She's a Ranger

Setting aside the question of the fox ears, Jiang Han turned her attention to Cheng Yu's outfit.

To be frank, it didn't look like something a witch would wear:

A hood with three long tail feathers, a mostly black cloak, a tight black sweater, hiking pants with five belts and straps, leather boots that didn't look like hiking boots, and fingerless gloves that left three fingers exposed. There were several large pockets inside the long cloak, too.

"Mentor, what are you wearing?" Li Li asked with a frown.

Well done! Jiang Han applauded her inwardly. Miss Fox and she had developed a certain rapport—or perhaps her training had gone very well. Li Li always managed to voice exactly what Jiang Han wanted to ask.

"...I'll tell you in a bit."

Cheng Yu probably knew that she didn't look like a proper witch. She merely flicked her cloak and strode briskly toward the classroom on her long legs.

Li Li also set off after her.

Jiang Han fell silent for two seconds. Then, under the amused gazes of the other witches in the hall, she hurried after them.

After those two long-legged, irresponsible, student-neglecting, classmate-neglecting jerks entered the classroom, Jiang Han ran in after them.

In the classroom, Mentor Cheng Yu sighed and said:

"Dream Garden invested in a new witch association called the 'Rangers' today. I was forced to go over and lend a hand, so I came here without changing. This is their uniform."

"...Mm." Li Li looked it over curiously.

"What does the Rangers' association do?" Jiang Han asked.

Cheng Yu paused, then sighed. "They help ordinary people develop jobs that use a little magic, like witches do."

"...That's admirable." Jiang Han fell silent for a moment before managing to say that.

Eastern witches often tried to help ordinary people develop their abilities. That was part of the strong local ties among the people...

There were far more witches in the country than in the West—perhaps ten or twenty times as many. That was because when witches went to war, they preferred to fight alongside people from their own town or hometown. If they didn't have enough witches to form an army, they would find ways to train witchlings to make up the numbers.

Likewise, when times were peaceful, witches in the country often tried to give ordinary folks a hand... Though most of the experiments ended with, "We can't hold ordinary folks up," they still kept trying, and did so with enthusiasm.

Miss Li Li asked:

"So what is Dream Garden's goal this time? Are they forming a patrol force?"

Cheng Yu nodded. "Mm. The Rangers' association accepted a contract from South City Hall to train a group of rangers for the city hall. They'll be used in a new pilot program. If it works, it will create a lot of new jobs in South City."

Jiang Han thought witches could be unbelievably clueless sometimes.

Witchlings had been created by witches, but they were essentially weaker versions of them. That was fine during wartime, but after the war, they would naturally take over a lot of jobs... That was also why witches didn't have the best attitude toward witchlings.

And these rangers... Ahem, they would probably end up taking witches' jobs, too.

Even if the program created jobs for witches, it probably wouldn't last... Wait? Jiang Han suddenly thought of the enormous Folded Space beside South City. Could these rangers have been created to develop that space?

That would explain why the city hall had placed such an odd order.

Li Li seemed to have thought of this as well. She nodded to herself.

"That's true. If we use witchlings and rangers to replace people in some less demanding jobs, we can free up more of the witches' productive capacity and put it where it's needed."

Cheng Yu didn't seem particularly interested in teaching today, either. As she handed Li Li some assignments and told Jiang Han to study the four spells on her own, she said with a smile:

"Maybe rangers will handle security on Sky Island in the future."

Freeing up the civil servants' manpower... There was a real need for that. Jiang Han recalled the state of the streets. Since witches were all educated, public safety was far better than in the other world. But the witches serving as security officers were all elite witches, many of them veterans who had fought in the war. Even the factories and state-owned businesses with private investors employed elite witches.

Putting all that valuable manpower left over from the war into business and security seemed like a waste.

But the government didn't have many options. Witches were too independent and productive. Some ironworks were run by just two or three witches, who used spells to find iron ore underground or in Folded Space, then smelted it directly with fireballs. The iron they produced was excellent... A little more processing, and it could be sent off for steelmaking.

In these circumstances, the jobs offered by each local city hall weren't enough to attract witches. This led to an awkward situation:

The jobs witches wanted, such as librarian, lawyer, doctor, and engineer, were always in short supply.

But the city halls couldn't fill their entry-level civil service positions, so they had to rely on witches who had fought in the war.

Witchlings could have met the city halls' needs, but an even more awkward fact was that, like weak witches, most of them went to work in light magical industry. They had no interest in the many vacant entry-level civil service jobs.

Of course, this also had to do with the country's reluctance to spread too many powerful spells.

Civil servants could make money and support a family, but witches could do that in any number of ways. They could raise chickens in the hills and live self-sufficiently, cut off from the world for the rest of their lives. Witches had simple requirements for a job:

Learning magic > acquiring rare spell materials > new knowledge > practicing paperwork > a new social circle > salary.

Of course, if the salary exceeded their expectations, witches could be lured in, too.

It was just that this "exceeded their expectations" part really did mean exceeding their expectations...

For example, a weekly salary of 4,000. At that time, a weekly salary of 4,000 could attract some pretty capable witches.

The southern city hall must be desperate for talent... It had pinned all its hopes for filling entry-level positions on ordinary people.

Jiang Han didn't know whether to laugh or say something. The witches were both the country's strength and its weakness.

If witches were left to their own devices, nearly any witch who learned all the Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 spells in her textbook would have enough to eat and drink, and wouldn't even need to worry about finding a place to live.

Unlike those Western witches, who still played around with castle architecture, witches in the East were more practical. You could sum it up in one sentence:

"Farming is the best game in the world, unlike those Westerners who play RPGs."

After letting her mind wander, Jiang Han lowered her head and studied her spell notes for a while.

Cheng Yu's lessons were exceptionally well suited to Archwitches—or perhaps she truly had a unique talent for teaching them.

Jiang Han wrote down anything she didn't understand and handed her notes to Cheng Yu. After going home, Cheng Yu would add explanations to each point for Jiang Han to study. In short, she let the Archwitches do their own thing, then reviewed what they came up with to make sure Jiang Han, as an Archwitch, didn't make any fundamental mistakes.

Besides, Cheng Yu never rushed Archwitches into learning more spells before they were ready. She was like a patient old farmer: experienced, able to endure loneliness and pressure, and willing to cultivate Jiang Han little by little.

As for Li Li, Cheng Yu did everything she could to tutor and instruct her. She would also make a brief record of the day's most important lessons, then pass them on to Jiang Han.

It was like a cycle, constantly combining knowledge with magical research.

Of course, most of the time Jiang Han still studied on her own, asking questions and taking notes whenever she ran into something she didn't understand.

So when Jiang Han asked if Cen Jing could teach her for a couple of lessons, Cheng Yu agreed immediately. "Cen Jing? That witch... Mm, I know her fairly well. She's good at botany. You can ask her for help."

"...Mm." Jiang Han guiltily looked away.