High School of Demon Hunting

The Yellow Flowered Cat darted away.

Just as a few Sprites that had clung to it found themselves suddenly without support, they all fell onto the hard desk, one after another, the pain making Hehe cry out. Their combined yelps of discomfort caused the other Sprites to burst into laughter.

Fatty Cat Tuan Tuan, however, didn’t have as big a heart as the Sprites.

He waited for the lingering sounds in the air to completely dissipate before he touched his chest and took a few short breaths to recover.

”How on earth did the Rat Immortal manage to provoke the Elderly Ancestor this time?”

Tuan Tuan’s plump feline face scrunched up in confusion, his meow full of puzzlement,

”I remember that mouse always being very cautious... Also, who was the other ’volleyball’? It sounds so familiar... And what was that ’glass ball’ floating beside it? It seemed like there was a small tree inside? It looks fun... I want a glass ball too.”

Whoosh!

The only tightly closed canopy in the dormitory was yanked open.

Dylan lifted the lid of the coffin, his sleepy eyes searching the dormitory for a moment before finally settling on the chubby cat, ”Hey, Tuan Tuan, who came by? I thought I heard a strange cat calling... Is it one of your relatives?”

As he spoke, he sniffed the air, his tone growing increasingly troubled,

”Hiss... There seems to be a strange scent, but then again, it might not be...”

Pfft, as if!

If you could detect it that easily, the big shot wouldn’t be a big shot.

Fatty Cat lifted his chin in disdain, sparing the Blood Werewolf only a glance before turning and curling back up onto Xin Fat Man’s pillow. Seeing their ’bunk’ was ready again, the Sprites cheered and reattached themselves.

...

...

In North Beta Town, on Gu Diao Street.

Outside the Sakura Pub, in an open space.

Members of Jini Cottage were gathered in small groups, their faces marked with worry as they stared at the tightly shut wooden door on the second floor of the pub. Korma and Katherine had been inside for already half an hour with no news.

”Do you guys feel like big sis isn’t quite herself today?” a girl with arm protectors whispered to her companions, a note of concern in her voice, ”She seems colder than usual...”

”Maybe it’s because she changed her hairstyle?” a boy answered carelessly.

”Right,” another girl glanced at the wooden door on the second floor, envy in her eyes, ”Silver-white hair is so beautiful, I want it too...”

”Is this really the time to be worried about hair color? If Katherine is injured, what will happen to her mom and dad? What about her two younger brothers? The club’s aid fund is reportedly out of money this month because we went over our quota of experiments.”

”Really? Then, should I even bother coming to the next club meeting?”

”It’s definitely true; Casey’s mom is so astute, she must have gotten some news from big sis’s dad... Otherwise, with the wedding a month away, why would she take leave now? Could there really be that much to prepare?”

”Macy and Laurie have both taken leave to help out, they are close to Casey, they must know something too...”

The young Tricksters discussed their concerns passionately, growing more worried with each word, many of them edging towards the courtyard’s boundary as if they would bolt through the door at any moment.

All choices had nothing to do with loyalty; in North Beta Town, concepts like loyalty, compassion, or pity were considered luxuries. The Tricksters living in this community were most familiar with struggle and choices.

They struggled in hardship and made choices in desperate situations.

Their every move betrayed the shrewdness and calculation typical of the North District, but beyond the planning, they possessed a fierceness not found among the common people—a nourishment they drew from the Silent Forest.

Just like Katherine, whose boldness or bravery in front of Korma was not based on the corresponding qualities, but on her self-awareness and the best choice she could make when faced with difficulty.

The chaos in the small courtyard ended with a creak.

The wooden door on the second floor of Sakura Pub opened with that creak, and Korma, leading Katherine by the hand, came out. The young Tricksters waiting in the courtyard all craned their necks, their gazes falling on the grey-robed female Trickster behind the house’s master.

Compared to before, Katherine’s appearance hadn’t changed much, except an identical tadpole-shaped black mark had appeared on her forehead, and a strand of her hair had turned silver-white.

Apart from that, she was almost the same as most Tricksters who had completed their role as experiment assistants—stiffly following behind Korma, her complexion pale, her gaze somewhat dull.

She looked like someone whose brains had been burnt out.

This reaction didn’t surprise the onlookers—at best, a certain degree of mental confusion was a relatively good outcome; often, a magic experiment gone awry could take away parts of the experimenter’s body, a fate much more tragic for Tricksters.

Just as the young Tricksters downstairs felt a shared unease, Korma, leading Katherine, stopped on the small balcony at the stairwell.

She quietly looked down at the Tricksters below.

It was as if she wanted to imprint their present fear, their unease, their suppressed indignation, into her mind.

Her eyes shone brightly.

Then she took out a simple Law book from within her robe, turned around, and stuffed it into Katherine’s hands.

”Can you use it?” she asked.

A touch of understanding flickered across Katherine’s blank gaze.

”I can.”

Although lacking the ability to cast spells, that didn’t mean completely losing dreams. Every young Trickster once dreamt about what they would do with a Law book in hand. Many Tricksters, even if they could not perform magic, still memorized a few simple Spell Formulas.

There’s an old saying—the dream must go on, for it might just come true.

After hearing Katherine’s response, Korma nodded with satisfaction, then drew out a Feather Pen and pushed it into the hands of the grey-robed female Trickster:

”Try it.”

With trembling hands, Katherine took the Feather Pen and the simple Law book.

The young Tricksters watching from below were like a flock of ducks whose throats had been gripped, holding their breath as they stared numbly at the previously condemned grey-robed girl taking up the Feather Pen, flipping open the Law book, and skillfully copying the Spell Formula.

This was not the behavior of someone whose mind had been burned out.

Realizing this, and upon reflecting upon Korma and Katherine’s actions, those with quick wits seemed to have grasped something. This ’realization’ seemed infectious. Before long, every Trickster in the courtyard was breathing heavily, their gazes burning towards that narrow balcony on the second floor.

A moment later, the Spell Formula was copied.

Katherine held the Law book carefully, her hands trembling as if she were holding the entire world.