The Witch and Gretel

First, she took out a small broom from the closet near the front door. Gretel says confidently after seeing that she knows how to do it.

“I know what this is! Sweep it like this….”

“You can use it like that, but this is how you do it when you’re busy.”

Katarina pointed to a post-it that was taped tightly under the broom handle. Gretel’s palm-sized white post-it was painted with elaborate magic images using black and red ink. Katarina pointed to a tail-like line at one end of a round-shaped magic circle.

“Put your finger here and let your mana run.”

“Mana…?

He looks like he’s doing something like that. Katarina set an example first.

“Look carefully.”

She put her finger at the end of the line and took a deep breath. When she exhales, she tightens her fingers, and a blue haze flows out from her fingertips which was absorbed into the magic camp.

An exclamation came out of Gretel’s mouth.

“Wow…”

“…….”

Katarina looked complicated when she saw Gretel with shining eyes, while watching the magic run.

She was half-confident, but why must she use her mana considering how weak her horsepower was? And also, why was this child born as a man?

Still, it is quite strange him possessing mana, now Katarina questions her values as a witch, in which she had never doubted, and there were more than one or two suspicious places.

Let’s ask Rachel. No, you can’t. You know you can’t trust anyone, Katarina. Even if it’s the teacher who raised you.

Katarina quickly pointed to a gauge drawn under the magic circle. About one-tenth of the gauge was blue. At the top of the gauge, the letter 120 minutes was written.

“Then when it’s filled with mana, it will run for about 12 minutes.”

When Katarina clapped once, the broom suddenly jumped up. Seeing it, Gretel screamed and hugged Katarina.

“It’s okay.” Katarina giggled and messed up the child’s hair.

Gretel’s face, looking up at her, quickly disappeared.

Gretel looked curiously as the broom swept around the room.

When Katarina clapped twice, the broom approached in front of Katarina and lay on the floor calmly. There was no more movement, as if it never moved. Katarina gave the broom to Gretel.

“Would you like to give it a try?”

“Me?”

He looks down at the broom with his shaky eyes. It’s a look that he doesn’t have confidence in.

“I… I… I can’t do this….”He mumbled out his words carefully.

“It’s okay if you can’t.”

You can practice writing it yourself. I don’t even expect you to learn at once anyway.

Gretel swallowed his saliva and slightly raised his finger at the end of the magic circle with a determined expression. And…

“……!”

The gauge quickly filled up. Surprised Gretel pulled away and stepped back. When Katarina saw it, she jumped up and hugged Gretel and looked at his face.

“Gretel! Are you okay?”

Was this a mana explosion? She didn’t feel much of a wave, but…Katarina bit her lips hard. Just in case, she started preparing a healing magic.

Gretel looked up at Katarina with a puzzled look. Her face was full of worries. He felt strangely pleasant.

Gretel was a little excited and opened his mouth.

“I think it’s okay…”.”

“Are you not dizzy? Where does it hurt? Doesn’t your tooth shook or anything?”

After listening to Katarina’s words, he frowned and fiddled with his teeth one by one, and soon smiled broadly.

“Umm…. Yes, I’m fine.”

Katarina looked all over his body, she didn’t believe him, so she made Gretel turn around, sit down and stand up.

Fortunately, as Gretel said, there seems to be nothing wrong with his body. She breathed a sigh of relief, and then she felt her heart pounding.

Gretel looked at Katarina with a suspicious face and smiled when she looked relieved. Clapping like Katarina did. In response, the broom sprang up and started cleaning by walking around the house. Gretel opened her mouth and looked up at Katarina with sparkling eyes.

“Did I do a good job?”

“Huh? Huh…? Yeah….”

Katarina looked puzzled and looked at the broom walking around alone.

“Good job….”

He forced a smile on Gretel, who smiled joyfully and brightly. It’s amazing how he learned to charge mana just by watching it once, but he can even activate it? It was beyond belief.

It took a month for the field team to master the mana-jin operation, even Xing, who is just after Zeta.

“You did a great job….”

Katarina clenched her fists.

That’s… a goose that lays golden eggs!

Katarina lay on the bed and ate without realizing it. She thought it was a total disaster to get rid of such mutants. She guessed there’s no such thing as dying.

He grinned and held his hands tightly together.

The broom, which injected Katarina and Gretel’s mana, worked hard for 120 minutes and returned to its place when the mana supply was cut off.

Katarina checked it a few times, but there was no sign of a different place than usual, let alone ruin it. In other words, Gretel’s magical powers are just like ordinary witches.

It’s uncomfortable to inject it directly into your body, so you’ll have to experiment with it if you want to eat it. But there were plenty of places to use right now. Besides, Gretel is good at washing dishes….

“Katarina, aren’t you sleeping?”

Grab the edge of the bed and poke out your head. Big eyes twinkle in the moonlight. A cute one. Katarina smiled with a happy heart.

“I’m going to bed soon. Can’t you sleep?”

Gently nods his head. He looks scared.

I guess it’s scary to sleep with how scary dreams are as a child. Well, so did I before. 

Katarina quickly attached herself to the wall to give him space on the bed.

That small head was heavier than she thought, but still she gave his arm as a pillow last night, and when waking up in the morning she thought about how her arm was going to be numb for the whole morning. Her neck and shoulders were going to be stiff, too.

Fortunately, Gretel put together the old clothes she had first worn and laid them on her bed, using them as pillows.

“…let’s go buy your pillow tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

Gretel smiles brightly and digs into Katarina’s arms. Katarina somehow felt like she was tickling in a corner of her chest.