Chapter 84: A Strange Request

Before leaving.
As Jiang Cha looked back through the spatial transporter, she caught sight of
the utterly silent Mage Tower, standing quietly in the depths of the universe.
It was in complete deathly stillness; even if later adventurers tried to emulate Jiang Cha,
filling its magic inscriptions with arcane energy, they could not activate it,
nor could they receive the Sage’s inheritance as Jiang Cha had.
Over the endless flow of time, the Mage Tower had lost all its function.
Yet now, it had gained a new meaning.
A gravestone.

Perhaps many years later, another group of adventurers would come here.
They might not be witches, perhaps even relatively weak beings.
They would marvel at the exquisite architecture of the Mage Tower, but
they would not realize that someone had already been here before.
And they would not know, not even in passing, what had truly happened today.
This was the curtain falling on one Sage, and the launch of another witch.
Between the old and the new, the era itself changed.

“Phew~ Finally back!!!”
Nothing happened on the way back.
Just as on the way out, the girl boarded the starship, went to the spatial checkpoint,
then rode her broom back to the academy.
Daisy’s team still had further exploration to do, so they only brought Jiang Cha back to the Witch Airport in the Shattered Zone and left again. Jiang Cha returned alone.
Although it had only been a three-day journey, the girl felt as if she had lived an entire lifetime.
—She had truly borne the weight of someone else’s life.

“A Sage’s life…”
The black-haired, red-eyed girl lay on the sofa, exhausted, whispering softly.
Jiang Cha had not absorbed the memories of the Mage Tower’s master—they were useless.
But a Sage’s lifetime, across the long stretch of time, besides her research achievements,
what other significance could it have?
Perhaps none.
Most likely, even the world she was born in no longer existed; her soul
was no longer the same soul.
All that remained were the knowledge imprinted in Jiang Cha’s mind.

“To the great seekers of truth.”
Jiang Cha raised a bottle of elixir, her gesture resembling a toast.
Three seconds of silence, then she drank it quietly.
The extraordinary adventure had passed; now she had to continue her life and studies.
Especially with such a massive amount of knowledge sealed inside her brain,
her learning tasks had become extremely heavy.

“Cha Bao, you’re back?”
Lina and He Qin walked into the living room together, surprised to see
Jiang Cha so exhausted, and noticing the empty glass bottle, as if realizing something.

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
He Qin gently patted her little head.
“He Qin Mama, uuuu!”
The girl immediately flopped into her warm, soft embrace, loudly,
“Fake crying.”
“I’m so tired!”

“I’m not your mom, fine.” He Qin sighed softly, motherly,
“Be good, you don’t need to push yourself so hard. How about taking a day to relax?”

The golden-haired loli sat on the nearby sofa, drinking a strawberry-flavored stamina potion to recover the energy she’d spent at the Battle Club, glancing at this warm scene.
“Hehe.”
“If Cha Bao actually cries from studying too much, that’d be surprising.”
Lina already saw through everything, but said nothing.

“Cha Bao, cha Bao, you have another commission, from Senior Mephist, right—you’re really popular.”
“Huh?”
Jiang Cha froze for a moment, the tears she had forced out with magic instantly held back.
Jiang Cha!

He Qin saw this and immediately realized she’d been tricked again, puffing her cheeks, a bit angry.
“Why did Senior Mephist give me a commission?”

“Senior Mephist giving Jiang Cha a commission is just her way of being polite to Miss Yamato and Fusako,”
smiled warmly like a little dog, hands wrapped around her neck, skin close, cheeks brushing softly, gently comforting her.
But she blinked, looking curiously at Lina.
She was still talking about a pretty senior girl.

“Cha Bao, look at the style.”
“Not really, Annie told me.”
Lina shook her head, rolling her eyes at Jiang Cha, honestly speaking.
She truly did not understand the background; as a witch from the Alchemist family, it was confusing that Mephist would give Jiang Cha a commission.
And it also involved another girl.

“Cha Bao, have you been a bit too wild recently? You are my Cha Bao, you know!”
The golden-haired loli teased mischievously, her little tiger teeth gleaming in the sunlight.
But it was just teasing.
In Lina’s own words: ‘Cha Bao is cute and beautiful, but not my type.’

“Lina Bao’er is jealous?”
“Cha Bao is cute and beautiful, but not my type, can only be a substitute, so being together? Forget it.”

“Lina Bao’er jealous?”
Jiang Cha hooked He Qin’s shoulder with one hand, using it as leverage to lean close to Lina’s face, mischievously whispering:
“Get lost, I won’t be jealous of anyone, especially not you!”

Lina rolled her eyes, but didn’t continue, instead changing the topic:
“Anyway, if you’re free tomorrow, go help Annie at her shop. I haven’t had time to help you cancel your previous leave.”
“Lina Bao’er is the best!”

“Can you two stop fighting over me?”
Jiang Cha’s joyful shout and He Qin’s complaint rang out at the same time, yet it was surprisingly harmonious.
Their voices naturally blended well.
Especially soft upon waking, even Lina sometimes couldn’t distinguish them.

“Let’s talk about tomorrow tomorrow. Today, just rest~ rest!”
The girl curled up on the sofa like a cat, resting her head on He Qin’s lap.
“You finally decide to rest?”
Lina also leaned over, reclining on a cushion, her shoulder pressing lightly against He Qin’s arm, supporting part of her already light weight.

“Sigh…”
He Qin sighed.
She really had a hard life.
Why, even though they were all classmates and roommates, did she have to take care of a whole family of three witches?
Lina made her worry, Jiang Cha acted spoiled toward her, even the seemingly well-behaved Estelle had been influenced, occasionally calling her “Mama” asking for midnight snacks.
Ridiculous.

“By the way, what about the white-haired one?”
“Golden-haired, don’t speak, I’m here.”
“????”
Lina had casually mentioned it, not expecting Estelle to actually respond, almost making her jump.
Looking closely, the white-haired loli was actually sitting beside them the whole time, not asleep in her room.

“Recently, I’ve been researching something, a complete invisibility device.”
Estelle took out a small wooden box, explaining expressionlessly.
“Estelle, have you reached a high-level threshold?”
Jiang Cha blinked, curiously asking.
“Restore. This is only a part.”

He Qin snatched the invisibility device away, her racing heart showing how unsettled she was.
“Confiscated! This product is completely forbidden at home from now on!”
“Oh.”
Estelle didn’t care, just nodded.

Jiang Cha leaned close to her ear, whispering softly:
“He Qin Mama is most afraid of these things.”
“Jiang Cha!!!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha~”