Chapter 473: The Teaching Assistants
“Um… this should be it.”
I looked at the meeting room here, and this was my first time visiting this place.
Just now, Teacher Lina called me here with a phone call, informing me that my previous application had been approved, and I have now become a “glorious” joint examination teacher.
According to Teacher Lina, there weren’t many applications for teaching assistants this time, so she decided to take me under her wing and added me to a temporary joint examination teaching assistant group. This group, aside from Teacher Lina and me, only had three other teaching assistants who were more experienced than I was.
Together, the four of us formed a mobile team for the upcoming joint examination, commonly referred to as errand runners.
We mainly follow Lina’s arrangements, and secondarily listen to commands from other responsible instructors. In short, as long as we’re needed and caught in someone’s sight, any extraordinary witch should be able to call upon us to help.
Although it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say so, the meaning is roughly the same.
After entering the group, the three other teaching assistants were already in there, and I still didn’t know if a fifth teaching assistant would join.
After a quick welcome, there wasn’t much else to discuss, so I didn’t say much in the group.
Upon opening the door, I found a spacious meeting room occupied by only two young girls, and even Teacher Lina, who had called me over, was nowhere to be seen. This made me subconsciously check if I had gone to the wrong place.
“Hey~ sister, you didn’t go wrong. You’re the new teaching assistant, Xiao Han, right? You can come sit with me.” One of the girls, who didn’t appear very tall, cheerfully waved me over and pulled out a chair next to her.
Her short lavender hair was quite eye-catching, with a translucent texture that was noticeable when it swayed, and what was most striking was the pair of cat ears on top of her head.
“Thank you.” I smiled and moved forward to take a seat, but instinctively shifted a bit to maintain some distance from her.
However, my gaze remained fixed on the pair of cat ears atop her head.
It seemed like this was just a… spell effect?
“If you keep staring at my ears like that, I’m going to get shy~”
The girl covered her ears with her hands, pretending to be shy, while the other girl, who was a bit farther away, couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ha… I can hardly imagine you being shy. It certainly doesn’t seem like it’s how you really are.”
“Girls tend to act like this when they’re shy!”
She wasn’t too angry at being interrupted and simply adjusted her slightly falling jacket, which revealed her smooth skin and well-defined waist, with a uniquely styled dark-colored one-shoulder inner garment tightly holding her not-so-large bust together.
I looked at this boldly dressed girl and wondered how someone who dared to dress so revealingly could still feel shy. This was indeed a curious question.
“Staring at someone like that isn’t very polite, you know? By the way, my name is Li Feiya. I know you, Xiao Han~ the star among the new students.”
“Then I guess I won’t introduce myself?”
For some reason, it seemed like everyone I met already knew me, while I had no idea who they were. This genuinely made me quite embarrassed.
However, I thought I wouldn’t be in such an awkward situation now.
Because I had the identification technique, the earth vein information wouldn’t deceive me, and it also recorded some basic information, such as characteristics of the individuals who had visited this place. It’s not something that I wouldn’t know just because I didn’t ask.
“Of course, you can skip that. After all, I would hope that you could look out for me, Xiao Han.”
“I think it’s more like I’m cleaning up your mess.” At this moment, the other girl chimed in again.
I turned my gaze toward her and saw that the earth vein information had nearly finished organizing. The other girl’s name… Lin Yi, a name simple enough to make me think there was an error.
“Hello, Xiao Han, I’m Lin Yi. You’re able to become a teaching assistant as a first-year student, which means you must have your own strengths. Nice to meet you.”
“Hello, my full name is Yang Yuelan. Here’s my business card.” I handed her a business card as I spoke.
“Thank you, this business card of yours…” She straightforwardly took the card and was a bit surprised after looking at it. “There’s a trace of alchemy on it; what have you done on it? It seems like you made some special markings for me.”
“Your observation is quite thorough…”
“Don’t overthink it, Xiao Han. Why are you so friendly with her? I spoke to you first, and you didn’t give me one?” Li Feiya got up from her seat, looking as if she was quite aggrieved.
