Ch. 87 - Comforting the New Roommate
Is It Weird for a Guy to Apply to a Witch School?This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Notes
Translator's note: His original name was "宜人" instead of "伊人", and it originally means "easy-going".
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Translator's note: His original name was "宜人" instead of "伊人", and it originally means "easy-going".
“Sigh… you don’t need to take off your shoes.”
Once Dongli Yiren stepped in, her eyes began to wander all over the place. She was curious—so curious it practically sparkled out of her. The first thing she did was try to take off her shoes, so I quickly stopped her.
I didn’t even know why. Maybe… habit?
Anyway, it wasn't like leaving shoes on would be a problem. Whether it was Little Work Slave or me, a quick Cleaning Charm could handle it in seconds.
And I’d gotten really good at Cleaning Charms these days. Large-scale cleaning? Easy. With my wand, it barely costs time or energy.
“Oh… really? But, my shoes… don’t fit well. I’d rather take them off.”
She processed what I said, but still insisted. Once she slipped them off, the marks pressed into her foot were obvious — those shoes were definitely the wrong size.
But wait. Shouldn’t the bigger concern be… why was she wearing shoes with no socks?
“Good point… okay, go ahead.” I nodded quickly. Also, those dainty little dress shoes honestly did her no favors. “Um—if you don’t mind me asking… your clothes probably aren’t yours either, right?”
“Well… have you seen any boy who just has skirts?”
Dongli Yiren tugged gently at the hem of the dress. She didn’t seem embarrassed at all while talking about it. I thought she’d be the shy, defensive type like Quan Xiuzhu. But she wasn’t avoiding the topic at all.
“That’s true,” I nodded. But I wanted to get to know her while things were still new between us — we’re going to be roommates for years, after all. Early understanding is important. “By the way, what should I call you? The senior earlier called you Dongli Yiren. I’m Yang Yuehan, you can just call me Yuehan.”
“My real name’s Dongli Yiren— with a different character… whatever. Just... just call me Dongli Yiren, I guess.”
She pulled her student ID out of her dress pocket. “Since the name’s already printed anyway. This damn Witch School…”
“Well… The Witch School isn’t that bad.” I tried a soft tone of comfort.
“But I was supposed to go to San Angel School! That’s one of the Big Three! And now— now look at me! What am I supposed to tell my parents!?”
“…Oh.”
So she was a top student. A real prodigy. Respect, respect.
San Angel School… I knew that name. When Bai Yu sent me that link to the Demonspawn School’s academy ranking site, I skimmed the top few. The Big Three were all listed first.
And from my previous life’s perspective? The “Schools of Transcendence” in this world are all… honestly, terrifying.
“But even if you went to San Angel School,” I said carefully. “You’d eventually transform into an angel. Wings, feathers, molting issues… And angels are genderless. Their bodies become… neutral. Imagine losing your, well, boy part and becoming all soft and androgynous. Would that really be better? At least here in The Witch School, you look like a girl, a pretty one, actually.”
And also, you don’t need to worry about pregnancy.
(I added that only in my head.)
“What? How… how do you know all that?”
She was listening.
Really listening.
Because everything I said?
No one on the outside is supposed to know.
She froze the moment I finished speaking, staring at me as if I’d just said something impossible.
“It’s in the Academy System,” I continued, gently. “It’s the kind of basic orientation knowledge you get once you actually enter a School of Transcendence. Why would they lie about this kind of thing?”
“…Then, then I should’ve gone to the Sorcerer School instead—”
“Hey.” I cut her off, smiling, but not unkindly. “What’s done is done. Does it really matter which pit you fall into? Even if you had made it to San Angel, you’d still end up transformed. And Sorcerer School?” I laughed softly. “You really think that place is clean? No school that pursues transcendence is clean. Every one of them demands a price.”
Because that was the truth.
Wizards might still technically be humans—but Wizards worship pure, absolute rationality.
To pursue transcendence through knowledge, truth, logic… and discard everything else. Emotion. Attachment. Instinct. Even humanity if necessary.
And when you stripped away human softness, what was left?
A school environment built on survival of the fittest.
Sure, she might be a top student, but the students who make it into the Big Three? All of them are top students, and some of them don’t just study to get ahead—they scheme.
Did she really think she could win that game?
At least here, at Witch School, the atmosphere was… livable. I could work part-time in a bakery and slack off. Could a Sorcerer School student even think about doing that? Not unless they wanted to be eaten alive.
“…I—I’m sorry. I just… can’t accept this all at once. I need a moment,” she stuttered.
“Of course.” I nodded. No pressure. No force. Just a quiet push. “Sit on the couch. Calm down. Once you’re ready — or even if you’re not — go upstairs and pick a room. That’ll be your bedroom from now on.”
I didn’t tell her to accept reality; that never works.
Instead, I gave her something practical to think about.
A place to sleep.
The moment she cared about something concrete here, it meant she had already started accepting it.
“Pick… a bedroom?” she repeated, caught off guard.
“Yeah. This is assigned student housing. If you don’t choose, where are you planning to sleep? The floor?” I shrugged. “More people will probably move in eventually. New students. Maybe even some who went through the same thing as you.”
Hope, or rather, shared misfortune, is a powerful carrot.
People comfort each other when they are hurt in the same way.
I wasn’t going to point that out, though. I’d just watch.
And honestly? For someone who was already wearing a skirt the moment I met them, whether willingly or unwillingly… Yeah. The days of her wearing men’s clothes again were long gone.
…Wait. She definitely didn’t pick up her Freshman Starter Set, did she?
Since she’d gone quiet again, I brought it up directly, “By the way, did the senior who brought you here not take you to pick up your equipment? The freshman starter items. I didn’t see them on you.”
I avoided calling it a uniform—the ‘uniform issue’ could get dramatic fast. Better to skip that headache entirely.
She blinked. “The… freshman what?”
Yep. She had no idea.
“The Four-Piece Starter Set,” I said. “The cape, the hat, the wand, and the badge. All alchemy-crafted. Really valuable. You should definitely get them. They’re free for new students.”
“Free?”
There we go.
That got her attention.
“Where… where do I get it?” she asked after a small pause.