After watching Zheng Qing leave Sakura Tavern, Colmar did not go back upstairs to join Genie's Hut's Magic Ban Festival celebration. Instead, she remained behind the bar, took out a bottle of Siren Rum and a fresh glass, and began pouring herself drinks in the gradually fading light.
Before long, her lips had turned a deep blue.
She drank slowly, but without paying attention.
Because her gaze remained fixed on the young wizards who had just left. She watched Zheng Qing ramble on suspiciously about himself, watched the Fat Wizard hesitate over his Sheep Eyeball Juice, and watched the three of them step onto a bluestone slab dampened by mist after leaving the cart—then abruptly vanish from the North District streets.
A few pedestrians were mildly startled, but most merely glanced at the odd sight before putting it out of their minds. After all, this was Puji Island, and the three young wizards who had just disappeared were all wearing red robes.
Who in the entire North District did not know what red robes represented?
Never mind suddenly vanishing without a trace—even if those three wizard lords had turned into three toads on the spot, the North District folk would only have looked on enviously before taking a detour around them.
Colmar glanced at the rum in her hand. Half the bottle remained. She then swept her eyes over the liquor cabinet beside her, hesitating over whether to take out another bottle. Though her instincts told her not to meddle in those young wizards' affairs, some inexplicable feeling ultimately kept her seated here, intending to watch until the end.
Yes, merely watch.
She had already resolved not to interfere lightly in the course of events anymore. Over more than a year as an Archwizard, the deepest lesson she had learned