Wolfe had seen some big families before, and the Noxus house back in the Morgana Coven Fortress City was full of vaguely related family members, but when he walked in the door, he realized that they had nothing on these witches.
There were no fewer than twenty children under the age of eighteen visible in the common area near the front of the house, and only a handful of adults.
"Everyone, please Welcome Mister Wolfe of the Fae Forest. He came here to investigate the ruins for us and has agreed to stay the night and accept our hospitality." The older woman informed the crowd in a well-practiced voice that Wolfe suspected would carry to all corners of the house.
The adults waved noncommittally, but the children rushed forward to say hello.
The wave of bobbing ponytails and braids made Wolfe realize another thing. There was only one man among the crowd, likely the Captain's father, and one son among all the kids.
The average might be one to six, but this family was almost all female witches.
The older woman chuckled at Wolfe's look, then spoke some words of reassurance. "There are more boys, but they all went out to play kickball along with some of the older girls. Today is the first day of the weekend in Myrrh Coven, so everyone is off their duties except two daughters who work at the grocery store."
There were this many kids in the house, and it didn't include the ones that liked to play outside. She really wasn't joking about her mother being a part rabbit. She must have had one nearly every year and convinced her daughters to start doing the same.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAs the wave of small children ran up to hug him, Wolfe realized that they were all quite promising. Far more than he had felt out of the older witches, as the Curse hadn't really had time to settle into them yet.
That gave him a great idea. He could earn a bunch more [Favors] as well as the gratitude of the family if he would heal the kids before he left. In Wolfe's mind, it was a genius plan.
This family was clearly influential in the village, as they had both the Captain of the local guard detachment and the government leader among their ranks, so if they owed him favours, he could secure long-term allies for the Den with their help.
"The little ones show a lot of promise, don't they? How about I help them out a bit so that the bloodline curse doesn't damage them any more than it already has?" Wolfe suggested to the family matriarch.
"What do you mean by that? It's a curse. The damage is already done." She questioned.
"On the contrary. They are born with the curse, but the damage only really starts after puberty, and it's done by the time they enter the Academy. If I take action early, I can prevent most of it, especially for little darlings like this one." Wolfe replied, indicating a girl of about three years old who had latched herself to his leg.
She was enjoying the warming feeling of mana that Wolfe constantly exuded thanks to [Clarity], the bloodline skill that made him gather mana as if he was meditating all the time, and she showed no signs of wanting to let go.
"Nana, you can't eat pants." The older woman admonished the girl, who had a mouthful of Wolfe's pantleg, to see if she could suck the mana out of it.
"It's an armour spell. She won't cause any damage." Wolfe laughed as her mother picked the little one up, inciting the most heartbreaking pouting face Wolfe had ever seen.
Wolfe turned his attention to a girl of about twelve, who his mana sense showed had incredible potential compared to her peers and smiled.
"How about it, little one? Would you like to be the strongest witch in the family when you grow up?"
The little girl's eyes lit up, and she nodded rapidly but didn't say a word while she hid behind the couch.
"Come on over here, and I will show your mom how it works." Wolfe offered.
It felt a bit like he was luring children with candy, but nobody tried to stop her as she made her way over to stand in front of Wolfe with an expectant look.
"Is it like the story of Myrrdin and Morgana, where a kiss from the Demon Prince made her the most powerful witch ever?" She asked.
It was a popular kids' fairytale, a modification of the founding of the Morgana Coven. Myrrdin was supposed to be a powerful Magi, and his memory was the reason that the Coven had taken in so many humans and powerless witches while the other Covens wouldn't let them into the Fortress Cities after the war.
Of course, they still did their best to purge all functional Magi survivors, but they didn't go after the powerless members of their families, which led to the current situation with the Crime Families, but that was a whole other matter and not common knowledge outside of Morgana City.
"I'm not as great as Myrrdin, so I don't know if you'll be the most powerful ever, but how about a forehead kiss to make you the strongest in your Family?" Wolfe laughed.
"You've got a deal, Mister Wolfe." The girl giggled, then turned her head up expectantly.
Wolfe took her hands in his and carefully channelled mana to force the curse out of her organs and mana gland, leaving a pool of inky black curse sludge on the floor underneath her as he forced the curse out of her bare feet to save her dress from staining.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThen he placed the kiss on her forehead and added the barest hint of mana to wake up her aura before letting her hands go.
"Well, what do you think? Did I keep my promise?" He asked.
"There is only one way to tell. Auntie Anna, can I borrow your army sword?" The girl replied, meaning one of the older women in the room.
None of them seemed to have realized what happened yet, though the family matriarch was giving a concerned look at the black sludge on her hardwood floor.
One of the adults handed the girl a short sword in a scabbard with the Myrrh Coven Defence Force logo on it, and the girl carefully drew the blade, then scrunched up her face as she tried to channel mana for the first time.
The blade lit up with magical fire, and the shocked girl almost dropped it before recovering and swinging it happily around over her head.
"NO swords in the house." The Captain's mother shouted, then realized the absurdity of what was going on.
The girl wasn't even a teenager yet, but she had activated the attack spell on the sword. She now had one magic-using preteen in the house, with attack magic, and a very amused Demon Lord cheering her on.
"Release the spell and put the sword away. No playing with weapons indoors." She repeated, and the girl reluctantly complied, then sheathed the blade and handed it back to her aunt, who was looking at Wolfe in shock.
"Tell me that you activated that spell for her." The woman demanded.
"I did not. She did that all on her own. Now, what do you say that we try this with more of the girls? It will make pillow fights way more fun."