Chapter 454: Tan Han Targeted by Thieves
“Take it easy, think clearly about what you want to do, and then go do it. Just like I mentioned earlier, I’m striving not to be a student; I’m not joking.”
“…Teaching Assistant, you want to become a Teaching Assistant, right?” Tan Han looked at me in shock while clearing the mess on the table.
Combining what I said earlier and the announcement from the academy system that she had ignored, Xiao Han couldn’t possibly withdraw from being a student, right? So Tan Han reached this bold conclusion.
“So you’re quite smart, huh? You guessed it. Even though I have been a student for less than a year, becoming a Teaching Assistant might seem ridiculous to others, but at least I am willing to do it, and I have that kind of confidence.” Maybe due to using a soundproofing spell, things I was reluctant to say before could be discussed now.
Perhaps I really am as Sister Bai said, maybe my desire to express myself is too high… But Tan Han is not exactly a stranger to me; she is also a pitiable person.
“Of course, I’m not encouraging you to become a Teaching Assistant; it’s not suitable for you right now. I have my own reasons for doing this.”
“I know; I won’t blindly follow you anymore because every time I fall behind you and try to catch up, it has always been the start of my failure.” Many thoughts flashed through Tan Han’s mind at that moment, and what truly made her realize this was the last time in the Fool Village Secret Realm. She learned what it means to overestimate oneself and to blindly follow the crowd.
“Thank you for understanding. Hmm… it feels like our conversation has become a bit serious again. Let’s change the topic, shall we? You lead this time? I’m not someone who is very good at chatting, even though I am trying to change, but it’s not something that can be done overnight.”
“Okay then… I can see that actually, I also feel quite pressured every time I chat with you.” In this moment, during the conversation, she also organized her emotions as if the earlier incident of crushing the cup had never happened. The remnants had been cleaned up; after all, it was just a matter of magic.
“If you give me the initiative to steer the conversation, then I want to ask, do you know how the script will develop next? After all, during that bet, you said you would tell me if I won.”
“But you didn’t win, did you? So I can’t say.” I smiled at Tan Han’s somewhat helpless expression and said, “As for the development of the script, I really don’t know what will happen next. Previously, I was just a tool to be manipulated.” Although it seems to be the case now, I thought to myself.
“So… what about now?”
“I suppose there’s a bit of freedom now. If you insist on asking, I can only say that there might be a significant event occurring in the Main World in the near future. As for whether it is one of the nodes in the script, I wouldn’t know.”
“You really do know something, don’t you?”
“Well, I know not much. The situation is quite vague, and I don’t really want to bother with it. Because I understand that many things will reduce trouble and inner conflicts after going with the flow. What do you think?”
“Mm, I just feel some things are best prepared for before they happen…”
“So you’re still affected by the script, aren’t you? Before you were unaware of this concept, you wouldn’t worry about this question.”
“It seems that really is the case… Sigh, then I’ll ask one last question, and after that, I’ll prepare to leave.”
“Is that so? Well, it’s getting late; what do you want to ask?” I glanced at the sky outside the window and curiously asked.
“I want to know how you see me.”
“How I view you?”
“Yes, how do you see me? From the first time we met, until now…”
“Oh, so it’s this kind of view… Alright, since this is your last question, let me share my thoughts.” I said with a smile.
“Actually, how I see you can be divided into three stages. The first stage was when I thought you were a prodigy, like the protagonist in a novel, you invited me to help you with meditation, and when you did, you offered over ten thousand. That was the richest moment for me, and you were very generous. You were a member of the baking house, and so was I, but our treatments were different, which created a huge gap between us.”
“The second stage came when I began to examine myself, recognize my strengths, and slowly accumulate my own power. By then, you had already become a figure of influence in the academy.”
“I began to realize that you and I were walking on two different paths, but I didn’t think you were so unreachable, even during the new student competition’s first match. Even though I lost, I still thought this way. I began to realize you were just a student, albeit an excellent one, nothing more.”
