Of slippery matters

Truth to be told, Reisen didn’t know what she was doing; she didn’t even think about it, there was no time: she just listened to her instincts and grabbed a random round rock from one of the shelves, chucking it at the magical snake, with a precision born from years of training with slippers and insects, and hitting it right in the middle of its watery body, that dissolved with a splash, leaving only a wet stain in its wake.

“What even was that?” asked Reisen to no-one in particular, still baffled. She started getting closer to the stairs, trying to understand more, but the kid’s voice stopped her. She was ashamed to admit she’d very nearly forgotten about their presence there.

“Hey, so you can do magic!” they exclaimed, pointing at her as if they’d just cracked a particularly difficult code.

Reisen’s gaze went from them to the rock, that had tumbled down the stairs after the impact, and then back to them again. “… I’m pretty sure that what I did wasn’t magic.”

“But- you used a magic amplifier imbued with the power of earth!” How did they manage to have that much energy?

She shrugged. “I just grabbed the nearest useful thing to hit… whatever that was.” To be honest, she had completely forgotten about the fact that earth magic could absorb water.

“Still-”

“Talking about that…” Completely ignoring them and following her train of thought, she glanced at the stairs and went to inspect the stain. “I hate to admit it, but there is no non-magical explanation for this. Any ideas, kid?”

“I told you I’m not a kid!”

She rolled her eyes. “Any ideas, esteemed customer?”

A sigh. “How can that be even worse?” they wondered, shaking their head in a disconsolate manner. “Anyway… Why would someone target you? Does your family have enemies?”

“Kid, we’re not inside a film. If we somehow managed to make enemies, I can’t imagine how it could be for other people.” She crouched down and retrieved the rock, eyeing the watery stain critically. “Maybe someone just lost control of their magic, it happens-” And then she snapped her fingers, a sudden idea popping into her head. “Actually, in town lives a wizard specialised in water magic. I’ll ask him if he knows more about this.”

“You mean we will ask him.”

“Kid, I’m not required to babysit you outside of this shop.”

“Hey-! You-!” they spluttered, blushing from embarrassment. “We’re in this together! And I want to discover more too! Also, I’m fifteen!”

Reisen got back up and grinned. “Could’ve fooled me.”

They stomped their foot on the floor. “You’re not that much older than me!”

She put her hands on her hips. “For your information, I’m twenty-one!”

“Well, with your height you don’t exactly show it!”

“Are you saying that I’m short? Because I’m not, gravity is just stronger where I stand.”

“Wait, really?” Their eyes widened, but then they shook their head. “Hey, no, that’s not possible, not even with magic!”

At that point, Reisen burst into laughter. “I can’t believe it… If we’re working together, you’ll need to become less gullible.”

Despite that, the kid perked up. “Does this mean that we’re a team?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get that excited, we’re just going to talk to a water wizard.” She could already see them getting ready to sprint outside, so she added: “Tomorrow. We’ll be going tomorrow.”

“… ah, okay.” They deflated, but after a few moments looked at her with a serious expression. “Do you… Do you want me to put a barrier around your house? Just in case?”

She thought about it for a second, and then shrugged. “Well, one can never be too careful, but I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you-”

“Don’t worry, it’s not an inconvenience!” they exclaimed, smiling as though she’d just promised them a box full of candies. “I love doing magic, and, well. Every occasion is good to train, right?”

*

While closing for the evening, Reisen touched the wall, and the thin, otherwise invisible and intangible sheen of earth magic rippled under her fingers. The kid was young, but they were skilled and held a deep-seated love for everything that was even remotely magical. They were like her parents, under that aspect: it was kind of a shame that they very probably wouldn’t have met each other, but who knew. Maybe that strange kid would’ve continued to come to the shop after that her parents returned from their holiday, and they could’ve talked about the wonders of magic together.

She shook her head, a fleeting albeit amused smile dancing on her face. Only the future could tell, and now she had to think about making the shop remain safe and afloat. Not that there was that much to worry about, though: Narai-juku had always been very peaceful, for what she could remember, and there wasn’t any reason for that to change.

When she should’ve been sleeping, however, she was still rolling in her futon and pondering about what had happened that day with the water serpent, unable to fall asleep despite herself. The most probable explanation was that someone had lost control of a spell, but if it wasn’t an accident and it wasn’t a prank, then it could only mean that someone had targeted the shop knowing full well what they were doing.

But if that was the case, however unlikely, why target her home in particular? And why now, of all times?

*

The day after, Reisen closed the shop for the day – the benefits of having a family-run business – and met with the kid, who seemed way too excited in comparison to what they had planned, as though they were going to a luna park instead of an old shop.

“Well, I’ll meet a fellow mage, so of course I’m happy!” they explained while they were walking down the old Nakasendō, with their eyes sparkling and their clenched fists going up and down.

