Chapter 11: Is it funny that I’m in so much pain and can’t sleep?

When little Charlotte woke up, she found herself lying on a soft bed. The ceiling was unfamiliar; it didn’t seem to be her room.

Through the window, she could vaguely see a flock of sparrows chirping on a tree branch and a field full of colorful flowers.

“Where am I?”

Before she could figure out what had happened, a sharp pain shot through her head.

“It hurts……”

Little Charlotte couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

Just a moment ago, she had been fighting fiercely with that black-haired witch. Then she was suddenly hit on the head with something hard and passed out.

Before she fainted, she thought she heard the black-haired witch say that the move was a “sleep spell.”

‘But this sleep spell… why did it feel like it was a physical kind of sleep?’

“Are you awake?” a familiar voice came from the side.

Little Charlotte turned her head towards the sound and saw the black-haired witch sitting properly on a chair not far away, holding a gold-trimmed magic book in her hands. On the table next to her was a freshly brewed cup of red tea.

Seeing the black-haired witch who had given her a thorough beating right before her eyes, little Charlotte panicked. She quickly scrambled out of bed to prepare for battle, but her bare feet got tangled in the bedsheet, and she fell straight off the bed, her nose making intimate contact with the floor.

“Oh my? There’s no need to give me such a grand bow.”

“I wasn’t bowing to you!”
Ignoring the stinging pain on her face, little Charlotte quickly got up again, clenching her small fists, ready to continue the fight.
“Do you still want to fight me? I’m not afraid!”

Seeing little Charlotte’s serious reaction, Chloe couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Hahahaha… I won’t fight you anymore! Because you’ve passed!”

“Eh? Passed?”
Hearing this, a look of bewilderment appeared on little Charlotte’s face, and her clenched fists relaxed.

In order to learn magic, she had come to the back mountain to find this black-haired witch, and the witch had readily accepted, on the condition that she could pass her simple test.

And so, she had been thoroughly beaten in this “simple test” and had nearly lost her life.

After all that hard work and effort, she had finally passed the hell-difficulty test.

“Does that mean… I can learn magic now?” Little Charlotte’s eyes lit up.

“That’s right. However, it seems you’ve already learned a lot of spells!”

“I learned those from a magic book at home. I could never get them to work before, no matter how hard I tried. But after I figured out the reason why I couldn’t use magic, I became proficient with them.”

“You really are a magical genius, little sister! Don’t worry, with my training, you’ll soon become a very powerful witch!”

“Really? That’s great! I can finally learn magic!”

Little Charlotte couldn’t help but cheer with a look of joyful surprise.

“By the way, how should I address you, older sister?”

“Me? My name is Chloe Luna, the newly promoted Night Witch of the Starsea Magic Academy. You can just call me Sister Chloe, little Charlotte!”

“Okay, Sister Chloe… eh? I don’t think I’ve introduced myself yet. How do you know my name, Sister Chloe?”

“Because I’m a witch. It’s perfectly normal for witches to be omnipotent! There’s no time to lose, little Charlotte. What magic do you want to learn the most? I’ll teach you right now!”

“I… I want to learn flight magic!”

And so, little Charlotte’s magical journey began.

And then…

“Ahhh—”

Late at night, a few days later.

The bright moonlight shone through the window onto the bed.

Little Charlotte, wearing only a loose undergarment, was drenched in sweat, clutching the bedsheets, and panting heavily.

“It hurts, it hurts so much, my body feels like it’s going to split open!”

****

“Master, are you hiding something from me?”

The next day, little Charlotte came to Chloe’s residence and stared at her with a dissatisfied expression.

At this time, little Charlotte was only six years old. Even with Chloe sitting in a chair pouring red tea, little Charlotte had to tilt her head up to look directly into Chloe’s eyes.

“Eh? What are you talking about? Why would I ever deliberately hide something from you?”

“You’re still playing dumb, Master! Why has my body been in severe pain these past few days? It’s like something is about to burst my blood vessels! I never had these symptoms before I started learning magic with you. What did you do to me?”

“Heehee, you’re only just noticing? You’re quite slow, little Char!” Chloe said, sipping her red tea with a pleased look.

“So it was you, Master! You’re too much! I’ve been in so much pain these past three days that I’ve just been rolling around in bed, unable to sleep at all. How are you going to compensate me?!”

“Little Char, do you know why other witches don’t start learning magic until they’re ten?”

“How would I know? You never told me!”

“That’s because, before the age of ten, their bodies are in a period of rapid growth and development. If they start learning magic at this time, the magic circuits will form and solidify in their bodies. But as their bodies continue to develop, the already fixed magic circuits will pull against the body, causing unbearable muscle pain. After the age of ten, the body’s growth slows down, and the formed magic circuits can be adjusted at any time.”

“So you mean, no matter who I studied under, as long as I start learning magic now, this pain is inevitable?”

“That’s right!”

“Why didn’t you tell me something so important from the very beginning?” little Charlotte said, angrily punching Chloe’s knee.

“If I had told you from the beginning, what if you got scared and didn’t want to learn magic with me? I wouldn’t let a little girl with as much magical talent as you go to anyone else!”

“Hmm…” Hearing Chloe’s “I’ll cherish you and you alone” kind of words, little Charlotte couldn’t help but blush.

“Even so, what am I supposed to do now? I haven’t slept well in three days. If this continues…”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already thought of a countermeasure!” At this, Chloe suddenly pulled a small pill out of a dimensional space and handed it to little Charlotte.

“Eh? Is this a painkiller?”

“Something like that, but it’s not for you to use on yourself.”

“Hmm? Then who is it for?”

“The effect of this pill is to transfer all of your pain, in full, to someone with whom you have a contract. A blood relationship is also a kind of contract. As long as you give this pill to someone who is related to you by blood and is of the same gender as you, you won’t feel any pain tonight.”

“Huh? That’s so selfish! How could I ever do something like that? Don’t corrupt a child, Master!”

“It only transfers the pain. The side effects of the pain will still affect you. Besides, this pain may be unbearable for you, but for someone else, it might be as simple as eating a meal.”

“Will that really work?” Looking at the strange little pill in her hand, little Charlotte had a skeptical expression.

“It’ll work, it’ll work! You’re so cute, little Char, you’ll be forgiven no matter what you do!”

“I have a feeling you’re pushing me into a pit of fire, Master.”

“That must be your imagination.”