The sun was slowly rising over Magnolia Town. It was still quite early in the morning but the people were busy, as always, and soon the streets were crowded, shops were being opened and everyone was going by their businesses. Magnolia was a naturally busy place and many travellers appreciated the fact that everything here opened so early and closed relatively late, that way everyone, even those who were busy, had a chance at getting the things done that were on their to do lists and Seira was one of those people. The Sorceress enjoyed having a lot of time, she loved being in a town where there was plenty to do and in Magnolia things never got boring. It had so many different places to offer, from magical shops that sold rare and unique items over to beautiful parks where people could go for a swim and spent their entire day during the summer. She had thought about moving to Magnolia before, buy a place here and simply stay in one place but Seira wasn’t ready for that yet. She still wanted to travel, still felt like she wasn’t ready to settle down just yet even though Magnolia made it very hard for her. She wanted to stay here, in a way it was beautiful and peaceful and she could live the quiet life she always wanted to live, but there was something else bothering her about it. Seira hardly knew anyone in Magnolia. Although she was quite familiar with certain people such as shop owners and other famous people who lived here and had business in the city, Seira didn’t exactly have any friends. She wasn’t the most social person, she was actually quite antisocial and didn’t enjoy bonding with people. Seira was a lone wolf and that probably wouldn’t change for a while unless better people came along and made her want to change it. Seira was still in her room at the inn she was staying at. The inn itself was lovely and had almost become a little home by itself and Seira sometimes even spent her entire day inside just reading and looking through the window, getting a glimpse at all the people that passed by on the streets. Seira had been in Magnolia for about five days now and she planned on staying a little longer. There were no plans yet on where she wanted to go afterwards but she was thinking about Marigold or Hargeon, one of the two, probably both eventually. After all she had to make money somehow and she planned on finding a job for the day if it was possible. Seira slowly got out of bed and walked towards the window. As expected everything was super busy and she decided to start the day off slow for herself. She had been at the bathhouse about two days ago and unexpectedly gotten a job. Even though Seira only went there to take a bath and relax, which was merely a coincidence. She had intentions of visiting again, simply because the baths at said bathhouse had proven to be quite excellent.

They strengthened her in a way she couldn’t describe and she assumed that it had something to do with Bella, the owner of the bathhouse. Bella was a beautiful looking woman, absolutely gorgeous from head to toe. What only a few people knew was that she was actually quite old and kept herself young with the usage of magic. Seira assumed that she was quite powerful and used a lot of magic on certain herbs as well to make the bath more comfortable for other wizards. Of course they were more expensive and sometimes also very difficult to get but the last time Seira had done Bella a favour she had not only paid her but also given her a free special bath that had increased her magical power slightly. Although it was only a bit, Seira thought that eventually, if she took many of those baths she would surely get stronger. Power wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but she knew that she needed it to survive in this world, especially if she would always be alone like this. Seira walked into the bathroom and got ready for the day. She then walked down into the lounge where she would get some breakfast for herself before deciding to go to the bathhouse. It was 11am by now, and although that still seemed fairly early Seira decided to take a refreshing bath, one that would keep her active throughout the day. Although the walk to the bathhouse was only about twenty minutes, the woman took much longer because she stopped here and there by the shops and decided to look around as well. After a long walk she eventually arrived by the bathhouse and as soon as she walked in she spotted Bella. “Good Morning, Bella,” Seira greeted the elder woman and was immediately met with a concerned smile. “Good Morning, Seira—that was your name, right? I take it you are here for a bath?” The girl nodded quickly. “Yes, one like the one you gave me the last time. I feel like it really did something for my health and I’m willing to pay a lot for the herbs, do you have them here by any chance?” She tilted her head to the side when she noticed Bella’s frown. The woman didn’t seem quite happy at all. “I’m sorry, but I really do want that bath.” Seira insisted. She figured that Bella was only giving those herbs out to her most precious customers, but it was definitely worth a try. “I do have the herbs here, but that is not the problem. The woman’s bath is actually closed today. I’ve been dealing with a few problems lately, so hear me out. Lately we’ve been dealing with a suspicious figure in front of the bathhouse. He always sneaks in and somehow gets close to the women’s bathhouse and I think he is peeping on them. “

