Chapter 124 – You Can’t Hook the Headmistress Without Spending Mana
by spirapiraChapter 124 – You Can’t Hook the Headmistress Without Spending Mana
“Thank goodness it’s Friday! We get two whole days off!” Vasida exclaimed. “Walking back to the dormitory under the night sky on a Thursday versus doing it on a Friday—those are two completely different experiences. Night and day!”
“Just thinking about the weekend, not having to climb the Academy’s mountain, makes me happy. I’ll save so much time to do other things!”
Sylph nodded in full agreement. “This weekend I’m going to tinker with my mutant plants again! I think I’ve figured out why Bi’er can’t keep my plant seeds alive.”
“Across two lifetimes, whenever I’m in school, I look forward to holidays just the same! I suppose that’s simply every student’s fate!”
Mo Lan had been counting down to the weekend too, though in her previous life she’d looked forward to time off for fun, and now she looked forward to it so she could read whatever books she wanted.
She was especially eager this weekend. Even on the walk back, she didn’t forget to remind the young witches: “Don’t forget to come to the Earth Cuisine Card Tasting Banquet tomorrow evening! I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!”
“What time are you going to the Ingredient Collection Station tomorrow? I’ll come help you! And I want to see how that braising spice packet actually works!” said Iris.
“Me too!” Vasida chimed in. “I may not be good at much else, but I can at least help you carry ingredients!”
The other young witches all volunteered to help as well.
Mo Lan didn’t stand on ceremony with them. “Sure! I’m planning to invite every senior student I can find. The portions are going to be quite large, so I really could use the help!”
“Wow! Does this mean it’ll be our first whole-school dinner since the enrollment banquet?” Sylph said.
“Unfortunately, the fourth and fifth-year seniors are hard to track down and notify,” Mo Lan said.
Otherwise, they’d all be her potential customers!
“Moira, we can’t find where the seniors are, but the Headmistress can! The Headmistress has so many clones—she could just send a message across the distance to each young witch under her guardianship!” Vasida offered her a solution.
“You’re right!” Vasida’s words reminded her. Mo Lan called out directly into the air: “Clone No. 69! Clone No. 69! Are you there? Could you please pass along word about Saturday’s banquet to the fourth and fifth-year seniors?”
“Even if I tell the fifth-years, they won’t be able to come.”
Clone No. 69 had long since grown accustomed to Mo Lan’s habit of blurting out questions anywhere and everywhere.
“Why not?” Mo Lan was puzzled.
“They’re currently in the Academy’s periphery zone, undergoing survival trials. They can’t get away.”
“Survival trials?!!” The young witches were stunned. “Is it dangerous? What’s even out there in the periphery?!”
“Classified. But rest assured, nobody’s going to die.”
The young witches: “…”
School just got harder with each passing year! First-years weren’t provided three meals a day. Second-years lost access to plant-based ingredients and clothes. Third-years lost all ingredients. Fourth-years didn’t even get dormitory housing anymore. And fifth-years… fifth-years had it worst of all—no food, no clothes, no housing, and on top of that, survival trials.
A level of danger where “nobody’s going to die”? With a Headmistress clone guarding each student one-on-one, dying was already a pretty difficult thing to accomplish.
The young witches who had just been complaining about how tough school life was now felt the future looked even darker.
That was what normal young witches thought. The abnormal Mo Lan, on the other hand, was thinking: this arrangement makes perfect sense. Applying what you’ve learned in practice—survival trials are a great method.
Since the fifth-years couldn’t come, notifying the fourth-years would still be worthwhile. “Clone No. 69! Then could you please help notify the fourth-year seniors instead!”
Clone No. 69: “…”
Meanwhile, deep Underground beneath the Academy Castle, in the Headmistress’s Lounge, the first-year guardian clones had gathered together.
Clone No. 69 was brimming with resentment. “Honestly, she invited the first, second, and third-year witches, and she even thought to ask us to help her contact the fourth-years. How come she didn’t think to invite us?”
“Hahaha! You’ve been watching her fuss over all those delicious dishes every day—getting hungry, are you? Tell No. 101 to pester her about putting together that Earth recipe collection so we can just make the food ourselves.”
“Any young witch who’s visited the lounge and seen us all together—which one of them would dare casually invite the Headmistress? What if all of us showed up?”
…
“Clone No. 69! Clone No. 69!”
Mo Lan would never forget the Headmistress, of course. The Headmistress was someone who’d casually pull out over a dozen points of permanent mana just for reading, without batting an eye at the cost. She was a big spender!
With the cards she’d made before, Mo Lan had always deliberately displayed the card faces for her guardian clone to see, yet the Headmistress had never expressed any interest in buying them.
Only the Energy Storage Card had piqued the Headmistress’s interest somewhat, but since Mo Lan was still too weak, the Headmistress had refrained from purchasing to protect her.
But food cards were all consumables—you simply used the card and received the spice packet. There was no risk of exposing a newly awakened Sorceress.
With that many clones, the Headmistress had to eat so much food every day! She was absolutely a major client.
But if she were to invite the Headmistress to the banquet, should she invite No. 101 who taught their classes, or No. 69 who guarded her daily? Nos. 102, 103, 104, and 105 had all interacted with her too.
Inviting just one of them wouldn’t be right.
If she invited them all, it wasn’t that Mo Lan couldn’t afford it.
But with that many Headmistress clones, the only venue big enough to accommodate the banquet would probably be the Headmistress’s Lounge.
Still, Mo Lan wasn’t about to give up on such a major client, which was why she waited until she was back in the dormitory before reaching out privately.
Clone No. 69 didn’t respond, but Mo Lan didn’t mind. She knew the Headmistress was listening. She opened the Book of Cards directly and pulled out a stack of freshly made cards:
{Food Card – Extra-Large Braised Meat Platter}, {Food Card – Extra-Large Braised Vegetable Platter}, {Food Card – Complete Hot Pot Combo}, {Food Card – Earth Instant Meal Combo}, {Food Card – Earth Snack Combo}, {Food Card – Earth Beverage Combo}, {Food Card – Earth Dessert Combo}, {Food Card – Imperial Banquet Feast}, {Food Card – Home-Style Feast}, {Food Card – Sichuan Cuisine Feast}, {Food Card – Cantonese Cuisine Feast}…
Nearly a hundred food cards, all containing finished dishes—and in generous portions, too. Each was an all-inclusive gourmet combo card; a single card, when activated, would produce more food than a large round table could hold.
The production cost of each one was over a hundred times that of an ordinary food card. Combined, they had cost her several thousand mana to create.
Of course, she had thoughtfully noted the retail price on each card.
You can’t hook the Headmistress without spending mana. Mo Lan had really gone all out this time.
She spread the cards out one by one across the table, accompanied by a freshly transcribed copy of 《Earth Cuisine Card Catalog》:
“Headmistress, the banquet tomorrow will mainly feature dishes made from easy-to-prepare spice packet cards, designed with the young witches in mind.
I’ve just created some authentic Earth cuisine cards—complete meal combo cards that require no additional preparation. Please take them and share them with the other Headmistress clones for a tasting! If you find them delicious, you can use this 《Earth Cuisine Card Catalog》 to order more from me in the future.”
On the light screen Clone No. 69 had opened, Mo Lan’s cards were displayed in perfect clarity, every detail of their information plainly visible.