VIP Chapter 345: “Did the teacher have a student before?” (3k)
Teacher Liya appraised the “child” her mother had “sent” to her.
“Meilin…”
The names of witches were usually chosen from common names. However, there was a relatively famous witch in history with this name who also studied the magic of the “Candle of First Creation.”
But the Meilin before her indeed looked timid. She slowly followed behind Liya, utterly silent, appearing exceptionally well-behaved.
Her red hair looked meticulously styled. Although it was worn loose, the stray strands at her forehead and the back of her head were braided into small pigtails.
Her height was not much different from Liya’s—but that was normal. For some unknown reason, witches’ figures always remained at this stage. Only a very small number of witch branches could grow to the appearance of ordinary seventeen or eighteen-year-old humans.
Although their appearance was that of children, witches’ physical and magical capabilities were definitely at an adult level!
She…
She couldn’t simply treat Meilin before her as a child. Perhaps she was already over fifty years old…
“I’m here. Teacher Liya, what do you need?”
Liya had only mumbled her name, and Meilin obediently raised her head, looking at Liya with her red eyes—the eyes of a witch.
Truly, apart from the title with “teacher” appended, she was nothing like him.
If it were him, when his name was called, he probably wouldn’t look at her so obediently. He would have probably come closer, muttering, “If Teacher Liya has something to say to me, please just say it directly.”
“It’s nothing. Although I did just accomplish something, I… I don’t think I have anything to teach you…”
“It’s okay. As long as I can enter the laboratory and see how Teacher conducts experiments, I’m sure I’ll learn something.”
“You are… a fully automated good student.”
Liya sighed. Reluctantly, she still let Meilin enter the laboratory.
Each witch’s laboratory was a rather “private” space. After all, the most crucial parts of the magic they researched for a lifetime might be concentrated in this laboratory. They would certainly be unwilling to have others enter and observe casually.
Besides “students” and “family,” this place almost represented all of a witch’s privacy.
“The laboratory… the lights aren’t on?”
Having received Liya’s invitation, Meilin poked her head in, first glancing inside the laboratory, then cautiously stepping one foot, clad in a small brown leather shoe, inside.
She was exceptionally careful.
At least in this regard, she was nothing like him. The first time he entered the laboratory, he basically barged straight in.
No… That’s not right.
Liya shook her head.
She shouldn’t… and couldn’t always find traces of Will in others—even if they were also students. Even if he was… the first student, and the only student, it shouldn’t be like this.
After all, there was no going back to that kind of past.
There was no future after that either…
“The experiment just now needed to minimize the heat source from the light to ensure the calculated temperature was consistent with the experimental temperature, so the lights were not turned on…”
“Is this… a mission Teacher Liya set for herself? That’s amazing. Just within these few days, you’re going to research the wax oil…”
In the blink of an eye, Meilin, as if “touring” the laboratory, walked to the experiment table where Liya wrote notes and organized things—that is, the table with Will’s mission paper attached.
“Th-that can’t be looked at!”
“Hmm? But… this is… a very ordinary mission? And Teacher Liya even checked it off.”
“Th-this thing…”
Liya suddenly realized.
To an outsider who knew nothing, the paper stuck there would not lead them to associate it with… associate it with the “future mission”—such a strange thing—left behind by someone she liked.
It just looked like a perfectly ordinary mission, most likely written by herself for herself.
“Yes… Yes. It’s my own mission.”
“Then, Teacher Liya’s next mission is… 50? To try assembling candle wax and wicks?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t sound very difficult… Can I join?”
She held up her staff, looking eager before Liya.
Liya seemed to realize that Meilin was not entirely different from him in every aspect, for example, in terms of curiosity and proactivity…
Indeed, there were some similarities.
Did Lis want her to take on a student at this time because she saw that Will hadn’t returned, and something must have happened between them?
So…
Did she, as a “mother,” want to foist a “student” onto herself?
According to Lis’s wishes, according to what Lis often said before, she probably didn’t want herself to be influenced by a mere “human” for too long, so… so she wanted herself to start over?
But… but what Lis didn’t know was…
Liya looked at Meilin’s back as she stood before the experiment table.
In her eyes, that auburn hair gradually turned into short brown hair. She stood before the oil lamp, just like every night when Liya couldn’t hold on and lay down on the bed first. When she opened her eyes, she saw the ever-industrious Will still facing the experiment table.