“It was at that time when we collided, which shouldn’t have happened, and I later understood it’s likely due to the script. Even now, our conversations don’t quite mesh; there’s a strong sense of dissonance between us.”
“Probably around that time, I learned the concept of the script, and the reason I kept my distance from you was about the same.”
“Back then, I didn’t want to be cannon fodder, dying meaninglessly in the whirlpool of the script. You know? Those affected by the script felt like they were just engaged in petty skirmishes at the Witch Academy, but in Ninglan New City, that was really terrifying. Those ordinary people in the Underground City, they didn’t even understand why, and that’s why I kept my distance from you.”
“But the script seemed not to think the same way. It repeatedly faced setbacks with me. After defeating you in the Dream Exchange match, I realized you weren’t invincible. From that point onward, the so-called script no longer posed a threat to me, and that was when I walked out of the shadow of your Child of Fortune identity, and onto the path I wanted. Later, you can interpret our interactions as struggles against the script; from a macro perspective, many unreasonable small issues seem to have answers.”
“After complex developments, we are now chatting face to face. You asked me what my impression of you is; my current answer is to try to view this relationship with a more accepting attitude. I still think we shouldn’t have had any intersection, but when I no longer oppose the so-called script, it merely becomes a tool for intersecting with others. For someone like me who has no friends, I should feel happy about that.”
“So you mean I can be considered your friend now?” Tan Han asked.
“Um… I guess we can be called acquaintances, but our conversations are far from the ease of friends. Perhaps that is the dissonance in our intersections.”
“Maybe that’s why every time I come to you, I’m asking questions unrelated to friendship, so you resist labeling me as your friend?” Tan Han asked with a bitter smile.
“Well, it’s also my problem. I don’t have many friends, but subconsciously think friends shouldn’t be like this.”
“Thank you, I think I understand now.”
“As long as you understand, although I’m not quite sure what you’ve understood.”
“Do you want to know?”
“Um… not really. Anyway, take care~”
“Alright.” Tan Han didn’t say anything more, but got up to leave. Once she stepped out of the range covered by my soundproofing spell, the external noise flooded into my ears in an instant, leaving her momentarily dazed.
She didn’t waste any time and went directly to retrieve the girl who wasn’t listening to her.
Watching Tan Han take the girl away, I sighed. The fun was gone; I thought that after Tan Han left, the girl would come over and give me some trouble.
I picked up the cup and drank down the last bit of Fool Dream Drink left. The unique fruity scent of the drink and the subtle wonderful sensation it brought enchanted me, as if I were in an orchard, reaching out to grab the fruits.
“Mm~ Hmm?”
Putting down the cup, I looked towards where Tan Han had vacated her seat, and a new person appeared.
I glanced at the empty cup bottom and recalled that the Fool Dream Drink shouldn’t have gotten me drunk.
However, realizing this was the Witch Cat Café and being approached by someone seemed to be the norm, I felt unsurprised.
“Sorry, I’m not a Guest Catgirl, so I don’t accept advances.” I politely waved my hand at her; after all, to become a Guest Catgirl, one would need to stamp that Alchemical Item and grow some Catgirl traits.
“Yang Yuelan, that’s what you’re called, right? I’m not here to play any Catgirl role-playing games with you.”
“Um?” I stared blankly at her, quickly catching on, and a smile crept onto my lips. Tan Han took one fun thing away, and unexpectedly, another one had come.
If earlier I thought she was just an exception, it seems now that Tan Han’s supporters each have quite a few ideas of their own?
“Oh, I see. I’m truly sorry; may I ask what you need from me?” I maintained my smile, as if I had no awareness that this person was here to make trouble for me.
“I want to ask you, how can you so easily take all of Sister Tan Han’s spellbooks? Do you know those spellbooks were all fought for one by one by Sister Tan Han in the past?”
“And then?”
“And then?” As she saw my calm demeanor, her frustration boiled over, feeling like her punch had landed on cotton, and the other party was simply watching her joke unfold.
“Yang Yuelan! Don’t think that just because you are the top new student, you can do whatever you want! The Witch Academy is not your family business.”
“And then?”
