Man, I'm sleepy.
The Council of Magic Presents Its Views on the Magic Disaster
Plants, show me your life-giving inner strength.
Assume the desired form and become part of me forever as sustenance.
Perfect.
Come in.
Excuse the intrusion.
Good morning, Meg.
I made tea.
Thank you.
Okay, come get your grub.
Who's a good boy, Carbuncle? Who's a good boy?
Meg.
Yes?
You are going to die in one year.
Huh?
What?
The clouds drifted gently past on that clear day in early autumn.
It was also my 17th birthday.
Apparently, I—apprentice witch, Meg Raspberry—am going to die in one year.
The Witch With One Year to Live
Oh, please, mistress. That joke really came out of the blue.
It isn't a joke.
You are destined to die.
Surely that can't be true.
It's true.
Ah! Are you planning a surprise?
Have I ever surprised you with anything?
Oh, I get it! I'm being pranked on TV!
Prank
Do I look like I'd go on a show like that?
Nope.
Unfortunately, it's the truth.
You are going to die in one year, Meg Raspberry.
Mistress...
Today's my birthday, you know.
I know that, but I also can't lie to you.
You will die. And unless you do something now, it is unavoidable.
How am I supposed to go?
A curse.
A curse?!
You were cursed with a Death Sentence that gives you one year left to live.
Now that you're 17, the curse has activated.
A Death Sentence?
It's an old curse, unknown to modern witches.
Uh, what is it?
Give her eyes sight to what lies ahead.
It's a bit like a congenital disease.
When you turn 18 next year, your biological clock will go haywire.
You'll age at a thousand times the normal rate.
You'll age 10 years in three days and 100 years in one month.
You'll live for at most a month before the curse kills you.
What you just saw was yourself dying from the curse.
That was me?!
How do I break the curse?
As of right now, there isn't a way.
Then, who cursed me?
You must know, right?
We can capture them and make them tell us how to break it.
I said it's congenital.
In other words, it's an illness.
You're sick.
How could you say that to a fresh-faced 17-year-old girl?!
I'll look after you right up until your final moments, so rest in peace.
How can she be so cold?
We've lived together for over a decade.
Can't she show a bit more affection for her precious student?
Jokes aside, it's not like you can't be saved.
Huh?
Seriously? Then, keep the unfunny jokes to yourself and tell me already.
It'll be difficult, both in terms of how long it will take and what is required.
That's an oddly-shaped bottle.
What is this junk?
Button it for a second, will you?
Capture this moment.
I just cast a spell on this bottle.
Starting today, you must gather fragments of emotion in this bottle.
Fragments of emotion? What're those?
As the name suggests, powerful emotions experienced by people.
You are going to gather some.
There is something called a seed of life.
Of all the human emotions—joy, anger, grief, and pleasure—it's made from joy.
How is it made?
I've imbued that bottle with my time magic.
It will crystallize and store fragments of emotion.
You are going to use it to gather joy from all kinds of people.
The tears people cry when they're happy.
Their tears of joy.
Tears of joy, huh?
Tears of joy are the material required to create a seed of life.
A seed of life will protect you from death.
In other words, it will keep you alive even after your time limit has expired.
I'm totally fine!
So in other words, I'll become immortal?
As long as you don't dispel the effect.
Ah, come on, mistress. You really do care about your student, don't you?
So how many teardrops do I need to gather?
A thousand teardrops.
Come again?
You must gather a thousand teardrops.
In 12 months, you must acquire a thousand teardrops from people experiencing true joy.
Is that even possible to do in one year?
Unless you're a witch who can bring about miracles, it's practically impossible.
I see.
Well, thanks for the terrible news!
Wait, Meg. Where are you going?
Wait, Meg!
I'm going to die.
If I really am going to die in one year,
then what have I been doing up until now?
I studied magic like mad every day.
I worked like mad every day.
I've done everything I could, but...
It was all for nothing, huh?
So what's the point in me being alive?
It's my birthday, but I couldn't feel worse.
Aw, you little cutie!
Feels good, doesn't it?
Oh, you're Ms. Faust's apprentice.
What are you doing here?
Oh, you know... Indulging my melancholic side.
Huh.
Wow, he's a real cutie.
Isn't he just? Wanna pet him?
