A soft wind came flying by, causing the flowers here and there to waltz alongside it. Those very flowers had risen from the cold winter, now heralding the fresh spring throughout the town and its outskirts.
A girl a bit unlike the others stood by an elder. The man inspired to the common bystander an ennobled figure, either by the very prominent features of age, or by a strong and dignified stance — the remnant of a nobleman's rigorous education. The old man held a coin to its eyes.
The catgirl cutely jiggled, shifting her gaze between her elder and yonder, as far as the horizon would permit. To be quite precise, the town was trapped within the confines of sturdy stone walls, and so her eyes would either slide up to the ethereal sky or stay bound to her reality.
She could discern, higher than houses, the towering top of the church. And she could guess, beyond the many roofs, where the marketplace currently underwent its usual flow of business. Where they stood was comparatively less frequented. As an Alchemist, the elder by her side earned his bread with comfort, and lived a tranquil life in a spacious mansion. They stood in this mansion's courtyard.
"And this is...?" Asked the man, whose face was clad of a monocle.
"Take a guess, gramp!" Said the catgirl, a wide grin from ear to ear.
"I sense a trick. But I'll play your game. After all, you've always been a prankster at heart."
His face, where nested two eyes still shining with a petulant green, wrinkled in focus. Two fingers held in place the simple coin, upon which the glorious face of the Empress could be seen.
"It's a Silvaron coin, issued by the Aureluster Empire. A tenth of the Goldet, though the exact rate might vary if judging by purity of the alloy. However... it doesn't seem to be your kind."
"What kind are you talking about, gramp?" Her tone implied the phoniness of conceit. Her ears rose in excitement, and her tail ever so slightly waved.
"Well, it's not like I can't tell. The faint trace of magic. It's not so obvious the layman will pick up on it, but..." At this point, the bespectacled man inhaled.
His lungs sank before rousing.
"I hail thine azure, Foresight! Reveal the lies that be!" He chanted a spell, as the monocle shone in bright blue. What happened surpassed any of the man's expectations, despite a long life filled with experiences.
The Silvaron coin in his hand, whose silvery surface reflected the daylight, and where had been printed the omnipresent features of the Empress, was nothing like before. As if acting as a catalyst, the Foresight spell, resonating with the glass of the monocle, had activated an enchantment hidden on the coin itself.
A butterfly as brilliant as a clear summer sky took flight, leisurely beating its wings on a complex path, choreographied around the coin. The butterfly could even cross the man's palm, before playfully following its course. After the marvel of a mere instant, the butterfly faded.
Surprise hang everywhere on the old man's face, as his jaw had opened without him being aware. His nose rose. The sheer contrast between the usual composure of Alchemist Griffon Flower Vermeil... and his current face, caused the catgirl to burst laughing.
"This is simply wonderful! Whomsoever taught you this technique? Never in my long years of research have I..."
"Me."
"You... You?!"
For a girl to refer to Alchemist Griffon Flower Vermeil, a former noble, as gramp, she had to have been quite something. And Dolly Paw was that Alchemist's disciple. At his surprise, her tail and ears perked, and her whiskers trembled.
"Dolly. My cute disciple. I haven't been the one to teach you that. What I did teach you was, maybe a couple of months ago, to appraise with the Foresight spell. You agree?"
"Well, it's not like there's anyone else that could show me more amazing stuff in this town..."
"Enchantments, now, is something we covered, like, three years ago. And we recently took it up. Summons, that was when we first met, four years ago. I knew you had a knack fo it, but a butterfly's movement is way more complicated than anything I've seen you summon."
"Glad to have piqued your interest, master. Since you're very excited about that... I did meet with a witcher that helped me come up with that."
Griffon Flower Vermeil was an Alchemist of great age, with the appearance that came with it. A white beard that overflowed framed his lips. And his current excitement could be seen to the beard itself. Indeed, a faint trembling animated it...
"A witcher? Spill the name! And what did that witcher help with?"
"The transformation of Foresight magic in Summon fuel."
Dolly Paw was a catgirl, in other words, she hailed from a tribe of the beastkin from one side of her family, and descended from mankind in the other one. The reflexes on her beastkin side could be seen in her tail, whiskers, ears, and more rarely to the way she moved her wrists and fingers. Currently, she stood prideful. Proud of surprising the master she recognized. Of overcoming his expectations.
"More importantly! Is that witcher... a boy?!"
As a disciple and young catgirl, Dolly had found a father figure at the side of Griffon Flower Vermeil. And the old man himself had grown fond of this spiritual daughter of his. And so, acting in a protective manner was characteristic of him.
Dolly smiled awkwardly.
"And what if, hypothetically, they happened to be?"
"I'd request an audience with them immediately! You're at an impressionable age, and are my dear disciple whose potential is indefinitely great! I need to protect you from men. In our times, they're wolves!"
"Good thing they're not, then..."
"Then, a girl?"
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