"I Became a Witch, but Now Everyone's in Love with Me!"

Chapter 20: Rapid Military Expansion Requires Population
 
"Jiang Cha-chan, we’re not taking the bus today."

The next morning, as Jiang Cha—who had spent all night buried in alchemy books—sleepily prepared to board the bus by instinct, He Qin gently pulled her back.
Seeing her dazed eyes and fairy-like appearance, Lina couldn’t help but complain.
"Did you overdo it last night? Even if a witch's body is tough, you should still pace yourself, Chabao."
"Ah! Qinbao, why did you hit me!?"

He Qin didn’t use much force, but her light smack still sent the golden-haired loli into the wall—not injured, just startled enough to shut her up.
"Don’t make such weird assumptions about others, Lina-chan."
"I just read too long last night… I just need a bit of rest."
Dragging along her foggy brain, Jiang Cha interrupted the two before they could start bickering again. Her voice was still hoarse.

"Why aren’t we taking the usual bus? Don’t we have combat class today?"
"It is a combat class… but Jiang Cha-chan, you probably won’t get much time to rest..."
Judging by how out of it Jiang Cha looked, He Qin could guess she had studied all night. Her mind was likely overloaded with information and temporarily shut down.

With a witch’s stamina, she shouldn't be this tired even after generating power nonstop for three days.
Lina had just been making one of her usual lewd jokes. This girl had a filthy mouth and a pervy brain—it had been giving He Qin headaches for a long time.
The first-year witches didn’t have the broad selection of personalized electives available to upperclassmen, so their schedule was simple:

Three days of core theory classes: Witch History, Magic Overview, and Basic Magic
Two days of Witch Combat Training
Witch society was inherently militaristic—everyone a soldier, if not a straight-up warmonger. Though it looked stable and peaceful on the surface, everything revolved around expanding territories and colonies.
And it was deeply racist.

The more elite a witch academy was, the more weight was given to combat instruction.
In contrast, public colleges for witches with weak magical talent often made combat classes optional, focusing instead on secondary professions like alchemy.
That’s why Aisilon Magic Academy’s class schedule—and the popularity of its Battle Club—wasn’t surprising.
Two full days of combat training per week made it clear: if you graduated from here, you had to be good at fighting.

In other words, all schools in witch society were essentially military academies.
When He Qin brought the groggy Jiang Cha to combat class, Jiang Cha immediately felt something was off.
"Wait... is this the classroom?"

She stared at the vast forest ahead, a question mark practically floating above her head.
Thanks to her sharp memory and a witch’s innate sense of direction, Jiang Cha still recognized the area, even though she’d gotten lost in a subspace warp on the way there.
They were in the southwest corner of the campus—an uninhabited forest clearly marked on the map.

Back then, she had wondered why a school would need such a huge empty forest. Was the witch world also chasing carbon neutrality?
But now, she had her answer.
"Yep! This is the combat class. And as for the teaching tools..."

The golden-haired loli’s eyes sparkled with excitement at anything battle-related. It was a stark contrast from the day before, when she had been the type to sleep through class and mess around.
It reminded Jiang Cha of how rare art classes were for high schoolers back in China.
What enthusiasm.

"...It's the magical creatures in the forest."
Jiang Cha: "..."
This combat class... was not what she’d imagined.

She thought it would be like basic military training—standing in line, doing drills, learning some military boxing.
But actual combat right from the start? The oldest first-years were only seventeen! Weren’t they worried about accidents or student safety?
Oh, right. Witches had resurrection magic.

Never mind then.
"Class begins!"
Witches in their teens were disasters waiting to happen. The average magical output of a 16–17-year-old witch was around 15,000.

Basically, an army of little demon kings. The kind even a century-old witch would struggle to control.
That’s why whoever taught combat class and wrangled these chaos gremlins was definitely not a gentle person.
"Chabao, seriously, don’t cause trouble! Instructor Vladimir is the scariest one!"

