Chapter 93: 29. Xiatu
An 80-minute class quickly came to an end. When Fisher declared, “This class is over,” the students, who had been fully attentive just moments before, instantly transformed into a zombie-like state, collapsing weakly onto their desks. One class from Fisher was equivalent to two classes from other professors, extending the knowledge of the students beyond what they could currently grasp.
However, it seemed that too much content was crammed in, making the students’ burden a bit heavy. Improvements could be made next time. But the students here appeared to have greater resilience compared to those at the Royal Academy; very few lost focus during the lesson. Although there was initial dissatisfaction with Fisher’s teaching methods, the lessons had to be attended, and notes had to be taken.
Who asked for Saint Nali University to implement a GPA-based degree system? Degrees from A to D were no joking matter.
Fisher tidied up his things and left the lecture hall, heading towards the office building of the Magic Academy.
He only had two classes at Saint Nali University, which meant he only taught four classes a week.
One was the Introduction to Basic Magic for first-year students, and the other was Advanced Magic Studies for second-year students. Now that today’s class was over, he only needed to return tomorrow. However, the back-and-forth was quite cumbersome. He heard that Ken had arranged an office and dormitory for him, so he planned to check it out.
He had originally wanted to offer a course on the study of subhumans, but surprisingly, there was only one student registered from the whole university. Even though Ken had adjusted the class limit to ten specifically for Fisher, it still didn’t meet the standard, so he had to let it go.
As Fisher walked through the campus holding his staff, he eventually arrived at a single-story building on the outskirts of the university. If it weren’t for the sign reading “Magic Academy Office Building” hanging at the front, he would have thought it was the guardroom.
It seemed that after the university failed to recruit enough professors, even the construction speed of the Magic Academy’s office building had slowed down. It’s no wonder; there were only a few teachers in the Magic Academy, and they hardly needed that facility.
When Fisher walked in, he noticed a middle-aged man wearing an eye mask sitting behind a desk, resting. Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, he hurriedly removed his eye mask and, upon seeing a stranger, he smiled and stood up to greet Fisher.
“Ah, you must be the new magic professor. I’m Roger, responsible for teaching the Introduction to Basic Magic as well.”
“Hello, Fisher.”
“My gosh, when I saw the faculty list, I knew it was you, the famous Mr. Fisher. It is truly an honor to see such a young and accomplished scholar in person. Your desk is over there; don’t mind it. The situation at the Magic Academy is a bit complicated, but as professors, our treatment is still decent.”
Under Roger’s guidance, Fisher arrived at a windowed office. The desk inside was newly arranged, and from the window, he could see the situation outside Saint Nali University. Not far from the university, there was a building of moderate size that looked newly constructed.
Fisher looked towards that building and asked Roger, “What is that building for? I thought the parliament only approved land for Saint Nali University in this direction.”
“Ah, that?” Roger glanced towards the building and replied, “That’s the ‘Southern Continent Subhuman Protection Association’, the territory of the New Party. They say they have some interactions with our school, but I haven’t seen any for over a year. I suppose it’s just for show. By the way, I heard there’s a subhuman centaur living there. I often see her walking outside in the yard.”
“I see.” Fisher responded as he continued to gaze at the distant building.
Roger did not linger long; after helping Fisher tidy up a bit, he was ready to leave as he had a class at ten-thirty. With nothing pressing on his agenda, Fisher sat back in his office chair, contemplating the Undying Sorceress. She was hiding in the Pink Pavilion and needed someone familiar with it to help Fisher get inside.
For instance, that guy Trandal.
Tapping his fingers on the desk, Fisher tentatively decided to contact Trandal to go to the Pink Pavilion to search for the Undying Sorceress. But this had to be done carefully; he needed a plan. He couldn’t just swagger in openly.
According to the information from Bart the Sorceress, the Undying Sorceress was “protected” in the Pink Pavilion. There were many theories about who funded the Pink Pavilion—some said it was old nobility from Nali, others claimed it belonged to private merchants, and yet others said it was the Nali Exploration Company. No known certainty existed.
But regardless of who it was, they must have a purpose in protecting the Undying Sorceress; there are no free lunches in this world. It’s possible that she was “working” there for her survival, needing to perform additional valuable work in return. Only then would the Pink Pavilion bother to offend the Sorceress Research Society to shelter her.
Therefore, finding this Undying Sorceress couldn’t create any disturbances, especially since she had seen Fisher’s face that day, while Fisher had no idea what she looked like. Consequently, even if he went, he would undoubtedly be unable to find her.
As he mulled over his specific plans, Fisher turned to look out the window, only to suddenly see a woman wearing a dress walk out of the nearby building, holding a small basket. The woman had the lower body of a horse and a pair of long ears that occasionally flapped.
That was the female centaur he had spotted during the New Party event near the Royal Academy that day.
Fisher immediately took an interest. During the last event, there had been so many people that he couldn’t properly study this rarely encountered subhuman type. Now, seeing that there weren’t many people around, he hesitated for a moment but then directly left the office, holding his staff as he walked towards the distant building.
