Chapter 161: The Promise Unilaterally Broken by Sister Bai
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 161: The Promise Unilaterally Broken by Sister Bai
"Excuse me, can I get an interview? Just a few questions! Our News Agency will definitely report the truth! We don't use clickbait titles or take things out of context!"
The senior sister looked at me with a gaze full of sincerity. If it weren't for the fact that she was currently chasing me on a broom—a bizarre sight that made my brow twitch—I might have actually believed her!
Seeing that I remained unmoved, she played her trump card. "I—I'll pay the interview fee out of my own pocket!"
"An interview fee? Fine. Let's discuss the price first." I pulled an emergency brake and came to a halt. If there was money involved, she should have led with that!
She made it sound like I was unwilling!
"Eh?" The senior sister clearly hadn't expected such a reaction. She couldn't stop in time and went sailing right past me.
She had to pull a wide U-turn before she could fly back.
"So, you're agreeing?"
"Let's see what the interview fee is first," I said, getting straight to the point.
"Uh... well, do you want money or something else?" she asked awkwardly.
As a reporter for the News Agency, she had naturally encountered all sorts of interviewees. Those who asked for money upfront weren't rare, but she hadn't expected someone like me to be so... down-to-earth.
But if I was willing, everything was negotiable!
"Hmm, money is so tacky. Can you give me Mana Sources? Or maybe a Spellbook?" I asked tentatively.
At this stage, I wasn't exactly hurting for cash. Although I didn't have a steady income since I wasn't working part-time at the bakery anymore, the academy subsidies were enough to keep me going for a while.
Besides, with my current strength, would I ever really need to worry about money? Even if I hadn't yet figured out how to monetize that strength.
Still, it was more cost-effective to get things more valuable than mere currency.
"Eh? A Spellbook? That's impossible... Would a Small Spellbook work? Or Mana Sources, but not too many."
"A Small Spellbook? The kind without a ritual inside?" I asked to clarify.
"Yes, exactly. Is that okay?"
"It's... not out of the question. But those Spellbooks aren't very powerful, are they? Aren't they everywhere in the academy? I see them at street stalls all the time." I continued to downplay the value of the Small Spellbook. They were sold at stalls, sure, but they weren't cheap. I was just setting the stage to hike the price.
"Uh... then what do you want?"
"Add some Mana Sources," I said firmly.
"More Mana Sources? This... I can only give you one, okay?" The senior sister looked like she was haggling over her life's savings, as if giving even one was agonizing.
"One is boring. Let's say five."
While one or five wouldn't make a massive difference to my overall strength, if I could fight for more, I obviously would.
I still remembered how happy I was to get a single spell and one Mana Source back when I joined the club. Now, I was looking down on them... life really does change fast.
"Five? Don't push it! Two, max!"
"You're the one asking me for a favor, remember?" I reminded her.
"But... five is too many. Three, please?"
"Hmm... I'll meet you halfway. Four. Tell you what, I currently have 266 Mana Sources. If you give me four, I can round it up to an even 270. How about that?"
"270!" The senior sister was visibly shocked by the number. "Really?"
"It's a lie. Give me four Mana Sources, and I'll tell the public it's true."
"Deal! Here, take them!"
"This..." Seeing how quickly she agreed, I immediately regretted it. I had clearly asked for too little!
I watched as she pressed the Mana Sources into my body, acting as if she were afraid I'd back out. I couldn't even transfer Mana Sources yet, which suggested this senior sister wasn't as simple as she appeared.
"And here is the Small Spellbook. Please keep it safe! Now... can we start the interview?"
"Mhm... let's head down. It's awkward talking up here in the sky."
"You're right!"
After she landed with me, she found a good angle and switched into professional mode.
"Are you recording video? Can we skip that?"
"Well... a video report is more convincing, you know..."
"Just take a photo. Forget the video."
"Fine, fine." The senior sister dejectedly packed away her recording equipment and took out a notepad. "Can we start?"
"Yes." I nodded.
"According to rumors, your Mana Source count has reached 270. Is this figure accurate?"