Thinking this, Liya subconsciously pulled down the sleeve of her right hand, covering the marks left by injecting the Blood Mint Essential Oil.
Lis didn’t know that she could never go back.
“First, we need to cool it, right? Teacher Liya?”
Her thoughts were interrupted by Miss Meilin, who curiously pointed at the wax oil Liya had just refined.
“Yes. But this is still experimental. The total amount refined is not enough, and it will be even less after removing impurities…”
“I understand, so we need to refine enough before starting? That’s true, it seems like a more stable method.”
“That’s right.”
Wait a moment…
As Liya agreed, she noticed that her initial “resistance” and “rejection” towards a new student had gradually disappeared. Now, she could naturally treat Meilin as a student and communicate with her.
She had originally thought that she would not only reject any students after Will but also reject the idea of taking on any students at all.
After all, before Will, she hadn’t even been willing to take on any students.
“Well, let’s begin. Judging by the time, it might be the work of the next two or three days.”
This time passed very quickly.
Liya stared at the mission paper, watching the Ice Spirit Horse liver slide from her experiment table and roll off as a formed wax block, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
Meilin, as a “student”… no, even as a “helper” was very capable. Liya never expected that even though she never taught her how to do things, Meilin quickly got the hang of it.
Whether it was preheating the experiment table, cleaning the magic shield, or using simple flame magic to keep warm.
She did it all very well.
Day by day, Liya went from barely speaking to Meilin to occasionally chatting with her about how far her magic research had progressed and what she had encountered in human schools—common after-class topics for a teacher.
Only, she exclusively…
She exclusively did not mention that she had a student.
Her entire story about Will, especially the part that took up a very, very long time in the past three years, the most profound memories in her century-long life…
“This, it was during an experiment…”
—She would stop herself just before she was about to “naturally” say his name.
“It’s… It’s nothing. I encountered a small problem in the laboratory, and then I had a flash of inspiration for a solution… that’s all.”
—And then she would skip over parts of it like this.
Because Liya couldn’t say it.
She thought that under Will’s influence, she would no longer “deny” or subconsciously “evade” facing feelings of interaction and contact with others. But when she was about to say his name, the piercing pain in her heart would still choke her words.
“Mhm. An interesting experience… Let’s continue, Teacher Liya.”
…
Having a helper was different from having no helper at all.
Liya found that the experiment’s progress was about twice as fast as she had anticipated. The two of them quickly produced enough material for the next round of experiments.
According to the mission, it should be a very simple assembly task. However, because the materials for the wicks and wax blocks were very special, it might require more experimental data to find the optimal method. And there were also specific requirements for how to bake the newly produced wax blocks.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
Liya, uncharacteristically, was the first to suggest a “break.”
“Mhm. Then Teacher Liya, I’ll be going back now.”
Speaking of which, she didn’t seem to know where Meilin lived. She seemed to live in the witches’ lair, and each time, Meilin only needed Liya to escort her to the laboratory door—she didn’t need Liya to walk any further.
But then, this lair was huge, with possibly thousands of witches living here.
“See you tomorrow.”
“No, before I go… I have a question I’d like to ask Teacher Liya.”
“Hmm? What?”
Liya maintained her smile.
“Teacher Liya must have had a very outstanding first student… or rather, an outstanding founding disciple?”
“…”
Her gentle smile as a “teacher” gradually disappeared from her face.
“Because, you don’t seem to know how to teach a student from scratch, nor do you know what they need.”
“I… I shouldn’t be that bad…”
Liya felt a sense of “strangeness” from Meilin. When she asked this question, it didn’t seem like a question from her student.
She felt her hands begin to tremble, especially her right hand.
It wasn’t a particularly offensive question, but she instinctively wanted to avoid it…
“Moreover, you don’t quite grasp the ‘sense of distance’ with your students… I feel that the ‘students’ you learned from are somewhat different…”
“Is… is that why?”
*Bang.*
Liya didn’t answer. In panic, she slammed the door shut.
“Ha… ha… ha…”
She panted, raising her head, and looked at her eyes in the mirror opposite. The pink in her eyes flickered, but it also gradually faded, tinged with deep blue.
