Lucille still remembered that magical moment in her childhood. She had remembered a moment where she had met a witch who was able to bring magic from words. The way the witch had summoned an illusion from a book and made it seem as if they came to life just from reciting what was inside the book had been engraved into her mind, carved like an unhealable scar. That was when she decided that she’d decided to become a witch who specialized in word magic, just like her.

She had studied hard to enroll in a magic academy where she got her mage license and then worked hard to get into the most prestigious magic university, Central Magia University to study word magic. Because it was an archaic form of magic, there weren’t that many people in her major, but she worked hard to be the top. She even got three class upgrades, from mage to witch, witch to wizard and then from wizard to sorceress. After graduation, she got a great position working for the government. She had worked as their records custodian where she guarded extremely confidential documents and only took them out under strict supervision and special permission.

Her time working there was the most stressful experience she has ever had in her life. People had over relied on her. Her main job was to sort and organize documents, yet people had wanted her to help settle bills, arguments, and debates regarding political matters. They also wanted her to write and send out bills. She was basically multi-tasking for people who could not do menial tasks. The overwork caused her to have a burn out and her stuttering to become even worse. There was a point in her life where she couldn’t use word magic anymore, so she got fired from her job.

She decided to isolate herself from the world due to stress, so she wandered to and fro to find a house she wanted and to live in a peaceful town where people wouldn’t bother her too much. She had settled for the cottage she bought in one town and then managed to take it with her using word magic to store it whenever she decided to move.

Her nomadic life eventually caused her to meet Ange and Noir who had been injured in a forest outside of the town she was currently in, Eastport. When she nursed them back to health, they wanted to stay with her so that was how her life came to be. Her stuttering managed to lessen the more she got to know her dogs and the townspeople. The stress she had felt seemed like a bad dream to her now.

She quite enjoyed her peaceful life here. People appreciated her presence and no one would pressure her and make her stutter worse. Thomas was an example of those who had appreciated her. From the moment they met, he had loved her word magic and this was why she did not want to disappoint. He was her biggest fan and she did not want to let him down.

Taking a deep breath, she recited, “Once upon a time, there was a princess in a kingdom full of light.” The book started to glow as the words she had recited started to become images that popped out of the book. A princess with fair skin and long golden locks appeared on a castle balcony under a sunny blue sky. It was all an illusion, but a small crowd seemed to be drawn towards it. Men, women, boys, girls, and animals of various species came to visit her storytelling session. The sight of people normally had caused fear within her, she was calm and composed for they weren’t the focus.

She kept going, “One day, the kingdom of light became shrouded with dark clouds and in a flash, the princess got snatched away!” The images started changing as the sunny sky became one full of dark clouds and when a lighting bolt struck the castle, light blinded the scene. When the light was gone, the princess on the balcony was no longer present. Some little girls in the amalgamating crowd quietly gasped, pitying the missing princess.

“It turns out that a dragon was the one who kidnapped the fair princess! The only one who can rescue this damsel in distress was the mighty dragon hunter!”

The illusion changed scenes so that a dragon was seen holding the fair princess in its grasp as it flew off. A gallant man was standing on a cliff with a serious visage. With a sword and bow in tow, he rode his noble steed and darted off towards the location the dragon flew off to.

Lucille took a look at the crowd that kept getting bigger. Nadine seemed exasperated that her water show didn’t draw as big of a crowd as she did. A sense of satisfaction came to her as she kept reciting the story.

The only downside to word magic was the amount of words she was able to produce from her throat before tiring herself out. She didn’t want to overuse her throat, so she stopped at a good point in the story.

“My throat’s getting a little weary.” Lucille could hear herself croaking. “Sorry about that…” She waved to the dissipating crowd, hoping they wouldn’t be too disappointed with her. When they were gone, she leaned towards Nadine. “How about that?” She felt confident for being able to draw a bigger crowd than her.

Nadine scoffed as she marched off. Thomas stuck his tongue out before jumping up and down in excitement. “You totally showed her up!”

Lucille chuckled. “I guess I got a little carried away.”

“Word magic is so cool! Do you think I’ll be able to do it too?”

His excited face made her heart warm. “Of…of course! Study hard and you’ll be able to enter a magic academy to be licensed as a mage! Then, work your way up! Maybe you can even be a Grand Magus of word magic before I do!”

While her life as a word sorceress had been tough, she would never discourage any hopeful mage from pursuing it because she wants people to feel as happy as she does whenever she uses her magic. To her, using magic is a form of happiness.

Ange and Noir started barking. Realizing the time, she started panicking. “I have to return home to feed the dogs!” She returned her staff back into storage as she grabbed their leashes from Thomas as all three ran back after parting ways with him.

“S-Sorry about not feeding you on time, you two!”

She ran back home as fast as she could with the dogs matching her pace. It was around a twenty minute walk from the square and back to her house, but the time was cut in half due to their swiftness.

Once she unveiled the cottage, she dashed into the kitchen and cut up the meat with other dog-friendly ingredients at lightning speed. She prepared their bowls and then placed them down in front of them. Once she saw them wolfing their meal down, she sat down at her dining table and enjoyed two pieces of bread that she ate with an exhausted demeanor.

Why do I always get distracted? I should’ve fed the dogs first. They’re always my first priority…

Ange pawed at her leg, signaling her that they were done with their meal. Lucille, with a piece of bread in her mouth, cleaned up after them and gave them a snack to reward them for finishing their meal. As they happily ate, the regrets and other doubts in her mind washed away. Her dogs were always so understanding and she felt blessed for having such sweet dogs.

Once she finished her bread, Noir started squealing at the front door. While they make the same noises for different occasions, she knew that if the dogs squealed at the door, it meant that they wanted to go outside to do their business.

She let them out and then kept watch. While she knew that her dogs would always return back to the house when they finished, she still couldn’t help but to be watchful towards them.

Abrupt rustling sounds caught her attention as she saw a white medium-sized dog with cropped ears appearing from the left side of the trees. How unusual. Dogs normally don’t show up in this forest… The strange dog seemed to be interested in her own, but they were not welcoming.

The moment she heard them growl at it, panic came to Lucille as she darted to be in front of them, shielding them from the unusual dog and preventing them from chasing after it as if it was a woodland creature.

“No.” Lucille commanded. “Get back into the house.”

Ange and Noir immediately clammed up as they darted back into the house. Lucille turned around to see that the mysterious canine disappeared. Assuming it ran off, she walked back to the house and closed the door with an uneasy feeling welling up within her.