Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 12 - Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

A Tale of Three Cities: Because It’s Something People Recommend

The Charcoal Witch, Saya, is my witch name, and the United Magic Association is the name of the organization to which I belong.

As I travel from country to country, I complete commissions for this organization and accept payment as I go.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m dealing with commissions around the clock.

Sometimes I do take days off work.

“…………”

Morning, at an inn.

The curtain on the open window swayed and billowed as the morning breeze blew into my room, carrying with it the fragrance of the flowers standing in the planter near the window.

It felt chilly, but there was nothing strange or uncomfortable about it. The breeze lightly brushed over me like it was stroking my hair, and it gently woke me.

When I slowly opened my eyes, the sky was the color of night.

The sun, which had only just started rising, twinkled in the distance, painting the clouds in red light.

Enchanted by the early morning sky, with its vivid reds surrounded by deep blues, I sat up in bed.

The more pleasant my awakening on any given day, the more likely I was to feel like taking that day off and doing some leisurely sightseeing.

After waking to such a lovely morning, I was certain a wonderful day was about to begin.

“Good morning…”

Slowly rising out of bed, I stretched. I could feel some of my bed head hair stretch upward with me, so I patted my head to smooth it down and got out of bed.

In short, it was one of those good days.

On that day, I was in City B (provisional name). The people there were known for adopting good things from other lands, so I was able to see all sorts of scenery just by walking around town.

There were eastern-style buildings alongside brick-construction buildings, as well as buildings made of stucco or stone. There were a wide variety of houses standing side by side. No matter how long I spent walking around the town, which looked like it had been clipped out piece by piece from other towns and all pasted here, I never got tired of it. This city was popularly known as a melting pot because of the way the cityscape combined many cultures into one.

But although this collage of scenery from other lands was certainly interesting, there was also something troubling about it.

“What should I do…?”

After relaxing for a little while in my hotel room, I changed into my civilian clothes and set off into town. But I was puzzled over what to do and eventually came to a halt.

Since this was the start to a long-awaited good day, I wanted to get something in my mouth for breakfast. But since this city borrowed bits of culture from many other places, there were far too many options.

What’s more, the people of the city were just brimming with energy, even so early in the morning.

All throughout town, the stores were already open, as if it was only natural, with long lines formed in front and people crowding around the shop fronts.

Apparently, with so many cultures at play, competition was fierce.

“Whoa…”

With a frown on my face, I came to a stop in front of a certain bookstore. Apparently, it was the release day for a photo collection of a stage actor who was very popular with young women. The ladies had descended with great vigor on the store, squawking like wild birds gathered around food.

For example—

“Kyaaah—! So cool!”

“Amazing!”

Girls swooned, holding the photo book open in front of the store.

“…………”

Other people hurried past without a word.

“Isn’t this photo just the best?”

“Totally.”

There were also a great variety of reactions from the girls who had purchased the photo collection.

Just as I would expect in this melting pot of a city!

“…………”

By the way—

This is a complete change of subject, but my younger sister, Mina, also works at the United Magic Association. She’s got black hair like mine, but hers is longer, and she’s quite beautiful. I’m proud of my little sister.

As a matter of fact, that younger sister, of whom I am so proud, was supposed to be right in the middle of a visit to the very same city at the very same moment.

Incidentally, Mina hates long lines and crowds, and she’s never shown any interest in cool guys or anything like that. In fact, she sometimes seems to have a prejudice against men.

And so, even supposing that Mina was in this place, I knew she wouldn’t show the slightest interest in something like an actor’s photo collection.

“Ahh…too incredible…!”

And so I reasoned that the black-haired girl rolling around on the ground in front of me with a euphoric expression on her face was probably someone else, who had nothing to do with my sister. Even if she was clearly wearing clothes I had seen before, even though her features told me she was born in the East, well, they did say the city was a melting pot, after all. And surely it would be no exaggeration to say that there were many diverse peoples living there.

“This is the greatest! I might just die from happiness!” the girl shouted, looking up at the empty sky.

“…………” I looked down at her.

“Ahh! What a wonderful day…this…is…” Her eyes landed on me. “…………” Then she fell quiet.

To my great surprise, the longer I looked, the more certain I was that this girl was in fact my sister.

“…Um, are you by any chance Mina?” I asked timidly.

“Nope, wrong girl. Good-bye.”

The girl sprang right up and quickly dashed away.

All right, so I was mistaken!

It was an unusual encounter.

I left to find a restaurant where I could have breakfast.

The city was very large, and there were all sorts of places to eat.

As I walked through town, I smelled something nostalgic. Lured in by the scent, I walked toward it and encountered a crowd.

There was a shop selling dango dumplings.

“So these are what people call dango! They’re delicious!”

