Chapter 41 "Um, can I give up?"
Edith pushed open the dusty door and sneezed three times because of the dust suspended in the air.
She walked quickly to the deepest part, first fully disguised herself, using the veil to block some of the dust, and then began to cast the cleansing spell.
After the scattered dust was cleared, she picked up the rag and wiped the crystal bottles on the shelf with her own hands.
Although the spell cleans faster and more thoroughly, she is still accustomed to cleaning the potion bottles with her hands, feeling the temperature of the potion through the crystal.
The wind chimes hanging on the door rang at this moment.
"We are closed today." Edith said without even looking up. "There is a potion street next to it. If you need anything, you can go there."
It was still not very convenient in the academy, so she planned to use the equipment in the store to integrate and study her recent findings today, and to purchase some basic medicinal materials in preparation for lowering the price of potion learning later.
As she already had a criminal record, she didn't want to sell the medicine to someone she didn't know the details of before she came up with a solution.
Unexpectedly, the other party did not leave, but the footsteps were getting closer and closer. Edith frowned: "I said, we are closed today--"
“I’ll pay twice as much.”
A familiar voice rang in her ears. Edith looked up in surprise. Shelly's figure appeared in her eyes through the gap in the veil, making her heart skip a beat.
How did he get here?
"You don't need to introduce me, and you don't need to bother entertaining me." The man lowered his head and stroked the lines on the crystal bottle. "I will just pay and take the things. I won't waste time."
The shadow cast by his hair covered his eyebrows and eyes, and his tone was so calm that it was hard to tell his specific emotions. Edith didn't know how much the other party knew for a moment - maybe he was just passing by and came in to take a look out of curiosity.
"Whatever you want, I'll give you five minutes to choose." Edith's tone was even. She lowered her head again and continued her movements without paying much attention. "The prices of the goods on your left are generally over 1,000 gold coins. Double the price... I suggest you think carefully before you choose."
Her attitude was natural, and she looked like a shop owner who was truly "impressed by money." Shelly said nothing, just flipping through the bottles one by one, his eyes lingering on the densely packed effect cards.
Edith walked back to the counter naturally, sat back in her seat and started writing and drawing. Unexpectedly, Shelly followed closely behind her, with his hands casually resting on the counter, his eyes following Edith's pen tip.
She is writing in the account book.
It was not the formula he was thinking of, nor was it a book on potions, but rather the most inconspicuous account book.
Shirley lowered his eyes and placed the selected crystal bottle on the counter. "Check out."
Edith put down the account book and was about to look at the label to get the quotation, but she inadvertently glanced at the other person's hand and frowned slightly.
Why does Shelly have so many small wounds on his hands?
Apart from the linear wound, there were a few scars from corrosion and burns on the palm of his half-exposed wrist, which were particularly eye-catching on his cold white hand.
It was strange. He was a professor. Even if he hadn't found students to be his assistants yet, the academy would have basic assistants. Although they couldn't help with research, they could still help with the processing of medicinal materials.
Generally, only apprentices will suffer skin peeling due to frequent contact with corrosive substances.
"...1500, double that is 3000 gold coins." Edith didn't say anything more in the end, she lowered her head and made a note in the account book, "Pay by check or -"
"Cheque."
Edith nodded, took the note handed to her, and waved her hand to send the person away.
"Did you make all the things in this store?" The man seemed not to notice her refusal. He suddenly raised his head and stood there motionless.
Edith followed his gaze and found that his eyes were fixed on the crucibles piled at her feet. She quickly looked away and changed the subject: "We don't accept inquiries about the pharmacist's background."
Shelly was silent: "Sorry."
He carefully picked up the bottle and turned to leave the shop. The wind blew through the narrow door, causing the hem of his black robe to sway slightly.
Edith saw the man off in silence. When he disappeared from her sight, she stood up and locked the door.
The moment she turned back, she accidentally glanced at the black spot in the distance, and her pupils suddenly contracted.
An indistinct black shadow was following Shelly closely. He seemed to be aware of the sight behind him, and the head-like mist slowly turned its head back.
Edith retreated deeper into the store before "he" could fully look over.
"call......"
Edith closed her eyes and forced herself to take a deep breath to calm herself.
Although I guessed that there might be surveillance around Shelly, but...what exactly is that?
......
Shelly walked back to the academy with the potion.
Most of the teachers in the teaching area had already left, and he met one along the way who was on his way out to attend the dance.
