When Jiang Cha returned the books she’d finished reading to their places, He Qin had only a few to put back, so she quietly followed behind her.

She watched the pretty girl earnestly rise onto her tiptoes to slide the books onto the shelf.

He Qin couldn’t quite understand.

How could a girl with no memories of her past settle into life so quickly?

Wasn’t it painful, suddenly losing your memory, having no family by your side, and waking up to face a world that was completely unfamiliar?

Of course, she wasn’t saying there was anything wrong with Jiang Cha. Escaping the past was something she’d dreamed of—but...

How could you do it so easily?

You really...

are amazing.

“Jiang Cha-chan, you don’t seem confused at all.”

She spoke softly, her gaze serious and intent.

The girl didn’t seem to notice anything unusual in her tone. She simply handed the books to the little azure bundle, the Great Library’s spirit, in an orderly fashion.

For the books within easy reach, she carefully put them back on the shelves herself. Crouching down, she meticulously smoothed out the gaps between them.

“Hmm... Maybe it’s because I lost my memories?”

“Huh?”

The girl’s gentle voice made He Qin start. Her scattered gaze, lost in her own thoughts, focused on Jiang Cha again.

The pretty girl turned around with her hands behind her back. In the Great Library, where motes of magical light drifted through the air, she looked like a girl glancing back beneath a sky full of stars—beautiful and gentle. “This world is so interesting, and I really like it. So I thought I should try harder, be more serious, and... learn more about this world.”

“Don’t you think it’s beautiful?”

The girl smiled and playfully raised her index finger, pointing up at the dome.

The inside of the Great Library was beautiful.

He Qin gently lifted her head in the direction the girl was pointing and looked up at the endless, night-sky-deep dome. On the second, third, and fourth floors... countless tiers and countless magic books glimmered with faint motes of magical light. Colorful magical sprites drifted lazily or darted busily beneath the dome like stars in a living night sky. It was as beautiful as a moving painting.

Jiang Cha turned her head and looked past He Qin at the rows of antique wooden bookshelves and the delicate, beautiful medieval-style magic lamps.

Far away, reflected in the girl’s eyes, He Qin seemed to glimpse the world outside the window.

Vast and colorful.

It was a sight He Qin had seen countless times. In the month since she’d started school, she’d come to the Great Library to study almost every day, yet she’d never really stopped to admire its beauty.

“The past is still the past. Whether you remember it or not, it doesn’t matter.”

Jiang Cha slowly walked up to He Qin. Her soft, moist lips parted slightly, and her delicate nose breathed gently. Her scarlet eyes, which could sometimes seem so fierce, were full of tenderness now.

The girl gently wrapped her arms around He Qin’s neck. Warm and fragrant, she brought He Qin’s wandering thoughts back as Jiang Cha’s words, warm with her breath, reached her ear.

“I don’t know what your past was like, He Qin, but for us, this is the beginning.”

“So...”

The girl let go and gently poked He Qin’s soft cheek, coaxing the corners of her mouth upward. “With such a pretty face, why not smile a little more, just because you feel like it?”

“It’d be such a waste, wouldn’t it?”

“...”

She’d noticed.

After only a day together, it felt as if the Witch named Jiang Cha had seen right through her. In the environment she’d lived in before, that would’ve been dangerous. Unacceptable.

But...

Just this once, for some inexplicable reason...

She felt safe.

It was a strange feeling, as if she could trust Jiang Cha completely. No matter what happened in the future, Jiang Cha would stay by her side, support her, and help her—even if she was in danger.

But they’d known each other for less than twenty-four hours.

“All right~ Let’s go. If we don’t hurry, Lina’s going to be waiting forever!”

Jiang Cha took He Qin’s hand and led her out.

This was another test she was making of the girl as gentle and refined as a Yamato Nadeshiko—a test to bring them closer.

Luckily, He Qin didn’t refuse. She only lowered her head and let Jiang Cha lead her along.

“Mo'er, big sis, I’d like to borrow these five books. Could you help me check them out~?”

When they reached the librarian, Jiang Cha flashed her a sweet smile and acted cute.

But Mo'er glanced at He Qin, who stood behind her with her head lowered and said nothing, then looked down at their joined hands. A mischievous smile curled her lips. “Hmm... Young love is lovely and all, but you shouldn’t do that sort of thing in the Great Library, okay?”

He Qin didn’t understand, but Jiang Cha caught on almost at once. “We’re not doing anything! We’re just friends, really!”

“Witches have friends like that, too.”

Mo'er looked a little troubled, as if she were thinking that young people these days got up to all sorts of things.

But she was obviously just teasing them.

Jiang Cha saw right through the woman’s mischief and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t tease me, Mo'er! We’re in a hurry!”

“Yes, yes. Sigh~ I’m old and past my prime, after all. No match for a young Little Witch like you~”

.....

Teasing aside, Mo'er worked quickly. Jiang Cha soon had her books and tucked them into a special book bag for the Great Library.

