Chapter 188 – Senior Students with Mischievous Taste

After finishing the last book, Mo Lan finally closed her eyes and went to sleep.

The next day marked yet another fresh beginning.

Starting today, plant-based ingredients could no longer be collected.

She quickly changed her clothes, freshened up with a cleaning spell, then went to check the storage room.

Only flour, rice, and dodo bird eggs — just three edible items remained.

“I’ll have egg wraps for breakfast,” Mo Lan said, grabbing a small bag of flour and a few dodo bird eggs.

Then she went out to the yard and pinched off a few stalks of scallion and a bit of lettuce.

With a light wave of her wand, the kitchen utensils sprang into orderly action while she used the time to pack up the things she needed to bring with her.

“Mo Lan!”

“Let’s go!”

Sylph and Vasida’s voices drifted in from outside. Mo Lan got up and pushed open the window. “Just a moment! Almost done!”

To speed things up, she stepped into the kitchen herself and got busy alongside the utensils.

Before long, an egg wrap filled with lettuce and drizzled with sauce was ready. She wrapped it in wax paper, then cast a cleaning spell over the kitchen.

She recalled the entire kitchen back into the Mobile Kitchen Card and tucked it into the Book of Cards.

Slinging her crossbody bag over her shoulder, she slipped her wand into the bag, grabbed the wrap, and headed out the door.

As she closed the door, she took a bite of the wrap. “Mm… a bit plain without any meat, but otherwise good.”

“Moira, is that all you’re having for breakfast?” Though the wrap was fragrant with scallion and looked appetizing, Sylph still felt it was too simple for someone like Mo Lan.

“I got up late, and these are the only things left in the dormitory,” Mo Lan said between bites, then asked, “What did you have this morning?”

She sniffed the air after asking, and without waiting for Sylph to answer, guessed: “Snail rice noodles?”

Sylph pressed her lips together in a smile. “Mm-hm.”

“Guess what I had!” Vasida chimed in.

Mo Lan eyed her rosy-red lips and the beads of sweat still lingering on her nose. “Fire chicken noodles?”

“Wow! You got it right away!” Vasida exclaimed. “Those noodles are so spicy! Even spicier than a chili oil hot pot. I was completely wide awake after eating them. But… why aren’t there any chickens in fire chicken noodles?”

Mo Lan: “…”

That was a good question. She rummaged through her Earth memories for information about fire chicken noodles before finding the answer.

The brand logo for fire chicken noodles was a fire-breathing chicken — that’s why they were called fire chicken noodles. How was she supposed to explain that? There wasn’t even a fire chicken on the seasoning packet!

Under Vasida and Sylph’s curious gazes, Mo Lan forced herself to say: “The noodles are so spicy they make you breathe fire — that’s why they’re called fire chicken noodles.”

There wasn’t a speck of meat in them anyway.

“Oh, so that’s what the ‘fire chicken’ means!” Vasida had her epiphany.

“Let’s get going! I wonder if the first-years are up yet,” Mo Lan said, changing the subject.

At the mention of this, Vasida perked right up. “They’re up, they’re up! I just went to take a peek at the Intersection — it’s quite lively by the well!”

The poor freshmen — after walking the mountain path for so long last night, they returned to their dormitories only to discover that the faucets didn’t produce a single drop of water.

Not a single drop!

The first thing they had to do this morning was fetch water from the well.

They huffed and puffed hauling their buckets, looking utterly disheveled.

Meanwhile, the third-year seniors had collectively brought out small watering cans to water their gardens. After each pour, a wave of the wand refilled the can. And the glances they cast toward the first-years were anything but subtle.

That was one thing, but now the second-year seniors had planted themselves right near the well to spectate, claiming: “We’re waiting for someone!”

“I counted — all twenty-seven second-year seniors are here. I wonder who they’re waiting for?” Bertha said through gritted teeth. “How infuriating. Just wait until next year! Next year I’m going to do the exact same thing as the seniors!”

Anna and Annie beside her: “…” They didn’t quite understand, but they respected it.

The two of them had shared a dormitory room last night and stayed up late reading the set of books that Senior Moira had given them, not even remembering when they’d fallen asleep.

They only woke up this morning when they heard the commotion outside, and it was Bertha who called them to come fetch water together.

Watching her struggle now, Anna and Annie exchanged a glance.

“Why don’t you take a break? Let us help!”

“We’re older than you, taller too, and we’ve done this kind of work before. We’re steadier at carrying water.”

The moment Bertha heard this, she clutched her own bucket and leaped three feet away, sloshing out quite a bit of water in the process.

“No, no, no! Until I drop dead from exhaustion, don’t you dare help me! No — even if I do drop dead, don’t help me!”

Anna and Annie: “???”

“If I can’t even manage to carry a bit of water, how can I talk about being independent in the future?” Bertha declared. “If a witch can do something herself, she absolutely won’t rely on others!”

“Independence…” Recalling what the Mo Lan’s book had said about the pursuit of witches, the sisters had a moment of understanding. “Alright then!”

Passing by the second-year seniors once more, Bertha finally couldn’t resist asking:

“Seniors, who exactly are you waiting for? There are only twenty-seven people in the second year, aren’t there?”

The second-year young witches looked at each other, did a headcount, and indeed — everyone was already here.

Everyone had been a bit too enthusiastic.

Finally, their gazes settled on Mo Lan, who was currently eating her egg wrap. They all pointed at her in unison. “We’re waiting for her! It’s not good to eat breakfast while walking. We’ll set off once she’s finished eating.”

Mo Lan, who had just opened her mouth wide to stuff in the rest of the wrap: “???”

Though annoyed at her friends for throwing her under the bus, it didn’t stop her from instantly adopting an air of composure, daintily nibbling on a tiny piece of lettuce.

She’d have to eat this last bit slowly — she hadn’t had her fill of “admiring the view” yet!

The freshmen: “…”

Once they were far enough away, Annie couldn’t help but ask Bertha: “Is this also a witch tradition?”

“What tradition?” Bertha was momentarily confused.

“The mischief!” Annie said. “How can the seniors be so perfectly in sync about it?”

“They’re not that perfectly in sync. The fourth and fifth-year seniors didn’t come, did they?” Anna pointed out. “Even though they don’t live in the dormitories anymore, they can fly on broomsticks. If they really wanted to watch the spectacle, the sky would’ve been full of broomsticks zipping about.”

“Maybe they’ve gotten tired of watching,” Bertha said uncertainly.

At that very moment, the fifth-year young witches pressing forward into the dangerous outer regions of the Academy grounds to begin their survival trials, and the fourth-year young witches frantically searching for housing in the inner regions: “(-)???”

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to come — they were simply too busy to make it.

The sight of the juniors struggling was too entertaining. Even though Mo Lan ate very slowly, this last little bit of wrap still couldn’t last much longer.

The second-year young witches reluctantly left the dormitory area and headed toward the Castle.

Only the third-year young witches remained, holding steadfast in their yards.

“Won’t the seniors drown the plants in their gardens with all that watering?” Vasida asked with concern.

Sylph glanced back. “I don’t know about the other seniors, but Renée definitely won’t. She’s watering Oil Peanuts — they need a lot of water. You could soak them in water and they still wouldn’t die.”

The young witches had a collective epiphany.

You really had to hand it to the seniors!

Watching the show without letting it interfere with getting work done.