Sumire walked down the street towards the potion shop with her entourage—a heroine’s guard. She looked at the men in exaggerated red plate armor and one of the heroes that joined her. The other girl, Sine, had become a master of summoning. 

Out of the seven heroes, four of them were gifted in magic arts. Sumire became the one gifted in all forms of magic—a sort of master of none. However, that didn’t stop her from launching fireballs and icicles enough to make the court wizard smile. Her magical capacity was even higher than that old hag, and her power was nothing to scoff at.

On this day, her goal was related to magical capacity. They needed magic potions, and this would be her first outing to the shop without the hag. She'd had very little freedom in the two weeks since they arrived. Even now, those guards stood too close, and the city people watched them. 

“Sine, don’t you think it’s too much?” Sumire asked.

“Yeah.”

“Shouldn’t we get even more freedom?”

“Yeah.”

Sumire sighed, looking at the small Sine. The girl had always hardly said anything. She didn’t even know what the girl did to land detention on that fateful day. Sumire idly thought that it was related to not speaking. Maybe she just said ‘yeah’ to a teacher?

When they finally reached the shop, Sumire almost bumped into a girl exiting. The girl smiled at them, but her attire was seriously out of this world. Sumire had never seen anyone dressed like that since her arrival. The other girl could easily have been mistaken for a witch cosplayer if this was Earth—a very cute one at that. But there was more. Sumire instantly knew that this girl was strong. Sumire’s hands were shaking. Remarkably strong. 

“Curious,” the girl said, eyeing them. “Now this, this is what an actress’ guard should look like!”

“Huh?” Sumire asked. She looked to the guards, putting their hands on the hilts of their swords. 

“I mean, look at you,” the girl said as she stepped closer. “You are dressed in such a pretty outfit, surrounded by guards in red armor! Aren’t you the biggest actress in this place?”

A guard had enough, stepping between the both of them. “Miss, I don’t know who you are, but this is one of the heroes. Any closer, and I will have to cut you down.”

“Eek!” The other girl turned away from them and ran down the street towards the guild. 

Confused by the interaction, Sumire looked to Sine for an answer. She didn’t expect the girl to be so wide-eyed. That small girl who never smiled at anything was grinning from ear to ear. 

“A real witch,” Sine said quietly. 

Sumire felt a pang in her chest. Wasn’t I a real witch, Sine? She looked down at her royal attire, making her look more like a mage’s apprentice. I guess not. 

They finally entered the potion shop after the strange interaction. The darkelf, Reddul, was smiling and twisting around a large glass corked bottle. When they made their way up to the counter, Reddul quickly put the bottle under her desk. 

“What was that?” Sumire asked. 

“That,” Reddul said, “was something quite special. Now, I can easily provide those potions the court wizard requested.”

Sumire looked back towards the entrance, where they bumped into that girl. “Is it related to her?”

“That is my own business, but that girl is quite special.”

“She’s a special witch,” Sine said and giggled. 

“Very right you are,” Reddul said with a smile. She grabbed a crate full of blue potions under her desk and placed them on top. “Here is the shipment as promised.”

I ran to the guild. Those guards were definitely not something a small-time witch like me should trifle with. Still, I smiled as I moved a Mythril coin through my fingertips. I had gained ten Mythril coins for one potion! I had yet to learn how much a Mythril was, but the name sounded cool and myth-like. Arriving at the guild, I pushed the doors open. 

The guild building in Tinderwick was ginormous—much larger than the one in Startour Port. There had to be at least four stories, and the bottom floor held twenty or more tables. There was even a bar on the side with a few adventurers daydrinking. Adventurers crowded around large boards with different letter denominations on top. 

The lines weren’t long for the lengthy desk at the back, and dividers were also put up for the different ranks. Seeing that the E-rank desk was open, I made my way over. 

“Welcome to Tinderwick guild branch. How can I help you, Miss?” The receptionist lady said.

I smiled and handed her the plate. “Mary said I could get money to turn in this bandit plate.”

“Mary?” The lady asked. 

“I believe some people call her Marcy.”

“Oh! If it’s her, then you must be her acquaintance?”

“Well, more like we are great friends!”

The lady smiled and accepted the plate. “This will take a few days to confirm. The guild has to confirm it. For now—” she said and reached for a paper on her desk, stamping it. “You can hold onto this.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Think of it like a reminder that the guild will uphold its end. If this is confirmed, you might rank up in the process!” She clapped. “Now, just give me your guild card, and the guild will start.”

I did as she said and handed her my E-rank card. She scanned it with one of the black tablets I had seen several times. I wondered who made them. It was similar to those scanners on Earth for IDs. 

When she finally handed back my card, I left the guild house. Now that I had a sizeable sum, I wanted to explore the city more, but it was already getting late. The sky had already started being painted orange. With that in mind, I went to the Inn to finish the day. 

“Can’t miss the free food!”