Clothes Make The Witch

I blink a couple times…

…but she’s still there.

She carries herself with so much confidence, and her beauty is so flawless I struggle to wrap my mind around it. Her appearance meanwhile is simple yet elegant. Long black hair, diamond eyes, pale skin, and a dark denim jacket over a sleek black dress.

On her back is a large rectangular wooden box. It’s unclear what’s inside, but four puppet-like wooden arms are attached to the outside. Rising from the top-middle of the box is the top of what looks to be a massive sewing needle—roughly the size of a sword.

I take a slow, silent breath and focus on taking the conversation one step at a time. “H-hello ma’am, I’m Nora, it’s n-nice to meet you. We were h-hoping to purchase some clothing… if that’s okay.”

She turns to Vincent. “Well, ain’t she a cutie! Where’d you pick her up? I thought you said you had no interest in taking on a protege—the academy’s been begging you for years.”

“One-time exception. I stumbled across her during a mission out in the boonies, not even an hour after she became a summoner. She’s got a hell of a backstory. Real oddball.”

Uh… rude.

Vincent nods toward me. “I reckon you ought to keep an eye on this one. She’ll be making waves before you know it. Get your brand plastered on her as soon as you can—it’ll be good for business. She’s a special one.”

Aw… sweet.

She turns. “Wow, that’s some high praise—and from the great Mistwalker, no less. You must really be something.”

Heat rushes to my face. “Oh, uh… I don’t know about that, but… it helps to have a good teacher.” I glance up at Vincent and shoot him a smile.

He clutches his heart, reeling from the blow.

Critical hit.

“Well, if you just became a summoner, I take it you’re here for a uniform?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Vivian steps out from behind the counter and leads me toward the back of the shop. “Alright, follow me upstairs and we’ll get you fitted.”

I glance back at Vincent, who shoos me off with a wave of his hand. “Go on, she doesn’t bite.”

Vivian looks over her shoulder and playfully chomps at him.

“Mostly,” he corrects himself.

I hesitate, but she waves it off. “Oh, we’re just kidding. Come along.”

As we head up the stairs, I try making conversation like Vincent wanted. “So… you like… weather?”

Vivian snorts, stifling a laugh. “A real conversationalist, huh? I can see why he took to you—you’re just like he was as a kid.”

My ears perk up. “You knew Vincent as a kid?”

“You betcha! We attended the Summoner Academy together and quickly became besties.”

“Besties?”

“Best friends… well, maybe not that quickly. I actually had to pester him for quite a while before he finally opened up, but I wore him down eventually.”

“What was he like?”

“Oh, you know. Strong, silent type—same as he is now, just quieter. A bit more dark and brooding. Quite the star student though.”

She leads me into a room packed with so many fabrics, fasteners, and tools it boggles the mind.

“Woah.”

“Pretty cool, huh? Perks of being my own boss—I get to run things however I like. As far as I’m concerned, spare no expense for the customer. That’s why I get paid in platinum.”

“Platinum!?” I gasp. “That’s like… uh…” I start counting on my fingers.

If one platinum coin is worth a hundred gold coins…and one gold is a hundred silver…and one silver gets you one of Granny’s cheese buns…

“Oh my gosh! You must be worth like…a million cheese buns!”

Vivian stares blankly. “…I’d appreciate it if you didn’t measure my value to society in bread.”

“S-sorry.”

“Okay goofball, take a seat so I can get you fitted.”

I sit on a lone stool in the middle of the room. She pulls a wand-like sewing needle from her jacket pocket and begins moving it through the air like she’s conducting a symphony. The room comes to life. Fabric flies off the shelves, dancing around us alongside fasteners and tools. It’s absolutely incredible.

The wooden arms attached to her contraption spring into action, taking measurements all over my body.

She steps closer, placing her hands on my neck and pressing her forehead against mine as she closes her eyes. I feel her mana intertwine with mine.

