Chapter 76: Space Broom

Exploring ruins was always a troublesome business.

It was basically the same as opening a blind box — before you entered, all you could do was estimate the ruin’s energy level. Whether there was anything valuable inside, or if you’d just wasted your time, was anyone’s guess.

And among all ruins, wizard towers were the worst kind of trouble.

After all, we were talking about archmages. You never knew if the owner of the tower had been a genius… or a lunatic with a flair for cruel little hobbies.

Fortunately, Daisy-senpai’s team was reliable.
Three Great Witches together — for an academy team, that was about as elite as it got.

“Let me introduce you,” Daisy said, waving toward a girl in sleek silver armor.
“This is our logistics specialist, Kelly, a mid-tier mechanist. Normally, your job would’ve been hers, but—”

She shrugged, with a look that said you get it.

Jiang Cha nodded, eyes flitting over the short-haired witch in a full mechanical exosuit.

A mechanist, huh. For a wizard-tower ruin.
Talk about the wrong professional for the job.

No wonder Daisy’s team had called this place a chicken rib — too precious to throw away, too tasteless to chew.
They were clearly better suited to exploring technological ruins, not fantasy-type ones.

“And this,” Daisy continued, “is Misa. Don’t let her cherry-blossom looks fool you — she’s no gentle Yamato Nadeshiko once a fight breaks out.”

“I can tell,” Jiang Cha said, smiling politely.

If Daisy hadn’t introduced her, Jiang Cha would never have guessed the wild, hunter-style woman in leather and buckles was a “Sakura Witch” from the same land famed for its soft-spoken housewives.

“I’m Jiang Cha. Low-tier in all sub-professions, majoring in alchemy. I hope we’ll get along on this trip.”

“Daisy, seriously, how’d you rope this little freshman into this? And Carol-sensei just let you take her?”

Misa shot the girl a skeptical look.

Jiang Cha, Lina, and He Qin — even among the Duel Club — were well-known. Freshmen who’d already trained alongside upper-year squads.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Daisy said, waving a hand. “I properly hired her through her own shop. Business contract, all legit. I’m not trying to get roasted by that old hag’s Fireburst.”

Then she gave Jiang Cha’s shoulder a friendly pat, glancing toward the quiet silver-armored witch beside them.

“And don’t mind Kelly. She’s practicing some kind of ‘silent meditation’ lately. Usually she’s a total chatterbox.”

“…”

A battle-type mechanist Great Witch… practicing silent meditation.

Yep. The magic world’s brand of chaos had struck again.

“Uh… Kelly-senpai, please take care of me?” Jiang Cha said awkwardly.

The other girl didn’t reply — but her expression was so animated that words weren’t even necessary.
She looked thrilled, practically vibrating with excitement.

If she weren’t under that “vow of silence,” she’d probably already be talking a mile a minute.

Short — maybe 155 centimeters — bright and cute, with a lively face and soft, pinkish cheeks.
Every flicker of emotion showed plain as day.

Just from her expressions, Jiang Cha could practically read her thoughts.

Yeah… expecting a normal, well-balanced witch squad was definitely wishful thinking.

Still, Jiang Cha couldn’t help liking them.

A lively, mischievous cutie.
A bold, big-sisterly woman who radiated confidence.
And a cool, combat-hungry beauty in sci-fi armor.

Each with her own flavor — charming in her own strange way.

Compared to the other races’ exploration teams, witches might not have been the most reliable…
But at least, they were easy on the eyes.

Witches were a peculiar kind of creature.

In daily life, they adored ceremony — endless little rituals and indulgent whims.
But when it came to work, they were startlingly efficient.

“The ruin’s a long way off,” Daisy explained. “We’ll need to catch a transfer flight at the skyport, then head into the Fragment Belt.”

The Fragment Belt — more precisely, the Interdimensional Fragment Zone.

A narrow rift between countless worlds, crammed with remnants of civilizations long gone — tech, magic, and madness piled together over billions of years.

You could find anything there:
The shattered frames of interstellar mechs, glowing relics from fantasy worlds, cultivation manuals from xianxia realms, the unrotting corpses of outer demons, the bones of ancient Lovecraftian gods, even the wings of fallen battle angels.

Anything you could imagine — and plenty you couldn’t.

Much of the witches’ endless supply of rare materials came not from their wars, but from salvaging in that chaotic graveyard of worlds.

“Aren’t we taking Skybridge One?” Jiang Cha asked.

“Why would we use that slow thing?” Daisy looked genuinely puzzled.

“My teacher took me on that route last time…”

“Oh! Then she was probably giving you a sightseeing tour. We’re on business today.”

With a grin, Daisy reached into her spatial storage — and pulled out four broomsticks.

Yes, literal broomsticks. Old-fashioned, dust and all.

“Latest model space brooms — retro design, automatic navigation included. You do have a license, right?”

“Nope,” Jiang Cha replied immediately.
“I’m fourteen.”

“Right. Then you ride with me.”

Daisy stuffed one broom back into her bag.

“Can’t have an unlicensed witch flying these. One crash and the Transport Bureau’ll be on us faster than a fireball — total paperwork nightmare.”

Despite their whimsical appearance, the brooms were actually high-tech spatial vehicles — each one designed by a master artificer and partially hand-assembled.

Essentially, luxury cars of the witching world.

And fast.

Jiang Cha sat side-saddle behind Daisy.
Though it looked like nothing more than a stick, enchantments beneath her formed a soft, invisible cushion — as comfortable as sinking into a high-end sofa.

The array even conjured a faint ribbon of wind that wrapped around her waist like a seatbelt.

The three brooms lifted off, hovering for a moment before streaking forward into a glowing spatial tunnel.

Light flared around them — streams of color and glittering sigils rushing past like a cosmic aurora.

Another witch flew by in the opposite direction, waved cheerfully at Daisy, and vanished down another tunnel.

The brooms’ speed was astonishing. In truth, they were less “vehicles” and more personal warp drives — the tunnel’s length adjusted to match their travel distance.

Even flying from Earth to the outer solar system took barely any time at all, even at the slowest safety setting.

Compared to Mottel’s self-made flying car — which had taken two full hours to reach Moscow’s orbital station — the brooms got there in five minutes flat.

No need to park, either. They just tucked the brooms back into their pocket dimensions once they landed.

There was even an auto-follow mode — the broom would simply float behind its owner like a loyal pet.

“So? How was the ride?” Daisy asked.

“Like… drifting through a dream. A fantasy voyage made real,” Jiang Cha murmured, eyes still wide.

“Hahaha! You’ll see even crazier stuff soon, kiddo! The world’s huge out there!”