Chapter 440: The Radicals and Conservatives of the Witch Academy
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 440: The Radicals and Conservatives of the Witch Academy
"Oh? Dean Mei~ What a coincidence! To think I’d run into you here?"
Dinah, who had just been kicked out of the plantation by Aphra with nothing left to do, had barely walked a few steps when she encountered a familiar figure.
"It’s not exactly a coincidence; I came here specifically to look into the situation," Dean Mei Lind replied, making no effort to hide her intentions.
"Eh? Does the Dean really need to grace such a small matter with her presence? Oh, it’s a clone. Well, that explains it. Is Dean Mei really that concerned about Xiao Han’s affairs?" Dinah wore an expression of feigned confusion as she looked at Mei Lind, then added, "Since you’re here to look into things, why don't we head to my cat café for a chat? Or the consultation room works too~"
"The cat café, then," Dean Mei replied, not standing on ceremony.
A moment later, the two witches appeared in one of the most unique themed cat rooms within the Witch Cat Café.
"Make yourself at home. Want a cup of coffee?"
"A cup of black tea, please."
"Getting picky, are we? Fine, fine. Since you’re the Dean and you work so hard every day—even handling small matters like this personally—I’ll let you have a taste of my craft."
"Thanks. I was just speaking casually; I didn't expect you to actually have any."
"It’s a cat café; of course we have everything. But seriously, Dean Mei, what exactly are you here for this time? Xiao Han, the Fool's Dream, or the Fool's Dream Drink? None of that should be a big deal to you, right?"
Dinah was well aware of the relationship between Mei Lind and the Fool's Dream. Or rather, she knew those Fool's Dream had originally belonged to the Dean. In the Witch Academy, most Transcendent Witches knew what the Dean had been up to previously. The only baffling part was why she had handed everything over to a student.
But baffling or not, witches didn't necessarily need a reason for their actions. Sometimes, a simple "because I feel like it" was enough for a witch to stake her life. This was no joke, let alone when it involved a Great Spellbook and a biological race that might give birth to Primal life.
"I’m just a bit surprised at when Xiao Han managed to learn the brewing techniques for the Fool's Dream Drink and how she collected those fruit seeds from the Fool's Dream behind my back."
"You didn't know? Oh... wait, you were originally planning to set a trap for Xiao Han, weren't you? That Fool's Dream Drink clearly has traces of magic potion brewing. Did you help the Fool's Dream with that? Or did you facilitate it?"
"Don't make me out to be the villain. I only taught them a few minor potion-making tricks; I didn't interfere much beyond that. Besides... why would I set a trap for Xiao Han? I was just calculating the timing. Without a specific ritual, I feared the Fool's Dream would find it difficult to suppress their nature as dream creatures and might drift away from reality."
"Oh, I get it, I get it. Just a casual move on the chessboard, right? But it looks like your plan is going to fall through. Xiao Han really learns everything—she even learned the Fool's Dream Drink brewing. She might even be a hoarder, seeing as she collected the seeds too."
"Indeed." Mei Lind pressed her fingers against her temples.
"So, what are you trying to get Xiao Han to do?"
"Was I being that obvious?"
"Don't forget, I’m a master of psychology!"
"A half-baked one at best. You should stop trying to use that self-taught micro-expression analysis on me."
"Fine~ It seems Xiao Han’s business isn't the main issue. So, what’s really going on? Why the long face?"
"Bev gave me a difficult problem that affects the entire Main World. She wants me to persuade the other academies to cooperate," Mei Lind said.
The thought of that woman wanting to connect the players from that game world to the Main World gave her a headache.
It felt like retaliation. After all, May had used Xiao Han to locate the small world ahead of time without giving Bev a heads-up...
Just look at how those players had ravaged that small world. Although May hadn't visited it personally, it didn't mean she didn't have a general idea of the situation, especially after Xiao Han's descriptions. However, that wasn't the real problem. What made her head ache was the proposal for the next phase of the plan.
In the current Main World, Transcendent power and ordinary people were completely partitioned, operating under a "no trespassing" policy—at least on the surface. However, the Transcendent academies remained the dominant force.
Bev Alanna’s intention was clear: she wanted to break this partition and bring the Transcendent into the public eye.
Normally, such a thing would never be agreed upon. However, the fusion of that small world with the Main World would inevitably cause Transcendent anomalies affecting the entire globe. With that as a starting point, the subsequent chaos caused by those players wouldn't be so unacceptable.
