"They've already left."
The owner of Genie's Hut swirled the wineglass in her hand and spoke to the empty tavern. The jade-green liquor spiraled down the walls of the glass, while the spherical ice cube tapped softly against it.
There was not a single soul in Sakura Tavern.
The wooden door upstairs was tightly shut. After seeing off the two First University students, Colmar had told her assistants that she needed to rest for a while, so everyone consciously kept their voices down. Through the thick door and blurred glass window, several gray-robed passersby could be seen tiptoeing along, looking exactly like weasels sneaking off to steal chickens.
"Are you planning to hide in the mirror for the rest of your life?"
Colmar tapped the mirror on the bar and urged, "I only have half an hour to rest..."
"I'm coming, I'm coming." A hoarse voice, carrying a hint of reluctance, drifted out of the mirror. "Do you know what I saw? Two streets away, a young man who had just received a 'curse mark' from you showed off Bear Summoning to his friends, then summoned a Grizzly Bear that was a full three meters tall... Heh, it was quite the spectacle!"
The witch's fingers tightened around her wineglass.
"Did anyone get hurt?" she asked, raising her voice slightly.
"Don't worry, don't worry." A nearly transparent rat slowly crawled out of the mirror, soothing her. "It was only lively. No one was hurt... Those tricksters in the North District may not be very skilled, but they often go to the Silent Forest and have plenty of experience dealing with beasts like that... Besides, you gave them curse marks."
As it spoke, the color on the rat's body slid away like mercury and receded into the rippling mirror, revealing its aged,