Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 178: Rebellious Disciple and Inverted Polaris

unlike the pointed ears of elves, they were unmistakably human.

Such a trait, in Hathaway’s memory, matched only one race——

“Human?”

She spoke the word softly, the term sounding slightly unfamiliar on her tongue.

She had been raised in the Elven Royal Court since childhood. When the Cataclysm broke out, Hathaway was still very young and had never had the chance to venture out.

After that, the Royal Court was cut off and fell into the mortal world.

Under the curtain of Eternal Night, the Lost Isle had become her only home and refuge.

Because of this, even with nearly a thousand years of experience, Hathaway had only ever read about humans in inherited tomes and illustrated manuscripts.

This was the first time she had seen a living human being.

“Why would a human appear here?”

“And why can you use this source-less power from the Starrealm?”

The Golden Elf’s pale gold eyes showed a flicker of emotion, but quickly settled into calm.

Ripples of ancient mystery flowed around her, healing her injuries and mending her torn robe.

Then, floating steadily in the void, she looked at the boy before her with a hint of guardedness and spoke calmly.

She was no delicate, naive girl unaware of the world. She was a true Legendary, the Ninth Seat of the Council.

Even if she had been emotionally shaken just moments ago, faced now with this mysterious human, Hathaway quickly used her relics to stabilize her state.

No matter what, his sudden appearance was far too suspicious to ignore.

According to ancient texts, humans rarely broke through to Legendary rank. Yet the presence this boy gave off far surpassed that level.

“Source-less energy from the Starrealm?”

The boy thought for a moment, then waved his wand, dispelling the previous flash spell. “You mean mana?”

“Now that you mention it, I hadn’t sensed mana back in the Material Plane. Only after entering the Starrealm did I start to feel it... So mana originally came from the depths of the Starrealm in the First Era?”

“If it’s energy without a source, then discovering and learning to use it isn’t all that strange.”

“Oh right, by the laws and rules of a plane, constructing a functional model to channel and apply mana——”

“That’s the process known as Arcane research.”

“And ultimately——”

“To distort reality and reshape nature.”

“To achieve that miracle called magic.”

Arcana.

And, magic.

Listening to the boy’s explanation, Hathaway felt as if a brand-new door was slowly opening before her.

Even if she could only glimpse a tiny sliver through the crack,

the beauty of what lay beyond had already captured her full attention.

But she quickly shook her head, forcing herself to suppress that stir of emotion.

“Can you tell me?”

“How would a true human appear in this place?”

She looked at the black-haired boy leaning casually on the mech and asked quietly.

If she were still the carefree child she once was in the Royal Court, she might have pursued the wonders he described freely.

But now, she bore not only her own fate,

but the weight of the entire Golden Elf race, and the legacy of countless Council elders across these nine hundred years.

She had to be cautious. She could only be cautious.

“Why I’m here?”

The boy knocked lightly on the mech’s shell with the back of his knuckle, thinking for a moment before replying.

“Well… maybe I just happened to be passing by?”

But in response to that answer, Hathaway merely shook her head lightly.

“No, you’re lying.”

“A Golden Elf’s spiritual intuition is unmatched, even among Gold and Silver lineages. That was the answer my intuition gave me.”

“Our meeting wasn’t just a coincidence.”

……

Tch——

So High Elves had cheat-level racial talents like this?

Xia Ya couldn’t help but blink.

Anything involving spirituality or the spirit realm was just ridiculously unfair.

Wait.

Even though he was only Legendary now,

if his teacher could see through his lie without him guarding or masking his spiritual energy…

then back when he was studying in the Knowledge City of Lokiah…

Xia Ya suddenly remembered how, years ago,

he lied about spending all night reviewing notes when in fact,

he’d spent the whole night napping in Little Ai’s lap—

and the way his teacher had looked at him, with that deep, unreadable gaze.

So he had unknowingly died of embarrassment that many times as a kid, huh?

He cleared his throat, tossed those messy thoughts aside, and looked seriously at the Golden Elf girl before him.

And to think—even in the First Era, his teacher was this guarded.

Compared to Sylvianna, who could be won over with a grilled fish at first meeting,

this difficulty level was at least several times higher.

Well, that made sense.

Even Xia Ya hadn’t expected that his teacher, even in the First Era, wasn’t some naive girl—

but a golden-haired old gr… golden-haired beauty.

“All right, you’re right. It wasn’t a coincidence.”

“I just thought… what if I told you it was because I felt the unbreakable bond between us——”

“So, I crossed the ruins of the Ancient Dragons’ Royal Court alone, willingly—traveled across the entire Endless Sea, across the vast Starrealm and countless dimensional rifts, just to meet you… and you still wouldn’t believe me, would you?”

Hathaway’s pale golden eyes widened slightly.

She really shouldn’t believe it.

After all, that explanation was far too clumsy—it sounded no different from a fairytale.

Yes, there were many bards among the elves who sang of heroic epics,

but Hathaway had long outgrown the age of believing in bedtime stories.

