Chapter 145 - 59. Sudden Change

Chapter 145: 59. Sudden ChangeHaving just alleviated the pain of his drained Magic Power, Fisher, lying in his office chair, suddenly realized something. If a soul possesses "independence in division," this would mean that each segmented soul maintains a very deep connection with its original self, provided that the divided entities continue to exhibit very complete vitality.

He thought carefully; was Renie’s Hart Bird not exemplifying such a trait?

Each lark was a product of the division of her soul, and though separated from her, it should, by its nature, retain a deep connection. That is, those Hart Birds were, to some extent, essentially Renie herself!

Then her earlier assertion that she had no connection to the Hart Birds and couldn’t see her own perspective through them—was she deceiving him?

Moreover, following this line of thought, it was highly plausible that she was the "Undying Witch."

Even if one disregards her previously observed terrifying self-healing ability and her body’s ability to die, those Hart Birds could regrow her intact soul, wouldn’t that amount to a form of resurrection in some sense?

Fisher silently came to regard Renie as the Undying Witch, but this time, he didn’t call a Hart Bird to notify her to return. As he had said before, it was best for Fisher to find the Witch himself as long as she was still by his side, which put his mind at ease.

And given Renie’s personality, although she wasn’t particularly fond of humans, she definitely couldn’t be considered to hate them. Unlike Rafael, who had been tormented by humans and whose homeland had been invaded by humans, Renie had always been hidden within human society and didn’t harbor such deep hatred towards humanity; otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to spend so much time with her.

Regardless, Fisher had no intention of revealing to Renie that he knew her real identity for the time being. He even wanted to pretend to be completely unaware, to drop his suspicions and wait for her to lower her guard before catching the bad witch in the act.

Fisher thought and thought until his head began to hurt again, so he had to temporarily give up on pondering and opened the windows of his office, going out to enjoy dinner.

Students flowed in and out of the campus dining hall, chatting among themselves, while Fisher calmly walked through, occasionally overhearing many students discussing Schwali’s academic visit to Nali.

It was only later, when he went to the dining hall, that he found out that the Golden Palace had already issued an announcement. In just a few days, Schwali’s academic delegation would come to visit Saint Nali, targeting Professor Fisher Benavides of Saint Nali University and his theory of Magic Power and soul sources.

Hardly had he sat down when Fisher felt many eager eyes upon him, and even overheard hushed voices:

"Look, that’s Professor Fisher."

"He’s so young! Can I write a letter to the professor? It’s rare to see a gentleman who matches my taste so well."

"You should go ask Princess Elizabeth..."

The female students at the university were of full age, and their attitudes toward romance were nothing like those still inexperienced girls. Many of them were already influenced by their families and the societal norms of Saint Nali, yearning for free and pure love. Now, with the prevalence of free love, any advice from parents about "age factors" was deemed "old-fashioned" by them.

As written in a poem by Lady Lao Fang,

"Though humans have the gap of age, love does not."

Thus, many wealthy merchants proudly kept young women as mistresses, even if they already had families, boldly declaring the value of love.

One had to say that Lao Fang’s idealistic concepts were indeed too romantic. Fisher wasn’t enthusiastic about them, but he was indeed among the younger of the Nali Gentlemen, only seven or eight years older compared to these students; young and talented, only lacking a bit in economic foundation. Otherwise, not even Princess Elizabeth could likely hold back the passionate ladies of Saint Nali.

"Mr. Fischer!"

While Fisher was dining, a girl holding a tray sat down uninvited across from him. Fisher looked up to see the smiling Milica with her black hair greeting him.

"Milica, where are Moli and Princess Isabella?"

The three of them were almost always together, but now he didn’t see the other two ladies.

Milica glanced at the sky outside and said,

"They have other activities tonight, so I came to have dinner first. I didn’t expect to run into Mr. Fischer here."

Fisher told her to sit with a half-smile, half-frown, then remembered her family’s situation,

"How’s your father doing? Still giving you headaches?"

"Hardly! I’m already a grown woman, not the child who used to cry when she couldn’t solve a math problem!"

"... Maybe so."

Every time Milica thought about being "all grown up," her little face couldn’t help but flush.