“Oh my… special indeed. No pedigree, yet, second order in three—no, four—and the way your mana flows so—your summon too—oh, he wasn’t kidding. You’re gonna be fun.”

She takes a step back, chuckling. “Oh, I can’t wait to come up with a design for you in a few years.”

She sighs. “For now, though, we’ll just have to settle for a uniform. Luckily, there’s still plenty I can do for you.”

The room accelerates. Several fabrics shoot toward me, wrapping around my body and sliding into place. She and her puppet arms make adjustments so quickly that the arms all blur together, and her eyes dart around faster than I thought possible.

By the time the room settles, I’m wrapped in a patchwork of different materials. Vivian places a hand on my chest and sends out a pulse of mana.

The fabric shifts. My robes and witch hat turn a deep black, while the hat’s belt stays brown and its buckle gold. My undershirt becomes a clean white.

Everything else in the room freezes for a split second…

…then neatly returns to where it belongs.

I stand up and feel out my new clothes. This uniform… it really is something else.

Not only is it incredibly comfortable, but when I draw in mana, there’s no obstruction. I can also sense a whole array of mana augmenting enchantments woven into it.

I glance down. To my left sits a neatly folded duplicate she’s made for me. To my right… the clothes I was wearing now rest in a tidy pile on the floor.

Wait a minute—

How did she—I didn’t even feel her remove any—

I look up and meet a mischievous smile. I’m not sure if I should be impressed or feel violated.

I pray her powers never fall into the hands of evil.

“So, how do you like it?”

“I… I can see why you get paid in so many cheese bu—”

Vivian raises an eyebrow.

“...I mean platinum.”

She waves her wand, and a mirror slides in front of me. I examine the uniform more closely.

“Go on, give me a twirl.”

I look at my reflection as I whirl around.

“Oh, don’t you look adorable? The boys are gonna be all over you.”

Embarrassment crashes over me.

“B-b-boys?! I-I-I assure you ma’am, my intentions are pure! I’m just here to learn magic!”

“Oh, we’ll see about that. At your age, a bunch of teenagers all crammed together? Hormones do tend to run wild.”

“I-I-I… I don’t—”

I bury my face in my hands. I’ve never wanted a conversation to end faster.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Let’s go show Vincent your new outfit.”

We head back downstairs to Vincent.

“So, what do you think? Am I a genius, or what?”

“Excellent work as always, Vivian.

“Takes me back to getting my own uniform—back when your mom was running the place.”

“Yeah, even with your… peculiar tastes… she always did like you.”

She gives him a sly look and nudges him a couple times with her elbow. “...I did too.”

Vincent, clearly uncomfortable, quickly changes the subject. “Alright, how much is this gonna set me back?”

“Free of charge. If a student has a strong enough endorsement, I can bill it straight to the kingdom. They’re more than happy to cover the cost if it means fostering promising new talent.”

She crosses her arms with a smirk. “...Of course, if you feel bad about not buying anything, you could always let me make you another copy of your outfit. Some of my best work, if I do say so myself.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to pass. Unlike you, I’m not made of money. I can’t take a hit like that again anytime soon.”

“Oh well, if you insist.”

“Um…”

They both look at me as I start to interject.

“Are we… allowed to add stuff to our uniforms?”

Vivian smirks. “Yeah, within reason. Anything you had in mind?”

I hurry over to an accessory stand and grab the thin black ribbon that caught my eye earlier.

“Mmm, nice pick. Designer. Comes with a luck enchantment too.”

“Wait, you can even enchant someone’s luck?! Really?!”

“Nah.”

Oof.

“Probably just a marketing gimmick, but hey—who knows? Maybe you’ll prove them right.”

Vincent cuts in. “I heard the word ‘designer.’ Exactly how much is that gonna cost?”

Vivian’s expression turns even more playful than usual. “Hmm… who can say? Then again… you are one of my favorite customers. How about this—I give it to you for free, and you promise to start visiting me more often. Maybe even grab a cup of coffee with me—it’s been a while since we caught up.”

