Chapter 869: Time to Contribute to the Family
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 869: Time to Contribute to the Family
Two more days passed.
Shi Ruizhi’s life was gradually returning to its normal tracks. As for the matter of compensation, she no longer dwelled on it excessively. She had contacted Millian directly and finalized all the details regarding the settlement.
The amount was a sum Shi Ruizhi had never even dreamed of—so large it almost made her want to give up on trying altogether and just retire on the spot. However, after spending one entire day playing around, she reined in her desire to slack off.
She had to admit these past two days had been very happy—until the members of the academy’s news clubs tracked her down. Only then did she realize what it felt like to be so hounded that she didn't even want to step out her door.
As the only person to have suffered an accident during the Self-Generated Mana experiment, her awakening made her the ultimate source of first-hand information. Naturally, they wanted the scoop directly from her. Moreover, the reporters from those news clubs were clearly trying to fan the flames, making her afraid to say much of anything.
Even so, all sorts of rumors were spreading across the Academy Network.
If it were just that, it wouldn't have been enough to make her feel so uncertain about her life. Because of her amnesia, she was still technically a student and had to face her studies. But she was already in her ninth year... she had long passed the stage of being guided by a mentor. These final two years were meant for independent study.
Just as she was preparing to spend her time catching up on theoretical knowledge and mastering her current powers, she suddenly discovered that things were not as simple as she had thought. For instance... there seemed to be a hidden story behind her failed experiment.
And the person directly linked to this matter was her roommate, Ji An.
Although Shi Ruizhi didn't remember much of their daily life together, according to Fang Zhi, Ji An was usually out all day and rarely returned to the dorm at night. Yet, these past few days, Ji An had been constantly testing her, seemingly trying to confirm if she had truly lost her memory.
Furthermore, these "tests" were filled with cryptic remarks that Shi Ruizhi didn't understand. But even without understanding the words, she could sense Ji An’s frantic anxiety. Sometimes, the girl even sounded borderline incoherent.
Again?
Shi Ruizhi calmly paused what she was doing. A message had just appeared on her Knowledge Seed, sent by Ji An.
"Come meet me here."
Just a few words and a location tag. That was the entirety of the message.
Though puzzled, Shi Ruizhi could faintly sense through this message that the other girl intended to... lay her cards on the table?
"Moon, could you help me process ten sets of these materials to Grade 1 specifications? I have some things to take care of," Shi Ruizhi said, looking at Moon, who was happily acting as her assistant.
She was currently working on her previous Witch Project. Her research focused on the most common type of Evocative Magic, and she hadn't even specialized in a single element. Having just started looking into the project again, she could somewhat understand why her past self had been so desperate to join that experiment.
If this so-called Self-Generated Mana talent truly granted powerful mana recovery and the ability to exceed the ten-thousand Mana Source limit, she would be salivating for it too!
But... clearly, the experiment had failed, and she was the one who had to bear the consequences.
According to Moon, she had already completed the framework for the Self-Generated Mana; she only needed to finish the "Perfecting Ritual" to unleash the talent's power. However, she was still hesitating. Over the last two days, she hadn't quite made up her mind to accept this talent.
What if... it caused her secondary injuries?
"Okay~! Grade 1 specs, right? Wow... that's a lot."
"Yeah. It’s fine, Moon. I’m just a bit busy with some errands, so don't push yourself too hard. I’ll join you once I’m back."
"Got it~ Then Senior Sister Shi Ruizhi needs to hurry back~"
"Mhm."
Shi Ruizhi gave Moon a complicated look. As she passed by the girl, she placed a subtle, low-fluctuation spell mark on her. Seeing that Moon didn't react, she breathed a small sigh of relief.
As they spent more time together, Moon’s role had become increasingly redundant. During her full day of outing, she had been accompanied by both Moon and Fang Zhi. Honestly, her amnesia didn't require a junior sister to follow her around constantly; after just a few days, she was mostly capable of taking care of herself.
Even without Moon, her roommate Fang Zhi was willing to help her. Despite only knowing each other for a few days, Shi Ruizhi found that Fang Zhi truly treated her as a friend and a bestie.
But what about Moon?
Moon had been sent under the guise of helping her, but Shi Ruizhi felt she was more like a "watcher," monitoring her life and digging into her past. That Teaching Assistant named Yang Yuehan might have suspected from the start that this experimental accident wasn't so simple.
