Jasmine was excited, but she was still worried.
"What kind of price has to be paid?"
From her point of view, a prior free attempt didn't mean that the subsequent wishes were without a price.
Klein adjusted his tall hat and smiled.
"The penny you paid is the price. The corresponding change that you have to bear after achieving your wish is also the price."
Jasmine nodded without completely understanding him. Without any hesitation, she reached into her pocket and attempted to take out a few copper pennies for her wish.
However, her pocket was empty except for a handkerchief.
Having stayed home all this while, she hadn't had any contact with money.
She had relied on walking to go from home to the municipal square instead of taking a trackless public carriage.
"I-I... Can I go home first?" Jasmine asked, both vexed and embarrassed.
"Of course, this is your freedom, but I can't guarantee that the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine will always be waiting for you here," Klein said with the tone of a magician. "Sometimes, it's very willful."
Jasmine tersely answered, thanked him, and turned around, jogging in the opposite direction of the municipal square.
The more she ran, the more relaxed her body became. She found herself in her formerly healthy state before she was burnt, transforming back into a teenage girl in her prime.
To her, this was a scene that would only appear in a dream.
Of course, as an ordinary person, she gradually felt exhausted after running for a while. She had no choice but to slow down and begin walking slowly.
The cool night breeze blew, revealing resplendent stars peeking through the clouds high up in the sky. The trees by the side of the street swayed gently and scattered the swaying shadows on the ground. All of this was so quiet and beautiful. Jasmine only felt her body and mind relax, and all her worries disappeared.
This was the first time she was in such a good mood ever since she was injured. Unknowingly, a smile appeared on her face.
After walking for about five minutes, she suddenly heard someone shout her name.
"Eh, Jasmine?"
Jasmine turned her head and saw a familiar face. It was her former neighbor, Mrs. Hamil.
"Good evening, Mrs. Hamil, I haven't seen you in a long time. Are you going to the carnival?" Jasmine, who wasn't wearing a scarf, said with a heartfelt smile.
Mrs. Hamil was a woman with a head of white hair. She carefully sized up Jasmine and said, "I haven't seen you since you moved away. I heard that you were injured in the previous blast?"
"Yes, but I've recovered." Jasmine nodded heavily.
She then asked, "How is Jolie now?"
Jolie was Mrs. Hamil's eldest daughter, and was her former playmate.
Mrs. Hamil's expression instantly wore a shade of gloom.
"The Feysacians did unspeakable things to her, and she ended up dying..."
Jasmine was taken aback, thinking back to her experience while feeling sad.
A Feysacian soldier had rushed into her house in an attempt to do unspeakable things to her, but he only gave her a kick and left when he saw her disfigured face.
"Poor Jolie." Jasmine sincerely tapped her chest four times in a clockwise fashion, outlining the stars.
It was only after she heard what had happened to her friend that she realized that she might have been relatively lucky.
After bidding farewell to Mrs. Hamil, Jasmine walked back to her apartment.
When she got home, she felt much better and her mood was back to normal. She started to look forward to the expression her parents would have when they saw her appearance restored.
They probably wouldn't keep the pain deep in their hearts and pretend that nothing has happened. They would definitely cry with joy and hug me... Jasmine took the key that was hanging around her neck like a necklace, and as she thought about it, she opened the door.
The room was dark. None of the candles or the gas wall lamps were lit.
On the bed outside, light and heavy snoring could be heard from her parents, forming a contrast with the bustling municipal square.
They're asleep... Yes, they've been working hard... Jasmine gently closed the door and walked to her parents' bed. With the crimson moonlight shining in through the window, she cast her gaze over.
Daddy has a lot of white hair, and his wrinkles have deepened... Mommy keeps frowning when she sleeps. Her face is flaking; it's dry, and coarse... Only then did Jasmine realize that she hadn't seriously looked at her parents' faces for a long time. She didn't know that they had aged so much.
Before the war, her father was an accountant with a pretty good income. They could afford to rent a terrace house and allow his wife to not work so as to focus on taking care of the family. But now, he could only work at textile factories and do all kinds of strenuous labor. Jasmine's mother had no choice but to leave her family and become a textile worker.
Daddy's health is getting worse and worse. He's always coughing, but he has passed the recent Civil Servant Unified Examination. When the interview results are announced, he will have a decent job... Mommy keeps complaining that her arm is getting worse... Jasmine looked at her parents intently and didn't wake them up.
She had already thought of her second wish.
Softening her footsteps, Jasmine entered the room inside and poured out the last few pennies from her piggy bank that she had previously almost emptied.
Then, she left the apartment and boarded a trackless public carriage.
She was afraid that the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine would be gone if she delayed any further.
