Chapter 86: The Long-Awaited Roommate
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 86: The Long-Awaited Roommate
I opened the takeout app. Since I was in a residential area, there weren't many good shops nearby. Most of them sold things I’d never eaten or even seen before; the flavors were unique, but they didn't necessarily suit my palate.
Plus, the delivery fees for places further away were exorbitant.
In fact, the high cost of delivery had talked me out of ordering several times already. But who told me I’d finally achieved "financial freedom"?
Now, I could order takeout with a clear conscience.
There was actually a lot of variety among the delivery riders. For instance, those using flying brooms could deliver directly and quickly—fast, but expensive. Those without a flight license delivered by bicycle; they were a bit slow, and it took a considerable amount of time to cross the entire academy, but they were cheap.
Looking at it that way, getting a flight license would be a huge advantage for delivery work—you’d deliver faster and make more money. But surely no one in the academy would go through the trouble of getting a flight license just to deliver food?
Surely not... right?
In the end, after browsing for a while, I still chose the cheaper bicycle delivery. Because the shop was far away, it would take a while, but I didn't mind. The senior sister handling the delivery could pick up professional freshness alchemy items from her club, so I didn't have to worry about the food getting cold or the texture being ruined. According to the estimated time, it would arrive right around dinner time. Perfect.
After placing the order, I prepared to fully relax. I had spent the day memorizing a ton of flight regulations for that theory assessment. My head was stuffed with question banks and brainwashing case studies of "reckless witches."
For example: As a witch, you are flying a broom at a constant speed at the regulated altitude. A high-speed moving black dot appears on your front-left side. How should you respond?
The correct answer: Immediately veer to the right and quickly cast a protection spell on yourself.
There were plenty of distracting wrong answers. Veering to the left was a common mistake, and some options even suggested preparing an offensive spell to "put your own safety first" and so on.
In short, most of these were common-sense questions, but I felt like many of the tempting options might lead people into committing violations.
Just as I was enjoying this rare moment of leisure, I faintly heard a sound.
I immediately stopped what I was doing and went dead silent, afraid I had misheard. Was that a knock at the door?
Who would be knocking at this hour?
Could it be my roommate?
At that thought, I scrambled to my feet and hurried toward the door. I quickly realized, though, that if it were my roommate, she probably wouldn't need to knock.
Where was her room card?
Regardless, I went to open the door because I had confirmed while walking over that someone was definitely knocking.
The door opened to reveal two girls standing outside. Just from their positioning, it was clear that the senior sister in the back held absolute dominance over the timid-looking girl in front.
Based on the aura they projected, I could guess that the one in the back was a senior sister. The one in front... wearing a somewhat gaudy dress that didn't quite seem to suit her... was the new student.
Just what had she been through? I looked at the new student; she seemed too embarrassed to meet my eyes. From the moment I opened the door, she hadn't even looked up at me.
"Hello, Senior Sister. Are you here to drop off a new student?"
I reacted quickly, making an educated guess, and then offered a small smile as I addressed the senior sister in the back.
"That's right. This is No. 62 Xinmengli, right? I haven't been around here much." The senior sister held a room card—the kind issued to new students upon enrollment. She double-checked it herself and then handed it over.
"No. 62 Block 2 Xinmengli. This should be the place," I said, taking the room card and testing it on the door.
The door beeped open instantly. The card worked; this was definitely the place. It looked like this villa was finally getting its second resident!
"It's the right place. Thank you for bringing my roommate here, Senior Sister. Does she have any luggage? I can help her carry it." I spoke enthusiastically. After all, she was going to be my roommate from now on. Seeing as her relationship with this senior sister seemed a bit strained, I figured I should "rescue" her as soon as possible.
It wouldn't hurt to leave a good first impression.
"Luggage? She doesn't have any. Whatever, I've delivered her. Since there's a roommate here, Dongli Yiren—see you around if fate allows!"
The senior sister clearly hadn't prepared any luggage for her. Judging by her irresponsible tone, that was probably the extent of her help. Still, she was a lot better than Quan Xiuzhu; at least she had brought the girl all the way to the villa instead of dumping her on the side of the road.
That other one had been abandoned mid-journey by an irresponsible senior sister.
As for this one... could this "Dongli Yiren" have been a boy before, too?
But was there really a boy named Dongli Yiren?
"I told you, my name isn't Yiren!" At that moment, the new student growled in a low, slightly deep voice.
"Ah... sorry. She used to be a boy. I changed the name for him—the pronunciation is pretty much the same, so what's the rush? Anyway, I hope you two get along. Don't... distance yourself from her just because she used to be a boy," the senior sister explained hurriedly, as if she had just realized her slip.
However, the explanation felt more like a deliberate jab. When her past as a boy was pointed out, Dongli Yiren lowered her head so far it looked like she wanted to find a crack in the floor to crawl into. It seemed this senior sister was quite a handful herself...
"Huh? A... boy?"
I played along, using a tone of feigned disbelief, but I didn't press for details. The senior sister prepared to turn and leave, leaving the new student standing there in awkward silence.
Once the senior sister pulled out her broom and flew away, the girl renamed Dongli Yiren finally spoke.
"I'm sorry... if you mind, I'll leave..."
"Tsk... if you leave, where will you live? Once you enter the Witch Academy, don't even think about leaving. If you don't live in the house the academy assigned you, are you going to live on a street corner?" I asked, dropping my shocked act.
My words successfully made Dongli Yiren freeze in her tracks.
"You and that senior sister didn't get along very well, did you? Come on in. She's gone now. Don't worry, I don't mind the fact that you used to be a boy."
I pushed the door wide and stepped back to make a path for her. I couldn't let my very first roommate run away!
"You really don't mind? But just now, you..."
"That was an act. Didn't she want to see you get ostracized by your roommate? I think she was quite satisfied with my 'shocked' expression," I explained with a smile. I got the feeling this new roommate was a bit slow—or maybe she understood everything but was just so shy she needed someone else to confirm it for her.
"Thank you..."
"Don't mention it. Come in. It's been way too boring living here all by myself."
I led her inside and then shut the door firmly.
And so, the villa finally had its second resident!