IRM Chapter 66

The Weiss Sea area was still clear and sunny the next morning. Ji Chi was awakened by the rich aroma of food. He sat up, stretched with a big yawn, and savored the sweet, peaceful dream from last night.

Unfortunately, dreams always end. He lowered his head and looked at his thin arms and legs with some disappointment. Sure enough, muscles and such only appear in dreams.

Ah—— I hate being a mage!

Ji Chi’s resentment bubbled up intensely.

By the time he had tidied himself up and walked to the inn’s main hall, Anna had already prepared a large table full of steaming hot dishes. Her beautiful face showed a relaxed smile, attracting quite a few people at the entrance who were craning their necks to peek inside.

However, they didn’t dare come in casually to strike up a conversation. That mermaid girl’s strength was truly formidable—no matter how many helpers the inn’s original owner called, she mercilessly swept them all out with a broom.

Anna raised her hand and tossed out another strong male human, dusted off her hands, then turned to look at the man walking down the wooden stairs.

His age was right between youth and young adulthood. His frame still carried the slenderness of a youth, but his dark brows and eyes already showed a young adult’s composure.

Anna took quite a while to react before recognizing him as the “Black Mermaid.”

Anna came to her senses and smiled, saying frankly, “No wonder you were so beautiful disguised as a mermaid—your original face is very good-looking too!”

Unlike humans who discriminated based on skin color, eye color, and hair color, beastmen’s aesthetics were more direct. They could often see a person’s truest appearance.

Ji Chi curved his brows and eyes. “Thank you.”

He glanced at the fragrant roasted bread and seafood chowder behind Anna. The portions were quite generous, obviously prepared for their group. “You didn’t need to go to the trouble of preparing all this. We could have just gone to another restaurant to eat.”

Anna waved her hand indifferently. “This is also the last time I’ll make human food, so consider it a farewell. Not just a farewell to you all, but also to this city…”

Anna turned her face to look through the inn’s wooden window at Mouvira Island’s prosperous, bustling streets, her eyes full of liberation.

Ji Chi had only just sat down at the dining table when the group came down one after another. They had all returned to their original appearances, and a full night’s sleep made them look refreshed and energetic.

Especially Bard—his steps were light, his complexion rosy, showing none of the famously bad temper that dwarves were known for across the continent.

Only now did Anna notice that Bard was an elderly dwarf. A trace of guilt flashed in her eyes. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to step forward and apologize to him, because on the first night, to save the Black Mermaid, she had left Bard tied up for half the night—— though all three people present shared responsibility for this matter.

Ji Chi & Tang: “Cough, cough, cough.”

Bard turned his head and glared. “I was wondering why I felt so terrible when I woke up that morning… So you just watched as I was tied up for half the night?!”

“Don’t describe it so heartlessly. We just forgot…” Tang scratched his face. Seeing Bard about to explode, he immediately bowed his head with his hands pressed together. “I’m sorry! Next time I’ll definitely untie you earlier!”

Bard was so angry his beard bristled. “Can’t you just not let me get tied up at all?!”

Chloe just squatted beside them with her hands in her pockets, watching them bicker with great interest, until Ji Chi quickly grabbed her cloak hood and dragged her away.

Ji Chi earnestly instructed her, “Humans aren’t so obvious when watching drama unfold. This makes the people involved feel very awkward.”

“Awkward?” Chloe obediently let him drag her away. “What kind of emotion is that?”

Ji Chi thought for a moment, then asked her in return, “When you saw that crown Phaestus forged that turned out so ugly, what did you feel?”

Chloe was silent for a long time before saying with difficulty, “I wanted to dig a hole with my toes…”

Ji Chi nodded emphatically. “That’s right, that’s awkward!”

Chloe suddenly understood.

The clock in the inn gradually approached ten in the morning. It was time to leave.

Anna escorted them all the way to Mouvira’s magic teleportation array, smiling as she watched their figures transform into a stream of light and disappear in the brilliant glow of the array.

Anna stood there for a long time, so long that even the patrol guards noticed her and came forward to ask gently if she needed help.

She shook her head with a slight smile and turned around, walking toward the coast without looking back, stepping into the seawater one step at a time.

Until the warm, cool seawater under the sunlight submerged her entire body, Anna sighed comfortably. Her legs gently swayed and transformed into a fish tail that emanated a lustrous sheen.

