High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1167: Chapter 229: The Devils Who Maintain Peace

Friedman felt the topic was absurd, yet it unexpectedly elicited responses from the other attendees.

”Indeed, it is necessary to put a stop to it.”

Belfinger, wearing a bird-head mask, tapped the table with his finger and replied, ”The debates between Jiuyou and Alpha are now having some negative impact on Atlas Academy. The supporters of Jiuyou Academy, from the Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist factions, are constantly clashing with supporters of Alpha Academy, the Christians, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants...”

”Even without the pretext of Jiuyou Academy and Alpha Academy, those guys would still find other reasons to cause trouble,” Leviathan, hiding behind a cat-face mask, chuckled softly and interjected, ”There’s always a pretext for adding blame.”

Friedman silently listened to the arguments of his two companions, an intriguing thought arising in his mind—perhaps Belfinger was from Atlas, while Leviathan was from Jiuyou or Alpha? Given the stance of the two, it wasn’t impossible.

But he also knew that it was utterly impossible to discern the true identities of those present by such simple conjecture. He had more than once played the role of a student of Jiuyou Academy in these meeting rooms.

However, the subtle pleasures of such details always fascinated him. Speculating on the identity of each person behind the masks through the conversations had become one of the few pleasures of Friedman.

”That’s not the point!” Belfinger said, somewhat irritated, raising his voice slightly, ”The point is the chaos! The conflicts between Jiuyou Academy and Alpha Academy have already caused much unnecessary chaos throughout First University!”

”Have you noticed that the supply of student-made talismans, magic potions, and other products in Beta Town has drastically reduced, causing a minor market depression?”

The so-called student-made talismans and potions referred to products made by students and labeled as such. They were popular in the market due to being inexpensive and reasonably effective. Students of First University also enjoyed doing such work in their spare time to supplement their living expenses.

The talismans sold by Zheng Qing at Wandering Bar were examples of such products.

Hearing Belfinger’s words, Leviathan appeared puzzled, ”Market depression... What does that have to do with conflicts between the two academies?”

The response did not come from Belfinger but from Beelzebub next to him, still munching on snacks, ”With the conflict escalating between the academies, more and more students spend their spare time accusing and cursing each other, naturally leaving no time for making talismans or potions. With no supply, the market then slumps... It’s simple economics.”

”Moreover, the students of Jiuyou Academy have intensified their study hours to demonstrate their educational superiority, which also significantly reduces their spare time,” added Belfinger. ”This is another reason.”

Indeed, Friedman internally dismissed his previous guess.

Belfinger couldn’t possibly be from Atlas; those solely occupied with faith rarely frequented Beta Town and wouldn’t know the reasons for its market’s slump, nor would they care about how long the students of Jiuyou Academy studied.

From this angle, could Belfinger actually be from Jiuyou Academy, resentful because the academy amplified study hours?

As these thoughts floated through his mind, Friedman joined the discussion too. He couldn’t afford to be just an observer as it would make him stand out excessively.

”And there’s also the impact on the student clubs.”

A hoarse voice came from beneath the bat-mask, ”The conflict between Jiuyou Academy and Alpha Academy reflects in the student clubs—it leads to disputes between Blood Comrades and Sacred Will... but their disputes have caused many members of the third-ranking YPO club to quit.”

”Because YPO is merely TPO’s student organization, not a strictly regulated club. It contains many members from both Blood Comrades and Sacred Will.”

”Usually, although the two sides dislike each other, they wouldn’t create chaos. Now, in every regular meeting of YPO, members from both sides slander each other... other members also join their debates to varying degrees. This makes it hard for everyone, and the YPO chairman has decided to expel members from both clubs. This is a significant shuffle for YPO.”

It sounded absurd, but this was the reality in the academy.

The masked individuals behind the conference table fell silent, seemingly digesting Lucifer’s statement while possibly speculating about Lucifer’s identity. After all, not every student had access to unannounced information from YPO.

”Want some dried plums?”

After finishing the pastries on the table, Beelzebub pulled a box of candied fruit from his pocket and offered it to a neighbor. ”It’s a new product from Meow Meow Dessert Shop, very sugary...”

”Beelzebub! Now is not the time to discuss eating,” Samael, wearing a wolf head mask and truly living up to his ’Wrath’ moniker, stood up, his body emitting rolling black smoke: ”If you can’t control your urge to eat, I can help tie a few knots in your stomach!”

”Samael, Samael.”

Always sitting cross-legged at the center of the table, listening to all sides, Lord Kannai finally spoke up, using a slightly slick tone to stop the wrathful tirade, ”Beelzebub is just being himself; don’t be too harsh on him... just as we wouldn’t stop you from randomly smoking up the meeting room, right?”

Samael sat down, grumbling.

”We don’t need to discuss this further.” Sitting across the table, wearing a fox mask, Mammon spoke in a deep voice. ”Since nobody has any objections, let’s execute Lord Kannai’s command.”

A murmur of agreement echoed from both sides of the table.

”I do like Mammon’s calm demeanor... To be honest, you’re at a disadvantage wearing a fox mask,” Lord Kannai plucked a branch laden with star-shaped flowers, scattering the tiny blossoms all over the table, chuckling as he spoke: ”The more greedy, the more fearful, the more cautious. So, if you want to become a sufficiently capable leader, you should all learn from our colleague Mammon here.”

”The second matter—I am retiring.”

Silence fell in the conference room for a few seconds, followed by a burst of enthusiastic applause.

Lord Kannai spread his hands, slightly nonplussed.

”Don’t be too pleased yet, you’ll have to endure me for quite some time. At the very least, I will remain your Sin Bearer until the end of this semester... So, we arrive at your most anticipated part—making things challenging for the upcoming Sin Bearer.”

”About half of you here have experienced this.”

”I mainly speak to the other half.”

”You have six months to prepare individual challenge tasks, which my nominee will complete during the summer vacation.”

”You should be a little cautious in this matter. Any task that involves revealing the identity of my candidate will lead to an automatic completion of the candidate’s task.”

”The tasks must not exceed the limits set for Registered wizards... of course, it is unlikely you would exceed it.”