Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 343 The Adventures of Ritas
Because the ice mirror that Charlotte created with magic was rather rough, its clarity was at most only at the level of "smooth".

Even so, the three of them immediately recognized Ritas.

"I didn't expect that even though I gave you such obvious hints, it still took you so long to contact me."

It was clear that they believed that after leaving a clear clue, the Goddess of Bath and the others would contact Ritas the moment they disappeared in the snowy mountain area. He had been waiting on the other side of the mirror the whole time.

"So, if a similar situation arises again, do I need to write out specific instructions or something for you?"

"Heh heh~ I'm not afraid to tell you. In all my life, I've never actually read an instruction manual carefully!"

The goddess of bathing said with great pride.

"." "." "."

While speechless, Millie sensed it. The familiar scenes were gradually "returning."

"Ritas, what have you been doing all this time?!"

Under the golden apple tree, facing Ritas's reflection in the mirror, Charlotte questioned him with dissatisfaction.

To put it simply, you could say we did absolutely nothing.

Ritas slightly raised his gaze, paused as if gazing into the distance and reminiscing, and then calmly responded.

"That's too simplistic! Don't try to fool us. You'd better explain everything clearly to me today!"

Charlotte, who knew very well that if she didn't ask for clarification, Ritas might actually "simplify" almost everything, persisted.

"Even if you ask me to explain, I didn't do many of these things. I was just dragged into it without knowing anything. Besides, what I did probably won't help the current situation. I'm not even sure how long this situation can last. So, is it really okay to spend all my precious time on things that are already in the past?"

After Ritas said that, Charlotte and Millie did start to hesitate.

Only the goddess of the bath knew that, when facing someone like Ritas who was exceptionally skilled at "bluffing," she had to stick to her initial ideas, otherwise she would be led by the nose the whole time.
"Stop talking nonsense and get to the point, Xiao Li!"

Faced with the attitude of the goddess of bathing, Ritas remained silent for a moment, then looked at her with a slightly strange expression and spoke.

"I don't care, but you'd better not regret it, Goddess of Bath."

"Of course not!"

The goddess of the bath felt a sudden pang of unease, but ultimately made up her mind.

And so, Ritas began to briefly recount what had happened after the attack in the fortress that day, filling in the final gap in this ongoing "fairy tale."

"Actually, if we're considered a faction in this world, then I should be the first one to awaken in that faction."

"Eh?"

Ritas's first sentence immediately drew surprised looks from the other three.

"While it's not exactly concrete evidence, when I opened my eyes, there were exactly one hundred golden apples on this golden apple tree."

"So those apples were used by you, Xiaoli!?"

Having resolved a long-standing question in her heart, the goddess of bathing couldn't help but speak out.

Millie and Charlotte, on the other hand, flanked the goddess who kept interrupting Ritas's narration, covering her mouth with their hands.

"After all, I was suddenly thrown into this world and attacked in a way that was completely beyond common sense. So, logically speaking, I should have been quite confused. But in reality, I quickly gained a certain understanding of the situation I was facing. Because, through a dream-like process, I understood the 'role' I should play in this world and the 'mission' I should accomplish."

"Have you all read 'Dorothy's Bedtime Stories' yet?"

Faced with Ritas's question, apart from Xia Luoluo who looked completely bewildered, the other two nodded emphatically.

"Then you should know that the story is only 'Part 1'. Besides that part, there are also 'Part 2' and 'Part 3'."

"Eh?"

The goddess of bathing couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, then made an "excuse me" gesture to the others.

She thought the story wasn't over and there should be a "sequel." But she didn't expect there to be a "middle."

"Let me give you a brief overview. The middle volume tells the story of Wayne and her four companions encountering a 'fairy' during their travels. The fairy's name is... well, 'Dorothy'."

"Waaah."

This time, the goddess of bathing made a strange noise, but the other two did not blame her.

It can only be said that authors who allow themselves to appear as major characters in their novels are undoubtedly the type who "pain" a lot.