That fish tail was a deep blue infinitely close to black. It disappeared into the ocean depths, and like a true Black Mermaid, mysteriously vanished among the clusters of coral.

The central street of the Saint Trilley royal capital near noon was becoming increasingly lively.

Ji Chi and Bard had finally returned to familiar territory, unconsciously showing relaxation in their expressions.

Tang smiled as he looked at the two of them sighing with relief in unison. He didn’t continue following behind Bard. Instead, he stood by the teleportation array with one hand in his pocket and the other raised, waving at them.

“Master Borg, my mission ends here. It’s time to go back and take on the next task.” Tang said to Bard with a smile, then turned to glance at Ji Chi. “Thanks, mascot. This was the most relaxing mission I’ve ever been on. Come find me in the Northlands when you have time~”

Tang wasn’t the clingy type. Since becoming a mercenary, he had said goodbye to countless people. Now he simply turned around after speaking, muttering softly, “I can’t be the only one who saw Nidhogg… I really want to know what expressions those guys would have…”

The teleportation time to the Northlands was close to noon. They hadn’t been out long when Tang’s tall, lean figure disappeared within the teleportation array.

Finally, only Ji Chi accompanied Bard to his wand shop.

The wand shop hadn’t opened for over ten days. Many dirty footprints had accumulated at the shop entrance, as if many people stopped and waited here every day.

Bard fumbled in his small carrying case and produced a key, opening the shop door. The air inside the shop began to circulate, stirring up fine dust that floated up and down in the sunlight.

Bard turned to glance at Chloe hidden under her hood and asked, “Would Chloe be willing to stay here with me first? Although it looks a bit cramped, I’m used to living in the workshop, so the room happens to be free.”

Under Ji Chi’s influence, Bard had also unconsciously come to treat Chloe as a real human, naturally beginning to ask for her thoughts.

Chloe was silent for quite a while, her right hand continuously attaching and detaching her left wrist. She turned to look at Ji Chi, her entire mechanical body radiating reluctance. “Chloe doesn’t want to be separated from Master.”

“Just call me by my name.” Ji Chi reminded her helplessly. He removed Chloe’s hood, revealing the somewhat strange metal lump beneath the cloak. “Staying with the Master is your best choice. You can learn about machinery from him, and he’ll also help you improve your body. These things are very important for you.”

Chloe understood these reasons. She lowered her head and said sullenly, “But if you leave, there won’t be anyone to teach Chloe how to become human.”

Ji Chi smiled. “Most people are being human for the first time. Learning how to be a good person is also part of being human.”

Chloe closed her mouth but still looked very dissatisfied.

Ji Chi felt she was like a child who couldn’t leave adults, so he said a few more things. “I’m not rejecting you. It’s just that I’m still living at the Magic Academy. Do you know what kind of place that is?”

“There, every day you have to learn a huge pile of magic, and there’s an old man who chases you to learn a huge pile of magic. It’s very scary. You must not let him find you.” Ji Chi had an expression of lingering fear on his face.

Bard: “…” Do you even remember you’re a mage? Also, why do I feel a bit sorry for Professor Joseph?

In the end, Chloe still chose to stay at Bard’s shop. She actually understood very clearly that she was still incompatible with this world… So, for the first time, she had a clear goal——

To become a human and go find him.

The holiday the academy gave students quickly passed.

The sixteen first-year Class S junior mages of the Magic Division were complete again. The junior mages who had previously been missing arms and legs had once again returned to class full of vigor and vitality under the effects of potions and time.

On a school morning, Ji Chi as usual carried a heavy magic grimoire with [Attack Power +50] and swept into the classroom like a whirlwind two minutes before the class bell rang.

Ji Chi immediately spotted Evan sitting upright in the second row. He sat down beside him, gasping for breath, and placed the magic grimoire on the desk with a thud.

Seeing him arrive, Evan placed the quill in his hand at the center of the grimoire’s pages, then rummaged in his magic bag and pulled out a tightly wrapped brown paper package. From its shape, it looked like one of the sandwiches the cafeteria supplied in limited quantities each day.

Evan had now completely separated from the Church and no longer needed to hand over most of his income to the priest. Through his efforts, his own savings gradually became more substantial. At least he didn’t have to rely on a small piece of dry bread to get through the long morning.

