Chapter 2
An Unusual Customer
It has been a week since Peggy Lau landed in another world. It was a bit nerve-racking at first, being a waitress for a coffee shop that gets a whole variety of magical creatures for customers. But Peggy got used to it a few hours into the job. Apart from the way they looked, the goblins, elves, animal folks, etc., were no different than the people of Earth, which helped a lot. Although, that was also worrying to Peggy in its own way.
Today was an incredibly rainy day. Outside was dark enough to be cloaked in nightfall and the downpour sounded like a constant shower of hard grains. But even with that hammering of a million water drops, it was incredibly quiet inside the coffee shop.
"Not a lot of customers again, huh?" Peggy muttered as she rolled her sleeves further up her elbows.
As always, there was a strong smell of coffee in the air that could make stomachs growl with one whiff. Along with the pitchers of boiling water and large glass carafes full of freshly brewed coffee, the woodwork furnishings and crimson cushions gave Peggy a sense of warmth that warded away any cold grasp the storm outside could have made.
After doing a few twists and then some arm stretches, Peggy gave the front door one final glance before reaching beneath the counter for the book she had been reading. At times like this, she would normally be browsing social media or playing a game on her smartphone. But this is a whole other world, so of course there was no internet and she couldn't do those things. This world did have magical versions of the internet, smartphones and so forth, but right now Peggy barely had any cash to her name so she couldn't afford them. Until her savings was built up, the occasional novel borrowed from the local library was the best she was going to get.
Just then, as Peggy turned a page in her book for the tenth time, she heard the door bell jingle and looked up. The door was already drifting to a close, but there was no one in sight. It didn't look like anyone had come in. And yet, even from behind the counter, Peggy could see a trail of water droplets synonymous with someone walking in after being drenched by the storm. Following that trail with her eyes, she was led to spot where a doll stood in the middle of the floor.
It looked like one of those old-fashioned porcelain dolls you'd see in museums or period dramas. Except this doll with its shiny round cheeks, painted red lips and glistening hazel eyes was dressed like a witch. The dress and cape were both white, as was the pointed hat. Tiny water droplets could be seen dripping off the edges of the hat's wide brim.
Puzzled, Peggy scratched her head and slowly got out from behind the counter. She looked from corner to corner of the storefront before making her way to the windows. But whoever opened the door (and someone definitely did), it looked like they were already long gone. Question was, however, why did they leave the doll behind?
As she wondered this, Peggy turned around to go pick up the doll, only to find there was just a puddle of water where it had been. The doll had disappeared.
Confused, Peggy let out a soft, "What the . . . ?" And then she heard a clunk sound and looked up to see the doll standing on a stool by the counter, its back to her.
Peggy stared. Her face lost color.
How in the world did it get all the way there? She wondered while staring at the doll. The newly made barista did not want to consider that the doll had traveled to the stool by itself, even thought that was pretty much the ONLY way it could have gotten on that stool when there was no one else around.
Not willing to stay in the same room with the doll much longer, Peggy spoke aloud, "I better go check on that inventory. Gotta make sure there's enough coffee beans. Wouldn't want to run out. No, siree."
She headed back toward the counter, to the side entrance further away from the doll. As she reached her hand out to push the flap door open, she gave the doll another quick glance out of the corner of her eye. The doll turned its head with a sharp snap and met her eyes with its own.
Peggy dropped her hands to her sides and shouted, "WHAT THE - !?"
That's when Boss stuck his head out the door. He had been in the kitchen the whole time, looking over the pastries, when he heard his employee cry out.
"Is something wrong?" the vampire asked.
"Door! Water! Doll! Heeeeaaaad!"
Boss looked at the door, followed the trail of water with is eyes, and then set his gaze on the doll. The doll raised its hand in hello.
The owner of the coffee shop scowled and put his hands to his hips.
"Hey, don't go scaring my workers like that," he said. "Especially the new ones. Finding a replacement for the last one was bad enough. I don't want to have to go through all that again so soon."
The way he was unafraid and spoke to the doll was surprising.
"Boss, you know this . . . doll?" Peggy asked while keeping a wary eye on the clearly living doll.
But the Boss corrected her and said, "She's not a doll, Peggy. She's just a weirdo human spell caster that likes to transform into dolls."
"Hey! Show some respect!" A dismayed woman's voice shouted from the doll. "This weirdo human is the director of the town's magic department, you know."
"The director of magic!?" Peggy gaped at the doll, astonished by her impressive title. The Boss, however, was far from impressed, and let his feelings show with words.
"Peggy," he said. "Just so you know, the last twelve magic directors for this town were all soldiers and magic researchers who couldn't get past doing grunt work in the big city, so it's not as great as it sounds."
"I seriously don't want to hear that from a Four-Star wizard who makes his living by making coffee drinks!"
"Still better than sitting behind a desk and listening to youngsters spout the stupidest nonsense about why they should get promoted to Five Stars," the Boss fired back.
"What was that?"
It looked like a fight was going to start between the vampire and the doll. But before it could reach that point, Peggy cut in with a question.
