The Good Witch of the Lake

Her two hands can cast magic, yes, but they can't clean the room. If someone asks why, 'Because I'm a witch'—is what she's going repeat as an answer, indefinitely.

Thinking that the conversation is over, she proceeds to confirm what Harij has brought. Okay, it seems that everything I asked for is here. When she starts to work, the conversation ensues.

"Oi. What's this?"

"Oh, that's a lettuce from a few days ago."

Harij is obviously disgusted by the plate of wilted lettuce in front of him.

She snacks on them in-between all her potion mixing sequences. She seems to have forgotten about that one. It's tip is already discolored, the whole thing is obviously no longer edible.

"…Witch-dono always and only eats lettuce. Is there something particular about it?"

"Not really. The only vegetable in my garden is lettuce. Also, it can be eaten without any preparation."

"Wha—" He's dumbfounded again. "Other than lettuce, you eat nothing else?"

I wonder why he's asking all these questions. Is he, perhaps, curious about a witch's diet?

"I do. When I go to the Capital, I usually try out different foods …but basically, yeah…" Roze nods.

Suddenly, Harij stands up and approaches her—

—and grabs her wrist. Roze is greatly taken a back. She starts having double-vision. Moreover, his movement when doing this is so fast, befitting of an S-class Elite Soldier.

"Even chicken legs haves more meat than this—!"

"Uh, uhm, you…"

Their distance is really close. Roze feels like she's going to break in sweat from every single pore on her body at any moment. And his face is too handsome!—wait, how many times have I said this already? Doesn't matter—his face is too handsome!

Not only that, the thickness and length of his eyelashes are four times her own!

Once Roze can no longer endure that closeness, she turns away.

That's when Harij realizes what he has been doing is uncouth. He says "I'm sorry," as he releases her hand.

"…No problem." After some time, she can finally squeaks out those words. She presses her hand against her chest, and indeed, her heart is pounding like crazy.

After regaining her composure, she speaks in a dignified tone. "From now on, we shall proceed with the available materials. It'll take some time, so please come back in a month."

"I have to wait again, huh…" Harij complains, not caring whether she'll overhear him or not. Towards this, Roze only lowers her head.