High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1152: Chapter 214: Pursuing the Flower

Arthur Ness walked into the editorial room of the campus newspaper at First University, holding a deerskin paper bag.

He was dressed in an Alpha white robe, with a silver pocket watch chain hanging on his chest, his hair neatly groomed, shining bright, his expression indifferent, and his demeanor aloof. He seemed to be in a different world from the bustling atmosphere of the editorial room.

Xin Fat Man noticed him at a glance.

Not only because Arthur Ness’s temperament was out of place in the editorial department, but more importantly, because Arthur Ness had had direct conflicts with Zheng Qing twice, and Xin Fat Man had been present during their second clash.

If it hadn’t been for Hank the Fox Five’s shout, Fat Man seriously doubted whether he would have turned blue with rage on the spot and thrown a punch to flatten that pretty boy’s face.

Therefore, Xin Fat Man had a very deep impression of Arthur Ness.

”Do you need something?” A red-robed staff member of the editorial room quickly took notice of the uninvited guest.

”I’m here to submit a manuscript,” Arthur Ness replied calmly.

”Submit a manuscript?” The staff member seemed confused, glanced back at the busy crowd behind him, and after a pause responded, ”Alright... then hand over the manuscript to me.”

Normally, very few authors would personally come to the editorial room to submit manuscripts. Especially to the campus newspaper. Most manuscripts were collected by class monitors or society heads during class meetings before being delivered to the editorial room en masse where they were selected for publication.

Many students at First University didn’t even know where the campus newspaper editorial room was located.

Looking at the outstretched hand of the red-robed staff member, Arthur Ness didn’t hand over the deerskin paper bag. Instead, he looked around carefully and, after a long pause, asked, ”Which one of you is in charge?”

The face of the red-robed staff member suddenly struggled to maintain composure.

Xin Fat Man suppressed a laugh. Despite some tension between Alphas and Jiuyous at the school, institutions like the campus newspaper editorial department that mixed members with four-color institute robes still valued harmony and stability.

Especially since the campus newspaper’s mainstream reporting always strived for neutrality, carefully maintaining a balance on topics involving internal academy conflicts, focusing on the facts to avoid conflict among the students, or worse, in-house turmoil caused by the impulsive journalists and editors themselves.

The red-robed Warlock engaging in conversation was someone Xin Fat Man recognized; a first-year student who prided himself on being ’fair’, and loved to criticize Jiuyou Academy before commenting on Alphas. Xin Fat Man often suspected that this colleague was a student from Alpha Academy in a past life.

Now, seeing him ignored by Arthur Ness, Fat Man felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Another White-robed immediately stepped forward, lowering their voice slightly, ”Arthur? What are you doing here?”

They seemed to know each other.

Seeing that he was no longer needed, the red-robed staff member walked away sullenly.

”I’m here to submit a manuscript.” Arthur Ness’s expression finally softened a bit toward the fellow White-robed, ”It’s a manuscript reviewed by Mr. Sepulano... He asked me to bring it here.”

The White-robed’s initially dismissive expression immediately turned serious.

”Mr. Sepulano...?” He received the deerskin paper bag in surprise, sizing up Arthur Ness. After hesitating for a moment, he asked in a low voice, ”Does Sir Friedman know about this?”

This was indeed Arthur Ness’s ultimate purpose for coming to the editorial department.

He needed others to know that he was still Sir Friedman’s man. This manuscript was not about ’factional strife’, it represented the ’greater good’ of the academy.

”I know,” Arthur Ness first affirmed the other party’s question before adding, ”His Excellency Sepulano, as the vice president of the Alpha Academy student council, has the authority to arrange for any student to do what they need to do.”

The answer was by the book.

The White-robed understood, weighing the paper bag in his hand: ”What is the article about? Can it be edited? When will it be published?”

”The article mainly uses the analysis of some recent cases inside and outside the school to support the discerning individuals within Jiuyou Academy. As editors, you certainly have the right to make appropriate modifications to the manuscript. However, we hope that the central theme remains unchanged. As for the publishing time...” Arthur glanced at the paper bag and said concisely, ”The sooner, the better.”

The White-robed showed a grimace of pain.

The things Arthur Ness mentioned sounded like trouble.

...

...

Zheng Qing followed behind a gold horn bee, peering cautiously.

This was the thirteenth bee he had tracked. The previous twelve bees, after flying about for half the day, all obediently found a flower to land on and gather nectar, seemingly unlikely to go missing.

Hoping this bee would bring him a bit of surprise, the warlock sighed internally. What he had thought would be a simple task was proving to be a grind. He had run back and forth countless times between the rows of crops, unable to find any trace of the missing bees.

His notepad still blank, Zheng Qing felt as if it would look like he was slacking off to anyone who saw it. But he had conscientiously followed from start to finish without cutting corners.

Looking up at the classmates squatting at the edge of the field clearing away Taste Thorn, he felt a bit envious. He wished that he, too, could appear as if he had accomplished something.

While he was lost in thought, the gold horn bee flying not far ahead of him suddenly disappeared from sight.

Zheng Qing was stunned for a few seconds, rubbed his eyes, then looked down at the talisman on his notepad. The red dot used to mark the location of the bee on the Talisman had vanished without a trace.

”Gone?!” The young man yelled out, incredulity in his voice, ”It just disappeared!”

The ’temporary campus workers’ nearby all straightened up and looked at him curiously.

In the midst of speaking, Zheng Qing hurried forward a few steps to the place where the gold horn bee had vanished. It was an area several meters in radius with fog rolling about. Following the direction from which the bee had disappeared, he grabbed at random. He didn’t catch the bee, but he did catch a small blue-yellow flower.

Soon, Professor Li hurried to the scene of the incident.

”This is a Penglai Banana, planted in a mist simulating summer. It’s not their blooming season now, and the mist isn’t thick; nearby is Lightning Reed on one side and Monk hat platycodon on the other, neither in their flowering season.”

”Gold horn bees are gentle by nature, dislike cold climates, avoid light, and like water, so it’s not strange for it to fly into this mist.”

”What’s strange is that in the place where the gold horn bee disappeared, I found this flower,” Zheng Qing followed closely beside Professor Li, sharing his discovery while dutifully handing over the blue-yellow flower.

Describing it as a small flower, it was the size of a cat’s paw, the petals layered thickly around the bud, evidently an unopened flower.

Professor Li gave the flower a few glances, then his expression suddenly changed.