High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 910: Chapter 258: The First List after New Year’s Day

”Ah... Oh!!”

Fat Xin suddenly smashed his right fist into his left palm and exclaimed with an epiphany, ”So that’s how it is!”

His voice was slightly louder than intended, which caused the nearby students who were eating to turn around and look at him. Zhang immediately stretched his leg under the table and kicked Fat Xin.

”Why did you kick me?!” Fat Xin glared at the Red-faced Male Warlock angrily.

”Because you’re tarnishing the image of our Hunting team,” Zhang reasoned with him, emphasizing, ”Even if this isn’t a library or a study room, it’s still a public place... Making a ruckus and being loud in a public place is extremely impolite.”

”Since when is the cafeteria not noisy and chaotic?” Fat Xin rolled his eyes, his face turning a shade of blue.

As the peak period of end-of-term revision approached, most spaces in the academy, including public study rooms and library study rooms, were overcrowded. Jiuyou Academy didn’t have the numerous private restrooms like Alpha Academy, so the spacious and well-furnished school cafeteria became the preferred location for students to study.

One benefit of studying in the cafeteria was that you could find something to eat anytime you were tired from studying, without worrying about someone taking your seat during lunch or dinner.

Seeing that Fat Xin and the Elder were about to get into a tussle, Zheng Qing couldn’t help himself and grabbed the ”Philosophy of Magic” book next to him to separate the two.

”Calm down, calm down... We’re all adults here, no need to fuss like children,” the young cost student said tiredly, trying to mediate with a weary tone, ”...but speaking of which, what did you mean by ’So that’s how it is’, Fat Xin?”

”Your eyes.” Hearing Zheng Qing’s question, Fat Xin immediately forgot about his quarrel with the Elder and stared intently at the young cost student, ”I just noticed your eyes are no longer red... How did they suddenly go back to normal?”

”Ah? Oh, that thing, uhm,” Zheng Qing briefly lifted his droopy eyelids as his mind raced, then he casually explained, ”It was just a bit of bruising... I got a bit of a scare a few days ago, and the bruise cleared up. What’s so strange about that?”

”Who ever heard of a bruise clearing up because of a scare! Don’t you think about what you’re saying before it comes out of your mouth?” Fat Xin commented with an astonished tone.

”Heh... Did you think before asking your question?” Zheng Qing scoffed back, countering, ”The bruise in my eye has been gone for days, did you just notice?”

”You’re not a beauty, why should I pay so much attention to you ┓( ´∀` )┏” Fat Xin spread his hands and made a disgusted expression.

Zheng Qing laughed again and shifted his gaze away from Fat Xin.

Perhaps because of the brief verbal skirmish, the usually listless young wizard seemed to perk up a bit. He subconsciously started noticing the other students around him.

At the next table, a pair of second-year students with a stripe on their robes sat close together, taking turns helping each other, one flipping the pages of a book while the other worked out problems, thoroughly enjoying their study session.

Zheng Qing curled his lip and looked away.

A few tables over, a little further away, sat a group of first-year students. Their table was piled high with a variety of snacks—a mix of fries, chips, egg tarts, puddings, jellies, biscuits, beef jerky, and fried chicken strips, in both large buckets and small boxes, taking up more than half the table. Above them hovered several Sprites holding steaming hot fruit teas. The table had only a small space left for thick, bulgy textbooks, which made the young cost student shake his head repeatedly.

Yet, it was unclear whether these fellows had come for a meal together or to review their schoolwork.

A bit farther away, there seemed to be a small commotion, with over a dozen wizards in robes of various colors gathered around a figure wearing a hood—since the figure was still hooded indoors, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but take a few extra glances at him.

He quickly realized that the figure was an acquaintance.

That gambler broker, known as Little John Neville. Due to the substantial earnings from the school hunting competition, Zheng Qing had a very deep impression of this broker.

Of course, one of the important reasons for the deep impression was Neville’s pair of distinctly colored eyes. Whenever he saw those eyes, Zheng Qing involuntarily thought of the Persian Cat within his own group of cats. Although there was no reason for it, he always felt that Neville was the owner of that Persian Cat.

”What’s he doing? Is he peddling those gambling tickets of his?” Zheng Qing pointed with his pen at the hooded figure and raised an eyebrow to ask his companion, ”Is there some new event at school I’m not aware of?”

”Other than the final exams, what other new event could there be.” Zhang Ji Xin’s chin rested on the table, he stared motionlessly at a textbook a finger’s breadth away, his face full of agony.

Looking at his expression, it seemed as if he was considering whether to bite that book to pieces.

”You can bet on the final exams?” Zheng Qing tapped his chin with the pen, pondering, ”Is it about betting on exam rankings? That risk is too high, though... But if it’s possible, I’d bet a gold bean on the Doctor... I think this time for the final exams, the Doctor will definitely place in the top three.”

”Liu Fei Fei first, Jiang Yu second, Doctor third... That’s what you mean, right?” Xin Fat Man counted on his fingers and said.

Clearly, he was teasing someone about the dignity of being a cost student.

Zheng Qing ignored his provocation.

”Being knowledgeable doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll do well in exams,” Doctor Xiao, who had been studying seriously all along, finally couldn’t keep silent any longer when the topic touched upon him.

He lifted his head, adjusted his glasses, and added, ”Besides, I think what Lǜèyǎnér is selling aren’t the gambling tickets for the final exam rankings, you all seem to have forgotten what holiday is coming up in a few days.”

”New Year’s Day? What does that have to do with this?” Zhang Ji Xin also became interested.

Xiao Xiao turned his head to look at Zheng Qing, only to find that the young cost student still looked baffled.

He couldn’t help but sigh, ”I told you about this on the school’s special flight when we were enrolling. Every New Year’s Day, ’The Wand’ will release the new ’Small Arcana’ list for the year, and around this time every year, everyone goes crazy guessing who might make it onto that list and who might get removed from that list by ’The Wand’.”

”Betting organizations have had their eye on this piece of fat for more than a day or two.”

Hearing this, Zheng Qing had an epiphany.

”Oh, now I remember.” Zhang Ji Xin also exclaimed, ”My brother mentioned this before. The first list after New Year’s is very famous... I heard that the ’Beta Town Post’ always gets the exclusive right to distribute from The Wand, and every year on January 2nd, they’ll release a ’January Express Special Edition’ along with The Wand, dedicated to publishing the Small and Major Arcana lists, including exclusive commentary.”