Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 342 EP3 "The Battle for Truth"
"If that area truly represents the future, then how do you explain that tree?"

After a series of discussions, the Bathing Goddess, Charlotte, and Millie basically accepted the fact that someone came from the "future".

So, although there are still doubts, Xia Luoluo's statement seems to come from the premise that the snow-capped mountain area is the future.

"That's certainly strange. Wasn't that tree in the academy completely destroyed before? Why has it reappeared in the future? Did the headmaster plant another one?"

Millie was also puzzled.

While it's true that a pseudo-World Tree-level wonder tree can't be planted casually—otherwise, the Tree Witch would have been planting trees everywhere for fun all these years—it is still a possibility.

"Well, that involves the concept of 'parallel worlds'!"

The goddess of the bath, who had suddenly perked up, spoke. However, she quickly lost her spirit again.

Because she didn't know how to explain these things. Or perhaps, she only had a superficial understanding of these concepts.

Also, it involves some parts that are "unclear and cannot be explained".

"Well, let's take the most recent example. We had two areas to conquer: the 'Carrier Pigeon' area and the 'Tin Man' area. These represented Charlotte and Courteney respectively. The world we experienced was the one where we saved Charlotte, but didn't have time to save Courteney. For whatever reason, if we had saved Courteney and released Charlotte, it would have created a parallel world like the one we have now!"

"Um"

Millie seemed to understand and nodded, looking at Charlotte along with the Bathing Goddess. Then, the two of them sighed in unison, as if saying, "Ah, Charlotte."

"You two."

"So, Estria might come from a parallel world where the academy's tree wasn't destroyed? Because the academy's tree was destroyed to stop Livis, the fact that the academy's tree exists means that Livis wasn't stopped at the time, and ultimately, things went smoothly."

Destroyed the world?
"." "." "."

For a moment, all three of them fell silent.

The more I thought about what the goddess of bathing said casually, the more plausible it seemed.

Because people are generally respectable, when a serious criminal comes from the neighborhood and the neighbor is interviewed, the neighbors will always say, whether sincerely or hypocritically, "He seemed quite honest on the surface, I never thought he could do such a thing."

However, very occasionally, there are rare instances where, regardless of who is interviewed, the interviewee says, "I always thought he would do this."

As for Livis, to be honest, the three of them aren't that close even if you add them all together, but they would definitely be able to answer subconsciously when interviewed.

I knew she would destroy the world sooner or later!

"Why didn't anyone stop her?"

Xia Luoluo complained, unsure of who she was actually dissatisfied with.

"Who knows."

That being said, only the goddess of bathing seems to be able to guess why.

The person who stopped Livis at the academy exchange meeting was Ritas.

Or rather, the location, the event, the nature of the event, and so on are all fine.

Given that Livis is bound to do something sooner or later, there are only a handful of people who can stop her. And among them, the one closest to Livis is Ritas.

Just as Livis's existence bound Ritas to some extent, Ritas's existence also constrained Livis to some extent.

This teacher and student are always connected in a very special way.

In such a situation, if Ritas disappears...
What is presented may be the devastated future that Millie sees.

More importantly, Ritas was actually meant to "disappear".

Rather than saying that the world Estria lived in was a parallel world, the world in which Ritas obtained the white disc, met the goddess of bathing, and survived by chance is more like a parallel world after a mutation.

The goddess of bathing suddenly felt an extraordinary urge to see Ritas and tell him these things.

Contrary to the common concern that his survival would make many things worse.

Ritas only needs to stay alive to be considered a "savior".

"If we look at it optimistically, since the tree at Erles Academy has been destroyed in our world, does that mean the cruel future you've foreseen won't happen?"

The three's discussion about the "future" was also coming to an end.

Despite not fully understanding things like "parallel worlds," Xia Luoluo remained optimistic.

“I don’t think things are that simple. Speaking of which, there are some things that I’m concerned about. For example, it seems that Sylvie has another ‘name’.”

Compared to Millie and the others she met, Sylvie seemed more like a "supporting character" in that area. However, she was undoubtedly an important thread connecting the present and the future.

"Another name? Oh, yes, some do. The Latras family members all have two names. Uh, does that count as exposing someone's privacy? If so, just pretend you didn't hear anything!"

The goddess of bathing scratched her head and said.

Since many members of the Latras family actually came from the "Incubation Institute," it's not surprising that Sylvie would revert to her original name in a world where the old order no longer exists.

However, recalling Millie's earlier description, the Goddess of Bath became somewhat concerned about Sylvie's future and her obsession with past wealth and money.