He secretly passed the fresh sandwich to Ji Chi from under the desk. “I went early this morning and brought you an extra one. Eat quickly. Madam Emma won’t say anything.”

Madam Emma was probably the type of teacher students liked most. She had a gentle temperament and tolerant personality. As long as it didn’t affect class quality, students could use fire magic to BBQ and she wouldn’t say anything.

Ji Chi didn’t decline. He accepted the generously filled sandwich with a moved expression. However, just as he unwrapped the outer brown paper, Joseph’s stern voice came from the doorway. “Who brought food to eat in the classroom?”

Joseph scanned around with considerable disdain. As a wind attribute mage, he was most sensitive to messages transmitted through the wind. His gaze immediately swept to Ji Chi in the middle of the second row.

Feeling the death stare sweep over him, Ji Chi’s hair stood on end. This was a reaction he hadn’t had even when facing the Demon King, Akangie, or Chloe.

Professors really are the strongest creatures on earth…

Ji Chi sighed inwardly and obediently put away the sandwich, opening his magic grimoire with a serious expression and pretending to preview earnestly.

Joseph’s gaze finally moved away from him. He snorted and walked to the podium. “Madam Emma isn’t feeling well today, so I’m substituting for her Principles of Magic class.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the classroom visibly deflated. Clearly everyone had already anticipated how difficult the next few hours would be to endure.

Professor Joseph’s cultural classes were boring and serious. Magic reactions that should be quite interesting were broken apart by him until they were just like the Church’s prayer recitations, making people drowsy.

Facing the gradually deadening and dazed junior mages, Joseph frowned deeply. He slapped the podium desk with a bang, then used amplification magic to transmit the sound to every corner of the classroom.

He stared at the startled junior mages with disappointment. “Do you think all this is very simple? Think you’ve already grasped the truth of magic? Think there’s no need to listen to others repeat it again?”

He scolded word by word. “Ridiculous! Do you know what the most precious thing on the continent is? Inheritance! That’s a gift bestowed by the divine! And what you’re letting go in one ear and out the other right now is this most important wealth!”

Unfortunately, everyone present was sixteen or seventeen-year-old youths. They didn’t yet understand the secrets of the divine—they only knew that the professor was truly terrifying when scolding people.

Joseph’s sharp gaze swept over them, lingering longest on Ji Chi. He calmed down and said, “Long ago, there was an Archmage who conducted an experiment. He chose three children with similar magical talent. One he let train in magic by himself, one he let read texts by himself, and the last one, he had listen to the insights of various magic masters every day.”

“I’m sure you’ve guessed the result of the experiment. That’s right—the last child was much more outstanding than the first two.” Joseph spoke slowly.

Ji Chi slowly lowered the hand propping up his head, attracted by this short story. He fell into thought, his brows and eyes revealing a seriousness he himself hadn’t noticed.

Joseph had been secretly observing Ji Chi. Seeing him like this, a surge of joyful and deeply gratified emotion welled up in his heart.

Joseph desperately concealed his happiness and gratification. Seeing that both the suspense and time were about right, he closed the magic grimoire and tucked it under his arm. “Let’s end here for today. Go back and think carefully—human time is limited. How can you use the highest efficiency to obtain the most abundant results?”

After speaking, he waved his hand to dismiss the class and turned to walk out of the classroom.

“Professor Joseph, please wait.” A voice suddenly came from behind Joseph, so familiar it almost brought him to tears.

Joseph turned around with dignified composure, but his sparkling eyes betrayed the unrest in his heart at that moment. “What is it, Ji Chi?”

“Ah, it’s actually not a big deal.” Ji Chi gave him an innocent smile. “I just wanted to ask, when will Headmaster Harvey have time?”

Joseph’s smile froze. He suddenly felt something was wrong, very wrong!

He looked at Ji Chi warily. “What are you trying to do now? We’re more than halfway through the semester—no academy has rules for transferring or inserting into another division!”

Ji Chi was well-behaved. “No, I no longer want to transfer divisions. The Magic Division is quite good…”

Joseph looked at him suspiciously, feeling there was definitely more he hadn’t said.

Sure enough, Ji Chi curved his brows and eyes like a little devil. “I just think what you said is right—listening to instruction is indeed very crucial. So, please let me audit classes at the other academies~”

Joseph: “….”