'I mean, as long as I'm careful I should be fine - I wonder why they recruit young when it's important to be careful actually, teenagers aren't exactly a group that'd typically be all that frugal with magic.'

' - hmm, you're right, that's weird.  'Nother thing to ask Kyubey about, maybe.'

'Yeah. Teenagers sound like a bad idea all around for optimal witch hunters, we also don't tend to have a lot of freedom of movement. I wonder if Kyubey's still nearby so we can ask?'

'I'm not sure... Kyubey?'

'Yes?'

'Why do you only give magic to teenagers?'

'It's complicated, and it has to do with the way magic works.  I'm not completely qualified to explain it, honestly!  But basically, a magical girl's strength comes from her emotions, and teenagers' emotions make them really good magical girls.'

'Huh. Yeah, teenagers are pretty emotional. So after puberty most people calm down too much? And is it just girls, then?'

'Basically, yeah.  Boys can't become magical girls.'

'That's. Weird. But I guess no one ever said magic has to make sense.'

'They didn't!'

'You know, I never realized how utterly bizarre so many anime tropes are until I was living them! ...I wonder if magical girl stories are actually inspired by people who know about the real deal? Or at least the ones that established the genre.'

'That could be!  It would be weird that magical girls were such a trope and there were also be the real thing running around, if they weren't related.  ...Hey, Kyubey, do you know how long witches and magical girls have been around?'

'I don't know exactly.  It's all been going on since long before I was born.'

'How old are you?'

'I'm only a few years old!  But we mature quickly.'

'Oh wow. I guess aliens would mature differently, huh. What's the oldest magical girl you know about, then?'

'I think that's Mallory.  But I don't know very many magical girls other than you.'

'So aliens don't really have history lessons on historic magical girls, huh. Still, cool. If you're only a few years old, who contracted Mallory?'

'Another creature like me did it.'

'Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you for answering my questions. I think Kaylee had a few, also?'

'Go ahead, Kaylee!'

'If I were to become a magical girl - I'm not sure I am yet, but if I did, could I wish to know how to make a vaccine that humans can't make?  Or for an example of something that humans don't know how to make, but that doesn't work by magic?'

'Hypothetically, you could.  But wishes are granted using magical power derived partially from the strength of your feelings about them, and it can be hard to feel passionately about something like that in the right way.  I'd have to check your potential properly to be sure whether you could do it or not, and I'm not near enough to do that right now.'

'We should meet in person soon.  Maybe not tonight, though, I may need the rest of the day off from magical girl stuff.'