Miss Witch, even if we're poor, we can't sell ourselves!

Miya walked for a long time in the schoolyard of Tsuki no Mori.

It wasn't because she got lost. Although the campus was indeed ridiculously large, she had been following the navigation on her phone and was going in the right direction.

The real reason is that her legs are too short.

The straight-line distance from the main gate to the library tower is not far, but the campus design of Moon Forest follows a garden-style layout. Each path winds around a flower bed, a statue, or a small patch of glowing vines, turning what should have been a ten-minute journey into twice the distance.

For witches with exaggerated height and leg length, this is just a walking distance.

But for Miya, who is less than 1.5 meters tall, this was pure torture.

Her little leather shoes clattered on the stone pavement, her pace as quick as a kitten being chased.

There is another thing that is even more concerning.

As she passed a statue, two female students carrying textbooks walked by. One of them turned around and glanced at her, then tugged at her companion's sleeve and whispered something. The two of them turned around together, their lips curving into smiles, their eyes filled with "Oh my god, so cute!"

As she walked through the central plaza, a senior student who was handing out club flyers saw her. She forgot to hand over the flyer and stared at her for several seconds before Mi Ye came to her senses.

She stopped to catch her breath under a glowing vine tree. A witch sitting on a bench next to her, reading a book, looked up at her, then put down her book and said in the same tone one would instinctively make when a cat passes by, "So tiny."

Miya lowered her head and quickened her pace, the tips of her ears turning slightly red.

Fortunately, the stares weren't malicious. Most of the whispers she heard were things like, "Is she some teacher's daughter?", "So cute, I want to pinch her cheeks!", "She looks so tiny in her hoodie!", and one older woman who looked like a graduate student even squatted down and asked her, "Little sister, are you lost?"

Miya blushed, shook her head vigorously, and then ran away in a flash.

Finally, she stood at the foot of the library tower.

When she looked up, the hood of Miya's hoodie almost fell off.

The library tower in Moon Forest is one of the tallest buildings on the entire campus.

The gray-white stone walls have a warm luster from the wear and tear of time, and the surface of the tower is faintly visible with flowing blue patterns, which are traces of magical reinforcement.

It is said that this tower is over four hundred years old and has survived three magical earthquakes and one elemental storm without even a crack appearing.

But Miya's gaze did not linger on the building itself for long, because she was stunned by the sight at the tower's entrance.

An outrageously long queue snaked out from the main entrance of the tower, around the roots of the glowing ancient tree that is said to be older than the tower itself, and stretched all the way to the edge of the square, its tail almost touching the central fountain.

The group consisted entirely of young witches; some were carrying books, some were carrying bags, some were sitting on the ground dozing off, and some were chatting in small groups, their voices mingling together like a pot of porridge simmering slowly.

Miya stood on tiptoe and looked ahead.

At the front of the line was a makeshift long table piled high with textbooks, and several volunteers in Moon Forest uniforms were busily checking student information and distributing teaching materials.

It turned out to be a line of new students picking up their textbooks.

"It seems like this year's freshmen's reading lists are twice as many as last year's, according to my senior."

"Have you heard? Academician Meredith published a new paper last month. Apparently, she's going to teach an elective course for freshmen this year."

"My god, do you think you can even get a spot in Professor Meredith's class? Last time she offered a class, the registration system crashed in three seconds."

"By the way, do you know about that live stream this morning...?"

"Oh! You watched that too?! You got banned, hahaha!"

Miya reflexively pulled the hoodie up over her head and shrank half a step to the side.

She pulled her hat down low and carefully walked along the edge of the queue, trying to bypass the crowd and walk directly to the tower entrance.

Most of the witches in the group were chatting, and no one noticed the short figure shuffling forward along the corner of the wall.

As she approached the entrance, a hand politely blocked her way.

"Hello student, please line up to collect your textbooks."

A girl wearing a Moon Forest volunteer uniform bent down, her smile warm and patient.

Her light green short hair had curled ends, her eyes were a gentle almond color, and she wore a volunteer name tag around her neck with the words "volunteer" written on it.

[First Grade - Ella]

She bent over a bit too far, after all, Mi Ye's height only reached her chest.

"Uh, I'm not here to pick up a book."

Miya pulled her hat back, revealing a small, round face that was slightly flushed from walking for too long.

Ella tilted her head, clearly not recognizing her.

She was about to say something when Mi Ye reached into her bag, pulled out the letter, and handed it to her.

The blue sealing wax on the envelope shimmered faintly in the morning light; it was the school emblem of Tsuki no Mori, a crescent moon cradling a star.

In the Moon Forest, only academicians are authorized to use this color of sealing wax.

Ella stared at the sealing wax for a while, then took it and carefully examined the signature on the seal. She then suddenly looked up and handed the letter back to Miya.

"Please come in! No need to queue! This way, please!"

Her voice suddenly became much more flustered, and the composed and polite volunteer image she had just maintained shattered. She hurriedly led Mi Ye into the entrance, and didn't forget to add a sentence to her retreating figure.

"Um—the elevator is on the left!"

Miya put the letter back into her bag, politely said thank you, and then walked into the tower's main entrance.

The line behind her fell silent the moment she crossed the threshold, then erupted into chaos.

"Wait—did that little kid go in?!"

"Why doesn't she have to wait in line?"

"Didn't you see that envelope in his hand? It has blue wax seal; that's a letter of recommendation from an academician!"

"That can't be right, I just scanned her panel with the probe—"

"I scanned it too, and it's all at the bottom level... Sigh, I can't seem to get her charm rating."

"Could she be the daughter of an academician?"

"Keep your voice down! They haven't gone far yet!"

Miya heard it all, every single word.

The noise was so loud that even after she entered the tower lobby, the sounds behind her still clearly followed through the open doors, buzzing around her like a swarm of uninvited bees.

The tips of her ears turned from pink to deep red, and her fingers unconsciously tightened their grip on the strap of her handbag.

Those reviews were right; her stats were indeed terrible.

If it weren't for Meredith's letter, she wouldn't even have the right to stand here.

But she didn't turn back, nor did she slow down.

She also wanted to become stronger and wanted to start on the same footing as everyone else.

Miya tucked her chin into the collar of her hoodie, lowered her head, and quickened her pace until she was almost sprinting forward with her head down.

The hall was paved with dark marble tiles, and sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows of the dome, casting beautiful patches of light on the floor.

To the left was a row of elevators, their brass doors gleaming, reflecting her small, hurried shadow as she ran past.

She reached out and pressed the up button. The elevator doors opened with a ding, and she slipped inside. She pressed the twelfth floor button, then leaned against the back wall of the elevator and let out a long breath.

As the elevator slowly ascended, Mi Ye's heartbeat calmed down.

She looked at her blurry reflection in the bronze elevator door, and the girl in the reflection was also looking at her.

Her light golden hair was flattened by the hat, her cheeks were still red, but her eyes were unwavering.

She reached up to smooth her hair, took off her hat, patted her hoodie, and then stood up straight.

The elevator stopped on the twelfth floor with a ding, and the doors slowly slid open, revealing a quiet corridor in front of her.

The walls on both sides of the corridor are covered with dark wood paneling, and every few steps there is a framed magic chart hanging on the wall. The geometric patterns on the chart light up slightly when someone passes by.

At the end of the corridor was a half-open dark brown wooden door, with a line of words engraved on a brass plaque next to it.

[Academician Meredith's Research Lab]

Miya stood at the door, took a deep breath, then raised her hand and knocked.