The Sorcerer's Handbook

Chapter 145: Half an Hour

Freya was sensible enough to wash the dishes alongside Ashe.

When she finished, her gaze drifted to the Knowledge Curtain. ”Are you still going to use the Curtain tonight?”

”Yes. I want to look up some information.”

”Can’t you connect with your own chip?”

”I had to remove the chip implanted at the back of my neck to escape.”

Freya blinked, surprised. ”Then where are you going to live? Without a registered chip, you can’t even rent a place. Don’t tell me you plan to stay here long-term.”

”The contract clearly says I can stay at most seven days,” Ashe replied irritably. ”After that, I’ll go sleep under a bridge.”

Freya shrugged. ”As long as you hand over the Sympathy spirit as promised, I wouldn’t mind letting you stay a few extra days. If you’re willing to cook every day, I might even waive the rent.”

She paused, then added, ”I’ll need to use the Knowledge Curtain for about half an hour after my shower.”

”No problem. I was planning to shower too. You can use it then.”

Ashe returned to browsing the Curtain, while Freya opened her Social Studies assignment. Social Studies wasn’t a sorcery-specific discipline, but the city’s civil service exams were mostly based on it. Anyone hoping to become a government officer needed at least a Silver-level degree in the subject.

Fernandez’s speech at last night’s Blood Moon Tribunal had already gone viral. Since Freya hadn’t watched it live, she ended up making up for it by being forced to watch it in class. Additionally, the professor assigned an essay titled the Pros and Cons of Socialized Upbringing and the Family System. Rumor had it that Socialized Upbringing was likely to become a required topic on future civil service exams, making it essential knowledge.

The assignment itself wasn’t difficult. Students could pass simply by arguing that Socialized Upbringing outperformed the family system. To score well, Freya needed to think critically, identifying advantages that weren’t explicitly written in textbooks but were evident in society.

With the professor’s intent, Fernandez’s speech, and the dynamics of the two Blood Moon races in mind, Freya quickly found her angle.

”The family system increases factional strife within the Blood Moon races. Those who become Blood Moon descendants use their power to help relatives in their original races gain illegal benefits, seizing resources that rightfully belong to others.

”It allows mediocre individuals with no qualifications to join the Blood Moon races through nepotism, lowering the overall quality of descendants.

”When entire families belong to the Blood Moon races, they form unbreakable interest groups. This undermines leadership in research institutes and the church, and contaminates the governance of the Administrative Department.

”For the Blood Moon races, blood ties act as a weakening poison and spark internal conflict...

”The Blood Moon races are the foundation of the Blood Moon Kingdom’s growth. Outdated systems must not tarnish the purity of Blood Moon descendants...”

With no other desk available, Freya sat beside Ashe. Fortunately, it was large enough for both of them. She wrote on the left while Ashe browsed on the right. Aside from sitting a little close, neither disturbed the other. The left side of the desk, usually cluttered with skincare products, snacks, tissues, and miscellaneous items, had been completely cleared.

Freya paused, noticing how different the apartment felt. Since Freya could not afford to hire a cleaner, her apartment usually stayed in a state of ”good enough to sleep in.” She washed underwear only when she ran out, took out the trash only when it piled up, and left the hallway cluttered with obstacles barely wide enough for one person. Even the landlord considered it normal.

Looking around now, Freya realized her apartment felt completely renewed. The clothes had been washed, the trash taken out, and the clutter neatly stacked in the corners. Freya almost didn’t recognize her own home.

”Did you clean during the day?” she asked.

Ashe hesitated for a moment, then nodded emphatically. ”Yeah. Honestly, the hygiene here is worse than that in the prison restroom. Since I had nothing better to do, I figured I’d clean up a bit. Consider it paying rent.”

He added, ”Oh, and I washed your clothes. You don’t mind, do you? It’s been hot lately, and there’s no air conditioning. In such an... excellent experimental environment, those clothes piled together produced some very... fascinating smells. It’s manageable at night, but during the day, I really couldn’t take it.”

Freya’s face flushed to her ears. ”I–is that so? I didn’t smell anything myself... I don’t mind. Thank you.”

”That’s good. I was worried you’d call me a pervert when you got back, so I even cooked for you to stay on your good side.”

”Of course I wouldn’t scold you. Don’t worry. I’ll leave all my clothes to you from now on!”

”That really isn’t necessary. Could you at least wash your clothes every day?”

”Nope. I’m the type who waits until I’ve piled up a huge load before washing everything at once. Just like you can’t expect me to get dressed right after a shower, you can’t change my laundry habits either.”

”Tch. For someone this good-looking, your hygiene is awful.”

”What do looks have to do with it? This is how everyone is. Cleaning and doing laundry every day is just a waste of time.”

Having eaten its fill, Little String hopped onto the table and curled into a fluffy ball, drifting off to sleep amid their casual banter.

While they went back and forth, Freya soon finished her Social Studies assignment. Seeing it was about time, she casually stripped off her clothes, tossing them onto the chair as she hummed and walked into the bathroom.

Ashe glanced at the lace underwear on the chair. The sound of rushing water from the bathroom did nothing to distract him. He found himself completely unable to look away. It took him considerable effort to tear his gaze away before activating his Substitute spirit to carry the clothes to the laundry basket on the balcony. Young people really weren’t built for this kind of stimulation.

Little String instantly perked up and chased after the substitute to play.

Inside the bathroom, Freya felt something off. As a veela, she was exceptionally attuned to shifts in her own mental state, and she could sense a strange emotion beginning to stir within her.

She didn’t know how to describe it. This was an experience she had never felt in her eighteen years. Standing beneath the shower, letting the water run over her pale skin, she quickly realized the source of this odd feeling.

Who else could it be, if not the Demonic Saint who suddenly barged into my life?Am I afraid? A little. Do I like him? Maybe. Do I dislike... him?

It felt as if someone were wringing her stomach like a towel, making it hard to breathe. Yes. She disliked Ashe. She couldn’t explain why, but suddenly she found herself repulsed by him.

So then, do I want to distance myself from him?

Leaning against the wall under the water, Freya panted softly. She stayed silent for a long moment before suddenly laughing. ”How can feelings be this contradictory... It must be a physical issue, right? Yeah, it has to be physical. After all, Ashe had interrupted me last night.”

She quickly pushed the matter out of her mind, dried herself off, wrapped a towel around her hair, and stepped out to blow-dry it. Just then, Ashe darted into the bathroom with a sharp whoosh, shutting the door behind him in one fluid motion. He was so fast it was as if he had used a spirit. Freya barely caught a glimpse of him.

”Are you really in that much of a hurry to shower? You could’ve said something. I would’ve let you go first,” she muttered, heading over to the Knowledge Curtain to begin her nightly routine.

***

Ashe had only been in the shower a short while when he became aware of a soft, soul-melting moan. At first, he thought the apartment’s soundproofing was bad and that some couple in another unit was hard at work earning a fertility subsidy.

But when he turned off the water to lather up, with no running water to mask the sound, the low moan became unmistakably clear. It was far more devastating than lace underwear.

Without a word, Ashe turned the faucet back on and cranked it to the maximum.

I need cold water!

Even so, the lingering, lilting sounds still scratched at his ears like feathers. If anything, the roar of the water only added a filter, amplifying his imagination.

A thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. Don’t tell me it’s really going to take half an hour...