A few days had passed since the Magic Test ended.
Hilxi spent every day practicing Magic and having Saya teach her Magic Theory knowledge.
Of course, it was all just rote memorization.
The next Magic Test would be in a month. She had to use the time she had to constantly increase her chances of passing.
At night, the moon in the sky was covered by drifting clouds, making the Kingdom of Magicians appear even darker.
Only a few lamps flickered along the street, and everything felt cold and deserted.
A mysterious figure, shrouded head to toe in darkness, wearing a black hooded coat, rode a Broomstick through the air until she reached a second-story balcony.
She leaned her Broomstick against the railing of the balcony and slowly opened the window.
Beneath the hood, a pair of azure blue eyes shone amid tousled golden hair.
“Sorry to intrude.”
Muttering softly, she crouched and slipped through the window into the room.
A Miss Mage with purple hair was sound asleep on the bed not far away.
This was her plan.
At night, when everything was silent and the darkness thick, she would put on a black coat to hide her identity, sneak quietly into her target’s boudoir, and, while the target slept, replicate their Magic to strengthen herself.
So, who was the scoundrel currently carrying out this vile plan? Surely I don’t have to say it outright.
Hilxi crept up beside her target and stretched out her wicked hand.
Ten minutes later, she left in satisfaction.
Incidentally, she had committed such acts dozens of times already, picking a few lucky victims at random every night—she was a habitual offender by now.
Through this, she discovered her Talent had a cooldown value.
With the same person, she could only replicate Magic up to three times in one day—after that, it became ineffective.
However, after a day passed, the cooldown would refresh, and she could target the same person again, no problem.
This Talent had another feature: if she replicated Magic she already knew, it wouldn’t be wasted—instead, it would enhance the Magic she already possessed.
Thanks to this, Hilxi felt her Broom Flight had already reached a very high level.
Becoming the Autumn Mountain Drift King was just around the corner.
But most of her targets were Magicians, not Witches, so the Magic she obtained was all very basic—nothing especially powerful.
The reason she didn’t go after Witches was that she was afraid of messing up.
If she got caught, her fate would be dire.
After closing the window again, Hilxi leapt off the balcony. Her Broomstick instantly appeared below to catch her, and she flew in the direction of home.
The purple-haired girl just now was the fifth target tonight. Hilxi decided not to continue her nightly raids and headed back to catch up on sleep.
Her late-night activities had been ruining her rest lately.
The next morning.
Sunlight shone through the tightly closed curtains, turning them translucent and leaving the room dim.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knocking sound echoed.
The girl on the bed buried her head deeper into the blankets.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Hilxi-san! Time to get up!”
“…Let me sleep a bit longer.”
“No way! You promised you’d make breakfast today—don’t try to get out of it!”
“…”
Hilxi reluctantly poked her head out, yawned, tossed aside the blanket, got dressed, washed up, and finally opened the door with a tired expression.
She really wanted to sleep—not get up at all.
There was no one outside the door. It seemed Saya had already left.
Dragging herself, Hilxi wandered into a kitchen that seemed to belong to Saya. She glanced at the seasonings on the table, used Flame Magic to light the firewood, and set a pot over it.
Suddenly she realized with a start—she didn’t actually know how to cook!
She’d only agreed to Saya’s request offhandedly.
“What now?” Hilxi scratched her head, her orange-white-gold hair turning a mess from the motion.
“Oh well. I’ve never eaten pork, but I’ve seen pigs run—this should be fine… First, add the vegetables. Wait, no, water comes first. Water first.”
She poured several bowls of clear water into the pot, hesitated, then threw an entire carrot in without slicing it.
Mainly because she was too lazy to cut it. Whether carrot slices or whole carrot, they were the same in essence, no real difference.
“Let’s make Carrot Soup, then. Hmm, add some salt.”
With a splash, because her hand slipped and she was distracted, more than half the bag of salt fell into the pot.
Staring at the snow-like salt dissolving, Hilxi froze for a moment.
“…That seems bad, but whatever. Just a bit too much salt. Let’s balance it with some soy sauce.”
And so, the color of the pot turned black.
“It should be almost done, right?”
Watching the rising steam, Hilxi drew that conclusion.
Then, she cast some Magic on the pot to make the food taste better.
At that moment, she was surprised to discover:
“Huh? Why did the soup turn green? Is it because it’s healthy and nutritious? That must be it.”
Would just one carrot be enough…?
As she pondered this, a gulping sound arose—the Carrot Soup actually started bubbling with greenish-black bubbles!
“Ew~ The appearance is pretty bad, and the smell… is a bit weird…”
Hilxi, her face taking on a strange greenish tint, waved her hand in disgust, then used Water Magic to extinguish the flames.
And so, it was done!
Thanks to Hilxi’s handiwork, the once pure, pollution-free Carrot Soup had turned into a strange pot of green-black liquid with carrot remains floating about.
No, calling it soup was generous—it was more like a Magic Potion.
Looking at the thing, Hilxi decided her own breakfast would be bread from next door.
This restorative concoction should be given to Saya to drink more of.
She’d probably be very happy, right?
When Hilxi brought a bowl of Carrot Soup to Saya, who was in charge of registering Inn guests, Saya asked doubtfully:
“Breakfast is ready?”
“It is. I tasted it—very delicious.” Hilxi’s face was red, barely able to keep a straight face.
“…Really.”
Saya accepted the suspicious bowl with some doubt. As soon as she took it, Hilxi gratefully retreated several steps, taking deep breaths.
“…?”
A question mark floated above Saya’s head. Then, her face stiffened. An indescribably strange smell, like rotten carrots boiled in dirty water from a trash can, assaulted her nose.
“!!?”
Saya’s face turned green. She quickly set the soup on the table and backed away several steps alongside Hilxi.
“What is this!? Are you trying to poison me?”
Saya pointed angrily at Hilxi.
Was that even drinkable? Even a dog would flee in terror!
“It just lacks a bit in flavor, but overall it’s still quite tasty,” Hilxi replied, touching her nose.
Great, now her sense of smell felt assaulted.
“…I don’t believe you for a second.”
“All right, you drink up slowly. I’m going to buy some bread.”
“…” Glancing at the bowl that was still emitting visible green fumes, Saya hesitated, then said:
“Get me one too.”
In the end, that bowl of Carrot Soup and the remaining potful were thrown out by Hilxi under Saya’s fierce opposition and protest.
She didn’t even want the pot or bowls back.
In the alley beside the Inn.
“My first time cooking ended in failure…”
With a sigh, Hilxi lifted the pot of Carrot Soup and dumped it into the trash bin.
A surge of blackish-green liquid poured out, and the whole, unrecognizable carrot landed among the papers, broken bottles, and some dirty water.
The biohazard-like smell made Hilxi wrinkle her brow. She simply threw the entire pot into the trash as well—after all, Saya had asked her to.
“Fine, I’ll just go back and eat bread.”
Hilxi left, hanging her head in defeat.
Only the dark cuisine remained in the trash, quietly giving off a scent that could make one’s vision go dark.