Chapter 973: The Wizard’s Waiting Exchange Rules
“I’m sorry, I… I seem to have said something inappropriate, war and all…
It doesn’t look like it’s something you, Xiao Han, can control. This is the academy’s intention, isn’t it?”
After calming down, the store manager quickly reflected on this.
“Manager~ There’s no need for that. Asking whose intention this war is has become meaningless. This is an irreconcilable issue between the Extraordinary Academy and the Extraordinary Races. The power of the extraordinary guarantees that the struggle will occur violently. In the face of an unstoppable situation… it’s better to think about what role one should play in this war that shakes the entire academy.”
“Cannon fodder? Main force? A bystander just going with the flow? Or the trump card that decides the outcome?”
War isn’t something everyone can critique unless it has been recorded in history; those caught up in it only become cruel witnesses.
I didn’t dwell too much on this issue with the store manager. The qualities that overflow from the education institution would hinder the development of this world because the manager has not yet realized what the Extraordinary Academy represents.
It represents the irreconcilable struggle for survival between races.
No one is innocent; they want to kill me, and I want to kill them.
It’s just a shame that I have indeed killed quite a few people from other races, yet they have never killed me even once.
I don’t blame the manager for asking such a question; everyone here harbors similar doubts, but only the manager voiced it.
Watching my departing figure, a few fell silent.
“That said… since what is to happen cannot be stopped, should we prepare something for self-defense?” Tan Qi was the first to break the atmosphere, offering a constructive suggestion.
“What are you buying this for? After this holiday, you’re still in the second year, right, Tan Qi?” Shi Ruizhi spoke up. “Aren’t lower-year students supposed to go to the Expanding Realm branch? I see this as the academy’s way of avoiding letting lower-year students, who haven’t grasped much combat power, die senselessly on the battlefield.”
“I wonder how the academy will arrange students for combat at that time…” The manager sighed, saying, “From my understanding of some small-scale wars initiated by the Extraordinary Academy, basically everyone is in a state of combat readiness. Fleeing or avoiding battle is considered a serious violation…”
“Huh? Wait… Manager, how do you know all this?” Shi Ruizhi looked at the manager in shock. “Did something happen during your time at the academy, or did you hear about it from your senior?”
“How could that be? Those top academies, including large-scale ones like the Witch Academy, hardly experience academy wars; at least, I haven’t heard of any.” The manager shook her head. “However, many small extraordinary academies and affiliated institutions around the world initiate academy wars for various reasons… The fluctuation in the number of applicants for the Extraordinary Academy basically means that the school fought its students to the end, subsequently getting eliminated…”
“Ah? Such things exist? How come I knew nothing about this?”
“Small extraordinary academies… It’s normal for you not to know. If I hadn’t once taken a wrong job while lacking funds and ended up accepting a mercenary task for war… I wouldn’t have imagined that our world has regions that are perpetually at war,” the manager explained.
Of course, this was her polished version. Back then, she accepted the task out of curiosity; both war and mercenaries were extremely stimulating concepts for a teenage witch student at the time.
And the final outcome…
“Precisely because I participated, but only once, that I understand the brutality of academy warfare; small extraordinary academies are like this, while large extraordinary academies are bloody in the true sense.”
“Um… Manager, why didn’t you explain it like this to Sister Xiao Han earlier? I feel like Sister Xiao Han might have misunderstood the manager a bit.”
“It’s fine… I can’t exactly persuade anything at this moment, right? Besides, it’s not really misunderstanding… Compared to Xiao Han, I truly am powerless.”
…
After leaving the bakery, I planned to find Principal Mei.
The Ice Snow Throne secret is merely an event born from a Qi node. When the Principal let me manage things on my own, she granted me significant autonomy.
This means… it doesn’t matter how much commotion I cause.
After all, the Principal has proposed that the limit is an academy battle; what could be worse than an all-out war?
Moreover, the Principal and others also hope for a battle like this to warm up for the upcoming changes in the main world.
Since the Principal is willing to give this opportunity ahead of time, reserving some hope for Fool Dream.
