"It is, indeed, fun - that's the entire point," Gen told him with a cheerful wink. "You'll find all sorts of people with a lot more practical, real magic - and some of it is pretty flashy! But sometimes people just need to be entertained, and I'm happy to do that."

That surprised Gen, and he allowed himself to snort out a few giggles. "Forgive me, my dear - I don't know what the economic or political climate is like in the world you came from. But I just had a dozen memes in my head talking about the, errr, shall we say fragility of late capitalism? Sometimes when you're dealing with something that's broken you just have to make fun of it."