Episode One
Hm…
The morning after our argument, the table had breakfast on it again as usual. Only a cup at Selene’s place — she’d already eaten. I sat down and was moving food to my mouth in a half-awake daze when I heard the front door open.
“You’re up. Finish eating and get ready.”
Selene came in with a large paper bag, gave me a glance, and headed for the kitchen. Her hair was neat and settled — she’d been up and about for a while.
“Morning. Shopping?”
“We were running low on a few things.”
She’d done the breakfast and the grocery run before I was even awake. I felt a small, self-directed embarrassment about that.
“Ah… sorry. Thank you. For this too…”
I gave a wry little smile and gestured at the plate in front of me.
“If you feel bad about it, start waking up earlier. And do something about your hair.”
“…Yes.”
Suitably pressured, I finished eating quickly and went to get ready. The pigtails I tied felt slightly uneven, but not enough to worry about — probably fine.
“Sorry to keep you. Ready when you are.”
I grabbed my bag and hurried over to her. I was just crouching down to do up my boots when my arm was caught, gently.
“Selene?”
She studied me for a moment, then began undoing my hair without any preamble.
“Wait, hey — aren’t we leaving?”
“Go sit in the living room.”
She said it shortly, set her things down, and walked away from the entrance.
“…Weren’t you in a rush?”
I muttered it under my breath and did as I was told, lowering myself into the living room chair.
Undoing someone’s hair without asking — with anyone else, that would be cause for complaint. I am supposedly a girl too.
Then footsteps came back, and a moment later a brush was moving through the hair at the back of my head. The gentle pull through the ends made my eyes go soft before I could stop them.
“…Thank you.”
“You look a mess. Are you actually taking care of it?”
“…I am. A little.”
The words had barbs in them, but the hands in my hair were strangely, impossibly gentle. Questions were piling up somewhere in my head — but the moment itself felt oddly comfortable, and I couldn’t quite bring myself to break it.
She worked through it slowly with the brush, then retied it the way she always did: two low pigtails, one on each side.
She looked at her work for a moment, and gave a small nod.
“This suits you better.”
Apparently satisfied, she picked up her things and went back to the entrance before I could even say thank you properly.
“Oh — thank you!”
I grabbed my bag and hurried after her. Passing the mirror by the door, I caught a glimpse of myself — the two neatly balanced pigtails swinging, and something at the corner of my mouth that might, just slightly, have been a smile.
◇
“Lady Selene! Lady Sion! Just the people I was looking for!”
The moment we stepped into the guild, Becky’s voice found us from across the floor. Even in a place this perpetually noisy, her voice carries.
“Morning, Becky. Something come up?”
“Actually — there’s a job request specifically for the two of you. It looks like it’ll run two days. Is that all right?”
“Could you walk us through it?”
Becky led us to a nearby table.
Requests that ask for us by name aren’t uncommon. It’s gratifying to be trusted like that, and the pay tends to be better than a standard job. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d turned one down.
Becky set a glass in front of each of us, and her expression went slightly — carefully — complicated.
“The thing is, the request itself isn’t addressed to you. Another adventurer has taken the job, and they’re asking for you specifically as companions.”
“An adventurer wanting companions? Does that mean they can’t handle combat?”
Selene tilted her head.
“No — they’re a mage. Probably around your level, honestly.”
“Then why—?”
“Well, um…”
Becky was being unusually halting.
“What kind of person is this adventurer?”
Something made me curious enough to ask. Becky looked at me, seemed to make a decision, and started to stand.
“You’re right. I should have led with that. Let me go and fetch—”
“Oh! Are you the White Witch and the Black Witch? The real ones?!”
A voice sliced through Becky’s sentence from behind us — loud in a way that seemed to part the air around it. The perpetually noisy guild went momentarily, improbably still.
“You’re already here…”
Becky, who never stopped smiling, put her head in her hands. That felt like a bad sign.
“Nice to meet you!! I’m Kiaran Fals! And this here’s Uno Serti — she doesn’t really talk much but don’t worry about it!”
A girl with remarkably eye-catching golden hair came bouncing over to our table. Behind her, a small girl in a hood stood vaguely, not quite present.
“Oh, and — do you mind if I drop the formal speech? I’m not great at it.”
My cheek twitched involuntarily. I looked at Selene. The smile was still on her lips, but her eyes had gone entirely, completely flat. The White Witch and the Black Witch might both be at their limit already.
“Kiaran and Uno, then. Informal is fine.”
Selene cleared her throat and smiled again.
“Oh, really? Wow, the White Witch is so gracious! Yeah, so, we just came over from the Kingdom of Sceldia, and we’re still figuring out how everything works here—”
“Just let us know if we do anything weird!”
“Ahaha…”
You may already have done several things weird.
“From Sceldia — what brought you to Edelcia?”
Selene asked, smile fixed carefully in place.
“Honestly? It was boring there. Not many mages either. But if you’re into magic, Edelcia’s the place, right? Loads of magical tool shops, loads of mages — it’s great! The mana even tastes different somehow, kind of nicer? And the city’s so pretty, Uno and I were saying we might just stay forever—”
“Oh, and the reason Sceldia’s boring, right, so basically—”
“Um—”
One more sentence and this would spiral past any chance of recovery. I raised one hand, small and quiet.
“Could we maybe save the introductions for later and hear about the job?”
Kiaran froze.
Her large red eyes locked directly onto mine.
“Wait — did I do something wrong…?”
“The Black Witch! Your voice is so cute!! You look just like a little doll!! Oh, and the White Witch is absolutely gorgeous too!”
What on earth.
She’d brought her face to within breathing distance of mine, and I nearly shoved her away on pure reflex.
We’d been talking for barely five minutes and I was already exhausted. I wanted to go home.
“Kiaran. As Sion says — let’s take a step back and go through this properly.”
Selene spoke again, smile now fraying faintly at the edges.
“At this rate… we’ll be here until dark.”
That smile means she’s angry.