Wow. You came here all by yourself, Anna?
Yeah. I came to ask Ms. Faust for something.
What's that?
For lots of flowers so my mommy can rest peacefully.
What do you mean?
My mommy was in the hospital for a long time, but they finally let her leave.
But she's sleeping now and won't wake up.
Daddy says she's resting because she's gone through so much.
So I want to give her some nice-smelling flowers so she can rest peacefully.
Apparently, I lost both of my parents when I was little.
I say "apparently" because I have no memories of them.
And the person who took pity on me when I was orphaned was...
Come with me. Starting today, we're family.
Do you understand, Meg Raspberry?
Hey, would you let me give your mother flowers?
You'd do that?
Sure.
I'll grant your wish, Anna.
So what kind of flowers do you want to give to your mommy?
The flowers my mommy likes.
That's what I'm asking.
Pretty pink flowers. Mommy said she saw them a long time ago.
She always said she wanted to see them again.
That's pretty vague.
Hey, it's the apprentice witch.
Running errands for Ms. Faust again?
Something like that.
Good luck.
You're Ms. Faust's student. Are you working?
Yup.
Why, if it isn't Ms. Faust's student.
I just fried this batch. Want some?
Ooh, thanks. Can I get some for her, too?
Sure thing.
Oh, Meg.
I don't often see you at this hour.
Why, if it isn't the beautiful Fine.
It must be fate that we ran into each other here.
Let's get married.
I'd rather not.
What is it?
You're pretty famous, aren't you?
Well, of course. I'm the student of Ms. Faust, one of the Seven Sages.
The Seven Sages?
They're the seven smartest mages in the world.
So will you be like Ms. Faust someday?
Of course I...
You are going to die in one year.
Ah, damn it!
Enough depressing talk, Anna. Let's hurry.
When did we talk about depressing things?
Ah, now that I think about it, we never did!
But don't sweat the details.
You're so weird.
I was born this way.
Daddy, we have a guest.
Welcome.
Oh, hey, it's you, Mr. Hendy.
Huh? You're Ms. Faust's student, uh...
It's Meg. Meg Raspberry.
You know each other?
Mr. Hendy is one of our regulars.
Now that I look a bit closer, I've been here a few times before.
Really?
He often orders magical remedies from us.
I deliver them.
m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
Residence
Yes, you normally come in through the clinic.
Clinic
m 0 0 l 100 0 100 100 0 100
You've never met Anna before?
I just met her today.
She came to give flowers to Mommy.
Iris's favourite flowers?
She often displayed them, but I don't remember which were her favourites.
No hints, huh?
Oh, right.
We've got a photo album. Maybe we can learn something from it.
Okay, I'll go get it.
She's so full of beans.
Thankfully. Her mother was always quite sickly,
but she's grown up healthy.
My late wife was delighted about that, too.
Has it been long since your wife passed away?
Not even a week.
I just finished my morning rounds.
Will you stay for tea?
Let's see...
Huh?
I haven't been able to tidy up.
Can I help with anything?
It's fine. You're a guest.
Curious about those medicinal herbs?
You have so many. A lot of rare ones, too.
Are those medicinal as well?
Yes. My wife used to gather herbs as a hobby.
I don't know what they're used for, though.
What are you doing?
Oh, I'm looking for the tea leaves, but I can't find them.
They're right here.
What? Those are tea leaves?
You've heard of herbal tea, haven't you? That's probably what all of these are for.
Wow, you've even got these.
Brings back memories.
Look at this one.
It's from when we went to the Far East.
We had a strange experience in that country.
A strange experience?
What happened?
We were visiting a temple on the mountainside,
and it snowed, even though it was a bright, warm spring day. It was so strange.
It snowed in spring?
Not only that, but the skies were clear.
It shouldn't have been possible, but pink snow fell from the sky.
It was so beautiful.
Pink snow? Wow!
And it fell during a warm season?
Now that I think about it, I couldn't do anything for her.
After Anna was born, I left most of the housework to her.
I worked hard to feed my family, but...
Daddy?
If I'd known this would happen, I would've found a way to travel more.
Uh, the tea...
It smells so good.
Doesn't it just? Herbal tea is yummy. I even included a secret ingredient.
Say, Anna, is your mommy sleeping nearby?