"The fairy Dorothy waved her magic wand. And then, with effortless grace, she granted the wishes of Wayne's four companions, giving them what they needed and desired—but don't be so quick to question. Although it's a fairy tale, there's a twist. To sum it up, while the fairy granted her four companions' wishes, granting them the happiness they longed for, it was only for a short time. Just a few days later, everything she had given them vanished."

"Naturally, the four companions were very dissatisfied with this, and together with Wayne, they went to find Dolores again. Dolores explained that the magic had simply failed and reapplied it. But a few days later, the magic failed again. The same thing kept happening. The only difference was that the magic's duration was getting shorter and shorter. Finally, Dolores confessed. Her magic actually required materials. But those materials were long gone."

"However, there is still a chance. Because a miracle has happened. Those materials that were originally impossible to replenish now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be obtained in an inexhaustible quantity. And the raw material for those materials is Wayne."

"?"

The three girls listening to the story tilted their heads in bewilderment at the sudden turn of events, their heads filled with questions, some positive and some negative.

"And so, in the final chapter of the 'middle volume,' the four companions, already deeply immersed in the blissful fantasies created by Dolores, rushed forward and tore Wayne into five pieces."

"So what kind of fairy tale is this?!"

The goddess's involuntary complaints represent the shared sentiments of the three girls.

Although the first volume of "Dorothy's Bedtime Stories" already had a strong sense of children's cult, I never expected the second volume to go so far.

"Then comes the second volume."

"It's amazing that you could calmly continue talking like that."

Amid Charlotte's reflections, Ritas continued his narration.

"A new character appears in the next volume. Hmm, his name is Ritas."

Ritas seemed somewhat uncomfortable as he said these words.

It's probably a feeling of itchiness all over. "'Ritas' is an older brother who came looking for his younger sister after she suddenly disappeared, out of concern. To avoid confusion, we'll use 'older brother' instead of his name from now on."

"And this brother's mission, naturally, is to rescue his sister. As for the process, it's roughly about finding those four companions first. Because after tearing Wayne apart, each of these companions devoured a part of Wayne's soul and gained a false sense of satisfaction through the power within her soul. Therefore, the brother needs to truly fulfill the wishes of these companions in order to retrieve Wayne's soul and piece it back together."

"Once all four pieces are collected, the elder brother must confront Dolores, who is actually a 'witch' disguised as a fairy. Dolores's true aim is to destroy Wayne's soul and possess her young and beautiful body. In the end, after a series of twists and turns, the elder brother retrieves Wayne's last piece of soul from Dolores. Then, together with Wayne, they defeat the terrible witch. From then on, they live happily ever after with their four companions—"

"I see." "While it is indeed a good ending," "it's just a little..."

After listening to the story, the three girls frowned, exchanged glances, and then a similar word came to mind.

Unpleasant odor.

I don't know if the pit I dug earlier was too big, or if it was a problem with the narrator, Ritas.

But in short, this happy ending, filled with an unpleasant smell, left them with absolutely no sense of satisfaction.

"Let's leave the story itself aside for now. You should understand why, after reading these stories, I knew my 'mission' from the very beginning."

The three girls nodded.

After all, the older brother in the story is simply called "Ritas".

"However, under these circumstances, I naturally will not follow others' expectations, follow the path laid out by others, or act like a fairy tale character."

"What kind of rebellious mentality is this? Well, it's not entirely incomprehensible."

Because they were either suddenly attacked, or even if they weren't attacked, they were pulled into a "script" without their consent.

Therefore, given the existence of an inherently antagonistic relationship, disobeying the enemy's plans seems to be the right choice.

"Although it's somewhat dangerous to directly show a rebellious attitude under unfavorable and unclear circumstances, I thought that I am the 'protagonist' of this world. This world cannot function without me in a true sense, so I made some rather bold attempts."

Ritas continued.

