AS the weekend approached, the day of the event I eagerly waited for arrived as well. Vil and I wore matching mantles as we stood in the courtyard. Professor Whipp lent us pointy hats, claiming they would let us blend better with the crowd. Gem, perhaps wary of the witches, decided to stay back. It waved a white handkerchief in front of the door to bid us farewell, and as usual, I had no idea what it was up to. But I’m ready to head out, I thought.
“Vil, let’s go,” I said.
“All right.”
I dropped the invitation envelope onto the ground, and in a flash, a magic circle appeared. It emitted a golden glow as though it were some kind of special teleporting spell, and with a few crackles, the scenery in front of my eyes changed. Stores lined a narrow street, much like you might see in the royal capital’s downtown area.
“Wow!” I gasped.
“It sure is crowded,” Vil muttered.
The street was packed, but these invitees were all good people since they’d been selected—they all gave way to each other or apologized and stepped into smaller streets to avoid getting in the way. I felt like I was in a world of kindness.
“Let’s go too,” Vil said.
“Okay!” I replied.
The stores were lined with various magical wares meant for witches.
“Would you like this mirror? It shows your future self,” one seller said.
“Check out our scrolls to have winged felines do your bidding!” another cried.
“Would you like some pie made from cream extracted from clouds? Nice and fluffy!” a third shouted.
I’d never seen or heard of any of these before, and I could hardly believe all the rare items before me. A painting caught my eye—the seller claimed to have cut out a portion of the sky for it.
“This painting will always change depending on the weather,” the seller, an elderly witch, said.
When I gazed into it, I spotted clouds slowly drifting by.
“It can rain, lightning can sound, a storm can approach, or it could be a sunny day,” she explained. “You can enjoy a variety of sights.”
But it must be expensive, right? I checked the price. Ten million…blan?
“I’ve never seen this kind of currency before,” I remarked.
“Oh, this is the currency decided upon by the association,” the lady replied.
Judging by the curious look on his face, Vil wasn’t familiar with this type of currency either.
“Now, Missy, why don’t I check and see how much you have?” the elderly witch offered.
“Pardon?” I asked. “I don’t have any blan on me right now.”
“Oh, blan can’t be seen by the naked eye.”
Excuse me? Both Vil and I stood there, confusion plain on our faces. The elderly witch pulled out a magnifying tool and stared at me through it. She gasped.
“Ah, you’ve got ten million blan exactly,” she said.
“Huh?! How?! Why?!” I cried.
“It’s a number given to those who’ve worked very hard. You’ve got ten million, and the man beside you has twelve million.”
What kind of system is this? And it sounds fishy, but it seems like I’ve got just enough…
“So? Would you like to make a purchase?” she asked.
“Erm…” I muttered.
This painting is nice, and I’d like to decorate my room with it, but I’m busy with school every day. I’m not sure if I’ve got the time to sit down and gaze at paintings. When I told the seller as much, she smiled, nodded, and sent us on our way. Frankly, I didn’t feel like I had any money at all since I couldn’t really see it, and neither Vil nor I felt like we could purchase anything.
I was thinking I wanted a souvenir to commemorate this event at least. That’s when Vil handed me a bracelet fitted with green stones—it warded off evil.
“You were staring at this, weren’t you?” he asked.
“Yeah… It’s pretty, just like your eyes, you know?”
“I bought it when you were looking at something else. Could you lend me your wrist? I’ll put it on you.”
“You’re giving this to me?”
“Of course.”
He neatly tied the string around my wrist. The three jewels glimmered under the enchanted lights.