Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 23: You Smell Like Her Perfume~

This time, it was Xia Ya’s turn to be surprised.

"I know I probably still have some of her perfume scent on me, but how exactly did you figure out that it’s Diris’?"

"Is this the legendary sixth sense that only women possess?"

"Unfortunately, I don’t have such an ability. As far as I know, even among Time-attribute summoned beasts, divination-based skills are extremely rare."

Without any change in her expression, Ailora reached out and straightened Xia Ya’s slightly askew collar.

"I just figured… if there’s even a 1% chance that someone at Saint Roland Academy could pose a threat to me, it could only be President Diris."

"The confidence of the number one beauty at Saint Roland Academy!"

Xia Ya gave her a thumbs-up, but he quickly noticed that the atmosphere hadn’t eased in the slightest because of his compliment.

"Actually, the president spotted me on the train and tried to drag me off for make-up exams and some noble social banquet… but I managed to slip away thanks to my incredible wit."

"I swear I’m telling the truth! Little Ai, you have to believe me!"

"Of course I believe you."

Ailora tilted her head slightly, her golden hair cascading to one side.

"But Xia Ya… why are you explaining all this on your own?"

For the first time in a while, Xia Ya felt a cold sweat creeping up his back.

So he decided to pull out his ultimate trump card.

"Eee-eeek! (Big Sis! Long time no see!)"

"Chirp… chirp! (Big Sis… B-Big Sis! Long time no see!)"

As Xia Ya’s Soul Pact-bound summoned beasts, two small figures appeared on his shoulders—one on the left, one on the right.

A Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey and a Little Snow Ferret, both putting on their cutest, most adorable expressions the moment they appeared.

And as it turned out, this tactic worked perfectly.

Although Ailora’s snow-white face remained calm, the atmosphere visibly relaxed around them.

"Long time no see, Silver."

She reached out and rubbed the Little Snow Ferret’s head, then turned to Shiny, the golden monkey.

"You finally completed your nurturing, huh?"

"Chirp chirp!"

Shiny nodded enthusiastically.

Strictly speaking, it had only been born for a little over a week, but as a Sealed Stone Monkey, it had existed alongside Xia Ya for several years in its Sealed Stone form.

Although it had little mobility in that state, it had always been able to perceive the outside world.

So Ailora was no stranger to it.

If anything, she was the true "Big Sis"—the Big Sis of the Big Sis.

After teasing Silver and Shiny for a while, Ailora finally looked back at Xia Ya with her sky-blue eyes.

She leaned down and whispered softly into his ear.

"I found some leads… about what happened back then."

"According to the information from the Shadow Council—"

"Eight years ago, a letter was secretly sent from a noble estate in the Imperial Capital."

"It passed through the Church’s territory, eventually reaching a lost kingdom in the Wastelands."

"Seven days after that letter was received—Ceylan fell."

Ceylan was a place.

At least, it used to be.

It was a border city on the northernmost edge of the Empire, sitting atop the permafrost ice fields.

It was not particularly wealthy, but it was home to tens of thousands of Northern Territory residents who lived and worked in peace.

But eight years ago, a cataclysmic disaster—shrouded in layers of mystery even to this day—wiped Ceylan off the map.

Xia Ya, Ailora, and Silver—

They might just be the last survivors of that frozen land.

Xia Ya stared at the ceiling of his dormitory.

"What rating did the Shadow Council give this intel?"

"Saint’s Dusk Bell."

Xia Ya nodded.

The Shadow Council was the most renowned underground intelligence organization in the Western Continent.

It had built its foundation on information brokering and had its hands in mercenary contracts, the black market, and other gray industries.

Within the hidden world, its influence was no less than the Church or the Fresta Empire in the public sphere—a true titan of the underworld.

And "Saint’s Dusk Bell" was the second-highest intelligence classification in their ranking system.

This meant that the intel directly or indirectly involved a Legendary-tier entity or an equivalent Lost King.

The only higher classification was "Angel of the Dead Omen", which signified information that entangled Demi-God-tier powers.

Xia Ya remained silent for a moment.

Then, he sat up on the bed and casually waved his hand.

"Doesn’t matter. At least we have a lead now."

"Whether it’s Angel of the Dead Omen or Saint’s Dusk Bell, it doesn’t make much of a difference to us right now."

