[Western fantasy, farming and infrastructure, adventure, seaside fairytale]
Before graduating from the Witch Academy, Elda, the top student in her year in the Water Magic department, was talked into going to a remote island on the edge of the kingdom by her mentor. There, she became an ocean witch tasked with guarding the sea.
Her mentor promised with complete confidence, "This is the easiest internship of them all. Just rebuild the island, and you'll get your witch's diploma!"
Elda believed her and carefully made notes and plans for everything.
But on her very first day as an intern, a beautiful mermaid who wanted to eat her got in the way of her perfect plan.
Unexpectedly, after taking just one bite of her finger, the mermaid threw up and turned into a weak little fish skin.
That was clearly a good sign! It meant she could get along peacefully with sea creatures!
...Right? As she pondered, Elda kindly dragged the creature onto her boat and took care of him.
Unfortunately, once he woke up, he talked way too much.
"I'm Ryan! What's your name? What species are you? Why do you taste so awful? Did you secretly inject seaweed juice into your veins? Are all witches like this, or is it just you? Oh my god, you're a witch! What are you going to do to me? Are you going to eat me?"
Even more horrifying, he actually started singing like he was in a musical.
...Elda used a spell to silence Ryan.
In truth, this was a cursed island.
Sea monsters rose at night, the seawater was polluted, magical creatures were on the brink of extinction, the island town was in ruins, the residents had strange tempers, and the fish had stopped coming.
With the support of a blue parrot, seagulls, monkeys (?), and her new friends among the townsfolk, Elda found her courage, cleaned up the polluted beaches, and began an internship unlike any other.
She made magical necklaces out of the shells she collected, gave counseling to injured dolphins, used magic to renovate the town, and turned an abandoned ship into an island tavern.
But she was still missing something special...
She thought of the mermaid who had fainted at the sight of her blood. Maybe he wouldn't mind becoming her resident singer.
Beautiful singing began to pour from the once-abandoned ship, along with mouthwatering aromas.
On the freshly painted blue walls, a menu appeared each day in magical writing: lemon-fried sea bass, Sea God's Tears oyster soup, wave-scented herbal coconut pudding...
More and more townsfolk came to the tavern to chat and raise a glass to the great ocean witch. Even her deceitful mentor was moved to tears when she arrived with the president of the Witch Association to inspect the place.
Elda was ready to cry, too, but the problem was... where had her mermaid gone?
Why had the island suddenly started laughing uncontrollably? Why was her parrot glowing, too?
Dear mentor, is this really an internship???
Reader's guide:
1. Couple: ocean witch x mermaid singer
2. This probably isn't a romance-focused story
3. A hardworking, plan-loving heroine who really doesn't slack off; a talkative male lead who gets food poisoning from the heroine's cooking
Theme: Always embrace the sea
