"Psst. Can you get closer to the man for me?" the mouse whispered.


    Veronica gave the mouse an incredulous look.


    How exactly was she supposed to do that?


    She wasn''t exactly in the position to do anything.


    The mouse seemed to realize the same thing and whispered, "Can you just drop me on him?"


    Veronica took a moment to glance at the leader of the invaders, who had an ugly expression on his face.


    Judging the distance between the two of them, she wasn''t one hundred percent sure it would work out. While the man wasn''t that far off, she would still have to toss the mouse so it would reach the man. There was a decent chance she would mess up, and the mouse would end up plummeting to the ground. She didn''t want that responsibility on her hands.


    As if reading her mind, the mouse whispered, "Don''t worry about me. I''m tough. I''ll be fine."


    She still hesitated before freeing one hand and holding it out to the mouse. It calmly hopped onto her hand as she glanced back at the leader of the invaders. Steeling herself, she raised her hand. Her action didn''t go unnoticed, but it was too late to stop her as she hurled the mouse at the man. Her aim held true, and the mouse landed right dab in the middle of the man''s face. For several moments, no one reacted.


    Then the man exploded in rage as Leta demanded, "Veronica, what are you doing?"


    Veronica didn''t answer as she was distracted by the barrage of questions the mouse was spitting.


    "You. Did a strange person speak to you before you came here? Did they do anything to you? Did they say where they were going?" the mouse asked as it clung to the man trying to throw it off.


    She was honestly impressed. Despite being just a mouse, it couldn''t be moved by the man.


    "Get off!" the man snarled as he failed to tear the mouse off of his face.


    "Answer my questions," the mouse demanded, its claws digging into the man''s face.


    Veronica watched the squabble for a bit longer before looking over at the newcomer, expecting her to snap at them, and was surprised to see that the witch wasn''t making a move. In fact, the witch simply watched with a slight glint in her eyes that Veronica assumed was interest.


    It was hard to say since Veronica didn''t know the person well.


    "Veronica." Leta''s voice drew Veronica''s attention. "Where did that mouse come from? How is it talking?"


    "I really don''t know. It showed up out of the blue," Veronica said.


    The look on Leta''s face told her that Leta wanted to ask more about the subject, but a path of ice shooting up towards them distracted them. Veronica''s eyes widened at the sight of Deville calmly rising into the air on the path of ice.


    When Deville was on the same level as the group, she said, "I hate to interrupt, but I am the host of this witching hour party and need answers for what''s going on."


    The newcomer tilted her head slightly as she said, "It''s been some time."


    Deville narrowed her eyes. "Lucida Sangrey. I didn''t expect to see you here. Last I checked, you had completely secluded yourself after what happened to your disciple."


    This certainly caught Veronica''s interest.


    I''ve never heard of a Lucida Sangrey, but she must be someone important. What happened to her disciple?


    She wasn''t the only one eagerly waiting to hear what Deville had to say as everyone''s eyes were on her. Unbothered by the looks, Deville continued to stare at Lucida.


    Lucida finally broke the silence. "Yes, I did retire for some time until I received some unpleasant news regarding my former disciple." Then she glanced at the man who had stopped struggling with the mouse and venomously glared back. "I didn''t expect her to degrade herself to this point."


    Leta and Veronica shared a confused look.


    Neither of them seemed to have a clue what Lucida was talking about and could only come up with some guesses. Veronica was leaning onto the idea that the disciple had disappointed her mentor in some way and they cut ties with each other.


    Deville grimaced at the man before saying, "I see. This is not a simple matter, but I don''t approve of you stealing two of our young witches and putting them in this kind of situation. Return them back to the ground."


    "I can return this one," Lucida said, pointing at Leta. "However, I will be keeping these ones." Her finger shifted from Leta to Veronica and her baby sister.


    As Deville''s grimace turned into a frown, she said, "I can''t allow that even if we''re old friends. Return the children."


    "I can''t do that. I''ve decided that these ones will be my new disciples."


    Seeing Deville''s bewildered expression was priceless. This was probably the first time that Veronica had seen the witch completely out of her element. Even when the invaders attacked, she hadn''t shown a hint of being rattled.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "You what?" Deville raised a hand and massaged the bridge of her nose with the other. "I''m not going to even bother asking why, but it''s not possible. She already has another witch guiding her."


    "It''s not a problem. I can take it over from here," Lucida said without batting an eye.


    "Lucida, even if it''s you, you can''t just appear and kidnap a witch to be your disciple."


    "If the issue is about having a mentor, then I will take the other under my wing."


    Deville shot Lucida a perplexed expression and looked back in Veronica''s direction. She studied the trio when her eyes suddenly widened. Her head snapped back towards Lucida.


    "You can''t just take a random human baby as a disciple," Deville said.


    "It''s not a random human baby," Lucida said calmly.


    "It''s clearly a human baby."


    "In your eyes, that might be the case."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Take another look."