"Uh . . . Sorry for interrupting your spat, but what's this about stars?" she asked. "And what does that have to do with being a wizard? More importantly, you're a wizard, Boss?"
"Wizard, sorcerer, warlock, mage, magician, spell caster, they're all the same," said Boss. "They're just people who know how to use magic. And just about everyone in this world can use it, if they're willing to learn how."
"Not everyone can reach Four Stars, though," the doll interjected. "By the way, to answer your first question, stars are how we measure and rank a person for any given job. We'll focus on magic users to make things easier to understand. For example, One-Star means you're a beginner at magic. Two Stars means you can start using some magic in your daily life. Most normal folks fall under Two Stars. Three Stars mean you can do magic related jobs, basically becoming full-grown magic users. Anyone who wants to get a job in magic needs to be a Three-Star at least."
"And I'm guessing Four Stars mean you're really, really good at magic or something like that?" said Peggy.
The doll nodded, sending shivers down Peggy's spine. She was never going to get over how creepy this human-turned-doll looked.
"Please," said the Boss. "It's really not all that great. Anyone can become a Four-Star if they used their brain a little. The only reason there aren't a lot is because not a lot of magic users bother to get higher than three."
"Why'd you bother to get four then?" Peggy asked. "I don't think a coffee shop owner would even need any magic at all. And where do the stars go anyway? How do you know how much stars a person has? And how do you get them, anyway?"
"You really need to learn to ask one thing at a time," said the Boss. "But all those questions boil down to one answer: you take a test and get a license. And you get a license at a magic department, like the one a certain doll here works at. Giving tests and licenses is pretty much the only things she does there."
"You say that like I don't have anything better to do," the doll said, dismayed.
"Well, you hop around in the shape of a doll, scaring the daylights out of random strangers," the Boss pointed out. "That kind of hints that you got nothing better to do."
"Guh!" With no way to counter, the doll could only grunt in defeat.
"A-anyway," she said, "if you're ever interested, Peggy, why don't you drop by my office? I can help you get started on a One-Star or learner's license."
"Me, learn magic?" Peggy hadn't thought about it, but in this world, anyone can use magic. That meant that she could too.
"You don't have to decide right away," said the doll. "But you are in a good place, if you ever think you want to become a career spell caster. After all, your boss is the Hero Starter, himself!"
Boss scowled. "Again with that nickname?"
"Huh?" Peggy looked at Boss in astonishment and confusion. She was astonished by her boss's amazing-sounding nickname, and confused by what a "Hero Starter" does.
"You don't have to think too deeply about it," Boss said, as if he could read Peggy's mind. "A couple of kids I tutored years back later became famous adventurers. They all pointed to me as their starting point, which was how I got the nickname Hero Starter. But all I did was teach them the basics. Everything else, they got on their own. Anyway, that's enough idle chitchat. It looks like the rain's stopped, which is great timing because there's some stuff we need to buy. I have a list of what we're running low on, and how much to buy. Do you think you can take care of that, Peggy?"
"Huh? I guess," Peggy said, staring at the piece of paper in Boss's hand uncertainly. "But are you sure you want me to handle it?"
"I think you'd handle it better than running the shop by yourself while I'm gone," Boss said.
"Fair point," said Peggy. She took piece of paper, gave it a quick lookover and then stuffed it into her black apron's pocket.
"Don't forget to take the basket," the Boss said, holding up a large straw basket normally used for picnics.
Peggy nodded, took the basket in her hand, and replied, "Got it."
She took one last look out the window to make sure the rain had really stopped before heading out, shouting, "Be back soon!"
The doll and the vampire both watched as she ran by the window and disappeared.
As soon as Peggy was gone, the Owner clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
"Now then," he said, "I suppose you want your usual?"
"Sure," said the doll.
The Owner snapped his fingers and quickly, a small, white plate and coffee cup flew out from the shelf behind him. The plate landed on the table in front of the doll and the cup landed on top of the plate where it belonged. A pot of coffee hovered nearby and poured a fresh brew into the cup before returning to its heater plate next to the sink. Following that, the kitchen door swung open and a larger plate flew out carrying a burrito filled with scrambled eggs, steamed potatoes and bacon. Once the burrito plate landed next to the coffee, the presentation was complete.
The doll let out a low whistle.
"That was fast," she said. "It was like you knew I was going to be here."
Her shadow on the floor suddenly grew as she spoke.
"Well, I figured you'd show up today," the Owner said.
A lady in a white dress and pointed white hat now sat where the doll had been. She hooked a finger around the coffee cup's handle and lifted it to her lips. After blowing steam away with a few delicate puffs, the lady took a sip before replying, "You know me so well."
"We've known each other for a long time, after all," the Owner answered back. "Isn't that right, Hero?"
The lady gathered some magic power to her lips and blew on her coffee one more time before saying, "I would say so, Villain."
The steam she blew from her coffee didn't disappear and instead split apart and grew into two shapes, one behind the Owner, and one behind herself. Behind the Owner, the steam cloud took the shape of a boy dressed in a cape and top hat, while behind the lady, the second steam cloud took the shape of a girl with a ponytail hair and a sword at her hip.
