---

“Wow….”

Iarin reacted to Jinseong’s normal appearance, but her friends beside her had a somewhat different reaction.

“How can someone like that be her brother…?!”

Their words slipped out involuntarily.

How could those two possibly be family?

They looked at Iarin for a moment and then back at the TV.

It was hard to believe that those two were related.

“Seriously?!”

It was as if ‘Seriously?!’ rebelled against their statements.

Expressing its objection to what was said.

But their gazes were icy.

“Looking at your usual behavior….”

“Seeing you around makes me think your brother is some beast…? Yeah, I imagined he’d be beastly weird.”

“You know, the kind that’s almost 2 meters tall with muscles about to burst, with a chest bigger than a girl’s… Arms like tree trunks, and a face that looks like it could hunt and eat a tiger in the wild? That kind of savage vibe?”

“Are you talking about Meng Huo from the Three Kingdoms? All burly with a beard and running around shirtless….”

“You’re bringing up Three Kingdoms again? We don’t even know who you’re comparing it to!”

“Don’t you know Meng Huo?!”

Typically, siblings resemble each other.

Even if they don’t look alike, they develop similarities and common traits.

Therefore, they thought Iarin’s so-called ‘brother’ would be a bit rugged.

They figured he’d at least have some muscles, even if not to the level of a muscle pig. Given Iarin, who was overflowing with energy and wreaking havoc like a large dog, they imagined her brother would have some kind of muscle too.

However, to their astonishment, the TV displayed a completely different man.

A slender and lanky physique.

Muscles that were not built from heavy workouts, but rather just the result of regular maintenance.

Unlike the carnivorous Iarin, he had a gentle-looking face that evoked images of a herbivore… even a small one, really.

How could anyone think of him as Iarin’s brother?

There was no way this appearance could be associated with the brother of a girl who caused chaos like a feline predator.

“Isn’t it amazing….”

Look at that figure.

The way that guy in a suit carried himself.

His gentle-looking face, although he appeared nervous, was enough to evoke feelings of ‘cute’ even though he was older than them.

How could such a timid-looking herbivore possibly be the brother of this living, breathing predator named Iarin!

As the broadcast continued, their questions grew even more.

The image of Jinseong getting out of the car before climbing the mountain.

Dressed in a suit with a yellow flower in his lapel, Jinseong looked less like a savage shaman and more like a stylish wizard. Adding to that, with the laptop bag in his hands, he gave an image of an office worker in the IT industry.

“Hey, Iarin. Your brother’s kinda cute? Can I get his number… urgh!”

Was that it?

One friend approached Iarin to ask for her brother’s number.

Even putting on a level of cuteness that wasn’t usually there.

Iarin responded to her friend’s request fiercely.

She lightly curled her fist and moved like lightning to poke at her friend’s side.

Of course, saying it was just a poke doesn’t convey the truth—after all, her fists were so strong from rigorous training that she could crush a rock with her bare hands. Given her martial arts training, her ‘poke’ felt more like a solid hit in terms of what her friend experienced.

“Ahh….”

The friend who took Iarin’s punch clutched her side and rolled on the ground.

Caught off-guard by the sudden punch, it was unbearable pain.

“Cough, what number? Your brother’s personality is not great, so meeting him won’t end well. So don’t ask that, understood?”

Seeing her friend rolling on the floor in mock pain, Iarin weakly coughed, saying she wouldn’t share the number and to stop bringing it up.

After making such a firm statement, Iarin slowly turned her head to meet the eyes of her other friends.

If you don’t want to end up like that, don’t ask for a number, she implied.

But there was a strange sense of pride on Iarin’s face despite her firm tone. Her mouth twitched as if she was trying not to laugh, and perhaps that caused her pronunciation to falter a bit.

“….”

“….”

“….”

Iarin’s friends stared at her, not out of pressure or dissatisfaction.

They felt something upon seeing Iarin’s demeanor.

“They really do seem like siblings.”