"Uh... it's roughly that." I saw her winking at me repeatedly. I guessed this was for the official record?
Fine. Since I'd taken the bribe, I might as well cooperate. This information was going to come out sooner or later anyway, including the Spellbooks I owned.
"Great. Next question: What are your thoughts on this morning's elimination match?"
"Hmm... it made me realize that having more Spellbooks is a good thing."
"Uh, didn't you feel any regret, sadness, or disappointment about losing?"
"Is your life so pathetic that you only think about how sad and miserable failure makes you?" I countered. "Failure is the mother of success. If you don't learn from your mistakes, how can you succeed?" I started churning out motivational fluff.
Reporters loved that stuff, didn't they?
Personally, I felt that failure was just failure. It wasn't something to be celebrated; it just made me realize, with cold clarity, that I had lost.
I would find ways to improve and change myself because I had the resolve to do so, not because failure "taught" me a lesson! Failure only serves to chip away at one's confidence until all the sharp edges are ground down.
"Uh, ah~ is that how a genius thinks? I guess I still have a lot to learn."
"Next question: Before the Great Melee this afternoon, someone saw Tan Han confronting you. What was that about? Are you comfortable sharing?"
"Confronting? That's not the right word. Student Tan Han and I were just complaining about the matchmaking system in the Freshman Competition. We had a friendly exchange; there was no 'confrontation.'" I lied through my teeth with a smile. It wasn't like they could go and verify it with Tan Han, right?
Not a chance.
"Is... is that so?" the senior sister asked awkwardly. She didn't seem to believe me, but since the interviewee had said it, she had to record it as truth.
"Yes," I nodded seriously.
"Then, I'd like to ask: what Spellbook was that fire spell you used for the final blow to break Tan Han's transformation?"
"Fireball Spell. Didn't you hear the commentator during the live stream?"
"Uh... well, a Fireball Spell shouldn't be that powerful, right?" This time, the senior sister was actually breaking a sweat. My answer was way too dismissive!
"Oh, I just detonated the entire Fireball Spellbook along with the spell. That's pretty much it."
"Eh? Then the Fireball Spellbook you used this afternoon..."
"A new one, obviously. It's just a one-consumption Spellbook."
"That... actually makes sense..." For a moment, the senior sister didn't know how to argue. It still felt weird, though. A Fireball Spellbook was one point of consumption, while Tan Han's transformation spell cost a thousand Mana! If blowing up a single Spellbook could break such a terrifying spell, then why were they all chasing thousand-consumption Spellbooks?
Trading one Spellbook to break one high-level spell was an incredible bargain.
But reality obviously didn't work that way.
"Next question—"
"Wait. I've already answered four questions, and you gave me four Mana Sources. The interview is over." I cut her off immediately.
"Eh? No, wait! I'll give you more Mana Sources! Please, just one more question!"
"Bye-bye~"
I wasn't falling for it. I hadn't known the market rate before and let her get four questions out of me for four Mana Sources. Her next questions were bound to be even more tricky. Did she really think she could get more out of me for just one or two Mana Sources?
No way!
And looking at how stingy she was, I probably wouldn't get much more out of her anyway. If I didn't run now, when would I?
Using my superior flight skills, I quickly shook her off. Or perhaps she realized I wasn't going to cooperate and gave up.
Regardless, the whole thing was a minor diversion. I'd traded some information that was already public—or about to be—for four Mana Sources and a... small spell.
I'd call that a win.
Besides, I had never used a spell that didn't have an internal ritual as a driver.
I quickly integrated it into my body, eager to see what this spell was like.
What was the effect? What was the structure? Without a ritual as the core driver, how did it use those structures to create a magical effect? Was it like a scientific approach to utilizing transcendent energy? Or was it an application of transcendent knowledge and laws? Ultimately, the essence was likely the same.
Once the Spellbook was inside me, I realized it didn't have a detailed manual, only a name.
Mud Jet!
It seemed... this spell was indeed a disappointment.
However, its consumption was on par with my Cleaning Spell, making it a decent nuisance. In the future, if I ran into someone I didn't like, I could just splash a face full of mud on them. It was a double-whammy of direct blinding and mental damage.
