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Translator's note: Pupil earthquake: it means your pupils suddenly widen (get bigger) because you’re super surprised, shocked, or stunned by something.
I ended up picking up another mana core on that trip—pretty good haul, honestly.
Even then, I had no idea how much a mana core was supposed to be worth, but Senior Deng Xiaonan handed it over like she was giving me a free campus map. Way too generous, right?
And apparently, those mana cores the seniors used to guide freshmen? Yeah… those came out of their own pocket too.
If these things were actually expensive, didn’t that mean that every time they babysat a freshman, they lost a chunk of their strength?
But whatever. Bai Yu had said new students didn’t really need many mana cores, and some people realized halfway through the semester that they could even own more than one.
Some of that was probably just bad info floating around, but still—mana core trading clearly wasn’t common, and freshmen didn’t exactly have access to any place where they could get one anyway.
Either way, the more mana cores I had, the better. They sped up my witchification and raised my mana cap.
I mean, come on—I was someone who had two spells and a bunch of alchemy items. Asking for more mana cores wasn’t unreasonable.
So I started a full-on search.
And the moment I actually used the Academy’s tracking system, I finally understood why seniors hated doing that volunteer job.
No wonder Deng Xiaonan had been willing to throw an entire mana core at me just to get rid of it.
I had thought the locator would be super precise—like GPS-level accurate. Nope.
As soon as I zoomed in on the campus map, it turned into, “somewhere in this general area, good luck.”
So there I was, standing on the street, staring at the crowd passing by, sinking into deep existential reflection.
This… did not look like the kind of place where a lost, helpless freshman girl would be.
Wait—sorry. I meant a student who hadn’t finished the enrollment procedure.
But still.
Turns out Quan Xiuzhu’s situation had left too strong an impression on me. I immediately assumed I’d be looking for someone equally pitiful and dramatic.
In reality, the person I needed to find could have just been wandering around buying snacks.
They were human beings, not stray cats—they got hungry, they bought food; if they had trouble, they asked a senior; what they did not do was wait in a dark alley for me to rescue them.
After wandering around and awkwardly questioning several strangers, I finally confirmed the girl I was looking for.
She had arrived early, gotten her basic registration done, grabbed her phone and room key, and then… her senior had bailed halfway through the process.
No student ID. No witch-starter-kit. Nothing.
When I found her, she was shocked.
Then she immediately “confessed” the locations of several other freshmen with the same experience.
Suddenly, I had exceeded my quota in one go.
Honestly?
Kind of disappointing.
The freshmen I wanted to find were supposed to be the weak, pitiful, adorable type—the ones curled up in a corner waiting for me to discover them.
After escorting all those perfectly functional humans, I just felt tired.
It was like opening a blind box—I knew it probably wouldn’t be anything special, but I still looked forward to that miracle pull.
So I locked onto one last target for the day.
I had been the most hardworking volunteer, according to the senior who registered me, so… why not?
But when the locator led me to the door of a villa, I went silent.
Another failed pull.
If she had already moved into a villa-level dorm, how much of the process could she possibly have left undone?
I politely rang the doorbell.
Then rang it again.
And again.
After hitting it several times, I finally heard movement inside.
If I hadn’t cared about privacy, I swear I would’ve turned on Psi-vision to see what on earth that person was doing.
“Seriously? You’re just chilling in there when you haven’t even finished your enrollment process?”
As the door opened, an impatient voice came from inside.
“Who is it? I didn’t order any magazines. If it’s a package, just toss it in the drop box!”
The woman who stepped out made me freeze for a second.
Her clothes were thrown on in a rush—a loose top, and… nothing but smooth, pale thighs below. I swallowed on instinct.
Her presence, that pressure, and the absurd number of mana cores I felt radiating from her—
This was a senior?!
“Um… I’m the one assigned to help freshmen finish their enrollment…” I forced the words out, absolutely certain that if I didn’t produce a good reason, she’d beat me into the pavement.
I even double-checked my phone’s locator. The central point was definitely here…
Was a freshman seriously living with a senior?“Huh? They traced you all the way here? You’re a freshman too, right?”
Her expression changed as soon as she heard my explanation.
At least she didn’t sound annoyed anymore. She even looked me up and down before speaking again.
“Y-Yes. Senior, do you know where the freshman who hasn’t finished her procedures is?”
I gathered my courage and asked. From her tone, she clearly knew. If she were willing to tell me, I’d be forever grateful.“She’s here. Ugh, fine, I’ll go get her.” The senior scratched her head and tugged at her top, where it was caught on her waistband, then turned and headed back inside.
“Really? Thank you so much, Senior. Sorry to bother you!” I was honestly excited—I had thought she’d just pull rank and tell me to get lost.
I watched her walk upstairs and took the chance to glance around the first floor. The layout looked similar to my place. There was also a faint scent of aromatherapy, which I now knew had a mild… incense-like effect. Not strong, but still noticeable.
Before long, the senior came downstairs again—carrying someone over her shoulder like a sack of rice.
“Here. Your person.” She shoved the tiny figure straight into my arms. I barely managed to catch her.
I was completely stunned.
The petite girl was wearing… a halter-style lingerie dress.
Calling it “lingerie-adjacent” would’ve been generous. Sheer black mesh, half-transparent stockings, a wide-open back—
Was this even legal to wear?
And the girl was passed out cold, limp against me. Her soft skin brushed my neck and sent chills down my spine.
“S-Senior… wh-what is going on?”
Not even “pupil earthquake” could describe my shock. All I could do was stare helplessly at the senior.
“Oh, she used to be a guy. She didn’t have anything to wear,” the senior said casually, smiling like this was no big deal. “And I didn’t really have anything she hadn’t worn yet. The only unworn outfit was the one she had on.”
“Then… where are her original clothes?”
“She couldn’t handle the situation and tore them up.”
She said it like she was explaining the weather.
“I—I see. Thank you, Senior. I’ll… I’ll get going now…” Feeling the danger level spike, I hurried to excuse myself.
This senior was terrifying—if I stayed any longer, I’d end up staying here forever.
I adjusted my grip on the unconscious girl, preparing to bolt.
“Hey! Hold on, I’m not done,” the senior called out, freezing me mid-step. “You get it, right? For a boy, this kind of thing is hard to accept. I just broke her in for a few days. She should be pretty well-behaved now. If she wakes up and freaks out again, come find me. Here’s my card.”
“Th-thank you… But, I think we’re good.”
I forced myself to accept the elegant card she handed me.
Only after pocketing it did I manage to escape, carrying the tiny girl in a princess hold.
And where was I headed?
Naturally, the nearest women’s clothing store.
Why women’s clothing? Because Witch School had no men—and therefore no men’s wear.