At this point Seira’s expression had changed from confused to shocked. “Someone is peeping on the women taking a bath? That’s disgusting,” she muttered and shook her head. “Yes, so I had to close the bath until this problem gets settled and figured out. It drives away my customer and a rumor like that quickly spreads around town. No one wants to be stalked while they are trying to enjoy a bath and this is extremely bad for my business!” Bella was quite obviously distraught by the fact that something like that was happening to her business and Seira decided to offer her help. “You know what, let’s make a deal. I will help you again and once that problem is out of the world and the person is found you will reopen the women’s bathhouse so I can take my bath, would that be alright?” The owner seemed confused but interested. “Do you think you can do that? But how?” Seira took a look around. “Keep the bath open, but don’t let any actual women enter it. I will set up an ambush and when the person in question shows up I will knock him out, bring him to you and then he can get what he deserves from the authorities. It’s really that simple.” Bella seemed to be very interested and immediately agreed, after all there wasn’t much for her to lose. Together they set everything up and Bella ordered for hot water to be let into the women’s bathhouse so the steam would go up and it would look as if it was occupied like any other day. Meanwhile Seira would pretend to take a bath and prepare her ambush, waiting for the peeping Tom to show up so she could take him out. She figured that she’d probably have to use magic but that wouldn’t be a problem. Seira and Bella finished setting everything up and then the owner explained that they probably had to wait till the evening for something to happen because that was when the woman’s bathroom was the busiest during the day and most of the peeping attacks happened. Seira agreed and spent her time waiting for a few hours, thinking about ways to take the person out. She assumed that it was just going to be another loser with no name and no purpose in life whatsoever so it most likely wasn’t going to be a problem for her anyways. Seira took the free time she had to scan her surroundings. The bath was beautifully decorated, with many flowers and figurines as well as marmor statues standing everywhere. It was a visually very appealing place and very suitable for women as well. Some of the decorational plants were so large that a person, if they did it carefully, could easily hide behind them. Since the walls were extremely high Seira figured that it wasn’t possible to look inside from the outside, especially since the person could easily be caught if they did that.

Evening came and nothing happened for a while. Then, at around 4pm in the afternoon Seira suddenly heard a loud sound, something fell over and then someone cursed. The person’s voice sounded confused and surprised, they said something in regards to the missing women and Seira knew immediately that this was the moment where she had to strike. Seira turned to the left and spotted the peeper behind one of the large flowers, that had actually fallen over. Seira immediately walked up to him. He was so startled that he couldn’t move at first so she grabbed him by the collar and pressed him against the wall. Although she did appear like a petite woman, as a wizard she had some sort of physical strength that exceeded that of a normal human. “Ah, found you,” she hissed and rolled her eyes. “What a disgusting, petty person you are to spy on women who are enjoying themselves. Don’t you have anything else to do?” He seemed shocked at her words but his expression quickly changed from irritated to mad. He pushed Seira away and suddenly became extremely defensive, although he didn’t really say anything. Not that there was a way to justify what he had done anyways. Seira extended her right arm and started gathering magic around it. Before the peeping Tom knew what was happening to him she had already fired a shot of petal magic towards the man that would hit him straight in the face and knocked him backwards. She then approached him and decided to be a little less ladylike than she usually was by punching him directly in the face. He fought back at her, overwhelmed her somehow and pushed her back. When he decided to run Seira chose to cast another spell on him by placing both her palms together and creating a storm out of sharp petals that would rush towards him and surround him completely, dealing damage to his entire body. He fell to the floor and Seira grabbed him again, this time with both hands and dragged him outside the bathhouse and into the lounge where Bella was already waiting. She threw the peeping Tom down to her feet and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “This is him,” she said, “He’s been spying from the inside by hiding behind your decorations. You should have better security in front of the ladies’ bathhouse from now on.” Bella could only agree with what Seira had to say. “Of course you are absolutely right, here is your reward as promised.” A few employees showed up and dragged the peeping Tom away so the authorities would handle him. As promised, Bella also offered Seira the special bath, now that the bath house could be opened again. Seira accepted her offer and as soon as she took the bath she felt that strange, empowering sensation yet again. The herbs Bella used were truly special and they did something to enhance her power, although just a little bit, one by one. After Seira was done bathing she left and went back to her hotel to rest for the night.

[2028]
Quest.

Spells Used: