Chapter 127: 63. Assistant Jasmine
Since Eil left, Fisher’s days have become very regular.
First, he gets up every morning at six for continuous physical exercise, usually jogging as the primary method of workout. The day after Eil’s departure, which was Tuesday, Xiatu ran with Fisher once, but by Wednesday she was nowhere to be seen, obviously dragged away by the New Party to give speeches again.
Another matter was that classes continued. With the news of Shivali’s academic delegation visiting spreading far and wide, Saint Nali University began to prepare venues for the academic conference. Ken even approached Fisher to ask him to prepare arguments to respond to their questions.
The Shivali delegation had previously visited the Cardu World Magic Association, likely for this academic conference, and Ken did not want Fisher to take it lightly.
After Fisher expressed understanding, he reviewed his paper a few more times to solidify his memory of the proof logic but then left it aside.
This matter was not what he should primarily worry about; those anti-magic scholars could not be his debating opponents. What he truly worried about were Carlo and the Pink Pavilion.
The new party responsible for this operation, the seemingly unrelated Pink Pavilion, the sorceress Carlo who was asked to carry out an assassination, and Blake, who suspected to be the backing financier.
Vaguely, it seemed that a massive strange web was emerging on the surface, but Fisher had yet to grasp its critical points.
Time passed slowly amid the news of Shivali’s impending arrival until Wednesday morning, the time for Fisher’s class.
The entire school was still thriving with energy, and the voice of a gentleman could be heard in the Introduction to Basic Magic classroom, as Fisher was teaching his 8:30 AM class.
“The name of the Ringhead comes from its importance to the entirety of magic. Without the Ringhead, the definition of a magic spell would become completely vague and lose direction; without a Ringhead, no matter how beautifully the main ring and the secondary ring are engraved, it will lose its meaning. Most of the time, the Ringhead is quite simple for spellcasters, as we do not need to have a deep understanding of the world’s rules, which is only needed when inventing the Ringhead.”
At this point, Fisher put down the chalk in his hand, glanced at the densely written text on the blackboard behind him, checked the time, and turned to look at the students below who were understanding his words,
“Alright, that pretty much concludes this lesson. There are still a few minutes left, and I do not plan to continue the class, Jasmine.”
“Yes!”
Fisher called out Jasmine’s name, and the girl taking notes in the front row instinctively stood up, holding her pen, looking at Fisher in panic. Her startled reaction surprised her classmates behind her.
Realizing her action was inappropriate, Jasmine’s face turned even redder. She wanted to sit down and then stand up again but felt that wouldn’t be good. She could only awkwardly pinch her skirt and sneak a glance at Fisher.
Fisher smiled nonchalantly at her and introduced her to the classmates behind him,
“Since I usually have other matters to attend to, I have hired a student assistant from the class to help me with my daily work, and that is Jasmine.”
“From now on, she will be responsible for grading your weekly assignments and guiding the tutorial classes. However, I must remind you all, even when she grades your assignments, it will be under my full supervision in my office. If anyone privately asks Jasmine to alter grades or give leniency, I will treat it as cheating, so please be cautious.”
“Alright, let’s have Jasmine introduce herself next.”
“Eh?”
Jasmine’s thighs began to tremble, and her entire face flushed with embarrassment, clearly not expecting Fisher to suddenly ask her to introduce herself.
She bit her lip, saw Isabel silently cheering her on from the side, and then gathered her courage to cover her chest and walk toward the podium. But due to her subconscious protective motion, her softness was further emphasized, leaving many male classmates in a daze behind her.
That’s too… too… big. No, it’s not—
“Um, um, I…” Jasmine’s voice was small and sweet, like the milk sugar sold at the Saint Nali candy shop. After stuttering for a while, she stole a glance at Fisher and struggled to say,
“I am… Teacher Fisher’s… assistant.”
And then there was nothing more.
The classroom fell silent as all the students stared blankly at Jasmine standing next to Fisher, momentarily unable to comprehend what she was saying. Even Isabel covered her face, unable to bear the sight.
“Alright, I just wanted to inform you all that Jasmine will be the teaching assistant for this class. Therefore, the class ends here, and you may leave.”
Fortunately, Fisher came to the rescue. Once he spoke, the atmosphere in the classroom returned to normal as the students began to gather their bags and books to leave, albeit with many male classmates still secretly glancing at Jasmine, who remained still.
Fisher also used a tissue to wipe off the chalk dust from his fingers and turned to see Jasmine still standing in place. He was momentarily taken aback and said to the girl,
“Jasmine?”
“.Eep.”
Hearing Fisher’s voice, she flinched and then turned her head in a panic to look at Fisher. But upon meeting his gaze, she quickly averted her eyes as if scalded and lowered her head.
Her black hair flowed like a waterfall from her forehead, parting in front of her ears, allowing Fisher to see her blushing human ears.
