Chapter 33: The Pitied Moran

Chapter 33: Pitiful Moran

"Moran, how much breadfruit juice is in here? Is it not much? I've already had lunch, and I don't even feel full after drinking more than half a cup!" Sylph asked.

"Making this pot probably used about a dozen breadfruits! But it only yielded one cup of juice; the rest is mostly honey and sugar water," Moran said.

"All that just to make one cup?" Sylph said in surprise. "Breadfruit juice is actually quite abundant!"

"I used the most primitive juicing method, so I really couldn't squeeze out any more. I'm not sure if it's because of the method, though."

Moran continued, "Also, the flesh of the breadfruit seems to have very strong water absorption. Instead of juice, what I squeezed out was more like a pulp. I had to filter it several times to get a relatively clear juice."

"I also feel like this juice doesn't provide much satiety," Vasida said. After finishing a cup, she felt nothing. "Has the satiety effect of the breadfruit been weakened or even eliminated?"

Moran nodded. "It seems so."

"The effect of accelerating mana recovery is actually a bit more efficient than eating the breadfruit directly!" Lilith took a sip, and the mana she had just consumed using the Spring Water spell was already replenished.

Only then did Moran dare to confirm that she had truly succeeded this time.

Although the feeling of fullness was affected, for someone like her who was desperate to recover mana, the disappearance of satiety was actually a good thing. She could drink more juice at once, allowing her to recover mana even faster.

Lilith and the others also realized the value of the honey breadfruit juice.

Lilith, whose mana was always in short supply, was the most excited. "Moran! How do you make this? Can you teach me!"

"Of course! I plan to make more! Why don't you all help me? It's very simple!" Moran said.

"Great!"

Lilith and the other two ran back to their dormitories to fetch their tools.

Before long, the sound of mashing breadfruit echoed in Dormitory 69.

*Thump! Thump! Thump!*

*Thump! Thump! Thump!*

...

After mashing for a while, Lilith shook her basin. "It seems the juice we mashed out was absorbed by the pulp again."

"We can just wrap it in cloth and squeeze it out later," Moran said.

"This is way too hard to mash!" Sylph rubbed her wrist; after only a few strokes, her hand was already aching.

She had only brought a small basin, so she hadn't done much.

"It really is hard to mash!" Lilith said. "But once we learn culinary magic, we can use magic to replace this."

"Oh, right! Senior Lilith, don't you know culinary magic? Why don't you use magic to juice it?" Sylph asked in confusion.

Moran and Vasida also looked at her curiously.

Looking at her innocent juniors, Lilith shook her head.

"Do you think culinary magic can just create things out of thin air? You have to master the entire production process yourself before you can use culinary magic to replace it! That's why every gourmet witch skilled in culinary magic is a true culinary master!"

"Is that so? I thought you just used magic to tell the pots and pans how to cook, and then they would do it!" Sylph said.

Vasida nodded as well. Her father taught the family's zombie chef how to cook by giving one command at a time. Although it wasn't magic, she thought it was more or less the same!

"The prerequisite for learning culinary magic is that you must know how to cook yourself!" Lilith said. "And you must be proficient at it before you can use culinary magic to produce it."

Otherwise, why would she be here mashing away so miserably!

"If only there were juicers," Moran said while continuing to mash.

"Juicers? What's that?" the other three little witches asked curiously.

"A machine specifically for juicing!" At this point, Moran realized she indeed hadn't seen a juicer at home.

Then again, in a witch's kitchen, culinary magic solved everything.

With juicing, wooden pestles could move on their own, or ingredients could even squeeze themselves to release juice. It was more useful than an automatic juicer, so who would bother researching juicers!

"A machine?" The three were bewildered.

"Valen might not have a word for it, but on the planet from my previous life, there was no magic. The common energy sources used by humans were oil and electricity. Things driven by oil and electricity are called machines," Moran explained.

"Oh! So that's how it is!" Vasida had already heard her talk about things from her previous life, so she wasn't surprised.

However, Lilith and Sylph were so shocked that they stopped moving. "Pre... previous life? You are a soul from another world..."

Moran lowered her head, her voice dropping low. "It seems I can't hide the fact that I am a soul from another world. Once you know my secret, be careful..."

Lilith and Sylph's hearts rose into their throats, only for someone to suddenly lift her head and make a grotesque face with her hands and mouth

"...Be careful of me! *Chomp!* I'll eat you up!"

After a moment of awkward silence, Lilith said, "Moran, in your last life... you weren't very old, were you?"

"???" Moran protested, "Who says I wasn't young in my last life? I was the last one to die in our shelter!"

"How old?" Sylph looked at her with soft eyes.

Moran spoke with difficulty, "Twenty... but I was a human in my last life! And the last one in the shelter..."

Sylph's gaze was filled with pity. "Poor child, at such a young age..."

"Don't be afraid, Moran. It's fine in this life. Witches have long lives, and mages live even longer... The world of Valen is also very powerful. Although the various races fight, there is no possibility of the world being destroyed." Vasida also offered comfort.

"I was just trying to make a joke, I'm not actually childish!" Moran said, trying to save face.

"Don't say any more! We understand!" Lilith said.

Vasida and Sylph also nodded.

Unable to defend herself, Moran eventually gave up. "Forget it, let's hurry up and juice!"

After working for several hours, Lilith and Sylph each made a large jar of honey breadfruit juice.

Moran and Vasida made a bit more, totaling a large pot.

After sealing everything and placing them in buckets, Lilith applied a Freezing Spell to each of their buckets. "This way, we'll have iced juice to drink tomorrow."

"I can already imagine the envious looks from the other little witches tomorrow!" Vasida chuckled.

"On the way to the castle tomorrow, Moran's little classroom can open again!" Sylph added.

"From now on, everyone won't have to endure the sourness or force down breadfruit just to replenish their mana."

Moran was very happy to be able to help the other little witches, and she planned to make the recipe for honey breadfruit juice public.

"That won't do!"

A voice rang out in her ear.

Moran and the others froze, then looked at each other.

None of them had said it.

They looked around in terror.

There were only four of them in the dormitory, yet a fifth person's voice had just spoken.

In an instant, the hair on their necks stood on end.