Morning broke with a chorus of birds and sunlight pouring through the shutters like nature’s alarm clock.

“Hummph… ahh… what a great day to start the day,” Eugene Robert yawned as he stretched dramatically and flung open his inn window.

Morning light exploded into the room like it had been waiting to pounce.

He winced. “Today’s the day,” he said to himself, his hand reaching for the small gear hanging on a thread around his neck.

“Let’s get to work and make money.” He is hyping his self up
“One day, I’ll have my workshop, and everyone will line up for my inventions. Mark my word, old geezer.” His tone softened at the end, half declaration, half tribute to his late grandfather, who passed just weeks ago.

He descended the stairs, chin high with purpose.
“Ma’am, breakfast set please!” he called to the innkeeper with the swagger of a man about to revolutionize the world with nuts and bolts.

“Sure, just a second,” the innkeeper replied with a glance up from her pot.

Eugene scanned the half-empty room. “People sure like to sleep. It’s already sunrise,” he muttered like a cranky old man, possibly inherited from his grandfather.

As the breakfast plate landed on his table, a young girl serving the meal leaned closer and said,

“Hey, have you heard? There’s this old woman who can curse people. The rumors have been floating around recently.” The girl tries to share some rumors.

Eugene flashed a grin.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. This big brother’ll protect you.” He added a wink for good measure.

“Get your filthy smile away from my daughter, you perv,” the innkeeper barked from behind the counter, already brandishing a wooden ladle like a warhammer.

“I’m serious!” the girl giggled as she retreated into the kitchen. “If you meet her, make sure not to flirt with her. You might get cursed later on.” She disappeared behind the curtain into the kitchen.

“Well, thanks for the trauma before breakfast,” Eugene muttered.
“And here I thought today was gonna be normal.” He left a few won after he finished his meal. “Time to get to work.” Walking out of the inn.

Unbeknownst to him, a few gazes were already locked onto him.
” Let's get it started…” Two figures also walk away from the inn.

The sun shone brightly, and the lake glittered in the distance. A humming sound echoed from far away.
Behind a small tree, two figures were hiding.

“Are you sure this is good enough?” Helina asked, worried about the disguise.

“Don’t worry. I’m an expert at disguises. You look really beautiful… pffftt...” Elric tried to hold back his laugh, “...as an old woman,” and broke into laughter.

“Stop it, you jerk. I’m never doing another disguise again,” Helina pouted, starting to sulk.

“Okay, okay… I’m sorry,” Elric said, trying to sound sincere. “pfftt...I’m sorry, Gramma. I can’t stop laughing.”

“Humph…”Helina grumped and looked away, wearing a wig of old gray hair, hunched down with a small pillow on her back, looked like a frail elder. Her face was masked with Elric’s handcrafted makeup, making it pale and deeply wrinkled, almost ghost like. One eye was cloudy, like it was blind, while the other had a sharp and fierce look on it. Her hair was wiry and tangled with twigs. She looked like someone pulled from an old folk tale, the kind that ends in misery.

As the humming grew louder, Helina began her slow shuffle with a bamboo cane. Eugene approached, whistling casually.

Helina moved into position, muttering gibberish under her breath. As Eugene passed by, she “accidentally” bumped into him.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, Granny.” As Helina fell on the ground. “You look so fragile, I’m afraid I’ll accidentally break your arm,” Eugene said, brushing himself off.

As he turned to leave…

Helina stood up, rage flashing across her face, still fueled by Elric’s teasing earlier.
“Curse you, young lad!” she croaked. “You… you arrogant kid!”

Her voice was gravelly and wet, as if every word clawed its way up from her throat. It scraped the silence like rusted chains dragged across stone.

“I didn’t even touch you, old hag,” Eugene muttered, stomping away, already annoyed that his bright morning had been ruined.

“Curse you, young lad… I will curse you with misfortune!” Helina’s voice echoed as Eugene walked away. 
Helina's eye was still raging. Chest rushing up and down rapidly, even after the act was supposed to end.

“Hey, did it hurt?” Elric asked, seeing the real anger flash in Helina’s expression as he worried that she would hurt herself when “accidentally” bumping into Eugene.

“Fheww…, that felt great. The frustration’s gone… Oh, what did you say?” Helina asked, being too emotional to catch his words.

“I said that was a good act. Nice work,” Elric replied with a chuckle. But in his mind, he thought, “Swear to god, I’ll never make her angry again.”

“Let’s move on to the next stage.”
Both of them spoke in unison, laughing devilishly that echoes through the sky.

Eugene, walking ahead, suddenly felt the hairs on his arms stand up. In the distance, he could faintly hear a strange echoing laughter.
Sweat trickled down his forehead as he remembered what the innkeeper’s daughter had said about the old granny.

“Damn it. The coincidence… It’s just a coincidence… right?” he muttered, stomping his way toward the workshop.

The constant buzz of hammers, sawing, and clanging metal reverberated through the workshop. This was where magic engineers crafted devices to help everyday people, like glowstone lanterns, which lit up with a small amount of mana, or mana stoves that replaced traditional coal furnaces.

A blonde young man strutted in proudly.

“I’m Eugene Robert,” he announced with confidence. “Magic engineer. Got any work for someone brilliant?”

The workshop keeper gave him a curt nod and handed him a task. Unbeknownst to Eugene, Elric had already slipped in earlier. He swapped two of the four buckets on the table. The fakes had iron plates only on top, while inside, they were completely hollow. The real one, however, was absurdly heavy.

That one was just for Eugene.

The workshop keeper was in on the trick.

While Eugene disappeared into the storage room to find a glove as he couldn't carry those buckets, Elric ducked beneath the table and quietly rotated it. Switching the real and fake buckets’ positions. When Eugene returned, a small girl, previously coached by Elric, entered on cue.

She casually picked up the two fake buckets with a bright, smug smile.

Eugene stared, dumbfounded. He gave the real bucket another futile tug.

“How... how is she?!”

For the rest of the day, he was reassigned to the sorting team.

Once Eugene left, Elric emerged from hiding. He handed the little girl a homemade honey taffy.

“Good job, you strong little girl,” he said, patting her head.

As he walked away from the workshop, a grin played on his lips.

As the next stage is already set by Helina.

At the inn where Eugene was staying, a new part timer had joined a few days ago. A quiet girl in an apron and thick glasses. She moved busily behind the counter, carrying trays and brewing tea.

Of course, it was Helina in disguise.

She still remembered the rumors she had helped plant about the cursed old hag. Rumors Eugene had just so happened to overhear.

A tired-looking Eugene slumped into a seat at the inn’s dining area and waved for attention.

“Miss, can I get an order?” he called, voice rough.

The innkeeper’s daughter peeked over and smirked.

“Hey, Eugene. You don’t look so well. Don’t tell me... you’ve been cursed by the old hag?”

At her words, Eugene flinched. His eyes darted around nervously.

“You’re not gonna believe this,” he muttered, leaning closer, “but I think... I have been cursed.”

The inn's daughter brought back some herbal tea.
“Here. Some herbal tea. One of our part timers says it helps with sleep,” she said with a soft smile. “Don’t worry, it’s on the house. Anyway... that curse is just a rumor. Don’t think too much of it.” Walking back to the kitchen.

From behind the counter, Helina grinned quietly to herself.

“The stage has been prepared.”

TO BE CONTINUED ~