“You! Are you trying to irritate me on purpose? Do you know what you’re doing? You’re stealing those spellbooks, you want to ruin Sister Tan Han!”
“Well, if taking them would ruin Tan Han, then why do you still follow her? Am I right? And then?”
“You!” She was choked by my repeated “And then?” to the point where she could only spit out a few “You” words, clearly getting heated.
“Please state your purpose. You came here to vent your emotions without even making your point clearly, yet your voice is so loud. The Witch Cat Café is not your family’s café.”
Once the girl was berated by me, she seemed to react and subconsciously looked around, as if everyone around hadn’t heard her shout just now.
“Soundproofing spell, just a small trick. Here, you can freely express your emotions and opinions to me, let me see how low the standards of Tan Han’s supporters really are. Why not continue? And then?” I smiled at this girl, currently feeling a bit dazed because her outburst yielded zero damage, and for a moment, she was at a loss for how to respond.
At that moment, another girl came over and sat beside the awkward girl, seemingly providing her a way out. The frustrated girl quickly turned her head away, refusing to look at me.
“Oh? Are we having a group discussion?” I smiled and said to the newly arrived girl.
“Sorry, my friend here has caused you some displeasure. Let me introduce myself first; I’m Xia Ji.”
“Hello, my name is Yang Yuelan.” I also introduced myself, even though I knew they should be more than familiar with me.
“I know you are Yang Yuelan. We came here to negotiate with you.”
“Negotiate? Negotiate what? What are your chips? You aren’t just rushing here without any proper reason and calling it negotiation, right? Be careful, with no chips, you might get eaten up!”
“This is the Witch Academy! What do you want to do!” The girl, angered by me, directly threatened.
“I am well aware that this is the Witch Academy, so I’m speaking very politely with you, right? It seems your chips aren’t the Witch Academy, so what do you want to negotiate?”
“Negotiate? Of course, it’s about those spellbooks that rightfully belong to Sister Tan Han!”
“Oh? Spellbooks that rightfully belong to Tan Han?” I chuckled slightly, “Forgive me for saying so, but if you bring those spellbooks back to Tan Han, she wouldn’t want them.”
“Even if Sister Tan Han doesn’t want them, we can…” Mmm!
“Shut up!” The later girl immediately covered the mouth of her clumsy friend, warning her softly before letting go of her hand, “You don’t need to trouble Yang Yuelan with this.”
“Oh… I see…” Watching these two, the more I stared, the more I felt they were exactly the kind of entertaining spectacle I liked. Their audacity was truly impressive… Well, I wouldn’t mind giving them a lesson with something that belonged to Tan Han; let’s see how she would handle it.
I took out the storage card, laying it flat on the table, then pushed it to the center of the table, my mouth curling into a playful smile.
“I dare say if I put it here, then… do you dare to take it?” I lowered my voice by three points, looking at them with a scrutinizing gaze.
“You! Don’t go back on your word!”
Their hands moved faster than their words. Two hands slammed down on the storage card that Tan Han had given me not long ago, pulling it towards themselves as if they were on the brink of excitement for successfully obtaining the item.
At that moment, I smiled contentedly—no, I smiled in relief!
I leaned back in my chair, letting the soft back conform to the curve of my back, feeling comfortable yet satisfied.
What a bunch of thieves… Tan Han’s so-called supporters? They are a group of thieves who even dare to covet what Tan Han owns!
It’s just that they’re now intimidated by Tan Han’s strength, but once she separates from her spellbooks, they dare to target them.
Fortunately, I threw the item quickly; otherwise… being coveted by these guys would surely keep me restless.
But I found it amusing. Such a scene must be recorded in the Knowledge Tree, and I’ll find an opportunity to show it to Tan Han later. Her expression should be quite interesting, right?
Neither Tan Han nor I wanted to take on these spellbooks, but those people seem to relish them.
At that moment, when they realized their own embarrassment and hurriedly retracted, wanting to explain something, they found no one in front of them.
It was as if I had vanished into thin air, leaving them sitting there, dazed.
