Chapter 109: 45. Old Jack’s Call (Request for Subscription)
As Renee mentioned, she didn’t stay long in Saint Nali. After enjoying an entertaining play with Fisher that evening, he bought her a necklace as a gift, which she proudly wore around her neck.
As a result, early the next morning, when Fisher woke up, the black-haired lady was already gone.
Renee seemed to dislike the parting moments with Fisher; every time they met again, he could feel her meticulous preparation, but when it came time to say goodbye, she would leave without a word.
Fisher didn’t mind; he lingered in the fragrant room for a long time before preparing to head to class.
Recently, the things he needed to be busy with were just a few: in addition to the regular teaching, there was also the matter of Carlo, the artificial sorceress. She was still at the Pink Pavilion, and Fisher was somewhat concerned about the role the Pink Pavilion played during this visit of Shivali to Nali. He always felt that this “entertainment venue” had too many suspicious aspects.
Another matter was that he needed to resume studying the “Soul Supplement Handbook.” Previously, he refrained from consuming magic power to obtain information from it due to fears of danger in the Southern Continent, but now that he had settled down, Fisher felt it necessary to further explore this handbook that appeared quite different from the “Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans.”
He always felt the “Soul Supplement Handbook” was more serious, whereas his own was essentially useless without subhumans around. The Child of the Sea and the Sky God still had no clues, so Fisher planned to first study that centaur girl to gain some additional insights.
When Fisher arrived at the washroom to freshen up, he found that no water was coming from the faucet.
“Fisher, didn’t I say? The water is off today. They said there’s a malfunction in the pipeline system far from here; who knows how it affects us. But it’s okay, I stored quite a bit of water yesterday, it’s in the barrel beside.”
“Ah, I see.”
Martha’s reminder came from outside the washroom, and at that moment, Fisher fully woke up. With Renee’s alluring fragrance lingering, he always slept soundly at night, though he didn’t know the exact reason.
Martha had left some bread; Fisher took the bread and headed out. While waiting for the streetcar, he suddenly thought it might be better to stay in the school dormitory for the time being, especially since the Shivali delegation was about to arrive in Nali. Spending so much time traveling every day might not be practical.
He planned to call Martha in the evening to discuss this matter.
Around eight twenty in the morning, Fisher arrived punctually at the classroom. As usual, he placed his coat, hat, and staff on the coat rack beside the podium and casually glanced at the class below. He noticed that aside from Princess Isabel and Jasmine sitting in the front row, many faces had changed.
It seemed many students couldn’t adjust to his strictness, and with the students from Roger’s class switched out, he hoped to find some messages in the office’s mailbox.
However, Fisher didn’t pay much attention to that and turned to start the class.
“Having finished discussing the essence of magic, this lesson will focus on the various components of a complete spell and the precautions needed to engrave those parts.”
A simple class quickly wrapped up, and after the bell rang, he assigned the students their first homework.
The assignment from Wednesday was due in his office mailbox before the following Monday.
After sending the topics to the students and not worrying about those with pained expressions from reading the assignment, he turned and left.
“Hey, Mr. Fisher, did you just finish your class?”
“Ah, yes.”
Entering the Magic Academy office after class, Fisher found Roger and another young lady chatting while seated. Upon seeing Fisher walk in, the young lady brightened up, stood up, and greeted Fisher following Roger’s introduction.
“Hello, Mr. Fisher.”
“Ah, this is one of the few magic professors at our Magic Academy, a member of the Magic Association by name, and a magical researcher from the Nali Exploration Company, Selina.”
Saint Nali University, funded by the Nali Exploration Company, had provided some staff to alleviate Ken’s pressing demand in the context of the shortage of teachers in the Magic Academy. It seemed they spared no effort against the repugnant Griffin Party.
“Hello, Fisher.”
“We were just talking about yesterday’s Godlin Festival. Hey, Lady Laura got quite drunk at the party yesterday. She said you are no gentleman at all and that your character is just as cold as your appearance, haha, what did you do to her at the event yesterday?”
Selina next to them turned red at the gossip, and it was clear that this piece of news came from her. She hurriedly shook her hand and said,
“Lady Laura drank too much yesterday; those were definitely unintentional remarks.”
Fisher recalled how he had taken the fall for Renee multiple times yesterday to resolve the conflict between her and Elizabeth, so it made sense to receive such an evaluation.
