“Riding sitting sideways is a lot more stable for me.”
“True. That method is probably best for you, Nichika.” Charlotte tugged her witch’s hat back in place and patted Nichika on the shoulder, flashing her a big smile. “I officially declare your training as over! You did such a good job.”
“Thank you so much for teaching me!”
“Sorry for making you boys wait. She’s all good to go,” Charlotte called.
Her voice brought Oswald and Wolfie back from dreamland. Rubbing at his sleepy eyes, Oswald taunted, “Did you improve that unsightly flying of yours so we don’t have to see your panties anymore?”
“Don’t look!”
“Don’t flaunt them.”
Watching the master and apprentice bicker reminded Charlotte of her other items. “Speaking of panties…that reminds me, here’s some fresh underwear for you, Nichika.”
“Yes! You’re a lifesaver! I’ve been hoping to get a few more pairs.”
Nichika’s voice trailed off, the underwear reminding her of something else personal. Red coloring her face, she tugged on Charlotte’s sleeve and led her away from the boys.
“Hm? What’s the matter, cutie? Want to talk about something the men shouldn’t be a part of?”
“There’s something I wanted to ask your advice on…um…” Nichika hesitated, then, with her expression grim, she confided, “My period hasn’t come.”
Charlotte stared blankly back at her. Then her expression rapidly shifted into an ever-widening grin. “Oh! Oh! Oh! I know what this means!”
“What? Wait!” Guessing what conclusion Charlotte had come to, Nichika rushed to correct her. “I-It’s not what you’re thinking! It’s not because of the normal reasons they stop! I have no idea why it’s not coming.”
“Aw, shucks. It’s not because of Osy? Too bad.”
Does that mean he hasn’t laid his hands on her yet? Charlotte blinked in surprise. Does he actually care for her a lot? That man, who cares about no one?
“That’s surprising…” she muttered, more in response to her own thoughts than to Nichika.
“It’s really not that reason! It’s been late for about a week now. I’ve always been right on schedule with it, so it’s really got me worried.”
Charlotte hummed thoughtfully and smiled to comfort her. “I’m sure it’s just from the stress of coming to this world. It’ll come eventually, whether you want it to or not. Don’t let it bother you.”
“You think it will?”
“If it bothers you so much, you could have Osy whip you up something to stop ovulating—”
“Please drop that sort of talk!”
Charlotte cackled, but prepared the necessary supplies regardless. From the looks of the items Nichika received, women in this world attached a cloth sanitary pad to a garter belt that they would wear during their period.
“It’s going to take a while before I get used to this thing…” she murmured, holding it up with a look of disgust.
“What did you use in your world, Nichika?”
“Disposable pads made of plastic and cotton, with sticky tape on the backside. You remove a paper to reveal the sticky side and just stick it to your underwear like that. Then when you’re done, you peel it off and throw it away,” Nichika informed her. The pads she normally used on Earth were much more convenient.
Charlotte appeared extremely impressed. “Disposable! That’s a revolutionary design! I’m going to try my hand at making something like that next! You must try out prototypes when I finish them, ‘kay?!”
“Sure,” Nichika agreed.
The witches of this world went to work whenever it came to creating something that interested them. Greed and passion fueled their actions.
I envy them. I wish I could get that passionate about something.
“Oh yeah,” Nichika blurted, “How should I pay you for the broom and all the things you’ve—”
“Oh, right. I forgot about that. I don’t really mind because it was all stuff I had in stock anyway, but…”
They walked back over to Oswald and Wolfie to discuss the payment. Charlotte put her finger to her chin in thought, then lifted the lantern hanging from the tip of her broom.
“In that case, can you imbue this lantern with fire magic?”
“Is that all you want?”
“I’m terrible at fire magic, no matter what I try. The fire I imbue it with won’t even last through the night, and I get stuck recasting it midflight.”
“Well, if that’s good enough for you, I don’t mind doing it,” Nichika replied and concentrated on the lantern sitting on the ground as she closed her eyes. When her eyes snapped open, she shot the energy surging in her hands into its open lid. “O flames, light the night! FIRE!”
Flames leaped from her hands, striking the lantern dead center. Charlotte kicked the lid shut and stared in awe of the bright light shining within.
“Wowee! This looks like it’ll last for ages! Maybe it’ll turn out to be semipermanent!”
“Ehehe. You think so?”
“Now that’s what I’d expect of the Spirit Priestess! For this, I’ll give you a bonus item!” Charlotte tugged a belt out of her bottomless bags. “If you hang your broom and magic orb from this, you’ll be able to pull them out right away without losing them.”