I hope to use this to observe the movements of the world’s will and the anomalies of the world’s pulse, so I naturally won’t disappoint her.
The ancient ice remains serve as a guise, a revelation born from the life molded by it, preparing the groundwork for Fool Dream to achieve life.
The Qi Observation Technique locates the world’s pulse, and the Dream World hard controls the Core Realm extraordinary.
The strategies of the witches plotting in the main world guarantee a lightning-fast war.
This time, I was going to find Principal Mei to discuss the details of the plan. After all, plans are plans, and execution is execution.
However, the main point is still… the Principal has tacitly allowed me to engage with extraordinary-level enemies in the manner of ancient ice.
When I arrived at Principal Mei’s office, at that moment, the Principal had left a clone waiting for me here, having been informed in advance.
Her main body was deeply engaged in the topic related to the Qi Observation Technique.
What surprised me, however, was…
This time, there were none of the witches I was familiar with in the Principal’s office, and the Qi Observation Technique instrument had been moved away, leaving it empty.
But besides Principal Mei, there was also… the Betraying Witch?
“Hmph~ Xiao Han, it’s been a few days since we last met~”
“Hm? How did you get here?” I instinctively leaned back slightly and began to speak.
“Xiao Han, that’s a bit hurtful. Don’t you expect me to come?” Sheryl pretended to be sad as she opened her mouth.
“I see you’re enough already. I doubt any witch would look forward to seeing you.” At this moment, Principal Mei added a sharp remark from the side.
“Fine, fine… it looks like you’re not having fun in the Game World? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have that attitude…” Sheryl sighed and took the initiative to bring up this topic.
“Honestly, it’s not particularly enjoyable… But my main reason for coming this time isn’t about this matter.” I shook my head, ending that topic.
“Mm, Xiao Han came to find me first; you just happened to be here.” Principal Mei stood up, sweeping away the figure sitting at the corner of her desk.
“Alright, alright—I’m not surprised~ You all talk~”
Sheryl was pushed away from her seating by Mei Linde and turned to sit directly down in Mei Linde’s office chair, adopting a position that suggested they could continue.
“You… fine, I’m a clone, do as you wish.”
Principal Mei didn’t mind too much about this. Primarily, even if it were not a clone, she had a bit of a problem dealing with this Betraying Witch.
At this moment, Sheryl already appeared to be fully invested in watching the drama unfold.
Principal Mei then led me to a comfortable sofa at the side.
“Did Xiao Han also come here as a clone?”
“Yeah~ My main body is quite busy.”
“Still busy? Aren’t you going to take a break?” Principal Mei asked with concern, not at all bothered that she was usually very busy herself.
“Just the kind of busy that doesn’t allow for breaks.”
“Someone’s busy spending time with their partner~ Old Mei wouldn’t not realize what you meant when you said that because you don’t have a partner, would she?” Sheryl interjected with a smile.
“You don’t need to say that.” Principal Mei lifted her head to glare at Sheryl but was mainly displeased with that way of addressing her.
It clearly seems necessary to suppress the spread of that kind of address.
But fortunately, Xiao Han wouldn’t be so noisy~ Xiao Han is really understanding!
“Did Xiao Han come here for something again? It seems you didn’t mention any specific matters in your messages and just left the clone here to wait.”
“Not much, just something related to the Ice Snow Throne secret.” As I spoke, I took out a palm-sized crystal to fiddle with in my hand.
“Ready to move? Hearing me bring this up, Principal Mei showed some excitement, ‘Did the club finally irritate you?'”
“No, it’s just a bit too interesting; they don’t dare to act against me, but I can’t wait anymore.” I shook my head and said, “The Ice Snow Throne secret has hindered the normal implementation of at least three of my plans. If it drags on… well, it’s not like it’s a huge problem, but I just want to find something to do.”
Upon hearing my words, Principal Mei opened the Great Knowledge Seed, as she is now accustomed to using this to obtain various information from the academy, mainly for convenience.
“Mm… The club actually decided to give up the Secret Realm Core? The Principal was a bit surprised.
What could this lead to? As Principal, she naturally had a rough idea. “Are you planning to turn your blade toward the outside?”
