The Windowway closed behind Coco and Haruya with a ripple of glass.
For several moments, no one inside the atelier moved.
The familiar grassland returned to the circular window. Morning sunlight rested across the study tables, practice seals, and the abandoned chairs where the two newest apprentices had been sitting less than an hour earlier.
Tetia stared at the window.
“How long does the trial usually take?”
Agott began collecting the unused contraptions from the central table. “That depends on the apprentice.”
“That does not answer the question.”
“It can take most of the day.”
Tetia looked toward the sky outside. “And if they do not return by evening?”
“They will.”
Agott wrapped the empty Sylph Shoe cloth more tightly than necessary and placed it in the cabinet.
Richeh had remained near the window. Her expression was calm, though her hand still rested against the book she had stopped reading.
“You do not know that,” she said.
Agott closed the cabinet door.
“The Consent of the Crown is an apprentice trial. Children pass it regularly.”
“Children who have studied longer than two days,” Tetia replied.
Agott’s shoulders stiffened.
“They know basic glyph structure. They have their pen cases, two Guidance Orbs, Vapor Bubbles, and three contraptions each. I explained the rules.”
“You also gave Coco your shoes,” Richeh said.
“That improves her chances.”
“It means you were worried about them before they left.”
Agott turned toward her.
“I was making the trial fair.”
Richeh accepted the answer with a small nod that did not suggest she believed it.
Tetia sat at the table and tried to return to her wind glyph. She drew half of the outer circle, stopped, and looked at the Windowway again.
“They should have waited for Qifrey-sensei.”
“If they waited for him to approve every challenge, how would they ever prove they can think for themselves?” Agott asked.
“They could begin by learning more than two spells.”
“Haruya copied a stable light seal on his first attempt. Coco understood the directional signs quickly once she stopped panicking over every line.”
Tetia’s eyes widened slightly.
“You noticed all of that.”
Agott looked down at the papers in her hands.
“They were sitting in front of me.”
“That is not what I meant.”
Agott carried the papers to the shelf and aligned them with unnecessary precision.
“They said they wanted to become apprentices. Every apprentice must eventually prove that desire means more than excitement.”
Richeh finally closed her book.
“You wanted them to prove it to you.”
Agott did not answer.
The study remained occupied throughout the day, though very little studying happened.
Tetia completed one practice spell and drew the next glyph backward. Richeh remained on the same page for almost an hour. Agott corrected both of them whenever they made mistakes, then returned to her own work without adding more than a few lines.
By late afternoon, the sunlight had shifted to the other side of the room.
The Windowway still showed grass.
Tetia stood for the sixth time.
“I am going to check whether the connecting plate is still active.”
“It is,” Agott said.
“You did not look.”
“I can see the outer ring from here.”
“That does not tell us whether Coco and Haruya are all right.”
Agott’s pen stopped above the page.
“No,” she admitted. “It does not.”
The front door opened.
Qifrey entered carrying two rectangular boxes beneath one arm and several rolled documents beneath the other. His travelling cloak had collected dust near the hem, though his expression was relaxed.
“The registration went more smoothly than expected,” he called. “I was prepared to spend half the afternoon explaining why two new names appeared at once, but apparently paperwork can occasionally show mercy.”
No one answered.
Qifrey stepped farther inside.
His gaze moved across the room.
Tetia stood beside the Windowway. Richeh had closed her book. Agott sat too straight at her desk.
The two empty chairs told him the rest.
His smile disappeared.
“Where are Coco and Haruya?”
Agott rose.
“They are taking the Consent of the Crown.”
Qifrey did not react immediately.
The quiet that followed was worse than shouting would have been.
“You sent them to the Dadah Range?”
“They agreed to go.”
“How long ago?”
“This morning.”
Qifrey placed the boxes and documents on the nearest table with great care.
“What contraptions did they take?”
Agott listed them.
When she mentioned the Sylph Shoes, Qifrey’s visible eye shifted toward the empty wrapping beside the cabinet.
“You gave flight contraptions to a girl who learned her first controlled wind spell yesterday.”
“They were the best option available.”
“They were an option designed for someone who already knows how to balance in the air.”
Agott’s expression hardened, though her voice became quieter.
