High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1093: Chapter 155: The Fox’s Cry

Alpha Academy’s sudden picking of a quarrel over the dealings with the Fishman Tribe had not been anticipated by Zheng Qing and the others at all.

In the eyes of the young wizards from the Absolution Hunting Team, since Alpha had always been advocating for and supporting the Fishman Tribe, they should not do anything to the detriment of the Fishman Tribe; otherwise, it would be a contradiction. On the contrary, Zheng Qing and his colleagues even had to bear some potential pressure from Jiuyou Academy while acting as intermediaries for the Fishman Tribe’s goods.

So, when Zheng Qing heard the white-robes’ statements, he felt the absurdity of it all was like having swallowed a fly.

”Aren’t you guys supporters of the Fishman Tribe?” Zhang Ji Xin also couldn’t comprehend the stance of the white-robes and, with an angry darkened face, he loudly questioned.

”But we don’t support you all,” Arthur Ness replied with a smile as he leaned forward in a smug retort.

Zheng Qing felt an urge to shove the pretty boy’s face into the nearby filthy ditch.

Compared with Arthur Ness, the other white-robed witch who had come with him responded in a very official tone: ”What Ness said isn’t entirely accurate. To put it precisely, Alpha Academy supports any claim of freedom and justice in the Wizard World; at the same time, Alpha Academy does not condone any erroneous or unlawful claims.”

With this kind of rhetoric, Alpha Academy’s support for the Fishman Tribe in causing trouble at Jiuyou Academy and its unapologetic stance in hindering trade between the Fishman Tribe and Jiuyou Academy both found a legal basis.

”Tch, you’ve said it all, positive and negative; quite clever,” Zhang Ji Xin grimaced with a grunt, glancing back at Xin Fat Man: ”Indeed, what you said before made a lot of sense.”

Xin Fat Man just curled his lips without uttering a word.

Not long ago, when the fat man was writing an article about fighting for the right to speak in the shop, he was refuted by two other hunters from the Absolution Hunting Team, and now he seemed a bit vindicated.

The number of wizards gathering around to watch the spectacle gradually increased.

Hearing the conversation between the white-robed and red-robed wizards, a blue-robed figure publicly exclaimed, ”Has Alpha become so shameless now?”

”Where is the shamelessness? I’ve been listening, and the white-robes seem to be making sense... It’s just that the premises differ slightly, which leads to some inconsistencies.”

Another blue-robed companion sarcastically chimed in, ”Inconsistencies don’t count as shamelessness... Inconsistencies... People from Alpha, afraid of losing face? Even if you peeled off several layers of face, they’d still have plenty to spare!”

The onlookers immediately burst into laughter.

Old Mu Mingzi, who had been peering out from the neighboring shop window, eager for more chaos, shouted at the Wandering Wizard sitting at the entrance across the way: ”Elder Wizard, your bar is about to go under too! Didn’t you see that the store next door is about to be closed just for selling some Fishman items?”

The Wandering Wizard, holding a small wine pot, smiled and replied, ”No worries, no worries, my shop only sells legitimate goods, definitely no shady business.”

Listening to the rising hubbub of discussions around him, Arthur Ness clenched his other hand tightly into a fist within his sleeve.

He once again recalled the encounter on Beta Town Pedestrian Street at the start of last year’s term.

It was the same confrontation with these freshmen over a minor issue, surrounded by the same crowd of people who knew nothing better than to create a noisy disturbance.

Last time, due to a moment of carelessness, he and his companions were ambushed by these newcomers, suppressed on the spot, and became a laughingstock. Even half a year later to this day, people still occasionally bring up the incident.

If it hadn’t been for Sima Yi’s advice, and Sir Friedman not pursuing the matter too harshly, he would probably still be hiding in his resting room at Alpha Fortress, bemoaning his fate with the reputation of ’the veteran beaten by newcomers.’

This time, there would be no such accidents.

Arthur Ness’s hand, hidden in his sleeve, quietly touched the amulet on his wrist while sensing the subtle magic fluctuations from the Law Book at his waist. His face was expressionless, but his mind was fully focused on every gaze around him, whether malicious or scrutinizing.

Before setting off, he had gone over tactical exercises with the other members of the patrol team several times.

The Absolution Hunting Team had taken first place in the newcomer’s competition last year and had many sharp students from the first grade under their command. Moreover, with the recent tense atmosphere between the two academies, it was very likely that the enforcement team coming to shut down shops could provoke an overreaction from the opposition.

As long as the opposition reacted, his team members could release dozens of spells in a matter of seconds and emit high-level alert magic to inform other patrol teams and the Beta Town Security Bureau personnel to come and reinforce.

One could say that Arthur Ness had considered all possibilities and every aspect, confident that he would not be as embarrassed as last time.

Reassured by these thoughts, he mustered up some courage and took a large step forward, pressing towards Zheng Qing, who was within arm’s reach, intending to shove the red notice into his hand.

It was at that moment that he heard a scream.

”Ahhh! They’re stepping on people! The people from Alpha Academy are stepping on someone!” Hank the Fox Five clutched the tip of his tail and let out a scream, so loud it seemed as if it could shake half the street.

It turned out that Hank, who had been hiding behind the Absolution Hunting Team, had somehow made his way to the front of the group and was standing at Zheng Qing’s feet. Since he was short and had a fox head, Arthur Ness hadn’t been alerted, mistaking him for just a pet.

As Arthur Ness moved forward, Hank stealthily placed the tip of his tail in front of Arthur’s foot. Thus, when Arthur stepped forward, he stepped right on Hank’s tail.

And so, the fox began to scream.

A normal fox’s scream consists of sounds like ’squeak,’ ’chirp,’ ’mewl,’ with a volume not exceeding five degrees, affecting no more than five steps. But Hank’s scream was like the cry of an eagle or the call of a crane—crisp and resonant, shaking one’s eardrums.

What was more terrifying was that, along with its scream, an invisible magical force field seemed to envelop the area within hundreds of meters around the small shop. All wizards within this force field were like insects trapped in amber, their time frozen.

”Hurry up, I can only maintain this magic for five minutes,” Hank’s panting voice rang in the ears of Zheng Qing and the members of the Absolution Hunting Team.

Along with his voice, Zheng Qing felt a jolt throughout his body and immediately came to his senses.

Just a moment ago, he hadn’t felt anything amiss, only that Hank’s cry was a bit piercing. Now, regaining his wits and looking around, he realized what had happened.

”You froze time?” the stunned young scholar on the state’s expense looked down at the fox at his feet, which seemed a lot larger all of a sudden.

”No, it’s just a Talent Illusion Technique,” Hank bragged, waving his paw with pride.