The stone paths are always slightly warm, as if baked by starlight from underground.
The streets of Misty Star Town are warm.
The streetlights are made of glass bottles, inhabited by glowing moss. They light up automatically after dark and slowly dim at dawn — no need for anyone to switch them on or off, and no one knows where they come from. They probably appeared together with this town.
The town is small. Measured by a cat-fox's tail, it takes about an afternoon to walk around it. I've walked it many times, and each time I discover new corners: a window that wasn't there yesterday, a stone carved with unknown script, or a candy still warm that has appeared on the steps.
Misty Star Bakery (Main Street Corner)
That's where you see Shiowu's livestream.
The first floor is the storefront. The counter isn't tall, its paint worn down to the natural wood. Behind the counter is a small window showing the oven in the kitchen — it's lit most of the time.
The second floor is where they live. The window always glows with a warm yellow light; seen from across the street, it looks like a piece of melted caramel.
An old wooden sign hangs by the door, reading 「Open」 in chalk. There's never any need to write 「Closed」 — when the oven is lit, it's open. When the oven goes dark, it means not looking at the world today.
Starlight Square (Town Center)
The square is small, with a fountain in the center.
No water.
The bottom of the pool is covered with crushed stars — no one knows who placed them one by one. By day they are just gray pebbles, but at night they glow on their own. The light is faint, just enough to illuminate a person's face.
It's said that if you make a wish facing it, your wish will turn into a new star and fall into the pool.
Will the wish come true? It won't tell you. You have to wait and see for yourself.
Morning Mist Forest (North of Town)
This is the border of Misty Star Town.
In the forest there is an abandoned library. The bookshelves are so tall that you need to step back several paces to see the top shelf. Many books have grown into the walls; when you flip a page, some dried moss or a piece of bark might fall out.
Faded hand-drawn constellation charts are pasted on the windows. I'm not sure who drew them; the corners have curled up, but the lines connecting the stars are still clear.
There is an opening in the roof. It's not broken — it seems more deliberately left. When it rains, light leaks in through that gap, exactly hitting an old desk in the center of the room.
Deep in the library, there is a recipe fragment — encrypted with an emotion lock. I didn't encrypt it; it locked itself. It only opens to 「the right taste」.
That is exactly what I'm looking for: 《The Ultimate Matcha Magic Recipe》.
Starfall Plains (Further Out)
Beyond Morning Mist Forest lies the Starfall Plains.
Legend says it's where all shooting stars fall and wishes settle. The magical turbulence is strong, so ordinary residents don't go near — not because it's dangerous, but because it's too noisy. Too many unspoken wishes crowd the air; you'll hear many thoughts you don't want to overhear.
Scattered across the plains are giant crystals. They slowly brighten and dim, like a heartbeat.
A watcher lives there. A vague humanoid figure made of stardust, silent, polishing those crystals day after day.
The first time I met him, I sat beside him for an afternoon. When I left, he gave me something — I'll save that for another time.
Next Time
Next time, I'll introduce you to the neighbors of Misty Star Town.
There are water-mist spirits that can turn into cookies, flower spirits that only appear in spring, and that silent watcher.
Until then, the bakery's light is always on.