As a figure descended from the sky, wearing a green military uniform with a red star on her cap and a face like stone, even the fearless Lina only had time to whisper her warning before falling into stiff silence.
Vladimir?
Jiang Cha blinked. That name sounded familiar. Then she looked at the uniform. With her knowledge of both witch and human history...

She could guess this instructor’s background.
After the witch hunts, witches weren’t defeated, but their small numbers forced them into more of a scientific and [N O V E L I G H T] scholarly role. Under the guidance of the First Sage, they went underground, blending into human society and biding their time.
Until the 21st century, they remained hidden.

So on this world—an alternate Earth—the events of the 21st century looked similar to Jiang Cha’s understanding.
But really, it had been a civil war among witches.
They infiltrated governments and militaries worldwide, becoming secret influencers behind global conflict.

Their goal: seize power once enough witches existed.
But during that long struggle, they discovered that war was fun. Magic tech exploded during the conflicts, leading to the discovery of multiverse travel.
Desperate for resources, witches stopped hiding. Within two years, they unified Earth, invented witch conversion tech, turned humans into witches, and waged all-out war to plunder other worlds.

With a growing population, talented witches emerged quickly, accelerating magic advancement, overthrowing the old order, and creating the Council of Sages.
Thus began the Witch Era—an entire 21st century of nonstop war.
Fifty years ago, they finally hit pause. Resource output from conquered worlds was sufficient for now, and they couldn’t keep up population-wise for more expeditions.

Still, every year, many young witches set off to explore new worlds and earn money.
Even in resource-rich times, housing prices on witch-Earth remained ridiculous, and the costs to raise a powerful witch were sky-high.
Academy training only covered the basics. If you wanted forbidden spells, legendary gear, or magic-enhancing treasures, you had to earn them yourself.

Only the older generation—those who had succeeded and hoarded wealth—had the luxury to sip tea and leisurely study magic all day.
The younger ones still had to hustle.
As for Instructor Vladimir—no one knew her exact age, but early childhood had the greatest impact on a witch’s personality. Judging by her attire and vibe, she was definitely born in the Red Empire and fought in the witch civil war.

In other words: a Maozi witch.
And Maozi witches...
Were synonymous with ruthless.

"Very good."
Instructor Vladimir nodded as she inspected the line of young witches. They weren’t as polished as the soldiers she once led, but considering how chaotic witches usually were, this was decent.
Years of teaching at Aisilon had dulled her standards a bit.

Otherwise, she would’ve flown down already and drop-kicked that noisy golden-haired loli to show what real Soviet-style combat was.
Did they think she couldn’t hear them just because she was in the sky?
"Alright. Today’s assignment is the same—teams based on dorm numbers."

"Jiang Cha, step forward!"
Maybe it was muscle memory, but Jiang Cha instinctively stepped forward in a military march and almost saluted.
Wait, that wasn’t even the right salute—she was Chinese, not Russian!

"Yes!"
"Have you mastered spellcasting? Have you learned witch martial arts?"
"I’ve fully mastered spellcasting, but I haven’t learned witch martial arts yet!"

"Good."
Vladimir's eyes flashed with approval.
"Return to formation. Follow orders. Don’t act on your own during the mission. Get martial arts tutoring from He Qin—I’ll check your progress next week."
"Yes!"

"Move out! Each team must hunt ten Level-2 magical creatures and one Level-3 magical creature today!"
"Yes!"
The replies were scattered and uneven.

But Vladimir didn’t care. She flew back into the sky, cigar in hand, watching as students began to organize into groups and discuss their strategy.
Witch armies operated nothing like human ones. Each witch was basically a one-woman missile system. They didn’t need formations or synchronized maneuvers. So Vladimir didn’t train them that way.
Watching them split into pairs and trios—some charging straight into the forest, others planning their next move—Vladimir smiled faintly, lost in her own thoughts.

"Ohhh! Let’s goooo!!"
The golden-haired dragon loli had already rushed into the forest.
"Lina-chan! Wait! We need to strategize!"

He Qin shouted as she ran after her.
And just like that, Jiang Cha’s first-ever combat class began... in total chaos.