I did a quick test. Aside from spraying a stream of yellowish-brown mud, it had zero offensive power.
The mud was purely a magical effect; it could be wiped clean with a Cleaning Spell and didn't leave any actual dirt behind. It seemed to be a spell effect achieved through the Wood Element. Its maximum duration was currently unknown, and I was too lazy to test the data right now. I'd save that for when I was bored out of my mind.
"Xiao Han?"
"Huh? Eek!" A sudden voice from behind made me jump. I hadn't made it back to the dorm yet, and being called by my nickname in an unfamiliar place was terrifying.
But when I turned around, I saw it was Sister Bai.
"Oh, it's just you, Sister Bai. You scared the life out of me. How did you find me?" I asked, patting my chest.
"I've been following you since you came out. I saw someone tailing you and got worried, so I came over. I didn't get a chance to speak to you earlier," Bai Yu explained naturally.
"I see. Then... uh, you know about the News Agency thing?" I asked, scratching my head sheepishly.
"Mhm. Next time you run into those News Agency types, don't believe everything they say, and don't go chasing every little petty advantage. Understand?"
"Got it," I promised, looking like a dutiful, obedient student.
"Good. By the way, Xiao Han, do you have any other plans for the afternoon?"
"Plans? Hmm... I want to start studying Runes. Starting from the basics," I said after a moment of thought.
I really did want to study them. I could have spent this time researching Spellbooks to bring my other spells up to the same level of understanding and modification as my Fireball Spell. After all, with the experience from the Fireball Spell, other Evocation spells were basically just the same thing in a different package.
But I wanted to use the momentum of my self-realization from today's battle to kickstart my Rune research.
Besides, today was only the first day of the Freshman Competition.
I refused to believe I'd be matched against Tan Han again in tomorrow's two-hundred-person melee! What were the odds?
Furthermore, the academy had to consider a very practical question: if Tan Han faced me again, could she even win?
Lina had given me so many Spellbooks. Even before, I had managed to push Tan Han to the brink with just a few spells.
What about now?
Since they claimed Tan Han was the "protagonist" and that there were interests involved, would they really dare to risk me interfering again? If I were them, I wouldn't touch that risk with a ten-foot pole!
"Studying Runes?"
Bai Yu's eyelid twitched at my words. Rune-related subjects weren't even part of the mandatory curriculum at the Witch Academy; even as an elective, it was quite niche.
This was because Runes were a discipline heavily tied to the theoretical construction of spells. However, Spellbooks allowed everyone to skip the most important part—the theoretical framework. No one wanted to do the thankless work of learning that in the early stages. Only the introductory courses even mentioned spell principles and Elemental Theory.
She had once thought about casting spells without the limitations of a Spellbook, but the power of spells cast that way was underwhelming.
So... she had asked her mentor.
Her mentor didn't approve of the idea. Jumping out of the Spellbook framework was considered unwise, but she respected Bai Yu's resolve and let her try on her own. She had even recommended professional materials and information on Runes. Bai Yu hadn't expected Xiao Han to encounter Runes so quickly.
Was it because of the advantage of her Floating World level Spirit Vision?
But Bai Yu quickly realized now wasn't the time to dwell on that. If Xiao Han wanted to study, she would support her wholeheartedly!
Just as she hadn't insisted on Xiao Han staying away from Tan Han after Xiao Han learned the truth about the "Script." The "third choice" was Xiao Han's own idea, and at that moment, Bai Yu knew Xiao Han was no longer the child who needed her constant guidance.
And if Xiao Han wasn't a child anymore, didn't that mean she could already... Cough. Stop. Bai Yu forced herself to stop overthinking. Things hadn't progressed that far yet!
"Sister Bai? What's wrong? Are Runes really hard to learn?" I asked, unable to resist interrupting her daze.
"Huh? No. If you want to learn Runes, I'll naturally support you. But Xiao Han, aren't you going to try out your new Spellbooks to get a feel for them?"
"It's fine~ I don't have any urgent needs right now. Unless you want me to go for first place in the Freshman Competition? If that's the case, I could..."
