Chapter 454: Tan Han, Coveted by Thieves
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 454: Tan Han, Coveted by Thieves
"Relax. Figure out what you want to do, and then go do it. Just like I said—I’m trying to stop being a student. I wasn’t joking."
"...Assistant? You’re going to become a Teaching Assistant, aren't you?" Tan Han looked at me in shock as she cleared the remains of the mess on the table.
Combining what I had just said with the Academy system announcement she had previously ignored, it made sense. Xiao Han couldn't just drop out, right? Thus, Tan Han reached this bold conclusion.
"So, you are quite clever after all. You guessed it. Even though I’ve been a student for less than a year, the idea of me becoming a Teaching Assistant might seem absurd to others, but at least I dare to try. I have that confidence." Perhaps because I was using an isolation spell, I found myself able to speak about things I had been reluctant to mention before.
Maybe I really did have a high desire to vent, just as Sister Bai said... but then again, Tan Han wasn't exactly a stranger to me. She was a kindred spirit in her own unfortunate way.
"Of course, I’m not encouraging you to become a Teaching Assistant as well. It wouldn't suit you right now. I have my own reasons for doing this."
"I know. I won't blindly follow in your footsteps anymore. Every time I’ve been left behind and tried to catch up, it’s been the start of my failure." Many thoughts flashed through Tan Han's mind. The moment she truly realized this was back in the Fool's Village Secret Realm; she finally understood what it meant to overestimate oneself and follow the crowd blindly.
"Thank you for understanding. Hmm... it feels like our conversation has turned heavy again. Shall we change the subject? You pick. I’m not much of a conversationalist. Even though I’m trying to change, it’s not something that happens overnight."
"Alright then... I can tell. To be honest, every time I talk to you, the pressure is immense." Tan Han composed her emotions, acting as if she hadn't just crushed a cup moments ago. The shards had already been cleared away; after all, it only took a simple spell.
"Since you’ve given me the lead, I want to ask: do you know how the Script will develop next? During that bet, you said if I won, you’d tell me."
"But you didn't win, did you? So, I can't say." I met Tan Han’s slightly helpless expression with a smile. "As for the development of the Script, I truly don't know what comes next. In the past, I was just a tool to be manipulated by others." Though it seems I still am, I grumbled inwardly.
"And... now?"
"I suppose I have a bit more freedom. If you must ask, all I can say is that a large-scale event will likely affect the Main World soon. As for whether it’s one of the Script nodes, I have no idea."
"You really do know something, don't you?"
"Yes, but not much. It’s all a blur, and I can’t be bothered to deal with it. I’ve found that if you just let things take their natural course, you save yourself a lot of trouble and internal friction. Don't you think?"
"I suppose. I just feel it’s better to prepare for a rainy day before it happens..."
"So, you’re still being influenced by the Script, aren't you? Before you knew the concept of the Script existed, you never worried about this."
"It seems so... Sigh. Well, I’ll ask one last question, and then I’ll be going."
"Is that so? Fair enough, it’s getting late. What is it?" I glanced at the sky outside the window and asked curiously.
"I want to know how you see me."
"How I see you?"
"Yes. How do you view me? From the first time we met until now..."
"Oh, that kind of 'how I see you'... Fine. Since it’s your last question, I’ll tell you," I said with a smile.
"Actually, to explain how I see you, I have to start from the very beginning—before I had even met you. Back then, you were radiant, a full-score scholar god of the College Entrance Exam. I was just an ordinary person—insecure, introverted, and sensitive. I thought our paths were destined never to cross."
"Later, by a stroke of luck, I entered the Witch Academy. You were scouted into the Academy by Shopkeeper Xia Li. At that time, I was still worrying about money and working part-time for the Shopkeeper. That was how we first met and interacted."
"If you ask how I see you, it’s really just three stages. In the first stage, I thought you were a favored child of heaven, like a protagonist in a novel. When you invited me to help you with your meditation, you offered ten thousand credits right off the bat. That was the wealthiest I had ever been in my life up to that point. You were generous. You were a member of the Baking House, and so was I, but our treatment was worlds apart. That was the massive gap between us."
"In the second stage, I began to examine myself, recognize my own identity, and use my advantages to slowly accumulate my own strength. By then, you were already a celebrity in the Academy."
