Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 236: Officially Joining the Team

At this moment, Deya was squatting inside the lumber mill searching for usable materials.

The lumber mill connected to the outside of the nest, where huge, aesthetically unpleasing machines, like fishing rods, plunged into the dense forests of the outside world. Driven by spirits, environmentally friendly trees rapidly induced by time were transformed by the machines into cubic logs that fell into the nest.

Logically speaking, Fierce Wolf Dragons wouldn’t use lumber, and with lumber taking up so much space, the nest should quickly become overcrowded. However, the lumber mill didn’t actually have much lumber.

While searching for materials, Deya was also taking lessons from her sisters:

White Queen: “Princess, you can’t just hand things over so directly.”

Deya: “Should I throw them instead?”

White Queen: “That’s not what I mean… You’ll make the Observer feel awkward.”

Deya: “(￣△￣；)I don’t understand.”

Black Butler: “Please, just let White do it. I can’t stand to watch this.”

Black Butler: “Who gave you the courage? Little Red, say something to her!”

Red Death Eater: “Something.”

At that moment, Deya heard footsteps and turned her head to see the Observer pulling the Swordswoman over.

“Why is your personality so different today compared to yesterday, witch?”

“Ah? That’s because yesterday was the White Queen, and today is the Secret Princess.”

Deya didn’t hide anything and spoke very frankly.

Black Butler: “I knew she would sell us all out.”

“The Observer has known about the existence of the Little Witch and the Secret Princess for a long time, we couldn’t have kept it a secret.” White Queen tried very hard to find excuses for Deya.

“Huh?” Deya blinked vigorously, as if pricked by a needle: “Don’t you know? Did I say something wrong? Observer, didn’t you tell her?”

“I don’t know the details myself, that’s why I came to ask you.” Ashe spread his hands: “Witch, do you want to share your secret with us? If you don’t want to, you can refuse, just like I’ve never asked the Swordswoman what ‘Small horn’ means.”

Deya adjusted her glasses, quickly receiving advice from the sisterly council: “Actually, it’s not a big deal…”

Just like Sonya could freely vent to the Observer about the roommate academy and society, the Witch sisters also considered the Swordswoman and the Observer to be virtual friends with whom it was safe to share secrets—firstly, because the Observer already knew their secrets, so concealing them was pointless, and secondly, because the Swordswoman and the Observer did not intersect in reality, which was evident from the excitement of their encounter in the Virtual Realm the previous night. White Queen believed they might be from two different Kingdoms.

Furthermore, since the Observer always appeared before them in an illusory form, White Queen speculated that he might also belong to a different Kingdom and wondered through what Miracle he was bound to them.

In other words, they, the Observer, and the Swordswoman, were all strangers from different Kingdoms.

No matter what the Observer and the Swordswoman knew, it could not affect the sisters’ lives.

Therefore, not just Deya, but all the sisters except for the more reserved White Queen, were eager to reveal their existence to strangers.

“I am White Queen, please take good care of the Princess,” said the gentle and composed big sister who had made a brief appearance the previous night in a white suit+skirt+absolute territory.

“I am Red Death Eater.” With red hair and red clothes, her fierce gaze and alert demeanor resembled that of a brown bear living in the wild.

“I am Black Butler, mainly responsible for helping the sisters come up with insults.” Dressed in a proper butler’s uniform, with hair neatly tied behind her neck, her androgynous attire was quite dashing, and her refined yet spirited facial features made one wonder if her mouth could only spout pearls of wisdom.

“And then there’s me, Secret Princess!” Deya returned to her original appearance, proudly standing with her hands on her hips: “However, the Observer has given me the nickname Witch, so you can just call me Witch. I will mainly lead the activities in the Virtual Realm, so I am the Witch!”

It was not just Sonya; even Ashe was amazed—switching personalities could automatically change clothes and hair color, faster than a magical girl warrior. Was this a natural talent that came with several skins?

