“Alright, Older Brother, you’ve slept long enough. It’s time to wake up!” Xiaoye lightly patted Mahiru’s chubby cheeks.
With Xiaoye’s gentle pat, Mahiru, who had been knocked unconscious by the electricity, slowly opened her confused eyes and stared blankly at Xiaoye’s face.
She didn’t seem to have recovered from the electric shock yet; there was a significant delay between her consciousness and her body.
After a few short seconds, Mahiru finally snapped out of it.
Panicking, she scrambled to hide behind the sofa and stared at Xiaoye with a vigilant gaze, as if she were looking at her natural enemy.
Then again, for a Witch, a Magical Girl was indeed her natural enemy.
“Xiaoye, do-do-do-do you want to shock me again? I-I-I-I’m not afraid of you!”
Although she spoke defiantly, her body couldn’t stop trembling.
The previous electric shock had clearly left an indelible shadow in the depths of Mahiru’s heart.
Looking at the little Witch whose words and actions were completely inconsistent, Xiaoye could only let out a soft sigh.
“Calm down, Older Brother. I don’t plan on shocking you anymore. It was proven just now that electricity can’t help you recover your Mana.”
“Is that so?”
Hearing Xiaoye’s answer, Mahiru relaxed slightly, but immediately after, she stared at Xiaoye nervously again.
Clearly, she wouldn’t lower her guard completely based on just a few words.
“Then what else are you planning to do to me?”
“I’m trying to find a way to help you recover your Mana, so why are you always guarding against me like I’m your mortal enemy? I’m your closest sister. Can’t you even trust me?”
Xiaoye complained with her arms crossed, her face full of disdain.
“No, even so, a sister who pulls out a Stun Gun and stabs her Older Brother without a word is hard to trust!”
“Alright, alright. I consulted a Magical Girl Senior just now, and I have an idea on how to let you recover your Mana. I won’t mess with you anymore, so just relax, Older Brother.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Really, really. Just trust me! If you can’t trust me, who else can you trust?”
Under Xiaoye’s persuasion, although Mahiru was still skeptical, she lowered her defenses and sat back on the sofa, waiting for Xiaoye’s next instructions.
“So, Xiaoye, what are we going to do next?”
“First, Older Brother, tell me what kind of Witch you are.”
“Eh? What kind of Witch am I?”
“You should know this, right? Every Witch has different abilities, so their names are preceded by a title that represents their power — like Flame Witch or Frost Witch. Older Brother, what’s your prefix?”
“Uh… even if you put it that way…”
Even after Xiaoye’s detailed explanation, Mahiru still looked troubled.
“What? Older Brother, don’t you know what kind of Witch you are?”
“Today is my first day being a Witch! How would I know what kind of thing I am?”
“Think carefully, Older Brother. This point is very important!”
“Uh… then let me recall…”
Urged by Xiaoye, Mahiru closed her eyes and began to reminisce, trying to search for useful information from the chaotic memories in her mind.
After agonizing over it for two minutes, she still couldn’t find any information related to her abilities.
“I can’t. I can’t think of anything!”
“Tsk, Older Brother is truly useless!”
Xiaoye couldn’t help but turn her face away and grumble in a low voice.
She thought she had found a shortcut, but she had failed before even starting.
This idiot of an Older Brother didn’t even know what kind of Witch she was.
If she didn’t know what kind of Witch she was, how was she supposed to help her recover Mana?
‘Wait a minute. Since Older Brother took control over the previous Witch’s body, could she have also inherited that Witch’s abilities?’
Ever since that previous Witch broke into the Shopping Center, she had been using her expandable mouth to devour everything — rubble, broken glass, reinforced concrete, and even her unlucky Older Brother — just like a pig that wasn’t picky about its food.
‘Could she be some kind of Gluttony Witch?’
‘If that’s the case, then that means…’
Xiaoye looked down at Mahiru, who was sitting on the sofa with a dazed expression.
‘As long as I feed her until she’s full, she might be able to recover her Mana.’
Come to think of it, they hadn’t eaten for most of the day; their stomachs were probably already growling.
“Older Brother, haven’t you been hungry for a long time? Then hurry up and cook! We need to fill our stomachs before we have the energy to think about how to recover Mana!”
Xiaoye pushed Mahiru into the kitchen while talking to herself, leaving Mahiru looking completely bewildered.
“Eh? Cook? Now?”
Although Mahiru had shouldered the responsibility of taking care of Xiaoye since their parents passed away and usually did all the cooking alone, he had never experienced starting a meal at 3:00 AM!
“We haven’t eaten for ages, so isn’t it only natural to cook now? Do you want to starve for another few hours before eating?”
Xiaoye frowned slightly, responding as if it were the most logical thing in the world.
“Uh, alright then. Let’s fill our stomachs first!”
Mahiru rolled up her sleeves and prepared to start cooking, but after seeing the sight before her, she couldn’t help but be slightly dazed.
“Huh? Why has the kitchen become so tall?”
“It’s because you’ve become too short!”
Under the efforts of Mahiru, who was standing on a small stool, a plate of freshly made food appeared on the dining table fifteen minutes later.
However, looking at this dish that was as pitch-black and viscous as oil, Xiaoye’s heart was filled with mixed emotions.
“Older Brother, are you making some kind of Hell Cuisine? Is this even edible?”
Facing Xiaoye’s rebuke, Mahiru’s face was also full of bitterness.
“Uh… I’ll make another one!”
Then, five plates of oil-like cuisine appeared on the dining table.
“Older Brother, your cooking skills have regressed so quickly! Is this really the result of your best effort?”
“I don’t know what’s going on either! I usually do it just fine. Why did such a big mistake happen so suddenly today?”
“It’s probably because you’re a Witch now. Only a Witch could make food filled with such an evil aura.”
Although Mahiru’s cooking skills had declined 10,000 times — creating oil-like dishes that Xiaoye could hardly look at — the main goal now was to fill Mahiru’s stomach.
As long as Mahiru could eat this stuff, it was fine.
“Since you’ve made so much Dark Cuisine, you can’t let it go to waste, Older Brother! Hurry up and eat all of it!”
“No way! No way! This looks disgusting. I’m not eating that!”