Author: 冬瓜茶仙人 / Winter Melon Tea Immortal

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 217

“Charlie! Charlie!”

“Charlie—ah!”

Lorraine crossed the neatly trimmed boxwood bushes and found himself nearly stepping on his friend, which startled him.

Charlie was lying so close to the boxwood that it was hard to notice someone was hiding there, sleeping.

Charlie was already awake, but the winter sun warming his body made him feel too lazy to move.

Lorraine lifted the textbook covering Charlie’s face. “I’ve been looking for you for ages. How did you end up here?”

Charlie opened his eyes and yawned long and hard. “What time is it now?”

“It’s at least four o’clock. You missed lunch. John and Leflar said they haven’t seen you all day,” Lorraine looked at Charlie and couldn’t help but laugh. “Is it because graduation is approaching, and the many clingy admirers are annoying you?”

“No, that’s not it.” Charlie sat up, pulled two apples out of his robe pocket, and handed one to Lorraine. “I stayed up late last night. Calvin insisted I revise—”

Lorraine looked at him disapprovingly.

“Revise the graduation speech,” Charlie insisted on finishing. “This is the third time. If he’s still not satisfied, I won’t give it. Honestly, I didn’t want to give the speech in the first place.”

“You should address him as Professor Calvin,” Lorraine said. “And giving the speech on behalf of all graduates is an honor. It proves the school and teachers recognize your excellence.”

Charlie shrugged. “Their requirements are too many.”

“Like what?”

“Like no mentions of poop or farts, no jokes about cats, no encouraging other students to ignore their grades and only study what interests them—”

“That’s reasonable! Are you planning to say those things in front of the whole school?” Lorraine said incredulously. “Joking in that setting is inappropriate… Wait, the cat joke—is it about the dean you nicknamed ‘Big White Cat’?”

Charlie brushed the grass off his backpack, pretending not to hear his friend’s question.

“I need to see the professor before dinner.” Charlie dodged Lorraine’s hammer of justice, laughing as he ran. “Don’t wait for me to eat. You know how long-winded he can be.”

Lorraine watched Charlie’s retreating figure with exasperation, still wanting to remind him to be polite to the teachers, but he saw someone approaching and stopped.

“Senior Lorraine!” Two lower-year girls passing by brightened up when they saw Lorraine.

Lorraine turned around and adjusted his glasses.

“Senior, congratulations on being accepted by Golden Fountain Pharmaceuticals ahead of graduation—this is their first time hiring a student who hasn’t graduated yet. You’re amazing!”

Lorraine smiled at them. “Thank you.”

One of the girls, with short hair, hesitated before asking expectantly, “Will Senior Charlie stay at the school? We heard the dean wants him to be Professor Calvin’s assistant.”

“That’s also a first for the academy, right?” her lively friend chimed in.

Lorraine shook his head. “Where do you hear these rumors? I can’t answer for Charlie.”

“Do you know where he is? We haven’t seen him in the cafeteria these days.” The short-haired girl, persistent about Charlie, pressed on.

Lorraine glanced in the direction Charlie had run, but the target was long gone.

“You’ll see him at the graduation ceremony,” he said.

“The graduation ceremony is a serious occasion.” Calvin frowned immediately upon seeing Charlie’s appearance. “Don’t let me see you looking like this then—look at you!”

He raised his hand, and a standing mirror, taller than a person, walked over on its gilded legs, positioning itself in front of Charlie.

Charlie’s robe and hair were both a mess from sleeping, his eyes still red from yawning, and his shirt collar and tie were nowhere to be seen.

“Because I was focused on revising the speech, Professor,” Charlie said politely. “I couldn’t pay attention to my appearance.”

Calvin took the stack of papers Charlie handed over but didn’t look through them immediately. He set them aside.

“The suggestion I gave you last time, have you considered it?” Calvin asked.

Charlie thought for a moment. “Thank you, Professor, but I still don’t think staying at the school for too long suits me.”

“The outside world is complicated and can’t support you like the academy. You have magical talent, Charlie. It would be best if you could continue to hone it.”

Charlie looked at Calvin. The temperamental old man before him was a renowned grand magus across the continent, and almost every magic academy of any size used textbooks he had written. However…

Charlie lowered his eyes to look at his toes.

“But I have to go home first, Professor,” he said solemnly. “I’ve been away too long. My parents miss me. If I stayed at the school right after graduation, they might travel a long way to protest to the dean.”

Calvin understood his star pupil well, so he couldn’t help but sigh.

“I’ll keep a position for you,” Calvin finally said. “If you regret it within five years, come back anytime.”

Charlie blinked. “Professor, do you only have love and patience for me for five years?”

“Because I’m already very old!” Calvin eventually couldn’t help but roar, like an angry groundhog.

“Alright, alright, don’t get so worked up.” Charlie backed out of Calvin’s office, still laughing. “I’ll seriously consider it. I promise.”

