Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 702 Superstitious Fairy Tales (Second Update)

As the orange-red afternoon sunlight slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows and shone onto the Italian sofa in Wanda's high-rise apartment in Manhattan, the Maximoff siblings were reunited. The distance from the Avengers base to Manhattan wasn't long in Pietro's eyes, given his training. He casually made up an excuse about wanting to buy candy and disappeared from Agent Hill's surveillance, unaware that the base's vending machines had all sorts of candy, and he could take as much as he wanted with his access privileges.

Stark would use money as much as possible to make his like-minded friends comfortable.

This meeting was not as tense as the last one; instead, it returned to the atmosphere of a long-lost family gathering, with both Maximovs putting the matters of the Immortal City and the Avengers to the back of their minds.

Wanda proposed cooking a meal for Pietro without using magic, so her brother could see her progress outside of magic. Pietro was worried. As far as he knew, Wanda's only experience in the food service industry was at a foreign-owned fries shop. To get that job, she had to work as both cashier and cook—the only things she learned, besides how to take change from the counter without being noticed, were how long to keep the fries in the fryer. Every cooking session after leaving the castle was a challenge for her, especially after learning alchemy from Salomon. Pietro was even more worried that she might throw magical herbs into the pot, since he had personally heard Salomon teach her which herbs could be used in cooking.

He was still laughing foolishly then, unaware that that day would determine his current fate, giving him a new understanding of destiny. Pietro glanced at the dangling earring on Wanda's earlobe. It was an exquisite piece of jewelry made of gold and rubies, and without anyone explaining, he knew where it came from. Just like the origin of this apartment, the furniture, and even the clothes Wanda was wearing.

He looked around, making sure there were only traces of Wanda's life there, before finally letting out a sigh of relief. He didn't mind Salomon and Wanda dating, but the information he had indicated that Salomon already had a partner, and his silly sister's one-sided affections would only provoke resentment. He planned to find an opportunity to talk to Wanda about it, but not today. A few days ago, during a mission together, he had accidentally said something wrong, and Wanda's expression had turned quite unpleasant. Today was a family gathering; there was no need to bring up unhappy things.

"This is Scutellaria baicalensis, a kind of herb. Don't disturb me while I'm making soup, Pietro. This is a dish I learned from the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. I've tasted it once, and it's quite good. This is fig; I'm planning to make you a salad. Figs are also magical ingredients, so don't touch them."

Hearing Wanda's words, Pietro panicked, especially when he saw the exquisite landscape and portrait paintings on the bread Wanda had baked. Childhood fairy tales flooded his mind. Now his sister wasn't an ordinary person, but a witch from a fairy tale, just like Baba Yaga! With so many magical herbs mixed together, he might turn into a teapot or tableware after eating it! Pietro was unaware that his superstition had crossed geographical and copyright boundaries, leaping from Slavic fairy tales to Western European fairy tales, from folk tales to Disney stories. He rolled his eyes, trying to find a topic to distract his sister so he could use his superhuman speed to throw those things off the balcony.

"Perhaps we shouldn't eat mullet."

"I'm not going to resurrect barracudas I bought from the supermarket and put them back. I guarantee barracudas don't grant any wishes. Don't be so superstitious, brother." [Note 1]

"Alright, let's change the subject. Speaking of which, aren't you proud that we've uncovered a centuries-old mystery, my sister? You've found the truth behind the Poliiledori haunted house! Even though you only walked along the riverbank, you still managed it!"

"We ended up calling the police anyway." Wanda didn't look up, but focused on taking the blanched meat out of the pot and setting it aside, showing none of the proud expression Pietro wanted to see. "This wasn't something we solved; we just did a little bit."

"But the skeleton you wanted was dug up by me! Did you forget? My shoes are soaking wet!" Pietro casually walked over to the pot. He crossed his arms, leaned against the kitchen counter, and his face was full of displeasure. He secretly tested his ability and was quite certain that he wouldn't get burned by the pot, because his super speed ability slowed down the rate at which heat was transferred to his fingers.

The physics books Salomon brought from the castle helped him understand the principles, though he merely wanted to test the theory—he was not one to blindly trust books. This wasn't due to a liberal spirit that defied authority, but rather because he had never practiced physics and harbored a natural distrust of knowledge learned from books rather than from real-world experience. Until Salomon's arrival, he had only received a very basic general education, learning almost entirely from life experiences. If it weren't for Wanda's persuasion and the kindness of others he encountered, he might never have had access to books and would have remained a standard illiterate in a war-torn region.

"My superpowers aren't for this. Without you, this problem would never be solved."

"Your superpower is only useful for running to town to report the crime after digging up that skeleton, and incidentally bringing that priest over so he forgets we were ever here," Wanda said with a laugh. She picked up a knife and started chopping vegetables. The sound of the sharp kitchen knife cutting on the cutting board gave Pietro goosebumps, just like when he stood in the shallow riverbed, slowly digging those almost crumbling skeletons out of the mud with his bare hands. It wasn't that he hadn't seen dead people before; during the Sokovia incident, no matter how hard he tried, there were always situations where rescue was delayed. However, just looking and touching are not the same concept, especially when it's a dead person from seven hundred years ago.

The thought sent another chill down Pietro's spine.

The witch smiled smugly. She quietly blew upwards and tossed her meticulously manicured bangs to express her feelings. "The priest's expression when you brought him out of the church was absolutely ridiculous! He prayed so many times; I can't believe anyone can speak so fast."

"I hope your magic won't leave any lasting effects after messing with his mind."

"I've already compensated him. All the paranormal enthusiasts in London will be flocking to his chapel to buy his fabricated book. Before that, maybe only the two of us bought his masterpiece, Pietro."

"Speaking of which, what happened to that skeleton in the end?"

"The skeleton has been burned under surveillance, so you don't need to worry about evil spirits entering your dreams."

"Ghost, are you sure I'd be afraid of something like this? Shouldn't you be the one worrying about this? Oh... you're a witch!"

"I'm a witch, and we're siblings, so of course I know what you're thinking," the witch snorted. "Take your hand off the snake meat and don't disturb my cooking. I promise you won't die after you eat it. If you touch my pot again, I'll turn you into a rat, and then there will be one more rat with superpowers in the world."

Pietro was filled with despair for the future.

[Note 1] From "Emmeria, the Wise Woman"

That concludes today's update.

(End of this chapter)