Ritas skipped over a lot of the bold attempts in this part.
"Among them, the most effective attempts were probably those related to 'power.' This is yet another world that doesn't allow mages to use magic freely."

Ritas's words were tinged with helplessness.

He might feel anger rising within him after encountering this situation once or twice.

But after many more times, all he felt was helplessness.

"Fortunately, after my first encounter with 'death,' things took a turn for the better."

Ritas said casually, turning his gaze to Millie.

"Due to some past experiences, I have gained a new understanding of the 'essence' and 'source' of power. Or rather, some things that were incomprehensible before, I now have a different perspective on. How to use magic freely in this world? The answer is the golden apple."

After listening to Ritas's words, Millie paused for a moment before realizing that this was her teacher, instructing her.

"The golden apple of this world emits immense power when it takes effect. It could even be said to be on a scale that reconstructs the very fabric of this world. In our world, magical particles are one of the foundations and roots of the world. Therefore, the power contained within the golden apple in this world is similar, but of even greater magnitude. We ourselves cannot use this power. Because we do not belong to this world, and that power is not necessarily available to all mages like magical particles. However, because we have methods to force this power to take effect, we have the opportunity to observe it closely, experience it firsthand, and even attempt to interfere, ultimately gaining a deeper understanding of this power."

"Does the professor mean that I should also try to use the power of the golden apple to cast spells?"

Listening to Ritas's words, and combining them with some of Sophia's research that Little Ritas had previously instilled in her, Millie felt as if she could vaguely grasp something and asked...

"No, you need to create, or rather, 'transform.' Let's say we're making a loaf of bread. Someone puts an apple on the table and asks us to make bread with that apple too. Usually, we can't fulfill that request because apples aren't suitable for making bread. Bread-making techniques wouldn't yield good results with apples. However, if we change or create a technique to process apples, making applesauce or apple pie, then the problem can be solved to some extent. And these are things we can actually do without a doubt. Because even though our culinary abilities aren't fully revealed until we actually make a loaf of bread, they're still very much an abstract concept—something we can't see or touch normally. But these 'abilities' do exist."

"Is this the 'mage's way'?"

Millie, who was absorbing Ritas's teachings in a familiar way, pondered for a moment and then asked this question.

Just as Ritas had said before, a mage can only demonstrate his magical prowess the moment he casts a spell.

But those magical abilities are something that will always exist.

Therefore, even in a world where magical particles do not exist, as long as something similar to magical particles can be found, a skilled mage should be able to construct a system similar to magic to cast spells unique to this world.

"Um"

Ritas nodded.

The goddess of the bath before the mirror sensed a hint of relief in Ritas's expression.

"Wait a minute. I remember there were only about seventy golden apples on the tree at the beginning. Little Li, you certainly didn't use that many golden apples. You just used them for theoretical analysis or something, didn't you? In reality, what did you do with those powers?"

"."

After a brief silence, Ritas slowly spoke.

"I did try some things. For example, because the creator of this world has very loose control over it, I wanted to see if I could take control."

"Hey"

Ritas spoke as if he had done some small experimentation.

But in reality, it's like trying to steal other people's magic, even wanting to steal from the fairy tale world—it's a death wish.

"As you can see, I failed. That's why I'm in this situation now. Before answering my question about my current predicament, I want to ask a question, Goddess of Bathing. No, I should say all of you."

As Ritas spoke, he glanced at the other three people present, looking rather bewildered.

"Goddess of Bathing, is this your true form?"

"Uh, no. I'm not bad now, but the real me is even more youthful and beautiful!"

"If that's the case, haven't you ever considered whose body the Goddess of Bath is currently using?"

Ritas finished speaking.

The force of this question seemed to have a slight delay before it slowly began to spread.

".Eh?"

The goddess of the bath, whose forehead was slightly darkened, seemed to understand, after a moment of stunned silence, why Ritas had initially said he hoped she wouldn't regret it.

(End of this chapter)