Chapter 50: Could There Be Urban Legends Even in a Witch Academy?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 50: Could There Be Urban Legends Even in a Witch Academy?
In the end, I reluctantly said my goodbyes to the group of grannies. I had already spent quite a bit of time there, and the sky was beginning to dim.
The moment I turned to leave, they began packing up their stalls.
Watching them now, I could see that despite having their old roommates for company, an irrepressible sense of loneliness still leaked through.
Maybe I should come by more often when I have the time?
Of course, I didn't want to just come here to freeload. I wasn't that thick-skinned. I just wanted to keep them company—plus, their snacks were genuinely excellent.
I took a bite of the snack in my hand. My favorite was definitely this thing that resembled a Roujiamo; the flavor felt nostalgic.
It seemed that even if snacks came in a thousand variations, deliciousness always led back to the same place.
The path through the alley was quite winding, but it looked like it led to another street. At this hour, I saw very few people. In fact, there wasn't a soul in sight until a figure up ahead, walking with crisp footsteps, gradually became clear in my vision.
I sized up this Senior Sister, wondering why on earth a senior would be wandering down this path for no reason, just like me.
She met my gaze and stared back, but her look made my skin crawl. It was terrifying, as if I were being targeted by a predatory beast.
Is this the "Senior Sister's Pressure"?
I averted my eyes, not daring to keep staring so rudely at such a terrifying woman.
"Freshmen shouldn't be wandering the streets at night. Be careful not to run into trouble." As the Senior Sister brushed past me, she looked away, offering her warning in a voice that was cold yet carried a hint of hidden meaning.
"Right, thank you for the warning, Senior Sister..."
I hurried to thank her. Regardless of anything else, this Senior Sister was definitely someone I couldn't afford to offend right now. Since she had given me advice, I had to respond.
However, she didn't acknowledge my thanks with any further action.
Only after her figure had completely vanished did I breathe a sigh of relief. Strictly speaking, it wasn't even that late yet, and I knew all about the nightlife in the Witch Academy. What did she mean by that?
Was she telling freshmen not to go out and fool around at night? Was she worried about freshmen being... by seniors?
Perhaps that was it. And here I was, death-wishing my way into this deserted alley. Wasn't this the definition of "wandering the streets at night"?
Normally, this should be the peak time for the dirty street stalls, right?
Or was the foot traffic here just that low? Had I come to the wrong place?
I took another bite of my snack, pushing down a flicker of unease.
As I continued deeper, I faintly heard the sound of low sobbing. It sounded like a girl who had been asked out by her boyfriend at night only to be dumped, but in this dark environment, it felt more than a little creepy.
I almost cursed out loud, my heart rate spiking. Does this Witch Academy have urban legends too?
A female ghost?
I'd lived a long time and never seen a ghost. Even with my Spirit Vision, I'd never encountered anything that terrifying.
But this was a Transcendent world; I didn't dare jump to conclusions.
I instinctively covered the Chest Badge on my front. This was currently my only means of attack. Although I felt it might be bad to use spells here, my life was more important than the rules.
After immediately activating Spirit Vision, I would be able to tell if the other party was a ghost formed from Transcendent power.
The effects of Spirit Vision would give me the answer. Within its field of view, I could easily perceive the propagation of sound and quickly lock onto the source.
Ignoring the obstruction of the buildings, I could easily sense the information feedback of a living person. I could even feel the fluctuations of mana leaking from a Mana Source.
This kind of energy leakage was probably the "Mana Source restlessness" unique to freshmen that the grannies had mentioned.
The other person's situation was indeed similar to mine.
A freshman?
But why would a freshman be here?
I immediately thought of the Senior Sister who had just passed me. A possibility surfaced in my mind.
Suddenly, my expression turned strange. Would a Senior Sister really be weird enough to do something that bizarre?
I had only heard Sister Bai tell stories about it; I had never actually seen it.
Oh, wait, I think I had seen it. Back when Sister Bai was accompanying me, we saw something, and using that as a catalyst, she revealed the perverted behaviors that occurred within the Witch Academy.
It was the middle of the night, and that Senior Sister just dumped the freshman here and left?
There was only one person there. Based on the difference in treatment between boys and girls I'd seen from the seniors before, I personally felt that the person over there was likely a boy who had been victimized.
Oh, wait—they'd be a girl now.
The corners of my mouth curled into a grin. This was going to be interesting!
I also liked to watch... ahem, no, I was being considerate of others. If a boy suddenly suffered the blow of such a situation, what if they did something drastic?
Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.
I was doing a good deed, not looking for amusement.
I suppressed the excitement in my heart and ran in that direction, though I couldn't quite force the smirk off my face.
When I turned the corner into a small dead-end, the scene still gave my eyes a bit of a shock.
I had thought the boy had simply had a Mana Source forcibly shoved into him by a Senior Sister with a twisted sense of humor. Now I saw that wasn't the case.
This was way more "creative" than I had imagined!
Lying in the corner of the dead-end was a girl with a delicate frame. At first glance, she was actually quite tall. Her long, jet-black hair was scattered in a mess, looking almost as frightening as a ghost, but the male clothing she wore made me even more certain of my guess.
Another fallen boy had been victimized.
The male clothes she wore were currently torn. It was obvious there had been a very intense "collision" just now. She was practically in rags, and her pants weren't faring any better; I could see a pant leg that had been ripped to one side.
Right now, she looked like she was wearing a pair of hot pants that barely reached the top of her thighs. Her snow-white legs were curled up and overlapping. In the dim light, I could see abrasions on her skin from being rubbed against the ground. The bright red blood had already darkened into scabs; it looked like they were just minor scrapes.
However, sensing that someone else had arrived, she seemed terrified and shrank further into the corner.
"No... No! Get away! Get away from me! Don't come near me! Don't..."
I didn't expect my mere presence to trigger such a violent reaction from the girl. It seemed that Senior Sister from earlier had truly left an indelible mark on her.
Of course, it might not have been that Senior Sister, but she was a prime suspect. Coming from the opposite direction, she definitely would have noticed the anomaly here, yet she clearly hadn't bothered to help.