“If they are going to be registered as apprentices, they should prove themselves like the rest of us did.”
Qifrey approached her.
“To whom?”
Agott said nothing.
“To the Pentacle?” he continued. “To the Great Hall? Or to you?”
Her fingers tightened around the edge of her sleeve.
“You accepted them after two days.”
“I accepted responsibility for teaching them after they were exposed to knowledge that could endanger their lives.”
“That is not the same as believing they are capable.”
“No,” Qifrey said. “That belief grows as I teach them. It is not something I demand they earn before I begin.”
Agott lowered her gaze.
Qifrey’s expression softened slightly, though the worry remained.
“The Consent is a controlled trial, Agott, but controlled does not mean harmless. Apprentices are usually prepared for it. They are also observed, even when they believe they are working alone.”
“I gave them a route back.”
“And if one of them was injured before reaching it?”
Agott’s lips parted.
Nothing came out.
Tetia moved closer to her. She did not touch her, but the space between them narrowed.
Qifrey turned toward the Windowway.
“We will find them first. We can decide how angry everyone is afterward.”
He opened the panel beneath the circular frame.
Several rings and small wheels surrounded the Windowway plate. Qifrey turned the first slowly, watching the marks along its edge. The grassland view blurred.
The window showed the forest.
Tetia leaned forward.
“Can you find them from here?”
“If they are still within range.”
Qifrey adjusted another wheel. The trees sharpened, branches and leaves coming into clearer focus.
“That should be close enough.”
He reached for the final ring.
“We will go to them.”
He turned it.
The Windowway opened onto the forest floor.
Cool air and the scent of damp earth drifted into the atelier.
Qifrey stepped forward.
Coco and Haruya stepped through at the same moment.
Everyone froze.
Each of them held a crimson Diadem Herb.
Coco’s cloak had been sewn to her sleeves and spread behind her like folded wings. Her hair was still damp, and a small Brushbuddy sat around her shoulders, its tail resting near her cheek.
Haruya’s boots carried divided levitation seals across their soles.
For one breath, the two new apprentices stared at the room with the same shock as everyone inside the atelier.
Then the Windowway closed behind them.
Tetia stood so close to the other side that her face filled half the Windowway. Richeh was beside her. Agott stood farther back, pale despite the firmness of her posture.
Qifrey-sensei occupied the center.
His expression told me immediately that Agott had not warned him.
“Haruya,” he said. “Coco.”
Coco adjusted the Diadem Herb in her hands.
“Qifrey-sensei.”
“You are both going to step through this Windowway very carefully.”
His voice was calm.
It was also the voice Mother used when one of my sisters had done something dangerous and she needed to see that no bones were broken before deciding what to say.
I held my flower against my chest and stepped through first.
The magical lift beneath my boots vanished as soon as I crossed the frame. My feet touched the study floor.
Coco followed. The Brushbuddy tightened itself around her shoulders as the Windowway closed behind us.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Tetia’s gaze moved from Coco’s wet hair to her altered cloak, then to my boots and the flowers in our hands.
“You did it.”
Coco’s tired smile appeared.
“We did.”
Qifrey-sensei crossed the distance between us.
He crouched and placed one hand on each of our shoulders. His eye moved over our faces, arms, clothing, and legs.
“Are either of you injured?”
“I swallowed some lake water,” Coco admitted. “I also landed badly several times, but nothing hurts very much.”
Qifrey-sensei looked at me.
“No injuries. My legs are tired.”
“The blood on your sleeve?”
I looked down.
A shallow scratch crossed the cloth near my elbow.
“A vine.”
He checked the skin beneath it anyway.
Only after satisfying himself that we were intact did the tension leave his shoulders.
Then he pulled both of us against him.
The embrace caught me by surprise.
Coco made a small sound beside me before wrapping her arms around him. The Brushbuddy became trapped between their shoulders and squeaked in protest.
Qifrey-sensei loosened his hold enough to free it, though he did not release us completely.
“I am proud of you,” he said quietly. “I am also frightened, relieved, and very unhappy that this happened without my knowledge.”
Coco pressed her face against his cloak.
“I’m sorry.”
“You will explain everything after you are warm and dry.”
He looked at me over her head.
“And you?”