Although players of "Star Pattern" nicknamed Sylvie "Black Shop," the main reason was that once you collected all the rare works in the game and gave them to her, the items in her shop would become very cheap.

Sylvie's obsession with money is only considered normal.

"Also, Estria's parents are quite intriguing."

Because Millie spent most of the time peering into Estria's memories, she only overheard Estria's conversation with Alan in the very last short segment.

This might be information that you can't really do anything about even if you know it. But Millie is genuinely curious.

Not only Millie, but also the Bathing Goddess and Charlotte's curiosity was piqued.

"Since she was likely secretly following us and accidentally got involved, is it possible that her parents are among us?"

Xia Luolu guessed.

"Huh? So that means...my daughter!"

The goddess of bathing looked shocked.

"." "."

Millie and Charlotte imagined the beautiful, round image of the Bathing Goddess in her daily life, and thus eliminated one of the candidates.

Millie, who had lowered her gaze slightly, looked at her silver hair and suddenly paused.

Having spent so many years as "Miriam," Millie had almost forgotten that she was also capable of...
Considering that she is the same age as Sylvie, it wouldn't be surprising if she had an adult daughter in the future.

Millie suddenly felt a sense of panic.

She didn't know what she was panicking about, but the thought of having a daughter who was older than her, possibly living in the same world as her, stirred a strange flutter in her heart.

"Hmm, if Aya opened the spatial rift and left from here, then isn't it a bit strange that her parents are among us? Wouldn't she have saved us and taken us with her? Although parallel worlds might not involve things like the grandfather paradox, she probably wouldn't want to risk her parents being killed before she was born, right?"

The goddess of bathing made a very rational deduction.

"She doesn't even know who her mother is."

Millie instinctively offered a defense of Estheria.

"Yeah, she doesn't know who her mother is, but she seems to recognize her father. So, even if she's following someone, she should be following her father. Hmm!? Wait a minute! Is there only one man in our group!?"

"So, that means Professor Ritas?"

Millie and the Bathing Goddess immediately showed expressions of utter astonishment.

At this moment, they couldn't tell whether it was the fact that Estria might be Ritas's daughter that was incredibly surprising, or the fact that Ritas actually had a daughter that was even more chilling.

"Wait a minute. Isn't there another guy in our group? That guy named Miriam, Ritas's student."

Xia Luoluo asked, puzzled.

"Uh..." "Well, how should I put it, Miriam, cough cough cough cough, is definitely not involved in this world!"

The goddess of bathing spoke Miriam's name clearly and confidently, assuring him.

"Huh? How do you know? And that Ais thing is really that guy Ritas's daughter, which means she's also my Gu! Why are you throwing apples at me! Throwing them at me is one thing, but don't use golden apples! Aren't these the things that can bring us back to life? You should at least cherish them!"

After being hit by the bath goddess with a golden apple, Xia Luoluo picked it up and began to lecture the bath goddess.

While being lectured, Charlotte noticed that her attention had shifted from "Miriam," and the Goddess of Bath made a "Don't worry, I've got you covered" gesture from behind.

A short while later.

The Bath Goddess, somewhat deflated after being thoroughly annoyed by Xia Luoluo, began to revisit the topic.

"In short, I think it's highly likely that Aya is with us not because she found her parents or anything like that."

The reason the goddess of bathing said this was because she felt that it was impossible for Ritas to be Estria's father.

She had already deduced this when they discussed parallel worlds before.

It was precisely because Ritas died so early that Livis, left unchecked, became the world-destroying tree-man. How then could the long-gone Ritas have given birth to a daughter like Estria?
"If I had to say, Estria reminds me of someone."

"Who?"

Although Millie didn't say anything, she was listening very attentively.

"Yes, it's that girl. You might not be very familiar with Charlotte. Looking back at Aya's actions so far, you'll find that she always has a bit of... well, first of all, she's definitely very strong, with extremely powerful strength. But the first time we met, we accidentally saw her when she was destroying the Nest Demon. And the second time, it felt like she came to help Xiao Li, but she inexplicably yelled at Xiao Li, and coincidentally, Kurt saw it and she became very hesitant, almost getting beaten up by Kurt."

"And then look at this time. He was clearly strong enough to move freely in this world. But somehow, he was still captured, right? And, by accident, his memories, something he absolutely didn't want others to see, were seen."

"To sum it up, while she's incredibly skilled, there's something about her that doesn't quite fit the image of a strong person—hmm...careless!"

Upon hearing this, an image also appeared in Millie's mind.