She knew very well that those tales of so-called destined meetings—

and the prince on a pure white unicorn who always arrived at the most desperate moment to save the damsel from danger—

were just tricks penned by authors to amuse children.

And yet.

Her spiritual intuition, born of the Golden Elves, told her with piercing clarity—

This was no deception, no veiled lie hidden beneath a masked soul.

The answer he had given… was the truth.

He had truly crossed an unknown number of subdimensions and lower planes,

drawn by some inexplicable bond between them,

just to meet her here.

“If you can tell when I’m lying, then that’ll make conversations between us much easier.”

“I hold no ill intent toward the elves of the Lost Isle—or toward you. In fact, quite the opposite. I’m a genuine advocate of interspecies harmony.”

“Though I’m a pureblood human, I hold goodwill toward all races equally.”

“If possible, I wouldn’t mind helping your kin on the Lost Isle escape their current plight.”

Xia Ya spoke sincerely.

Still not a lie, but a heartfelt truth.

“So, beautiful Golden Elf lady…”

“Why not give me a little of your trust?”

He paused briefly.

“Come with me, and in this age before the Weave has formed—before anything has sprouted—”

“Let’s forge a new era together, one called magic.”

“Oh, and I haven’t even introduced myself yet.”

Xia Ya smiled,

then reached out his hand to the girl before him.

“My name is Xia Ya. Xia Ya Egut.”

“I’m a Beastmaster... and also a Wizard.”

Beastmaster...

Wizard...

Hathaway repeated those two unfamiliar terms to herself.

And—

Xia Ya Egut.

As she thought about it, the Golden Elf also slowly extended her pale hand and placed it on his.

It wasn’t a particularly rough hand, but it was long and slender, with clearly defined joints.

“Hathaway.”

She said softly, “Hathaway Zegin.”

……

“Master, what are you thinking about now?”

A phantom-like cottage drifted through the Dimensional Void.

This was the third form Yui had developed recently—Mobile Base, Type II.

Of course, as per Xia Ya’s usual style, he’d given her newly-forged construct form a name of his own:

Xia Ya’s Flying House.

Still a hopeless name-giver, as always.

“I’m pondering a question.”

“Which came first—the chicken or the egg?”

Lying back in his recliner, Xia Ya looked at the projection of Yui in her ship-girl form nearby, peeling a pear for himself as he spoke.

“All my Arcane and Wizardry knowledge originally came from my teacher.”

“But now, inside this Historical Echo of the First Era, I’ve turned around and taught young teacher-me all the principles of Arcana and Wizardry—how to channel mana with mental energy, how to build spell models, how to cast spells...”

“It’s a full-on recursive paradox.”

He took a big bite of the snow pear, sighing with satisfaction.

These days, Xia Ya and Hathaway had been staying inside the Flying House, deep in the void, studying Arcana and Magic together day and night.

A bittersweet experience.

Sweet—because becoming the teacher of his younger self gave Xia Ya a rebellious thrill.

It was downright exhilarating.

Bitter—because Xia Ya quickly realized, his teacher really was the Eternal Page of the future Black Tower.

Even though she had only just begun to grasp mana, her progress was explosive.

In many areas, all Xia Ya had to do was give the slightest hint, and Hathaway could rapidly come up with new theories, perfect basic Arcane laws into workable spell models.

In just a few months, her learning had evolved from basic First- and Second-Ring spells like Fireball and Greater Fireball,

to casting Sixth-Ring spells like Chain Thunder Dragon, Meteor Shower, and Blizzard.

Beyond that, Seventh-Ring spells were considered Forbidden Spells—capable of harming even Legendary beings.

As for Forbidden Magic, even Xia Ya didn’t know much.

After all, his original goal in studying Arcana and Magic wasn’t for combat,

but to use Arcane research to understand the world’s fundamental rules and laws more quickly—to deepen his knowledge of the world itself.

His combat system mainly revolved around his Summoned Beasts,

while spells and magical devices were used more as auxiliary tools—

for example, using calculated spell formulas to guide the trajectory of a Divine Judgment Spear.

He had memorized quite a few original Forbidden Spells using his powerful mental energy,

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but that was mostly under the philosophy of “I might never need it, but I should still know it.”

He rarely used them in actual battle.

“Xia Ya.”

Light footsteps approached.

The long-haired Golden Elf held the tiny Dragon of the Night in her arms as she came up beside Xia Ya.

Perhaps because they were both victims of the Cataclysm, and also both from the once-mighty Three Royal Courts,

Hathaway and Ye had the best relationship among all of Xia Ya’s summoned beasts.

“I’ve finished developing my own personal positioning spell model. I’ve named it Hathaway: Dimensional Anchor.”

There was joy in the Golden Elf’s voice.

Because with this spell complete,

even without Xia Ya’s help, she could now freely travel between the Dimensional Void, the Starrealm, and the Lost Isle.

In other words—

She could return to the Lost Isle.

And bring with her the brilliant treasure called magic, capable of lighting the path of the Elven race.

But soon, the joy in her tone began to fade.

She looked at the boy beside her and spoke with a hint of anticipation.

“Xia Ya, would you come with me—back to the Lost Isle?”