    <hr>


    Veronica curled in on herself at the intense look Deville was giving her.


    What was there to see?


    Her baby sister was one hundred percent human. She was certain of it. Well, maybe not one hundred percent, but she was still very certain her baby sister wasn''t a witch.


    Leta chose that moment to step forward and ask, "Can you put us down? Staying up here is uncomfortable."


    This drew Deville''s attention. "She''s right. This isn''t the right environment to have this conversation. I still have to calm the other witches as well." She glanced at Lucida before adding, "We can talk about this more in private."


    Lucida stared back for a few moments before snapping her fingers. Suddenly, everyone was back on the ground, and Veronica nearly tumbled over from the sudden movement. Leta leaned against Veronica to steady herself.


    "I will be waiting," Lucida said.


    Without waiting to hear Deville''s response, she flew off with the clown and the leader of the invaders trailing after her. None of the others dared to get in her way and stepped aside so they wouldn''t be barreled over. Watching them leave, Veronica felt like she was forgetting something, but she couldn''t quite put her finger on it.


    That''s when she remembered the mouse.


    She raised a hand. "Wa—"


    However, it was too late. They were already gone.


    Her hand hung uselessly in the air before she reluctantly lowered it as Leta asked, "Veronica, what was that all about?"


    With her mind still on the talking mouse, Veronica dumbly said, "What?"


    "What do you mean, what? I''m talking about all that."


    It took Veronica several moments to finally get an idea of what she was referring to and try to explain. In that time, Deville chose that moment to get to work in dealing with the aftermath.


    The witches dispersed, separating into groups.


    Several groups were dedicated to cleaning up the place. Others were focused on checking the surrounding area to make sure they hadn''t missed a single invader and dealing with anything that shouldn''t be there. A select few had the important task of interrogating the invaders to find out how they knew about the witching hour party, how they got in, and why they attacked.


    Veronica and Leta watched from the sidelines as ordered by Deville.


    Deville refused to let them out of her sight, so they were stuck waiting around until everything was done with nothing to do. Veronica couldn''t decide if that was a good or bad thing.


    "Are you okay?" Leta suddenly asked.


    Tearing her gaze away from her sleeping baby sister, Veronica said, "Huh? Yeah. I guess." An awkward silence stretched between them until Veronica blurted out, "So this is a witching hour party."


    Leta grimaced. "It''s never been like this before. I''m sorry that your first witching hour party turned out like this."


    "What are you talking about? It''s also your first witching hour party. You didn''t do anything."


    "I know, but you were so excited about it that you got special permission to join."


    It was Veronica''s turn to grimace.


    If she hadn''t put up such a fuss to come, she wouldn''t have been caught up in this mess. However, it was too late to complain about it. She was just glad she made it through the party.


    "Well, there''s next year, right?" Veronica pointed out.


    Leta blinked before giving a small smile. "That''s right. There''s always next year."


    They took a moment to bask in the calm while everyone was busily working.


    "So...what are you going to do about the witch''s offer?" Leta asked.


    "I don''t know," Veronica said honestly. "Am I allowed to change my mentor?"


    "I mean, technically, all witches older than you are your teachers. It''s not really a strict master and disciple relationship unless both want it."


    That was true. She never called the witch who taught her quite a bit her master. In fact, she couldn''t recall anyone calling another witch their master. Since no one made a big deal about it, it never really crossed her mind until now.


    She yawned, feeling the night''s events finally catching up to her. Her head nodded off a couple of times as she blinked her eyes several times to stay awake.


    Veronica was certain that she would be out a couple of hours the moment she closed her eyes. She still needed to return home after everything was settled, and she couldn''t do that if she fell asleep. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.


    To stay awake, she pinched her cheek. The pain helped a little, but it wasn''t enough, so she continued to pinch and pull on her cheek.


    "What are you doing?" Leta asked.


    "I''m trying to stay awake," Veronica said in between pinching and pulling her cheek.


    "Are you worried about getting home?" Without waiting for Veronica''s answer, she continued, "You could ask one of the other witches for help."


    Who am I supposed to ask exactly? Deville?


    She doubted any of the witches would be interested and willing to carry the two of them home. They would probably be exhausted and wanting to go home too. The only people she could think of that might help her out were Leta and Deville. Leta was obvious since she was her friend. Deville might help out since she was the host, but Veronica wasn''t completely sure about it.


    The sudden movement in Veronica''s arms drew her out of her thoughts. Looking down, she saw her baby sister opening her eyes. The two of them stared at each other for several moments before her baby sister reached up to grab Veronica''s nose, or at least tried to.


    "No, don''t do that," Veronica said as she kept her face out of her baby sister''s reach.


    Leta leaned towards Veronica as she said, "Your baby sister was pretty calm this whole time. I''m surprised."


    "No, she did cry a bit a few times."


    "I think no one would blame her if she chose to cry the entire time."


    "Leta. Veronica." Deville''s voice pulled their attention away from the baby. "We need to talk."