Magical Journey: The Other Shore Blooms on the Other Shore

Each kingdom has its own unique anniversary.

What about people?

Even for travelers, there will be a special day. More than a decade ago today, a newborn baby came into this world, marking the passing of another year.

It's my birthday.

Since it's a rather special day, it would be better to spend it in a special place and in a special way. But unfortunately, no matter how much I hoped this kingdom would be extraordinary, it was actually just a fairly ordinary country.

For a birthday celebration, let's eat something nice...

Let me see my lovely gold coins.

Elena took out her wallet.

One... two...

Three gold coins?

"Did you steal my money?" Elena asked seriously, looking at her wallet.

My wallet is now so empty it looks ridiculous, and it seems quite aggrieved.

Qin quietly watched as Elena would occasionally "go crazy" over money; she had lost count of how many times this had happened, and she was almost used to it.

She has no habit of saving money—despite having learned her lesson, she seems to have reverted to her old ways, showing absolutely no sense of crisis until she discovers her wallet is empty.

"Spit it out right now!!!" Elena slapped her wallet hard.

Unfortunately, no matter how much you pat it, the wallet can only expel some dust.

"Really." Elena accepted reality, staring blankly at the three gold coins in her hand for a moment. "Oh well, that's enough."

Ultimately, three gold coins can buy a lot of things. Unless you're going to a luxury store or a high-end restaurant, these gold coins are already quite valuable.

"What do you want to buy this time?" Qin asked.

“Cake,” Elena said.

"Oh, is today a special day?"

It was just a casual question, after all, this was the first time Irene had so openly spent money on a cake. Normally, she would spend all that money on souvenirs.

“Today is my birthday,” Elena said.

"Oh, congratulations."

"Thank you."

It's quite an achievement to be able to produce a "Congratulations" from the mouth of a violin.

"So, besides congratulations, what else?" Elena asked, seeing that Qin remained unmoved.

"Hmm...and then? I don't understand."

Okay, I believe you really don't understand.

"How do you celebrate your birthday in your hometown?" Elena asked curiously, as she had always had a strong interest in Qin's hometown.

As a traveler, she naturally wanted to visit the place known as the Witch's Capital.

But the response she always received was Qin's admonition—you absolutely cannot go.

Is that place terrifying? Do they eat people?

“I don’t know… I’ve never celebrated my birthday,” Qin said. “To be honest, I don’t even know when I was born—”

"Like This."

What kind of life did he lead?

“Birthdays are for giving presents to the person celebrating their birthday,” Elena said. “I’m absolutely not asking you for a present.”

Absolutely not.

"Oh, is that so? A gift? Is there anything you'd like?" Qin asked.

It's great that you understand.

But you can't usually ask the person involved directly about this, right?

As for what I want, I don't even know what I want myself.

“It’s best to figure this out yourself,” Elena replied without hesitation.

……

Early that night, Elena set up a medium-sized cake.

After all, she was the only one who could actually eat the cake; it was too big for her to finish.

If it weren't for that strange curse on Qin, Elena certainly wouldn't mind sharing the cake she ordered. But now, she'll just have to make do.

Besides Elena and Qin, there was another person at the table.

To be precise, this is not a person.

"Happy birthday, Lady Elena." A girl who looked like Elena but had peach-colored hair offered her blessings.

"Hmm, is there a gift for me?" Elena asked with a smile.

“Huh? I’m just a broom,” said Miss Broom.

"I knew."

“Alright, if Lady Elena insists—I have no choice but to give myself entirely to Lady Elena.” Miss Broom seemed prepared to die a heroic death, and then she began to unbutton her clothes.

"What terrible lines were those? And what are you doing?"

"It's...that's..."

"Stop, stop—" Elena decided to stop teasing her broom.

Even though we've become human, sometimes our way of thinking is still that of an object.

Miss Broom turned her face away with a hint of regret, pouting as if she was angry about something.

What is she angry about?

This wasn't the first time Qin had seen Miss Broom. Sometimes when Elena had free time, she would call Miss Broom out for a walk together.

"Does Lady Qin have prepared a gift?" Miss Broom looked at Qin.

"Could you please stop calling me 'sir'? Elena is clearly your master."

"I don't mind," Elena said understandingly. After all, if it weren't for Jean, Miss Broom would have died a violent death too. Bringing the broom back in that situation was tantamount to saving Miss Broom's life.

It's clear that the broom seems to have a pretty good impression of the zither.

"But..." Qin wanted to say something more.

"Please don't change the subject, Lady Qin," Miss Broom insisted.

"Tsk." Qin seemed resigned. "I'm sorry, I really can't think of anything to give you—"

He probably views gifts as something extremely solemn, and if a gift is too casual, it's better not to give one at all.

In reality, Elena didn't care what she would receive at all; she assumed Qin would directly give her gold coins. But the gift of "not knowing what to give" was quite characteristic of his personality.

"Alright then, within my power, I'll grant you one wish," Qin said.

Oh, are you a magic lamp?

So they've passed the ball to me again.

"Can I have any wish?" Elena asked with a mischievous grin.

“Within my power,” Qin emphasized. “So, what do you want to achieve?”

"I can't think of anything right now, can I pay you back?"

"Can this be owed?"

"OK."

"May I?"

"OK."

"Ok."

Just keep owing it.

Then... the two of them stared at Elena eating cake. The atmosphere was a bit strange, but Elena ate without a care in the world.

"Lady Elena is so cute eating cake~" Miss Broom admired Elena's cake-eating antics. If she had magic, she would love to record it all.

"His eating manners are clearly quite unrefined," Qin thought to herself. "Cute" was a completely foreign concept to him.

"Whoa—Lady Elena, what are you doing!?" Miss Broom couldn't dodge in time and got her face smeared with cake frosting by Elena.

“A birthday ceremony, huh?” Elena laughed.

"Damn it—" It would be disrespectful to retaliate by smearing Elena's face with cream—then let's change targets.

"You guys..." Qin couldn't understand why Elena and the broom were suddenly looking at her. That similar wicked smile seemed a bit ominous.