“Much better than I expected; I thought she would curse me with poetry.”
“Hahahaha, that certainly wouldn’t happen. Lady Laura responds to those gentlemen interested in Mr. Fisher’s gentlemanly qualities; once Princess Elizabeth has left, some ladies still have the courage to inquire.”
After saying this, Roger adjusted his collar; he had classes to attend, and Selina had classes too. Selina lightly patted Roger’s back, clearly reproaching him for sharing this with Fisher, but both Roger and Fisher saw no issue with it.
As Fisher watched the middle-aged man and the young lady exit, he felt that their relationship was unusual and likely romantic.
In the years of rapid economic rise in Saint Nali, personalities previously suppressed by propriety and restraint seemed to burst forth all at once; not only were clothing styles more open, but even concepts of romance had changed. Many writers even glorified relationships with a certain age gap, like Lady Laura herself.
The beautiful young lady and the mature, affluent gentleman, she simply adored such dynamics.
Fisher shook his head, deciding not to dwell on his colleagues’ private lives. He pulled out the course change application letters from his mailbox, skimmed through them to note who was involved, and tossed them aside. He then picked up his pen and began to write a letter, one addressed to Carlo, that sorceress.
With the visit from Shivali approaching, he needed to summon this sorceress for a discussion, as he had some questions for her regarding the Pink Pavilion.
After finishing the letter, Fisher took out a folded paper airplane-like messenger tucked inside his pocket. He placed the letter into the crevice on top of the paper airplane, and after inserting the letter, the paper airplane seemingly came to life, pinching the letter tightly and causing the wings to flutter lightly.
As it floated, it slowly turned semi-transparent, entering a state visible only to the sender and receiver.
Fisher watched it sway and fly towards the sky, heading into Saint Nali city, and then withdrew his gaze.
With nothing else to do for the moment, Fisher initially intended to take out the “Soul Supplement Handbook” to study. However, glancing at the Southern Continent Subhuman Protection Association outside the window, he decided to first attempt to bind the centaur girl, Xiatu, using the “Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans.”
He was worried that binding a research subject could cause significant physical strain, and with his magic power depleted from studying the “Soul Supplement Handbook,” he feared he might faint on the spot.
Fisher climbed out of the window and walked toward that direction, but this time, there was no sight of the centaur girl kneeling and gathering vegetables behind the short wall; it was completely empty, as if she had been called away by the New Party for outreach work.
It seemed she was frequently summoned by those people for such activities, used as a tool to promote “love and peace.”
Fisher suddenly felt pessimistic about researching this centaur girl. While he might still be able to talk to her occasionally, having her constantly absent made research difficult. Locking in a research subject was quite painful; without any progress, it would be better to reconsider entirely.
Fisher furrowed his brows as he returned to his office area; before he could climb back in, he found the telephone on his desk ringing continuously. Who could be calling at this time?
He picked up the receiver, and an old familiar voice came through,
“Hello, is this Mr. Fisher Benavides?”
Fisher raised an eyebrow and replied, “Old Jack? How did you know my office phone number?”
“Oh, Fisher, it’s you. I called your rental unit before, and it was Lady Martha who answered. She said you were teaching at Saint Nali University, so I asked the operator to connect to Saint Nali University, and they transferred me to your office.”
Listening to this complicated phone transfer process, Fisher couldn’t help but feel amused, but since the other party had gone through so many transfers to reach him, it must be something urgent, so he asked,
“What’s wrong? Is there some emergency?”
There was a brief silence on the line, as if he were confirming something. After a second or two, Old Jack continued,
“Well, the day before yesterday, we had a strange guest here. She ordered a lot of drinks, then got drunk and slumped over the table, not moving at all. Until this morning, she still hasn’t stirred. If she weren’t breathing, I would have thrown her out by now.”
“You mean she slept in your place for a whole day and night without waking?”
“Yes, exactly! I couldn’t resist shaking her last night; my heavens! Then I took off her cloak, and it turns out she’s not human! She has things on her that humans don’t have; she’s a subhuman!”
“Subhuman race?”
“Yes, and I’ve never seen this kind of subhuman before. Maybe I’m just too ignorant, but she looks really strange. You might understand more about subhumans than anyone else, so why not come take a look?”
Fisher’s gaze flickered, and he agreed, “Alright, I’ll come take a look right away.”
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(End of chapter)