“Is it really okay for me to have this too?”
“Don’t mention it! This is nothing in comparison to receiving a lantern enchanted by the Spirit Priestess!”
Nichika had almost lost her magic orb more times than she’d like to count, so she was deeply grateful to receive the magic belt. Gaining one more piece of handy equipment brought a smile to her face.
“Char,” Oswald started.
“Hi, Osy. What can I do for you?”
“Time for you to do business with me. Can you make fake acceptance letters to Elminage?”
What outrageous things is this guy asking for now with that straight face? Nichika slapped a hand to her forehead, shaking her head at her master.
“Now that’s nostalgic! We did it before too—you know, when we attended there.”
“You did?” Nichika doubted her ears, but Charlotte didn’t look the least bit guilty about it.
Seriously, what did these two do together in the past? Better not ask. Don’t ask. I see nothing! I hear nothing! I know nothing of their crimes! She desperately tried to convince herself, while the conversation quickly progressed without her.
“What do you want for the class? Wizardry? Witchery?”
“Combined course would be best. Getting too close to the Witchery Department will give us away.”
“Hmm. I hope I can prepare good papers for you, but it’ll probably take a while. You good with that?”
“As long as you have them ready by the time we arrive.”
“Easier said than done.” Charlotte chewed the tip of her nail as she stressed over whether she could pull it off in time, when suddenly the front of her dress flashed. “Oh, somebody’s summoned me for a delivery.” She procured a card just like the one Oswald had written on from between her breasts. “Let’s see, if I remember right, this handwriting belongs to…” Her face lit up as she read it. “Oh, could it be?!”
“What is it?” Oswald asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Can you wait just a tad? I’ll be back in a flash! I might be able to bring you back some amazingly awesome news!” She nimbly straddled her broom and shot off into the distant skies as if catapulted from the ground.
“I wonder what came up,” Nichika marveled.
“Beats me.”
After they watched Charlotte fly off, Nichika faced Oswald and asked out of curiosity, “Why are you readmitting to that school if you’ve already graduated once?”
“Why’re you asking such a dumb question?”
“Well, excuse me for being dumb.”
Turning his icy blue eyes on her, he pulled a face as if what he was going to say was self-evident. “You’re going to attend, obviously.”
“Whaaaaaaat?!”
Yet again, things were proceeding without her consent.
Wolfie started wagging his tail at her feet. “Nichika’s gonna attend school? Lucky!”
“I’m not lucky at all!”
“Don’t be a spoilsport. You attending school is the most natural way for us to infiltrate the academy without getting detected.”
“Listen here, you!” Nichika was about to level him with her complaints, but Charlotte returned at that moment with the full force of a whirlwind.
“Big news!” she squealed, “We’ve got seriously perfect timing! I got my hands on the admittance papers!”
“That was fast!” Nichika blurted.
Before Nichika could complain that she hadn’t even decided whether she wanted to attend or not, Charlotte hopped right into reporting how she’d gotten the papers. “The job summons I just got was from a regular client who’s a rich young lady from an important family. She said she’d just narrowly escaped from being forced to attend Elminage. So she ordered a buncha equipment for her journey. I wonder what use she has for that collar though…”
“And? Did you receive her admittance papers in return for that equipment?”
“Bingo! Ta-da!” Charlotte proudly held up a golden envelope sealed with red wax. “She said she had no use for it. Boy, oh boy! Aren’t we lucky!”
“Basically, you’re telling me to take that rich young lady’s place…?” Nichika asked hesitantly.
“Yay! You’ll be young mistress Nichika! Young Mistress Nichika!” Wolfie cheered childishly.
Nichika held her head in her hands. “There’s no way I can do that!”
“Pft,” Oswald snorted, “Remember to act like a lady. If you can even pull that off.”
Charlotte flashed a wicked grin at Oswald. In a teasing voice, she said, “You too, Osy.”
“Excuse me?”
“These are academy and dorm admittance papers, but they are registered for two people—the young mistress and her attending butler. So, you’ll become Nichika’s butler by default.”
Nichika and Oswald awkwardly jerked their necks and exchanged looks. There were no words capable of expressing how they felt.
Muscles tight in his face, Oswald exhaled once and tossed out his pride. “Please forgive my insolence in requesting that you allow me to serve you, but I do hope you will have me, my dear lady.” He elegantly bowed, magnificently donning a butler’s persona.
Behind that fake smile, he was one-hundred percent simmering with anger. Imagining the horrors of her upcoming school life, Nichika was rooted to the ground until Oswald dragged her away kicking and screaming.
~VOLUME 1 END~