The building of the so-called Southern Continent Subhuman Protection Association looked quite simple, with a low wall at the entrance, covered in various New Party propaganda. Inside, the centaur gently hummed a song, kneeling on the ground as she picked vegetables planted beneath the wall and placed them in her small basket.
“Hello.”
“Ah!” The sudden voice startled the centaur, causing her to jump up. Her long tail brushed against the clothes covering her horse body. Upon realizing that it was a human gentleman and not a bandit or demon, she sighed in relief and spoke to Fisher.
“Um, sir, if you’re here for an interview, you must wait for the staff of the association to return.”
She cautiously spoke, but Fisher smiled and shook his head.
“Is it because the New Party is afraid you might say something wrong? Don’t worry; like all Nali people, I don’t care about this so-called association. I’m more interested in you.”
“Interested in me?!”
The centaur girl slightly stunned, her face turned red, and her horse tail swayed a bit along with her ears.
“Yes, I’m a scholar studying subhumans, and my name is Fisher. I had never seen a centaur in the Southern Continent before; I didn’t expect to find one in Saint Nali.”
“Ah, I’m Xiatu, a centaur from the Southern Continent’s Wandering Whip Tribe.” Upon hearing Fisher’s name, she instinctively performed the Nali salute. After doing so, she couldn’t help but smile wryly and said, “I didn’t expect there’d be humans who study subhumans. I thought only merchants cared about subhumans.”
“There are also people like me who want to see a centaur like you in Saint Nali.”
Xiatu was amused by Fisher’s joke. Covering her mouth, she walked closer to the edge of the wall.
This building seemed to have only her inside; Fisher saw no other staff. The entire “Southern Continent Subhuman Protection Association” was just this solitary centaur.
“So, why don’t we see centaurs in the Southern Continent?”
“Ah, that’s because our tribe has always been migrating. We are a nomadic people with no fixed home, but I won’t tell you about our migration patterns.”
She blinked, smiling slyly, but Fisher paid it no mind. After some thought, he nodded and dropped the topic.
The migration patterns of centaurs were certainly not as simple as Xiatu claimed. Otherwise, even nomadic peoples wouldn’t have been so elusive from humans for so long. It was normal for her not to disclose such secrets to a human, and Fisher had no intention of probing further.
“Given that you’ve been migrating all the time, I guess part of the reason is because of humans. Otherwise, how could we have gone so long without encountering a centaur? So why are you here?”
Xiatu smiled and placed her hand on her chest.
“I voluntarily followed humans to this continent. Even if we can hide now, there will come a day when we have nowhere to hide. Realizing this, I felt it was necessary to do something. I came here with the hopes of several tribes and to bring peace for both humans and subhumans.”
“The New Party agreed to my request, saying they would let more people from the Western Continent hear our voices. For that, I even learned your human language.”
She initially smiled proudly, but then her smile slightly dimmed. She looked around at the empty space, filled with various New Party slogans on the walls of the protection association, and continued, “But now, it seems like just a wishful thinking. I originally thought humans harbored immense resentment towards us subhumans; I didn’t expect that whether it was the New Party or other humans, they actually just didn’t care about us.”
Fisher made no comments. After listening, he leaned against the wall and reminded her, “Isn’t it a little dangerous to talk to me, a human, about these things?”
Xiatu laughed at that, tapping her head.
“After all, it’s been so long since I met a human interested in subhumans that I unconsciously said a bit too much. Sorry, wait.”
She suddenly remembered something and looked at Fisher with a wary expression.
“You’re not lying to me, are you? You’re not really a scholar of subhumans but a thief trying to come here to steal? Or a bandit!”
“Steal what? What’s there to steal here besides vegetables? Steal you?”
Fisher chuckled at her words, addressing the amusing centaur. This, however, made her shy, as she stomped her hooves and put her hands on her waist in a defensive stance.
“What’s so funny about stealing me? I was the most beautiful and fastest centaur in my tribe!”
Fisher did not doubt her claim about being the fastest centaur in her tribe. After all, there was only her among the centaurs, so whatever she said couldn’t be verified. But if possible, he would like to study her; he was quite curious about centaurs, after all, since this was the first time he had encountered a living centaur.
“My earlier words were not a lie; I’m indeed a scholar studying subhumans and currently teach courses at Saint Nali University. So, I’ll probably have plenty of opportunities to come here. I’m very interested in centaurs, and if possible, I would like to know more about you. What would you like in exchange for research access?”
Upon hearing that Fisher wanted to know more about herself, her face flushed a little, reacting unconsciously. But having confirmed that he was genuinely interested in centaurs and wanted to learn more, she hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
“Alright, if I don’t have anything else here, you can come by anytime. Sometimes the New Party calls me for… presentations. As for compensation, forget about it. Just your company would be fine. But I must say in advance that I won’t disclose much about my tribe.”
Fisher nodded, agreeing to her conditions.
“Then it’s a deal.”
Please do follow and vote; this is very important to me!
Thank you very much!
(*`*)
(End of this chapter)
