“Open sesame.”
The heavy oak door creaked open, and Luo Xiaosu walked into the small cottage, holding Aiweila in her arms.
She carefully laid the girl on the bed, then extended her right hand, fingers slightly spread, hovering over Aiweila.
A gentle stream of mana flowed from her palm, softly enveloping Aiweila’s body.
“Relax, Aiweila. Big Sis is going to check you over now.”
Aiweila felt herself wrapped in a warm embrace.
She closed her eyes, her body gradually relaxing.
Guided by Luo Xiaosu’s mana, Aiweila suddenly felt as if something inside her wanted to come out.
More precisely, the sensation came from her long hair.
From Luo Xiaosu’s perspective, she saw a strand of golden mana reaching out from Aiweila’s golden locks.
It intertwined greedily and intimately with her own released mana.
“What’s going on?”
Sensing the strangeness of the mana, Luo Xiaosu quickly withdrew hers.
Without Luo Xiaosu’s mana to guide it, the golden mana flowed back into Aiweila’s hair.
“Hmm, the body is fine, just weak from mana overconsumption. But…”
She looked at her palm, then at Aiweila’s beautiful golden hair.
“Never mind.”
Suppressing her doubts, Luo Xiaosu took a deep breath.
“Get some rest first. Big Sis will find a way to help you. I’ll be right back.”
She leaned down, tidied the stray hairs at Aiweila’s temple, and re-tucked her blanket before turning and leaving the room.
Watching Luo Xiaosu’s retreating back, Aiweila just clutched the blanket tightly.
She didn’t want Luo Xiaosu to leave her, but this time she simply didn’t have the strength.
“Sis…”
A faint murmur escaped her lips and dissipated into the air.
Her consciousness blurring, Aiweila eventually succumbed to the overwhelming tide of drowsiness and fell back into slumber.
Standing in front of the bookshelf, Luo Xiaosu kept flipping through old, dusty magic tomes.
Her fingertips brushed across page after page, her frown deepening by the second.
“Magic Shackles… too dangerous. Mana Deprivation Art… no, too many side effects.”
She muttered to herself as she pulled out one heavy book after another, only to shove them back.
“Isn’t there something… gentler, more suitable for a six-year-old’s constitution?”
She grabbed her hair in frustration.
Her usually smooth locks were now a tangled mess, like a bird’s nest.
“In the end, how old is that kid? How can she have so much mana to use?”
“And where did her mana even come from? And why does it feel so familiar?”
Closing her eyes and thinking carefully, Luo Xiaosu recalled the original story.
“That’s right! The original plot!”
Her eyes snapped open.
She slapped her forehead as a flash of inspiration hit her.
“In the fairy tale, the reason Rapunzel had her long hair magic was because her mother stole and ate a magical lettuce while pregnant. Could Aiweila be the same…”
“But if that’s the case, why are the two of us so… compatible?”
Luo Xiaosu bit her lip and released a thread of mana.
“That level of affinity… it’s almost like…”
She had personally transmitted it to her.
As soon as this thought surfaced, a fragment of the original owner’s memory flooded into her mind, becoming vividly clear.
In the memory, Luo Xiaosu—still a novice witch—was in the forest, excitedly experimenting with a newly learned Growth Acceleration Magic on a small lettuce.
Once, twice, ten times…
No matter how many times she cast it, the little lettuce showed no sign of growing.
At the time, she thought she had remembered the spell wrong, cursed under her breath, and gave up, walking away.
Luo Xiaosu froze in place, the corner of her mouth twitching uncontrollably.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
“Are you saying that kid’s entire mana reserve was the original owner’s fault?”
Even though she had figured out the origin of the mana, the problem remained unsolved.
Aiweila’s immense mana reserve was still an issue.
It was like giving a child a nuclear launch button.
One day, she might press it and cause a huge explosion.
“Sigh… I guess I need to find some time to properly teach Aiweila how to use mana.”
Ruffling her messy hair, Luo Xiaosu closed the heavy tome and turned her gaze to the window.
Meanwhile, at the City Lord’s Mansion, several miles away.
“Hmm… are you saying that this morning, two witches came to the city gate, caused trouble, and easily defeated you?”
In the study, City Lord Di Leike lounged lazily in his high-backed leather chair, gently swirling the wine in his goblet.
Kaixi knelt before the desk, his head bowed low, not daring to look up.
“Y-yes, my lord.”
Di Leike took a sip of the red wine.
The rich, slightly bitter liquid slid down his throat, but it couldn’t suppress the irritation rising in his heart.
He set down the wineglass and stared calmly at Kaixi, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a corpse.
“You mean to say that after feeding you all this time, you can’t even handle two little girls?”
His voice was soft, but it cut like the north wind in winter, sending chills down Kaixi’s spine.
“N-no, it’s not like that.”
Kaixi’s head shot up, his voice trembling as he hurriedly explained.
“Th-those two girls… they… they must be witches!”
“Are you saying I’m wrong?”
Di Leike’s tone grew low, his fists cracking as he clenched them.
“No, my lord! No…”
Kaixi quickly waved his hands.
“It’s just… my lord, you didn’t see it yourself. Those two witches—one could control vines, and the other could unleash a fireball so powerful that even I…”
“A bunch of useless trash!”
Di Leike slammed his hand on the desk.
The goblet rattled loudly, and a few drops of red wine splashed onto the mahogany surface, leaving faint stains.
He pointed at Kaixi, snorted coldly, his brow furrowed, veins bulging on his face.
“A complete bunch of useless trash! Just two witches who know a few cheap tricks, and you call them evil sorceresses? If you can’t even handle this, I think I don’t need you anymore!”
“B-but…”
“No buts!”
Di Leike cut him off and strode to the window.
Outside, the setting sun poured through the window, casting its glow on his gloomy face.
His dark, deep eyes glimmered with a cruel light.
He looked down at the town bathed in golden light.
This was the wealth he had spent half his life building, the foundation of his power.
“Use your head, Captain.”
He turned to face Kaixi, the sunset casting a long shadow that engulfed the kneeling man.
“True powerful mages have long been hired by the Imperial Palace to be royal mages, enjoying wealth and glory.”
He pointed a finger toward the palace, then toward the forest nearby, his tone dripping with contempt.
“Only second-rate mages hide in the deep mountains like rats.”
“As for that so-called ‘witch’ you mentioned… Hah! That’s just something to scare children.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Kaixi lowered his head in acknowledgment.
He still didn’t believe that two girls—one big, one small—were mere second-rate mages.
Whether it was the suddenly growing vines or the terrifyingly powerful fireball, they seemed far more formidable than some famous royal mages.
Di Leike walked back to the desk, tapping his fingers on the surface one by one, then turned to face Kaixi again.
“By the way, you said those two witches were led here by a group of people, right?”
“Yes, my lord. I’ve already investigated. That group claiming to be refugees is actually a band of bandits who fled from the north. They only arrived in this area recently.”
“Bandits, huh…”
Di Leike stroked his chin, thinking.
“Alright. Bring me their leader. If we want to get rid of those two witches, we’ll need their help.”