“I agreed because I believed the trial was valuable.”
“I assumed as much.”
“I would make the same decision again.”
“That is also what I assumed.”
His visible eye narrowed slightly.
“Next time, you will tell me before accepting a magical trial in another mountain range.”
“If you are present, yes.”
“Haruya.”
“I understand, Qifrey-sensei.”
That answer satisfied him enough to release us.
Tetia reached Coco next.
She stopped just before hugging her and asked, “May I?”
Coco nodded.
Tetia wrapped her arms around her carefully, avoiding the Brushbuddy.
“I was worried the entire day. I tried to practice, but I drew a direction sign backward and nearly sent my paper into the soup.”
“The soup?” Coco asked.
“It was cooling near the window.”
Richeh came closer and examined Coco’s cloak.
“You changed the Sylph Shoe seal.”
“The shoes fell into the lake,” Coco said.
Agott’s gaze dropped immediately to Coco’s feet.
The soles were bare except for stains left by the dissolved ink.
Coco removed the shoes and held them out.
“I’m sorry. I lost control and fell. The shoes themselves are fine, but the glyph washed away.”
Agott accepted them.
Her thumb passed over the blank sole.
“You fell into the lake?”
“Yes.”
Agott looked at her sharply.
“You could have been hurt.”
Coco hesitated.
“I know.”
Agott opened her mouth, perhaps to criticize her further, then noticed the hand-stitched seams along Coco’s sleeves.
“You used the same levitation glyph on your cloak.”
Coco’s nervousness gave way to a little pride.
“The shoes taught us how the seal worked. After the ink washed away, Haruya helped me turn the cloak into wings.”
Agott looked at me.
I lifted one foot to show the half-glyph beneath my boot.
“He copied it too,” Coco said. “He tested the seal on paper first, then adjusted it to fit his boots.”
Richeh crouched near the sole.
“The circle only closes when the feet meet.”
“Yes.”
“That is well-drawn.”
Agott held the shoes against her chest.
“The original glyph can be redrawn.”
Coco blinked.
“You aren’t angry?”
“I did not say that.”
“But you were worried.”
Agott’s face tightened.
Tetia watched her with open interest.
Richeh looked away to hide what might have been amusement.
Agott turned toward the cabinet.
“You took too long. Anyone would wonder what happened.”
Coco smiled.
She did not press further.
I liked her for that.
Qifrey-sensei’s attention had moved to the Brushbuddy.
“It followed you through the Windowway.”
Coco touched the creature gently.
“It fell into the lake with me. It stayed after Haruya pulled us out.”
The Brushbuddy stretched toward Qifrey-sensei’s hand.
He let it sniff one gloved finger.
“It appears you have been adopted.”
“Can it stay?”
“We will discuss feeding, sleeping arrangements, and whether it intends to chew my brushes.”
The Brushbuddy opened its mouth around the end of his glove.
Qifrey-sensei pulled his hand back.
“That answers one question.”
Coco laughed.
The sound broke the remaining tension in the room.
Qifrey-sensei retrieved the two boxes he had brought from the Great Hall.
“I intended to give these to you after explaining the registration properly.”
He placed one box before Coco and the other before me.
“Open them.”
Coco lifted her lid first.
A deep blue witch’s coat lay folded inside, its fabric soft and light despite the amount of cloth. Beneath it rested a pointed hat with a broad circular brim. Pale trim followed the edges, and small fastenings allowed the shape to be adjusted.
My box contained a similar set, sized for me. The blue coat was cut shorter around the legs so it would not restrict movement. The hat had the same broad brim and pointed crown, though its band was plain.
Coco touched her hat with both hands.
“This is ours?”
“You are registered apprentices of my atelier,” Qifrey-sensei said. “These mark that responsibility. Wearing them means other witches will recognize that you study under a teacher and that your conduct reflects upon the atelier.”
His gaze moved between us.
“It also means you are entitled to learn, ask questions, make mistakes, and grow within that protection.”
The system appeared.
Quest Completed: Consent of the Crown
Enter the Dadah Mountain Range. (1/1)
Reach the highest floating sphere. (1/1)
Harvest one Diadem Herb. (1/1)
Return safely with the herb. (1/1)
Rewards Received:
Experience: 1,000
Glyph Magic: +3 Levels
Survival: +1 Level
Title Acquired: Witch Apprentice
A second window followed.
