High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 919: Chapter 267: Utterly Confused

Old Yao ultimately did not come to Book Mountain Library to pick up the people.

Given the school’s current shortage of staff, as well as Dean Yao’s unpredictable whereabouts lately, Pink Octopus did not, as it had angrily claimed, have Jiuyou Academy’s dean come to fetch the culprits.

The one who came to the library to take the two young wizards away was Professor An from Jiuyou Academy’s Academic Affairs Office.

At the beginning of the term, when Zheng Qing and others were involved in a brawl in Beta Town, it had also been this plump, good-tempered Professor An who had taken them back to the academy.

This made the two young men heave a sigh of relief.

Of course, even the best of tempers would not display a pleasant expression when faced with such an embarrassing incident.

”You two, stand here and reflect on your behavior!”

Professor An, with a stern face, glanced at the two young wizards before turning around and dragging the library administrator to a corner. In a vague whisper, Zheng Qing caught him saying, ”...first-year... end-of-term exams... stress is inevitable... and recently... please make sure...”

Because Professor An spoke quickly and at a very low volume, Zheng Qing missed a lot of key words. However, this did not prevent him from guessing what Professor An was talking about based on the context.

Zheng Qing guessed that the professor was using the end-of-term exams as an excuse for their behavior.

At First University, especially Jiuyou Academy, the number of students suffering from hysteria and mania tends to spike during the end-of-term exam period due to the huge stress of the exams. It is also common for students to visit the school hospital for treatment or to get prescriptions—this has almost become a tradition among the students.

Similarly, the hospitalization rate of Starry Sky Academy students also tends to increase during this period. If the normal weekly hospitalization rate of Starry Sky Academy students is twenty percent, then during finals it can surge to forty percent or even higher. This, in turn, means that Starry Sky Academy has a considerable amount of makeup examinations to administer every year.

In comparison, Zheng Qing and Xin Fat Man had only been a bit loud in the library, which wasn’t as bad as those who would have mental breakdowns and cry their eyes out in the library on regular days.

Perhaps because Professor An had managed the situation well, the pink color of the octopus began to fade as the conversation in the corner continued until it slowly returned to its usual translucent shade. Its size also continuously shrunk—Zheng Qing surreptitiously clenched his fist; he had been right after all, the creature had been swollen from anger.

The young subsidized student grumbled in his heart, ”What a temperamental little thing.”

Professor An soon finished the conversation with the library administrator and returned to the side of the young wizards.

”Your behavior was terrible and seriously violated the ’First University Campus Management Regulations,’” Professor An began his reprimand sternly, ”If Mr. Zhang decides to apply for a more severe punishment from the academy, it would be within the rules.”

”We’re very sorry!”

Zheng Qing and Xin Fat Man continued bowing at a ninety-degree angle, expressing their remorse very obediently.

”However,” Professor An paused, his tone becoming somewhat softer, ”considering it is the end-of-term exam period and your study pressure is high, sometimes it’s inevitable to lose control of your emotions... Mr. Zhang has agreed to let you off the hook.”

Fat Man immediately stood straight up with a wide grin.

”Thank you, Mr. Zhang. We’re really sorry for the trouble we’ve caused,” Fat Man eagerly stepped forward, attempting to shake hands with the library administrator. However, he immediately realized, with an awkward awareness, that Mr. Octopus had eight limbs but no clear hands. He wasn’t sure if he carelessly grabbed anything, whether he would end up flipped over on the ground by one of Mr. Octopus’s limbs.

So his outstretched hands drew a graceful arc in the air, ultimately ending in an awkward fist-hug gesture.

”I swear it won’t happen again!” Xin Fat Man said, hugging his fists and making promises that somehow looked strange no matter how one looked at it.

If it weren’t for the need to keep the atmosphere a bit serious, Zheng Qing would certainly have been doubled over with laughter.

”There must not be a next time!”

Mr. Octopus spouted a string of bold, angular letters, which appeared very stern: ”Even if you have sufficient reasons today, there must still be consequences. These are the rules of library management.”

The two young wizards stood with their hands clasped, obediently waiting in front of Mr. Octopus for the final judgment.

”Effective immediately, until the end of this semester, student Zheng Qing and Sinn Bana Schmidt-Bayer will be added to the ’blacklist’ of First University’s libraries, including the Book Mountain Library of Jiuyou Academy. All the libraries of the school will forbid both of you from entering.”

”The duration will last until the end of the semester.”

At the sight of the last sentence, Zheng Qing and the Fat Man immediately breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Fortunately, fortunately, it was only until the end of the semester.

Thankfully, there were less than two weeks left in the semester, and there wasn’t much homework requiring library research. As for studying and such, finding a quiet study room was perfectly feasible.

As long as this incident didn’t truly alarm the school authorities or result in any disciplinary action, everything was negotiable.

The situation was much better than Zheng Qing had previously anticipated—judging by Mr. Octopus’s furious demeanor just moments ago, they seemed to be in for a fate worse than death. It was only natural that his expectations were grim.

Before leaving, Mr. Octopus reluctantly sprayed a line of running script: ”The current system of Jiuyou Academy is just too awful, putting too much pressure on the kids... The number of people breaking down in the library increases each year. At this rate, it’s all over... I’ll write an opinion piece right away and submit it...”

Regarding the educational philosophy of the academy, the other three, including Professor An, naturally could not freely comment.

They plastered fake smiles on their faces, deferentially watching Mr. Octopus leave and finally disappearing into the deep corridor of bookshelves.

It wasn’t until he stepped out of Book Mountain Library and the cold wind outside hit him that Zheng Qing came back to his senses and turned to thank Professor An sincerely: ”Thank you so much, Professor... I am truly sorry for today.”

”It wasn’t really a trouble,” Professor An surprisingly easy to talk to—Zheng Qing wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he felt that the professor’s attitude seemed even better than before: ”...Every year at the end of the term, there are always a great number of students whose behavior becomes abnormal due to too much stress. Part of why I stay in academia is to deal with these issues.”

Then he turned his head to give the Fat Man a nod, then smiled at the young cost student, ”Also, today is a good day for you, so don’t worry about these little things.”

As he spoke, he reached out to straighten Zheng Qing’s collar, patted his shoulder, and added, ”Go home, have a good shower, meet up with friends, and at the most, waste one more evening... Just don’t let it affect the exam next week.”

With that, the professor waved his hand and walked away gracefully.

Leaving the young cost student standing in the cold wind, looking utterly disheveled.