“Your eagerness to perform is quite concerning for those new students, and interrupting others while they’re speaking is quite rude. Can’t you let Xiao Han finish?” Lin Yi said bluntly, making it clear that she was interested in the information on my business card.
“Here, take one. I was originally going to give it to you anyway since we’ll be working together for some time.” I took out one of my few remaining business cards and handed it over while pondering that I should make a few more. “This business card contains a summoning ceremony, which is related to a marking from my Reverse Summoning Spell spellbook. If there’s an urgent matter, you can summon me directly with this.”
“Oh? Can I summon you to my bed at night? What time do you sleep? Do you like fruit sleep? And also…” Li Feiya immediately asked excitedly as she held the card, her words coming out without pause.
“Stop. If you keep talking like that, I’ll add you to my blacklist. Additionally, the initiative for the summoning is in my hands. Initiating the summoning ceremony only allows me to sense that you are summoning me. Whether or not I’ll come depends on my mood.” I quickly interrupted her exuberant speech. If she dared to do that, I was afraid Sister Bai would be the first to chop down the house she was staying in.
“Really… that’s a bit boring…” Upon finding out that the spell effect wasn’t what she was hoping for, she immediately reined in her emotions.
However, I did take note of her comments; who knows, next time… maybe I could play around with Sister Bai like that. It does sound quite thrilling.
“Reverse Summoning Spell… interesting. I’ve taken note of the business card, but I won’t use it carelessly.” Lin Yi said as she respectfully accepted the card before turning to me.
“Oh, I generally wouldn’t respond to summons unless there’s a pressing matter. For emergencies, you can summon me consecutively twice, and perhaps then I’ll take it more seriously.”
“That’s a good decision. Relying on others is not as dependable as relying on oneself. I thought you were just an overly good person who liked to help everyone.”
“Not exactly. I’m just a bit easygoing and serious.” I replied, “But let me ask, is it just the three of us here now?”
“Currently, yes. Teacher Lina and one other person have yet to arrive.” Lin Yi responded.
“I see…” I nodded without saying much but glanced towards the information about Lin Yi that I hadn’t yet dispelled, and I discovered a secret!
This teaching assistant named Lin Yi… was once abducted… as a boy.
Well, given the current situation, this fact doesn’t seem surprising. I could still sense the unique manner of thought exclusive to males through our conversation, but her behavior had completely transformed into that of a girl, through becoming a witch, it truly brings both benefits and hazards.
At this moment, I subconsciously looked at Li Feiya. I was slightly curious about her; such a unique teaching assistant must be somewhat of a legend at the Witch Academy. I wonder if she would hit on any freshman.
Based on how she interacted with me earlier, the odds seemed quite high.
During my observation, I was also reluctantly forced to chat with her for a while.
Using the Earth Vein Identification Technique to gather information about a person naturally took some time.
After all, a person’s information is very complex, and obtaining more earth vein information requires expanding the channels for acquiring such data. Fortunately, my targets are all teaching assistants who have not severed their earth vein shackles. If I were to use the identification technique on extraordinary witches… it would definitely be much more restricted.
Before long, the information I obtained through the identification revealed one of this senior’s recent honorable achievements, seemingly closely related to her joining this mobile team for the joint examination.
In a recent mission, Li Feiya caused a large-scale disaster outside of school. Although the incident was suppressed and there was no public report from outside, she was warned and criticized by the academy and had her freedom of leaving the school restricted, practically on probation.
Then, with the endorsement of her mentor, she participated in this joint examination mobile team, barely allowing her to… gain some freedom?
Speaking of which, she really dares to exploit the loopholes of the Witch Academy.
This could truly cause trouble; the main world isn’t that chaotic. The academy probably has significant restrictions on people like Li Feiya. Thank you, Witch Academy.
Just as Li Feiya and I were in the midst of chatting, Teacher Lina finally arrived. I unconsciously checked the time we had agreed upon, and there were still two or three minutes left. That was quite a tight schedule.
Among the three of us, Lin Yi and I immediately stood up and greeted her politely.
“You’re all here, Lin Yi, Xiao Han, um… one is still missing?” When Lina entered and saw us, her face lit up with joy, but upon surveying the room, she noticed someone was absent.
