When she saw the watch working again, she must’ve cried from the relief she felt.
“So it wasn’t actually broken but just lost its Spirits. Do I have that right?”
“Yeah, Spirits can be finicky. Some Spirits just don’t like watches, so I called for some that do and got an answer, I guess you could say…”
The more we spoke about it, the more I remembered.
That’s right, this lady reminded me of Fine. I figured if I helped her fix her watch, she would maybe cry a tear of joy for me.
It was a simple thought process but exactly what happened.
It’s not as if I was taking advantage of her or anything, but there was no pure desire to help this woman for the sake of helping her.
I’d just wanted tears, that’s all. Tear farming had become a daily task for me, not even a mission. I figured I could simplify the process based on my past experiences. The more I reflected on it, the worse I felt about how shallow I’d been. It was like the guilt wrapped tightly around my heart.
While skills and experience were needed to help people, this only related to magic itself and had little to do with the inner workings of human emotion.
“You get used to it after a while. I figured out the trick to it.”
Get used to what? What trick is there to figure out?
At some point, I’d lost touch with myself. I could feel my face getting hot as I realized this.
In the beginning, I felt so happy when I received pure emotion from somebody else. It was what let me know I was truly helping them.
When did it happen? When did I stop looking at the face of the person I was trying to help? When did I stop caring about them?
We left the café, and the woman headed for the train station. I learned that she wasn’t even from this town and that she just so happened to be here to buy something on the day we met. Evidently, she’d come all the way back, just in search of me.
“Are you okay, Miss Witch? You don’t look so well.”
“Huh? Oh… Yeah, I’m fine.”
The woman seemed worried about me. She leaned in to get a better look at my face, and it was the first time I really looked at hers.
She was a beautiful young woman with a mole next to one of her eyes. There was genuine kindness in her gaze; she gave off an air of purity. This should’ve been what I thought on the day we met, and realizing I was only taking this in now served to confuse me more.
She wasn’t just pretty but stunningly beautiful. So much so that I was starting to stutter even though we were both girls. I was starting to get nervous simply being next to her—that’s how pretty she was.
So I wasn’t even looking at people’s faces when I was on the prowl for tears? I must’ve filtered them out while I talked with them.
I was sure this woman wasn’t the only person I’d done this to. I couldn’t remember the faces of anyone I’d helped the past few days. The only thing I saw in people was personal gain. That was it.
Ever since the festival ended, I was blinded by pride in myself as a witch. I realized I’d been full of myself because of what I’d accomplished.
“Are you sure you’re all right? You seem upset about something. I’ll lend you an ear if you need someone to talk to.”
“No, it’s nothing really…uh…Miss.”
“Rachael.”
“Huh?”
“That’s my name. We haven’t exchanged them yet.”
“Ah, I’m Meg. Meg Raspberry.”
“Meg. Heh, it’s funny to introduce ourselves now after all this time.”
“You’re right.”
I didn’t even introduce myself when we met. That’s how oblivious I’d been.
“You are a witch who can open the hearts of others.”
I remembered what my teacher had said to me a while back. I wasn’t sure if this was the case anymore.
“Rachael. What do you do when you think you’ve done something wrong?” I asked her without really thinking about it.
Rachael seemed caught off guard by my question.
“Something wrong?”
“How should I put it? Like when someone everyone calls nice is actually doing things for other people for their own gain without even realizing it themselves, but then they suddenly realize who they really are.”
This time, she seemed utterly confused, which made sense. This wasn’t something that happened every day.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to ask you such a strange question. You can just forget about it.”
Rachael shook her head, though, and began to respond.
“If that person thinks what they did was wrong, then they should probably accept that they were wrong and start over again.”
“Start over…”
“Everyone makes mistakes. I think what’s important is how you change after you do.”
“Do you think I can change?”
“I’m sure of it, if you really want to.”
Rachael then smiled, and it was like the smile of a goddess.
