Chapter 2: The First Lesson of Witch Academy

I quickly reined in my instinctive actions, which had stemmed from a fleeting excitement. Showing such obvious enthusiasm now might lead my deskmate to think I was some kind of pervert, wouldn’t it?

I turned my head, intending to steal a glance at the elf, only to find her already staring directly at me. This immediately put me on the defensive. She had been the one watching me first, after all. Were elves truly so bold?

Then again, the elves I’d encountered in novels and anime were merely figments of an author’s imagination. This one, however, was a genuine, living elf.

‘Uh… hello…’ I greeted her politely, my voice a quiet murmur, using the somewhat awkward Witch’s Tongue. It was certainly an unfamiliar experience speaking the language, yet I found I could manage it.

‘Hello? My name is Ko… Reiya A Ka… Reiya, um…’ she responded to my greeting with equal politeness, even offering her name.

She, too, spoke in the Witch’s Tongue, and clearly wasn’t entirely fluent. It seemed a language barrier had been the reason she hadn’t spoken to me earlier.

As for her name, it held no discernible meaning in the Witch’s Tongue, suggesting it was merely a phonetic transliteration.

The style of her name seemed reminiscent of Western naming conventions. It appeared that even in another world, the way names were given hadn’t changed much. I wondered if anyone else shared my own naming style.

‘My name is Yang Yuehan, and I look forward to learning from you,’ I said humbly.

‘Yang Yuehan?’ She clearly hadn’t expected a name with only three characters. She didn’t press for details, but she certainly took my ‘learning from you’ seriously. ‘As for guidance,’ she replied, ‘I’ll be sure to guide you plenty in the future.’

‘Mhm,’ I nodded in response, choosing not to elaborate further. ‘Um… you were staring at me earlier. Was something the matter?’

‘Nothing much,’ Kereiya replied, a faint smile playing on her lips, devoid of strong emotion. ‘I was simply curious if you would sign, and I hadn’t expected you to show such little hesitation.’ For a moment, I couldn’t discern her true meaning—was it subtle mockery, or did she genuinely consider it a trivial matter?

Given that we were of entirely different races, the nuances and implications of our speech might also diverge, making it difficult for me to formulate a response. I was the type who thought too much, yet struggled to articulate it.

For a moment, I simply froze in awkward silence.

Fortunately, the beautiful woman on the podium, who appeared to be our teacher, cast her gaze in my direction. I immediately feigned innocence, lowering my head as if lost in contemplation. Our voices must have carried too loudly in the otherwise quiet, almost oppressive classroom.

Noticing my gaze shift towards the podium before quickly darting away, Kereiya also prudently lowered her head, falling silent.

Moments later, the teacher on the podium spoke, her tone distinctly displeased. ‘Enough time has been granted,’ she stated, ‘and it seems some of you genuinely have no desire to become witches.’

As she spoke, her gaze fixed intently on a particular spot where several students still had parchment remaining on their desks. It was clear they hadn’t signed.

I followed her gaze, looking towards them, and found myself somewhat bewildered. If they had been boys, I might have understood, but these were girls. What possible reservations could they have?

‘My patience has completely run out,’ the teacher declared, closing her eyes as if to quell a surge of anger. Yet, in the very next moment, I realized my mistake. This was no act of calming her fury at all.

The female student who had been the focus of the teacher’s gaze began to dissipate. Before she could even let out a scream, her body dissolved entirely, leaving behind not even a speck of ash.

‘Ahhh!’ Her deskmate, utterly petrified, let out a piercing, ear-splitting shriek.

‘Silence,’ the teacher stated with two simple words. Instantly, the screaming girl lost her voice, as if her throat had been squeezed shut. Even the other terrified girls, who had begun to shriek in unison, fell silent.

I looked over, a chill spreading through my entire body, yet at the same time, I marveled at the immense power of magic. As for sympathy… that wasn’t quite the emotion I felt. It wasn’t that I was cold-blooded, but rather because the girl wasn’t human at all. Though I hadn’t clearly seen her race, she was certainly not a pure-blooded human. The classroom was filled almost entirely with demi-humans and humanoids; pure humans like myself were few and far between.

‘I will only count to three. Three… two…’

As the teacher spoke once more, a tremor of unease ran through me. My heart began to pound uncontrollably with each descending number.

The oppressive atmosphere felt as though it were constricting the very air, making it difficult to breathe. In this suffocating environment, a boy finally erupted. He let out a roar that sounded as if it had been suppressed for ages, then, speaking in a language none of us understood, he rose to his feet and charged towards the teacher.

I watched the male demi-human in utter shock. In that moment, I genuinely admired such a person: someone who refused to become a girl, rejected the contract, and dared to resist. This was a true man! It was a feat I could never accomplish, and it filled me with profound respect. My own edges, in contrast, had long since been smoothed away by society.

‘One…’ The teacher did not halt her countdown. The man, who had fought desperately for his very identity, would never reach his adversary. By means unseen, he was instantly reduced to a swirl of fine ash.

This single act sent a shiver of terror through every student in the class.

‘Excellent. Everyone has signed the contract,’ she declared. With another outstretched hand, a young girl in a different seat was also reduced to dust by the same unseen method. Now, truly, every single student in the class had signed the contract.

Having completed her task, she offered a satisfied smile, her tone softening considerably. ‘That’s much better, isn’t it? Now, allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Qieluo, and I will be your homeroom teacher for Class 14 from now on. You may simply call me Teacher Luo.’

She snapped her fingers, and behind her, the name ‘Qieluo’ appeared on the blackboard, written in the elegant script of the Witch’s Tongue.

Evidently, this blackboard-like object was far more technologically advanced than I had imagined; it certainly wasn’t written with chalk. Yet, it didn’t quite look like a display screen either.

‘The course I teach is Meditation Method,’ Qieluo explained to us with a serious demeanor, elaborating on her role. ‘If you have any questions, you are welcome to come to me, even if they are not directly related to the Meditation Method.’

‘Since you have signed the contract and entered the Witch Academy, you should all be adequately prepared mentally, especially some of you… boys,’ she stated, her gaze sweeping over every male student present. I, naturally, was no exception. When her eyes landed on me, a shiver of goosebumps immediately prickled my skin.

‘Do not cause me any trouble. I personally detest it, and I expect you to remember that.’

Having finished, she stepped down from the podium. ‘Time is almost up. Hmm… how many boys are there? Never mind, all boys, follow me to collect your things. Girls, wait quietly for our return. If I hear anyone making a loud ruckus when I get back, be warned: I’ll make sure they receive some ‘special attention.’’

At her announcement, a sudden sense of familiarity struck me. Wasn’t this precisely how teachers used to call boys to collect textbooks back in the day?

Even in another world, it was still like this? This was the Witch Academy, for crying out loud! Why were we boys still being made to suffer? Weren’t we all supposed to become witches in the future anyway?

Though I grumbled incessantly in my mind, I dared not voice my complaints or even show them on my face. Who knew if this teacher, in a moment of displeasure, might decide to ‘humanely destroy’ someone? After all, the contract explicitly stated that teachers possessed significant authority to deal with their students.

Just like those earlier… wait, that wasn’t quite right, was it?

Those who had been eliminated earlier hadn’t signed the contract, meaning they weren’t officially students. Good heavens, did that imply they were killed without any qualms simply because they weren’t enrolled?

The worldview of witches was truly a cold-blooded one.