Reisen raised an eyebrow. “I expected you to know a lot of mages already.”

“And I do, but consider this: a new wizard, in a new town!”

She smiled, amused. “Of course, silly me.”

“Oh, Reisen dear, it is so nice to see you strolling around town” said a familiar voice from behind them.

Reisen turned around, and the figure of an elderly woman in traditional clothing greeted her, as expected. “Granny Miyako!” She smiled. “How is everyone?”

“Oh, they are well, thank you dear. Ichirō just moved out too, though- you know, like you did a few years ago- and it is so strange not to see him around, I will have to get used to that.”

“I can imagine.” Or, well, she could imagine in reverse.

“In any case, who is this young one? A cousin of yours, perhaps?”

The kid started spluttering, as though they had never heard someone making assumptions before. And, as assumptions went, it definitely wasn’t the worst. Maybe they just weren’t expecting that? Whatever.

“Not exactly, granny” she answered placidly, as opposed to someone else. “But we better get going, we’re heading to the antique shop and then maybe we’ll have time to make a tour.”

“Ah, of course, of course. Have a nice day, dears. And tell Yoshihiro to get out a bit more, will you? Always staying cooped up inside his house is not good for him.”

“We will, granny. See you around, say hi to everyone from me.”

The elderly woman nodded, and then they parted ways.

“… Who was that?” asked the kid after a minute, curious, in a tone of voice that wanted to be low but that was closer to stage-whispering than anything else. At least they weren’t turning around in order to look back. Small blessings.

“A long-time family friend.” While they were walking, she briefly greeted a few other people. “I’m sure you’ve heard of those, at least.”

The kid didn’t notice her humorous remark, though, as busy as they were with staring around. “Do you know everybody here?”

She snorted. “No, not everybody, but I know the majority of the residents, at least by face. This is a small town, after all.”

“I see.”

They seemed to get lost in thought, so the rest of their short walk was done in companionable silence, except for the occasional greeting.

“Here we are” Reisen said a few minutes later, when they reached their destination.

The kid eyed the shop critically. “… Are you sure it’s open? The blinds are all down.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, it’s always like this. The owner simply doesn’t like sunlight” she replied, knocking at the door and opening it without pausing for an answer.

“Wait a second-”

“Hey, Nagai! Come out of your den!”

She heard the kid’s feet shuffling behind her. “This place sure is gloomy…” And, well, they weren’t wrong: apart from the absence of even the thinnest ray of sunlight, that would’ve plunged the room into complete darkness if it wasn’t for the few old lamps that illuminated the shop, the latter was cluttered with antiquities from every part of the world, but there wasn’t an object that wasn’t covered with a layer of dust. However…

“It’s barely after dawn and the first thing I have to hear is a kid making comments about the state of my place” said the owner’s voice, tinged with tiredness as always, as he appeared from the back. He shook his head, dejected. “There isn’t respect anymore.”

“I’m not- Hey, are you okay?”

Reisen couldn’t fault the kid for their concern: after all, the sickly paleness of Nagai’s skin and his bloodshot eyes didn’t exactly give back the picture of health.

“Why, how do I look this time?” He produced a piece of paper and a pen from apparently thin air and gave them to the puzzled kid, suddenly impatient, his gaze searching. “Please write a detailed description here. Include a drawing too, if you can. I’ll wait.”

“Let’s maybe not do this” intervened Reisen before the conversation could derail completely. “See, Nagai, this is why you don’t have many customers.”

He sighed, backing away. “I didn’t even want the shop in the first place.”

She rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. “Yes, yes, I know, you never fail to remind people.”

“By the way” piped up the kid, voice of innocent confusion. “Why are you even this desperate? Can’t you just look yourself in a mirror or something?”

“Oh, not this again!” exclaimed Nagai, throwing his hands up in the air and then dramatically lying on the counter. “Don’t you think I’d do that, if only I could? This is torture, horrible torture!”

The kid seemed more than dumbfounded, and Reisen couldn’t blame them. Talking to Nagai for the first time was an experience. “… what are you, a vampire?” they asked, using some humour for once.

“Yes, actually” he replied, his eyes devoid of life, much to the kid’s surprise. “And let me tell you, kid, it’s terrible; not terrific, not cool, but absolutely terrible. Remember, if one day a stunning stranger of unearthly beauty approaches you at night when you’re drunk, don’t-”

Reisen coughed, not caring if it was the falsest and most forceful thing ever. “Not the time, Nagai.”

“It’s never the time for my unending suffering” he sighed. “Anyway. What have you come here for, Hagane? Do you actually want to buy something or not?”

Reisen pursed her lips, crossing her arms over her chest. “… We need your help. Or, well, your opinion as a water wizard.”

At her words he straightened up, and his expression got serious. “What happened?”

Reisen and the kid exchanged a glance, and then they started recounting the events of the day prior, hoping to discover something more.