“Exactly, this could cause friction between the Witch Academy and other academies, which should bring considerable trouble for the academy, right?”
Just as I finished speaking, before Principal Mei could respond, a voice interrupted again: “What trouble? Don’t listen to that old Mei’s nonsense, listen to me, the academy has plenty of witches to help you deal with the trouble! And any trouble at that! If it’s not resolved, I’ll handle it personally!”
“Uh… Um! You don’t need to.” Principal Mei lightly bit her lip and shot a glare at Sheryl, then said, “I haven’t said anything yet, how can you assume my decision? And did I say this is trouble? The Witch Academy isn’t afraid of friction, nor of conflict.”
“Alright, alright~ I’ll just watch from the sidelines~” Sheryl smiled, showing no embarrassment from being reprimanded, seemingly eager to facilitate this situation.
“Let’s return to the topic, Xiao Han.” Without Sheryl’s interruptions, Principal Mei continued discussing the earlier topic with me.
“Mm, then I want to ask, in the current situation, taking wizards as an example, will their extraordinary wizards get involved in this matter, only based on the shards in the secret realm?”
“They won’t, they wouldn’t even touch those shards. For now, they would only directly exchange those items with people from the Game World for the All Worlds Terminal,” Principal Mei explained.
“Is it so trustworthy? I thought those shards were bait to lure those players, and in the end, they would take everything.”
“Although wizards do leave a rather poor impression on witches, some things need to be said differently; the wizard’s power system adheres to the waiting exchange, and this rule has a basic equivalence with the witches’ contracts. Therefore, once wizards use the equivalent exchange rules to trade for the All Worlds Terminal with the Game World, they absolutely won’t take even a bit more.”
“Of course, if the Game World does not adhere to the rules, they can apply pressure according to the rules because the equivalent exchange rules are executed under the will of the wizards; this execution capacity is sufficient to compete with the binding force of the extraordinary non-interference contract we signed with them.”
“Ah?”
I exclaimed in confusion; these concepts truly opened my eyes. The collision between execution capacity and binding force… is really abstract.
“So if a conflict occurs… who decided? Is it determined by strength?” I continued.
“In most cases, it’s mediation. Otherwise, favoring either side would undermine the foundational balance of the other race, which could trigger wars between extraordinary races. Generally, absolute conflict rules cannot be established. Those wizard fellows managing equivalent exchanges represent a loophole since extraordinary non-interference is only a partial restriction with leeway left, but how to execute it in the end… primarily depends on how the side in conflict, that is, we witches, respond.”
“Uh… wait! Listening to the Principal, I just thought of something that doesn’t quite add up. The execution of this waiting exchange affects both exchanging parties, but witches are a third party, so… as long as the balance of waiting isn’t broken, they shouldn’t have to fear sparking a race war, right?”
“Smart! You understood how to respond just from the name and concept,” Principal Mei said with a smile.
Although this matter isn’t particularly important, since it was mentioned, Mei Linde naturally had to bring it up.
After all, a lot of things around Xiao Wen are rampant in the Game World; some things are better to avoid discussing. Understanding the waiting exchange rules of wizards is enough; there’s no need to deliberate on them in depth. “Principal Mei forcibly shifted the topic back on track, “Let’s discuss what you raised earlier; your previous question was about how much of an extraordinary wizard’s involvement would be needed before they intervene in this matter, right?”
“Mm.” I simply nodded in acknowledgment.
Mei Linde naturally understood that this was intended to spark the onset of war.
This isn’t sudden, and this idea has already become a consensus among many witches, as many carry thoughts of starting a war, but as Principal, she cannot disregard the larger situation.
Now, what they are discussing is… the weight of this ignition and the range of its detonation.
“Earlier, you mentioned that the Ice Snow Throne secret has obstructed the advancement of at least three of your plans. Is this the chip you prepared to bring the extraordinary wizards into play?” Principal Mei threw the topic back to me.
For Principal Mei, as long as it’s not extraordinary warfare, even academy warfare falls under that level, so it’s no wonder she appears indifferent to it at this moment.
Perhaps only witches can remain so calm in such matters.
