Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 13 - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

A Day in the Life of a Traveler

I had been waiting for about an hour near the main avenue of the Great City-State of Recolta.

The traveler Mia (not her real name) appeared. She was wearing a smile and waving her hand back and forth. She was clad in a black robe, the thing which primarily identified her as a mage and a traveler. She appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties, and she had the countenance and elegance of a living doll.

Mia bowed her head with a laugh.

“I’m so sorry for making you wait!”

I greeted her with a simple bow as I checked my watch.

—Did something happen on your way here…?

She was one hour late.

“I fell behind schedule because I stopped to buy some bread.”

She answered my question calmly, without seeming particularly ashamed.

I see.

“Ah, but don’t worry. As an apology for being late, I bought some for you, too. Here you go.”

—Thank—

“Wait, hang on just a second. It feels a little wasteful to give you a whole piece, so let’s split it in half.”

As she said that, she tore off a piece.

“Here you go.”

What she handed me was just a scrap of bread.

It clearly wasn’t half.

“Now we’re even for my being late, right?”

It clearly wasn’t half.

—Th-Thanks…

“Heh-heh-heh. Don’t mention it!”

She smiled innocently. Arriving one hour later than promised was a trivial matter to her.

The word traveler describes someone who wanders from place to place as their whims dictate. Unfettered by obligation to any one location, travelers are everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Equally unfettered by time, travelers live their lives with firsthand experience of freedom itself. One could say they embody the very concept of freedom.

So being late for an appointment didn’t mean much to a traveler.

Really, a person ought to be grateful if a traveler ever actually arrived at the place where they’d promised to be.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. A traveler’s day begins the moment she opens her eyes in the morning.”

Essentially, this is what she was trying to tell me.

In all the time that I had spent waiting idly around at our meeting spot, claiming I was doing research on a day in the life of a traveler, I actually hadn’t gathered any material at all, had I? If I wanted to gather material, I had better do it from the moment she opened her eyes, right?

I was at a loss for words.

I’d never expected that I would encounter a completely new way of looking at the world in the first few seconds of my research.

—Incidentally, what time did you wake up this morning?

“Huh? Oh, just a little while ago.”

I was at a loss for words.

The Traveler’s Unique Concept of Freedom

In contrast with people who settle permanently in one place, there is one issue that travelers who wander from place to place tend to have.

As a matter of course, to maintain a lifestyle of wandering from country to country, travelers must deal with the problem of raising funds. Unless they happen upon an inexhaustible supply of money somewhere, they will constantly need to earn cash in order to continue traveling.

Consequently, whenever I was out gathering material, the first question I asked was always about this fundamental issue.

—What do you usually do to earn a living?

She kept walking as she answered me.

“Heh-heh-heh. I’ll show you right now.”

She flashed me a daring smile, then tilted her head questioningly. “By the way, Miss Reporter, what do you think is the most essential element of financial success?”

—The most essential element?

I wracked my brain over her vague question. I wondered just what kind of answer she expected. I didn’t think that I would be able to come up with the sort of answer that would live up to her values, which had surely been cultivated and refined as she passed through all sorts of lands on her travels.

Maybe she got tired of waiting, because after several seconds, she told me, “Let me give you the answer. It’s courage.”

—Courage, is it?

“Right. It’s courage. In order to acquire a lot of money, as you would expect, you have to be willing to take risks. The art of earning money is not entirely unlike gambling, though perhaps it’s on a different scale. If you only stick to what’s safe, then naturally, you’ll only be able to gain a middling amount. But if you accept greater risks, you can win greater rewards in turn.”

—I see.

I had been expecting an answer that would reflect the unique value system of a traveler, so her all-too-ordinary comment surprised me. I had already given this section of my report the title The Traveler’s Unique Concept of Freedom, so I’d been hoping for a comment that was a little less conventional.

“Speaking of which,” she said, “today, allow me to show you the courage that I regularly employ in order to make my money.”

With a chuckle and a smile, the next place that the traveler visited was a large enterprise along the main avenue of the Great City-State of Recolta.

It was a jewelry store. The place was so famous that there was no one in the entire city who did not know of it. On the other side of the window we could see a dazzling world. It was so splendid that ordinary people would hesitate to enter it, or even look too long in the direction of the store.

—Do you have some sort of business here?

“Yes, of course.”

She nodded and entered the shop.

I hesitated, but for the sake of my research, I couldn’t part from the traveler. A beat later, I, too, entered the store, attempting to hide myself in her shadow.

The employees didn’t seem particularly fazed by the somewhat unlikely pair of us entering the store. They bowed and welcomed us in.

“Now then, behold my courage.”

Then the traveler Mia (not her real name) walked straight up to an employee, and said, “I’d like every jewel you have in here.”

“All of them?!” The employee’s eyes went wide. It was an understandable reaction.

“Yes. Specifically, everything from here to over there.”

“Well…!” Still wide-eyed, the employee said, “Um, I’ll just go calculate the cost…” and disappeared into the back in a panic.

—Don’t you think that’s going to be pretty pricey?

“Oh, Miss Reporter, are there any jewels here that you want? Since we made a special trip, I’ll give you one.”

—Sorry, um, I’m delighted by the offer, but do you have enough money for all this? I think it’s going to cost quite a lot…

“It’s fine.”

—Seriously?

“Yeah! Heh-heh-heh.”

With a mischievous look on her face, Mia (not her real name) gave me an answer that was full of puzzling confidence.

She’d declared that she was going to buy everything in the jewelry store.

I wondered if this was the courage that she had spoken of—the courage she needed for effective moneymaking. I didn’t think there was any way she would be able to afford all those gems, but Mia seemed extremely calm.

When I asked her if she was able to pay, she just chuckled. “Heh-heh-heh.”

Then the employee returned.

“Okay, that’s all going to come out to—”

As expected, the employee named a price that would have made most anyone’s head spin.

Then, immediately afterward…

“Could I ask you to take a look at this?”

Mia pointed her wand at the employee. Then, as she chanted, “Make it free, make it free, hey, hey,” and so on, she swished her wand around, waving it at the employee’s face. Even though she seemed to be concentrating hard, she wasn’t really doing anything except waving her wand around. It was so pathetic and uncool that it was almost comical.

—Just what kind of ritual is that?

What on earth is this grown woman doing in this luxury store?

“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m attempting to get her to give me the jewels for free. Hey, hey!”

In the Great City-State of Recolta, in a high-class jewelry store situated on a corner of the main avenue, echoed the voice of a mage waving her wand around with intense concentration. A full-grown woman, old enough to know better, shouted, “Hey, hey!” in a flirtatious voice.

All I could do was watch. I was at a complete loss.

“Yes… Please allow me to make it all free for you…”

Before long, the employee, blushing like a schoolgirl in love, stuffed every jewel in the store into a bag.

—What on earth is happening here?

“As you can see, it works.”

—I’m not really sure what I just witnessed, though…

“Oh? Must I explain it to you? How annoying.”

She puffed out her cheeks in frustration, and elaborated. “Well, to put it simply, I suggested, with a spell, that she ought to make the jewels free.”

She smiled boldly, cradling the jingling bag that was stuffed with jewels.

—I’m sorry, I thought you were telling me about how you needed courage in order to make money.

“I was talking about how you need to have the courage to break the rules.”

—I don’t need that sort of courage.

Over to the Other Side of Morality

After leaving the jewelry store, the first place that Mia headed was a boutique situated nearby.

Of course, it was a luxury boutique.

“Hey, hey!”

And of course, she cast a spell on the employees.

—Is this okay, ethically speaking? Are you sure they won’t get angry with you?

“Miss Reporter. You were curious about how travelers earn a living, were you not? The answer is simple. As long as a traveler is always on the lookout for opportunities to make money, she will be able to earn a living somehow. People gather in places where money is, and anywhere people gather, travelers will appear…”

—No, but I feel like we’re not talking about opportunities to earn money here.

“Sometimes you also need the courage to disregard morals if you’re going to pull something off, Miss Reporter.”

—Isn’t that the same as theft?

“Hey, hey!”

—Um, you’re not listening.

After that, she walked around to several other stores, and in every one of those stores, she blasted the employees with the same kind of, “Hey, hey!”

—What’s with the “hey, hey!” chant? What kind of spell is that? And aren’t you the least bit embarrassed? You’re old enough to know better, aren’t you?

In response to my questions, she said:

“I’ve heard of cases where hostages spent time with robbers, and gradually developed feelings of fellowship, and then even became allies of the very people who were threatening them. It’s a sort of psychological phenomenon that happens rarely in hostage incidents, but, well, the rough explanation is, this is sort of like that. In short, I’m casting a spell that fills them with feelings of fellowship. Hey, hey!”

—But don’t you feel shame?

“Not even a little bit. Hey, hey!”

—But isn’t it theft?

“Not at all. Me and them, we’re friends. Hey, hey!”

—By the way, you seem to have no qualms about misusing your magic. Are you sure that’s okay?

“It’s fine. Hey, hey!”

—What I’m saying is, are you all right doing things like this when I’m writing a report on you?

“No problem. Because I plan to make you my friend in the end, too.”

—Eh?

“Just wait until we get to the wallet store. Hey, hey!”

We were already on our fifth store of the day. She was moving at an astonishingly quick pace.