Calvin took a deep breath, and after Charlie had completely exited the room, he reluctantly added, “If you encounter any problems, write back and discuss them with me.”

“Okay—” Charlie’s voice echoed back from the corridor.

Monterey Academy was the most famous and oldest magic school on the continent, excelling in every aspect except for its peculiar timing for admissions and graduation: entrance exams were held during the hottest part of summer, and graduation was in winter—after the graduation ceremony, dormitories would be reclaimed and organized, and graduates who had traveled from afar would have to embark on their journey home in the cold of winter.

Some students with poor health or affluent families would stay in the city until spring, as they could get a good discount with their academy badge and spend a cozy winter by a burning fireplace.

Charlie’s roommates planned to do just that, so even as the departure time approached, they hadn’t packed much because the booked hotels offered packing services.

Only Charlie’s belongings were gradually being packed up.

When he walked into the dormitory, he saw the tall John examining his suitcase.

“Are you really not spending the winter with us, Charlie?” John asked again when he saw him. “Leflar and I rented suites, and there’s definitely room for one more. If you’re worried about the rent—”

“That’s not the reason.” Charlie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Leflar, we’re about to graduate, and you still think I’m a poor kid driven out by my stepmother, barely managing to study with my mother’s small inheritance? I may not be rich, but I—”

“Don’t mind him, Charlie,” John, who was sitting on a single sofa, interrupted. “Because his father is so rich, everyone else seems poor to him.”

“Except Lorraine,” John added. “He’s also a young master.”

At that moment, Lorraine pushed the door open and looked relieved to see Charlie.

“So, you’re back,” Lorraine said. “I was about to send a scout to notify you: that girl is waiting for you downstairs again. Did you come up through the west tower?”

“Elena?” Charlie was a bit surprised. “I did come up through the tower because it’s closer to Professor Calvin’s office.”

“Why does she keep coming to you?” Leflar frowned. “This is too persistent. Other girls aren’t like this. What’s she after this time? Afraid she won’t see you again and wants to propose?”

“Don’t say that.” Charlie put his robe back on. “I’ll go persuade her.”

“No,” John said a bit forcefully. “Elena’s been pestering you for a while. You promised not to give her any hope, which is best for everyone.”

“I don’t intend to give her hope, but it might snow tonight. If I ignore her, she’ll wait downstairs all night again.” Charlie glanced at the weather jar by his bed.

“I’ll go convince her to leave.” John stood up from the sofa. “You sit tight.”

“I’ll go too.” Lorraine hadn’t taken off his coat and turned to open the door.

“I’ll go!” Leflar stood up, but John and Lorraine said in unison, “You sit down!”

He was startled and sat back on the bed, looking like a bullied big dog.

Charlie squatted on the carpet, continuing to pack his suitcase.

Leflar asked him, “Are you going home? Why are you in such a hurry?”

Charlie didn’t stop packing, stuffing several towels into his suitcase. “Probably. Most people go home, right?”

Leflar watched his movements and suddenly said, “So, you’re not going home.”

Charlie looked up at him in surprise. The big dog rarely showed such insight.

“You never tell us where your home is. Now we’re about to graduate. Where should we send letters to you in the future?” Leflar pressed on. “You never say anything. It’s not right, Charlie.”

Charlie said, “Alright, I’m actually not going home, Leflar. I plan to wander around the continent, not sure where I’ll go, so I can’t give you an address. But I’ll write to you and tell you where I am, what kind of scenery I see, and who—”

“What kind of beauties you’ll meet.” Leflar immediately shifted his focus.

Charlie laughed. “Yes!”

“That sounds romantic. I’d like to try it too.” Leflar said longingly. “Adventuring across the continent, pursuing the most beautiful girls, defeating the most evil forces of darkness, saving the world!”

“But your father won’t allow it,” Charlie reminded him.

“You’re right.” Leflar immediately deflated. “He doesn’t trust me, thinks I’m useless. If only I have your talent. The professors all say you’ll become a great mage.”

“You have talent. No one in the academy has more athletic talent than you, just like Lorraine’s talent in potions and John’s talent in applied mechanics. You all taught me a lot. Otherwise, my exam scores wouldn’t be so good.”

“My father says I’m a big fool compared to you all,” Leflar said.

“Does he say that to Monterey’s star captain? Do the girls who cheer for you agree?”

The two boys stared at each other across the four-poster bed for a moment, then burst into laughter, making Lorraine and John, who came in afterward, puzzled.

“What are you guys talking about?”

“Charlie said he’ll write to us during his adventures.”

“Adventures? What adventures?”

“Saving the world adventures.”

“What the hell… Hahaha!”

Teenage boys always had a low threshold for laughter. Soon, the four were laughing together. The tightly closed windows kept the warmth and noise inside. No one noticed the tiny snowflakes starting to fall outside.

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