High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1207: Chapter 269: The Cause of the Conflict

Nicholas, wearing a slightly outdated red robe, stood at the end of the small square, his complexion a bit pale.

Opposite him was a group of Alpha students clad in white robes, each arrogance and malice clear in their eyes as the ’3A’ club badges adorned their chests.

Not far behind him, clusters of Jiuyou Academy students wrapped in red robes gathered in twos and threes. Since the location was very near the library, which is one of the nodes with the highest student traffic within the campus, new onlookers were continuously drawn to the small square.

Between the two academies, by the lakeside edge, dozens of stinking fishmen poked their heads out of the water, their large protruding eyes fixed intently on the young wizards on shore, occasionally emitting excited growls.

The red Big Birds and white buffaloes that usually glided over the lake had long since sensed the troubling air and hidden on the other side of Lin Zhong Lake; the twin-tailed squirrels and Tree Elves in the trees also retreated into their hollows, shivering amidst the noise of students.

Leveraging his exceptional physique and thick skin, Xin Fat Man quickly maneuvered through the already sparse crowd and approached Nicholas.

Without much effort, he pieced together the gist of the situation from the bits of conversation from the surrounding students.

It was still about the conflict from the previous day’s practice class.

During yesterday’s practice session, Nicholas had thrashed a student from Alpha Academy. To make matters worse, that student happened to be a member of the ’3A’ club, known for their pureblood supremacy within Alpha Academy.

A pureblood wizard had been beaten bloody by a werewolf mongrel, in public no less. The humiliation had incited the members of the 3A club into a fervor. Even Sir Friedman, who had an interest in reconciling the conflicts between the two schools, found himself helpless against the near boiling public opinion and got swept into seeking revenge.

Ordinarily, if one were to retaliate physically within the school, the choice would be a secretive time, an unnoticed corner, then striking quietly when the victim was alone.

Secretive, decisive, swift.

But this approach would not satisfy the 3A members’ demand to cleanse their shame.

Thus, these white-robed fanatics, obsessed with ’bloodlines’ and ’glory’, opted to confront Nicholas in public. Thankfully, Sir Friedman hadn’t completely lost his reason and managed to persuade the 3A members not to storm the Book Mountain Library.

Xin, with his notebook in hand, pricked up his ears, capturing every single word he heard as his feather pen dashed across the pages, leaving behind a hasty and cursory record.

Just as he was about to ask an informant why there were fishmen near Bell Lake, a short wizard in a red robe bustled over from a distance towards a slightly taller blonde witch.

Fat Man’s gaze flickered.

He recognized the short wizard as a committee member of the student council and the blonde witch as a member of the Club Union, both representatives of the student body. Given the circumstances, their meeting was sure to yield some news.

Quietly shifting his stance, Fat Man edged his ears a bit closer.

”...The professors are all out; their offices in the administration building are locked up, and even The Door Gods don’t know where they’ve gone—only that they left in a hurry, as if something urgent came up!”

The short wizard’s expression was anxious, and he spoke rapidly,

”Today, Atlas and Starry Sky Academy are holding their inter-academy hunting competition. The teaching assistants and the School Works Committee are all there for onsite support, and they’re not in the office!”

”The student council though?” The golden-haired witch seemed a bit confused, ”In this situation, shouldn’t someone from the student council step forward?”

”I am from the student council!” The short wizard who brought the news let out a low roar, but it sounded weak, ”Do you want me to stand in front of those idiots from 3A, or in front of Sepulano? I’m just an ordinary first-year committee member! And just so you know, a student proficient in Fishman Language told me those onlooking Fishmen aren’t well-intentioned either...”

”No, no, no,” the witch obviously realized her mistake, her face reddened, and she quickly added, ”What I mean is, where are Lei Zhe and Hoffman? Where are all those senior student council members and people from Sacred Will? Sir Friedman from the Blood Comrades and Sepulano are both by the lake, how come Zhao Qiao is the only one from Sacred Will?”

”Lei Zhe took people off-campus to chat with Augustus, this was a plan that was set in place a long time ago. They left at five in the morning.” The short wizard’s voice was a bit weak and a bit annoyed, ”I’d bet that this was those damned so-called gentlemen’s plan all along!”

Xin Fat Man, listening to these not so secretive yet very straightforward conversations, grew increasingly excited. He felt he’d caught a big scoop and had already thought of a headline for his report, ’Augustus Lures the Tiger away from the Mountain, Nicholas Faces 3A’s Wrath.’

Thinking of Nicholas, Xin Fat Man then remembered the task the editor-in-chief had entrusted him with and immediately turned his gaze towards the center of the crowd.

Perhaps because the number of gathered students exceeded expectations, the white-robed members of the 3A clubs had somewhat restrained their behavior, not doing anything too radical in front of the watchful eyes of the red-robed ones.

Xin Fat Man noticed Sir Friedman standing on the shady path to the left rear of the crowd, arms crossed, his face a bit somber; Sepulano stood opposite on the other side of the shady path, smiling and whispering something to Andrew Taylor, with a tall young Fishman standing behind him. Xin remembered that Fishman had visited his shop for its opening, his name was Iseni.

Several red-robes stood not too far from Iseni, looking malevolently toward the rebels in the lake and the enemies outside the academy.

”What a mess.”

The plump journalist student muttered under his breath, his feather pen not pausing for a moment as he rapidly sketched profiles of people on the scene—the gloating Fishmen, the angry red-robes, the haughty white-robes...

A finger suddenly appeared from the side, landing on the words ’haughty’ and stopping the feather pen from continuing further.

”That’s not right,” a familiar voice sounded in Xin Fat Man’s ear. He turned around in surprise and saw Xiao Xiao’s familiar glasses, ”’Haughty’ describes someone who is full of themselves and has forgotten their place, and those white-robes definitely don’t seem full of themselves or triumphant right now.”

With that, Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses and suggested, ”Maybe ’fuming with anger’ might be more appropriate.”

”I’m the professional here, I’m writing a report, not a record.” Xin Fat Man waved his hand, dismissing the doctor’s suggestion, then craned his neck to look around, ”Hey, I was just wondering where you guys had gone. You surely wouldn’t miss out on this excitement... Where’s Brother Qing? Didn’t he go to morning practice with you? Got kidnapped by Elena?”

Xiao Xiao twitched the corner of his mouth.

”He hasn’t been to morning practice for three Saturdays in a row,” Doctor Xiao said, his tone perhaps a hint of melancholy, ”Today, too, it was just me going to Green Valley... In the early morning before it was even light out, he turned into a cat and slipped out the door, God knows where he’s gone to make mischief.”

Xin Fat Man pinched his chin, a serious look on his face, ”Hmm... Now that you mention it, I’ve suddenly become interested in the reproductive principles after a wizard transforms. You know, it’s still technically spring. There aren’t many things that can distract a cat on a mischief spree.”