“Good morning, Jiang Cha. I’m He Qin, from Room Two.”

Early the next morning, the first thing Jiang Cha saw when she stepped out of the dorm was a gigantic bun.

No—make that a Witch with her hair in a bun.

The girl with the bun gave her a graceful little bow. A gentle, almost impossibly kind smile rested on her delicate, well-behaved-looking face.

Yes, the only word for He Qin’s looks was “sweet.” She had the sort of face that made you take one look and decide, This is a good girl.

Pretty and easy on the eyes, with a beauty that wasn’t the least bit intimidating.

Soft as a still pool.

“Oh, hi, Bun. I’m Jiang Cha.”

The girl stared blankly at the enormous black bun atop He Qin’s rather small head.

It was really more of a Japanese hime cut, but her hair was probably so thick and long that the bun she’d coiled it into had grown huge to match. If she were human, its weight alone would be enough to damage her neck.

But He Qin was a Witch, and her magic power was at Grand Witch Tier. Her powerful physique let her go about her daily life with that enormous bun on her head as if it weighed nothing.

‘My roommates really are all so distinctive…’

Jiang Cha quipped to herself. One roommate was a shut-in so painfully antisocial that she’d never even met her, though Lina had told her all about her. Then there was Lina, an energetic girl who could talk for hours. And finally, this girl in front of her: despite having a Chinese name, she was the very picture of a Yamato Nadeshiko, right down to that bun… He Qin!

By comparison, Jiang Cha was the one with the least distinctive personality.

“Bun…?”

He Qin tilted her head. Her smooth black hair swayed gently with the motion, but the enormous bun still stole the show. It was impossible to look away.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Nice to meet you, He Qin.”

The girl gave an awkward laugh and waved her hands, trying to cover up her slip of the tongue.

“Lina told me yesterday that you were a super beautiful girl, Jiang Cha. Now that I’ve seen you, I can tell she was right.”

“You’re beautiful too, He Qin. Oh, just call me Jiang Cha. We’re roommates now, so there’s no need to be so formal.”

“Then I’ll take you up on that, Jiang Cha.”

After a brief introduction, the two girls picked up their books and left the dorm together.

It was only now that Jiang Cha realized just how lively the dorm area was.

Her eyes went a little unfocused as she took in all the youthful, gorgeous girls, each with her own unique charm.

“Jiang Cha?”

“Oh, I’m fine. I’ve just never seen so many Witches before. It’s a little overwhelming.”

There was so much Information about magic floating through the air that the girl’s brain had practically stalled. He Qin’s puzzled call finally brought her back to her senses, and she explained with a light laugh.

“Jiang Cha, are you an awakened Witch?”

“I lost my memory for certain reasons, so there’s probably a lot of basic stuff I don’t know…”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

The girl was still smiling. Her crimson eyes shone with easygoing warmth as she looked at He Qin. “Though I might have to ask you to explain a lot of things to me later.”

“I’ll do my best!”

As if she’d just been entrusted with a great responsibility, He Qin nodded, her expression turning solemn. Then she immediately slipped into guide mode.

“This shuttle will take us straight to today’s classroom. Our first class is Introduction to Witch History. Have you done any reading ahead, Jiang Cha?”

“Yeah, I read a little yesterday.”

“That’s good.”

He Qin let out a breath of relief. When the girl looked at her in confusion, she explained, “Professor Alivia is a very… um, very strict teacher. She’ll call on students who haven’t prepared and make them stand up and answer in class.”

“That teaching style sounds awfully familiar.”

Jiang Cha couldn’t help laughing.

“It’s not nice to talk about our teacher behind her back, but I have to agree with you. That teaching style does feel familiar.”

Familiar how, exactly?

—Like an old-fashioned European aristocrat.

Even in the twenty-second century, there were plenty of Witches who admired the old ways. And many Witches were relics of that bygone era themselves. Their long lives let them gradually increase their magical power, and that power, in turn, granted them even longer lives.

Most of this generation couldn’t compete with the younger Witches in strength, but time was on their side. The treasures and assets they’d accumulated over those long years were enough to let them live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

They fell further and further behind the times, becoming the conservative faction of Witch society.

It was a classic Witch joke.

And judging by her name, Professor Alivia sounded like a British aristocrat.

The girls walked to the classroom together, their books in their arms.

Witch society valued punctuality, and they were students on top of that. To avoid being late on the very first day of class, Jiang Cha had even gotten up half an hour early. So when they arrived at the classroom, only a dozen or so people were there, chatting in little groups of two or three.

“Ah! He Qin~ Qin Bao~ Good morning!”

Just as they were about to pick seats at random, a tiny, blue-eyed blonde girl called out to them. A loli, perhaps? She was barely over four feet tall, and “loli” was about the only word for her.

Sitting on a desk and chatting with someone, she kicked her little feet and waved enthusiastically.