Yup. Just around the corner.
Take me to her.
I'll show you pink snow and your mother's favourite flower.
I actually know.
Know what?
Mommy won't wake up ever again.
I see. So you know, huh?
Hey, can the world's greatest witch wake my mommy up?
No. Nobody can wake your mother.
Before Mommy went to sleep, she told me something.
She asked me to look after Daddy.
Daddy's been really down since.
He's always looking at pictures of Mommy and making sad faces.
So I thought Daddy would feel better if Mommy slept peacefully.
Did you want the flowers for your daddy's sake?
I want Mommy to rest peacefully and Daddy to feel better.
I see.
Hey!
Mr. Hendy?
I was curious and had to follow you.
I've postponed my afternoon rounds.
So did you figure out which flowers were Iris's favourite?
Yeah. Although I can't know for certain.
Roses, cornflowers, irises...
Anna's mother displayed flowers that symbolized the places she visited.
Maybe she was trying to show Anna the world by displaying flowers from countries she loved.
So that's what she was doing.
But there was one last flower she couldn't get.
I think it may have been the one she wanted to show Anna the most.
Anna, in the Far East, there's a tree called a Yoshino cherry.
Uh, Yoshi...
Yoshino cherry.
It's a type of cherry blossom. It blooms in early spring.
Hear my voice.
Fertility of the land. Fertility of the trees.
Hear my plea for a miracle and revive the colours of the past.
Illusion takes form. Forms grant dreams.
And dreams bestow hope as a miracle takes place here.
Let the colour emerge from the Far East and show us your beautiful form.
Incredible.
It's a cherry blossom recreation spell.
That said, it's just a temporary illusion.
But wait a minute. That worked a little too well.
Did I really do all this?
Mr. Hendy, you maybe regret all the trouble you put your wife through.
But she definitely understood how you truly felt.
All the herbs in your home were chosen for your physical condition.
The herbs, the cherry blossoms, and all the flowers...
No one loved her family as much as she did.
Anna.
Your mother will be fine now.
She got to show her dear little Anna the flower she wanted you to see most.
Meg.
I don't have to hold it in anymore?
Yeah. It's okay.
You did good, Anna.
I've missed Mommy ever since she left.
Daddy was sad, and Mommy was gone. I was so, so...
Anna.
I'm so sorry, Anna. I'm okay now.
I won't let you feel so lonely ever again.
Okay.
Anna's mother wanted the two of you to smile even after she was gone.
Thank you, Meg.
Will you be like Ms. Faust someday, Meg?
Huh? Where'd that come from?
Well, you found Mommy's precious flower.
I know you'll become an even more amazing witch than Ms. Faust.
Uh, well...
Promise me you will.
I can't tell her I'm going to die in a year.
It's all right, Anna.
I know Meg can do it.
Someday, she'll be an even greater mage than Faust the Eternal Witch.
Oh, fine.
If I become a great mage, I'll show you real cherry blossoms instead of an illusion.
Really?!
You'd better look forward to it.
I thought you'd come back looking like a dead fish,
but you seem to have reclaimed your light.
Don't compare me to a fish.
Hey, mistress.
Are these tears of joy?
No. Those tears are a combination of joy and grief.
They're not genuine tears of joy.
I see.
They're not tears of joy, but...
They're pure tears. I sense an extraordinary power in them.
Pure?
Yes. They contain a beautiful, clear, and kind emotion.
Is that why the bottle accidentally collected them?
Perhaps.
Are you happy about something?
You're a witch who can get people to open their hearts.
Not like that's useful for anything.
Learn to take a compliment.
Still, why'd you wait until I had one year left to tell me about the curse?
If I had at least five or six years...
If you had five or six years, you could've done it?
No.
I know myself better than that.
Even if she'd told me back then,
I would've said I had time and done nothing all the way up to my final days.
Who you are right now had the right to hear it and the strength to fight her fate.
Fight my fate?
So what will you do?
Will you give up and accept death or work towards the slim possibility of survival?
You must decide.
Sheesh. This is the worst birthday present ever, mistress.
I'll do it.
I will collect a thousand teardrops of joy.
No curse is gonna stop me!
This is the story of the miracle brought about
by an inexperienced witch told she only had one year to live.
The Apprentice Witch and the People of Lapis