“I-I’m not sure wh-what’s going on m-myself!” Lacey stammered. Her face was so hot that it felt like steam was popping out of her ears. She glared hard at her own hands gripping tightly onto her staff—hard enough that tears started to well from her eyes. Then, a pillar of fire erupted up into the sky, not from Lacey’s staff, but from behind her.

“Kweeeeee!!!”

“Grr-oink! Grr-oink! Grr-oiiiink!!!”

“...”

“...”

Wayne and Lacey turned and found a boar and phoenix crying out with all their might. Tee was doing its best to light a single tree on fire while Noi was cheering from the sidelines. Lacey stared blankly, while Wayne, upon noticing the raging flames, immediately grabbed her shoulders and shielded her with his body. But while doing so, the strange sight of the two creatures caught his eye.

“What are those two doing, exactly?” Wayne asked.

“No idea.” Lacey tilted her head in confusion. She noticed that her heartbeat had returned to normal and breathed a sigh of relief.

***

The Dawn Witch Lacey arrived at Plume Village a little over a year ago. She was an orphan who happened to possess a high aptitude for magic, leading to her dedicating her entire life so far to honing that skill. After defeating the Demon King alongside Wayne the hero and their comrades, she had no goals or dreams to follow, leading to her nearly getting married and becoming a trophy wife to a noble. It was Wayne who pushed her to acknowledge the thoughts and feelings she didn’t even know that she had.

Now that she was free from her obligations to her nation, she was no longer the greatest mage in the country of Croix, but just “Lacey Aster.” Her wish was to live and do as she pleased, and the first thing she did was start an “anything shop.” She named her business