NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 5 Part 1
The season had fully turned cold.
Each breath I exhaled turned white, and getting out of bed became a struggle.
In Lapis, the provincial city where I live, a unique phenomenon occurs during this time of year.
The otherworld opens.
When the boundary between this world and the otherworld weakens, a great number of its inhabitants cross over to our side.
In the past, there was a practice known as “sakoku” in the East—an island nation that closed its borders but allowed limited trade at specific locations.
Perhaps, in a way, the opening of a secluded world feels something like that.
At any rate, this is the time when Lapis is at its liveliest.
The city overflows with magic, and interactions between the inhabitants of both worlds flourish.
This cultural exchange is not something new—it has been carried out for a long time. It is a festival only possible because this city is under the governance of one of the Seven Sages.
And, naturally, my master and I are extremely busy overseeing the gates and managing the passage between worlds.
“Hmm…”
As I tilted my head in thought, a voice called out from the side.
“You’re noisy, Meg.”
It was my master.
“You’ve been groaning at your laptop for a while now. If you have time to play around, get back to answering emails already.”
Right now, the entire Faust household—witches and familiars alike—was in chaos.
The familiars were out gathering materials and documents necessary for the festival. My master was buried in administrative paperwork. And I… I was trapped in an endless cycle of emails and assisting with the construction of magical formulas.
There were countless regulations regarding interactions with the otherworld, leading to an endless stream of inquiries.
Yet, my attention was elsewhere.
“Master, look at this.”
I pointed at my laptop screen, and my master curiously leaned in.
There, on the screen, was a girl featured in an online news article.
A girl with translucent blue hair and intelligent features. Her expression carried a hint of melancholy, an ephemeral beauty that had captured the world’s fascination.
“Oh, that’s Sofi, one of the Seven Sages.”
“Yes.”
Sofi, the Blessed Witch. One of the Seven Sages.
A true prodigy who claimed her seat at the age of seventeen.
She had recently been invited to a festival in Southern Europe, where she put on a dazzling parade performance.
“So, what about it?”
“What do you mean, ‘what about it’?! She’s the same age as me! A fellow witch! The whole world calls her a ‘princess,’ and she’s going viral online! Why am I not one of the Seven Sages?! Answer me!”
“Well, obviously, because you lack the talent and knowledge. You’re not exactly popular either. And, let’s be real, compared to Sofi, you’re not nearly as pretty.”
“Oof! Stop! No more truth bombs!”
The reality was too cruel.
On the screen was Sofi, embodying everything I had once aspired to be.
And here I was, a mere apprentice witch from the countryside.
Sofi and I had started learning magic around the same time.
Yet, somehow, we had ended up worlds apart.
As I clenched my teeth in frustration, my master let out a sigh of exasperation.
“If you’re sulking because of Sofi, you’re wasting your time. Listen, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, things they can do and things they can’t. Don’t compare yourself to others. Just focus on doing what you need to do. If you do that, you’ll improve in time.”
“In time, huh?”
“Speaking of which, have you collected the Tears of Joy yet?”
“…I have eleven drops so far.”
Helping a lost mother find her child, retrieving a businessman’s lost wallet…
I had been gathering Tears of Joy through acts that were almost entirely unrelated to magic.
“You don’t have time to be jealous of others. Right now, your priority should be surviving. Otherwise, you won’t even have a future to speak of.”
“…I know.”
I opened a video of Sofi’s magic performance.
Brilliant flashes of light streaked through the sky, birds of illusion flapped their wings, and twinkling stars danced as if in a CGI spectacle.
Flames burned green, lights shifted in mesmerizing colors.
And all of it was controlled by a single witch’s magic.
So, of course, I couldn’t help but wonder—
If I had skills like hers, wouldn’t gathering Tears of Joy be easy?
“Alright, now get moving. We only have a week left.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
My half-hearted reply made my master shrug before walking off.
I continued watching Sofi’s magic video for a while, mesmerized by the way her luminous eyes reflected the brilliance of her spells.
It wasn’t until some time later that I realized I had completely spaced out.
Right. I was supposed to move some boxes.
Just as I closed my laptop and stood up—
Crack.
A sinister noise echoed through the room.
All the familiars turned their eyes toward me.
“Wait… was that me?”
I checked myself, but nothing seemed wrong.
And then, an eerie, bloodcurdling scream rang out.
The familiars trembled and scattered in fear.
I steeled myself and cautiously approached the source of the scream.
Peeking around the corner, I saw the familiars huddling against the wall, sneaking glances at whatever was beyond.
Swallowing hard, I slowly peered past the desk.
Someone was collapsed on the floor.
Wait…
“Oh, it’s just Master.”
“What do you mean ‘just Master,’ you ungrateful brat?!”
“Geez, that’s what happens when you overdo it at your age. Can you walk?”
“Nope. I’ve done myself in this time… ugh, it hurts.”
My master grimaced, clutching her back in pain.
Around her, scattered boxes and packages lay in disarray.
Apparently, she had tried to carry them herself.
I lent her a shoulder, helping her up slowly.
Even walking seemed difficult for her, so I carefully guided her to the bed, making sure not to jostle her too much.
At that moment, I was completely unaware—
That the guest of honor for this year’s Otherworld Festival…
Had just vanished.