He had been adapting to the academy for almost half a year. Apart from barely communicating with Bertram and a few Potions professors he worked with, he had no other social interactions.
Most of the teachers in the college graduated from this school, and they were somewhat repulsive to people like him who were "commoners" and "had a non-orthodox education". No one took the initiative to make friends with him, and he was used to silence.
"Shelly? You're back?"
He didn't expect that someone passing by would call out to him.
Shelly turned around and calmly hid the potion bottle in his pocket: "What's wrong?"
The man didn't expect the other party to be so cold and awkward. He touched his nose and said, "Your investor is waiting for you at the door of your laboratory... You are really something. As an investment target of Duke Eddie, you didn't spread any news at all. Why? Are you afraid that we will snatch it away?"
He said that there was no news about Duke Eddie this year, it turns out he had found a partner a long time ago!
"Got it. Thank you."
Shelly nodded calmly, turned around and left without any regrets as the other party continued to make friends.
"Really? Why are you pretending?" The man's smile collapsed in an instant and he turned around muttering.
Shelly walked to the front of the laboratory, looked at the gorgeously dressed man standing by the door, and frowned slightly.
"Duke Eddie."
"Why are you working during your break? Don't you know how to relax?" The man called Duke Eddie looked about 60 years old, with wrinkles all over his face and kind eyes. "Ah, did you go to the newly opened potion shop? I heard that there seemed to be a bottle of... love potion from there?"
"Nothing can be hidden from your eyes."
Shelly said coldly.
Duke Eddie smiled, not angry. "The results of the potion ingredients you asked me to test are out." He finally got to the point, raised his hand, and asked the servant beside him to hand over a stack of papers. "The item is too important, so I chose to deliver it myself."
"What an amazing magic concentrate... It should be very effective in replenishing magic. I hope you can perfect the formula as soon as possible and put it on my product list.
"Your magic lock industry is spread all over the kingdom, so you don't need this little bit of profit." Shelly quickly scanned the contents of the list, looked up and saw the guest off, "Please go back. I need to continue my research."
Duke Eddie smiled and left the corridor.
Shelly opened the door and walked back to the laboratory, locking it and casting numerous detection spells and protective spells. Then, he used magic to completely cover up his own breath, then opened the door of the secret room and began today's secret research next to Edith's ice coffin.
There was indeed something strange about the magic emanating from Edith.
He looked at the report handed to him by Duke Eddie, shook his head, and put it down.
That teacher actually felt envious...If the plan to wake Edith up wasn't so urgent, he would never cooperate with someone like Hope Eddie whose intentions were hard to tell.
......
"If you plan to keep up this pace, the only career advice I can give you is to go to the market and kill pigs."
Edith leaned against the shade of a tree, watching Lynch, who was exhausted and slumped on the ground, breathing heavily. She glanced at her watch without emotion, "You can't do it after just three hours of practice?"
Heda, who was sitting not far away, shuddered subconsciously.
Edith had been behaving so normally since returning to the capital that she almost forgot what the devil who had been training her like for half a year looked like.
For the first time, she felt sympathy for her ex-fiancé who had been verbally engaged to her. She mourned for two seconds in her heart and immediately went forward to fan Edith and pour her some water.
Bell stood aside and raised his eyebrows: "Who is your study partner?"
Edith glanced at her.
When they were separated, it was hard to make any connections, but when Bell and Lynch stood together, it was hard to hide their similarities. However, the two of them did not exchange a single word, and each of them occupied a practice area, practicing their swordsmanship.
Heda didn't sign up in the end. She sat under the shade of a tree and read a book for the whole afternoon. She felt a little bored. "Come to think of it, today seems to be the first day of the preliminary round, right?"
"Aren't you guys going to grab the points?"
"Why rush for it? There are only fifteen arenas with teachers watching over them, and there are nearly two thousand people registered for the preliminary round." Edith yawned. "Everyone was in a hurry on the first two days, and the queues took a long time. It's better to practice on your own first."
"Winning consecutively will earn you more points, so why not save a few days to finish it all at once?"
"What about the commission?"
"The commission takes too long, and the challenge points are not high yet, so I won't consider it for now."
Only 300 people can enter the promotion round, and another 200 will be eliminated in the second round, leaving 100 for the finals, which means that most people just come to join in the fun.