Though it was called a bag, it was more like a little wristband. It looked like an ordinary bracelet woven from thread, but it was actually a magical item.

It could only store things like books, and it didn’t have much space. Its one decent feature was that it kept the magic inside certain spellbooks from fading.

After all, it was mass-produced. It was never going to be high-end.

The two of them didn’t head straight back to the dorm after leaving the Great Library.

Instead, with He Qin—who had recovered by then—leading the way, they first went to the shopping street on campus.

As the crowds around them grew and He Qin noticed the surprised looks from the passing Witches, the Yamato Nadeshiko finally shyly slipped her hand out of Jiang Cha’s.

‘Why am I reluctant to let go?’

The lingering touch made her blush a little. But when the girl beside her looked at her in confusion, she pretended nothing was wrong and explained, “If you hold hands on campus, people will think you’re dating. I... um...”

“Is that so?”

Jiang Cha still looked unconcerned. She simply made a mental note of this bit of common knowledge.

Then she suddenly put on a shy act, lowered her head, and stole a glance at He Qin’s expression, like a Little Witch in love carefully checking how her crush would react.

“Actually, if it were you, He Qin, I wouldn’t mind...”

“...?”

“Just kidding~”

The girl stuck out her tongue, then grinned mischievously in the blink of an eye. “I’m hopeless at grocery shopping, so I’ll have to leave it to you~”

“...You can leave it to me.”

He Qin breathed a sigh of relief. Jiang Cha had acted so convincingly that, for a moment, she’d genuinely wondered if Jiang Cha liked her.

Thank goodness she didn’t.

She had no time for romance right now. If she turned Jiang Cha down, the dorm’s cozy atmosphere, which they’d worked so hard to build, would be ruined.

What was a Witch’s grocery market like?

Simply put, it had all kinds of things.

“He Qin, He Qin! What’s that!?”

Curious about everything in this unfamiliar world, Jiang Cha spotted a bizarre-looking fish as soon as they went in. It was horribly ugly, like an anglerfish mutated by nuclear radiation. Its scales looked more like rocks, all rough and uneven, and it swam lazily through scalding water.

“Hell Lavafish. They’re native to Hell. They taste all right, but they’re a pain to cook... Do you want to try one, Jiang Cha-chan?”

“No way. It’s way too ugly. Just looking at it kills my appetite.”

The girl looked disgusted and poked the Hell Lavafish with her finger. The moment it bared a terrifying set of sharp teeth, she lost interest and turned to run toward the next ‘ingredient’ that caught her eye.

‘Then why were you so interested...?’

“What about this one? What’s this?”

Jiang Cha looked at another ingredient for sale: a thick tail that gave off a faint chill.

“Mutated earth-dragon tail meat. Probably an ice-type earth dragon. Eating it can slightly increase your ice affinity and magical power.”

“Can we buy it?”

The girl blinked.

An earth dragon! An earth dragon, like the ones that show up all the time in novels—in ‘common knowledge’!

“Lina doesn’t like this meat. I can make some just for you another time, Jiang Cha-chan. Let’s skip it today.”

Witches didn’t have mixed bloodlines; they only inherited traits. So dragon-type Witches had no taboo against eating dragon meat. But ice-type earth-dragon meat would definitely clash with Lina’s fire-dragon trait.

A little was fine, but eating too much was like an ordinary person eating a whole bucket of ice cream. She’d definitely get diarrhea.

It would also make it harder to control her magic for a while.

With Jiang Cha’s boundless curiosity, asking about this and that, He Qin took twice as long as usual to finish shopping. When she saw that the girl still wanted to keep browsing, she firmly dragged her away.

“We’re going home, Jiang Cha-chan! We can look around again another time!”

“Aww—!”

The girl pouted and protested unhappily, her little head swiveling as she looked around. But her feet obediently followed He Qin.

She couldn’t help it. She didn’t have a penny to her name, and faced with all these unfamiliar ingredients, her cooking skills were practically nonexistent. Her only options were the academy cafeteria or mooching meals off He Qin.

Against the ‘head of the household,’ who held all the power in the kitchen, the girl had no room to fight back.

“Cha Bao, waaaah!”

As soon as they stepped through the door, a little Blondie shot off the living-room sofa and pounced straight onto the girl.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Jiang Cha was a little confused, but Lina wasn’t heavy, and having her clinging there didn’t get in the way.

He Qin took the shopping bag from the girl. This one was just an ordinary bag; even Witches weren’t so extravagant as to enchant their grocery bags.

She nodded and headed straight for the kitchen. “I’ll go make dinner. Don’t get too rowdy, okay? Don’t disturb Estelle-chan.”

“Yes, yes, we know~ He Qin Mom!”

Lina turned around with a sweet smile and called her Mom like a little kid.

“I told you, I’m not your mom!”

He Qin sounded a little worked up, but seemed to be objecting out of habit. She rolled her eyes and went straight to make dinner.

Lina turned back around and put on a pitiful, almost-teary expression, starting to complain.

Jiang Cha: “.....”

Witches are all pretty good at acting, huh?