Title Acquired: Witch Apprentice
Description: A world-specific title granted after recognition as a formal apprentice of glyph-based witchcraft. The title represents acceptance beneath a qualified teacher and the completion of an acknowledged magical trial.
Title Effect: Arcane Apprenticeship
Effect: Learning Rate for Glyph Magic and related glyph-based magical disciplines increases by 10%.
This effect improves growth gained through genuine instruction, study, experimentation, and practical experience. It does not provide knowledge of unknown glyphs, remove material requirements, or allow the user to bypass magical laws.
Glyph Magic Lv. 5 → Lv. 8
Survival Lv. 31 → Lv. 32
The coat felt strangely important in my hands.
I had received uniforms before.
The army in my first life had given me clothing because it needed to turn hungry children into soldiers. The Demon Slayer Corps had given me training robes because I belonged to the family leading it.
This was different again.
I had entered this world as a stranger on a dark road.
Now someone had placed a hat in my hands and called me a student.
Coco put hers on immediately.
The brim tilted over one eye.
Tetia stepped forward to straighten it, then stopped herself and waited.
Coco noticed.
“You can help.”
Tetia adjusted the hat with great care.
“There. It suits you.”
Coco looked toward the dark window, trying to find her reflection.
Agott spoke from behind her.
“It is still crooked.”
Tetia frowned. “Only a little.”
Agott set the Sylph Shoes down, approached, and corrected the angle by less than a finger’s width.
Coco smiled up at her.
“Thank you.”
Agott withdrew her hand.
“It would have bothered me during supper.”
“Supper?” Tetia repeated.
Her attention immediately shifted toward Qifrey-sensei.
“We should celebrate. They completed the Consent, became apprentices, made two flying spells, and brought home a Brushbuddy.”
“The flying spells were copied from the shoes,” Agott said.
“The cloak was new,” Coco replied.
Tetia nodded firmly. “Then we have enough reasons.”
Qifrey-sensei looked around at all of us.
“A proper supper seems appropriate.”
By evening, the long dining table held more food than an ordinary lesson day required. There was vegetable stew, warm bread, roasted roots, fruit, and a sweet cake Tetia insisted had been saved for an important occasion.
The Brushbuddy sat beneath Coco’s chair, accepting tiny pieces of bread while pretending it had not already been fed.
Agott remained in the doorway.
“I should study.”
I looked toward the study room behind her.
The same book she had opened that morning still rested on the same page.
“You spent most of today waiting for us.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I was working.”
“You drew five lines.”
Richeh lifted her cup. “Four. She erased one.”
Agott looked betrayed. “You were counting?”
“I was also waiting.”
Tetia pulled out the empty chair beside her.
“Come eat.”
Agott folded her arms. “The trial was not a celebration. It was something apprentices are expected to complete.”
Coco held the Diadem Herb near the center of the table.
“I could not have completed it without your shoes.”
“And I learned from the trial because you challenged us,” I added. “You can study afterward. It is more fun when everyone eats together.”
Agott looked at me.
“Fun is not the purpose of becoming a witch.”
“No. It is still allowed.”
She hesitated.
Tetia patted the chair again.
Richeh broke a piece of bread and said, “The food will become cold while you defend studying.”
That finally defeated her.
Agott sat.
She did not smile when Tetia passed her a large piece of cake, though she also did not return it.
Conversation grew around the table.
Coco described the first time the Sylph Shoes threw her backward. Tetia laughed until Coco demonstrated the movement with both hands. Richeh wanted to know how the cloak seal changed under tension, while Agott asked increasingly precise questions despite claiming the trial had been simple.
Qifrey-sensei listened from the head of the table.
Occasionally, his attention settled on Coco’s new hat or my blue coat.
Relief remained beneath his smile.
I understood it.
The atelier had waited for us.
That realization warmed me almost as much as the food.
Home still waited in another world, frozen around the instant I left it. My parents, sisters, Tanjiro, Shihan, and everyone I loved remained there.
The atelier would never replace them.
It did not need to.
There was room in a life for more than one place where people noticed when you failed to return for supper.