She seemed overly shy; merely being asked to introduce herself was enough to fluster her.
“Teacher Fisher, Jasmine is a bit afraid to speak in crowded places.”
Isabel noticed that the dizzy Jasmine was standing on the podium and quickly stepped in front of the podium to explain for Jasmine.
After Isabel finished explaining, Jasmine nodded foolishly, then gently grabbed Isabel’s hand, appearing to need some support.
In fact, she should not have been this nervous. On the contrary, she enjoyed communicating immensely; otherwise, her mother wouldn’t call her a “chatterbox.”
She simply wasn’t accustomed to speaking in front of so many people, with countless gazes fixed on her so clearly, which made her feel unnatural.
“Sorry, Teacher Fisher.”
Once the classmates had left, she exhaled a warm breath and said apologetically.
“It’s okay, I overlooked it and didn’t consider that you might be nervous. We’ll practice your communication more in the future.”
Fisher responded, prompting Jasmine to sneak a glance at him. But just as she wanted to shift her gaze, a knock at the door and the voice of another staff member interrupted her, causing her to hurriedly direct her attention back to Isabel’s hand,
“Professor Fisher, the magic experiment classroom you need for your course is ready. It’s on the second floor of Building A. Here’s the key.”
“Ah, thank you. I thought the approval process would take some time.”
The visitor was a teacher from the academic affairs office. After the Introduction to Basic Magic course began learning about the various parts of magic, according to textbook suggestions, teachers needed to borrow a magic classroom for some magic demonstrations. This type of activity wasn’t possible in a tiered classroom.
Fisher didn’t apply himself; it was Roger, who also teaches this course, that helped him with the approval. Originally, Fisher had planned to take students to a remote area to demonstrate a few high-ring spells, but this approach received unanimous criticism from Roger and Selina.
That’s because Fisher’s mentor was Heilson, who adhered to a more traditional magical teaching style, and even more traditional magic teaching required students to experience the risk of magic burning their backsides to verify the dangers of magic.
It’s not possible to do that with the current students, which Fisher felt was quite a pity.
Fisher took the string of keys and suddenly remembered something. He turned to Jasmine and asked,
“By the way, do you have class this afternoon?”
“No, no, Professor Fisher.”
“In that case, would you like to come with me to the magic market in Saint Nali this afternoon to buy magic materials needed for next week? We can also teach you some knowledge that you won’t find in the textbooks. If Princess Isabel wants to join, she can come along too.”
“Eh, okay, Teacher Fisher. I have a class with another professor this afternoon, but I can skip it.”
When she heard that she wouldn’t have to attend class and could follow Fisher to the city of Saint Nali to see various magic materials, Isabel no longer felt tired or in pain; her eyes lit up with excitement, sweeping away her previous despondency from class.
This unstudious appearance was an absolute contrast to her real sister; in the past, Elizabeth used to study until the library closed every day, and she was also the most treasured student of Principal Damien. Who would have thought that the Godlin bloodline would become a lazy burden by the time it reached Isabel?
“Since you have a class, you should still attend it well. How about this, do you want to go see the city with me?”
“Eh, okay, I really want to go!”
At this moment, the advantage of being a teaching assistant became clear; otherwise, he wouldn’t have a legitimate reason to invite Jasmine to spend time alone with him, and of course, it wouldn’t be possible to find out the secrets regarding her identity.
However, Fisher was not in a hurry. From his previous observations, Jasmine’s personality didn’t seem to belong to someone overly mature and guarded; of course, this could also be a mask she wore, and Fisher needed to be cautious.
Currently, he knew Jasmine’s identity while she knew nothing about him. Leveraging this advantageous situation, Fisher wanted to employ some rhetoric to gain some basic intel and then design traps to lure this Whale Folk girl into revealing flaws.
Isabel looked quite regretful, her eyes harboring a resentment about not being able to skip class. Fisher, feeling helpless, told Jasmine to recount what she learned to Isabel after they returned, which made her happy as she left the classroom.
Thus, only Fisher and Jasmine remained in the classroom.
“I plan to set off immediately. Do you have anything you want to bring? Those textbooks are best left at school, allowing me to test your memory of the knowledge points we’ve covered so far. I will casually ask you questions during our search for magic materials to reinforce some easily overlooked knowledge.”
Jasmine nervously nodded. Although her memory was quite good, facing a teacher’s assessment still made her feel uneasy, and she even wanted to reread the textbook.
At this moment, she secretly felt relieved that Isabel didn’t come along; otherwise, if Teacher Fisher asked her a question she couldn’t answer, she would surely return to her dorm and cry, lamenting how she “lost face for the Godlin family.” Every time Isabel embarrassed herself outside, she would self-criticize her behavior to her roommates after lights out.
But this was a secret among the three ladies, and Jasmine wouldn’t let a fourth person know.
Fisher donned his gentleman’s hat and held his staff while waiting for Jasmine to store her textbook before calling for a carriage to the city.
