Chapter 75: Jiang Cha’s Relics Exploration Commission

After a wave of word-of-mouth promotion, Jiang Cha’s witch shop had finally gained a bit of recognition around the academy.

That said, she couldn’t spend all her time running the store — she was still a student, after all. Most of her days were still filled with classes.

Fortunately, since Professor Vladimir had acknowledged her skills, Jiang Cha was exempt from attending combat training during her first year. That gave her a little more free time than the other freshmen.

Aislun Academy was an open-minded place — more like a comprehensive university.
The first three years were roughly equivalent to a special preparatory division, and the real “college-level” curriculum didn’t start until the fourth year.

The academy had flexible systems for gifted students, too.
Right now, Jiang Cha and her two friends received personal instruction each week from either Carol or Suijin at the Duel Club. Taking the regular combat course on top of that would’ve just been a waste of time.

Even the fifth-years and above rarely sat through normal lectures anymore; most followed their own research or future career plans alongside their mentors.

For instance, Qu Sinan was focused on the business side of alchemy, spending most of her time running the Alchemy Club to gain experience for starting a company later.

Her close friend, Helen-senpai, whom Jiang Cha had only met once, was a textbook example of a battle witch — she spent nearly all her time fighting on the front lines and almost never came back to campus.

As for research witches like Mephist, they basically lived in their labs or worked full-time on faculty projects.

In short, Aislun’s upper-year students resembled graduate researchers more than undergrads; actual classroom learning was minimal.

For prodigies like Jiang Cha, schedules were completely self-directed.
As long as you passed your assessments, no one cared about attendance — skipping class was perfectly fine.

Still, there were a few subjects she personally found worth attending.
The newly-offered “Witch Naturalism” course after break, for one, and Professor Diana’s “Advanced Magical Theory.”

That latter course in particular was invaluable — true, authentic insight from a Great Witch on the nature of mana itself.
Jiang Cha learned more from those lectures than from weeks of self-study.

All in all, Aislun’s students led all kinds of lives, each shaped by their own ambitions.
A recluse like Estelle, who practically never left her lab and spent all day immersed in alchemy research? Totally normal here.

As for Jiang Cha — her little shop life was starting to fill with surprises brought by the academy’s many colorful witches.
Reading a book, sipping tea, occasionally serving a customer or two…
It wasn’t a bad way to live.

“Yo~ Jiang Cha-chan! We’re here to support your business!”

Well, speak of the devil — customers had arrived.

“Daisy-senpai?”

Sliding a bookmark between the pages, the girl closed her book and looked up in surprise.

This senpai wasn’t just anyone — sixth-year students were rare sights around campus. Jiang Cha had only spoken with her twice before, by chance.

She certainly hadn’t expected this customer to come knocking.

“Daisy-senpai’s order… honestly, it kind of worries me.”

Her smile faltered just a bit.

After all, Daisy was a battle witch through and through — she’d just advanced to Great Witch two months ago.
And witches of that level didn’t stroll into a freshman’s shop for something simple; they came when their teams hit a snag in some dangerous exploration and needed a special tool.

In other words, this was probably going to be way beyond her comfort zone.

“Hey!”

Daisy waved broadly — all relaxed confidence, like every battle witch Jiang Cha had ever met.

“Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. Just something troublesome and time-consuming.
The big-name masters charge too much, so I thought of you instead.”

“That’s… refreshingly blunt,” Jiang Cha muttered under her breath — but honestly, she liked that kind of straightforward customer. Made things simple.

She poured the senior a cup of green tea and asked softly,

“So then, what exactly do you need made?”

“No rush.”

Daisy took a sip of tea first.

“Let me check something. How’s your combat ability these days?”

Combat ability? For an order?
Jiang Cha was getting a bad feeling about this.

“Not bad, I guess? About the same as Lina. We fought five matches the other day — pretty even.”

“Good enough!”

Daisy exhaled in relief and slapped her thigh — the tight leather pants gave a satisfying thwack.

“Here’s the deal: my squad’s been exploring a spacetime ruin lately. There’s good stuff inside, but it’s… complicated.”

“It’s a low-grade relic, maybe level 2 or 3 — not too dangerous.
But it’s a trial-type ruin, and to enter we need someone who’s a real jack-of-all-trades and can hold their own in a fight. So naturally, we thought of you.”

A spacetime ruin — a common kind of ancient site in the multiverse, usually the remnants of some powerful being’s domain. Some were tombs, others training grounds for long-gone disciples.

Dangerous, yes — but the loot inside could be priceless. Exactly the sort of thing that drew high-level battle witches like Daisy.

And truth be told, Jiang Cha did fit the bill.

Anyone witches called a “jack-of-all-trades” had to be well-versed in at least three different support disciplines — which almost always meant they were a high-tier professional whose time didn’t come cheap.

Hiring someone like that for a level 2 or 3 ruin, which usually took one to two weeks to clear, was often overkill — the profit might not even cover the cost.

On the other hand, low-year students who knew multiple trades were rare, and most lacked combat ability.

So after thinking it over, Daisy had realized Jiang Cha was the most cost-effective option around.
Otherwise, they might have had to abandon the ruin entirely — a waste of effort and potential treasure.

“Still,” Daisy added, “it’s our first ruin find as a team. We didn’t want to just give it up — even if it’s just for the memory, we want to see it through.”

“You know how it is — luck plays a big part in discovering these things.”

“Yeah…”

Jiang Cha thought for a long moment, then finally nodded under Daisy’s expectant gaze.

She hadn’t planned on taking the job — unstable pay, time-consuming, and full of hassle. Hardly what you’d call “good business.”

But a senior was asking, and it was a valuable connection to build.

Besides, if she went, her shop’s name would definitely spread — Daisy’s squad was well-known among the upper years.

“I’m glad you agreed!” Daisy grinned. “It’s a wizard-tower ruin from a fantasy world — we’ll all come back richer for sure.”

“Payment, then…”

“Market rate’s fine,” Jiang Cha said. “I’ll give senpai a discount — how about I take 20% of the total spoils?”

“Nonsense! You get the full 20%! Don’t be shy with your big sister!”

The battle witch clapped her on the shoulder — a hearty, warm thump that nearly knocked the smaller girl off balance.

And just like that, the two of them chatted and laughed the afternoon away.

Before Jiang Cha realized it, two hours had already passed.