The afternoon sun in Silverglow City was just right.
A chestnut-haired girl in the Royal Academy of Magic’s incoming freshman uniform hurried down the cobblestone road, clutching a large bundle of clinking bottles and jars. Her name was Mia Field, one of the Academy’s specially admitted new students this year.
“It’s all my fault, I forgot to bring the ‘Root of Moonlight Grass’ when I left, now Miss Claudia has to wait so much longer!” Mia urged herself anxiously in her heart.
Her mentor, Ms. Claudia Winston, a famed potions master in the Academy, was currently waiting for her in the Rose District at the “Weaver’s Whisper” boutique, overseeing the final adjustments on a custom-made dress for her student.
Just as Mia turned a street corner, disaster struck!
A lavishly decorated carriage, as if gone mad, shot out from another street. The coachman had clearly lost control, the horses shrieking, wheels screeching sharply on the stone road as it hurtled straight toward Mia!
“Ah !” Mia’s face turned pale with fear, her mind blank, forgetting even to dodge.
At the very last moment, a silver figure flashed in front of her.
It was a tall girl with half a piece of roast bread in her mouth, even holding a book in her hand.
“Bang !!!”
A tooth-rattling crash!
Lisbeth didn’t even have time to put down her things. Relying solely on primal bodily instincts, she used her seemingly slender shoulder to forcibly, and quite unreasonably, bear the full-speed collision of the carriage!
At the same time, she even had the leisure, with her free hand, to casually wave behind her at the stunned Mia. A gentle whirlwind appeared out of nowhere, catching Mia’s falling body and suspending her lightly in midair.
“Crack.”
Lisbeth calmly bit off the last mouthful of bread, crumbs tumbling down.
At the same moment, inside the boutique, Ms. Claudia Winston frowned—she sensed the Protective Bracelet she had given Mia shatter.
The next second, her figure vanished from the spot.
When Claudia arrived at the scene, she beheld a sight that would stay with her for life.
Mia, gently set back on the ground, finally came to her senses.
Instead of checking the precious potions she held, she dropped everything and scrambled to Lisbeth, eyes wide with worry and lingering fear.
“Heavens! Are you alright?! Are you hurt?!” She grabbed Lisbeth’s arm, examining her up and down, speaking so quickly it sounded like rapid-fire, “Your shoulder! It must be hurting, right?! Are you injured? Is there blood? Why did you rush in so recklessly! But… but you were really so cool! What’s your name? I’m Mia! Do you need healing? I have a Healing Potion (Primary) here!”
Lisbeth frowned.
This brown-haired girl was just too noisy.
She’d only saved someone on reflex—how did it turn into stirring up a hornet’s nest?
“Thank you for your timely help.” Claudia’s voice rang out at just the right moment, breaking off her student’s excessive fussing. The scholar’s sharp eyes were filled with shock and confusion. “This student, you… what year are you? That Floating Spell (Wind Type) just now… may I ask, who is your mentor?”
Lisbeth swallowed the last bit of bread and could finally speak. She looked at the two strangers before her and replied calmly, “My mother said she’s going to take me to enroll at the Royal Academy of Magic.”
“Not enrolled yet?” Claudia was thoroughly shocked.
Mia’s eyes shone even brighter. She grabbed Lisbeth’s hand excitedly, “Really? Then we’ll be classmates in the future! What’s your name? What kind of tea do you like? The mousse cake at the dessert shop in East City is really delicious, let me treat you—”
Lisbeth, a bit annoyed, pulled her hand back. This Mia was just too clingy.
“And your magic…” Claudia pressed on.
Lisbeth recalled Tullia’s instructions and recited seriously, “My mom told me, if anyone asks, just say I saw it in an Old Book. That book was in an Ancient Family Archive. Mom also said, if they ask more, say I only borrowed the book, didn’t take it away. Mom said, absolutely never say she taught me.”
Claudia: “……”
What kind of watertight yet suspicious answer is this?!
But it was enough information. A child with no formal training, learning this much from a so-called “old book”?
This was a genius! A once-in-a-century magical genius!
“Child!” Claudia stepped forward excitedly, “I must meet your guardian! Your mother! With your talent, you must not go to waste!”
She fished out pen and paper, speaking urgently, “Please, leave your contact and address. I must visit you tomorrow!”
“Contact? Address?”
In Lisbeth’s mind, another string was plucked.
Mom also said, if you see strange strangers asking for your personal information, turn and walk away, beware of Telecom Fraud.
As for what Telecom Fraud was, Mom only said it was something very, very bad done by really bad people.
This adult woman wasn’t just strange, she wanted personal information! A scammer! And a very, very bad kind!
Lisbeth’s expression immediately turned wary.
The rescue mission was complete.
A scammer had appeared.
Time to run.
So, under Claudia and Mia’s confused gazes, the heroic girl who had just turned the tide suddenly spun around and bolted as if she’d seen a ghost!
She ran so fast she left only a blur, disappearing down the end of the street in a blink.
“Eh? Eh !!!”
Claudia stood frozen, arm outstretched, face full of bewilderment.
And Mia, gazing at the vanished silver figure, murmured blankly, “She… she ran away… I didn’t even get to tell her, I can actually do a little healing magic too…”
All that was left on the street was a mess, and the mentor and student staring at each other.
The coachman was already scared out of his wits. He clambered down from the driver’s seat, bowing repeatedly to Claudia and Mia in apology.
Claudia waved him off, signaling for him to deal with the aftermath. Her mind was already elsewhere.
“Teacher, she…” Mia still stared in the direction Lisbeth had disappeared, face full of disappointment. “She runs so fast.”
“That’s not the point, Mia.” Claudia’s expression was as grave as if she were engaged in a critical academic debate. She pushed up her monocle, her eyes gleaming with excitement and thought. “The point is, we may have discovered an unpolished, top-grade gem!”
She turned, fixing her student with a commanding look, “Mia, did you remember everything that just happened? Every detail of her spellcasting, every word she said—especially… what she said about her ‘mother’.”
“Huh? Oh! I… I remember!” Mia, startled by her teacher’s seriousness, nodded frantically.
“Very good.” Claudia’s lips curled into a determined smile. “A self-taught prodigy, with a mysterious mother who knows ancient magical knowledge… interesting, so interesting.”
She patted Mia’s shoulder, speaking with resolve, “This student, our Academy must have her!”
Hearing this, Mia’s disappointment vanished, replaced by irrepressible joy. “Really, teacher?! Then we can really be classmates in the future?”
“First, we have to find her.” Claudia glanced at the now-empty street, her brow furrowing again. “She seems extremely wary of us, wouldn’t even give her name. In a city as big as Silverglow City, it’s not easy to find someone deliberately hiding.”
“What do we do?” Mia instantly grew anxious again.
“Don’t worry.” A shrewd glint flashed in Claudia’s eyes. “She said it herself—her mom is going to take her to enroll at the Royal Academy of Magic. As long as she plans that, she’ll leave some trace. Besides…”
She bent down and picked up a small piece of oily paper, stuck with bread crumbs, from among the potion materials Mia had dropped.
“…this smell.” Claudia held the paper to her nose—a fierce, aromatic blend of spices and roast meat instantly invaded her senses.
“This is…”
“I know!” Mia’s eyes lit up, cutting in, “It’s from the new ‘Leah’s Mom’s Secret Roast Chicken’ in the Rose District! I… I just went there yesterday! The smell is exactly the same!”
“‘Leah’s Mom’…” Claudia repeated the name, a bold speculation forming in her mind.
The girl’s every other sentence was about her “mother.”
And this shop was called “Leah’s Mom.”
According to the information, the shop owner was indeed a widow raising her daughter alone.
The clues connected.
“Come, Mia.” Claudia took her student’s hand, her face regaining its confident smile. “We’re not going back to the dress shop—we have somewhere else to go first.”
“Where, teacher?”
“To buy… the best roast chicken in the world.”
On the other side, Lisbeth had dashed away, turning down street after street. Only when she was sure those two “strange scammers” hadn’t followed did she stop in an empty alley.
Leaning against the wall, she patted her chest, letting out a long sigh.
“That was close.” She muttered quietly, “Mom was right people in the city really are too complicated.”
She spread her hand, looking at the Dragon-Slaying Hero and Elven Princess’s Forbidden Love she’d borrowed from the bookstore. The corner was crumpled from the collision; she smoothed it out with a twinge of regret.
But thinking of that Mia girl, chirping like a sparrow as she hovered around, Lisbeth couldn’t help but frown again.
What a… troublesome person.
Still, Mom was better. Mom was never this noisy.
She carefully put away the book and walked out of the alley.
Best to get home early Mom’s dinner must be almost ready.