
“I still spent time! Time is money, you know!”
“Have you no shame?”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’m already so poor I’m wandering the world.”
Hilxi turned out her pockets, demonstrating what it meant for her pockets to be even emptier than her face was pale.
Then, she tried to guilt them:
“If you don’t pay me for my trouble, I’ll have to sleep out on the streets tonight. Can you really bear to see a weak, helpless girl like me lying all alone on the cold ground, freezing to death? Can you?”
“……”
“……”
She made it sound like not giving her money was equivalent to murder.
But she was pretty pitiful, too. Saya glanced at her empty pockets, then at the small bag on her back, and—hiss… no matter how you looked at it, she seemed really unfortunate.
“Hilxi-san, you don’t have anywhere to stay? If you don’t mind, you can stay at Saya-san’s inn. I’ll pay for the room.”
Elaina said with a smile.
But I really don’t want to spend money… Honestly, I’d rather let you go on wandering, Miss Hilxi.
Of course, this was something she’d never say aloud.
“That works too, thank you!”
An inn where the great Witch resides must be luxurious and grand, right?
So Hilxi thought.
But a few minutes later, after following the two of them to a rather shabby inn, Hilxi was dumbfounded.
This inn… isn’t it a little too rundown?
A Witch—one of the strongest, at the very top—living in a place like this?
“Elaina-san, you’re a Witch, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why stay here? It’s so… um, it’s got quite a historical feel to it.”
“You mean ‘rundown,’ right?” Saya gave her a look.
“No, not at all.”
“It’s because I lost the badge that shows I’m a Witch…” Though in fact, she’d checked in before discovering the badge was missing. Elaina looked a little troubled.
“I see.” Hilxi nodded, then took the registration form Saya slid across the table and picked up the pen to fill it out.
“By the way, Hilxi, are you an ordinary person?” Elaina suddenly asked.
“I used to be a Magician, but then I got kicked in the head by a donkey and forgot all my magical knowledge, so now I’m just an ordinary person.”
“Something like that happened?” Saya couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for Miss Hilxi.
After all, after suffering a blow like that, no wonder her behavior had turned so strange.
“Yeah.”
She’d told a little lie.
“That’s really unfortunate.” Elaina also looked sympathetic.
“Seeing how pitiful I am, could you lend me some money?”
“Forget it.”
“Keep dreaming.”
“So cruel…”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.