“The people in the East love this flavor… It really hits home…”

“So sweet…”

Apparently, the treats known as dango had recently been introduced to this city via a popular book. There must have been many people here who were easily influenced. The shop was doing a roaring business.

“The taste of home…”

By the way, for some reason, I could see my sister there among the crowd.

“What are you doing, Mina?”

“Sorry, wrong girl. Good-bye.”

She ran away from me again.

After walking a little while longer, I spied a cosmetics store.

Apparently, it was the release date for a brand-new product, and a crowd had formed in front of the store.

“Come take a look! When I pour magical energy into my cauldron like this, see what happens! A fairy comes out!”

The tiny little creature that floated up out of the cauldron then flitted around among the onlookers, giving them each a kiss, one after another.

This fairy cosmetic was widely rumored to be a favorite of all the celebrities in the neighboring City A (provisional name), so even though it came with a pretty steep price tag, it seemed to have gained quite a following in this city as well.

“Do you know why the celebrities in City A have such pretty skin? That’s right! It’s because they have this little fairy to keep it looking beautiful!”

Voices came from the crowd swarming around the shop.

“Amazing!”

“I want my own fairy!”

“Me too!”

Almost as if the kiss itself had had some kind of hypnotic effect, an endless number of hands shot into the air.

“Me toooo!”

And as if she belonged there, right in the middle of that crowd was my own younger sister, Mina. She had her hand raised as she gracefully evaded the fairy’s kiss.

“What are you doing, Mina?”

“……!” Mina turned to face me as she swatted down the approaching fairy with her hand. “Sorry, wrong girl. Good-bye.”

To all appearances, she was Mina. But as before, she fled from me again.

Then, after walking through town for a little bit longer, I came upon a line of girls leading to a bookshop that was in a sort of back alley.

When I glanced at the girls who were coming out of the shop, I saw that for some reason, the books in their hands covered some heavy subject matter.

It seemed to be a bookshop that dealt in unconventional books.

Well, since the city is such a melting pot, I guess there would be some strange subcultures here, too— I was gazing at the shop, lost in thought, when my sister emerged from inside, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Ah, Mina—”

In her hand, she was holding a book with heavy subject matter.

Specifically, it was a book concerning legal age limits.

“…………” I turned on my heel. “Oh, sorry, wrong person, yeah? Good-bye.”

My little sister didn’t read such disgraceful books.

“Wait, Big Sister.”

She grabbed my shoulder, hard. With a surprisingly powerful grip, she forcefully turned me around to face her. “Listen to what I have to say. This is all a misunderstanding.”

“…It’s all right, Mina. I’ll never abandon you, no matter where your tastes lie.”

“Don’t pretend to accept it with open arms. This is a misunderstanding, Big Sister.”

“It’s all right…Mina. You’re at the age where you would be interested in such things, you see? There’s no helping it…”

“Don’t get that distant look in your eyes. It’s a misunderstanding.”

Mina brought the book that dealt with age limits down on my head with a thunk.

“Or perhaps I should say, please don’t carelessly come up and talk to me at a time like this.” Mina puffed up her cheeks, looking exasperated.

“At a time like what?”

What is she up to? I wondered.

“Surely you can tell just by looking at me. I’m on the job.”

“No, I couldn’t tell by looking. That’s why I asked…”

“Words of praise for my perfect performance? I accept them with gratitude.” Mina sent her hair fluttering.

She added, “I’m sure even you’ve done this once or twice, right, Big Sister? An undercover investigation.”

Mina sounded exasperated as she explained it to me. She knew I was bad at figuring things out.

Undercover investigation.

It was one type of assignment people got from the United Magic Association.

Well, to give a very rough explanation, an undercover investigation means stealthily monitoring to make sure there haven’t been any incidents or accidents involving magic in a certain location. If word got out that there were members of the United Magic Association sniffing about, there was a chance that any wrongdoers would vanish into thin air. So basically, it was standard practice to assume an appearance that was not very witchlike. Of course, that meant removing our brooches. And civilian clothes were preferable. It was best not to be exposed as a traveler, so it was important to keep an eye out for trouble while appearing to blend in to the locale’s unique culture and enjoying one’s days off to the fullest.

It seemed my sister was in the middle of such an assignment.

“I was certain you had lost your mind, Mina…”

My worries had been unfounded.

In response to my reaction, Mina’s head drooped with a truly exasperated expression.

“This city is a place where cultures from all sorts of places meet, so if we don’t investigate regularly, this could easily become somewhere where dangerous materials could circulate. So I’ve been out proactively buying weird stuff.”

I see, I see.

“So that includes the actor’s photo collection you bought earlier?”

“There’s no way I’d be interested in that kind of thing,” spit Mina.

“Thank goodness… You’re the same old Mina.”

