Chapter 120: The Fourth Member in the Villa
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 120: The Fourth Member in the Villa
"It’s actually getting quite late today, so let’s talk more tomorrow. Since tomorrow is the last day of free time, I’ll take you to experience the charm of the Transcendent world."
Ji Niang glanced at the time and spoke up; after all, she had already achieved her purpose for coming here.
"Eh? Wait, Teacher, you still haven't told me what your research group actually does!" I called out hastily as I watched Ji Niang prepare to leave. If I didn't get this cleared up, wouldn't I be selling myself off blindly?
Even if I was headed for the chopping block, I at least wanted to know why, right?
"Now that you mention it, that is indeed a problem. After all, I only just registered this group with the Academy yesterday. You are currently the only member, and I am the leader. Since that's the case, I'll leave the question to you. You propose a topic, and I will conduct a feasibility assessment. How does that sound? Xiao Han, isn't your guard against me a bit too high? Being like this really wears down my affection for you. I hope you understand that~"
"This..."
I wanted to say something more, but for a moment, I didn't know how to start. Being told point-blank by Ji Niang that my guard was too high left me with no way to refute her.
However, by handing the choice over to me, she was using a method to dispel my wariness. This research group certainly wouldn't focus its primary research on my suggestion; it would likely just be a starting point.
It was probably just her way of placating me in the early stages. But regardless of the reason, I had to take whatever benefits I could get. Since she had given me full authority, I wasn't going to be polite.
If you were to ask what I wanted to know most right now, it would naturally be Spellbooks and Spirit Vision.
If possible, I wanted to use the perspective of my Spirit Vision to deconstruct a Spellbook and understand the principles behind it.
In an ideal state, if I could fully grasp it, I would master the composition of spells, the internal logic of Spellbooks, and... the correct way to use the tool known as Spirit Vision!
What I cared about even more was how to actually utilize Spirit Vision.
Understanding Spellbooks was just an excuse, or rather, a side benefit. I wanted to use this operation to familiarize myself with how to use my advantage in a reasonable, fast, and convenient way.
With that simple thought, the plan was set. There was no backup plan. If Ji Niang rejected my proposal, I would simply say I had nothing else to offer. If we didn't research this, then the group's research would just have to proceed according to Ji Niang's own ideas.
Or she could proactively kick me out of the group, but my initial judgment was that she probably wouldn't do that.
I even felt that this was exactly the kind of proposal Ji Niang expected me to make. After all, I didn't really have any other choice, did I?
Spirit Vision was my greatest utility value—oh, and that [Transcendent Knowledge] fragment.
After finishing the materials related to the Ley Lines, I prepared to head back, picking up a portion of dinner on the way.
However, as soon as I arrived at the villa, I saw that the lights inside were blazing. Although it was just dinner time, it wasn't so dark yet that they needed to turn on that many lights, was it?
What a waste of mana.
I used my room card to open the villa door and saw three people in the living room, watching the television and chatting happily.
My arrival caused the atmosphere to plunge into an awkward silence, leaving only the comedy show on TV playing out a plot that felt ancient to me.
There were three people in the living room. I understood Dongli Yiren coming back early, and I understood Guan Qiuling returning quickly after finding a Senior Sister, but who was this person with the pink wavy hair and revealing clothes?
"Um... hi~ You must be my third roommate, right?" In the end, it was the pink-haired girl who spoke first. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Hong Chenyi. According to the check-in order, I should be the fourth freshman to move in here~"
"Hello, my name is Yang Yuehan."
Though I was quite surprised, since she said she was a member of this villa, I couldn't say much. I had thought she was some playmate Guan Qiuling had brought back from somewhere; after all, the clothes she was wearing really looked like what those Senior Sisters on Sentiment Street wore. Really, really similar...
"Hehe~ I heard them calling you Sister Xiao Han, so can I call you Sister Xiao Han too? Heh, the three of us used to be boys, so please look after us in the future~" As Hong Chenyi spoke, she draped an arm over Dongli Yiren's shoulder like they were brothers. Guan Qiuling was a bit shy and immediately dodged away.
"Huh?"
I raised my eyebrows in shock. I wasn't just shocked that Hong Chenyi admitted it so easily; the key was, how did she convince Guan Qiuling to admit to being a boy as well?
I looked at Guan Qiuling in confusion, and she lowered her head, not daring to meet my eyes.
"Eh? Sister Xiao Han, you didn't know? Tell me, which of my two brothers kept it from you? I can help give them a lecture, maybe some psychological counseling~"
"No, I knew. If anyone was kept in the dark, it was only you." I waved my hand quickly to reject the suggestion. "If I may ask, did you get your room card a long time ago but just never showed up?"
"Hmm? Eh? This... this, how did you know?" Obviously, Hong Chenyi hadn't expected me to ask that so suddenly, and even her tone lost the confidence it had a moment ago.
"It really was you? What have you been doing all this time?" My brow twitched. I hadn't expected this Hong Chenyi to actually be my missing roommate. If she wasn't staying here, where was she?
Sleeping on the streets?
Surely not...
"I... well, I went to work. The job provided room and board. Oh, it was pretty much like that, haha... Anyway, that's not important, not important... Let's change the subject, shall we?" Hong Chenyi explained hurriedly, but it was extremely perfunctory, and she immediately started trying to shift the topic.
"Fine. Since it's personal privacy, I won't ask. Whatever. Formal classes start the day after tomorrow. By the way, have you all checked which classes you've been assigned to? Have you gotten in touch with your teachers?" I could naturally tell that Hong Chenyi was intentionally hiding something, but it wasn't good to press her directly. After all, curiosity killed the cat. If I made the relationship with my roommates awkward, my daily life would become very boring.
Even though my relationship with two of my roommates was already quite awkward.
"Ah? Class assignments? Where do you check that?" Hong Chenyi quickly jumped on my topic. Although she clearly wanted to move past the previous subject, she seemed to genuinely not know about this.
"How can someone still not know?" I looked up at Hong Chenyi with a face full of bewilderment. The notification on the Academy phone had been sent out ages ago. Even if she didn't know, wasn't she worried by now? Why didn't she ask someone?
To stay in the Academy for so long without knowing her class assignment—she really was thick-skinned.
I turned my gaze toward Dongli Yiren and Guan Qiuling, silently asking them as well.
"I'm in Class 105. I told you before," Dongli Yiren spoke first.
"I'm... Class 55," Guan Qiuling added.
My gaze finally fell back on Hong Chenyi, as if asking: How is it that only you don't know?
Are you even a student of the Witch Academy?