“I’ve told you not to call me Qin Bao, especially in class…”

He Qin’s cheeks flushed. Her gentle voice turned shy and as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. If Jiang Cha weren’t a Witch, she might not have heard what He Qin mumbled.

But Lina clearly didn’t care about such ‘trivial matters.’ She hopped down from the table, pattered over, and threw herself into He Qin’s embrace, rubbing affectionately against her full chest twice before turning her head to look at the girl beside them.

“Jiang Cha?”

“Hi, Lina. Nice to meet you.”

Lina’s bright blue eyes lit up. She immediately waved to call everyone over. “Hey, everyone! Our class has a super-duper gorgeous transfer student! Let’s give her a big welcome!”

“Wooo!” × a dozen

Maybe energetic Blondie really was popular with everyone in class. Or maybe the Witches, shameless flirts that they were, just couldn’t resist Jiang Cha’s gorgeous looks.

The dozen or so Little Witches gave her a very enthusiastic cheer.

“Don’t mind her. Lina’s just like that.”

Amid the cheering, He Qin sighed softly and leaned close to Jiang Cha’s ear to explain.

Not everyone liked being the center of attention, but Lina, caught up in her excitement, clearly hadn’t thought that through.

“It’s okay. I actually like Lina’s personality.”

The girl was still smiling.

A blond, flat-chested loli! And such an energetic, cheerful girl too!

What could a cute girl like that possibly do that she couldn’t be forgiven for?

‘The strike zone... my strike zone has been breached.’

“Hehe~ All right, everyone, let’s settle down and have a little chat. This is a rare get-together for Dorm D12—what? You’re asking about Estelle? That girl would never show up. She’d rather spend all her time holed up with her alchemy bench.”

Lina clapped her hands, signaling for everyone to quiet down.

The other students were polite, too. They’d have plenty of chances to get to know their new classmate. There was no need to be a nuisance now and leave a bad first impression.

“Can I call you Cha Bao? It’s a nickname, you know. A nickname.”

After calming her excited classmates, Lina turned to Jiang Cha and asked earnestly.

“Is that some new trend?”

The girl answered with a smile.

“Because every beautiful girl in the world is my darling! So—”

“All right, all right~ I’ll let you, since you’re complimenting me.”

Jiang Cha really had no idea what to do with this overly lively blonde loli. She didn’t particularly mind people calling her “Bao,” anyway.

Even if her mind held that common knowledge, it was only knowledge. It didn’t come with experience or emotion.

For example, if she saw an apple, all that would come to mind was information like 【the fruit of a deciduous tree in the Malus genus, in the apple subfamily of the rose family】—not what it would taste like to take a bite.

So that knowledge didn’t make her feel any particular way about someone calling her Cha Bao. To the girl, it was just a name.

“Yay~~”

But Lina was overjoyed, and happily threw herself into the girl's embrace again, nuzzling affectionately. "Mm, compared to Qin Bao, there's still some growing to do, but the future is promising! The future is promising!"

"Compared to me, you're the one with a truly promising future, aren't you?"

Jiang Cha found it somewhat amusing. Although her chest couldn't quite compare to He Qin's 32C, she was at least a solid B+, which was far superior to Lina's AA.

"With my looks and height, a flat chest is the perfect fit! Giant-breasted lolis and the like are pure heresy, absolute heresy!"

"What if it's a black-haired, big-breasted loli?"

"That's a child bride! The ultimate perfect attribute!"

"Comrade!"

"Family!"

The two girls hugged happily once more.

The pair had found common ground in the most unexpected of places, and their friendship warmed up fast. They excitedly traded opinions about beautiful girls, using words He Qin couldn’t understand.

If anything, it left He Qin looking a little left out.

‘Lina’s amazing. She can be friends with anyone.’

The gentle Yamato Nadeshiko marveled silently, feeling a little envious.

Then Jiang Cha turned her head and gave her a playful wink. Her teeth lightly caught the tip of her tongue beneath her thin lips, revealing a flash of mischievous pink.

It was as if she were reassuring He Qin, telling her she hadn’t been left out.

‘…Jiang Cha’s amazing too.’

He Qin immediately changed her mind about Jiang Cha and shyly turned her head away.

“Qin Bao, Qin Bao!”

After Jiang Cha and He Qin had exchanged a silent look, Lina finally noticed He Qin being left out, too. She looked at her with big, pitiful blue eyes.

“Your notes… can I borrow them?”

“Did you get so caught up in battling that you forgot to write up your notes again?”

He Qin sighed, looking helpless, but she fondly pulled a black leather notebook from her robe and handed it to Lina.

“Battling is so much fun! You should play a few rounds sometime, Qin Bao! Your golems are so strong, you’d definitely get a good ranking.”

“I think I’ll pass…”

“Qin Bao, you’re so gentle. Those old reprobates on the battlefield are going to take advantage of you!”

Maybe He Qin hadn’t noticed, but Jiang Cha had seen it clearly.

The smug look in Lina’s eyes as she spoke.

—She’d deliberately left her notes unfinished to get closer to He Qin.