High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1200: Chapter 262: Saturday Morning

Early May mornings were no longer so cold.

Perhaps there was still a chill in the air, but the flower buds on the branches waiting to bloom and the intermittent birdsong from the woods shattered that coolness, giving one a few extra ounces of courage to face life.

Jiang Yu still rose early today.

But unlike before, she didn’t spend much time on her outfit, instead, like other Jiuyou Academy students, she donned a bright red robe with a three-finger-wide black belt at her waist. There were no forbidden steps, no jade ornaments, no hairpins or hair clasps, and no shark silk gloves.

Such overly plain attire was extremely rare for a witch of noble origin.

But it was very necessary today.

Because Jiang Yu had promised Elena that she would participate in a magic ritual of the Gypsy witches as an overseer. She had to ensure that no one at the ritual site could identify her by her outfit.

The curtains had not yet been drawn, so the light inside the room was dim. Li Meng’s slight snoring came from behind the canopy, content and comfortable. Usually, at this time, Jiang Yu would unceremoniously draw the curtains, lift Li Meng’s quilt, let the cold wind and sun awaken the little witch from her slumber, and then drag her to the library to do her homework.

But today, Jiang Yu’s fingers rested on the corner of the dressing table, touching a test tube filled with pink blood, she sighed softly, deciding to give Li Meng a day off.

”Just this once, don’t expect it to happen again.”

The witch whispered to herself, slipping the test tube into a compartment of her handbag. As she drew her hand out, her fingers brushed against a cold metal object in the bag, causing her to shiver involuntary.

It was a Beretta Double-Barrel Charm Gun, which, though it looked somewhat old, had intact Patterns on the barrel and Runes along the muzzle, and had been recently maintained with holy oil, giving it a very reliable feel to the touch.

This Charm Gun had been given to her by Elena the previous afternoon.

Along with this Charm Gun, she had been given a Fu Bullet with a blood-red tip.

”Although we’ve made every preparation, we must always consider the unexpected,” the Gypsy witch had said with a tone so light, it seemed she was utterly unaware of the dreadful content of her words. ”If the magic circle goes out of control, use the gun to attack the central door within the Array; if I lose control, shoot me... You know, that’s the right choice.”

”The Fu Bullet is specially made, and this is the only one, make sure to seize the opportunity when you use it.”

Recalling this, Jiang Yu felt as if her fingers had touched not the cold barrel of the gun, but hot coals, and she withdrew her hand quickly. Her face turned pale in the dim light.

”Is it so dangerous?” Jiang Yu’s face was just as pale yesterday afternoon when she spoke to Elena. ”If it’s truly that dangerous, can we not prepare more before we do it? Don’t make needless sacrifices with your life.”

”Prepare? We are always preparing... Even the best diviners can’t always find the best moment to do something. Besides, today’s ritual is actually a part of the ’preparation.’ If we keep delaying even for such a simple task, the thing I want to do will never have a chance of success.”

Elena’s response was serious, her gaze resolute—anyone who looked into her eyes would read the firmness in her heart: ”I’m prepared to sacrifice everything.”

Jiang Yu could read in the Gypsy Witch’s eyes that even if she refused to provide the Spirit Witch’s Blood, Elena and her companions would not halt the ritual, and her refusal would result only in the backlash of the Silence Contract, further reducing the success rate of the ritual.

This was destined to be a dance on the edge of a knife.

The witch took a deep breath, collected her scattered thoughts, and raised her hand to check the time.

At six o’clock in the morning.

She finally stopped hesitating, reached out to grab a red mask from the corner of the dressing table, stuffed it into her handbag, and stood up to walk out of the dormitory. It was a sleek red mask, featureless save for a pair of eyeholes.

”Bang.”

The dormitory door closed gently. The sound was soft, but it unexpectedly woke up a little witch from her slumber.

”Eh? Did someone just go out?”

Li Meng, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly sat up, rubbed her eyes, and mumbled to herself before she sleepily realized the dim light in the room:

”Ugh, my cousin hasn’t woken me up yet...”

Before she finished speaking, the little witch flopped back down into the bed, seizing the precious weekend moments to resume her game of chess with the Duke of Zhou. The plush bear curled up in the corner of the little witch’s bed opened its mouth as if to say something, but just as it was about to speak, a small, pristine foot peeked out from under the covers and ruthlessly stuffed itself into its mouth.

The plush bear decisively chose to slump back down.

...

...

Similarly, on this morning, in a small, gray dormitory, Nicholas stopped his remorseful pen.

Compared to before, the room seemed much messier.

But the colors were more abundant.

A pot of lush evergreens sat on the desk, with lazy fireflies resting on their thick leaves, flickering with a greenish glow. The fireflies that had labored all night now only emitted soybean-sized lights, illuminating the area less than a foot around them.

But it didn’t matter, for the cold, white light of morning had already poured through the narrow window and into the room, providing the occupant with ample brightness.

Nicholas straightened the pile of thick letter paper on the desk and stuffed them into a large envelope.

Last night, he wrote letters to his mother all evening.

He confessed for his rashness, his inability, his sorrow. Just like when he first entered First University, yesterday, when he heard those words coming from the mouth of the Alpha student, he didn’t hesitate to throw his punch.

He had thought that after two years of university life and the school’s admonishments and punishments, he had matured and could face such situations without losing control.

But the moment he threw the punch yesterday, he finally realized he was wrong.

”No one can insult you in my presence.”

”Even if I had to make a third choice, I would still throw my punch, Mom.” He wrote at the end of his letters, ”You gave me my first life, bringing me into this world; and you also gave me a second life, freeing me and Liz from the Trickster’s destiny. Besides my life, I have nothing else I can repay you with.”

”May Merlin always bless you.”