In fact, this approach aligned with the philosophies of certain Radicals, particularly those within the Witch Academy. The Main World had been peaceful for too long; it needed a global calamity to act as a filter.
Yet, Bev Alanna was actually a Conservative within the Witch Academy. She believed the Radicals were still too timid. The script had already begun. Once the script was complete, the concept of the soul would be implanted into the concept of the Main World’s River of Ley Lines, allowing new soul-life to replace the old soul-essence life.
The Main World’s policies encouraging childbirth had led to a population explosion, which necessitated a "cleansing" to facilitate the soul-essence cycle.
However, the Main World’s own soul-essence was far from enough. The cycle needed replenishment. One small world wasn't sufficient, but that game world—the one that loved plundering soul-essence from other worlds—was perfect.
A massive influx of soul-essence would give the Main World more foundation to revive the scorched earth that had become ruins. After all, population was the foundation of a world.
Once everything returned to tranquility, new vitality would be born from the midst of death.
The population would undergo a rotation, and the world would be rebuilt. In the grand scheme of history, this would be nothing more than a disaster from outside the world left behind as the Main World progressed forward.
With the reconstruction of the Main World, the news might attract even more Transcendent races to join and cooperate. By then, this Main World would evolve to an even higher level.
Witches were not the type to be content with the status quo of the Main World, and that was the crux of the issue.
Moreover, all of this was still in the conceptual stage and had yet to be implemented.
Setting aside whether the other academies would cooperate, even if they did, they would encounter countless difficulties.
And could the other academies not see the intent behind the Witch Academy’s actions?
Of course they could. The Witch Academy dared to do this because the witches were confident they could make the Main World's "pie" larger, ensuring they would get a bigger slice. But the other three Transcendent races lacked that confidence.
To them, it was better to maintain the status quo than to take such a risk.
It was a choice between immediate interests and long-term gains. If this plan were to be implemented and the cooperation of other Transcendent academies secured, the Witch Academy would need to guarantee their interests.
Naturally, many witches within the academy advocated for simply ignoring the others. After all, fools who stayed stuck in their ways would eventually be phased out.
But witches were witches, and the Witch Academy was the Witch Academy. While the witches might talk big to express their attitude, the collective would still prioritize profit and convenience. Otherwise, they would just be flipping the table.
However, it had to be made clear that witches weren't afraid of flipping the table. That was a necessary threat.
"Wait, what?" Clearly, while many within the Witch Academy were aware of these matters, Dinah was not among them.
After Mei Lind gave her a brief summary, Dinah was visibly stunned!
"So, how do you plan to choose?"
"Go for it, obviously! May, what about you? You can't possibly wimp out, can you?" In her excitement, Dinah forgot to address her as Dean, but Mei Lind didn't mind.
"I naturally want to do it, but you have to understand—I’m the one who has to do it. I’m responsible for the most troublesome part. If any other witch were doing this, I wouldn't hesitate for a second."
"Then I guess it’s hard work for you~ Our Great Dean~" Dinah quickly realized something. "Wait, Dean Mei, does what you’re saying have anything to do with why you’re here? You’re not planning to make Xiao Han cooperate with you on something, are you?"
"I do indeed need Xiao Han’s cooperation."
"No way. Is Xiao Han already at the level where she can participate in events of this magnitude?" Dinah asked in shock.
"Anyone can participate; it’s just a matter of suitability. Xiao Han isn't a Transcendent Witch yet, and she has severed her Ley Line Shackles. She is an extremely convenient back-up for locating that game world."
"Wait! Locating? Xiao Han? Are you sure?"
"Xiao Han has a reverse summoning spell. This time, she located the void coordinates of that small world even faster than the void squad led by Bev Alanna. Did she not tell you?"
"Huh?"
"It seems she didn't. I thought she would have told you. I originally planned to use this opportunity to save the Fool's Dream and have them help out as a form of insurance. Now, it looks like that might fall through."
"So you knew all along that this would happen to the Fool's Dream! You owe me a pot of precious magic potion! I invested a good chunk of my savings into that! Do you understand? If I’d known this was your doing, would I have needed to go through all that?" After hearing the explanation, Dinah felt a sharp pang of regret for her wallet. She really wanted to grab the Dean by the collar and interrogate her, but given the other's status, she settled for verbal abuse.
"But haven't you already gained a group of adorable cat-girl Fool's Dream? I recall you once begged me to use Metamorphic Incubation to help you breed some little cat-girls. Now, I’ve done it for you," Dean Mei said flatly.
