Chapter 30: Scapegoating

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Aileen, who woke up right on time, looked at the flower pot by her window sill instinctively.
A green mallow was growing in the black terracotta flower pot, basking in the warm sun.
Sometimes a ray of sunlight would shine through the curtain, making the fur on the stem glisten. It looked gentle and adorable.
“Well done. If we could make sure it isn’t poisonous, then it could turn from a wild vegetable into a real vegetable. Aileen, you have just created history.”
Aileen’s tan face began to blush as she recalled the words that Mister Ajaf had sent her.
She didn’t expect that the wild vegetable she had cultivated for fun would receive such a rave review from Mister Ajaf.
“Mom, did you see this? I’ve met my life’s mentor and he’s formidable. I finally found my life’s direction under his tutelage; I will work hard towards it to make sure that people never suffer the pains of hunger again,” Aileen prayed to her mother softly before she leaped off her comfortable couch with excitement.
She put on her pilled white mage’s robe and carefully placed the purple snow wood magic wand—the one that Mister Ajaf had awarded her—under the belt, before she conjured the “Spring of Cleansing.”
Then, she quickly accelerated the growth of a dwarf fruit tree on the balcony, then plucked a fruit off it and ate it. After that, she picked up the pot with the mallow plant and dashed out of her dormitory.
She couldn’t wait to meet Mister Ajaf and show him her research findings.
She had a premonition that it definitely wasn’t poisonous.
Many mage apprentices pointed and talked about her as she walked past them.
This made Aileen, who had never received any attention before, rather uncomfortable. She had vaguely heard the words “purple snow wood magic wand” and realized why she was attracting people’s attention.
Even though she looked calm at the moment, she still couldn’t help feeling a little shy and proud.
She should be proud of being appreciated by a big shot like Ajaf, right?
The gentle breeze blew by her ear and lifted up her hair. The sun was so beautiful.
Her footsteps began to feel light and quick. Sometimes, she even skipped.
However, just as she was about to turn at a corner, she halted her footsteps instinctively and stood to the side…
Because a fifty-year-old red-robed mage instructor had gone straight toward her.
It was a mage instructor, also a member of the “Willis Magic Plantation Federation”—March.
She had intended to let Mage Instructor March go first, but he suddenly stopped and stared at her like a hawk. “Purple Snow Wood Magic Wand? You are Ajaf’s assistant, Aileen?”
“Yes, Lord March.” Aileen quickly placed her right hand over her chest and bowed.
“Given your mage apprentice status, how could you skip around? It’s unbecoming,” March lectured.
Aileen lowered her head, not daring to say a word.
She didn’t know how she had annoyed March, but her early years had taught her one thing—as long as a person held absolute power, certain anger didn’t need to have a reason.
Just like a child could kill a beetle at will and nobody would blame him.
Aileen’s quiet demeanor reminded March of Ajaf’s indifferent expression and he became even angrier.
He said sarcastically, “You don’t look like a noble mage, you resemble a lowly farmer instead!”
Aileen kept her head low in silence; her thin and tan face was as calm as a rock.
Aileen’s attitude made March even angrier!
He might have felt better if she would have refuted him and shown a hint of anger, like clenching her fists.
But, she was simply too calm!
Her accommodating demeanor made him feel his humiliation was ineffective, making him feel frustrated, depressed and furious!
Just like facing that hateful Ajaf.
Shortly before that encounter, he had visited Ajaf in representation of the “Willis Magic Plantation Federation.” He said they were willing to exchange a little of the plantations’ profits with Ajaf, for some of the mage apprentices.
However, Ajaf rejected his proposal immediately, without any hesitation.
No matter what March said, threatening or enticing, he only received one reply, “You have to ask Dandell about this. I will agree if he agrees.”
Ajaf’s words made March feel extremely frustrated. Could it be that Ajaf was Dandell’s spokesperson?
Or was Dandell unhappy with their offered price?
March had no idea.
