Chapter 191: The New Student

Chapter 191

The New Student

The village chief stormed out in a fit of rage, filled with disappointment but unable to change anything. The decision of the Setter family was final, and Ellie had no intention of helping them. She wanted Nara to realize just how lucky she had been as the daughter of the village chief, while others had to live in hardship, including the previous Ellie who was exploited by the seemingly kind heroine.

When she heard from Phinx that the other party had problems with her powers since the demonic toxin incident and that she had awakened her powers with a potion but hadn’t received proper training, Ellie immediately knew her previous suspicions were correct. The supposedly good-hearted heroine and the author conspired together, never mentioning the awakening of powers through the potion, only talking about what Nara wanted to portray. They even wrote a scene where the heroine met the Sage first to solve this problem, which was incredibly selfish.

The original Ellie was no longer in this body; she had suffered until her demise. This injustice needed to be rectified. Nara’s home was no longer the comfortable place it once was, and her mother had unwittingly shown her selfishness and was chased away like this. Who knew what would happen next? But, well...it was a performance that made Ellie’s boredom disappear.

Nara hadn’t fully recovered from her injuries, and the long journey seemed to cause more lacerations. If this were the Nara who had Lucien as a mentor, a mere flick of a finger would have healed these wounds. However, this Nara couldn’t do that, so she had to endure the pain throughout the journey. The grudge she held was still directed at Ellie.

"Ellie dear, counting today, you only have 3 days left before you have to go to the institute, right? So...while you’re in the village, make sure to get plenty of rest, okay? When you’re not here, Uncle Jay-ar has been resetting the animal traps every day, so there’s plenty of meat. If you run out of food, just let me know, okay?"

"Understood," Ellie responded to Lana casually.

While the mother and daughter were both immersed in their own suffering, Ellie found her own happiness. This was all because Ellie didn’t set her expectations for happiness too high, so it wasn’t surprising that she could find joy in simple things.

Since arriving in the village, Ellie didn’t have much to do, like before. She spent her time training, absorbing life force, and drawing magic power from power-enhancing crystals. She didn’t need to tend to the secret dimension as often during this period, leaving the work to the evolved spiritual entities "Camouflage Apple," "Night Java Apple," and "Thousand-Handed Orchid."

With such little time left, the end of this school year came quickly. The new village chief was sent directly from the Setter family, as if they had anticipated this moment all along, ensuring Ellie’s rights were safeguarded without question. The expulsion of the former village chief due to his wife’s sharp tongue was deemed appropriate as well.

The villagers were quite respectful towards the new village chief, who was serious and strong. He had moved his small family into the village and immediately set about building a fence to keep wild animals out, constructing his own house within the Setter family’s territory. He also established numerous small rules, such as immediate penalties for those found guilty of fighting, without allowing for easy mediation. Additionally, the issue of Uncle Jay-ar’s separated household was resolved with a single statement.

It was heard that if Uncle Jay-ar’s mother continued to cause trouble at his house or tried to seize any resources under the pretext of being his mother, she would be charged with theft. The penalty would be 20 lashes in the village first, and if she didn’t admit her guilt, she would be sent to Set City for imprisonment. The new chief stated that if Jay-ar wanted to give anything, he would do so himself, and those who had agreed to separate households had no right to make any claims.

Not only Jay-ar’s family but many others seemed to benefit from this protective shield, as numerous village problems were resolved through these strict rules. This was unlike the conciliatory approach of the previous village chief. Such measures gained him a lot of support among the villagers, though some felt they had lost out. Even though they felt this way, they knew they had no right to act because, according to the law, they had been in the wrong all along.

Nara and her family were ordered to move to a new house. Fortunately, they had a small hut on their ancestral land, which had been left to them as an inheritance. However, it was just a tiny plot of land, as all their farming land was reclaimed by the new village chief. Thus, the former village chief’s family was no better off than the poor. They were lucky to have some savings, or they wouldn’t have been able to refurbish their new home enough to live in.