"I started to realize we were walking different paths, but I no longer felt you were unreachable. I held that belief right up until the first match of the Freshman Competition, even after I lost. I began to realize you were just a student—an excellent student, but a student nonetheless."
"It was also then that our paths, which should never have crossed, officially collided. Later, I realized this was likely due to the Script. Even now, our conversations don't quite click; there’s a heavy sense of dissonance in our interactions."
"It was around that time that I learned about the concept of the Script. That’s largely why I kept my distance from you."
"Back then, I didn't want to be cannon fodder, dying a meaningless death in the vortex of the Script. You know, right? The effects of the Script seemed like child's play at the Witch Academy, but in Ninglan New City, it was truly terrifying. The ordinary people in the Underground District didn't even know why they were dying. So, back then, I kept you at arm's length."
"But the Script didn't seem to agree. However, the Script kept failing when it came to me. After I defeated you at the end of the Dream Exchange Competition, I understood that you weren't invincible. From then on, the so-called Script was no longer a threat to me. That was when I stepped out from the shadow of your status as a Child of Destiny and found my own path. Our subsequent interactions... you could interpret them as the Script’s death throes. From a macro perspective, many irrational little problems seem to have an answer."
"After everything that’s happened, here we are, chatting face-to-face. You ask for my opinion of you, and my answer now is: I’m trying to view this relationship with an attitude of tolerance. I still feel our paths shouldn't have crossed, but now that I’m no longer hostile toward the Script, it’s just a tool that brings me into contact with others. For someone like me who has no friends, I suppose I should be happy about that."
"So, does that mean I’m considered your friend now?" Tan Han asked.
"Hmm... a friend I can talk to, barely. But the topics we discuss are never as relaxed as those between real friends. Perhaps that’s where the dissonance in our connection lies."
"Maybe that’s why every time I seek you out, it’s to ask questions that have nothing to do with friendship. Is that why you’re so resistant to calling me a friend?" Tan Han asked with a bitter smile.
"Yeah. It’s my fault too. I don't have many friends, but I subconsciously feel that friendship shouldn't be like this."
"Thank you. I think I understand."
"As long as you understand. Though I’m not quite sure what it is you’ve understood."
"Do you want to know?"
"Hmm... no. Anyway, have a safe trip back~"
"Alright." Tan Han said nothing more. She stood up to leave. The moment she stepped out of the range of my isolation spell, the noise of the outside world rushed into her ears, making her dazed for a moment.
Without a word, she walked straight to the girl who had disobeyed her and led her away.
I watched Tan Han take the girl away and sighed. The entertainment was gone. I had thought that after Tan Han left, that girl would come over to give me a hard time or something.
I picked up my cup and drained the last bit of my Fool's Dream Drink. The unique fruity aroma and the subtle, wondrous sensation it brought were enchanting, making me feel as if I were in an orchard, able to pluck fruit just by reaching out.
"Mmm~ Huh?"
Setting down the cup, I looked across from me. Someone else had taken the seat Tan Han had just vacated.
I looked at the empty bottom of my cup, wondering if the Fool's Dream Drink was strong enough to make me drunk.
But then I remembered this was a Witch Cat Cafe. Being approached was par for the course, so I wasn't surprised.
"Sorry, I’m not a hostess cat-girl. I don't accept solicitations," I said, waving her off politely. After all, to be a hostess cat-girl, you had to get stamped with that alchemy item and manifest some cat-like features.
"Yang Yuehan. That’s your name, isn't it? I didn't come here to play cat-girl roleplay games with you."
"Oh?" I looked at her blankly, but quickly recovered. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. Tan Han had taken one source of entertainment away, but it seemed another had arrived.
If I had thought the previous girl was an isolated case, it seemed Tan Han’s supporters had plenty of their own ideas.
"I see. My apologies. May I ask why you’re looking for me?" My smile remained unchanged, as if I were completely unaware that she was here to cause trouble.
"I want to ask you: how can you take all of Sister Tan Han’s spellbooks with such a clear conscience? Do you have any idea how hard she worked to earn those, one by one?"
"And then?"
"And... and then?" Seeing my calm demeanor, her anger flared. It was like punching a cloud; the other person was just watching her like she was a joke.
