Chapter 85 – The Unexpected Attacker

The entire dormitory district fell into a deathly silence.

That single, brief scream seemed almost like an illusion.

The Amishas appeared beside the young witches they were assigned to protect.

“She’s fine, just fainted!”

……

Mo Lan opened her eyes and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, somewhat confused. “Where am I?”

Hadn’t she just been talking with Vasida? And what about the Breadfruit? And that scream… Her memories came flooding back, and she bolted upright.

She glanced left and right—well then. Vasida and Sylph were both lying neatly beside her.

And it wasn’t just them. As far as she could see, practically every first, second, and third-year witch was here.

All of them lying stiff as boards on the carpet, a sight that made Mo Lan’s heart clench.

What happened? Was the Academy attacked by someone?

“Awake?”

A voice came from behind her. Mo Lan whipped around, and only relaxed when she saw the familiar red hair. “Senior, where is this? Was the Academy attacked? By who?”

Lilith was carrying an armload of potions. She nodded. “This is the infirmary. The Academy was attacked, but not by a person… Look, it was that thing!”

Mo Lan looked where she was pointing, but only saw the young witches collapsed on the ground. “What?”

“That flower!” Lilith said.

“Flower?” Only then did Mo Lan notice that beside Sylph’s head sat a large flowerpot covered by a crystal dome.

Inside the pot was a palm-sized plant topped with a fingernail-sized yellow bud. Although it now had a flower bud and had lost all its leaves, Mo Lan recognized it at once.

“Isn’t that Sylph’s Wind Chime Flower? It bloomed? What does it have to do with this?”

Honestly, in the brief time since waking, Mo Lan had already concocted a scenario where some villain infiltrating the Academy had disguised themselves as this flower and secretly poisoned the water tower serving the entire dormitory district.

Otherwise, it was hard to explain how so many young witches had all been affected.

After all, every young witch had a Lady Amisha watching over her at all times to prevent accidents!

Then she heard Lilith say: “It just went ‘Kyaa~’ once, and every young witch in the dormitory district fainted. If the Amisha watching over Sylph hadn’t witnessed the whole thing, we never would have suspected it.”

Mo Lan stared in shock at the slightly malnourished-looking little flower. What kind of Wind Chime Flower was this? This was practically a Rafflesia!

One scream, and it had taken down an entire dormitory district’s worth of young witches.

But still: “Isn’t it a Wind Chime Flower?”

“It seems to have mutated. From what we’ve gathered so far, when this flower is blown by the wind, it’s much like an ordinary Wind Chime Flower—the sound is quite pleasant. But when something touches it, the scream it emits can knock out every living creature within a five-hundred-meter radius.” Lilith said, “It might be related to Sylph’s Manifested Gift. We’ll need to wait until she wakes up to know more.”

“It’s that dangerous, and you’re just leaving it here?” Mo Lan said.

“It insisted on being next to Sylph, or it wouldn’t give up its leaves. The Headmistress had no choice but to make a soundproof crystal dome and keep it here,” Lilith said.

“Oh! So that’s how it is…” Mo Lan nodded, then suddenly thought of something. “Wait—it can talk?”

“The Academy’s Sprites relayed its message. The Sprite race can naturally communicate with plants. Anyway! Now that you’re awake, come help me administer the potions!”

Lilith shoved several bottles of potion into her arms.

“What kind of potions are these?” Mo Lan hurriedly got to her feet and asked curiously.

“The green ones are awakening potions that a Lady Amisha developed using that flower’s leaves.”

Lilith said, “There weren’t enough leaves, so the potions had to be diluted. They can only speed up everyone’s recovery somewhat—the rest is up to each person’s own constitution. Since you’re already awake, that saves us one bottle. Give Cheryl an extra dose instead. When she fainted, she was closest to Sylph and took the worst of it, and she’s only Apprentice rank. The red ones are nourishing potions. They can’t eat on their own while unconscious, so these are the substitute.”

Mo Lan followed her senior’s instructions, administering potion to Cheryl while asking, “Does that scream only cause fainting? Are there any other side effects?”

“None. It’s just exceptionally difficult to wake up from. The lower the rank, the slower the recovery. It has no effect at all on Peak level.”

The white-robed Amisha entering with more potions answered her question.

This was the Lady Amisha permanently stationed at the infirmary.

“Headmistress, what day of the week is it?” Mo Lan only now thought to ask about the time.

“Sunday…” Amisha said.

“Oh good, I was only out for a few hours!” Mo Lan breathed a sigh of relief.

Lilith looked at her and shook her head. “You’re underestimating the power of that flower. It’s already Sunday of the fifth week.”

Mo Lan: (°°)!!!

“It’s been two weeks?! Oh no! My Breadfruit! My Mana!”

Never mind that the Breadfruit she’d painstakingly hauled back to her dorm had expired and rotted—there was also her Mana!

Income from selling Cards would automatically deposit into the Book of Cards for storage, but the Mana that naturally regenerated during this time wouldn’t!

She summoned the Book of Cards and pulled out her {Status Card}.

【Name: Mo Lan】

【Race: Witch/Sorceress】

【Rank: Advanced】

【Mana: 1010/1010 Mana】

……

“Well now! I advanced just from sleeping?” Mo Lan stared at her rank in shock.

“Perfectly normal. If you hadn’t reached Advanced rank, you’d probably still be asleep for another two days,” Amisha said.

“I was already Advanced rank in my first year, and this time I only slept for seven days—I was the first to wake up,” Lilith said.

After waking, she had been helping Amisha the entire time, and now she finally had an extra pair of hands.

Mo Lan worked alongside Lilith and Lady Amisha, administering potions to the young witches covering the floor.

It was truly exhausting physical labor. Even Lady Amisha couldn’t substitute Magic for the task—one careless move and the potion would be coughed right back up.

There were eighty-eight young witches across the first, second, and third years, and aside from Lilith and herself who had already awakened, every last one of them was here.

“This is the most lively the infirmary has ever been,” Amisha said. “There’s simply not enough room, which is why everyone had to sleep on carpets this time. The beds all had to be pushed out into the corridor for temporary storage.”

Once all the young witches had been dosed with their potions, Mo Lan and Lilith squatted beside the crystal dome, staring at the bald little flower.

Mo Lan had even dug out her copy of *《Encyclopedia of Magical Flora of the Continent of Valen》* and flipped to the page about Wind Chime Flowers.

“It looks pretty similar to the illustration of a young Wind Chime Flower in the book. Just a bit more… bald.”

After all, it had no leaves left, and the rest of its buds hadn’t grown in yet.

“True. By all appearances, it’s just an ordinary Wind Chime Flower.”

Lilith had been checking on it regularly, and from its outward appearance alone, nothing seemed unusual. “Who would have thought it could unleash a sonic attack like that? Small flower, big talent!”

“Hm? What’s it shaking for?” Mo Lan stared curiously at the trembling flower bud.