Edith calculated based on past years' experience and knew that 100 points would ensure she was in the top 300. The ideal situation would be to win ten games in a row - one day was enough. She was proficient in theory, but her speed in casting spells one-on-one could not keep up with her brain, so she needed to practice hand-brain coordination.
This training lasted for a full thirty days.
......
"It's okay. You're only a freshman. Don't worry." Edith had just finished helping Dean Keith in his lab and was about to pack up and leave when she heard Dean Keith's words of comfort. "That's right. For you, maintaining good grades in the quarterly exam is the most important thing."
"There's still half a month left for the quarterly exam, so prepare well."
Edith paused: "There's still half a month left for the exam?"
"So...what day is today?"
Dean Keith was surprised by her words and looked at her silently: "August 31st."
There is only one day left until the preliminary round ends on September 1st.
Edith cursed inwardly, then she realized that the dean's words were probably a sigh after seeing her score sheet with zero. She thanked him quickly, and without even taking her things back to the dormitory, she threw them in the laboratory and rushed to the competition venue.
Bell had just finished a match, and walked down from the ring, wiping his sweat. He looked at Edith with some confusion: "What's wrong?"
Edith: "I didn't play a single game."
She confused the time for the preliminary round and the quarterly exam and thought there was still half a month left.
Bell took a deep breath and said, "You didn't play a single game? Then where did you go when you couldn't find anyone during your rest time?"
She thought Edith had accumulated enough points long ago, otherwise why couldn't she find her in the dormitory every day when she returned.
"The internal library, the dean's laboratory, the tulip market, and occasionally the practice field..." Edith realized how busy she had been recently. "Damn it, I was wondering why I haven't been thinking clearly lately."
Bell: "I wish you success."
Edith said goodbye to her in a hurry, and stood on an empty ring. Fortunately, on the last day, 300 marginal students would come to fight a few more times to try their luck, so she would not be unable to find an opponent.
The boy on the other side of the ring had just finished his last fight and was extremely tired. He silently calculated his points; "98... Whether I can advance depends on luck."
Just as he was about to step down, he saw Edith walking up the stairs out of the corner of his eye and paused.
The girl looks unfamiliar... Let's play one more game to make it even.
He stopped and told the recorder next to him that he wanted to play another match. The audience who had already chosen Edith as their opponent immediately shouted in dissatisfaction: "Don't take up the spot, you've already played three matches!"
"Bah, you didn't play in the last match I asked you to play, and now you're getting anxious when you see someone who's easy to bully?" The boy rolled his eyes, "I'll only play one match, the next one's yours!"
While the argument was still going on, the teacher here recorded the names of both players and raised his eyebrows when he saw Edith's 0-point record.
"Both parties please take your seats."
The boy rubbed his sore arm, walked to the designated position, and looked up at the blonde girl in front of him. The other party took out the magic wand from the pocket on the side of her waist, wiped it neatly and shook hands. Somehow, he suddenly felt that the person in front of him looked familiar.
"...Excuse me, what's your name?"
"Edith Griffin."
The boy's expression suddenly changed, and the next second he quickly and anxiously raised his hand, "I give up——"
"Both sides are in position, the game will begin in three seconds!"
The teacher raised his hand mercilessly, "Three, two, one——"
The whistle blew, the teacher put down his hand, and Edith waved her hand without any hesitation, and a wind spell that she was best at went straight to the boy's face.
The boy's screams were swallowed up by the whistling wind. He tried his best to raise his wand, but it was obvious that the grip of his fingers was nothing compared to the strong wind.
As soon as he loosened his grip, the wand rolled out immediately. After losing his weapon, he was thrown out of the ring area without any resistance, flew over the next ring, and passed over the heads of the two people who were fighting fiercely. He scared the opponents, who even the teacher was unable to separate, so that they each took two steps back, and finally hung on the tree next to him.
Everyone: “…”
They silently turned their heads to look at Edith beside them. The "culprit" was calmly lowering her head to pick off the fallen leaves on her cloak, as if everything that had just happened was normal.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”
The boy's howling was finally released after the wind died down, and the teacher who recorded it breathed a sigh of relief: If you can shout, you can survive.
He directed the volunteers to get the other person down, and then he turned around to record the first point for Edith.
"…Um, can I give up?"
The boy who was vying to fight Edith just now has become completely scared. It doesn’t matter whether the winning streak is interrupted or not, the most important thing is not to lose his life!
The teacher held up a finger and shook it.
"Both players have been recorded. Please take your seats."
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