I escorted Rachael to the train turnstile before continuing my slow walk through town. I was feeling gloomy, despite her having cheered me up a bit. I didn’t really know what to make of it. I was never one to let myself get upset like this. Worrying too much about things wasn’t in my nature. I just wanted to think about something else, but it felt like there was a weight on my heart.
My aimless wandering brought me to a staircase that led to one of the highest points in town. This spot was far from the center of town, where my walk began, and it was somewhere I rarely visited.
At the bottom of the stairs was an old woman carrying a big paper bag. She was sitting down, and it was clear that she needed a helping hand. At the same time, I knew helping her probably wouldn’t earn me a tear. No one in their right mind would cry over some groceries.
“Hello there, Granny. Do you need a hand?”
I asked her if she needed help anyway. Maybe I wouldn’t have if I were the same as I’d been earlier. I probably would’ve left her to her own devices in search of more tears.
But not anymore—I needed to change, and this would be my first step. I wanted to start over again.
It didn’t matter if the woman wasn’t going to cry after I helped her. There was a version of me who asked if she needed help and one who didn’t, and I wanted to be the one who did.
I wanted to be proud of who I was.
“Mrgh! This is so heavy!”
It was a long set of stairs, and I had the old woman on my back while I carried her bag in my hands. Evidently, this old woman lived on top of the highest hill in town.
“Are you all right? You don’t need to carry me. Want me to get off?”
“There’s no need! A girl also keeps her word!”
As I spoke, my breath came out in heavy pants, visible in the cold air. Despite the chilly temperature, sweat trickled down my forehead. My breath formed white clouds in the frigid air, and I noticed a bit of snot running from my nose.
Why am I, a witch, partaking in such manual labor? Situations like this are what magic is for! I thought to myself in exhaustion.
I could make the groceries weigh nothing using antigravity magic or use a muscle-enhancement spell to make these stairs a cakewalk…though the soreness I’d experience the next day would be a killer.
I think I’ve learned my lesson today. I’ve reflected on what I’ve done wrong and am trying to better myself for it.
So maybe I should just do it—use magic.
I could hear the devil whispering temptation in the back of my mind. I shook my head, freeing it from the devil’s grip, and focused on the task at hand.
I was trying to restart. Making this trip up this steep hill was like a ceremony for me to get back up while I was down.
“Agh, I’m knackered.”
After finally making it to the top and setting both the groceries and the grandmother down, I limply slumped onto the ground like a pile of sludge. I rolled over, looking up at the sky to see the first few stars of the night faintly make their appearance as the day quickly turned into night. With nothing but the setting sun to warm me, the wind was cold but somehow comfy at the same time.
“You must be, after that.”
The old woman hobbled over, peering down at me on the ground.
“I do appreciate it. Those stairs aren’t usually a problem for me, but I hurt my back recently. I should probably start thinking about my age.”
“You think you can make the rest of the trip alone?”
“Yes. I really do appreciate what you’ve done for me.”
With a smile, the old woman took a seat on one of the steps.
“You’re Meg, Lady Faust’s apprentice, aren’t you? I heard you’ve been running around town, helping people out. You’re such a good person.”
“Y-yeah… Where did you hear that from?”
“Here and there. At the market and on the street. I’ve heard about it from a few people.”
“Wow… I wonder why.” I sat up. “Do you think it’s because of the magic parade Sophie and I held? Maybe everyone saw me helping her.”
“What magic parade?”
“You know, the one during the Celebration of Worlds.”
“Ah… Those were some fireworks. I heard one of the Seven Sages came to help Lady Faust. Our Lady Faust must be quite the historic figure.”
“Yeah… Erm, did you know about me?”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were part of the parade. It was so crowded that I doubt many people had the chance to see you. You know how packed with tourists Lapis gets during the festival.”
“That’s true…”
I was under the impression that I’d become famous thanks to my role working with a world-renowned witch, but it was likely that the townspeople didn’t even know I’d been part of the parade at all.
All I did during the festival was help Sophie. Anyone there to see the show was there to see her. Just how it was uncommon to know the faces and names of staff at an event, or the manager of a celebrity, no one probably even realized I was a part of the parade at all.