“Do you have any other sisters, Witch?” Sonya asked curiously.

“There are…” Deya paused: “But they are all busy with other matters and won’t appear for the time being.”

Could it be multitasking in such a cool way?

Ashe suddenly felt an impulse to split personalities as well—creating one to work and train in reality, another to fight and adventure in the Virtual Realm, while he himself would be responsible for Rest and Entertainment. It seemed like a perfect division of labor.

However, it was just a thought. Putting aside the fact that he didn’t have the ability, even if he did, the most likely outcome would be: one Ashe has water to drink, two Ashes carry water to drink, three Ashes have no water to drink… After all, they were all Ashe; why should one get to laze around while the others work?

His current minor goal was still to tap into the potential of the Substitute spirit, so that one day Ashe could live the life of a Sorcerer capitalist exploiting spirits.

“Why are you in charge of Exploration in the Virtual Realm?” Ashe suddenly realized a problem: “Logically speaking, shouldn’t it be the Red Death Eater, who is responsible for Battle, to take on that role?”

“Because I know a little bit about what the other sisters can do, which makes it easier to handle various emergencies. If it really comes down to it, we can switch out,” Deya explained, picking up a piece of raw material from the pile of wood: “Besides, exploring the Virtual Realm is tiring, and among the sisters, only I am interested in the Virtual Realm… Hm? Oh, alright.”

Deya suddenly fixed her gaze on Ashe, asking, “Observer, Observer, what do you think of White Queen, Red Death Eater, and Black Butler?”

Sonya was taken aback by the question—it was a strange way to ask, similar to how her classmates would introduce male Nobles to her with the tone of selling fruit.

“Hm?” Ashe thought for a moment: “White Queen is dignified and impressive, Red Death Eater is sharp and wild, Black Butler is cool and dashing… Witch, you have three very good sisters.”

“What about the Swordswoman, what do you think?” Deya then turned to Sonya.

“Basically the same as the Observer,” Sonya, with her undeniable social talents, clapped her hands and said: “But each of you is so beautiful. I like the charm of White Queen, the coolness of Red Death Eater, and Black Butler is exactly my type. Witch, you yourself are so cute… Can I have all of you?”

Deya’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and she suddenly jumped to hug Ashe and Sonya, making happy humming noises through her nose. Ashe and Sonya were a bit taken aback by her sudden bear hug, getting pressed to the ground as the Witch rubbed against them like a little bear.

“Witch, this sudden—”

“We’re so happy!” the Witch lifted her head, her charming face brimming with an infectious smile: “The White Queen and the others rarely show themselves in public, almost no one knows they exist. You two are the only ones… They’ve always wanted to know how others would see them, and your approval delights them, delights us all! If you don’t believe me, let them tell you—”

Lise Deya adjusted her glasses and suddenly transformed into the persona of the Black Butler.

The Black Butler sternly declared, “That’s not true, she’s talking nonsense!”

“I am not!” Deya switched back, huffing, “Black Butler, your face was clearly flushed with joy just a moment ago! We all saw it!”

“I knew she would sell us all out!” cursed the Black Butler.

“I rest my case.” The White Queen gave up the struggle.

The Witch sat up, suddenly recalling something, “Right, in the picture book ‘The House of the North Wind,’ the characters became friends after sharing secrets… So, are we friends now?”

“You shared secrets with us, but we haven’t shared ours with you,” Ashe pointed out.

Deya blinked, her socially awkward circuits overloading in the moment.

Ah, is this a rejection? What to do next? I really want to find a hole to crawl into. Maybe it’s time to switch, White Queen save me—

“But we have a long, long future ahead of us in the Virtual Realm,” Ashe stood up and dusted off his pants. “We’ll find time to share our stories.”

Sonya sat up, gently rubbing Deya’s stubborn cowlick, letting out a resigned sigh.

“I’m just an ordinary college girl, I don’t have any sensational secrets to share with you.”

Black-and-White Witch Lise Deya, officially joined the team.