At that moment, there were a lot of passengers on the public carriage. Most of them were heading to participate in the carnival. Jasmine looked around and saw that there were no seats, so she had no choice but to support herself as she stood on the aisle, squeezing with plenty of people.
Ten minutes later, she reached her stop and turned into that street.
When the brass-colored machine embedded with a few pieces of glass appeared before her eyes, Jasmine silently heaved a sigh of relief and quickly approached.
During this process, she surveyed her surroundings and didn't find the magician by the name of Merlin Hermes.
"It really is fully automatic. There's no need for him to be by my side?" Jasmine muttered in puzzlement.
She didn't waste any time. She took out a penny and placed it inside the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.
"I wish for my parents to be healthy again. I hope that my family will become rich." Jasmine softly voiced her wish. She closed her eyes and waited for the miracle to happen.
In the next second, she heard the clanging sound as though a coin had rolled out from the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.
Jasmine opened her eyes in shock and looked ahead, only to see that the penny she had just put into the machine had landed on a small tray around the coin slot.
This wish can't be fulfilled? Uh, a wish can't contain too much content? My wish was actually two wishes... With the experience of being cured of her burns, Jasmine didn't suspect that there was something wrong with the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.
She thought seriously and stuffed the penny into the coin slot. Then, she lowered her head and made a wish softly.
"I hope my parents are healthy again."
This time, she heard a soft knock sound out from the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.
Tak!
Seeing that the copper coin remained inside the machine, Jasmine knew that her wish had been fulfilled. She couldn't wait to go home and check on her parents' situation.
Suppressing her excitement, she inserted another penny.
She had originally planned on making her family wealthy, but remembering that her father was basically going to become a civil servant in Limon City, and that her family income was guaranteed, she couldn't help but have other thoughts about it.
When she was ten years old, she already knew that she wasn't good-looking. It wasn't that people around her would despise her and say that she wasn't good-looking, but amongst her playmates, there were two rather beautiful girls. This allowed them to be accorded with greater treatment and experience the kindness of the world.
Such a comparison only served to make Jasmine inevitably dream of becoming prettier as she grew older. But reality proved that dreams could only be dreams.
However, this time, her dream could turn into reality, because she had a miraculous Fully Automatic Wishing Machine in front of her.
If I can make myself beautiful, I can find a good husband, and I can improve my family situation... Jasmine seemed to have heard the devil whispering in her ear. She closed her eyes uncontrollably and made a wish:
"I wish to become extremely, extremely, extremely beautiful."
She used "extremely" thrice to accentuate the beauty she wanted.
Just as she finished speaking, the "door" to the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine opened once again. A silver-white mask was pushed out and covered her face.
Jasmine quickly opened her eyes and happened to see the mask disappear.
At the same time, she felt something connect to her.
She turned around in anticipation and once again walked to the shop by the side of the street. Using the light from the gas lamps and the glass on the window, she saw her current appearance.
For a moment, Jasmine couldn't describe the exact changes in her facial features and outline. All she knew was that at this moment even she was mesmerized by her beauty.
Her nose had become sharper and her lips had become fuller. Her eyes became bigger and limpid. Her skin was as tender as milk pudding. She only had slight similarities to her previous self.
"Is... Is this a miracle..." Jasmine couldn't help but let out a heartfelt sigh of amazement.
She looked at herself, intoxicated. It took her great effort to finally retract her gaze before bowing at the Fully Automatic Wishing Machine.
Following that, she walked towards the public carriage stop. On the way, eyes kept turning to look at her.
Bang!
A man, who was too focused on her, slammed into a gas lamp post.
Jasmine pursed her lips into a smile. Without a word, she boarded the trackless public carriage.
There were still many people on board, and all the seats were taken.
Just as Jasmine was trying her best to find a spot, several men lifted their buttocks and straightened their bodies. They looked at her and smiled.
"Miss, you can sit here."
Jasmine was momentarily stunned. She hadn't expected to receive so much kindness.
She didn't decline and sat down. She smiled at the man who had given up his seat.
"Thank you."
The man's expression became extremely animated as he said humbly, "This is what a gentleman should do."
Jasmine still retained the habits from when she was previously cooped up at home, so she didn't say anything else. She quietly sat there until she reached the stop near her apartment. Then, she got off the carriage.
After a few steps, she suddenly felt that someone was looking at her. She quickly turned her head to look.
It was a drunkard. He was staring at Jasmine with an indescribably disgusting look.
Jasmine jumped in fright and briskly walked to her apartment. However, the men she met along the way revealed similar looks, as though they could turn into beasts at any moment.
At that moment, Jasmine felt as though she was walking in the wilderness.
