High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1059: Chapter 121: Public Opinion and Discussion

By Sunday evening, during the class meeting, reports about last night’s conflict between the Lake Bell Fishman and the patrol team started appearing extensively.

Various media, including but not limited to the campus newspaper and the ”Beta Town Post,” had interviewed representatives from both sides and analyzed the matter from different perspectives.

As usual, the reports from different media outlets remained vastly different in tone and focus.

The First University’s campus newspaper always sided with the school, based on the patents’ testimony, and featured extensive comments from a Jiuyou Academy Student Union spokesperson on the matter.

The spokesperson stated, ”We strongly condemn and solemnly warn against the Fishmen smearing feces on the sacred Book Mountain Library” and ”The academy reserves the right to pursue the legal responsibilities of the related Fishman.” Moreover, ”relevant parties of the academy have noticed the Fishman Tribe’s inter-academic activities and advised them to be cautious in their conduct,” the spokesperson privately expressed, ”It is quite perplexing that the Fishman Tribe, residing in Jiuyou Academy, would seek to lodge complaints at Alpha Castle.”

Conversely, the Fishman leaders from Lake Bell invited a journalist from the ”Beta Town Post” to provide their explanations.

At the press conference, an elder from the Fishman Tribe firmly denied the accusations from Jiuyou Academy. He maintained it was someone else who smeared feces outside the Book Mountain Library, not their tribe. Instead, the elder was furious about the cruel suppression of the tribe’s young Fishmen by the Jiuyou Academy patrol team.

”This is a severe challenge to the rights of Fishmen, a significant regression of the ’Bell Lake Fishman Reserved Land Act,’” said the Fishman elder with a heavy tone. ”Admittedly, everyone knows Jiuyou Academy is a strictly regulated institution, but the tribe still holds a glimmer of hope... The tribe doesn’t wish to leave these waters but merely wants the academy to consider the fundamental rights of all non-wizard lives, including Fishmen, to ensure they are not harmed.”

Addressing the Beta Town Post journalist’s question as to why the tribe sought to lodge complaints at Alpha Academy, the elder provided a full explanation:

”We believe that neither the patrol team affiliated with Jiuyou Academy nor the tribe in Lake Bell should be part of the investigative team. Thus, bringing in a third-party organization for an objective and fair investigation is essential.”

”Alpha Academy originated from the principles of ’freedom and justice,’ and the Fishman Tribe believes Alpha will uphold the ’fundamental justice’ of First University.”

As for what constitutes ’fundamental justice’ and how the Fishman Tribe would respond if Jiuyou Academy continued its hard stance, the elder was evasive and did not clarify these issues.

Moreover, given the sensitive atmosphere at Jiuyou Academy lately, the elder requested to be interviewed as a ’nameless source,’ hence all pseudonyms were used throughout the article.

”So even if the journalists from the ’Beta Town Post’ fabricate stories, we can’t prove it, right?” Zheng Qing rustled the newspaper in his hands, increasingly agitated as he read the reports, ”Why doesn’t the academy just seal off Lake Bell and throw those stinky guys into the Silent River? Without the academy’s protection, I bet those Fishmen wouldn’t survive a winter!”

”That’s not necessarily true,” Xin Fat Man shook his head, countering each point, ”First off, journalists do have integrity, like me... Maybe we don’t report every fact, but what we do report are the facts we observe...”

”We just discussed this issue recently, there’s no such thing as truly ’rational, objective, neutral’ reporting! Don’t flatter yourselves,” Zhang Ji Xin derisively snorted at Fat Man’s comment.

”If you can’t report all the facts, that’s almost no different from lying,” Zheng Qing swept his hand dramatically, concluding bluntly, ”Moreover, the facts you write about are inherently biased because you observed them...”

”Secondly!” Fat Man ignored his companions’ retorts, raised his voice slightly, and continued, ”The Fishman Tribe leaving the academy wouldn’t lead to their extinction; after all, they are a race with a magical civilization, albeit not a highly developed one, struggling to survive is still possible.”

”That’s indeed a heartening fact,” Zhang Ji Xin said sarcastically.

”Third,” Xin Fat Man’s tone suddenly deflated, he muttered, ”Get this straight, hey, I’m on your side, I’m a reporter for the school newspaper, not the Beta Town Post!”

”That’s why we let you speak instead of sealing your mouth with a Suppression Symbol,” Zheng Qing rolled his eyes.

”Keeping the Fishman Tribe restricted within the academy is a requirement from the Mage Alliance and a means to accomplish ’harmless handling of Fishmen,’” Xiao Xiao flipped through another page of the Beta Town Post and chimed in, ”Rather than focusing on the spitball fight between the patrol team and the Fishman Tribe, you might want to pay more attention to Alpha Academy’s stance...”

”What do they have to do with it!” Zhang Ji Xin, a staunch Jiuyou Academy supporter and hot-headed by nature, rolled his eyes at the mention, immediately rolling up his sleeves, ”The last incident where they colluded with the Fishmen in smuggling activities hasn’t even been resolved clearly, and now they dare to speak up?”

Xiao Xiao handed over the newspaper, ”Why not, indeed.”

Zheng Qing intercepted the newspaper midway before Zhang Ji Xin could erupt, swiftly scanning through it.

”Pff, it’s the same old rhetoric,” he scoffed, handing back the paper.

As typical for Jiuyou Academy, Alpha Academy also arranged for a student union spokesperson to face the media. The spokesperson from Alpha expressed ’great regret’ about the incident that occurred near Lake Bell last night and shared concerns about whether the basic rights and legitimate demands of the tribe’s Fishmen could be satisfied, emphasizing that ’every resident of First University has the right to protect their legal rights,’ and so on.

The only slightly unusual thing was that a senior executive from Alpha Academy’s Club Union, the ’Frueh Committee,’ met with a Fishman representative and had a ’highly effective’ discussion about the applicability of the Wizard’s Code and the ”Reserved Land Convention.”

”At least Alpha doesn’t plan to completely sever ties,” Xin Fat Man commented on the matter, ”Whether it’s Alpha Academy’s joint committee of professors, the School Works Committee, or the student union, none of them sent someone to deal with those stinky guys... It’s just some unknown person from the society scavenging for popularity, giving him even one line of report is already too generous.”