The Witch and Gretel - Chapter 5

Gretel came out of the lab and became alone with Katarina, but he remained silent. However, as soon as he got in the car, he started talking like a puddle.

“Is my name Gretel? What did Katarina think of for naming me?”

Katarina opened her mouth while watching Gretel climb up to the auxiliary seat of the car and close the door quite nicely.

“You’re Gretel now, and you’re a witch.”

“Witch?”

Gretel’s face, which was staring at Katarina with his eyes round, soon turned white. He must have thought of a crazy old woman wearing black clothes, giving off a strange smell, kidnapping and eating young children. The only knowledge one can get from the word witch is the level of common sense that people on Earth have. Well, it’s not that different.

It is useless to explain what you are to a witch who will die soon. Katarina tried to let Gretel misunderstand properly, but she felt uncomfortable when she saw her child’s hands shaking.

Yeah, if you’re scared, you could run away. Let’ me explain it in moderation. 

Katarina opened her mouth by turning the steering wheel.

“The knowledge that humans have about us is superficial and narrow-minded. Um… it means it’s very skewed. Even most humans think we don’t exist.”

Gretel moved her head diligently whenever Catarina said anything. When she saw a child listening to what she said, she felt a little less annoyed.

“In general, each universe belongs to a certain dimension. But this dimension is more fluid than you think, so if the universe or a particular planet meets some kind of condition, it will move on to another dimension.”

It came out loud, but Gretel could only hear Katarina’s voice. The child nodded eagerly at her words.

“These conditions include how good and evil the creatures that live on the planet are, how ordered or confused they would be.”

Katarina quickly continued after seeing Gretel’s face covered in confusion.

“Let’s just say that if people are very nice and orderly, the planet will fall into an orderly paradise, a chaotic hell if it’s very bad and not orderly.”

This time, Gretel nodded quickly. Katarina smiled softly, checked the signal, and stopped the car for a moment.

“We are the people who help the universe or planets maintain their place in a neutral position without being biased toward good, order or chaos.”

“Is that what you call a witch?” Gretel’s head tilted sideways.

“They call themselves witches, but they are officially called gods of harmony.”

Other tribes call us fanatics, but….

Gretel made a complicated expression at Katarina’s words.

“Isn’t heaven good?”

“We don’t think so.”

“Why?”

This time, Katarina looked quite complicated.

“That’s what they look like. You’re a little weird. Do witches usually think that? Is it because you’re young?”

“Witch?”

Katarina nodded at Gretel, who pointed at herself and was surprised.

“You’re a witch, too. Why, did you think you were a person? There’s no way a human can walk and talk after two months of being born or being born from a cabbage.”

Katarina slipped her eyes on Gretel, stepping on the accelerator, following the straight signal. The child seemed a little embarrassed, but he didn’t cry or make a fuss. Katarina spoke with a slight relief and soothed the child.

“If you listen carefully, I’ll make you my disciple.”

It won’t happen, though.

“Disciple?”

“If you become my student, you can live in my house. I will feed you and teach you magic. I’ll write you a job recommendation. If you become an adult and you don’t get a job as a member of the harmony, you’ll be used as fuel for a mana generator, until your death.”

“I’ll listen to you.”

“Yes, yes.”

Katarina smiled pleasantly at Gretel, who answered quickly.

Is she this naive?It’s easie to seduce people with moderately frightening them.

“Was Katarina someone’s student, too?”

“Rachel, who I just met, is my teacher.”

Gretel, who recalled Rachel’s snake-like eyes, crouched her neck.

“Why don’t you live with Rachel?”

“I like being alone.”

“I like Katarina… And I want to keep living with you.”

At Gretel’s desperate appearance, Katarina couldn’t resist and burst out laughing. When he reaches out and pats his head, he smiles softly in relief. I thought that look was cute for some reason. Maybe more than the owl or the cat I had.

“I’ll listen to you. I’ll learn magic hard, too. Then can I keep living with Katarina?”

“You won’t think like that when you grow up as much as I do.”

“No!”

Gretel gasped as if she were surprised by her voice. Katarina blinked and looked at Gretel. Oh, look at this.

I don’t think she’ll run away if I do well. 

She thought that she should keep her in the closet until she gained more weight, but the situation is going better than she initially thought of.

She’ll be useful.

Katarina smiled pleasantly as she recalled a pile of dishes piled up in the sink.

Yeah, that’s a good intention.

Katarina thought of what she needed to raise Gretel. First of all, the basic thing that people needed to live was food and shelter. You just have to put one more plate and fork at each meal…There’s no room for another bed in Katarina’s house and she didn’t want to install hammocks in a small house.

Oh, there was a sofa. I’ll clean it up and use it as a bed. Oh, and….

Katarina quickly turned the steering wheel toward the mall.

No matter how young she is, this is too much. Gretel’s outfit, which looks like she walked out of a medieval fairy tale book, is an absolute no-no.

Katarina picked up a moderately colored dress and confronted Gretel. She thought it was because her face was pretty, but it fits her well. Gretel’s expression is weird when she tries to pack her clothes.

I guess she didn’t like it. Pity.I have a taste for this kind of place.

Katarina kicked her tongue and opened her mouth.

“Do you want to choose?”

Gretel looked around and asked with a sullen face.

“How long do I have to wear these clothes?”

She ended up laughing out loud at the words. She guessed she didn’t want to wear miniskirts or skinny jeans like Katarina does.

“When you grow as tall as I am, I’ll let you wear what you want.”

I’m sure that won’t happen.

Gretel bowed her head as she looked at Katarina, who was smiling. Then he mumbles.

“I’m not a woman….”

“Huh? What?”

“I don’t want to wear women’s clothes. Can’t I wear men’s clothes?”

The smile slowly disappeared from Katarina’s mouth. Gretel looked at her once and bowed her head. Katarina didn’t say anything. The two remained still for a while.

The first thing that moved was Gretel. The child took a deep breath. She made a determined expression and made eye contact with Katarina.

“I’m a man.”