Therefore, since Ji An was calling her out now, she naturally couldn't let Moon follow. That was why she had assigned Moon these chores and marked her, just in case the girl tried to tail her.
Because she was truly afraid.
Afraid of what Ji An might confess...
If her roommate was the one behind all of this, then Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan certainly wouldn't let Ji An off the hook. Well... truth be told, neither would she. She wouldn't forgive the person who caused her amnesia.
But what if the idea to sabotage the experiment was a conspiracy between Ji An and herself?
After all, she had learned some details about the accident from Moon and the Academy Network. No one had been caught interfering during the event... which meant either the experiment itself was flawed, or she was the problem.
But... was it really the experiment?
Over a hundred people had succeeded; why was she the only one who ran into trouble?
Shi Ruizhi didn't dare think too deeply on this point. Once she did, she would inevitably fall into self-doubt. She had forgotten what kind of person she used to be, and she didn't know if she was the type to do such a thing for profit.
After all, she felt like she could just "lie flat" for the rest of her life because of the compensation from Yang Yuehan and the academy. If she could be swayed by that, she could certainly have been used as a hired gun by someone else!
Moreover, after losing her memory, she found that her balance was nearly zero... It wasn't impossible that she had taken this path for money.
Her life should have been moving toward something beautiful, yet these matters kept disrupting her peace. Was it impossible to escape the past, even with amnesia?
She suddenly felt that the compensation she had received from Yang Yuehan was exceptionally heavy—almost scalding.
Leaving the laboratory, she pulled out her flying broom and flew directly toward the coordinates.
"There? The rooftop?"
Shi Ruizhi looked at the final destination with surprise. It was the rooftop of a teaching building. A figure gradually came into view—her roommate, Ji An.
Shi Ruizhi swung her leg over the broom, sat sideways for a moment, then leaped off, landing steadily on the rooftop.
"Ji An, I’m here as promised. Why did you call me out here?" Shi Ruizhi spoke first, her voice sharp as if she were trying to bolster her own courage.
Since she was already here, she had to try and accept whatever came next.
"Shi Ruizhi, you finally came." Ji An turned around. Her face was haggard to a terrifying degree.
Shi Ruizhi hadn't expected that the Ji An she had seen just a few days ago would look like a completely different person now.
"You... what happened to you?" Shi Ruizhi instinctively took half a step back, clearly startled by the change.
"What happened to me... Heh... what happened to me..." At this moment, it was as if nothing mattered to Ji An anymore. "What else could have happened? I’ve been abandoned by my mentor, of course!"
"Mentor? Abandoned?"
"Amnesia is so nice, isn't it? You don't remember a thing... you’ve forgotten everything! Do you think you can just start a brand-new life like this? With a massive pile of compensation to boot! You had a great time playing the day before yesterday, didn't you... but I couldn't be happy!" As Ji An spoke, she began to scream. That "couldn't be happy" was a raw eruption of pure emotion.
"..."
"Don't look at me with those confused eyes! It just makes me sick! I want to gouge your eyes out! In your eyes, I’m just a damn lunatic, right? You won't understand anything!"
"So... that experimental accident... was your doing?" Shi Ruizhi pursed her lips. An ominous thought rose within her, but she instinctively tried to deflect the accusations.
"Shifting the blame so cleanly! You think you're so innocent?"
"I don't remember anything... so naturally, you can say whatever you want..." Shi Ruizhi took a deep breath, forcing the words out stiffly.
Saying those words was a true test of her conscience. She really didn't remember anything—that wasn't a lie—but she didn't want to be a clueless scapegoat. The only thing that could correct her now... was evidence.
Only evidence could convince her that she was also a "bad person."
She was just an ordinary person—at least, the post-amnesia her felt that way. She desperately wanted her past to stay buried with her memories! Even if... it meant burying the truth.
Everyone makes mistakes. The mistake was there, and no one could undo it, but life still had to move forward. Sometimes, selfishness was simply a means to make one's life a little more bearable.
"Where’s the evidence? Without evidence... I won't admit to anything..."
"Evidence? You're still talking about evidence?" Ji An spoke with fury. The Witch Academy wouldn't bother giving her evidence!
