Miss Witch, even if we're poor, we can't sell ourselves!

Yuan Guangfei woke up super late today.

Last night I spent a long time with my sister on the street, we ate barbecue and drank alcohol.

Actually, she doesn't drink alcohol at all, and the taste was really awful, but she still forced herself to drink it. She told her sister that it was to try something new in line with the festive atmosphere.

Of course, she wouldn't admit that her real purpose was to get herself drunk so she could legitimately snuggle into her sister's arms all the way home.

Yuan Guangfei regretted it immensely.

She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, mentally recriminating the wasted golden opportunity over and over again.

Damn it!

She kicked the blanket angrily when she heard a familiar voice coming from beside the bed.

"Are you awake?"

Yuan Guangfei suddenly turned her head and found her older sister sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her with a smile.

"Huh?"

Before her mind had fully processed what was happening, she wanted to casually say something like "good morning" to her sister, but because the distance between them was too intimate, she was too shy to say it. Just then, she noticed two bottles of golden potions on the bedside table, so she quickly changed the subject.

"What is this?"

She propped herself up on her arms and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Yuan Guangwei didn't say anything, but simply reached out and picked up one of the bottles, waving it in front of her sister.

"Guess."

Yuan Guangfei tilted her head and looked at it for a long time before shaking her head.

"Actually, I heard this morning that Ye was setting up a stall on the black market, the one you mentioned before, so I asked an acquaintance who lives in the East District to go and buy me two bottles."

Yuan Guangfei blinked, finally recalling something: the fox-faced little witch who gave out free medicine that day and led them to hunt down a lot of good treasures.

Yuan Guangwei put the bottle back on the bedside table and reached out to rub her sister's messy hair.

"This potion is said to temporarily restore your magic power to the level it was before your magic circuits withered."

When Yuan Guangfei heard her sister say this, she was a little incredulous. She thought she was being teased, but when she looked up, she realized that the other woman did not seem to be joking at all.

"……real?"

"Really, really, she said it would last for about half an hour after drinking it."

Yuan Guangwei picked up the other bottle and stuffed it into her sister's hand.

Yuan Guangfei stared intently at the potion in her hand, too excited to say anything.

The meaning of "returning to the original level of magic power" is something that probably no one understands better than herself.

Since her magic circuits began to wither, she had almost forgotten what it felt like to have magic flowing smoothly through her body.

She looked up at her sister.

"How about that? Pretty impressive, huh?"

The other person still had that same smiling face, but Yuan Guangfei knew her too well and knew the exhaustion hidden beneath that smile. This kind of medicine could not possibly have been obtained so easily as her sister had said.

Yuan Guangfei suddenly felt a lump in her throat, so she quickly lowered her head and hummed in agreement.

"Let's go pick up the orders today!"

She quickly jumped out of bed and ran towards the wardrobe in her slippers.

"Let's make some more money before the holiday so we can go on a nice trip during Christmas. I haven't seen the scenery up there in ages."

Yuan Guangwei was amused by her sudden enthusiasm and leaned against the headboard watching her frantically rummage through her clothes.

"Slow down, no rush."

"Urgent! If we wait any longer, all the bookings will be taken!"

By the time the two finished getting ready and went out, it was almost noon. However, the streets in the back garden were shrouded in a gray haze all day, and without a time display, it would be difficult to tell what time it was.

Sometimes, Yuan Guangfei would wait for her sister to get off work outside the restaurant, sitting on the steps at the entrance for hours on end. The sky would change from gray-blue to pitch black, but it would feel like only a moment had passed.

The purple flowering trees lining both sides of the street were adorned with orange-yellow lanterns, which were hung up just before the festival of the gods.

There were many more little witches coming and going than usual. Some were picking out lanterns, and some were buying snacks. It was lively and bustling, and it really looked like a festival.

However, Madoka noticed that there were some unfamiliar faces mixed in with the crowd.

The little witches dressed differently from the locals in the back garden; you could tell from the fabric of their clothes, and they carried proper magical artifacts.

They mostly walked in groups of three or five, looking around as if searching for something, their eyes filled with an undisguised curiosity and anticipation.

Yuan Guangwei also noticed it, but didn't pay much attention to it.

The two of them walked a winding road, passing through several narrow alleys and avoiding a few stalls displaying all sorts of random trinkets, before finally arriving at the door of that familiar tavern.

The tavern was packed.

When Yuan Guangwei pushed open the door, the room was full of little witches. Some were drinking, some were eating, and others, like Yuan Guangwei and the others, were crowding in front of the task board on the wall to pick out tasks.

They probably all want to celebrate, since around the time of the Gods' Birthday, the Witch Association gives witches who complete their commissions an extra holiday allowance. Although it's not much, it's enough to buy a few good meals.

So everyone should save up some money these few days so that they can take a short break on the holiday and relax at home with a good meal instead of frantically taking on commissions.

Yuan Guangwei squeezed to the front of the notice board, and Yuan Guangfei followed behind her, standing on tiptoe to look at the board.

The notice board was covered with service requests, but after scanning it from top to bottom, Yuan Guangfei's expression slowly fell.

All commissions at level B and below were torn up.

There aren't many low-level commissions to begin with, and most of the little witches in the back garden can only take on jobs of this level. Every time they're released, they're snatched up immediately. Not to mention these few days before the holiday, when everyone wants to make more money, the competition is even fiercer.

