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Laura could keep the silkworms for a while longer. Luo Wei genuinely couldn't appreciate them, and she didn't trust herself not to grab a board and flatten every last one.
She rubbed the goosebumps off her arms.
Both fuzzy things. So why were insects so horrifying as larvae?
Nothing like her Nico. Nico was adorable.
The silkworms could stay with Laura, but the mulberry saplings were another matter. They'd already grown tall enough that transplanting couldn't wait.
Luo Wei's plan: send Bella outside the city to buy a few plots of land and set up a proper mulberry orchard. Winter into spring was the ideal transplanting window.
Once the trees matured, the leaves would feed the silkworms. The mulberries would go to Escore Dessert Shop for mulberry drinks. The pruned branches could be woven into wicker baskets.
Three uses from one tree. Luo Wei felt that the title of richest person in the Western Plains was well within reach.
She'd need to hire farm workers eventually, too. And ideally convert them into her people while she was at it.
First, though, she needed a manager. She ran through the names from Star Luo Residence in her head and came up empty. Then another name surfaced on its own: Nick.
Nick was a free farmer from the Siria suburbs with a few acres of his own. He'd be perfect to help oversee the orchard.
Once Bella secured the land, she'd send word to Nick and keep her first believer somewhere she could see him.
On the afternoon of the first day of school, the magic apprentices had their grand cleaning.
Siria Magic Academy didn't allow students to bring servants. The noble students, most of whom had never touched a broom in their lives, were forced to roll up their sleeves and stare miserably at their surroundings.
Dust and fallen leaves everywhere. The dormitory castle, the church classrooms, the garden paths , all of it needed to be cleaned by the students themselves.
The intermediate and advanced division students had been through this before. They picked up their magic wands with practiced ease and headed to their assigned areas without complaint.
The primary division students stood lost in the middle of the leaf-covered square. The academy hadn't issued rags or brooms. Without tools, how exactly were they supposed to clean anything?
Not cleaning wasn't an option. It counted toward their academic year score.
Especially for students already clinging to the passing line. Students like Luo Wei.
"How do we clean this? With our hands?"
"What if we go out and buy a broom?"
"The gates are closed. How would we even get out?"
"Why are the gates closed in the first place...?"
The sanitation areas assigned to primary division apprentices were all open, sprawling spaces , the academy square, the church courtyard, the garden lawns. Wide, exposed, and thoroughly neglected. Fallen leaves piled everywhere, bird droppings clustered under the trees, mud tracked across every stone brick, and horse manure scattered without apology.
"Wait — horses aren't allowed through the square gate. Where is all this manure coming from?"
"When I find out who did this, I'm going to make their life miserable."
"We should report it to the dean. Whoever's responsible should clean it themselves and lose all their conduct credits."
"Yes. Exactly. That's what we should do."
The primary apprentices worked themselves into a righteous fury, debating how to track down the delinquent responsible for the state of their square.
Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
Hoofbeats, growing louder. A stout noblewoman on a fine horse came riding into the academy square.
"Whoa." She drew back the reins and stopped in front of the gathered students.
"Who wants to file a complaint about me?" Her gaze swept coldly over them. "If you want to complain, step forward."
The square went silent.
The students stared up at the middle-aged woman on horseback, disbelief written across every face.
Professor Moses?
A professor publicly violating school rules, riding through the academy square on horseback , and the dean was just going to let that pass?
Everyone thought it. No one said it out loud. Not a single student moved.
Professor Moses was notoriously strict. She treated students the way the autumn wind treated fallen leaves: without mercy, without hesitation. Of the seven courses, hers ran overtime most often. Her students sat through every lesson in low-grade terror, praying they wouldn't be called on to recite an incantation from memory.
"Since none of you have the courage to complain, close your mouths." She swept her gaze over the crowd and let out a short, cold laugh. "Ten minutes. Not one of you has done a thing. You are the worst cohort I have ever taught."
One brave student pushed back. "Professor, we don't have any tools. How are we supposed to clean without tools?"
Professor Moses's expression darkened. "This is a magic academy. Not some country manor. You need tools to clean a courtyard? Did you swallow all that magic you learned, or just forget it existed?"
"Don't know how to start? Can't you walk over and ask an upperclassman?"
"Mouths good for nothing but eating. Every single one of you — a bunch of swine."
The students went silent, heads down, necks drawn in. Not one of them talked back.
Were they really that bad?
Even if they were bad, surely they were at least marginally better than swine.
"What are you all still standing there for? Waiting for me to do it myself?" Professor Moses snapped.
The students flinched in unison. They yanked out their magic wands and scattered to the edges of the square like a flock of startled birds.
Wind magic to sweep the leaves. Earth magic to shift the manure. Water magic to scrub the stones.
Once you stopped waiting for a broom, the solutions multiplied. One magic wand was more than enough. The square practically cleaned itself.
Around the edges, students worked in a frenzy. In the middle, a small cluster stood frozen.
Professor Moses's eyes narrowed. "What? Waiting for special permission to start?"
"N-no," one of them said weakly. "We forgot our magic wands. Professor Moses , may we go back to our rooms to get them?"
"You forgot them."
Her expression shifted. Sharp. Contemptuous.
"Magic apprentices who don't carry their magic wands at all times. What exactly are you here to learn?"
"Ten points off your class score. Go."
First day of school. Classes hadn't even started. Ten points deducted before breakfast was finished.
The students' faces crumpled. They turned and sprinted miserably toward the dormitories.
The students nearby watched them go and felt a cold prickle crawl up the backs of their necks. They turned back to their wands immediately , water spraying, manure flushing, not a second wasted.
"Kiyelori-fexiyexi..."
Winnie released a palm-sized water ball. It hit a fresh pile of liquid horse manure dead center and exploded outward, spattering her skirt from hem to knee.
"Ah!" She stumbled back in horror, stepped directly into another pile, and her foot shot out from under her. A shriek tore out of her throat, sharp enough to hurt.
"Latawus Suolaqi!" Luo Wei saw it happening and fired off a wind incantation before Winnie finished falling. A gust caught her from behind and shoved her back upright.
"Wah, wah, wah, " Winnie was shaking. The moment she found her footing, she gathered up her dripping skirt and rushed over, arms already outstretched. "Dear, thank you for saving me! Come here!"
Luo Wei's eyes locked onto the skirt hem. The second Winnie got within range, she took five deliberate steps backward.
"Ahem. Not saying I'm disgusted or anything. Just — watch your step."
She glanced around at the ground, nodded to herself. "Right, this section looks clean enough. Let's find another spot."
Winnie stared at her.
This so-called friendship. She couldn't even pretend it was real anymore.
➤ Next: Spectating Senior Sisters and Brothers
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