"So, if Melsie continues to accumulate power and grows up to become a very powerful mage, is that what it feels like?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the image that Millie and the Goddess of Bath had in mind overlapped without a doubt.

"I just don't know if personality traits are hereditary."

Although the goddess of bathing added this sentence.

But the strange panic that had arisen in Millie's heart when she looked at her silver hair had inexplicably subsided.

After gossiping about other people's family affairs for a while without coming to any decisive conclusions,

The three of them had reached a point where they had to face the reality before them.

"So, what should we do next! Millie, Charlotte!"

"Even if you ask me..." "If I could, I'd like to lie down."

Charlotte and Millie each expressed their own opinions.

"tsk"

She smacked her lips, but the goddess of the bath couldn't really blame the two of them.

Putting aside whether her performance qualifies her for a trial, the current situation does indeed feel like a dead end.

The world of "bedtime reading" can be roughly divided into four areas.

The area with the "carrier pigeons" was conquered by the Bathing Goddess and Millie using a mechanic. The area with the "tin men" has fallen into the hands of the real enemy.

The snowy mountain area, which was probably the "unicorn" area, was forcibly destroyed by Estria, and it is now abruptly empty.

The location of the last "black cat" area is completely unknown.

Therefore, there are only two actions they can take now.

One option is to search for the Black Cat area, whose location is currently unknown, and venture into unexplored areas. The other option is to revisit the area where "Prista Town" is located to see if any new changes have occurred there after the snow-capped mountain region disappeared.

"It'll probably get dark soon, and we won't be able to explore any other places. So, let's go check out Prista first."

After thinking for a moment, the goddess of bathing made her decision.

"Sigh." "Okay."

"Why are you two young people so old-fashioned! Get up, we're leaving! And Xia Luoluo, give me back the golden apple!"

Urging the two to get up, the goddess of the bath extended her hand to Xia Luoluo.

When returning the golden apple, Xia Luoluo casually glanced at the goddess's palm and then asked,

"I suggest you wipe your hands; they're filthy. Besides, this golden apple might even bleed color."

As she spoke, Xia Luoluo checked her hand that had been holding the golden apple and found no marks.

"Color fading? Huh? When did this get on me? Tsk. Why can't I wipe this gold powder off?"

"Wait a minute, Sister Yu! Is that text?"

Millie quickly stopped him from trying to wipe the golden bath goddess stain off his hands with his skirt.

“Writing? Uh... it really is something, a ‘mirror’?”

Suddenly, the golden characters that appeared on the right palm of the Bathing Goddess caused the room to fall silent.

"What does this 'mirror' mean? No, before that, which bastard wrote on my hand!"

"Could it be some kind of code? A password? Is it the same kind of guidance as before?"

"Hmm, is it possible that they just want us to find a mirror?"

Facing the two people who looked like they were facing a formidable enemy, Xia Luoluo scratched her head and said.

"A mirror. A magic mirror from a fairy tale? But what does it have to do with hands, and it's golden."

"Mirrors reflect a person's true appearance. Considering the current time, does this mean we should point a mirror at the 'witch' and make her scare herself? We can't think of it that simply."

"So, how about we just get a mirror first and I'll do it myself?"

As the two petite faces of the Bathing Goddess and Millie huddled together, even studying the arrangement and strokes of the characters, they suddenly felt a slight chill in the air.

Turning their heads, they saw Charlotte, whose magical abilities had been enhanced in the fairy tale world, using her proficient ice magic to create a door-like floor-to-ceiling ice mirror.

"How about it?"

Charlotte stood with her hands on her hips, showing off her masterpiece.

"Hey Xia Luoluo, every time the word 'mirror' comes up, you create a mirror or something. You need to learn to think more. Waaaaah, I object! I violently object! I can walk, I can walk by myself!"

"Well... while it's certainly a pretty obvious hint, I think it's necessary to discuss whether we should follow it."

Amidst the goddess's screams and Millie's bewilderment, Charlotte grabbed the former by the ear and dragged her in front of the ice mirror.

"It's just a mirror. What's so special about it? It just reflects a pretty girl."

Just as the goddess of bathing muttered to herself and stood in front of the ice mirror...

The already somewhat blurry reflection of the Bathing Goddess in the ice mirror began to sway like the rippling surface of water.

Before she could utter a sound of surprise, her face in the ice mirror gradually transformed into a face she had always dreamed of.

"Why"

"Little Ri!?" "Professor!?" "Ritas!?"

With a sigh of utter helplessness, the black-haired youth reappeared before the three of them after a long absence.

(End of this chapter)