Is It Weird for a Guy to Apply to a Witch School?

“Welcome home, Master!” chirped the flat smart butler, hovering by the door as I walked in.

This thing had nothing better to do? Didn’t all that zooming around burn mana?

I checked the villa’s mana meter. This place ran on a shared pool, and if it ran dry, how was I supposed to charge my phone? Beg a senior to juice it up? No way I’d stoop to treating someone like a power bank. Who’d agree to that?

I got curious, though. Freshmen like me, barely trained, couldn’t control mana well. So how did we recharge the villa?

Crouching by the meter, I saw it had over 300 mana left. No clue how it was measured. One mana core per unit?

After poking around, I found a curled-up notice. It explained mana storage—automatic, but I had to be the generator.

Great. At least 300 mana should last a while.

One problem down. Now, time to clean this whole villa!

When I first moved in, I only tidied my bedroom. The rest? Ignored.

This was a big job. Three floors, including a huge rooftop terrace that needed sweeping, too.

“Master, are you cleaning the villa?” the smart butler piped up as I cast Cleaning Charm.

“Yup. Move over,” I said, scooping it up and setting it aside. This text is hosted at novel·fıre·net

“Master, keeping the place clean is MY job. Leave it to me!”

“You? A vacuum bot? How’re you gonna clean walls, windows, ceilings, furniture?” I scoffed, ready to dunk on it.

Then I felt it—a familiar energy radiating from the bot.

“No way… Cleaning Charm?” I gaped, stunned. A vacuum bot with THAT?

After the shock, I remembered Bai Yu mentioning that this thing was an alchemical, mana-powered gadget.

I swallowed hard. Talk about overpowered. They programmed a Cleaning Charm into a vacuum bot?

And here I was, all proud of learning it myself.

I stared as the bot zipped around, its Cleaning Charm blasting a patch of floor spotless, working like it was having the time of its life.

Then it rolled back.

“Hey, where are you going?” I called, my confidence shaken. “You’ve got a Cleaning Charm, so clean the whole place! You’re in charge now.”

Time to let this bot do the heavy lifting.

“Master, my mana’s drained. If I don’t head back, you’ll have to carry me to recharge,” the smart butler said, its voice noticeably weaker.

“No mana? Does the Cleaning Charm burn that much?” I asked, trailing it, my mood perking up.

“Yes, Master.”

“What’s your max capacity?”

“One standard mana.”

“One standard mana?” I frowned. Same unit as the main meter? One charge eats one unit?

“Yes.”

“How much to clean the whole villa?” I asked, zeroing in on the real issue. Time to reclaim some pride.

Maybe this thing was too power-hungry. I’d rather do it myself.

“About ten charges.”

“Ten standard mana?” My jaw dropped. Thirty cleanings, and the villa’s power would be toast?

This place had other mana drains, too!

No way. I couldn’t let this continue.

My mana core was just one, and I had no clue how fast it’d recover. No chance I’d sit here playing power plant.

“Smart butler, no more Cleaning Charm for cleaning!” I snapped. “Only use it if something’s really dirty. And stop zipping around—save power!”

I blurted it all out, hoping the thing understood.

“Understood. Switching to energy-saving mode. Full cleaning canceled,” it replied.

I sighed, relieved. It got the message. I hadn’t realized this villa had such a mana hog. Were there more like it?

“Smart butler… do you have another name? Calling you that feels clunky.”

“No, Master. Please name me, or use a past name at random.”

“Past name?” I eyed the bot. Secondhand, huh? Made sense—this villa had housed who-knows-how-many seniors.

“Yes. Activate one?”

“Go for it. Let’s hear what the seniors called you,” I said, curious.

“Activated past name: Little Work Slave.”

“Wait, what? Your name’s WHAT?” I blinked, sure I’d misheard.

“Little Work Slave.”

“Pfft—haha!” I cracked up. “What kind of name is that?”

I couldn’t hold it in, laughing so hard I nearly doubled over. Which senior came up with that? A joke?

“Little Work Slave, haha!” I wheezed.

“Master, I’m here,” it said.

I caught my breath, wiping tears. I kept the name. It was too funny, a spark of joy for my dull days. Hope my mystery roommates liked it.

Since Little Work Slave was a bust, I’d have to clean the villa myself.

It’d be exhausting, but the satisfaction of a spotless place would be worth it.

I started with the first floor. The lawn outside? Not my problem. Even if I wanted to trim it, I didn’t have the tools.

No way I was crawling around pulling weeds.

But man, the Cleaning Charm was a game-changer. Washing dishes with it? Way faster than by hand.

Sweeping through the villa also helped me get the lay of the land. I lived here, but I didn’t poke around every corner daily.

Still, I needed to know where things were in case it mattered.

While cleaning, I found dust and grime caked in forgotten corners. Guess Little Work Slave missed some spots.

Those nooks took a few zaps of the Cleaning Charm to get spotless. Looks like past seniors relied heavily on that bot to keep the place tidy.