Chapter 39. A normal shopping day (1)
The next day, there was no witch to disturb her sleep, so naturally, Sascha woke up to the chirping of the birds that heralded the dawn. Bell fell out of the nest made of her hair and rolled onto the messy blankets. The pixie scowled in annoyance and spun around, presenting a view of his back to Sascha.
She would have laughed at the pixie's antics if it weren't for the fact that his current state wouldn't allow it. She was a bit more used to the effects of the SIM by now, however, this didn't make it any more fun to cope with. Without delay, Sascha reached for the vial with her pills and ate two of them. Instantly, the fresh, invigorating sensation of mana rising in her meridians filled Sascha and a sigh of relief escaped her lips.
Sascha looked worriedly at the vial, the contents of which kept going down instead of going up, and she became deeply depressed. At this rate, her pills would last less than a week. She regretfully wondered if she should take the advice of her master and seek out the monster father of her magical bugs.
'Plaff'
Bell, who was still lingering, jumped in surprise as the sound of meat on meat broke the quiet atmosphere. Dismayed, he leaped into the air and stared at the human in disbelief. "What-t happened?"
A sharp, painful-looking red mark blossomed on Sascha's pale cheeks. Bell cautiously studied the surroundings, finding nothing at all. No enemy had broken through his guard. No enemy lurked in the corners. How had the human been hurt then? With a confused look, he looked at the human.
Gently, Sascha rubbed both cheeks and nonchalantly said to the pixie. "Nothing. I was still half asleep, so she needed to wake up."
Humans are crazy! Bell's expression twisted in shock. An expression that Sascha purposely ignored before starting to prepare for the day-to-day. She hadn't even started walking and was she ready to give up? No way! Just like that, the stubborn side of the human came out.
After taking a quick bath and dressing in her second set of clean clothes, Sascha went out to take care of her duties. Bell snuggled snugly from a stray strand in his hundred, looking like a beautiful, delicate hair accessory.
Thinking of the witch's magnificent and well-stocked garden of magical and medicinal herbs, she headed straight for it, finally realizing that it was unnecessary, as the pixies took care of the garden with great care.
That she wasn't needed outside didn't mean the same inside. With this kind of mentality, Sascha changed course from her to the cabin. Just thinking of those mystical and beautiful spirit plants of hers made her mouth melt with longing.
However, when she arrived Sascha could only chew bitter disappointment. Because she had long since been cared for by the witch's familiars.
How could the witch's domain not function like well-oiled machinery? And more when the witch had a bad habit of disappearing every three a quarter.
Tears of disappointment gathered in Sascha's eyes and then rolled down her cheeks. The pixie gave her a dumbfounded look, but he wisely didn't say anything. Familiar lurking in the shadows who were too shy to show themselves stirred with concern. Her teacher had been clear with them before they left and they had to take good care of the young human. What had they done to make her cry? What should they do now?
A particularly intuitive family member recalled that her teacher's mood was always better after eating, he also recalled that the young woman seemed like a meat enthusiast. Family members looked intently at each other before running to work.
Sascha's shoulders shook with a sob, and she wiped her face from her in anger. Stupid hormones! She sighed and the smell of freshly roasted meat filled her nose.
The delicious scent immediately caught her and her magical bugs' attention. Sascha looked up and found the table again set in the center of the room. Instantly, she forgot the earlier discomfort and happily ran to the table. She cleaned the breakfast at light speed and soon after she let out a satisfied sigh.
"It is time to open the store," Bell said from her vantage point, reminding her of the human. This she nodded and without a word, she walked to the store.
Once there, Sascha and Bell restocked the stock and shortly thereafter they were touring the 'open' sign.
It was not a particularly busy day, quite the opposite, and Sascha suspected it was due to the novelty of the current schedule. With nothing better to do, she took the opportunity to read some of the books that she had borrowed and so the morning turned into noon and the closing time arrived.
The afternoon was his, a predisposition that Sascha did not hesitate to take advantage of to go out to the city after a hasty lunch. The pixie refused to stay behind, so Sascha could only sigh and let him do her bidding.
Sascha and Bell visited the bustling Central Market, which was at the end of the exclusive Witch's Street. Soon enough, they were swallowed up by the changing tide of lurking shoppers and the cacophony of merchants hawking their wares. Who seemed to compete with each other to attract the attention of buyers.
The air smelled of the food sold at the different fast food stalls, even though she had eaten lunch not long ago, Sascha was drawn to the aroma given off by a stall of spiced meat skewers.
Each skewer costs twenty copper coins, a bit steep, but cheaper than other foods on the market. However, the bugs in her belly didn't understand reason or frugality, so Sascha ended up buying a skewer of meat.
As she enjoyed the taste of the meat melting in her mouth, Sascha began searching for the things she needed.
She stopped at a cloth stall. Her eyes were drawn to a piece of forest green cloth. Bell chose that precise moment to take flight. Not at all interested in the bargaining process between two humans. His departure went completely unnoticed, under the layers of glamor, the pixie looked no different from a normal butterfly. Not too far in the future, Bell would regret his impulsive decision, but how could he suspect that the human would be so good at finding trouble?