He could only leave in anger after dealing with Ajaf, who didn’t accept any of his approaches.
He became angrier and angrier on his way back; he wanted nothing more than to turn around and destroy the Forest of Magic!
He didn’t expect he would bump into Ajaf’s assistant, Aileen, at a corner.
“Huh? Why are you holding a mallow?” March’s attention was shifted onto the flower pot in Aileen’s arms.
Aileen pursed her lips and said in a low voice, “This is Mister Ajaf’s test subject. He asked me to take it back to care for it.”
Aileen deliberately mentioned Mister Ajaf, hoping to extricate herself from that trouble.
She didn’t expect her words would draw March’s curiosity instead.
His eyes narrowed and Aileen’s flower pot began to float toward March under the grasp of “Mage’s Hand.”
March checked it briefly before his expression suddenly became ferocious.
“Are you lying?”
“I-I am not.”
“This is just an ordinary mallow. How dare you say this is a test subject? If it really was a test subject, why would he allow you, a mage apprentice, to take it out of the laboratory? Do you think I don’t know wood-spirit magic?”
March smirked.
“Clang!” A loud crash sounded.
The terracotta flower pot was smashed to the ground. The soil and terracotta pieces were scattered all over and the mallow was limply lying on the ground!
Aileen’s pupils constricted. She disregarded the shards on the ground as she quickly knelt down to try and save the mallow.
However, March tightened his grip in the air and that mallow was instantly grabbed and turned into a mash by an invisible strength.
Aileen who was trying to save it, was utterly stunned!
She stared at March in disbelief. She couldn’t understand… Why would he do that?
“Ah. You’re a mage apprentice, how could you behave so immorally? You’re a disgrace to magic!” March lectured. He even added sarcastically, “A crooked stick will have a crooked shadow!”
He left after scolding her.
A few mage apprentices were looking at them from afar, feeling either a touch of schadenfreude or shock.
Some of them even posted that incident onto the school’s forum anonymously.
Aileen was stunned.
She stared at the vegetable mash on the ground in a daze. After a while, she stood up calmly and used earth-based magic to push the soil and shards into the garden before leaving with a calm expression.
Mister Ajaf was tidying up the seeds when she arrived at the Forest of Magic. Obviously, those had all been gathered the day before.
He greeted Aileen warmly when he saw her arrive and asked about the mallow’s cultivation progress.
Mister Ajaf’s warm demeanor made Aileen feel much better; she smiled sincerely as she shared the mallow’s cultivation progress in detail. Then, she took out the homozygous seeds that she had deliberately kept from the day prior.
“Well done. I will ask Dorman to check if it’s poisonous and do a mutagenesis later. If we could make it taste better, it would very likely be our laboratory’s first achievement!”
Yu Sheng’an’s words made Aileen feel even happier. She quickly said, “Mister, should I hasten the growth of a batch first to keep more seeds?”
“It’s fine. Let Dorman do it. His magical power is strong and plentiful so we might as well make good use of it. Save your magical power. We still have an important mission today.”
Yu Sheng’an’s care for Aileen in his words touched her. She held back her tears and replied, “Yes!”
After a short while, the mage apprentices began to arrive and they looked at Aileen strangely.
But nobody dared to comment freely as Ajaf was present.
And then, Dorman arrived with his granddaughter, Dorothy.
Unsurprisingly, the mage apprentices who found out that Dorman had joined the magical experiment were quite shocked. They began to think that Mister Ajaf possessed very advanced wood-spirit magic.
After giving them their assignments, Dorman suddenly moved close to Yu Sheng’an and said, “Mister Ajaf, I heard March made trouble for Aileen. Do you need me to intervene?”
His granddaughter told him about the incident and he was ecstatic when he first found out.
That was his best chance to curry Ajaf’s favor.
Yu Sheng’an was shocked to hear that, “March made trouble for Aileen?”
Dorman was taken aback, “You didn’t know about it?”