Of course, purchasing magic materials wouldn’t come from Fisher’s own money; the academic affairs office had approved a public fund for him, which was several thousand Nali currency, more than enough for the magic materials required for this course.
Seeing that the reimbursement amount was sufficient, Fisher planned to look for some usable treasures in the magic market of Saint Nali. He had missed the opportunity to check due to other matters, and with no time to carve magic himself, he felt an increased magic capacity after finishing the Soul Supplement Handbook and was eager to try carving some new spells.
In the carriage, Fisher and Jasmine maintained a very polite distance, quietly keeping their eyes closed and motionless.
Jasmine initially felt a bit shy, but seeing that Fisher was closing his eyes and not paying attention to her, she curiously sat by the window, gazing at the passing scenery outside.
There were windmills with large four-leaf fans, orderly fields, classical buildings resembling churches, and newly built modern architecture. These distinctive sights captivated her, making her wish to memorize everything and show it to her mother later, as such things surely did not exist in the underwater realm.
“You rarely leave the school to go into the city?”
Just as she was smiling and admiring the scenery outside, Fisher’s voice startled her. She panickedly looked up to see Fisher, forgetting that she was leaning against the window, and bumped her head against the window.
“Ouch.”
She covered her head in pain and retreated back into the carriage, appearing pitiful. This series of not-very-smart actions almost made Fisher laugh, but he doubted that if he laughed, it would cause Jasmine to feel even more embarrassed, so he gentlemanly refrained from laughing, quietly watching her tenderly soothe her head to alleviate the pain.
“I’m sorry. I really haven’t left the school often, and the school is far from the city, so I wouldn’t know how to get there.”
“So you’re not from Saint Nali? Where is your hometown?”
Fisher’s expression remained unchanged as if casually chatting, breaking the awkward silence from her clumsy actions.
“Eh, I’m from Selikang Port. I’m not from Saint Nali; I’m just here for my studies.”
Selikang Port is the closest port city to Saint Nali and a docking place for the Royal Fleet. It is home not only to generations of fishermen but also to the largest naval base in Nali.
“I see.”
If she wasn’t from Saint Nali, it made sense that this Ocean Subhuman would naturally enter this school, as Saint Nali University had conducted a special recruitment across Nali when it first opened to attract sufficient enrollment. Those who scored highly in the rigorous exams across the various cities could enter Saint Nali University to study.
Not only Jasmine but many poor yet outstanding children also came to Saint Nali to enjoy capital’s educational resources through this exam. In this sense, Ken did honor his promise to create a relatively equal educational institution, and that is also why the academic atmosphere at Saint Nali University is still quite good.
Fisher did not press further. He speculated that Jasmine had anchored at Selikang Port, but since Saint Nali itself was a coastal city and she hadn’t directly arrived here, it indicated that Ocean Subhumans did not have a deep understanding of terrestrial situations.
He had already learned about this from Rena, and he was just verifying it to avoid any cognitive biases due to Rena’s only eight years of age.
“By the way, the magic market we’re going to can get very crowded. Many magic materials grow naturally in the wild or by the sea. Although many enterprises harvest them uniformly, there are also many hunters and fishermen from outside the city. When the time comes, with so many people and complicated situations, remember to stay close to me.”
“Mm.”
Jasmine nervously pursed her lips, looking like she was facing a great enemy. Although it wasn’t as daunting as it sounded, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.
The carriage passed through many streets, finally stopping on the other side of Snakehead Street, in front of a bustling pedestrian street.
The driver reluctantly opened the carriage door and said to Fisher inside,
“Sir, the magic market is very crowded today, and the carriage can’t get in. I can only stop here.”
“That’s fine; we can walk there.”
Fisher paid and stepped out of the carriage first, holding his staff and hat. Once outside, he observed Jasmine as she looked around, surrounded by people, with humans, fishermen, and hunters wearing traditional costumes, as well as quite a few individuals in Cardu’s black robes, though it couldn’t be confirmed whether they really were from Cardu.
Because Cardu is regarded as the homeland of magic, individuals pretending to be from Cardu often appear in magic-related markets, selling magic items.
They boast mystically about the effects of their products, and when buyers return home and release them, they end up with nothing but disappointment, only to find that they can’t track the sellers down afterward.
Jasmine was momentarily dazzled by the bustling and lively scene, feeling a bit lost. Meanwhile, Fisher, standing beside the carriage, calmly extended his hand towards her.
“Assistant Jasmine, it’s time to get off.”
“Thank you.”
Jasmine politely took Fisher’s sleeve and slowly exited the carriage, taking a deep breath, adapting for the first time to her identity as a student assistant.
Come on, Jasmine! You can do it!
She thought to herself, silently easing the mix of nervousness and excitement bubbling within her.
This chapter is a combined chapter.
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(End of this chapter)
