Seeing Yukina look utterly delighted while watching her childhood self being bullied, Charlotte, who had just set the cooked steak on the table next to Yukina, couldn’t help but frown.
“Yukina, do you really enjoy watching your brother get bullied so much?”
“Well, whose fault is it that my brother constantly tried to mess with his sister until she almost died? It’s immensely satisfying to see you get the punishment you deserved!”
Yukina’s mood instantly brightened. The steak, which had initially given off a nasty gamey odor, now smelled quite fragrant.
“Hmm? Did you finally finish your five-star gourmet meal, brother?”
“That’s right! Hurry up and try your big brother’s cooking, Yukina! I guarantee it’ll amaze you!”
“Let me see!”
Yukina looked down at the black steak on the plate.
“Isn’t this completely burnt?” Yukina complained immediately.
“Uh… maybe the heat was a little high, but that won’t affect the texture inside! Just take a bite and you’ll see!”
“How am I supposed to eat this?” Although she complained non-stop, Yukina honestly picked up a knife and fork, cut off a small, charcoal-like piece of the steak, and put it into her mouth, chewing slowly.
At first, she slightly frowned, prepared for the worst. But after chewing a couple of times, her brows immediately relaxed, and her originally suspicious eyes cleared up.
Countless warm currents lingered on her tongue, and countless flavors swept through her mind. Like a colossal stew, a vibrant, colorful world exploded in her consciousness.
Just by eating a small bite of the steak, Yukina felt as though she had learned magic and was flying freely in the fantastical other world.
“Well? My char-broiled steak is top-tier, right?” Seeing Yukina’s mesmerized expression, Charlotte felt a rush of pride.
Yukina was about to answer, but at that moment, her face suddenly darkened. A strange odor abruptly broke through the wall of deliciousness and permeated her mind.
She was flying and flying in this fairy-tale world filled with colorful flowers when she suddenly collided head-on with a ferocious azure evil dragon, which sprayed her with a jet of water.
Without time to speak, Yukina rushed into the bathroom and immediately began throwing up into the toilet.
“Eh?” Charlotte was quite surprised by this reaction.
A moment later, Yukina, looking completely drained as if she had vomited up her entire stomach, emerged from the bathroom, leaning on the doorframe.
“Brother… do you really enjoy messing with your sister until she almost dies?”
“I didn’t! How could I ever do something so scummy!” Charlotte quickly defended herself.
But under Yukina’s hate-filled glare, her tone softened.
“Uh… did the steak go bad?”
“You cooked it without even checking if it had gone bad?”
Charlotte picked up the knife and fork Yukina had used, cut off a small piece of the steak, and put it into her mouth to chew.
“Hmm? Nothing seems wrong with the taste?”
Charlotte showed no sign of discomfort even after swallowing it.
“Brother, don’t you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
“Nope.”
“Then why am I the only one feeling so sick?”
“Oh, that’s probably because when I was training with my Master, she fed me all sorts of strange pills every day. Over time, I became immune to all toxins!”
“What, you’re the Divine Farmer tasting a hundred herbs? Are you even human, brother?”
Five minutes later.
Yukina sat on the sofa with a lifeless expression, massaging her stomach, trying to make herself feel better.
“Thanks to you, brother, I don’t want to eat anything now.”
“I never thought your body wouldn’t be able to handle the shock of the steak, Yukina! I should have cooked it a little longer if I had known.”
“Your current mission is to discard all your strange ideas! Can you please stop using a witch’s mindset to be my brother? Can you just be a normal person for once?!”
Under Yukina’s scolding, Charlotte could only manage a slightly awkward smile.
“Sumimasen,¹ I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Yukina frowned, staring at the short, 144-cm, silver-haired witch beside her.
If it had been her brother from before, when he was still a boy, she would have certainly chewed him out until he didn’t know whether to step out with his left or right foot first.
But seeing such a cute and delicate girl who looked so easy to bully, Yukina couldn’t bring herself to genuinely hate her.
‘It’s too cunning that my brother reincarnated as such a cute girl!’
“Speaking of which, brother, you just said you developed your toxin-immune body from training with your master, right?”
