Coffee

After finding a nearby coffee shop to sit down in, Cen Jing thoughtfully ordered an iced coffee and a sandwich for her.

"You look a bit exhausted," Cen Jing asked after seeing her eat a piece of the sandwich.

Jiang Han initially wanted to say "no," but after thinking about how she had been yawning, she nodded slightly and said:

"A little bit."

"Is the coursework arranged by Ms. Cheng Yu too heavy?" Cen Jing asked with a smile.

"It's not heavy. Mentor Cheng Yu has been teaching me A2 exam questions lately... My exhaustion is because of my part-time job." Jiang Han paused, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to tell the truth, "I work at the Witch House tavern."

Working at a tavern shouldn't be embarrassing...

Cen Jing rested her left hand on the table, propping up her chin, and smiled:

"The Witch House, huh? There's a branch in Jianye. Lin Zhaojun, the Archwitch who currently holds the highest total points in the domestic circuit, used to work there..."

"Lin Zhaojun... is she the strongest witch in the country?" Jiang Han perked up, feeling a sudden interest in the gossip.

Witch competition points are ranked based on a contestant's placement in various tournaments. For example, a Masters Championship title might be worth ten thousand points, while a minor tournament might only be worth a hundred. The point values are determined by the World Competition Association, with extra points awarded based on the prize pool.

Lin Zhaojun is the undisputed Devil King of the circuit. The historical record between her and Qu Xuesong—who went ten wins and zero losses on the first day of the World Witch Invitational—is: three wins for Qu Xuesong and eighty-nine wins for Lin Zhaojun. It was practically a one-sided thrashing...

Cen Jing thought for a moment and nodded:

"She is the strongest. Last year, she seemed to have achieved nineteen consecutive championships, a grand slam, and won the World Witch MVP with a unanimous vote..."

Nineteen consecutive championships... That means she dominated every domestic and international tournament, right? Jiang Han sighed in amazement, then felt a bit curious. If she's that strong, why is Qu Xuesong the face of the domestic team for this year's international invitational?

Jiang Han asked:

"What about this year? Lin Zhaojun doesn't seem to have appeared in the newspapers..."

The corners of Cen Jing's mouth lifted:

"She failed her A3 exam, so she decided to spend a year reviewing to retake it."

...Retaking the exam, huh.

Jiang Han's expression stiffened as she took a sip of her iced coffee, feeling that the answer was unexpected yet somehow inevitable.

"In this world, nothing is unavoidable except for exams, and the A3 is impossible to skip." Cen Jing's smile was beautiful and charming, yet it still held the innocence of a student.

"Does she... not get any bonus points for the exam?" Jiang Han asked with a headache. Just thinking about having to take the A3 herself in the future made her head spin.

"She does, Archwitches get 5 points, but that's only 5 points. She still needs to score at least 75 to pass. By the way... there was an Archwitch who went crazy because she couldn't pass the A3, and she tried to run off to..."

Jiang Han interrupted Cen Jing's joke and said: "Physical offering? Is that the Archwitch named Theresa?"

"Oh, has Ms. Cheng Yu already told you that story..." A look of appropriate regret appeared on Cen Jing's face.

This beautiful young witch took a sip of her coffee and said:

"If Lin Zhaojun really wanted to force a pass, there would be ways. But that would be too embarrassing, so she'd rather skip competing for a year just to pass the A3."

Hearing this, Jiang Han felt too depressed to speak. She felt as if she were looking at her own future in the reflection of Lin Zhaojun's.

EXAMS!

It's too miserable. Even the strongest witch in the country has to honestly take the A3, and if she doesn't pass, she has to retake it...

"The Witch House has one honorary A3 certificate quota every three years," Cen Jing said with a smile. "But I only heard that through the grapevine; I don't know if it actually exists. Even if it did, Lin Zhaojun wouldn't be willing to pass the A3 that way. It really would be a bit shameful."

After a moment of silence, Cen Jing apologized:

"I'm sorry, I brought up exams again, even though I meant to help you get some rest."

"Ah, it's fine, it's fine. I actually enjoyed listening," Jiang Han put on a smile and said, "Learning things I didn't know before is quite nice."

Cen Jing propped up her face and suddenly suggested:

"If you're too exhausted, you can ask Ms. Cheng Yu for time off, you know."

Time off... Jiang Han thought of the dangerous aura Cheng Yu gave off and shook her head. Mentor Cheng Yu felt like an elementary school homeroom teacher; the only difference was that her elementary school teacher wasn't as pretty as this woman.

"Ms. Cheng Yu has a lot of other class matters to attend to as well. If she's been helping you review for the A2 lately, you can actually ask her for leave," Cen Jing smiled. "If that doesn't work, you could suggest that I take over a couple of your lessons. I've been feeling quite tired lately too, so it would be nice for us to go out and clear our heads together."

This suggestion... it had to be said that it was very feasible, and it suited Jiang Han's tastes perfectly.

Lately, the lessons Mentor Cheng Yu had been teaching were just the same four spells over and over. She had to master them before Cheng Yu would apply for higher-level spells for her. If she didn't learn the spells, she could only study for the A2, but in reality, Jiang Han felt that she could easily crush the exam proctor—she was guaranteed to pass.

And going out to clear her head with Cen Jing...

Jiang Han touched her lips with her index finger and looked at Cen Jing with a measuring gaze. Miss Cen Jing was incredibly cooperative, holding up two peace signs on either side of her head. It was cheeky... and cute.

Aside from the suspicion that Miss Cen Jing used to be Cen Sheng, everything was just perfect. She was beautiful, understanding, and wealthy...

Of course, the most important thing was that Cen Jing was reliable, trustworthy, and knowledgeable.

Although this witch hid a few secrets, they weren't scary—Jiang Han knew that her magic power was different from a normal witch's, closer to Cheng Yu's... All in all, she would be a very, very good friend.

Thinking of this, Jiang Han nodded at her: "How about Tuesday and Wednesday?"

She didn't have to work on Tuesday or Wednesday.

"Sounds good. You should mention it to Ms. Cheng Yu on Monday... Hehe, sometimes I teach her classes for her, so we have a decent relationship," Cen Jing said. "Witches aren't very popular with witches, but Ms. Cheng Yu isn't a witch who resents people like us."

Witches aren't liked by witches largely because witches receive special treatment; for example, hiring a witch under the same conditions can earn a subsidy from the Association, which has caused some friction between certain witches and witches.

On the contrary, the point Jiang Han assumed—that "a Witch could be a man transformed"—did not provoke any disgust from the Witch.

Thinking about it seriously, Witches could even play around with Witch eggs casually, so this level of perversion was completely trivial to them.

Jiang Han finished the remaining sandwich. It was strange; even though she had already eaten breakfast, she felt like eating more after drinking some coffee.

Seeing her eat so much, Cen Jing smiled and ordered another hot dog for her.

She also gently offered to drive her home:

"It might not be great for you to ride a broomstick in your current state, so why don't I take you home?"

Jiang Han naturally agreed with great delight. This Witch was truly so kind that it was impossible to dislike her. Although Jiang Han still felt there was some hidden reason why the other teachers disliked her, it didn't stop her from thinking that Cen Jing was a good person.