Recollection

The witch wiped the soot of her face, turned the other direction so that I would not notice her embarrassed face.

Heh

Despite that though, the red tint of her ears betrayed her.

"Must have been fun, huh?"

The witch turned around menacingly.

I nodded back, satisfied.

"… I swear, one of these days… "

Ignoring the witch's ominous grumblings, I began walking back to the cabin.

My mana was still not completely recovered. Furthermore, the damage on my mana circuits were just about healed, almost back to it's full capacity.

*step step*

Footsteps soon followed behind me.

"What, tired already grandpa?"

She asked in a snarky tone once she caught up to me.

I ignored her.

Silence soon fell after that, not a single soul spoke.

This continued until we arrived at the witch's cabin.

Ignoring the witch's ominous glare, I took hold of the doorknob twisting i—

"… !!"

Ow! What the hell was that?!

An electrical shock ran up from my hand to my arm— the one holding the rune-covered door's knob.

I quickly backed away from the mysterious door.

A number of the door's many runes glowed in varying colors, some blue while some red and orange.

The witch smiled.

"THAT's for not telling me I had dirt on my face."

She lorded over me.

This bitch… !!

I rub my singed hand, a part of it was burned.

Then the witch passed by me nonchalantly, grabbing the doorknob herself.

Before she turned the knob though, she made sure to give me cocky grin that drew in an arc across the side of her face.

Grrr…

Her behavior only infuriated me even further.

*clack*

Without the slightest hint of resistance, the door opened.

I followed the witch inside.

◇◆◇◆◇

"Come back here, you little shit!"

"Never!"

I dove forward, my hand ready to swoop in like a falcon with it's talons.

Alas, it was not that easy.

The kid dodged with impeccable proficiency.

I face-planted on the carpets.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

The kid let out a merry laugh, amused by my suffering.

…

"… There!"

"Ah!"

"I've got you now!"

"N-noooo, lemme go!"

The child writhed around in my grasp, struggling to get out.

I tighten my hold.

"O-owwwww~ My spine~"

The kid whined loudly.

*snap*

"… Ah"

Crap, did I go too far?

Along with the dangerous sound, the kid limped forward.

It was as if he had lost all the bones in his back.

"H-hey, are you okay?"

"…"

The kid did not say anything, his body hunched forward.

Panic overcame me.

"Oh crap… "

I release my hold on the kid, quickly pulling out my phone and typing the universal emergency number.

"Hello, 911, what is your emergency?"

"H-hey, I don't know how… but I think I might have hugged my kid too tight… "

The voice on the other side of the call paused for a second.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I think you're going to have to be more specific than that."

"O-okay"

As I recollected the events five minutes prior, an unusual noise resounded behind me.

*psssh*

I look back, my eyes blazing.

"E-eeep!"

"What do you think you're doing, child?"

"U-ummmm…"

The kid stammered on his next words.

"Ummmm… Ma'am? Is something the matter?"

"You lying little piece of shit!"

"H-heeelp~!"

The kid tried to get away, but it seems he really did injure his back; he limped as he tried to escape.

"You're not getting away this time!"

"M-ma'am… ?! What is going on over there?!"

"Shut up! I don't need you anymore! Also, don't call me Ma'am. I'm a Miss at best!"

"Yeah right."

"Wha—"

As I reached for my phone to argue with the voice on the other side of the call, a loud beep emerged instead.

"That bastard… he hung up on me!"

"Lucky~"

"Silence, you!"

*psssh*

As I got ready to give the kid a thorough pummeling, the door — the one the kid had tried to go through before I caught him — opened.

The elderly man on the other side gave the room a quick sweep with his eyes, observing the chaos.

"I'm out."

""Waaaait—""

A few minutes later…

"So, you're fighting to the death because the kid refused to bathe?"

We were at the living room, with Dilyn sitting on the sofa while I was at the floor, sitting on my legs.

I'm supposed to be his boss… right?

Dilyn gave me a confused look, the creases on his forehead becoming more present.

He craned his neck to the side, and while it may have looked cute or charming in his younger days, it only made him look older than he already was.

I nodded, determined.

"I swear, if this goes on any longer, I'm gonna have to buy straps or get a couple of handcuffs from the precinct again."

"Isn't that child abuse?"

"It's called parenting."

"… Right, let's go with that."

Dilyn gave me doubtful look.

The heck is his problem?

"Anyways, the kid — as usual — tried to escape again. He even pretended to be injured just to distract me."

Dilyn raised his brow.

"Pretended?"

*gulp*

"… Okay, I maaaay have gotten a little too aggressive convincing him to take a bath."

"You know, there are other solutions to your problems." He pulled out a magazine and flipped through the page with a note hanging out. "… Here! 'If you want your kid to listen to you, you should try giving them positive reinforcement. Praise them, reward them, shower them with love and respect. Also, make sure NOT to use violence when convincing them to take a bath, otherwise you might potentially cause permanently cause damage on your growing baby boy. Also make sure to treat your employees bette—'"

"Is that REALLY what it said?

This time, it was my turn to raise my brow.

Dilyn closed his magazine and placed it on the table beside the sofa.

"Pretty much."

*sigh*

"Look, you think I didn't try that already? The kid—"

"Have you ever treated your employees well?"

"No; not that. That will never happen. I'm talking about the first part, the positive reinforcement."

Dilyn leaned forward.

"The kid's an opportunist. The second he sees a window of opportunity, he takes it, no questions asked. I don't know if it's because of his upbringing or something, but the kid is reckless. He doesn't seem to care much about the consequences."

Dilyn stroked his jaw, tousling the small patch of hair that is his beard.

"That's… true." He hesitated. "But that doesn't mean that violence should be your immediate response."

"That's…"

He sighed.

"Look, parenting isn't a one way thing. You need to be able to properly communicate if you're ever gonna want the kid to listen to you. I know it's tough, believe me. But that doesn't mean that you should give up and choose an option you're most accustomed to. That's just not how it works."

Dilyn got off the sofa, sat by my side, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"The kid is still a kid. He's dumb, he's stupid, he'll make mistakes. But that's okay, that's how we grow. And that's how he'll grow, too."

He looked past me, to a door that connected to the bath.

*psssh*

Not a moment later, the door opened, revealing a boy in fresh new clothes and wet hair.

He gave us a confused look.

"… What?"