Chapter 309 – No Rush

Chapter 309 – No Rush

“Just one crate!” Mo Lan said. “There were too few magic ores, and most of them were Beginner-grade. There was only one Intermediate-grade piece. Using them to set up magic circles inside and outside the house, plus throughout the valley—it was barely enough.”

“One crate? You mean those big wooden crates like the ones in the basement?” Amelia suddenly felt that the small piece of magic crystal she’d dug up last night didn’t amount to much at all.

“There are magic circles in the valley too?” Lilith went to look around the valley and sure enough discovered traces of guardian magic circles—two massive formations covering the entire valley.

Vasida and Sylph finally understood why they hadn’t noticed before. They had surveyed the entire valley from the air and seen neither the house nor any sign of Mo Lan, so they’d instinctively assumed she wasn’t there and hadn’t bothered to land.

Of course, looking at that basement full of ore, they also realized that even if they had tried to land and been blocked by the guardian and alarm magic circles, Mo Lan—busy mining on both banks of the underground river—wouldn’t have heard the alarm and come back anyway.

“Guardian magic circles this large… Even when I officially build my Witch’s Home, I wouldn’t dare dream of being this extravagant. And yet you used them on a place you can only live in for one year?” Iris said in disbelief.

Mo Lan shook her head. “No, no—the magic circles covering the valley can only fend off wild beasts, and they only have a one-year lifespan. There really were too few magic ores.”

The young witches: “…”

Suddenly, Mo Lan was looking rather insufferable!

Being stared at by a group of young witches with those smoldering gazes, Mo Lan’s heart skipped a beat: Whoops, I showed off too much!

“Ahem, ahem. You all keep looking around. I’ll go hunt some fresh game nearby, and tonight we’ll have a barbecue by the waterfall!”

Mo Lan pulled out her broomstick and was about to slip away when Lilith blocked her path. “While there’s still daylight, we’re planning to head out for the outer region.”

“That’s right! We want to get to the area near the Hedge Wall early and gather some supplies there,” Amelia added.

“You come all the way to my home and don’t even stay for a meal? That won’t do!” Mo Lan protested. “Once you leave, we might not even get to share another meal together by the time you graduate next year. The Headmistress doesn’t even let other young witches attend the graduation ceremony.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. Every witch has her own path to walk. We’re all still young—there will be plenty of chances to meet again in the future. And we can always stay in touch by letter,” Lilith said.

“Exactly! You led us along this route and already saved us nearly a full day of travel. Now we need to make good use of that extra day so it doesn’t go to waste!”

The senior witches had made up their minds. Mo Lan’s attempts to make them stay were futile, and she could only watch as they flew south toward the Hedge Wall.

She turned to look at the five witches from her own year. “You five aren’t in a rush, are you? If everyone’s leaving, I’m going to cry! When I was building this place, I was already dreaming about having a barbecue on the lawn by the waterfall with my friends, and lying together on the oversized bed in the bedroom chatting the night away.”

The five young witches exchanged glances.

“I kind of want to eat grilled meat~” Iris was genuinely craving it.

“Perfect timing then! Let me tell you—a few months ago I discovered a grove of ink-leaf trees with a flock of Red-Eyed Birds, every one of them plump and well-fed. They were in breeding season though, so I left them alone. Now should be the perfect time for hunting. We’ll go bag some big birds later and roast their wings!” Mo Lan said.

Iris swallowed hard and nodded vigorously.

Roasted Red-Eyed Bird wings! She’d never had them before! She’d read in books that Red-Eyed Bird wings marinated in ink-leaf tree sap before roasting were absolutely delicious!

Alba gave it serious consideration. “I specialize in light-element magic, so nighttime isn’t ideal for me to move around. I’m not very familiar with the paths around here yet, and I don’t dare travel at night like the seniors do. So… I’ll have to trouble you for the night, Moira.”

“Trouble? I couldn’t be happier!” Mo Lan said, then turned to look at Vasida, Sylph, and Cheryl.

“Moira, you may have won, but Sylph and I still haven’t settled things between us. You’ll need to come see our places later and judge who loses! Might as well travel together from here!” Vasida said.

Sylph nodded as well. “We’re staying too.”

That left only Cheryl.

Feeling a bit awkward about freeloading, Cheryl had no choice but to say, “Then I’ll stay too! But Vasida, what’s this about winning and losing?”

“The three of us made a bet earlier—whoever has the worst dwelling has to drink a full cup of unsweetened Breadfruit juice,” Vasida explained.

“No—three full cups!” Sylph corrected.

“Right, right, right—three full cups. So, want to join the bet, you three?” Vasida said eagerly. “All five of us live in these mountains and can easily visit each other. Why not have a little competition?”

All that time she’d spent studying mathematics hadn’t been for nothing.

Originally she’d had a one-in-three chance of losing. Now it had become one-in-two.

As for Sylph’s place—while Vasida hadn’t gone close to examine it, she knew Sylph had put enormous effort into building her dwelling. Supposedly she even had newly cultivated mutant plants that she hadn’t revealed yet.

But if she could get Cheryl and the others to join, her odds of losing would drop to just one-in-five.

Cheryl thought it over. Her dwelling couldn’t compete with the three Sorceresses who’d been preparing well in advance, but surely it could beat Iris and Alba’s? This was also a good excuse to invite Mo Lan and the others to come see her place, so she said, “Fine, I’m in. I won’t necessarily lose!”

“Iris, Alba—what about you two?” Vasida pressed.

Alba thought to herself, Sorry, Iris. “I’m in!”

She had visited Iris’s dwelling a few months ago, and she was quite certain she wouldn’t lose.

And so: “Iris, you should join too! We all live in the same stretch of mountains. Let’s all visit each other’s dwellings—that way if anything changes in the area later, we can keep each other informed and watch out for one another.”

It was absolutely not because she wanted to see Iris drink unsweetened Breadfruit juice!

If there was one young witch in their year who had been tormented the least by Breadfruit, it was definitely Iris—the one who’d had some cooking skills from the day she enrolled.

As for Mo Lan, she had already put herself through more than enough suffering in the name of learning. Even Alba felt pained just watching.

Iris: “…”

She had a profanity she wasn’t sure whether to voice.

In the end, she nodded. It was just three cups of Breadfruit juice, right?

If she lost, she’d just prepare plenty of tasty meat on the side—one sip, one bite—and it’d be over before she knew it.

However: “Alba! I’m sure they got your reading wrong at the enrollment ceremony. How could your magic aptitude possibly be light-element? You’re clearly a natural-born Black Witch!”