“What kind of impression do you have of me, Big Sister…?” Mina narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

By the way, since we haven’t seen each other in a while—

“If you like, why don’t I lend you a hand? With your work.”

I made the offer.

But Mina shook her head very quickly.

“No thanks. You do need to rest occasionally, Big Sister.”

“I happen to be taking a break right now.”

“Oh really? You know, I’ve been working this whole time.”

“You do need to rest occasionally, Mina.”

“No need to worry. This job is kind of like a break.”

“In that case, there should be no problem with me helping, right?”

As I said that, I pointed down the road to a restaurant that might have been found just about anywhere.

This city was like a melting pot, where all sorts of cultures mixed.

“Why don’t we do a little investigation into this city’s cuisine?”

After all, surely there was no problem with enjoying some food in the course of an undercover investigation?

Ultimately, Mina agreed to my suggestion, and we went to have a meal together at the restaurant.

We were shown to a window seat, and water and menus were placed before each of us. The waitress said, “When you’re ready with your orders, please let me know,” then bowed her head and left us.

The restaurant we had walked into looked like it could have been anywhere, but appropriately for the city it was in, it offered cuisine from all sorts of places. There was pasta, and steak, and fried things, and pancakes, plus nostalgic dishes from our hometown. The menu was an absolute jumble, lined with ad copy like POPULAR IN NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES! and THE DISH THAT APPEARED IN THAT PLAY! as if the variety wasn’t overwhelming enough.

I had never seen something so difficult to read.

“I can’t understand this at all.” Mina sat across from me, frown lines running through her brow. “In this city, things only get popular when important people recommend them. Even though a recommendation doesn’t offer any proof that something is good.”

My sister gazed at the menu, looking disgusted. She seemed exhausted from being crushed in the crowds all morning, buying all the popular products she could get her hands on.

I nodded.

“You’re right.” But to tell the truth, I could kind of understand the feelings of the people who lived in this city. “But the things other people have do seem attractive, don’t they? Even more so if that person is attractive, too.”

For example, in City A (provisional name), there were apparently a lot of celebrities who were so wealthy that it was almost inconceivable to people from City B (provisional name). It made the people curious to hear there was some cosmetic all those celebrities were buying, and once a crowd had formed, that was sure to draw in even more people.

“No matter what kind of thing it is, something that a popular person uses always seems great in the moment,” I told Mina in a chiding tone.

But she said, “That’s probably just how it is…” and traced her finger over the menu without much interest.

“Hey, Mina, by the way, I’m changing the subject, but—”

“Yeah?”

“Your hand is really pretty.”

I rubbed Mina’s hand back and forth.

“…Where did that come from?”

It must have given her a chill. Mina withdrew her hand with a start and turned an openly wary eye on me.

No, no, I’ve got no ulterior motives here.

This isn’t some secret carnal desire for my sister expressing itself.

“Listen, earlier, you swatted down the fairy at the cosmetics store, right? I think the fairy touched you back then, and your hand got more beautiful.”

I’d only seen it in action once, so I couldn’t say conclusively, but I suspected that the cosmetic spell had simply made its magical energy take the shape of a fairy. Mina had probably gotten the effects of the spell just by touching it with her hand.

“Here, line them up.” I took both Mina’s hands and yanked them toward me.

Once they were next to each other, it was plain to see that the hand that had been touched by the fairy was obviously nicer-looking.

I didn’t really understand much about this city, but—

“Well, I think if something is able to draw a crowd, that serves as proof that its value in that moment is greater than zero.”

I could say that much clearly.

“…………”

Mina stayed quiet for a moment, with both her hands still in my grasp, looking at me with an expressionless face that didn’t reveal what she was thinking. Then finally—

“That’s probably true—” She nodded, then tilted her head. “By the way, Big Sister, have you decided what to order?”

“…………”

“…Have you?”

“I feel like I just said something really clever, but…”

I released both her hands, and Mina rested her chin in them.

“Yes, it was a very moving speech,” she said and sent her hair fluttering.

“I don’t know, I don’t think it sank in at all.”

“So have you decided what to order, Big Sister?”

“I did. I’ll have this.”

I pointed at the menu.

It was an exceedingly average menu item that might have been found in any restaurant with RECOMMENDED BY OUR MANAGER! written over it.

“Another traveler once taught me that when there are all sorts of things on a menu and you don’t know what to order, you ought to choose the safest item available. The safe choice is the one you’re least likely to regret.”

“I see.”

Then Mina nodded and summoned the waitress.

She appeared before too long.

“One order of this pasta!” I said, and pointed at the menu. “And what will you have, Mina?”

Come to think of it, I never asked her.

“Let me see—” When I posed the question, Mina glanced over at me, then said, “All right, give me the same thing as my big sister.”