"A Book Witch, huh? She uses wisdom-type magic… looks like she's a subordinate witch under the Witch of Wisdom."
Inside the student dormitory of Skoll Academy, under the soft glow of a magic lamp, Hel silently recorded everything she had uncovered today.
The most important figure was that Book Witch.
A Saint-rank. A lower subordinate to the Witch of Wisdom. Her strength was anything but weak.
This was also the reason Hel didn't pursue her. After all, the strength of Hel's avatar was only Fifth-Rank. Even if she caught up, she would have no way to deal with the other party.
What she truly hadn't expected was this: witches were notoriously difficult to encounter, yet in the short time she had been in Savant City, she had met two of them already.
And both were strong.
The little loli at the city gate was also Saint-rank. Her authority was Misfortune, and that was the reason Hel said that the Potion Academy was going to be in big trouble.
As for why that witch went to the Potion Academy, Hel didn't want to know. A Saint-rank powerhouse would naturally be aware that Savant City had gathered numerous scholars discussing solutions to the plague. Among these scholars, there could very well be other Saint-rank powerhouses. Yet she still came.
This could only mean one thing—there was some reason she must come.
But that also made her a massive source of trouble. Whether the Witch of Misfortune succeeded in whatever she planned and threw the entire place into chaos, or whether she failed and got captured by the Church, this matter would draw countless eyes.
This was the kind of trouble Hel didn't want to get involved in. The same applied to the Book Witch.
That witch must have some conspiracy with the Geddes family, and the Geddes family's role in it definitely wasn't small. Otherwise, the Book Witch wouldn't have risked exposure just to rescue Fubot from Hel's hands.
"Looks like I can't proceed through the Geddes family anymore…"
Hel frowned as she thought. Originally, she planned to use the Geddes family as a stealthy route to bypass the old monster hiding in the Garden Kingdom. Then she would take control of the upper ranks of the Garden Kingdom and force out the information on the Flower Witch's place of captivity.
But plans never keep up with changes.
Trying to control the Geddes family would inevitably bring her into contact—and conflict—with other witch factions. That was exactly what Hel, who wished to grow quietly, did not want.
"So I'll need another path for the Garden Kingdom. But…"
She wrote another name in her notebook.
Hiness Savant—the Seventh Princess of the Nation of Scholars. Rumor said she had mediocre cultivation talent and acted in an extremely unruly, unpredictable manner. Because of that, she wasn't well-received among the nobility, giving the current King of Savant constant headaches.
Thus, this year, the Seventh Princess would be entering the Arts Academy as a transfer student.
This was a golden opportunity. If Hel could get close to this princess, she could infiltrate the royal palace of Savant City through her.
"Perhaps the plan needs to change."
Hel propped her chin with one hand, tapping the freshly written name with her feather pen.
"I still need to go to the Garden Kingdom, but it can't be with Lyco's identity anymore. Although life-attribute extraordinaires are mostly controlled by the Church, that doesn't mean having a life attribute automatically makes you part of it."
"Maybe I can send Lyco to the Arts Academy instead—to get in contact with that princess. As for the Garden Kingdom, I'll have Morrigan go. It's not far anyway."
…
The next morning, Hel's avatar Lyco—wearing a white dress and carrying her parasol—appeared at the gates of the Arts Academy.
Unlike the gates of Skoll Academy, this entrance was bustling with people: either nobles dressed in extravagant clothing or ordinary students in their school uniforms.
Hel walked directly to the registration counter. After paying a rather hefty admission fee, the staff member briskly issued her a certificate of enrollment.
But when they checked her identity plaque, the staffer frowned.
"You're from the Caramel family of the Desert Kingdom?"
"I left that family a long time ago." Hel replied with a calm expression.
"Is something wrong?"
"Huh? No, no… it's just—you don't know what happened half a month ago?"
Seeing Hel's blank look, the staff member leaned closer and lowered their voice.
"Half a month ago?"
Hel pretended not to understand. Naturally she knew very well—she was the one who annihilated the Caramel family half a month ago.
But such news should not be something a "runaway illegitimate daughter" would know. So she continued playing ignorant.
"What exactly happened?"
"Well… I'm not sure how to put it, but your Caramel family had an incident. The entire family in Caramel City disappeared overnight. No traces of fighting were found in the castle. The Church is investigating and suspects they encountered a high-ranked extraordinaire." The staff member sighed. "Child, perhaps instead of coming here to study, you should go back and look for answers."
Saying that, the staffer placed the pouch of gold back in front of Hel.
"Everyone vanished…?"
Hel murmured softly. A hint of struggle flickered in her eyes. But after a deep breath or two, she pushed the pouch back again.
"That family has nothing to do with me anymore. Please continue with my enrollment."
"…Alright."
The staffer nodded helplessly and pulled out another document to hand to her.
"Our Arts Academy is different from other institutions. Our student population is larger than all the other academies combined, so our dormitories are limited. Single rooms are reserved for nobles, and cost 100 gold coins per year."
"One hundred gold coins?" Hel raised a brow, her expression darkening. "That's daylight robbery—it's the same price as tuition!"
"We can't help it. We only have so many single rooms." The staffer shrugged, looking to Hel again, clearly waiting for her decision.
Hel gritted her teeth and pretended to feel the pain of spending money.
"The regular shared dormitory is fine. Thank you."
"Very well."
The staffer didn't seem surprised by her choice and handed her a copper student card.
"This is your student ID. Turn left when you exit—you'll see the campus alchemical bus. Tap your card to ride; it's inexpensive. The driver will let you know when you reach the student dormitory."