novelraw Chapter 323: Where’s My Key?
Chapter 323: Where’s My Key?
Victoria didn’t specify what felt familiar. Winona didn’t press further, simply accompanying the mage, strolling amongst artifacts that were, ironically, younger than Victoria herself. It felt surreal, even for someone like Winona, a member of the magical world. Victoria looked at the artifacts, some hundreds, even thousands of years old, with the wide-eyed wonder of someone seeing something new. It was truly a magical experience.
Finally, she stopped before a vase, gazing at it for a long time. This was a product of her era. If they were in a shop, Winona might have considered buying it for Teacher Victoria, a small gesture of hospitality. It wasn’t about gaining Victoria’s favor, just...well, being a good host. If someone liked something, she would buy it for them. But unfortunately, the vase was in a museum. Buying and selling national artifacts was illegal...So Winona couldn’t say, “How about I buy it for you?” She could only silently accompany Teacher Victoria, appreciating and observing the vase.
After a while, Victoria smiled and said, “It’s so beautiful. It feels like the kind of thing one of my former girlfriends would have liked.”
“One of your girlfriends...” Winona’s lips twitched. Although she knew Teacher Victoria was the same type of girl as that mischievous Adele, possessing an unimaginable allure and charm that could make many girls fall head over heels for them, she still didn’t want to associate Victoria with Adele in her heart. Teacher Victoria wasn’t as...flippant as Adele.
So, the reason Victoria stopped was that she remembered the past and an old friend, thinking that it would be nice to buy this vase and give it to her...was that it? So it wasn’t something she liked herself. Winona’s feelings were complicated.
Moreover, Victoria didn’t make any unreasonable requests. She knew what a museum was. She also knew that the person she wanted to give the gift to might have already... After collecting her thoughts, Victoria still smiled. Her personality could be described as optimistic. Otherwise, if an ordinary person suddenly arrived hundreds or thousands of years in the future, realizing that they were all alone in the world, that the person they loved had long since turned to dust, and everything was unfamiliar, feeling like an outsider, an outcast, most people would become depressed and despairing, perhaps even giving up their hard-won new life.
Next, Victoria left the porcelain exhibit and went to other areas. Winona bought her a milk tea and some desserts. After tasting them, Victoria showed a surprised expression. Presumably, these were delicacies she couldn’t have tasted in her time.
“Is there magic added to this!?” she asked with a smile.
Winona thought, No magic...but probably a lot of food additives. But so what? Many people cared about this, and many others thought that as long as it tasted good, it was enough. They could sacrifice some health for deliciousness. Moreover, some additives weren’t actually harmful to human health.
“If you like it, I’ll often buy it for you, Teacher Victoria.”
“Then~ how should I repay you?” Teacher Victoria seemed to lack a sense of propriety. Or maybe this was her charm. She actually took Winona’s hands and stared into her eyes in public. Winona blushed, her heart racing. The gazes of the people around her made her want to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich.
“N-No need, it’s just a small token of my appreciation for Teacher Victoria!” Winona hurriedly pulled her hands away from Victoria’s. But after pulling away, facing the cold air, she suddenly regretted it, wishing she could have stayed in that warmth a little longer.
Victoria didn’t give up after Winona’s refusal. She thought for a moment. Winona was a talented mage, but the current magic system had changed over time and was vastly different from the magic of her era. This change had its advantages, but some aspects were inferior to the magic of Victoria’s time. This was the conclusion Victoria reached after observing the magical world for a while. So she thought that for a genius, the best gift was improvement in magic.
Therefore, Victoria proposed, “How about this, let’s have a magic spar~”. It was called a spar, but it was actually a private lesson. Using a spar as a practical exercise, analyzing and imparting experience. In today’s world, perhaps only Victoria was qualified to offer a “lesson” to a legendary mage.
Winona understood Victoria’s implication. And she had her own pride. Her eyes lit up. “Really...is that okay, Teacher Victoria!?”
“Why not? You even call me Teacher~”
“Is there a place nearby where we can use magic?”
“This world is ruled by too many muggles, there’s nowhere to use magic.” Victoria said with a wry smile. She certainly wasn’t one of those who believed that mages were superior and should rule the world. But it wasn’t good that ordinary people occupied the entire world, squeezing the living space of mages and preventing them from using magic freely.
Winona hurriedly replied, “Of course there is, Teacher Victoria!”
“There’s a magic training ground at the school where I’m the Headmistress.”
“Oh, Winona is a Headmistress? Hello, Headmistress~”.
“Don’t tease me, Teacher Victoria...” Winona lowered her head shyly.
Then, the two prepared to leave the museum and head to Cromwell Academy. It was worth mentioning that they didn’t use magic to teleport away, but took a taxi. It was Victoria’s first time in a taxi, and she felt it was quite novel, praising its comfort, much better than a carriage, with almost no bumps.
During the ride, Winona introduced Cromwell Academy to Victoria. When she mentioned that the majority of the students were vampires, Victoria’s expression could be described as exaggerated. Winona didn’t know what the reputation of vampires was like in Victoria’s time. But the fact that the “dark day” was caused by a Vampire True Ancestor sacrificing himself to summon an evil god from another world was enough to make the entire magical world, including Victoria, dislike vampires.
But after teaching for so long, Winona had let go of her prejudice. Because she had met many wonderful vampire children who respected their teachers, excelled in their studies, were elegant, and helpful. She had also met some terrible ones, like Adele. So she was really worried about First Snow being bewitched by that “bad woman” Adele~ Perhaps her relationship with First Snow was that of “best friends” with a significant age gap? So as a best friend, she was naturally unhappy about her good friend being infatuated with a woman.
Speaking of the age gap, there were actually two meanings. In terms of actual age, First Snow was much older than Winona. But in terms of mental age, Winona was naturally more mature.
The taxi stopped at the school gate. Cromwell Academy was a famous private aristocratic academy that prohibited outsiders from entering. Therefore, the security guard, who was also an ability user, was in a dilemma. He knew Headmistress Winona, but who was the lady with light blue hair? But then he thought, rules were dead, people were alive. It was best not to offend the Headmistress. So he didn’t stop them, watching as Winona and Victoria entered the academy.
Winona excused herself to go to her office to get the key to the magic training ground. Actually, mages of their level didn’t need a key. Keys ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) were for students. They could directly teleport inside, even that lazy cat First Snow could easily do it. Winona did this to create a private space for herself and Victoria. So that she could...return Victoria’s staff, “Moon Sprout,” to her!
Although it was Winona’s prized possession, now that its owner had returned, Winona had to reluctantly part with it, even though she cherished it dearly. It wasn’t that Winona was being forced. She was happy to see Teacher Victoria reclaim her staff. However, returning the staff should be done in the guest room. Winona didn’t dare let Victoria see the room full of her Victoria-related collections, books, figures...
That’s right, Victoria even had figures... But considering that in many human anime and novel works, ancestors and gods were often depicted in a moe style, it wasn’t too outrageous for the magical world to do this.
But before Winona could return the staff, she discovered a big problem in her office.
—Where’s my key!?