It really wasn't me who touched you

"I-I didn't! Brian did it!" Fitch told Fanny, his face miserable and utterly aggrieved.

Smack! Smack!

Two more slaps landed. Now Fitch's cheeks had swollen. Fanny glared at him furiously and said bitterly, "You still dare make excuses? Brian is such an honest person. How could he do something so vile? It must have been you."

Han Shuo was speechless, secretly laughing to himself. He hurriedly put on an innocent, guileless expression and stared blankly at Fitch and Fanny, asking with a foolish grin, "What's wrong?"

"Teacher Fanny, it really wasn't me who touched you!" Fitch was more wronged than anyone could be, holding his cheeks as he explained miserably.

"Stop making excuses. Get out. Now!" Fanny looked at Fitch with bitter disappointment and spoke harshly.

His face swollen from the slaps, Fitch saw that Fanny was on the verge of flying into a rage at any moment. Knowing that no explanation would help now, and afraid she would strike him viciously again if he pushed her too far, he could only nod with repeated bitter smiles and head dejectedly out of the Trial Ground.

As he passed Brian, Fitch paused and gave Han Shuo several long, hateful looks. Then, through gritted teeth, he whispered, "You're ruthless!"

Han Shuo seemed entirely unaware of Fitch's resentment. He even gave Fitch a friendly, guileless grin and asked foolishly, "Huh? Why did you suddenly get fatter?"

Fitch was furious. Holding his face, he gave Han Shuo another resentful look, then swiftly cleared the obstacles in his path and disappeared through the doorway in the blink of an eye.

"Brian, what brings you here?" Once Fitch had left, Teacher Fanny's anger gradually subsided, and she questioned Han Shuo.

"To clean." Han Shuo went over to a corner of the Trial Ground on his own, picked up a broom, and prepared to tidy the place for the Necromancy Department students who would use it later.

"Oh, I see. By the way, how is the wound on your back? Once you've recovered, I'll have to take a close look at what's going on with you. A single Soul Pain spell actually gave you mental power. It's simply unbelievable." With Han Shuo, Fanny seemed warm and approachable. As she spoke calmly to him, she helped him clear some obstacles from the floor without putting on any airs.

"It's much, much better. By the way, Teacher Fanny, could you not tell the academy authorities what happened yesterday?" Han Shuo swept up the bone fragments and dust absentmindedly, finding a moment to raise the right hand that had just groped Fanny's bottom to his nose and sniff it.

A faint fragrance wafted from his right fingers, making Han Shuo's heart flutter. His eyes immediately cast an odd look toward Fanny's beautiful, pert bottom nearby. As she bent over to clear the obstacles, her body curved slightly, making the contours of her bottom even more captivating, as though they held a strange, magical allure.

Fanny looked somewhat surprised by Han Shuo's words. She instantly straightened her slender body, turned toward him, and asked in astonishment, "Why? Huh, Brian, you're not paying attention at all. You're standing on the broom."

Not expecting Fanny to turn around so suddenly, Han Shuo felt guilty and hurriedly moved his foot off the broom in a slight panic. Only then did he grin guilelessly and say, "Keri and Borg are actually good people too. If you tell the academy authorities about this, they'll be expelled. Without the silver coins they bring home, their families will have a hard time getting by."

At these words, Fanny gave Han Shuo a somewhat astonished look, her delicate brows drawing together. Only after a long moment did she break into a smile and say, "Brian, you're always so kind. They bullied you, yet you're still pleading for them. Well, never mind, never mind. Since even you, the victim, have said so, I won't make things difficult for them. You're the key to my experiment. If anyone bullies you again, remember to tell me!"

Kind! Han Shuo was inwardly speechless. He thought to himself that he certainly was very "kind" now; otherwise, he wouldn't have seized the chance to blackmail Keri and Borg into working for him. If their departure hadn't meant that he and Jack would have to shoulder the heavy workload, who would have cared what happened to them?

While Han Shuo's thoughts wandered, Fanny gave him a suspicious look and spoke again. "Brian, you don't seem all that mad or foolish to me. Otherwise, how could you have said all that?"

Han Shuo froze in surprise, his heart immediately trembling. He hurriedly scratched his head and said with some embarrassment, "Uh, sometimes my head suddenly feels all muddled, and then I don't know what I'll do!"

"I see. It seems that Soul Pain really did have some harmful effects on you. Well, don't worry too much. Once the wound on your back is a little better, I'll examine you carefully. I'll definitely cure this strange condition of yours. It's about time. I still have to lead the students through the next experiment, so I'll go back and prepare. You can tidy up here yourself!" After saying this to Han Shuo, Fanny recited a necromancy incantation, sent the zombie warriors summoned in the Trial Ground back to the other dimension, and left.