Many villagers who owed the former village chief a debt of gratitude helped out in small ways. Aunt Lana and Uncle Jay-ar also joined in. Ellie had visited once and gave them 1 gold coin. She had received some care from them before, despite their having previously sold her vegetables without permission. Even so, she couldn’t blame the former village chief; he thought she had been getting the money all along, not realizing it was his daughter who had kept it for herself.

When many people learned of Ellie’s generosity, they practically revered her. But who would have guessed that the 1 gold coin didn’t mean much at all? It was just compensation for Nara for being a test subject...

Well, that matter didn’t concern her much. What mattered was the future. Ellie needed to gather more points. In her second year, she planned to cultivate more Clear Skite plants and Larffle herbs. Meanwhile, she would try to join missions with others to see how far their abilities had developed. Teaming up with Wint, Lady Aria, or even Duchess Vida could be beneficial, as they all had offensive powers. This way, Ellie could stay in the back and use her Empress’s Thread.

Besides the general missions she could take, she had 1 more mission that hadn’t expired yet: hunting the Masqueraded Steed from the 6th floor. After spreading spores around, she believed the tiny spores had now spread to about 1% of the entire area, with the Setter family’s city as the central point and expanding outward. She had already encountered 2 or 3 groups of Masqueraded Steeds, which was a promising discovery. However, the Setter family was still busy with their affairs, delaying the capture of Masqueraded Steeds.

Perhaps...they were delaying it to benefit Ellie. If it were any other family, Ellie might not think they were considering her. But with the Setter family...she knew what they could do for her.

The first day of school arrived. There was a new member in the scholarship students’ dormitory. The new girl looked remarkably similar to the former Ellie, thin and with rough skin, fitting the image of someone from a rural village. It was said that the girl’s power was element of earth, and her initial power measurement seemed to be at level 2, similar to Ellie’s. This seemed to be the standard for those whose powers awakened naturally.

Ellie arrived at the institute before anyone else. While others were still lazing around with their families, Ellie came with the scholarship students. She had gone to greet Professor Medik, who asked her if she wanted to move to a new room. It seemed the institute wanted to relocate Ellie to stay with the nobles as a special case, but she declined.

"Is it true that there’s a scholarship student in the dormitory now?" Professor Lucien, who was with Professor Medik, asked. Ellie nodded in response, her eyes still fixed on the work in the professor’s hands, which seemed to be progressing well.

"In that case, be careful. Each scholarship student possesses different and powerful abilities. Until you know how skilled this scholarship student is, you should be extra cautious. If you make a mistake, I might lose my only student..."

"It won’t come to that. The institute doesn’t allow students to harm each other," Lucien quickly interjected, preventing Medik from continuing down a negative path.

"But nothing is certain, right? Last time, many students got injured, and my student tends to attract disaster. You don’t know what she did to the Tree of Wishes when she first came to the institute," Medik said irritably, while Lucien looked puzzled.

"Hmm? Are you saying this kid was responsible for the disappearance of the Tree of Wishes?"

"Ah...How could that be? I was just speaking hypothetically," Medik realized his slip and quickly waved his hands. He couldn’t let anyone know about Ellie’s ability to use mushrooms to decompose things.

Of course, it was too late, and Lucien was not a fool. He shrugged, pretending not to care, but his eyes sparkled brightly. He was as much of an academic enthusiast as Medik, but he focused on studying how to strengthen his powers, unlike Medik, who preferred researching beneficial things for others. Thus, it wasn’t surprising that someone like him commanded more respect than the selfless Medik.

Ellie let out a big sigh. Even though she knew Professor Lucien was not her enemy, a secret known to one person should not be considered a secret anymore. Ellie had always been prepared for the day when her Purple Mushroom would be exposed, but she had hoped it would happen later—preferably after she graduated from the institute. By then, she might have disappeared into the city that Young Lord Owen had prepared for her, living a life of luxury and comfort, like during the last break.

Unknowingly, Ellie had never had such thoughts before, until someone enticed her into the comfort and luxury he provided. By the time she realized it...she might not be able to escape the deep pit that had been specially prepared for her...

