High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 970: Chapter 32: Exclusive Interview

”As a cost student, your academic performance must be truly exceptional, right?” At the start of the interview, Ms. Pulitzer began by giving a slight compliment to the young cost student before she followed up with her question:

”I heard that you scored the highest marks in the Fu Lu class’s basic examination last term, reciting all the basic runes, which is something most registered wizards cannot achieve... Can you share with us how you learned this knowledge about runes?”

Zheng Qing looked at the journalist cautiously before slowly starting to speak, vaguely saying, ”Just learned it from the teacher...”

”However, as far as I know, you had no secondary school records before entering First University.” Seemingly to bolster her point, Ms. Pulitzer immediately pulled out a thick stack of documents from her handbag and pushed them in front of Zheng Qing: ”Here is a list of all the secondary schools in the Magical World, including Hogwarts, Genius Boys, Longer Time on Machine, and White Deer College, and the list of students who graduated in 2008 doesn’t include your name...”

Zheng Qing swallowed again.

Are journalists these days really this determined? It’s just an investigation into a minor incident in Silent Forest; do they need to dig up information going back eighteen generations?

”This kind of information belongs to school secrecy,” he glanced at the stack of documents, trying to make his voice sound a bit friendlier: ”Is it really appropriate to bring this out, in accordance with relevant regulations?”

”I am a person of principles,” Ms. Pulitzer replied succinctly.

The silver little bells hanging on the archway started ringing frantically.

Zheng Qing glanced at the little bell and then at the journalist opposite him, letting out a dry laugh.

Ms. Pulitzer’s face turned slightly red, but her expression did not change much; she continued to look steadfastly at the young cost student.

The atmosphere became extremely awkward for a moment.

The delayed coffee saved the guests caught in an unusual atmosphere.

”Good evening, your espresso,” a Sprite’s sharp voice rang in the ears of both patrons, and two white porcelain cups flew from the tray, landing steadily on the floral paper mats on the table.

This alone was far superior to most of the dining service Sprites Zheng Qing had seen—like the group he owned, which could barely handle a kettle without it wobbling alarmingly, as if it might fall from mid-air at any moment.

”Thank you.” Ms. Pulitzer nodded gracefully and tossed a Silver Horn into the tray of the Sprite. Zheng Qing noticed the silver little bell hanging on the archway shake weakly, but it made no sound.

”Serving you is our honor!” The Sprite, dressed as a maid, tugged at her skirt hem and screeched her thanks, ”If there is anything else you need, please let us know!”

Ms. Pulitzer waved her hand, and the Sprites immediately disappeared from the table front without a trace.

Taking advantage of this interlude, Zheng Qing thought about how to answer the journalist’s question from earlier.

”Private school, I attended a small private school,” Zheng Qing’s gaze cautiously swept over the wooden archway, closely watching the silver little bell, as if afraid it would start swinging wildly.

Certainly, when he spoke the truth, the bell would not stir.

This boosted his confidence immensely. His subsequent answers became even more fluent:

”A private school without registration at the education bureau, without classrooms, where I was the only student... I don’t even know what my teacher’s name is. I always thought I was learning Taoism... Before I took the exam, I did not even know there were so many wizards in the world!”

He was telling the truth.

The small silver bell hanging at the archway next to him did not make a sound, which greatly disappointed Ms. Pulitzer.

She glanced at her notebook, only to see that the fountain pen had stopped recording, hovering in midair with a mouthful of ink, as if waiting for the conversation to continue.

Without pausing, Ms. Pulitzer continued, ”Not long after you were admitted, you were awarded the Merlin Medal by the Mage Alliance. Some sources claim that the Alliance awarded you the medal because of your teacher... Are you aware of this?”

”Baseless,” Zheng Qing firmly shook his head—If the other party had asked him whether he had killed the Pig Demon, his answer might have caused the bell to tremble, but saying that his medal was related to Mr. Wu, in Zheng Qing’s view, was truly absurd.

Ms. Pulitzer frowned.

Zheng Qing hesitated, then said, ”I thought you were asking about the incident at On the Silent River today...”

The implication was that if it was not about that incident, then he would rather not entertain the discussion.

Ms. Pulitzer immediately asked, ”What happened today On the Silent River? Would you mind sharing it?”

Zheng Qing let out a sigh of relief—he had agreed to the exclusive interview partly because he also wanted to have his own say. Sometimes the voice of public opinion seemed more authoritative than professional investigations.

If the public said he did not kill that monster, then even if he really did, the penalty would be considerably reduced. Being able to influence the judiciary was one of the reasons journalists are called ’uncrowned kings’.

Thus, he patiently recounted the event that occurred today On the Silent River—starting from Lin Zhong Lake, to the discovery of the frog monster, followed by his self-defense counterattack, and ending with the monster turning into a pile of mud—the entire process, Ms. Pulitzer remained silent, letting Zheng Qing freely express himself, only focusing on her dancing fountain pen.

”So you’re saying, it was the descendant of Satoguya that attacked the ferry, and then turned into a pile of mud under your counterattack.” She finally summed up, ”The shot you fired was just the last straw that broke the camel’s back... is that correct?”

Zheng Qing nodded eagerly.

Ms. Journalist’s summary was even better than he had anticipated.

Then he glanced at the small archway next to him, the silver bell there wanted to shake but ultimately did not ring. This made him even more relieved.

With this in mind, he picked up the porcelain cup and took a small sip of the drink inside.

The flavor was rich, truly deserving of being espresso, the young wizard thought, placing the cup back on the paper mat on the table—indeed, he still could not get used to this taste.

”Where did you get your charm gun?” Ms. Pulitzer seized on a thread in his previous answer. She flipped through the documents at hand and looked up at the young wizard, ”According to the information here, you are not from a wizard family, and your tuition was paid by a school scholarship... Logically, you shouldn’t be able to afford a charm gun.”

Zheng Qing did not directly answer where he had bought the charm gun but instead began to prove his earning capabilities to the journalist, ”You just mentioned that my Fu Lu Class is very good, so I can sell standard runes to make money. Additionally, last term’s school hunting party freshman competition, the hunting team I formed captured more than half of the prey on the field... All these earnings are verifiable.”