The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician
Chapter 38 - 37: Does She Like Me?

Chapter 38: Chapter 37: Does She Like Me?

"I want to learn Spirit Magic," Su Xiaoou made her choice.

"Why?" Jiang Shu asked, reminding her, "Remember, magic is all fake. Don’t think that Spirit Magic can really read minds, hypnotize, or do Mind Transmission or anything like that."

He was somewhat afraid of misleading his apprentice. Spirit Magic and Spirit Technique were entirely different things—the former was fake, while the latter was real.

"Oh, that’s not it." Su Xiaoou counted off on her fingers, speaking casually, "Sleight of hand is too lazy to practice, props sound fishy, Illusion Technique is impossible to learn at first glance, and I dare not try escapes..."

"So all I can learn is a bit of Spirit Magic," she said with conviction.

"..." Jiang Shu’s face turned dark. He remained silent as he walked to his glass cabinet where he stored his magic props, took out five decks of playing cards, then grabbed three specially made coins and tossed them to Su Xiaoou. "Start practicing these sleight of hand techniques. Every Monday, I’ll send you a video tutorial, and I’ll check your progress on the weekends. Your apprentice salary is given out every weekend. Don’t expect any pay if your sleight of hand isn’t up to scratch."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Su Xiaoou was immediately anxious and quickly protested, "What about the agreement that I could choose for myself?"

"I just suddenly remembered that you’re only fifteen," Jiang Shu glanced at her, her short hair combined with a neutral face—a promising beauty, "You have three years. In three years, under my guidance, you’ll be able to learn these things inside out."

"Oh." Su Xiaoou sounded a bit melancholic upon hearing this, "I didn’t expect our magic to be so simple and easy to learn. Is our profession so low-level that it’s easy to become unemployed in the future?"

A vein on Jiang Shu’s forehead throbbed. "It’s not that the profession isn’t good; it’s that my teaching is excellent."

"Oh." Su Xiaoou didn’t reply, but the worry etched between her brows deeply pricked Jiang Shu’s sensitive nerves.

"Alright, it’s getting late. You know the way back to the dormitory, right?" Jiang Shu checked the time; it was already nearly nine o’clock. It was time for a fifteen-year-old girl to go back for her nightly routine, "This week you’ll learn card control techniques. I will record a few tutorial videos tonight for you to start practicing tomorrow."

"Got it." Su Xiaoou nodded her head.

Jiang Shu looked out the window at the brilliant streetscape. This area was a residential area with less cyberpunk-style light pollution, so it was somewhat darker outside. He then asked, "Do you want me to walk you back?"

Although the apprentice dormitory was just across the street, after hearing Su Xiaoou’s past stories, he couldn’t help but feel a little concerned.

"No need," Su Xiaoou hopped off the chair, "I’m safer walking around here than you are, at least I won’t foolishly wander into bars."

"..." Jiang Shu was at a loss for words. It took him a while to squeeze out through clenched teeth, "Forget about what happened today. If you dare spread it around, I’ll dock your pay!"

Ding: Aiya, no big deal, just a bar visit.

Other voice: A playful boy usually won’t have too terrible a temperament.

Another voice: It won’t be a problem.

Jiang Shu: ...

Where did you all learn this from? Can’t you learn from your big brother to be more stable?

He turned his head to look at Xiao Jia, only to see that Xiao Jia’s screen was showing some encyclopedia of special diseases.

Xiao Jia: Relax, the odds of getting ill are slim, and if it’s not severe, you don’t even need to worry. Just live a good life~

Jiang Shu’s face suddenly turned dark.

Are you seriously pulling that stunt right now?!

The Magic House quieted down once again. Seeing that Su Xiaoou hadn’t taken a step for a long time, Jiang Shu asked again, "What’s wrong?"

"Well, Jiang... Teacher," Su Xiaoou tentatively began. She wasn’t quite used to being someone’s apprentice yet, so her movements were a bit awkward. She spoke softly, "About seeking vengeance..."

"Don’t worry." Jiang Shu had sobered up from the effects of the alcohol by now, but he didn’t regret his actions. He understood her intentions, and thus he smiled warmly, "I’ll craft a perfect script, and you will be the leading lady."

"You can choose to personally execute your enemy," he smiled, his eyes narrowing, and for the first time in this world, a dangerous light shone from the corners of his eyes.

"Thank... Thank you." Su Xiaoou became somewhat reserved, not quite accustomed to the sudden change in her teacher’s demeanor.

For the first time, she realized that this man, who usually smiled warmly, was not as innocent as he seemed.

"Ding, you accompany her back, and come back after you’ve delivered her to the place," Jiang Shu pushed the hovering Tablet Spirit beside him.

He watched as Su Xiaoou left the Magic House, then turned his head to Xiao Jia and instructed, "Check that person’s information, and remember to clear your browsing traces. I want to see his detailed information tomorrow morning."

Xiao Jia acknowledged with a sound, then scurried into a corner to start running the Hacker plugin program left by Liu Tingruo, preparing to hack into various databases and surveillance, searching for any and all clues.

After a while, perhaps realizing that it alone could not handle such massive data, it enlisted the help of two other Tablet Spirits.

Meanwhile, Jiang Shu began recording some card control tutorials; he planned to create a systematic set of card technique tutorials, starting with the most practical Double Lift, and eventually covering a range of techniques such as false cuts, false shuffles, switches, and more.

As he recorded, he also realized something serious.

It’s been too long since he played with cards...

He was rusty.

He had intended to perform several difficult flourish cuts, but the cards kept falling out of his hands.

Jiang Shu suddenly felt he was all thumbs...

His cascade cut created splashes, the automatic fan spread across the air like a goddess scattering flowers, not to mention those even more hand-torturing two-handed cuts...

In short, he kept dropping cards, dropping them until he felt withdrawn, silently playing cards until late into the night.

At one in the morning, his wristwatch received a message.

"Can I discuss something with you?" The message was from Kirie Tsukimiya.

And before Jiang Shu could reply, she hurriedly sent over a long message.

"If you don’t want to listen, it’s okay, I won’t talk about it, I’ll listen to you."

Hmm? Why does she sound, speak, so meek?

Jiang Shu found it odd, but couldn’t think of a reason; he vaguely remembered that when they first met, this girl wasn’t she quite...

Proud?

Could it be a trap?

So he didn’t respond directly, instead sidestepping with, "Still not asleep at this hour?"

"I’m having some trouble sleeping," Kirie replied instantly, but then thought better of it and withdrew the message.

Lying in bed, Kirie twiddled the bedsheets nervously with her toes; she was a bit unclear about what exactly she was doing.

Disturbing him so late, would he get angry?

Tsukimiya typed out "Smi Masai" but didn’t send it, and then erased it cleanly.

Her thoughts were in turmoil, unsure what she should do.

She wasn’t certain whether Jiang Shu had noticed or what he wanted to do.

Anyway, during her nap, her dreams were all "Here’s Johnny."

She started trembling, for the past twenty years, she had been a faithful proponent of science, but after that day, she discovered there were things that she couldn’t explain with science.

Well, for now.

On the other end, Jiang Shu who saw the message stroked his chin, pondering deeply for a long time before reaching a conclusion.

Does she like me?