Chapter 123 – Potions Class

“Mo Lan! Another Spicy Chili Oil Hotpot Base Card!”

“Me too!”

“I want a tomato hotpot base card and a clear broth hotpot base card!”

……

The next morning, on the way to the Academy Castle, Mo Lan was surrounded by the young witches who had tasted the wonders of hotpot the night before.

Every single one was a repeat customer.

Those who hadn’t bought any yesterday had smelled the aroma drifting from other dormitory rooms during the night, and couldn’t resist buying a card either.

Mo Lan looked at the young witches’ rosy little lips while writing up contracts for them, reminding them as she went: “Eating spicy hotpot too often can cause internal heat buildup. Show some restraint.”

“We know, we know!”

The young witches agreed readily enough, but the way they tucked away their hotpot base cards didn’t look like the words had sunk in at all.

“It’s a shame we can’t send packages by golden bird yet, or I’d really want to mail some hotpot base to my mom and dad to try!” Vasida said.

Thinking back on the old days at home, it was hardly a life fit for a witch. Eating had been purely about filling her stomach, with no connection to enjoyment whatsoever.

Iris hadn’t eaten hotpot last night. She had made braised beef, but it hadn’t turned out well: “Moira, I used the braising spice packet to cook beef, but the flavor was really bland?”

This was the only negative review of the day. Mo Lan hastily asked how she had prepared it.

After some questioning, it turned out she had treated it like a beef stew—sliced the beef thin, tossed it into the braising liquid, boiled it for a few minutes, and fished it out to eat.

Braising liquid develops flavor the longer it simmers. A few minutes was far too short.

It seemed that for those who didn’t know the proper methods, the problems could be quite serious.

“Today’s Thursday. How about this—Saturday evening, come to the Ingredient Collection Station. I’ll use card seasonings to make some Earth cuisine for you all to try, so you’ll know how to use these cards. Hmm… let’s call it the Earth Cuisine Card Tasting Banquet! I’ll also be launching some new food cards then!”

Mo Lan had already been thinking last night about promoting Earth seasoning food cards on a larger scale. She might as well take advantage of the weekend to host a banquet, conquering everyone directly through flavor while also teaching them how to use the cards.

Food cards were consumables, after all! Whether she could save up enough for a ten-thousand-mana unlimited-use Energy Storage Card before graduation depended entirely on this.

“Yes! That sounds great!”

……

That afternoon, the young witches gathered once again in Greenhouse No. 1.

This time, Amisha led them off the path near the entrance and into the woods:

“In learning potion brewing, magical plants are extremely important. Much of the time, we need to find and harvest them ourselves.

Reading about magical plants in textbooks alone is far from sufficient.

Although the illustrations are standardized, they are ultimately flat images with a certain gap from the real thing. If you’re not familiar enough, you may not be able to identify them.

I will take you on a general tour of the common magical plants in Greenhouse No. 1.

Outside of class, you should come here often to observe them in person while referencing your textbooks.

You may freely pick the magical plants here, whether for study or for brewing potions. Whatever is picked will be replanted by the sprites, but you must not waste them!

Greenhouses No. 2 through 5 also contain some rare magical plants. If you’re interested, you may visit with a managing sprite as an escort to learn about their growing environments, but harvesting is not permitted. Understood?”

The young witches nodded obediently.

Amisha quickly led them to a large red flower bud: “Does anyone know the name of this flower?”

The young witches looked troubled.

Potions class had begun too quickly, catching them completely off guard. Most of the young witches hadn’t even finished reading 《Common Magical Plants and Basic Potion Brewing》, let alone being able to identify magical plants. Sylph had finished reading it—she had even gotten halfway through 《Encyclopedia of Magical Flora of the Continent of Valen》—but reading didn’t mean remembering, and remembering didn’t mean being able to recognize them in person.

“Big Face Flower!” Mo Lan blurted out. “A low-grade magical plant. Large red flower bud, smooth stem, no leaves. Named for the way the bud blooms open like a face.

A vermilion bud indicates the Big Face Flower has matured. Touching it at this stage will cause it to bloom immediately, spraying large quantities of pollen.

The pollen has hallucinogenic and soporific effects, and can be used to brew Sleeping Potions and Hallucinogenic Potions. The petals can be used to make vermilion dyeing potions. When harvesting, one needs to… It’s recorded on page 127 of 《Common Magical Plants and Basic Potion Brewing》.”

Between last night and this morning—reading before bed, reading while walking, even reading during theory class—she had rushed to get through all the magical plant sections of 《Common Magical Plants and Basic Potion Brewing》 just before this class began.

The moment she saw the flower, the illustrations and information from the book flashed through her mind, and she locked onto the Big Face Flower.

The young witches didn’t know what a Big Face Flower was, but they knew to look it up. One by one, they summoned their Grimoires and turned to the page Mo Lan had mentioned.

Comparing it with the red flower bud before them, it really did closely match the illustration and description in the book.

Mo Lan’s account was accurate down to the last detail, as if she were reading straight from the textbook.

“Correct! It’s the Big Face Flower!” Amisha said. “Mo Lan has covered basically all the important information. Let’s move on to the next one…”

“This is Jiji Grass! A low-grade magical plant, recorded on page 23 of the textbook. Its sap is an excellent neutralizing agent…”

“This is a Cat Claw Tree, a low-grade magical plant, page 98 of the textbook. Its bark has insect-repelling properties…”

“This is a White Night Fruit…”

“This is a Topsy-Turvy Flower…”

“This is a Sweet Dew Root…”

Amisha declared that in her decades of teaching, this was the most effortless Potions class she had ever conducted.

She didn’t need to say anything at all. She just had to walk the students up to a magical plant and ask, “Does anyone know what this is called?”

Toward the end, she didn’t even need to ask—she merely glanced at Mo Lan, and someone would explain it for her.

Amisha strolled along with a spring in her step and a smile on her face. Mo Lan, on the other hand, talked until her mouth was parched. When they reached the Sweet Dew Root, she dug up a bit, cleaned it with a Cleaning spell, and chewed on it in her mouth. Only then did she feel some relief, and continued her explanations.

As for the young witches, they were busy flipping through their books, comparing the illustrations with the real plants.

They had long since grown tired of being amazed and envious of Mo Lan’s memory. It was completely unsurprising to them at this point.

Rather than wasting time envying her, they might as well compare the illustrations with the actual plants and close the gap between themselves and Mo Lan, even just a little.

“It seems I won’t need to show up for the rest of these classes. Moira can just lead you through them,” Amisha said as class ended.

Mo Lan: “…”

A certain irresponsible Headmistress was trying to skip out.

“Headmistress, I’m not even sure I can identify all of them myself. You should still come along, just in case!” Mo Lan decided that next class, when she got tired of talking, she would pretend not to know and let the Headmistress take over for a while.

She had been too reckless this class.

Next class, she definitely wouldn’t let the Headmistress off easy.

The moment class ended, Lady Amisha left immediately. The young witches, however, still needed to attune their Broomstick Grass.

By the time they finished attuning, it was dark again.