“Is this about the right size?”
“It is… Uh, is this the same magic you use during parades?”
“Yes, it is illusionary magic.”
During the parades Sophie helped throw, she manifested and controlled multiple phenomenal magic spells at the same time, or so I’d read on a magic-related message board. This meant she needed to construct, activate, and control multiple magical formulas at the same time. It was like holding an orchestra where you were both the conductor and playing every instrument all at once—not something a normal person could do.
It was the reason her parades always moved people to tears, and I thought to myself…
She truly is one of a kind. Normally, I’d feel depressed seeing someone my age doing so much better than me, but I can’t afford to let this opportunity pass by. I need to learn from her, if I can. I’d have to be an idiot to just sit here and feel bad for myself.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“What?”
“How did you learn to do all this?”
“It’s a simple principle. First, you must understand physics and chemistry. Once you have a thorough understanding of these both, use them for magic. It isn’t difficult to formulate spells as long as you have a basic understanding of the elements at hand.”
“Yeah, that sounds impossible.”
It was like we were in two different dimensions. What was I supposed to learn from a genius?
Our conversation was cut short by a loud, sudden sound.
Gurrrrgggle, rumble, rummmble, guuurrrgle.
Listen to that, oof. Someone must be having a really bad day with their digestive system, I thought, then noticed that Sophie had her hand on her stomach.
“I’m hungry.”
“That was your stomach?”
It then occurred to me that we hadn’t eaten anything all morning. I was also pretty hungry.
“I know, I’ll take you to one of my favorite places.”
“Oh?”
We walked a short distance to a nearby bakery that was just next to the town square. This bakery had a small café inside it, allowing customers to eat the bread they purchased in the store. I proceeded to sit and watch Sophie stuff her small mouth with a sandwich. She looked like a hamster with cheeks full of food. Watching Sophie like this made her look younger than she already was. Younger than me, at least, and definitely younger than the witch the world was enthralled with.
“Ish tayshdtea.”
“I have no idea what you just said.”
“This is very tasty.”
“Right? This bakery is run by Onnet’s parents. The kid on the bike we met earlier.”
Sophie scanned the bakery while she enjoyed a cup of black tea. It was a weekday morning, so we had the café to ourselves. We were the only customers in the store. The background music was a soft jazz track, and there was a large window from which we could watch the town’s main street.
We watched a busy-looking businessman rushing down the sidewalk, a mum pushing a baby in a stroller, and an old woman walking with a cane. They were all citizens of this town, and this was their everyday life.
“This is a nice town. It’s so peaceful here, and everyone is nice.”
“That’s what makes small towns great.”
What felt like a pretty mundane response left Sophie with a somewhat sad, empty look. She gave off the same sense of loneliness that cold winter days brought with them.
“Hey, Spberry.”
“Raspberry.”
“Why did you decide to learn magic?”
“Huh?”
I was caught off guard by the sudden question.
“You’re learning magic under Faust. Why?”
“Why? Uh, I don’t know. It just kind of happened.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m an orphan. My parents died before I was old enough to remember them. Child protection services was going to put me in an orphanage, but my teacher came along and took me in before that happened. She’s been my mum ever since, and learning magic was just a part of living with her. I’ve been doing it since before I could walk.”
“You’re an orphan…”
“I read online that you studied magic from a very young age, too.”
“Yes, out of necessity…”
“You needed to study magic?”
What could that mean? There was a lot unknown about Sophie’s birth. She was a genius unlike anyone the world had ever known, and she’d appeared out of nowhere. There wasn’t anything online about her past from before she was a mage. This mysterious part of her may have been another reason for her popularity.
“Is there something you’d like to use magic for, Spberry?”
“Money, money, money,” I said without hesitation, but continued. “Oh, but…”
“But?”
“Before that, I need to stay alive.”
“Stay alive?”
“Yeah. I need to live a long life if I want to do anything. I don’t want to forget about all the people who’ve been important in my life.”
At this rate, I only had about ten months left to live. I knew, though, that I would do anything to keep myself from dying. There were things I wanted to accomplish and people I still wanted to get to know better. I realized there were a lot of reasons I needed to continue living.
“That’s quaint, Spberry.”
“Raspberry.”
“That is a bit too much for using magic, though.”
“What do you mean?”
Sophie turned to me and looked me right in the eyes.
“You don’t need magic to do any of that.”
“Huh?”
“Making money and living a long life are both things that can be done entirely without the use of magic. You are studying magic without a clear reason to do so. This is the reason no one recognizes you as a witch, despite learning under Faust.”
“So what’s your goal in learning magic?”
Sophie’s eyes seemed to darken before she answered.
“My goal…is to eliminate magic from this world.”
Her expression was gloomier than anything I’d seen from her yet.
“Magic has taken everything away from me, so I want to remove its existence. That is why I’ve studied it.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The Witch of Blessings, the person who had moved so many people in the entire world to tears with her magic, wanted to get rid of it all together? I wanted it to be a joke, but I could tell by her tone that she was sincere.
“You’re in the same situation as me, so I will let you in on a secret about magic, Spberry. You need to throw away everything if you hope to truly acquire the ability to cast magic.”
“Everything…?”
“Everything. Your family, home, friends, dreams. You throw it all away just to achieve your goal—that is how you acquire magic quickly.”
“Slow down, Sophie. You’re laying it on thick.”
“Yooouuu haaavvvee tooo giiivvve uuup eeeveryyythiii…”
“What are you doing now?”
“I’m slowing down for you.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
In that moment, I felt a presence behind us. Startled, I turned around to find Onnet acting a bit fidgety.
“Oh! Onnet. Hey, we came for some bread.”
I noticed that there he was again, pointing that old finger of his with an excited tremble, at Sophie.
I’d better tell him not to point at people next time. I’d like to see the look on his parents’ faces.
I looked over at the cash register, and there was his mum. She didn’t seem to notice her son. Oh well.
“Is that brown-haired girl…Sophie Hayter…?”
“Yeah. I thought we established that already?”
“Yeah, but her hair is all different… I can’t believe you’re here eating bread at my family’s bakery… You look pretty as a brunette, too…”
“Stop, you’re gonna creep her out.”
I breathed a sigh of exasperation at his behavior. Thanks to him, the conversation we were having had come to an abrupt end. Sophie continued to drink tea, like the exchange never even happened.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it, though…the brief moment of darkness she showed me.
It felt almost like I’d caught a glimpse of Sophie’s true self.
“Eliminate magic, eh…?”
Lying on my bed, I stared at the ceiling as I mumbled to myself. Carbuncle was hunkered down next to me, looking at my face. I started petting him, and he closed his eyes in delight.
Sophie said that magic took everything away from her. Despite traveling the world and giving people hope everywhere she went, she said she’d lost something. I didn’t know what she truly meant by that, but I felt like I could maybe understand why. Had magic never existed, my life would look very different than it did now. I certainly wouldn’t be cursed, for example, and maybe I would be a regular student at a normal school. Life would be more peaceful and less of a struggle for me—it would be normal.