Not long after Fanny left, Han Shuo also left, ignoring the mess in the Trial Ground. He found Keri and Borg and told them imperiously, "Don't worry. I've settled your problem. Now, you two, go clean the Trial Ground thoroughly for me!"

Delight and surprise appeared on Keri's and Borg's faces. After thanking Han Shuo, they eagerly grabbed a broom and mop and went off cheerfully to clean up after him.

After leaving the Trial Ground, Han Shuo had nothing to do for the moment. Thinking back to yesterday's events, he was very curious about the contents of the jade box and badly wanted to find out exactly what the sphere inside it was. He certainly couldn't ask anyone else about this. After thinking it over, he decided to visit the Darkness Department's library and see whether it had any records of the sphere.

Within Babylon Academy of Magic and Martial Arts, every department had its own library. Each library held an extremely rich collection, with detailed descriptions of all kinds of knowledge relating to its department. Generally, the libraries were not open to outsiders, and strict rules governed students visiting other departments' libraries.

Using the excuse of helping Jack clean, Han Shuo carried a brush and brazenly slipped into the Darkness Department's library.

"Brian, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be cleaning the Trial Ground right now?" The chubby Jack was shelving magic books when he saw Han Shuo enter with a brush. He couldn't help exclaiming softly and asking.

"Hehe, from now on, those two idiots Keri and Borg will handle all my cleaning duties at the Trial Ground. I've come to the library on proper business this time!" Smiling, Han Shuo casually picked up a magic book and glanced at it. Finding that it was a basic textbook on Darkness Department magic, he put it back.

"Keri and Borg are helping you clean the Trial Ground? How is that possible? Huh, could it be because you scared them by beating them up in the Trial Ground yesterday?" The chubby Jack looked astonished. Then, seemingly recalling Han Shuo's performance in the Trial Ground yesterday, he gave him a somewhat fearful look and continued, "By the way, Brian, what happened to you yesterday? Why did you seem like a completely different person all of a sudden? We're so close, but even I was frightened by the way you looked yesterday!"

Resting a hand on Jack's shoulder, Han Shuo chuckled and said, "That depends on who I'm dealing with. If someone goes against me, naturally I won't let him have an easy time. Hehe, with how close we are, of course I wouldn't beat you up. By the way, Jack, where does the Darkness Department library keep books describing magical items?"

"There, the second bookcase behind you. Why do you ask?" Jack pointed behind Han Shuo and questioned him in confusion.

"No reason. I'm helping you clean, aren't I?" Han Shuo said with a smile, walking toward the bookcase holding descriptions of magical items.

"But Brian, I just cleaned that bookcase!" "Then I'll help you clean it again!"

Reaching the bookcase holding descriptions of magical items, Han Shuo took a magic book from the bottom shelf and began leafing through it, casually tossing his brush aside.

When he had examined the jade box last night, Han Shuo's mental power had flowed strangely toward the sphere inside it, allowing him to faintly sense magical fluctuations within the sphere. Han Shuo was no longer a novice who knew nothing about magic. Naturally, he understood that these magical fluctuations meant the sphere should be some kind of magical artifact, which was why he had come to the library to investigate its origins.

Unfortunately, after leafing through the books for a long time and looking over most of those describing magical items, Han Shuo discovered that they contained only simple descriptions of ordinary Magic Wands, Magic Robes, and jewelry. They offered nothing of what he wanted to know.

Dejected and helpless, Han Shuo tidied everything up. Giving up hope on the books here, he instead went over to the bookcase holding books on necromancy.

Since I've come to the library, I can't leave empty-handed. I should at least take a book back to read. Thinking this, Han Shuo began looking through the books in the bookcase. Some of the magic books on the upper shelves were fairly advanced, and he probably wouldn't understand them even if he took them back, so he focused on the bottom shelf.

A magic book titled Overview of Dark Creatures caught Han Shuo's attention. He picked it up and leafed through a few pages, discovering that it mainly provided necromancers with descriptions of the dark creatures they summoned.

Delighted, Han Shuo immediately found Jack, held up Overview of Dark Creatures, and said with a grin, "Jack, I'm taking this book to study. Cover for me and don't let anyone notice."

With that, without waiting for Jack to speak, Han Shuo excitedly tucked the book inside his clothes, picked up the brush he had used earlier, and left the library.