She puffed out her cheeks, seemingly recalling the first time Mr. Fischer became her home tutor. Because she couldn’t solve math problems, she cried to her father, asking him to change tutors. However, the Archbishop of the Church, despite his deep affection for his daughter, was left speechless by Mr. Fischer’s few words and realized the importance of educating his daughter. For the first time, he ignored her request and made her continue studying math.

Although she didn’t end up pursuing a career in science, it has to be said that those strict lessons proved to be very helpful to her. They, at least, kept her from indulging in a prolonged phase of rebellion. Otherwise, she would never have been admitted to Saint Nali University.

Many things in life are like this. They seem to be futile efforts made with hard work, but they always nourish you somewhere, unconsciously changing you from what you once were.

"Recently, my dad has been busy with volunteer teaching. A lot of the older professors at the Royal College can no longer maintain the volunteer work due to their age, and many of the younger professors aren’t willing to participate. Lately, he’s really been struggling, and many of our school’s professors also don’t want to sign up."

Although there was money to be made from volunteer teaching, it was still a public service, and it was virtually impossible to expect a rich reward. The older generation of scholars were motivated by a desire to contribute to Nali society, but the younger generation was not necessarily so. You could tell by looking at the researchers at the Royal College.

As the health of the older professors deteriorated, the tradition of volunteer teaching might well disappear.

"I signed up this time, to make a modest contribution. If I remember correctly, traditional literature is a key subject in volunteer teaching and has the largest classroom participation compared to other subjects. Has Lady Lao Fang from our school joined?"

Upon this topic, Milica’s lips pursed in annoyance, and she bit into the beef on her plate, saying angrily,

"Hmph, I thought I’d help my dad a bit, and I even wrote a letter inviting Professor Lao Fang to participate in volunteer teaching, but she didn’t even reply! After two or three letters, she finally pretended as if she hadn’t seen my previous ones, claiming she had no time recently! But I see she has plenty of time to spare, going to the Healing Room for rehabilitation every week!"

Milica had just finished speaking when she realized she might have spoken too loudly. After all, Lao Fang was still a professor at Saint Nali University, and she herself was still her student. If Lao Fang found out, she wouldn’t expect any leniency.

"You young people’s vocabulary is getting richer and richer. So, what exactly is a Healing Room?"

"Scoffing as if Mr. Fischer is old... But it’s mainly the ladies of Saint Nali who know about that place. Many ladies and wives like to go there for retreats. I’ve heard they have secret recipes from the South Continent that can make a lady’s skin fairer and smoother, and even heal scars and wrinkles..."

Fischer contemplated for a moment. It sounded like a place offering beauty treatments. There had been such a place in Saint Nali before that used magic in their services, but due to high prices and poor service, it had gone bankrupt.

Now it seemed that a new one had appeared.

"Many female students from our school have been there, and the effects might really be good. A classmate in my grade went once and got rid of the freckles on her face. Now she treasures her complexion more than anything."

"I see."

Fischer didn’t comment further on women’s desire for beauty, and as dinner and casual conversation went on, time passed quite pleasantly. However, it was apparent that she knew about the appointment of Moli as a student assistant. She kept dropping heavy hints, asking if Fischer needed a student assistant to run errands outside of class.

Although she wasn’t strong academically, she was quite capable of serving tea and coffee.

Fischer smiled and shook her head but out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of her hand cane, which started to emanate a faint glow. The white light indicated that the magic Fischer had set up somewhere had been triggered.

This magic was set up in her own laboratory to prevent Elliog from being discovered. If she herself left the laboratory or if someone broke in, the magic would illuminate.

She glanced in the direction of her laboratory, frowning as she quickly stood up,

"I’m done eating, excuse me."

"Eh, eh?"

Milica watched as Fischer, carrying her hand cane and hat, hurriedly ran out of the dining room, assuming he remembered something urgent. She could only pout helplessly and continue her dinner.

Fischer didn’t take the main gate but climbed out the window of her office. She was more adept at sneaking out of the school than the students.

Outside in the countryside, she dashed all the way, heading toward the setting sun. She arrived at her laboratory door in no time, and just as the hand cane indicated, the doors of the laboratory were wide open. She entered the room, but didn’t see the sleeping Demon Girl.

"Elliog?"

His brow furrowed, he called out, but no one responded.

"Boom!"

Just as he spoke, a loud explosion sounded in the distance, causing Fischer to quickly look toward the more remote countryside outside the laboratory.