“I’ve seen that expression before. When my obnoxious cousin boasted about me to his friends, he had that same look.”

“Wow, her brother must be amazing to make Iarin show that face. I thought they were both beasts; turns out he might actually be a beast tamer instead of a shaman?”

Even while they spat out complaints, they felt joy at being highly rated by others, just like a family. Furthermore, despite their displeasure at others getting close to their blood relatives, they took pride in that very fact which made it a true sibling dynamic.

When they confirmed a different side of Iarin than the usual whirlwind, they looked at her with curious eyes. Their stares were so direct that it felt like they could read each other’s thoughts without saying a word.

So this beast can be a person after all.

Even if she wreaks havoc, the bond of family remains strong.

Her brother must have a tough time dealing with this troublemaker.

She had always seemed like a beast, but now she looked somewhat cute in a way….

The friends conveyed their message to Iarin with their looks, and understandably, Iarin began to move in response. Just as they communicated silently, Iarin also started to interact with them in a different way.

“Swish! Swish!”

Iarin practiced her footwork and drew closer to them, making sounds with her mouth as if her punches were slicing through the air. It was less of a professional boxer’s jab and more like a feline or bear quickly swiping with its paw.

However, despite appearing clumsy, the effectiveness was outstanding.

She struck with speed that was almost invisible to the eye, and the unpredictable, twisting movements made it hard to anticipate where her hits would land. Also, her muscles, trained through martial arts, created a trajectory that was unexpectedly forceful.

“Ack!”

“Yikes!”

“Ugh! I blocked it… attack—ack!”

Because of that, her friends had no choice but to suffer under Iarin’s antics.

“What the heck? Using a flicker jab combined with martial arts?!”

“Hey! Just because you blocked it doesn’t mean you can hit with the other hand! That’s cheating!”

“Uh, Iarin? While I appreciate the wizard-themed flicks instead of jabs… shouldn’t you ease up a little? My head feels like it’s ringing… it feels like there’s a hole in my head….”

And after that endless round of punishment came the chaos.

The friend who had just received a jab from Iarin, in a desperate bid for revenge, crouched low and charged at her, attempting a wrestling move, while another friend tried to tackle Iarin, who was struggling on the ground, trying to immobilize her arms and legs like an octopus.

Other friends joined in to launch counterattacks against Iarin.

And then….

“Swish. Swish. Whoosh.”

The magic girl who had taken a flicker jab earlier started to use her finger to poke at Iarin’s side, matching her pokes with the sound of wind.

The school was at peace.

* * *

The mansion was peaceful, the school was peaceful, and even the hotel was peaceful.

“Hmm.”

At the top floor of the hotel.

There were two beautiful women, a young girl, and a girl who was still a child.

Beautiful flowers.

The kind of combination that might catch a man’s eye and, if he had courage, approach these beauties.

But who would’ve thought that these flowers were poisonous, thorny, and could walk around to devour people?

The dangerous witches were just as hazardous as their lovely appearance.

And these dangerous witches were currently watching TV.

“The content of the broadcast is… well, mediocre.”

Sitting at the table and watching the TV, the Great Witch said curtly.

As if she were merely watching because the TV was turned on.

One leg crossed over the other, and on the table was the coffee she had specifically requested from the hotel.

This coffee had been crafted by a top barista using beans that earned the prestigious COE (Cup of Excellence) title in the world’s top coffee tasting competitions. Moreover, given the exceptional quality, the coffee she received was made with utmost care.

It wasn’t just brewed casually; it was traditional Turkish coffee made by placing a cezve on heated sand, and it wasn’t made by just any barista, but by a world-renowned one.

The taste of such coffee alone could intoxicate anyone just from its aroma… however…

Odilia’s expression as she drank it was far from bright.

It wasn’t that she disliked the taste of the coffee.

The issue was with the broadcast that was now on screen.

“Tch. Agnes, see how they’ve inserted that strange female celebrity? Doesn’t her presence diminish the quality and make it chaotic?”

 

---