“That’s right!”
“Can you really develop that in just a few days?”
“Who said it was just a few days? I trained with my Master for a whole year!”
“Then what is this…”
Yukina pointed to the scene still playing back in the room.
The sun was setting. Chloe, with her luggage on her back, stood at the village entrance with a lonely look on her face.
Because she had gone against Master Rhynes’s wishes and taught little Charlotte how to use magic prematurely, Chloe was banished forever as punishment, forbidden to set foot in the village again.
This fundamentally prevented Chloe from continuing to teach little Charlotte magic.
However, Chloe had at least taught little Charlotte the flying magic she wanted to learn the most. To repay this kindness, little Charlotte was personally seeing off the woman who had only been her master for a few days.
“Master, will we ever see each other again?” little Charlotte asked reluctantly.
“Didn’t your mother say no? She won’t allow me to have any contact with you anymore. We probably won’t be able to meet again.”
“How could this be?” Little Charlotte rushed into Chloe’s arms, hugging her leg and crying. “Master, I don’t want to never see you again!”
Chloe gently stroked little Charlotte’s hair, her eyes full of affection.
“Even though I only taught you magic for a few days, you are still my most proud disciple! Oh, right, I’m giving you this magic book. It contains all the spells I’ve learned. When you’re allowed to learn magic, you can take it out and look at it, or you can start studying it now.”
Chloe pulled a magic book out of her dimensional space and handed it to little Charlotte.
“Master…” Little Charlotte was so moved that tears streamed down her face.
“Alright, stop crying! Charlotte, you’re a strong child! You’ll definitely become the strongest witch on your own! It’s getting late. Your Master has to go!”
Chloe slowly pushed away the clinging little Charlotte, then mounted her broom and flew into the sky, unconcerned about her actions.
“Well, goodbye then!”
Leaving those words of farewell behind, Chloe quickly flew off into the distance.
“Master! Master!” Little Charlotte tried to chase after her, but after only a few steps, Chloe was already out of sight.
She could only sit lonely on the grass, clutching the magic book Chloe had left for her, looking utterly forlorn.
“Didn’t you two just completely say goodbye?” Yukina asked Charlotte, pointing at the incredibly moving farewell scene. “How did you end up training together for a whole year afterward?”
“Oh, that’s because…” Charlotte paused at this point, as if there were some secrets she couldn’t tell. “You should just keep watching.”
“Hmm?” Yukina was confused but had no choice but to keep watching.
Little Charlotte sat alone on the grass for a long time. She only returned home reluctantly after the sun had set, and she locked herself in her room.
‘Master…’
‘I can’t disappoint Master’s good intentions. I must become the strongest witch in this world!’
Thinking this, little Charlotte, full of fighting spirit, opened the magic book Chloe had given her.
However, what awaited her wasn’t text recording spells, but a pile of detailed and lifelike ropes.
“???”
Before little Charlotte could react, she was tightly bound by the pile of ropes and dragged into the magic book.
After a brief silence, a maid walked into little Charlotte’s room, picked up the magic book that had fallen to the floor, left the room, walked out of the village, and went to the back mountain, where she handed the magic book to Chloe, who was waiting there.
Taking the magic book, Chloe broke into a triumphant smile.
“Master, you didn’t see this coming, did you! I had a little trick up my sleeve! I’ll be borrowing your daughter for a while!”
When she had met Master Rhynes a few days earlier, she had been cautious and placed a Suggestion spell on one of the maids.
Originally, she had planned to use the maid to steal the payment she was owed if Master Rhynes reneged on their agreement and made her work for free.
But it had ended up being used for this purpose instead.
“Alright, you’re done here. You can go back now.” Chloe snapped her fingers, and the maid obediently walked back home.
Then, Chloe, holding the magic book, mounted her broom and flew away into the distance, unconcerned about her actions.
Seeing this, Yukina frowned.
“I finally know who you learned your habit of messing with your sister until she’s almost dead from.”
¹ Sumimasen: Japanese word meaning “Excuse me” or “Sorry,” often used in informal apologies.