Chapter 256 – Raided While Away

“I haven’t seen our senior in a long time either,” Sylph remarked.

“I’ve run into her a few times at Breadfruit Grove, but she was always in such a hurry that we barely exchanged a few words.”

Vasida said, “But we were just about to go ask her about the promotional materials anyway. The third-years are all busy moving out of their dormitories, so she might not have remembered.”

“I’m coming too!” Mo Lan immediately got ready to head out.

This past year, she had spent almost all her time studying. She’d barely gotten together with Sylph and Vasida, let alone seen Lilith, who was equally swamped.

Now the academic year was nearly over. Though she still hadn’t managed to finish all the books in the Second-Year Reading Room, that wasn’t for lack of effort—there were simply too many.

Even reading nonstop for an entire year, she might not have gotten through them all.

After all, the Second-Year Reading Room housed every theoretical text and spellbook for Apprentice and Beginner-level magic, plus a massive pile of miscellaneous volumes.

It was time to relax a little and check in on her senior.

Moving out of the dormitory at the end of third year was no small challenge for a young witch.

The three of them went to Lilith’s dormitory together.

But the vegetable garden in their senior’s courtyard had long since been overrun by weeds from neglect.

“Senior!”

“Senior, are you there?”

The three knocked and called out, but no one answered.

It was Amelia from the neighboring dormitory who happened to come back to grab something. Seeing them, she said:

“Lilith probably won’t be back today. Her dwelling was destroyed, and she’s on her way to track down the culprits for revenge as we speak! If you need to find her, she’ll definitely be back the morning of the day after tomorrow to collect her luggage.”

“Her dwelling was destroyed?” The three of them were stunned. “Is the Inner Region really that dangerous?”

Amelia didn’t elaborate. “You’ll find out when the time comes. Suffice it to say, establishing yourself in the wilderness is no easy feat.”

On the morning of the enrollment ceremony, the three of them finally saw Lilith return.

They hurried over to greet her.

“Senior! Are you alright?”

“Senior, are you still going to participate in this year’s astrology ceremony?”

Lilith looked at the three juniors with their worried faces and tactful questions. Though she’d just had her home raided, she projected an air of complete composure.

“I’m perfectly fine. The housing situation has been resolved. I won’t be participating in the astrology ceremony, but I’ll play along with the witches who don’t have a place yet.

I came back to move the rest of my things from the dormitory to my new dwelling.”

She wasn’t lying, exactly. It was just that the house she’d painstakingly built had been demolished by a rampaging herd of elephants.

She’d gotten her revenge, but the house was still gone.

Her current “dwelling” was nothing more than a makeshift burrow she’d hastily dug out for temporary shelter.

She’d built it right in the elephants’ territory, figuring no other wild beast would dare come bothering her for a while.

But time had been tight, and the conditions were truly dire—worse than some wild beasts’ dens, even.

None of that needed to be shared with her juniors. It would damage her image as a senior.

Lilith put on an excellent performance, and Mo Lan and the others completely failed to see past her calm facade to the reality that was only marginally better than sleeping rough under the open sky.

“That’s a relief! This year at the enrollment ceremony, we’re planning to promote our Sorceress Magic again, just like last year. Senior, would you like to join in?” Mo Lan asked.

“I completely forgot about that. I’ll sit this one out…” As Lilith said this, her heart bled.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to—it was that she now had nothing to her name. She couldn’t even produce a sheet of paper for a flyer.

She’d had things prepared, but after her home was raided, everything was destroyed.

She could only console herself with the fact that the Academy Library had at least cataloged her blood magic book, and Mo Lan’s Card Magic included her card pool and cards.

Even without promotion, there was still some exposure.

All her bitterness ultimately condensed into a single piece of advice for her juniors:

“The Inner Region may not have magical beasts, but it’s nothing to underestimate. You all need to start planning ahead and be careful! Make sure you study Alchemy Magic—especially defensive magic formations. The more advanced, the better!”

She didn’t want them to end up like her, blindsided at the last moment by a herd of wild animals she’d never taken seriously.

“That’s all I can reveal. Be extra cautious. I won’t keep chatting—I need to hurry and pack my things. If I don’t finish before the deadline, everything left in the dormitory will be gone.” Lilith said.

For her right now, if she lost even those few remaining belongings in the dormitory, her life going forward would only become more miserable—adding frost to snow. It would take quite some time before she could recover.

Watching their senior bid a hasty farewell and rush off to pack, the three of them suddenly felt a prickle of unease about the approaching third-year life.

And that prickle of unease became tangible reality when they received the 《Academic Year Plan》 for the third year that evening.

This year’s enrollment ceremony was much calmer than previous years. There was no appearance of a Sorceress like in earlier years, nor a naturally awakened witch like last year.

At the enrollment banquet, Mo Lan and the others promoted their magic. Once the banquet ended, they went with the fifth-year seniors to the broomstick shed to retrieve their broomsticks, preparing to leave ahead of the others.

Now that they’d advanced to third year, they needed to focus more on their studies and improving their abilities. The task of guiding new students back to the dormitory had been willingly taken up by the new second-years.

Bertha, along with the sisters Anna and Annie, had already transformed from last year’s timid newcomers into seasoned students who could answer questions and guide the new arrivals as proper “seniors.”

They were currently telling the new students about the tradition of the “astrology ceremony” and about broomsticks.

Mo Lan and the others had long since learned to ride their broomsticks at full speed, often shooting off in a blur the moment they mounted.

But today was the first time they were the impressive seniors who could fly back to the dormitory in the new students’ eyes, so they paid extra attention to looking graceful, slowing down their speed accordingly.

After all, going too fast would plaster their robes against their bodies, whip their hair into a tangled mess, and make it impossible to maintain a pleasant expression—hardly ideal for letting the younger students admire their elegant flying form.

Once they’d flown clear of the Castle, nobody picked up speed. Instead, they broke into excited chatter.

“Did I look good flying just now? My hair wasn’t messy, was it?”

“Hehe, I heard the juniors gasp in amazement! We’ve finally become the seniors they look up to!”

“Haha! It really wasn’t intentional showing off—it’s all to motivate the juniors to study the Art of Flight properly!”

“It’s Academy tradition!”

“But the enrollment ceremony fell on a Saturday this year. Classes officially start just one day later. The break wasn’t nearly long enough!”

“This academic year is going to be rough, I think. All those seniors came to the astrology ceremony—even if some were just playing along, there were still so many tents in the square!”