"That! That doesn't count! Those belong to Xiao Han!"
"Oh? Now they belong to Xiao Han? You seemed pretty enthusiastic about bringing them to your cat café, though."
"You..." Dinah was clearly fuming. She had hoped to squeeze some benefits out of the situation, but instead, she had ended up digging a hole for herself. Damn it, is being the Dean really that great?!
"Hmph! Witches who play these games have hearts as black as ink. Since you couldn't get Xiao Han, you’re grabbing me as forced labor?"
"Who said that? I’m only here as insurance, to ensure nothing goes wrong. If I were to ask Xiao Han face-to-face, do you think she’d refuse? I bet the girl would agree."
"Careful, or I’ll start whispering things in her ear to mess with you."
"Suit yourself. But I’m definitely drafting you. You’re so silver-tongued; you can accompany me to persuade those other academies."
"Wait! Wait! I promised Xiao Han I’d deliver the goods tomorrow!"
"It’s fine. I’m not leaving until the day after tomorrow anyway. Surely it won't take you a day or two just to deliver some fruit?"
"You... You! Argh..."
* * *
I arrived at the Fool's Dream’s residence once again.
Just like before, these Fool's Dream weren't being bullied. In fact, the other strange creatures nearby seemed to give this place a wide berth. I suspect they might have been "educated" recently.
Regardless, as long as they weren't bullying the Fool's Dream, it was fine.
After I gave the remaining Fool's Dream Drink to that one Fool's Dream, quite a few of them had recovered somewhat, though their mental states still seemed poor.
As expected, there was simply too little Fool's Dream Drink. Even a single sip didn't produce a very significant effect.
But I had no other choice. I could only stay here and keep them company for now. I didn't mind spending time with them during their most difficult period.
After all, I hadn't spent time with them in a while. I took this opportunity to interact with them more.
Along the way, I added some furnishings to their living quarters.
As for the rest of my time, I spent it researching the Revelation I had obtained from the Fool's Dream Drink.
I was very curious about the rune that the Revelation had transformed into.
To me, this rune was somewhat similar to the one I had realized in the small world regarding the Tree of Knowledge.
It felt more like a key, but I hadn't found the door it was meant to open.
Surely it couldn't be some unfinished derivative of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art?
But then why was it inside the Fool's Dream Drink?
Perhaps... I could try to do something with it. For instance... could I turn it into a spell, just like the rune I got from the Tears of the Mad Plant?
It might not work, but it was worth a try. However, there was one problem: I was currently within the range of the Great Weakening Spell. I might not be able to experiment as freely here in the Witch Academy as I did in the small world.
"Sister Xiao Han, what are you doing?" At that moment, a Fool's Dream was drawn by the activity in front of me and walked over.
"I’m researching something related to the Fool's Dream Drink." I looked up at her and temporarily set aside my work. "We have some time. How about I teach you all how to brew the Fool's Dream Drink now?"
"Really? Yay!"
"Yay!"
Hearing my words, the group of Fool's Dream immediately cheered with joy.
But one of them soon realized something.
"Sister Xiao Han, have the raw materials for the Fool's Dream Drink arrived?"
"Yeah, didn't Sister Dinah say there weren't enough ingredients?"
"This is just for learning. Sister Dinah told me they’ll be here by tomorrow at the latest. When they arrive, I won't be able to brew enough for everyone by myself. If you learn now, you can help out when the time comes~" I explained.
"Okay! We'll help!"
With my encouragement, the Fool's Dream were full of energy. However, I told those who were still in poor condition to rest first. There was no rush to learn this skill.
Once the first group learned it, they could teach the others.
For the first round of teaching, I planned to use my Subconscious Clone of the Tree of Knowledge. There were so many Fool's Dream that I couldn't handle it all alone.
As for how to teach without physical materials... that would naturally be done through the Tree of Knowledge.
The power of the Tree of Knowledge far exceeded its literal meaning.
The leaves branching off from it represented my memories. When removed, they could manifest as memory projections. These were basic operations, but the ability relied on the power of my Illusion Clone. To be precise, these projections were a type of illusion effect.
With this ability, they could practice directly using illusions.
Of course, this ability couldn't be used to research unknown techniques. I could use this method to teach them how to brew the Fool's Dream Drink only because I had a clear understanding of it myself.
Anything beyond my cognition would have no practical reference value; all changes in an illusionary creation are merely manifestations of my own understanding.
But for the current situation, it was more than enough.