The Deal

On second thought, she figured it probably wasn't a big problem. Hadn't they said good night in the end? With that in mind, she translated what she wanted to say into English on her computer, then used a pen she'd picked up to write it on a scrap of paper she'd found on the floor.

That was how it was in a classroom that was hardly ever cleaned. If you looked carefully, you could find a whole box of pens, let alone one.

Lin Er was very direct. After all, the other person could feel it when she used their magic, and when you asked someone for help, you had to act the part. Besides, this wasn't a one-time thing. Losing their trust would be the worst outcome when they had no way to contact each other face-to-face.

Most importantly, the terms of her deal were that she would do her best to give the other person what they wanted, as long as it didn't go against her principles. She also told them about the magic book's ability to transfer items. After all, she had hardly any advantages.

She worked out that several hours had passed since the other person said they were going to sleep. She tried sending a question mark, but there was no reply.

So she tucked the note away and went back to the classroom.

She couldn't write it in the magic book, because words only stayed there for about a minute.

In other words, if their timing was bad, they could easily spend the whole day missing each other's messages.

At that thought, she suddenly regretted not looking up a few more words, so she could have sent over her class schedule.

Tonight's evening study session was English. Yesterday's had been Chinese, so tomorrow's would probably be math.

Lin Er flipped through her books, doing her best to put together a timetable in English. The teacher, who was walking around the classroom while teaching, saw her flipping through books instead of paying attention, and she got a warning.

The sound of the textbook slapping down on her book made half the class look over, and her deskmate started sweating.

Lin Er lowered her head and silently repeated sorry to herself. Then she glanced at the page in his English textbook and turned her own book back to it.

Fortunately, the teacher really was much more lenient with newly enrolled students. She told Lin Er to pay attention to her book, then resumed the lesson.

Her deskmate apparently couldn't let it go. Once the teacher had returned to the podium, he secretly kicked her under the desk.

Knowing she was in the wrong, Lin Er took out a piece of chalk on her own initiative and moved the dividing line a little toward her side.

There, you can have a bit more of the desk. We're even now!

Xu Chao, beside her, didn't think they were even. He just wondered when they could change seats again. His deskmate really seemed seriously ill!

As soon as class ended, he started complaining to his friend behind him, making no effort to keep his voice down. Did Lin Er care?

She didn't have time to care. A message had come from the other side, a huge block of text. She stared at it, but could only make out the few words she still remembered from that day. In the end, she had no choice but to copy it down and reply with a NO.

She could already see that one of her daily uses of magic would probably have to be reserved for the Unlocking Charm from now on.

Oh, and she couldn't skip Scourgify. People might not care if she went without changing clothes for a little while, but once she started smelling, they'd notice right away. That would be too embarrassing.

Tsk, there really aren't enough uses of magic!

The person on the other side might have noticed her predicament too, because they started sending words one at a time again. Lin Er, who had renamed the person Xiao Wang, had learned her lesson and gotten a notebook specifically for recording words.

She guessed at the words she could find in her books. For those she couldn't find, she guessed from the surrounding context. If she still couldn't figure them out, she left them to look up tomorrow.

As for Xiao Wang, could you imagine? The person on the other side was probably still a kid going through a chuunibyou phase. When she asked his name, he replied directly with Prince.

That was both good and bad. The good part was that a child was easy to fool, and his terms might be simpler. The bad part was that adults might have more on their minds, but they were emotionally stable and rational, and much easier to talk to when there was something in it for them.

The two did their best to communicate using Yes and No. Over the course of one evening study session, she had written down quite a few words. Unfortunately, with her memory, she'd probably forget them tomorrow.

After an evening study session spent guessing back and forth, she confirmed one thing: the person on the other side had agreed to let her borrow his magic once a day, provided she paid with food first.

She had guessed that after getting his permission but failing when she tried to borrow magic, because they could now send objects through the magic book.

The person on the other side gave her a twig, and she lost a pencil.

First-year junior high students only had two periods of evening study, ending at eight. Lin Er didn't go straight back to the dorm. Instead, she carried her bucket to the water pipe by the out-of-the-way little kitchen.

There was only one tap there, and a long line of people waiting for water. Anyone who didn't want to wait had to fetch water from the washbasins by the sports field.

Yes, not only did they have no hot water, there wasn't even cold water in the dorm.

And a bucket of water was only enough for one day, because the dorm had a pit toilet that needed flushing. Anyone could imagine what the dorm would smell like if it wasn't flushed.

The little kitchen was close to the dorm. School had just started, and the only people who dared come over were older students. Not a single younger student dared approach.

Lin Er didn't go over to join the line either. She held her bucket as though waiting off to the side, but had actually already slipped around the back of the building to the school wall.

The wall, two or three meters high, couldn't even keep students in, let alone a witch with a broom. Lin Er rode her broom low over the ground along the river.

There were no homes along either bank of the river, and there were trees, reducing the chance of being spotted. The black wizard robe she'd put in her bucket provided another layer of camouflage in the dark once she put it on.

It was three kilometers from school to home, but the flight along the river took only a few minutes.

The lights at home were already off, but Lin Er hadn't come back to frighten anyone. She quietly took the immersion heater from the kitchen, flew to the new house, switched on the electricity, and heated herself a bucket of water.

The new house had been built by her parents. Since both of them had gone away for work and she and her younger sister lived with their grandparents, it was kept locked with the electricity off. No one normally came by, which was convenient for her now.

Once the bucket of water was heated, she returned the immersion heater, then washed herself in the dark in the backyard. She hung the remaining hot water directly on the broom and took it back to school.

The third floor of the teaching building was still lit at that hour; the third-year junior high students hadn't finished class yet. Only a few students remained by the washbasins, and no one paid any attention when Lin Er emerged from the darkness.

By the time she returned to the dorm, the twenty people taking turns washing themselves and their clothes still hadn't finished. The half bucket of hot water she brought back drew quite a few eyes.

But no one knew anyone else yet, so nobody came over to ask for any.

Lin Er looked around and gave the water to Xu Duoduo and Shi Meng. Neither of them had washed yet.

"Do you have a relative at school?"

Shi Meng brightened at the sight of the hot water. Lin Er had already changed her clothes and had clearly washed, and there was enough hot water for both of them to have a proper wash.

"Yeah. You two use it. I'll take a little cold water from your buckets tomorrow morning!"

They both nodded repeatedly. They had come from other towns and had no close friends at school, so each had a bucket of her own. They weren't like some of the girls who had come up from the same elementary school and fetched water two to a bucket.

After all, carrying a bucket of water up to the sixth floor was no easy task.

Xu Duoduo was more direct. After pouring out the hot water, she immediately gave Lin Er half the cold water in her own bucket. No one had told her she needed to get hot water from the cafeteria, so she hadn't gotten any.

If Lin Er hadn't brought hot water back, she probably would have washed in cold water.