Harley's figure soon reappeared.
She poured some of the potion into a small vial, then sat down and quietly waited for the others to finish the competition.
The second round was not over yet, and its conclusion would determine the champion, so the contestants who had finished brewing their potions could not leave midway through.
The judges' eyes were full of anticipation. They were clearly eager to get a closer look at Harley's potion, too.
However, they knew that doing so might put pressure on the other contestants and affect the results, so they remained seated at the judges' table.
Only one judge went down, brought up the vial of potion, and passed it around so that everyone could admire it.
Just then, the slowest contestant happened to emerge from the Magic Garden.
This contestant from Castelobruxo in Brazil had been full of confidence. After all, he had found quite a few hard-to-find ingredients and planned to brew a potion unique to Brazil.
Then he saw Harley sitting in her seat with her eyes closed, resting, while her finished potion sat in front of her.
The contestant froze, then instinctively slapped himself.
He had only just found all the ingredients. How had someone already finished brewing her potion?
Was this fair? Did this make sense? Was there any humanity left in this world? Was this what a genius looked like?
Filled with indignation, he hurried back to his station. If he did not get started soon, he might run out of time.
But he occasionally looked dazed, clearly shaken. Whether he could still brew a successful potion was anyone's guess.
As time passed, one potion after another was completed, and colorful steam rose in a cloud over the square.
The sun sank toward the horizon. Chairman Hector blew his magical