“By the way, all the stuff that I got today will sell for a high price when I take it to other countries. By doing this, it’s possible to earn money on a semiregular basis.”

According to what she told me, travelers like her routinely earned their living this way. In other words, the daily life of a traveler involved visiting new lands, charming the shopkeepers there, and stealing their merchandise.

—How many more stores do you plan to visit today?

“Probably about five more.”

—And just how much money will you make by doing that?

“About…hmmm…let’s see… It depends on the day, but on average, I guess about fifty gold pieces? Well, that’s about the haul from one round of theft.”

—Did you just say “theft”?

“Not at all. Hey, hey!”

—By the way, how many places have you done this same thing in?

“Let me think… I don’t remember all the specifics, but as far as I do remember…”

Then she listed off all the places she had visited so far. The neighboring country, and the one neighboring it. And then the country neighboring that one. She kept the actual names of the places a secret, but over the preceding six months, she had apparently visited one country after another, traveling here all the way from her homeland. And all the while, she had been forcing her way into luxury stores and using spells to brainwash the employees, repeatedly committing theft after theft.

Most of the countries on her list had published damage reports.

—And you’re not doing anything else particularly criminal?

“What do you mean, ‘criminal’?”

—Well, given the circumstances, perhaps there’s something else you’d care to confess?

“Let me see here… Ah, now that you mention it, today before we met up for your research, I said that I bought some bread, didn’t I?”

—You did say that…

“I actually stole it.”

—I see… Well… That’s a capital offense.

“Is bread theft really that serious of a crime?”

—It is to me, at the very least. It merits the death penalty.

I said that, and then with a “Hey!” I used a spell to tie up both of her hands.

—Thank you very much for cooperating with my investigation.

“What’s going on here?”

—It would be a bother if you escaped, so I’ve taken the liberty of restraining you.

Then I raised my wand into the air and cast a spell. Small beads of light went whooshing up into the air and exploded above our heads.

At that signal, people gathered in droves around me and Mia. There were all sorts of folks among them, including the employees of the classy jewelry stores and boutiques, and even members of the government.

“Is this the thief you mentioned?”

—She sure is. She readily confessed to committing all sorts of crimes across many different countries.

“Um, excuse me? What’s going on here?”

“We’re taking her away.”

—Be my guest.

Mia was slowly dragged away. I watched her go, waving goodbye, while at the same time returning all the many stolen goods to the assembled proprietors of the city’s luxury shops.

By the way, just who do you think this reporter could be?

That’s right, it’s me.

A Day in the Life of a Traveler

“Oh, thank you so much, Miss Witch. We never thought this would be resolved so quickly,” said the government official as she handed me my reward.

I had accepted the commission from this official several days earlier. There had been word that a mage who had been up to no good in several neighboring lands had recently appeared in this city. And I had accepted their request to capture her before any serious damage was done.

Fortunately, they had already established that someone was going around committing thefts, so all that was left to do was catch them, but, well, the culprit was a mage, after all. And the officials here were apparently being cautious, just like all the others. If the mage resisted, they wouldn’t stand a fighting chance, so it sounded like they had decided to enlist the help of another traveling mage.

“But that all went extremely smoothly… We thought it would take a little more time.”

“Well, I was up against one of my own kind.”

Piece of cake.

“Is that how it is?”

“That’s how it is.”

As a traveler and a witch, I occasionally receive these kinds of requests from the governments of the various places I visit. On this occasion, I had completed a job for the Great City-State of Recolta.

“I just can’t believe that there are travelers out there doing such selfish things,” the government official said with a sigh. “It makes you wonder whether every traveler uses such underhanded tricks to earn money.”

“My goodness, what a thought. Quite a predicament.”

“Speaking of which, Miss Witch, how do travelers make their money?”

How do travelers earn money, you ask?

“Here, take this.”

I pushed a stack of paper into the official’s hands.

“Hm? What’s this?”

“The report that I made while collecting material on Mia. Please make use of it the next time a suspicious traveling mage shows up.”

“Oh…! I’m very grateful…!” The official accepted the report from me, but immediately after she did, her expression became slightly puzzled.

“Um, exactly what is that hand for…?”

She didn’t seem to understand why I was still holding my hand out.

“Heh-heh-heh.”

—I wouldn’t mind an additional reward, you know?

I stood there playfully indicating that I wanted more, and at last, the official seemed to realize what I was asking for. She handed over the equivalent of pocket change to go along with the reward I had gotten earlier, and smiled.

“I see; so this is how you make your money?”

In the official’s hand was a report on the shady moneymaking scheme being carried out by a certain traveling mage.

I nodded, wearing a slightly devious expression.

“Yes. That’s how I make my money.”

And so go the days of a traveler, always moving forward. Some parts make it into my reports, and some don’t, but my journey continues.

By Elaina