"Yang Yuehan! Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you’re the number one freshman! The Witch Academy isn't run by your family!"
"And then?"
"You! Are you trying to provoke me on purpose? Do you have any idea what you’re doing? By snatching those spellbooks, you’re trying to ruin Sister Tan Han!"
"Hmm. If something like that is enough to ruin Tan Han, why are you all following her anyway? Am I right? And then?"
"You!" My repeated "And then?" had her backed into a corner, her mouth hanging open as she sputtered. She was clearly overwhelmed by her emotions.
"State your purpose. You’re just venting here. You haven't made a single point, yet your voice is so loud. The Witch Cat Cafe isn't run by your family, either."
The girl seemed to snap out of it, instinctively looking around as if realizing for the first time that no one else seemed to have heard her shouting.
"An isolation spell. Just a little trick. Here, you can vent your emotions and opinions to your heart's content. Let me see just how low the quality of Tan Han’s supporters really is. Why stop? And then?" I smiled at the girl. She looked utterly bewildered, having unleashed a barrage of words only to deal zero damage. For a moment, she didn't know how to back down.
Just then, another girl walked over and sat down beside her. The embarrassed girl seemed to find a graceful exit, huffing and turning her head away from me.
"Oh? A group effort?" I said, smiling at the newcomer.
"Apologies. My friend has caused you some unpleasantness. Let me introduce myself. I am Xia Ji."
"Hello. I’m Yang Yuehan." I introduced myself in turn, though I knew they were likely intimately familiar with who I was.
"I know you’re Yang Yuehan. We’ve come here to negotiate with you."
"Negotiate? About what? And what are your chips? You didn't just rush over here on a whim to tell me you want to negotiate, did you? If you negotiate without chips, be careful not to get cleaned out."
"This is the Witch Academy! What do you think you’re going to do!" the girl I had provoked earlier threatened.
"I’m well aware this is the Witch Academy. That’s why I’m speaking to you so politely, isn't it? I assume your chips aren't the Witch Academy itself? So, what do you want to talk about?"
"What else? The spellbooks that belong to Sister Tan Han!"
"Oh? The spellbooks that 'belong' to Tan Han?" I chuckled softly. "If I may be blunt, if you took those spellbooks back to Tan Han, she wouldn't want them."
"Even if Sister Tan Han doesn't want them, we can still—mph!"
"Shut up!" The second girl immediately covered her teammate’s mouth, stopping her before she could say more. She whispered a threat before letting go. "That is none of your concern, Student Yang Yuehan."
"Oh... so that’s how it is..." I looked at the two of them. The more I looked, the more I realized they were exactly the kind of entertainment I enjoyed. They certainly were bold... Well, I didn't mind using Tan Han’s own things to teach her a lesson. I wondered how she would react.
I pulled out the storage card, placed it flat on the table, and pushed it toward the center. A mocking smile played on my lips.
"I’m brave enough to put it here. The question is... are you brave enough to take it?" I lowered my voice, my gaze scrutinizing them.
"You! Don't you dare go back on your word!"
Their hands moved faster than their words. Both hands slammed down on the storage card Tan Han had given me not long ago. They dragged the card toward themselves, looking almost surprised at how easily they had obtained it.
I smiled with satisfaction. No... it was a smile of relief!
I leaned back into the soft cushions of the chair. The supple material molded to the curve of my back, providing a sense of comfort and a hint of fulfillment.
They were a pack of thieves... What kind of "supporters" was Tan Han keeping? These were thieves who would even target Tan Han herself!
It was only because they feared Tan Han’s strength that they stayed in line. But now that she had separated herself from her spellbooks, they dared to covet them.
Luckily, I got rid of the things quickly. Otherwise... with people like this eyeing me, how could I ever sleep in peace?
But I also found it hilarious. I’d have to record this scene using the Tree of Knowledge. When the time was right, I’d show it to Tan Han. Her expression would surely be priceless.
Neither Tan Han nor I wanted these spellbooks, yet these people treated them like precious treasure.
By the time they realized how unsightly they were acting and tried to compose themselves to offer an explanation, they found the seat across from them empty.
It was as if I had vanished into thin air, leaving them sitting there in a daze.