Chapter 39: Things Settle Down
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 39: Things Settle Down
The battle that had gripped this entire area ended just as abruptly as it had begun. Having spent the entire time shivering on the sidelines, I felt absolutely zero sense of participation.
However, it is a form of wisdom to stay out of matters beyond one's capabilities; I wasn't about to get hung up on something like that.
I managed to persuade the worried Sister Bai to leave, but not before I had her spend some money at the shop. Though, personally, I felt a bit unscrupulous about it.
It wasn't like I was trying to turn a profit, though. I was selling the little cookies I’d made with my own hands. Senior Sister Tang Yihan had said I could do whatever I wanted with them, as these kinds of cookies weren't meant to be sold as official merchandise.
If I didn't eat them or take them, their ultimate destination would be the trash can. I couldn't allow such waste, so I’d kept them.
Seeing Sister Bai this time, I had planned to just give them to her.
But she insisted on paying. Looking at those plain, even slightly misshapen cookies, I could only suppress my conscience and take her money. Of course, I only took a symbolic amount—it felt like I was barely charging her the cost of the ingredients.
Anyway, this wasn't going into the shop's accounts; it was my own "extra income."
Sigh... When did I become like this, doing such things just for money?
Next time—next time, once I’ve improved my skills, I’ll personally bake something delicious and give it to Sister Bai as compensation.
I suppose... that’s all I can do.
Outside, the situation seemed to be calming down.
At least, judging by the way so many Senior Sisters were flying back down, it seemed they were no longer needed as reinforcements. It was a bit of a shame that my strength was so lacking; I had no idea what had actually happened over there.
The distance was too great to hear what anyone was saying.
All I knew was that it was a conflict between two or more academies, and the primary combatants were students. From the looks of it, did the Witch Academy win?
After all, they were fighting on their home turf, so winning was only natural... but was it really okay for that massive hole to be hacked into the academy's curtain wall?
Repairing that would surely cost an astronomical sum. The academy truly is loaded.
Then again, since the damage was caused by another academy, maybe the Witch Academy won't even be the one footing the bill.
The students from the other academy were the ones who broke the curtain wall, so they should definitely pay for it.
I was currently busy with some chores around the shop, like straightening things that had been shifted or knocked over by the aftershocks of the battle.
I also took the opportunity to check for any safety hazards, like cracks in the structure. So far, the place seemed quite sturdy.
I didn't see a single crack on the walls. If this had been one of those "tofu-dreg" construction projects from my old world, it would have crumbled long ago.
Now, I just had to wait for the Senior Sisters to return and take charge. After all, I was just a lowly part-time clerk; there wasn't much I could do.
After waiting a while, the Senior Sisters finally returned.
Seeing them come back, I was so relieved I almost wanted to cry.
However, I had to maintain a professional appearance, so I enthusiastically pulled open the shop door to welcome them back. "Shopkeeper, Senior Sister, welcome back!"
"Aww~ it's my new clerk~" Xia Li saw me coming out to greet them and immediately hurried toward me. It was clear she was in a good mood.
In fact, she was in a very good mood!
Ying Shiqian was naturally with her, but I hadn't expected Senior Sister Tang Yihan to return with the Shopkeeper as well. Had they run into each other while out buying ingredients?
Xia Li reached out and pinched both my cheeks. It was obvious she had a strong desire to interact with someone, as if she had a massive surge of joy and didn't know how else to release it.
It would have been better if I could ignore her tattered clothes. It was clear the Shopkeeper had been through a battle, and a brutal one at that.
She hadn't even changed yet; there were holes in her clothes and bloodstains. If she hadn't been so close to me, I might not have noticed.
"Alright, Shopkeeper, stop bullying Xiao Han," Tang Yihan spoke up to stop her.
"Yihan, how can you call this bullying? Xiao Han, do you think the Shopkeeper is bullying you?"
"Um... no."
I looked into the Shopkeeper's eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. She was the boss, after all. Senior Sister Tang Yihan was right—she was the one paying me. I should be as accommodating as possible.
It was just a little cheek-pinching, anyway.
I’d have to find a way to get her to give me a raise later; that was the proper way to get revenge.
"See? Xiao Han doesn't think I'm bullying her. I'm just so happy today. I finally got to hear the crunch of those birdmen's wings snapping again. It’s such an exquisite sound... especially when paired with their pained wails..."
Xia Li was interrupted again before she could finish, causing her to give Tang Yihan a look of mild annoyance.
"Shopkeeper, Xiao Han is still a new student who just entered the academy. You'll scare her if you talk like that."
"Mm... true. But you get used to this sort of thing. Xiao Han, you're a Prospective Witch now; you'll be running into this kind of thing often in the future..." Once Xia Li snapped out of it, she stood in front of me and started lecturing.
To be honest, I wasn't really scared by what the Shopkeeper said; I just found it novel. The "birdmen" she mentioned were likely the students from that Holy Angel Academy.
I hadn't expected the Holy Angel Academy to be similar to the Witch Academy, to the point where even their races were altered.
The Witch Academy used some kind of mana source principle for Witchification; I wondered what methods the Holy Angel Academy used to turn people into angels.
I was suddenly quite curious.
"Yes, yes."
I put on the look of a humble student, showing no discomfort and offering no rebuttal.
The Shopkeeper was very satisfied with my obedient attitude and gave me an extra bonus for "steadfastly guarding the shop."
The way she said it made it sound like she was just looking for any excuse to give her employee some extra cash.
I have to say, the Shopkeeper looked her coolest the moment she mentioned giving me a bonus!
After chatting in the shop for a bit, the Shopkeeper finally went to change her clothes, urged on by the two Senior Sisters.
At the same time, a "Temporarily Closed" sign was hung on the door. Honestly, it didn't make much difference whether the sign was there or not. There weren't many customers at this hour anyway, especially after what had just happened. However, there were plenty of Senior Sisters out on the street looking for gossip.
The battle had affected many areas. While the bakery was unscathed, the places closer to the conflict would require large-scale reconstruction.
"We're closed for the rest of the day. Don't worry, Xiao Han, today will be counted as a full shift for your attendance. Now, I have an announcement to make!" As the Shopkeeper, Xia Li held the most authority in the shop.
However, when she mentioned an announcement, I was the only one who looked curious. The two Senior Sisters seemed to have already guessed what it was.
"This afternoon, we're all going out for a feast! My treat!"
After hearing that, my enthusiasm waned slightly. Should I say I was surprised, or not surprised at all?
Going out for a good meal was great, especially since the Shopkeeper was paying.
But compared to that, I was more interested in hearing them explain exactly what had just happened.
After all, once the desire for gossip takes root, it’s impossible to suppress.