The academy wouldn't use formal channels to argue over proof with her. When her mentor abandoned her, the so-called "evidence" was merely a way to make the blame she was carrying look legitimate. If they wanted evidence, anything could be turned into evidence!
Why had Ji An become so hysterical? Why had she become so haggard over these few days?
Because she had been discarded. It wasn't just her mentor who had abandoned her, but the student groups and factions within the academy that stood behind her. She had watched it all happen with her own eyes!
And she... was powerless to stop it, unable to escape, and couldn't even end it all with death!
This was a very simple operation targeted at the Teaching Assistant named Yang Yuehan. Originally, the students had no right to touch such an experiment. They knew that if something went wrong with Xiao Han’s experiment, they would all be in deep trouble! The memory of the previous Teaching Assistant Purge was still fresh... who would have the guts to provoke that "Death God"?
However, many groups in the academy couldn't stand Xiao Han. It was just that her strength was too terrifying. Coupled with Tan Han’s constant provocations in the Arena, they truly couldn't take it anymore.
After all, Xiao Han had stated in the Arena that anyone challenging Tan Han was challenging her. Thus, everyone took Tan Han’s behavior as a deliberate provocation and a slap in the face to all factions by Yang Yuehan.
Even so, no one dared to lift a finger against that Little Witch. That was Yang Yuehan’s current status in the Witch Academy. She was a lunatic whom no one dared to provoke!
The reason they had acted was because of the support provided by a representative of the Transcendent Mentors. With the "support" of the Transcendent Mentor group, everyone’s desire for revenge instantly reached its peak.
The plan was simple. Following the Transcendent’s instructions, they targeted the Self-Generated Mana experiment Xiao Han was currently conducting. As long as an accident occurred, Yang Yuehan would face immense pressure. Combined with public opinion and a bit of narrative spinning, it would be enough to cause her trouble and weaken her influence.
After all, once they realized what Self-Generated Mana actually was, they knew that if this talent spread... it would be a devastating blow to all established factions!
The same applied to the families. If ascending to become a Transcendent Witch became easier, wouldn't those shackled by their families use this method to escape?
The executor of this plan was Ji An—there was no doubt about it, because Ji An was Danielle’s student. And Danielle was the Transcendent Witch representative who had extended a "helping hand" to them.
Ji An’s roommate, Shi Ruizhi, was one of the 146 people selected for the experiment.
Everything should have gone according to plan. They would act, and the Transcendent Witches would cover the tracks. The incident was supposed to be measured; they would vent their frustration, create a massive headache for Yang Yuehan, sabotage the progress of the Self-Generated Mana experiment, damage her reputation, and dismantle the massive power of the Xiao Han Fan Club...
The Transcendent Witch faction likely achieved some goal of their own as well. It was supposed to be a win-win, and then some. This operation hadn't actually caused any physical harm to Yang Yuehan herself, so even if accounts were settled later, it wouldn't be a deal-breaker. In the end, Yang Yuehan wouldn't even know who had schemed against her; they would just watch her rage in impotence.
But it was all too optimistic...
No one expected that this matter would actually alarm Dean Mei Lind! She had personally investigated!
Then came the support and attention from Dean Bev Alanna... The two Deans taking a side forced the small group of witches led by Danielle to... compromise.
The process of that compromise was something even Ji An, the mentor’s personal student, didn't know. After all, that was a game played at the Transcendent level.
She only knew that she had been abandoned by her mentor. She had to take the entire fall!
Actually, she had realized something was wrong earlier. Mentor Danielle had even warned her in advance that things weren't looking good. At the time, she had naively thought her mentor would protect her.
But she never imagined that her mentor couldn't even protect herself! Otherwise, the mentor wouldn't have demanded that she take all the blame!
Did she want to? No!
But she could not defy the will of a Transcendent! Nor could she defy the will of her family!
She was a member of a family; she wasn't just an individual. Under the shackles of the family, she didn't live for herself; she lived for the family. She hadn't broken free from those chains, so she couldn't bring herself to drag everyone down with her.
Thus, the family members influenced the academy factions, demanding she take the fall for everything. Not a single speck of dirt could be allowed to touch the power established by the Transcendent Academy or the family behind it.
The family had raised her to this point; she had enjoyed the family’s benefits. Now... it was time for her to contribute to the family.