Yuan Guangfei stood on tiptoe and looked for a long time before finally focusing her gaze on the top row of notices.

Class A commission.

Judging from the jobs Yuan Guangwei has taken in the past few months, she has mostly taken B-level and C-level jobs. These jobs are either to clean up low-level monsters in the unclaimed sea of ​​consciousness or to deal with some simple paranormal events on the outskirts of the back garden. The danger level is not too high, and the pay is also acceptable.

But Grade A is different.

Most of the unclaimed seas of consciousness in Rank A are severely polluted. The monsters inside are not only powerful in combat, but they also erode the spirit of those who enter. Most of the little witches in the back garden only have about 40% of their magic circulation left. They simply cannot deal with Rank A monsters by relying on firearms and the physical abilities of ordinary people.

Yuan Guangwei stared at the pile of A-level commission forms for a long time, then she reached out and, to Yuan Guangfei's horrified gaze, tore off the middle commission form.

"elder sister?!"

The little witches around them, who were choosing their commissions, all turned to look at them, their faces filled with disbelief.

Yuan Guangwei ignored the stares, glanced down at the task sheet in his hand which listed the location and mission requirements, then folded it neatly and put it in his bag. He then took his sister's hand and walked out of the tavern.

"Let's go."

Completely confused, Yuan Guangfei was dragged through the crowd and stumbled through the tavern door into the alley outside, where she finally had a chance to speak.

"This is a Grade A!"

"Yes, I know."

"A-level! You had to be careful even with B-level assignments before, so A-level—"

"Xiao Fei".

Yuan Guangwei turned around to face her sister, her face showing no sign of tension or fear, but rather a confident smile that Yuan Guangfei rarely wore.

"Do you still remember the magic you used to be best at?"

Yuan Guangfei blinked.

My most proficient magic...

She lowered her head, her mind quickly going through what she had learned in the Moon Forest.

She majored in elemental magic, specializing in wind magic. There are many representative wind magic spells, but if I had to pick the most memorable one...

[Floating]

She suddenly raised her head.

Levitation is a notoriously difficult spell in the wind element, requiring extremely high levels of control over the user's magic power. The slightest deviation will result in falling from the sky and turning into a witch.

Ordinary magic academies wouldn't teach this at all, because it's too dangerous. Corona Borealis used it in the martial arts competition; it was a fighting style where she flew directly into the sky and completely controlled the air. Miya had no way to deal with her at the time.

However, Hiiro Madoka was a genius girl in the Moon Forest back then, and magic like levitation was as easy for her as eating and drinking.

"You want me to..."

"The primary task of an unclaimed sea of ​​consciousness is to fulfill the last wishes of its owner, right?"

Yuan Guangwei held up a finger and waved it in front of his younger sister.

"But to fulfill a last wish, all you really need to do is find where the owner is and make a verbal promise. The owner is already dead, so how would we know if you actually fulfilled it?"

Madoka Hii couldn't deny it, since most witches, considering morality and reputation, would still keep their promises and fulfill them.

But the little witches in the back garden were too busy having fun to care about strangers' wishes. Their priority was to collect the magic and run back to the association to claim their reward.

Yuan Guangwei took a step forward and reached out to pinch her younger sister's cheek.

"Now that you've drunk that potion, your magic power will be restored to its previous level. With wind elemental magic and levitation, you can completely bypass the monsters on the ground and simply take the magic and leave."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Guangfei's eyes slowly brightened.

"Then I can give the magic I get to my sister, so she'll have more fighting power, and we can also sneakily complete a few more commissions!"

"right."

"We won't have to worry about money lately!"

"Hmph, that's right!"

Yuan Guangwei has been thinking about this a lot lately. She knows all too well her and her sister's situation: they can't get low-level commissions, and they dare not accept high-level ones. If they don't find a way to get out of this predicament, they will be stuck in the middle, earning just enough money to get by, and then watching helplessly as the days go by and their sister's illness gets worse day by day.

Now, Mi Ye's appearance has given them a perfect opportunity.

Yuan Guangfei looked up, exchanged a glance with her sister, and understood each other perfectly.

Then they turned around and, following the address on the order form, quickly walked into the depths of the alley.

In the tavern behind them, a group of little witches were still huddled in front of the notice board, looking at each other at the remaining A-level commissions, none of them daring to reach out and tear them off.

"Was that Yuan Guangwei just now?"

"It seems so..."

"She tore up the Grade A commission?"

"Are you crazy?"

"She has a younger sister to support. What if something goes wrong if she takes on an A-level mission?"

"Who knows..."

While they were discussing amongst themselves, Yuan Guangwei and Yuan Guangfei had already turned onto the path leading to the unclaimed sea of ​​consciousness.

The stone walls on both sides of the road were covered with glowing vines. The further you went in, the dimmer the light became, and the air gradually became damp.

Yuan Guangfei took out the bottle of lemon juice from his pocket and drank the pale golden liquid in one gulp.

A warm power surged from her stomach. She clenched her fists and felt the magic flowing through her body again. That familiar feeling almost made her burst into tears.

Yuan Guangfei took a deep breath and reached out to take her sister's hand.

"Let's go."

Yuan Guangwei gripped her hand and nodded.

The two walked side by side into the entrance to the sea of ​​consciousness.

(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone~ Have you eaten mooncakes yet? What kind of filling did you have?)