Ch. 264: I Know a Little Magic Too

Black smoke curled out in rings, then drew back in, ring by ring.

Mo Fei waited a long while, but no explosion came.

The black cat was crouched in front of the saucer, her fur slowly settling flat.

"...Oh."

Phoebe froze for a moment, then spoke again. "Oh my... I can talk?"

She circled once on the spot. "It worked! Alchemist, you finally got something right."

She had barely finished when her whole body went rigid and her back arched.

A wisp of black mist rose from around her paws, wavered, and dissipated.

She tried again. This time not even a wisp came out.

Phoebe lifted a front paw and turned it over to look at the pad. "...I can't change back."

She swiped at the pile of crumbled leaves on the floor. The leaves didn't budge.

"I can't move anything with my mana either..." Her voice dropped.

Phoebe crouched back in front of the saucer, her tail slapping against the floor.

Mo Fei cleared his throat. "Sis, about that wish..."

"Hm?"

"You said that if I broke it, or at least eased it a little, you'd grant me one wish once it was done." He squatted down in front of her. "You can talk now. That counts as easing it, right?"

"No, it doesn't! A cat that talks, and you call that easing it?"

"Before, it was just meowing. Now you can talk like a person. That's huge progress!"

"What I want is to change back. Even if I can't use magic, I at least want a human shape."

"Fine, I'll try harder." Mo Fei rubbed his hands together. "But how many cauldrons did I blow up for this potion? I should at least get something to cover my costs, right?"

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "...What do you want?"

"Lungclear Herb. I asked you before where to find it, and you nodded, right? Plenty of people in the Lower City are waiting on that herb to save their lives."

She was quiet for a moment.

"There's a patch near the Witch Coven's base. But to get there, you'd have to get past the maze formation outside it first."

"Then... can you lead the way?"

"I can." Phoebe paused. "But don't harvest too much at once."

"Why?"

"It's dangerous there."

"Dangerous how?"

"...I forgot." She yawned. "I only remember that you shouldn't take too much at once."

"Got it. I'm not greedy."

Tomorrow... should I go? The slip printer is down to finishing touches, and the Young Lady's other requests can wait a bit. But the treatment station is still short of medicine, and there's 50 EP waiting too.

"Then we leave tomorrow morning?"

"All right."

Knock, knock.

A sudden knocking came from outside.

Mo Fei went to open the door. Jimmy stood outside.

"Boss, sorry to bother you so late." He peeked into the room and spotted the black cat on the floor. "Huh, you keep a cat now?"

"A stray from the alley. Comes around for free meals."

Phoebe stretched and flopped back down among the crumbled leaves.

Jimmy stepped inside and lowered his voice. "The seller from last time sent word. Ten or fewer, ready to hand over in three days, and he wants to know how many the Master will order. On delivery night, the Master has to come in person to inspect the goods. The place is the southeast abandoned-warehouse shanty district."

Damn, am I really going to order? If I do, more cats and dogs get hurt. But if I don't, they'll keep snatching them anyway, and this chance to make contact goes up in smoke...

Mo Fei said nothing for a long while.

"Boss?"

"...Can we get them to draw up a blueprint first?"

"A blueprint?" Jimmy blinked, then dropped his voice even lower. "Boss, are you testing me? Nobody in this trade leaves paper lying around. Whoever gets hold of the drawing has leverage over whoever drew it. They even have me pass along the delivery arrangements by word of mouth. If you want to see it, you can only see the goods."

Mo Fei lowered his eyes.

"Then get me a sample. Just one."

Jimmy's eyes lit up. "Got it, got it! Test the waters with one before the big order, and see whether they'll modify it the way the Master asks. If they do it well, you talk quantity. If not, the Master won't spend one extra gold coin." He nodded hard. "I'll tell him exactly that."

Mo Fei counted 100 gold out of his purse and pressed it into Jimmy's hand. "The deposit you fronted last time. Here's your money back."

Jimmy tucked the money into his coat, grinning until his eyes crinkled.

"By the way, I heard fake purification devices have been turning up on the Black Market. Do you know who's behind it?"

"Oh, that." Jimmy's grin faded. "They only showed up recently. Want me to find out, Boss? Give me a few days and I'll have it."

"Then I'll leave it to you."

"Leave it to me!" Jimmy thumped his chest, then turned back at the door. "Boss, you even go after the fakes. Are you planning to take over the whole Black Market business?"

The door closed.

Phoebe's head popped up out of the leaves. "Your friend is interesting, cutie."

---

The next morning, Mo Fei went looking for Phoebe.

"Morning. I'm counting on you to lead the way today."

"Meow."

Phoebe froze.
She opened her mouth again, but all that came out was another "meow," and her ears drooped.

"The effect wore off? No idea how long it lasts. Guess I'd better bring some along just in case."

After Toby came in for work, Mo Fei told him to mind the place, then bottled the curse-breaking potion left in the cauldron and took it with him.

On his way out, he spotted the tracking doll Corone had given him on the workbench.

Where I'm headed today is right by the Witch Coven's base. If I run into their people, this should be enough to show I'm the contact.

He grabbed the doll and stuffed it into his pocket.

Mo Fei stepped onto the scooter. Phoebe leaped and crouched at the front of the footboard. Prototype No. 1 gave a bounce and hopped aboard too, squeezing in by his feet.

"You're coming too? Fine. Let's go!"

---

Once in the forest, Phoebe took the lead.

She picked her way through the gaps between roots and bushes, stopping every so often to sniff at a tree before turning another way.

Mo Fei followed behind. Several times he was sure they'd looped back to where they started, only for the next step to open onto scenery he'd never seen.

As they walked, the air in the woods grew steadily damper, and even the fallen leaves felt soft underfoot.

Something stirred in the bushes ahead.

A translucent blob of gel popped out, round and plump, with a darker core embedded right in the middle.

"Is this... a slime? I heard they were everywhere before the Mana Ebbing, but they're rare now. I never thought I'd see one here. That means there must be plenty of mana around here."

The slime inched toward Prototype No. 1 and began rubbing up against it.

Prototype No. 1 blinked its black bean eyes, opened its flat mouth wide, and went to bite into the gel.

"Wait, wait, wait! That's your relative! Don't eat it!" Mo Fei hurriedly scooped it up and carried it away from the slime.

After another stretch, the ground sank into a hollow.

The bottom of the hollow was solid green, stretching from one end to the other, packed with a single kind of plant.

Mo Fei's eyes went wide. "T-this much? It's all Lungclear Herb!"

He climbed down and pulled up a stalk. The plant flickered in his hand and vanished.

Beside him, Phoebe saw it and every hair on her body stood on end.
She jumped back a step, her tail bushed out like a bottle brush, hissing in her throat as she stared at his empty hand.

The corner of Mo Fei's mouth curved up, and right in front of her he stowed another stalk.

"Don't be so shocked. I know a little magic too."

Phoebe glared at him, her fur still standing.

He ignored her and kept going, one hand pulling, the other storing.

With a patch this big, not harvesting a ton would be a crime against myself.

He grew more practiced with every pull and worked his way toward the middle of the hollow. The green behind him vanished patch by patch, exposing dark, wet mud.

Haha, nothing beats having storage space! If I'd brought the delivery box, it'd be stuffed full by now!

He reached for the next clump.

His hand stopped in midair.

The smell of the air had changed.