Prologue
A voice, thick with irritation, resounded from the humble magic-item shop located on a back street in the town of Axel.
“O rarest of shopkeepers, with the unparalleled ability to turn everything she stocks into garbage! Perhaps I could ask you to explain this pile of junk before me.”
“‘Rare’? ‘Unparalleled’? Flatter me all you want, Vanir, but I’m not going to stop stocking these items.”
“O incompetent shopkeeper whom I am not flattering! Try, just try, to explain what is remotely beneficial about these things!”
Wiz, thoroughly intimidated by the agitated Vanir, held a stuffed toy defensively in front of her. “I got these plushies! And you know they have to be more than just cute, right? Guess what: When you register yourself as their owner, they follow you around on their own! If we give these to children, there’ll never be another lost child in the whole world!”
“I see. And what’s the downside?”
“Ah! Well, they follow you around even if you aren’t lost. I guess the worst that could happen is a kid bursting into tears when they try to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night or something!”
Vanir wordlessly marked an X on the stock sheet.
“Vanir, don’t you want to help those poor lost children?!”
“Are you so determined to traumatize the myriad children of the world who aren’t lost?!”
It was this very familiar sight that greeted us when we opened the shop door. Despite clearly feeling beaten down by Vanir, when Wiz spotted us, she mustered a smile as she said hello.
A small flower appeared before her, held out to her by Sylphina, the little girl who had been the beneficiary of so much help from the town’s adventurers and other residents.
“Miss, thank you for all your help recently…!” she said with a shy smile.
Wiz looked right at her. “This is Wiz’s Magical Item Shoppe. We strive to stock any and all things that can help our customers in need. If you’re ever feeling unwell again or find yourself in any kind of trouble…stop by anytime!”
And then she gave the girl her kindest smile.
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