After leaving the clothing store, they headed south, which was the center street of the west.
In the evening, there were many small vendors on both sides, selling some small trinkets. Today was the weekend, and there was a magic parade, so there were more people on the street than usual.
The slime pointed to the long street across the way, "Later, the parade will come from that direction. Find a good spot, and we can see it very clearly."
Its elastic body squeezed out of the crowd, always looking for something.
Yuxiaoxiao asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"
"Madam Yuxiaoxiao, can I leave for a moment? I want to go find Rum and get something."
Rum is its buddy, a blue slime.
"Sure, just be careful on your own."
Before the slime left, it glanced at As next to it.
It whispered, "Hey, you need to take care of Madam Yuxiaoxiao, don't just think about playing by yourself!"
As didn't respond to it.
He was standing in front of a stall, not knowing what he was looking at.
After the slime left, Yuxiaoxiao came to his side.
The finely crafted wooden music box looked very old. There were other little things on the stall, but they didn't look new.
Looking up, there were four words hanging above: "Second-Hand Shop."
The stall owner was an elderly gentleman wearing reading glasses, busy repairing a pocket watch.
In the current Empire of Calia, not many people wore these things anymore.
His old hands held delicate tools, twisting and turning behind the pocket watch, unaffected by the constant flow of people.
Yuxiaoxiao was very interested in the music box.
She picked it up and gently opened the lid, seeing a little girl in red dancing shoes sitting inside.
The girl was only the size of a thumb, sitting quietly in the box.
Sensing the light coming from above, she looked up, surprised to see Yuxiaoxiao.
"Do you like Saria? Do you want to take Saria away?"
Her voice was melodious, like a skylark.
Yuxiaoxiao was stunned.
At this moment, the old gentleman, who was repairing the pocket watch, smiled and said, "This is puppet magic, although it doesn't have life, it can have simple conversations."
"Puppet magic..." Yuxiaoxiao repeated these four words.
She still felt amazed because the thumb-sized girl was too lifelike, with features just like a real person.
But in the Empire of Calia, such small magic was everywhere.
The old gentleman was focused on repairing the pocket watch, as if sculpting the most precious treasure.
Yuxiaoxiao put the music box back in place.
She asked, "Are all these things second-hand?"
"Yes." The old man's aged voice carried some emotions. "Each one has irreplaceable memories for their owners."
"And this." As, who had been silent all this time, suddenly reached out, pointing to the pocket watch being repaired by the old gentleman.
The old man pushed his reading glasses and smiled, "This is my companion for many years, it's time to find a new owner for it."
"How much?" Yuxiaoxiao asked curiously.
The old man shook his head, with a mysterious expression, "It's different from other items, it goes to a destined person only."
"I think, we're pretty destined for this pocket watch." Yuxiaoxiao coughed lightly and said, "Just now, we happened to come to the central street, and you happened to have a stall here, and you happened to be repairing this pocket watch, and we happened to run into you - this kind of fate is not common, right."
The old man looked at her with a half-smile, "Little girl, I have been setting up a stall here for many years. According to your words, I've met almost a hundred fated people every day or at least eighty."
He wiped the pocket watch with his hand and said softly, "This is the most precious gift I have received in my life."
Yuxiaoxiao lowered her head helplessly.
This old gentleman didn't seem like someone who could be swayed by money, so, unless As wanted to snatch it forcibly, there was no way to get the pocket watch.
But would As act forcefully?
Yuxiaoxiao looked up, stealing a glance at the young man beside her.
He stood in front of the stall, a head taller than herself, with his back straight. Even after hearing the old man's words, he showed no reaction, still standing there, the clown mask quietly covering his emotions.
There was a commotion behind them.
Children were running along the street, and as Yuxiaoxiao turned around, she saw a magic car pulled by three unicorns, with wizards in capes standing on it.
Magic was the foundation of the entire planet of As.
Every weekend, suitable wizards would be selected to showcase the strength of the empire to the locals.
Perhaps with the art of performance, but it wasn't something just anyone could easily do.
Also because of the stringent selection, being able to catch a ride in the parade became an honor in the hearts of many magicians.
Yu Xiaoxiao's attraction was instantly drawn over.
She also followed the enthusiastic crowd, cheering passionately.
Many people took off their hats and threw them up into the sky. There was also a group of children holding bouquets, eagerly wanting to give them to the future "heroes" of the empire.
This time, there was someone familiar to Yu Xiaoxiao in the parade.
The short-haired girl was wearing a brand new green robe, wearing a small hat, and holding a staff in her arms.
Her position was a little further back, watching the cheering and jubilant crowd below, with a hint of shyness on her face.
"We're almost there—" her companion whispered.
The short-haired girl nodded heavily, and about three meters in front of the vehicle, she slowly raised her hands, and the staff also completely floated up with her movements.
In every parade, there is a "center position."
And in this group of sixteen magicians, the center position was held by this shy girl.
In an instant, a clear stream of water overflowed from the staff, gradually transforming into a beast in the air, roaring towards the crowd.
"Water Beast Strike!" a child shouted out the move.
The short-haired girl's eyes became brighter, her hands suddenly clenched, and the beast turned into water droplets falling from the sky.
But then suddenly stopped in midair.
The transparent water droplets, each one of irregular shapes, gradually blossomed into a small flower in the astonished gazes of the crowd.
The girl's water-controlling ability was far superior to that of the grand mages of the water element, making rapid progress in the younger generation!
Many children clapped and cheered.