“Lina, what about me? Did you forget me?” At that moment, Li Feiya stood up again and dramatically complained.
“Oh, it’s you, Li Feiya, is that enough?” Lina responded with resignation towards Li Feiya’s attitude.
If this had been earlier, I might have found it confusing, but after getting to know even just one of her glorious achievements, I wouldn’t be puzzled anymore.
Just as Teacher Lina was about to say something, a figure suddenly appeared at the door of the meeting room.
“Just on time, Teacher Lina. You arrived 2 minutes and 8 seconds early.”
I looked at the girl holding an exquisite pocket watch. Her tone was extremely calm, even when addressing the extraordinary witch Lina.
She gave me the first impression of a somewhat mysterious and slightly arrogant aura. Her long black hair was simply braided into a few strands, while the rest flowed down her back.
“Since you’ve arrived just in time, please take a seat. The main purpose of gathering you here is to hold a brief meeting and explain some matters to you.” Lina didn’t say much, just beckoned for everyone to sit.
“Everyone, you should know each other by now, right? This is Xiao Han, who recently became a teaching assistant, and she may need extra support as a newcomer.” Lina said.
“The Xiao Han who had been in the limelight? I heard you have three Excessive Consumption Spellbooks; that’s quite impressive!” The girl who arrived last spoke.
“That’s just a rumor spread by those wanting to get to know me better. Nice to meet you, Senior Aidalin.” I smiled and replied.
“You know me?” Aidalin looked a bit surprised, as she didn’t recall having any interaction with me.
“Now you do. Here’s my business card.” I smiled slightly, handing her a card.
As for calling her name, that was naturally helped by the identification technique.
Perhaps this is the dimensional suppression brought about by the earth vein shackles. They are still nestled in the cradle of the main world, while I have jumped out early; although at the cost of something small, with the suppression of the alchemical collar, the price became negligible.
“Business card?” Aidalin didn’t linger on it too long, instead, she curiously took my card, sensing a trace of alchemy on it.
“Hmph~ crude alchemical craftsmanship. Did you solidify some spell ceremony on it? Well, since you’ve handed it to me, I’ll accept it.” Although Aidalin spoke like this, she still took the item, having not figured out what kind of solidified ceremony it was. After all, nothing like spying or recording was involved.
She planned to study it carefully later on. As a preparatory witch with a background in alchemy, it was a challenge to her that she couldn’t fully see through a simple alchemical item.
Since I could call out her name, it meant I might know quite a bit about her, then she used this inferior alchemical item to challenge her professionalism! But I have to admit, she indeed doesn’t fully understand this solidified ceremony, as she had never seen it before.
At this moment, Aidalin was crazily imagining a lot of baseless scenarios in her mind.
However, I was unaware of this, but she had guessed one thing correctly: I did have some understanding of this senior.
Her strongest point is indeed alchemy. It’s no wonder she subconsciously belittled my business card. I admit my craftsmanship isn’t very good, but I haven’t studied alchemy for long either.
Moreover, this girl has a lot of inner thoughts. Her striking long hair is also a source of her confidence, and she prided herself on breaking the “curse” that “hair volume and alchemy would never both excel,” taking care of this long hair entirely by herself without any spell enhancement.
Well… she possesses a profound knowledge of alchemy and has beautiful hair; indeed, she’s quite confident…
“Sister, just accept it. I hope we can support each other in the future, and… your hair is really well-maintained!”
“Oh? Is… is it? Hmph~ you have good taste.” Suddenly receiving this compliment made her slightly embarrassed.
After all, while she indeed sometimes “shows off” her hair, hoping for compliments, usually, no one would initiate this as a starting point. It made her feel like it was a trivial matter not worth specially envying. Now suddenly praised like this gave it an unreal quality, causing her to pause.
“Well then, since we’ve all been introduced, I’ll get to the main topic.” At this moment, seeing the conversation go a bit off course, Lina hurriedly shifted the focus to the business at hand.
And I looked at this senior Aidalin; unexpectedly, she had a bit of a proud demeanor. Hehe… well played.