This woman…

…is definitely into Vincent.

With a look like that in her eyes, I’d go so far as to say she’s completely head over heels for him.

Vincent catches me grinning.

“And what are you so giddy about, ya little brat?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking about how wonderful it’d be to go to school with a luck enchantment. Having something like this—it sure would boost my confidence.”

Vincent lets out a sigh. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal, Vivian.”

“Woah, try not to sound too excited now, Vincent.”

She finally drags a chuckle out of him.

“Alright, well, we’ve still got more shopping to do. See you around, Vivian.”

As soon as Vincent steps outside and the coast is clear, I hurry over to the counter where Vivian’s leaning. She looks at me, perplexed.

I motion for her to lean in, then whisper in her ear. “I’m rooting for you. I’ll put in a good word with him.”

She blushes, her unflappable confidence finally shaken, and pinches my cheeks. “Oho, you’re a little rascal, aren’t ya? Go on now—show me I’m backing the right horse.”

I run toward the exit, then glance back one last time and wave goodbye as we smile at each other.

I step outside to find Vincent waiting for me.

“Took you long enough. Funny, I bought you that ribbon, yet you’ve still got that dumb grin on your face. Care to enlighten me?”

“Nothing… she just seems rather fond of you.”

He pulls my hat down over my head, blinding me once more.

“Yeah, because everyone is fond of me. Because I’m awesome.”

“Mrrph-mrrph. Nrmm-mrrph-mrrph.”

“Uh… what?”

I yank the hat off my head and gasp for air.

“I said—I really like her. She seems fun.”

“Not sure ‘fun’ is the word I’d use, but you certainly held your own in conversation with her.”

“Oh yeah… I guess I did!”

Amid what’s already shaping up to be the happiest day of my life, realizing I was able to talk to her so smoothly stands out as one of the happiest moments. I guess cityfolk aren’t so scary after all… or at least, not all of them. She really was easy to talk to—kind of like Vincent.

“Um, by the way, can I ask a question before we leave?”

“And that question would be?”

“Is it normal for shop owners here to just leave the counter like that? Couldn’t someone have stolen something while we were upstairs?”

Vincent laughs. “I’m not sure there’s a person in the capital foolish enough to steal from the Velvet Reaper. Sounds to me like a guaranteed death sentence.”

…Velvet what now?

“Or I suppose they call her the Seamstress Of Slaughter outside the kingdom. Fitting, considering the way I’ve seen her move—she's barely human. Not many people manage to master both physical and magical combat. It’s almost always one or the other.”

“Vivian?! I don’t believe you! If she’s so strong, why doesn’t the kingdom force her to do Sweeper missions instead of just running some clothing shop?!”

“Well first, this isn’t just some clothing shop—it’s where a lot of the kingdom’s strongest summoners get their battle garments. She’s also adored by the nobility for her fashion designs.

“Second, the crown doesn’t mind keeping a few top-tier summoners in the city full-time. Knowing someone as deadly as her is on call goes a long way toward keeping the peace.”

“...Is she really that scary? She seems so nice.”

“I mean, if you consider ripping someone’s heart out with your bare hands and feeding it to them ‘nice’, then yeah—I’ve seen her be nice a few times.”

I go pale.

As I turn to peer through the shop window, the Velvet Reaper—I mean, Vivian—smiles and gives me a small wave.

…Was it safe to be in there?

“Anyway, let’s keep moving.”

Wait a minute—a few times?! As in… multiple?!

I quickly chase after him.

“Wait! That was just a joke earlier, right Vincent?

“…Vincent?

“VINCENT?!”

Vincent grabs my hand again and tugs me to his side.

“Stop making a racket. We’ve still got more shopping to do. I think you’ll get a kick out of this next one. It’s time for the same rite of passage every young summoner goes through—choosing a broom… or, well, maybe it’d be more accurate to say, having a broom choose you.”

“…Huh?”