"Mom, I want to be a water magician too!"
"Will I awaken my magical abilities next year?"
"This sister is so amazing, I want to be as outstanding as her!"
The short-haired girl's ears turned hot, it was her first time at the parade, her first time at the center position, and she received so much applause, she blushed so much she was almost bleeding.
The other companions also showed their abilities one after another, but compared to her solo performance, the group's performance was more focused on aesthetics.
Yu Xiaoxiao watched, unable to take her eyes off, she had been clapping all along, but unfortunately she hadn't prepared any flowers this time.
Otherwise, she also wanted to rush up and give flowers to these young magicians!
Three unicorns had now come to the end of the street, only five meters away from Yu Xiaoxiao.
She looked at their snowy-white fur, and the unique spiral horn in the front. Graceful in form, and noble in posture.
Yu Xiaoxiao was momentarily stunned.
At this time, a tall young man at the front was performing wind magic with all his might.
Because he needed to control his power, he couldn't directly summon a violent wind to attack someone or a building. He could only attract irrelevant objects in the hands of people around him to himself.
Gradually, many flowers gathered around him.
The young man looked handsome, and the crowd was also happy to watch him perform. This was his first time at the parade, and he was excited, wanting to show himself well.
He saw the girl standing in front of him.
She was wearing a simple long dress, clean eyebrows and eyes, extremely beautiful, completely different from the other women of the empire.
Unfortunately, she didn't have any flowers in her hand.
Or any other extra items.
So, the young man continued looking elsewhere.
At this moment, he saw a man sitting on a wooden bench with his back to him, facing a small vendor, unmoving.
In the central street with so many people, he was the only one not watching the magic team parade.
The young man saw the tail behind him.
It was loosely wrapped with a layer of bandage, as if it could fall off at any moment.
So, a smile appeared on the young man's lips.
He reached out his right hand, and a gust of wind passed through the crowd, coming directly to the target!
The onlookers' eyes also followed, only to see a black figure sitting there, and with the help of the strong wind, the white bandage wrapped around his tail began to show signs of slipping off.
Yu Xiaoxiao's heart skipped a beat.
As felt the wind, A'she turned slightly, seeing that all the fastenings on the bandage had come undone.
The end of the black tail gradually appeared in the air.
His body suddenly stiffened.
Things had happened too suddenly.
Wind-based magic, catch them off guard, the key is speed!
Yuxiaoxiao's heart almost stopped beating. She knew more than anyone that As didn't want others to know his identity— or rather, he didn't want others to see his tail!
Without further thought, Yuxiaoxiao glanced around and saw a small vendor with a cloak on display.
Yuxiaoxiao ran directly over and said, "I'll buy this!"
"Hey! Pay for it!—"
She grabbed the cloak, pushed through the crowd, and ran towards As.
As sat on a wooden bench.
He could clearly feel everyone's gaze on himself.
And the end of the bandage had also started to slip.
He thought about the enthusiastic residents because of the magic parade, and once they saw his tail, they would show a look of shock and disgust.
As clenched his fists slightly.
A girl ran desperately hugging a black cloak.
Right at the moment when the bandage was about to fall off, the crowd saw a graceful figure cutting through the crowd, and suddenly draped it over him.
Yuxiaoxiao covered him with the black cloak.
She knelt down and hugged his tail!
The white bandage flew in the air, carried away by the wind. The crowd's gaze also turned to continue watching the wind-based magician's performance.
There were also a few people curious, watching the girl, not knowing why she would act like this.
Thump, thump...
Yuxiaoxiao could hear her accelerated heartbeat due to her running.
"It's okay, it's okay," she said softly.
As sat on the chair, his hands still tightly clenched into fists. Even his whole body was trembling.
He didn't turn around.
But he could feel the warm embrace of the girl behind him.
His ugly, cursed tail, which disgusted everyone, was being protected by her as if it were a treasure.
Yuxiaoxiao took a light breath.
Indeed, it's been a long time since she did any exercise. Back in high school, she was the sprint champion.
Yuxiaoxiao tightly wrapped As's tail with the black cloak.
She sat on the ground, not caring about how others might view her.
Feeling As's tense body gradually relax, she secured the cloak tightly, making it look incredibly weird, but at least it could conceal his identity.
As sat there.
He could feel that electrifying sensation deep in his heart.
When the girl gently touched his tail, his face, hidden behind the mask, had already turned red.
The shopkeeper hurried over and said, nervously, "Miss, you haven't paid yet! This cloak is a high-quality item, and it's priced at two hundred silver coins! You've already used it, so you can't not buy it!"
"Well, I'll transfer the payment." Yuxiaoxiao wanted to stand up but found that her legs had gone weak.
The shopkeeper squatted down considerately.
He said with a smile, "Why were you in such a hurry just now? I thought you had encountered a robber!"
The slime came back.
It was holding a stick of cotton candy.
It handed it to Yuxiaoxiao, saying, "I brought this for you!"
Yuxiaoxiao wiped the sweat from her forehead and took the cotton candy, which looked like a white cloud. "Thank you."
"Is the magic parade nice to watch?" the slime asked curiously.
"It's very nice, but there was a little incident."
The old man finally fixed the pocket watch in his hand.
He waved and said, "Girl, come here."
Yuxiaoxiao stood up, holding the cotton candy, and walked over.
The old man pushed the just-fixed pocket watch into her hands.
"What's this?" she asked, puzzled.
"It's a gift for you, a destined person."