Chapter 25 – The Walk to School

Chapter 25 – The Walk to School

At six in the morning, the bells of Academy Castle rang right on time. Mo Lan was jolted awake, still feeling rather reluctant to leave her dreams behind—last night’s dream had been so wonderful.

The first thing she did after getting up was grab the breadfruit by her bed and take two bites. The sourness hit her like a jolt of electricity.

Breadfruit was absolutely perfect for waking up. One bite and you were wide awake.

She got up and changed into her school robe, then draped the black satin hair ribbon from her headboard over her head, choosing a neat and practical hairstyle and letting it work its magic.

By the time she went downstairs to wash up, her hair was already done.

The Beginner’s Guide hadn’t mentioned anything about what to bring.

Stationery supplies like pens, ink, and paper could all be collected from the Academy Castle’s storeroom.

So after getting herself ready, Mo Lan simply went to the storage room and picked out the biggest breadfruit she could find before heading out. She didn’t bring anything else.

A single breadfruit could solve all of today’s eating and drinking needs.

Vasida and Sylph set out even more lightly, carrying just breadfruit cakes and water flasks.

“I went to the Breadfruit Grove last night and filled my Devouring Stomach to the brim. Plus I’ve got a packet of fruit cakes as backup—there’s no way I’ll run low on energy today, no matter what!” Vasida said.

Sylph had brought only a palm-sized packet of fruit cakes. “This much is plenty for my lunch. I’ll make dinner when we get back.”

The three of them left at roughly the same time.

Mo Lan was fine—the other young witches, like her, each carried a breadfruit.

But Vasida and Sylph, traveling so light that you could barely tell they’d brought anything at all, drew quite a bit of attention from the other young witches.

“Did you two forget to bring lunch? Even though there’s a two-hour break at noon, going back and forth between Academy Castle and the Dormitory plus cooking and eating wouldn’t leave enough time!”

Vasida and Sylph had already asked Mo Lan earlier and knew she had no intention of keeping the breadfruit cake a secret.

So whenever a young witch asked, Vasida would proudly fish a small oil-paper packet from her pouch like she was showing off a treasure. “I did bring some!”

Then, as the young witches questioned “That little bit? Can that really fill you up?”, Sylph would reveal the answer: “These are breadfruit cakes that Moira made! They’re incredibly filling!”

“Isn’t breadfruit supposed to be impossible to cook with?”

“Can something made from breadfruit even be edible? Wouldn’t it be really sour?”

The news that Lilith had only brought fruit cakes spread among the second-year witches as well.

In the end, all the young witches were burning with curiosity about what breadfruit cake tasted like.

Mo Lan needed to restore her magic power, so she hadn’t brought any fruit cakes. To prove that the taste of breadfruit cake and breadfruit were worlds apart, Vasida and Sylph shared some with everyone to try.

Though they only gave each young witch a tiny piece no bigger than a fingernail, their rations still inevitably shrank somewhat.

Fortunately, only the first and second-year witches had to walk to school, and when they bumped into each other and combined their numbers, there were still fewer than sixty of them. Otherwise, the breadfruit cakes they’d brought wouldn’t have been enough to go around.

After tasting it, who would still want to lug a heavy, horrible-tasting breadfruit up the mountain to attend classes at the Castle?

Mo Lan had anticipated this outcome and wasn’t the type to hoard her knowledge. She said directly:

“The breadfruit cake only retains the breadfruit’s strong satiating effect—it no longer has the ability to restore magic power.

If everyone’s still interested, I can walk you through the preparation steps.

It’s not hard at all!”

“Interested! We’re interested!” the young witches chimed in eagerly.

And just like that, the walk to school turned into Mo Lan’s little breadfruit cake class.

After she finished explaining, the young witches with cooking experience even came up with their own ideas based on the recipe. Iris, for example, was already mulling over whether she could add minced meat to breadfruit.

All at once, the young witches’ enthusiasm for cooking with breadfruit reached an unprecedented high.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the gates of Academy Castle.

Sylph wiped the sweat from her forehead. “It felt like going uphill was even faster than going downhill today! We got here before I knew it, just chatting along the way.”

“The bell tower clock struck nine times while we were on the road.” Lilith checked the time. “It’s already nine-thirty now. If you actually calculate it, the climb today was much slower than before.”

“All that talk about food made me want to rush back and try making breadfruit jerky cake. Who could even remember how high or hard the mountain was to climb? You just don’t notice it and suddenly you’re at the top—that’s why it felt fast!” Iris said.

“Look! The senior students are coming too!” Alba gazed toward the distant sky.

Dozens of broomsticksticks took off from the dormitory area, soaring toward the Castle. Before long, they touched down on the small plaza outside the Castle.

The first and second-year witches had gotten up at the crack of dawn and huffed and puffed their way up the mountain for nearly three hours to get here, yet the third-year seniors had flown over in just a few minutes.

“We’ll be taking flying lessons soon too! When that happens, I’m going to be just like the seniors and not leave for school until nine-thirty!” Lilith voiced what every second-year witch was thinking.

Mo Lan and the others, who still had a whole year of walking ahead of them, were practically dying of envy.

Still: “Lilith, how come we don’t see the fourth and fifth-year seniors? Don’t they have classes this morning?”

“The fourth and fifth-year seniors rarely come to Academy Castle for classes anymore. As for what exactly they’re doing, I’m not sure either.”

Lilith looked around the plaza. “It seems like this year’s astromancy ceremony ended earlier than usual. It’s only the fourth day, and I don’t see the fourth-year seniors’ tents anymore.”

“So, Lilith, which teacher teaches the alchemy class?” Vasida asked. “And why is it alchemy for an entire week? When will they teach Culinary Magic?”

Lilith gave a mysterious smile. “As for the teacher, you’ll find out very soon—just try not to be too shocked! As for Culinary Magic, that starts next week.”

The other seniors, sensing where this was going, slipped away too. “Hurry to the classroom—class is about to start!”

The detours they’d taken, the embarrassments they’d suffered—how could they possibly not let their juniors experience them too?

The first-year witches: “…”

The seniors really loved keeping people in suspense!

Mo Lan had no choice but to open her map. “The schedule says the Introduction to alchemy class is on the top floor of the West Tower. Going that way is the shortest route!”

“Let’s go!” Vasida pumped her little fist. “I can’t wait to start learning magic!”

A whole group of young witches marched off toward the West Tower in grand fashion.

Before long, while passing through a corridor, they encountered Lady Amisha wearing a deep blue witch’s robe. The young witches greeted her in unison: “Good morning, Headmistress!”

“Good morning!” Amisha gave a slight nod and reminded them with a smile, “The West Tower is quite far. You’ll need to pick up the pace!”

“Yes, ma’am! Goodbye, Headmistress!” The young witches grew anxious and quickened their steps.

Mo Lan glanced back. Lady Amisha had disappeared into a classroom at the end of the corridor.

That classroom was where the second-year seniors had their lessons—she had spotted Lilith’s striking red hair through the doorway as she passed.

She didn’t think much of it, and soon they had all hurried past the corridor.

Winding through the maze-like Castle, they finally reached the western side.

“There’s a path on the second floor here that leads directly into the West Tower.”

“Let’s go!”

They were halfway up the stairs when the young witches’ momentum came to an abrupt halt.

(End of Chapter)