"By the way, for your second year, have you decided who you want to take as your mentor? Honestly, I think you should learn more from me, but it seems like you’re not very interested," Medik asked his only student directly.

Previously, she had rejected the idea, explaining that she already felt like a direct disciple because she spent more time with Professor Medik than anyone else. She wanted to learn from other professors as well. Despite this, Professor Medik still held out hope. He wanted to hide this student from other professors, fearing they would take her away from his path of being a professor’s assistant and steer her towards other pursuits.

If that really happened, who would he delegate his work to!? That would be too sad.

"Actually, I want to learn..." Ellie reflected on her intentions before sharing them with her professor. However, before she could finish speaking, the Botanical Building had an unexpected visitor.

"Is Professor Medik here? There’s an urgent matter that requires your immediate attention!"

The voice of a female professor echoed, clearly filled with anxiety, prompting Medik to drop what he was doing, thinking something serious had happened.

"Professor Gwen, I’m on the top floor," Medik called out through his bonded plant. Professor Gwen quickly used her magic power to rush to the top floor of the Botanical Building. Upon her arrival, she saw that it wasn’t just her and Medik in the room; there was also Professor Lucien, who had been rumored to be unusually secluded in the Botanical Building, and the only girl in the institute with power of botany.

She felt a bit uncomfortable. This matter should have been confidential between her and Professor Medik. But if she delayed any longer, not only would Lucien and the girl know about it, but other students in the institute might learn about it too, causing commotion.

"Go ahead, Professor Gwen. I won’t let my student reveal this secret." Medik noticed the worry in Gwen’s eyes. She had no choice but to nod in agreement.

"In that case...Professor Medik, could you do what you did last time?"

"The same as before?"

"Yes, the same as last year..."

"Uh, what do you mean, Professor Gwen...?" Medik was genuinely confused. Professor Gwen felt quite frustrated but finally took a deep breath and explained.

"Professor Medik, could you please plant the Tree of Wishes again? It seems the tree has been mysteriously destroyed. Professor Regan is investigating who is responsible, but this time it’s different from before. This time, there is solid evidence suggesting that the culprit is a user of earth elemental power who manipulated the ground to topple the Tree of Wishes!"

"Ah..........." Medik’s mouth was agape. He glanced at his beloved student, who had once destroyed the Tree of Wishes, the precious tree of the institute. He wanted to ask her if it had been enjoyable causing such trouble that made her professor clean up the mess.

If it wasn’t fun, why...did new scholarship students love destroying it so much?!!

The Tree of Wishes wasn’t a big deal when it was intact, but whenever it disappeared, students would start recounting old horror stories, disrupting their studies.

Even if the stories had little basis in truth, why did the curse always have to be his problem to solve?

When he was a student, he remembered that the Tree of Wishes had been destroyed once before, but at that time, all the students learned about it. They ended up pulling out all the institute’s lore books to read. It turned out that there was a foretold about the Tree of Wishes that...if it were destroyed, disaster would strike the institute, causing many students to get injured or die. Every year, students lost their lives anyway. This world wasn’t peaceful enough to ensure everyone’s safety. But once the news about the Tree of Wishes spread, these deaths became seen as part of the curse.

That year, many students were too scared to return to their studies. The institute’s reputation plummeted because there were no representatives for any competitions. They were all terrified of the curse.

Because of this...the professors had the responsibility to protect the Tree of Wishes, as if safeguarding the institute’s reputation...

In previous years, there hadn’t been any issues, but it seemed that once someone had a bit of fun with it, others followed suit...

"Professor Medik, we need to hurry before the other students see," Professor Gwen urged, prompting Professor Medik to rush to his task. Ultimately, the three professors, along with another botanical student, hurried to the Tree of Wishes near the scholarship students’ dormitory. There, a student secretly watched in fear.

And yes! It could only be the scholarship student who had accidentally tested her powers, causing the earth to push up the roots and topple the tree with a loud crash!

"Th-The big tree, I’m sorry..." The small girl hugged her knees, crying pitifully in her dorm room.

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Alright!! Who’s joining us next?