"No! Why would I want you to fight for first place?" Bai Yu explained hurriedly. If I fought for first, wouldn't I have to face Tan Han again?
No, it wasn't just facing Tan Han; it was facing the entire Script, and in a direct, confrontational way!
When she had tried to change the Script herself—even before it started, and not even against the protagonist—she had suffered severe injuries. The only result was a negligible change to the Script's background summary... or something like that.
Xiao Han facing Tan Han in the first round was a classic setup. No matter how exciting the process was, the ending was always...
"Since you don't have any demands of me, I don't feel any pressure~" I said lightheartedly. I mainly wanted to lighten the mood and stop the conversation from spiraling into a serious, stiff topic.
"Don't worry~ my focus was never on the Freshman Competition. If it weren't for the fact that the Class Monitor has to show up, I wouldn't even have bothered."
"You don't want the rewards?"
"The rewards... well... I'll take what comes. Besides, aren't the rewards all Ley Line products? I haven't studied the Ley Lines much, and I don't plan to go in that direction." I said nonchalantly.
"But the rewards for the top ten are more than just that. Although they haven't been announced yet, high-consumption Spellbooks, massive amounts of Mana Sources, powerful alchemical items, and transcendent artifacts will certainly be included."
"Hmm... but fighting for the top ten means I'll inevitably run into Tan Han, right? Didn't you tell me to—"
"Are you worried about that? Didn't you say you wanted to choose your own life?"
"But... keeping my distance from Tan Han was a promise I made to you, Sister Bai!" I said seriously.
How could I go back on a promise? For the sake of that promise, I had even let my relationship with Tan Han get a bit strained.
But in reality, I didn't have any major conflict with Tan Han. I didn't even care about that first match. I actually had a good impression of her; after all, who could hate a friendly, wealthy girl?
"Ah? Because of that?" Bai Yu was momentarily stunned. "Then let that promise end here. I can't let it force you to compromise on your life choices."
"But breaking a promise just like that..."
"Xiao Han, that promise was made when you were in the dark. I set it out of my own selfishness. But your choices have proven your resolve, and they've shown me my own mistake. So... just consider it a unilateral breach of contract on my part. It's my fault for breaking the promise, so I'll make it up to you later~"
"I see. We can talk about compensation later. Just like the help you've given me, I'll repay it in the future. Let's not dwell on it. By the way, Sister Bai, are you busy?"
Hearing her words, I understood what she meant. It was a signal that I could choose my own path without reservations, especially regarding Tan Han.
I wondered if my previous words had affected her. I hoped not. But there was no need for "compensation."
After all, even without Sister Bai's restriction, wasn't Tan Han still a huge source of trouble?
It was the same either way. Just keep a level head.
"Me? I don't have anything urgent. Why? Does Xiao Han have a private life now?"
"Something like that. I was thinking of heading back to the dorm. It's... not very convenient to bring you back there..." I got a headache just thinking about my roommates. I didn't dare come clean to Sister Bai about them!
"I see. Then you go ahead. I have things to do as well, though they aren't urgent."
"Mhm~ See you later, Sister Bai~"
After saying goodbye, I headed back toward the villa.
I wondered how they would react when I got back, considering the massive scene I'd caused today.
I really wanted to get along with them, but they seemed to have a bit of a barrier with me because I was hiding the fact that I was originally a boy.
But I didn't want to break my new life. Exposing my past would only link me back to my old life. It was a difficult choice.
Even though I knew by now that the girls in class didn't harbor any hatred toward students who had transitioned from being boys—and were even more willing to play with them—I was the Class Monitor. The Class Monitor being a former boy... could they accept that?
Maybe I should see a psychologist. I felt like so many things were bottled up in my heart, things that even my two lifetimes of experience couldn't overcome.
Since the Witch Academy abducted so many boys, they must have psychologists specifically for providing counseling to them, right?
With those thoughts in mind, I pushed open the front door of the villa.
"Sister Xiao Han! You're back!"
As soon as I opened the door, I heard Hong Chenyi's loud voice. Even though I was used to her behavior, it still caught me off guard.