"If you get killed, you die. And a path has to be walked step by step."

"Little Ai, you’re close to Third-Ring, right?"

"Yeah."

Ailora nodded, her icy-blue eyes calmly locking onto Xia Ya’s.

"It’ll probably happen within the next two months."

"Same here. So let’s focus on reaching Third-Ring as our top priority."

Xia Ya propped a pillow against the headboard and stretched lazily.

Then, he grabbed Silver and pulled her into his arms as a hug pillow.

"And we need to figure out how to scrape together enough money to buy some decent Fire-attribute transcendent materials to fully restore Amaterasu."

"Damn, everything costs money… If I’d known, I wouldn’t have rushed into creating Amaterasu so recklessly."

"This whole having-it-but-not-being-able-to-use-it situation is torture. It reminds me of those pay-to-win mobile games that scam you."

"Eeeek~"

The Little Snow Ferret, currently serving as a living pillow, let out a weak protest.

But remembering that Amaterasu would drain their entire savings to be completed, even Silver’s protest lost all energy.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted in the sky, followed by a massive column of flames shooting into the air in the distance.

The shockwave shattered the dormitory windows, sending glass shards and dust tumbling down.

Then came the screams and rushing footsteps from outside.

"Run! Run!"

"Help! I’m on fire—put it out! No, I said put it out, not hit me with your Dada Duck’s Hydro Pump!"

"Hey, Senior! Your Blue-Winged Giant Eagle can use Flight, right? Take me with you!"

"Girls get a ride, guys gotta survive on their own. You’re a dude, so get lost—I gotta head to the girls’ dorms to rescue the junior sisters."

"Quit shoving me! My slime chest pad is about to fall off!"

…

Clearly, it was another peaceful day at Saint Roland Academy.

Xia Ya covered his ears with Silver as a makeshift noise-canceling headset and went back to thinking about ways to make money.

Maybe it was time to plagiarize another novel from his past life and sell it to the Royal Publishing House.

Should I go with The Dragon Prince Hamlet’s Revenge or A Million Rhine Gold Coins…?

"So… you’re not gonna run?"

Ailora’s usually cool voice carried a hint of barely perceptible exasperation.

"Run from what?"

"It’s either some dean’s Monarch-tier summoned beast going berserk, another Mechanical Academy experiment getting corrupted by the Starrealm, or the Alchemy Academy’s Magitech reactor blowing up again."

"If not that, then some criminal group is throwing a tantrum to make themselves feel relevant."

Xia Ya ruffled Silver’s tiny tuft of fur before shifting into a more comfortable sleeping position.

"Bottom line is, I just spent three days sitting on a train, and I’m exhausted."

"Let me lie down a bit longer and escape from our poverty-stricken reality in my dreams."

Once you step into the Transcendent world, you have to be prepared to be constantly harassed by Transcendent-level disasters.

Being able to sleep through chaos and explosions is a basic survival skill for any Beastmaster.

Just then—

BANG!

The dormitory door was violently kicked open.

A black-robed figure stormed in, gripping a steel scythe in both hands—his very presence screamed "dangerous criminal".

His eyes swept over the slouched figure of Xia Ya—who looked like his soul had been drained—then shifted to Ailora, casually sitting atop the nightstand.

Something seemed to click in the intruder’s mind.

His gaze narrowed.

"Two students who haven’t even fully matured… engaging in such shameless acts of debauchery…"

"The Empire’s morals have truly crumbled. The very fabric of society is rotting—twisted and disgusting beyond redemption."

"Such sin must be cleansed by the divine black flames of my Lord—the Ashen God!"

Before he could finish his speech—

Xia Ya suddenly bolted upright.

Like a dying man jolting awake in his final moments.

Then, with an expression that the intruder couldn’t quite understand, Xia Ya locked eyes with him.

"Did you just say… you’re with the Ashen Order?"

A slow smirk curled on Xia Ya’s lips.

In his pitch-black pupils, a ghostly green light flickered, reminding the intruder of a starving wolf pack prowling the wilderness.

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.

"The Ashen Order—the cult that worships the Lord of Black Flames and Ashes… whose doctrine is to burn all heretics to cinders in divine fire?"