High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1292: Chapter 39 Hedgehog Cat

Lin Guo’s Black Mountain Goat going missing didn’t cause much of a stir at First University.

At present, there were far too many more important matters that demanded the attention of the students—the conflict between Jiuyou and Alpha, internal debates within Atlas, Starry Sky Academy’s unrestricted combat competition, the blood-sucking Nicholas, the results of the accident involving Lei Zhe and Augustus, the emergence of a new sacrificial stream warlock in North Beta Town, a certain student council vice president who quietly advanced to Big Wizard, and so on.

Slightly less prominent were the Lake Bell Fishman Tribe, the Horseman Tribe still lingering outside Alpha Fortress, and the recently restless underground Mouse Clan due to the disappearance of the Rat Immortal; they were regular features in both the Beta Town Post and the campus newspaper.

In comparison, a temporarily missing Black Mountain Goat seemed somewhat trivial—even more so when compared with the love story of a certain top student that the school’s newspapers and gossip columns might be more interested in. Moreover, every year, there are probably not one hundred, but at least eighty pets that sneak away to play for a month or two. The school couldn’t possibly organize a search party for every pet that goes missing for a short period or waste the precious energy of professional diviners.

”Don’t rush, just wait patiently for a few days,” a wizard on duty from the School Works Committee comforted Lin Guo, saying with a smile, ”Maybe in a few days, you’ll find your goat has faithfully returned to the Pet Garden, with a litter of little lambs trailing behind her... It’s still the end of spring now; it’s common for animals to forget their owners after being in heat.”

This response was slightly provocative, and Zheng Qing couldn’t help but laugh.

”Don’t laugh; there’s precedent for this kind of thing.” The duty wizard seriously told the two young men, ”Recently, a hedgehog from Starry Sky Academy came back to the Pet Garden with a group of kittens...”

”A hedgehog with kittens?” Lin Guo’s attention was immediately diverted by this odd statement.

Zheng Qing silently sighed in his heart, still too young, his topic so easily shifted.

But he was also interested in the duty wizard’s story and quietly perked up his ears.

”...Yes, the fur on those kittens was exactly the same as the quills on the hedgehog, like they were cut from the same mold, clearly the progeny of that hedgehog.”

”But how can a hedgehog give birth to cats?” Lin Guo couldn’t understand.

”Hedgehog cats, haven’t you heard of them?” The duty wizard raised a finger and wagged it at the little warlock, ”A very rare magical creature, a mixed blood, chubby and adorable, the complete opposite of fluffy... You can’t expect to understand every magical creature in the wizard world, even the big wizards at the school’s Magical Creatures Research Institute can’t manage that.”

”But cats and hedgehogs... they have reproductive isolation.” The little warlock clung to this explanation, seemingly concerned about his own Big Black bringing back a litter of lambs with wings or gills.

”Magic, with it all things are possible,” the duty wizard confidently lifted his chin and nodded.

”So you’re saying the School Works Committee currently can’t start an investigation into the disappearance of the Black Mountain Goat, right?” Zheng Qing forcibly steered the conversation back on track.

Lin Guo immediately looked toward the duty wizard with eager eyes.

The school worker in the grey robes glanced at the young cost student and sighed, ”This isn’t the first time you’ve asked this, right... If I remember correctly...”

With that, he flipped through the folder in his hands:

”...Well, if I remember correctly, a while ago you came to the School Works Committee because a pet snake went missing. Since then, there hasn’t been any change in how the Committee handles such cases.”

”But the fact proved that something had indeed happened to the snake... you should have been more proactive about such matters,” Zheng Qing suddenly felt it necessary to lodge a complaint with the student council about the School Works Committee’s sluggishness and the strong bureaucratic air—exercising supervision was the duty and obligation of every publicly funded student.

The duty wizard blinked, closing the folder in his hands.

”We will seriously consider your suggestion,” he replied dryly, then stared with lifeless eyes at the two young men in front of him, as if he had suddenly become mute.

An awkward silence fell over the duty room.

Zheng Qing coughed and, taking Lin Guo by the arm, they walked out. ”Since that’s the case... thank you for your trouble. Hard work.”

”Not at all, not at all, this is our duty,” the duty wizard seemed to suddenly awaken from hibernation, his eyes becoming a bit more spirited—but that was it. He didn’t even stand up to see the two students off and quickly closed the folder in front of him.

Leaving the School Works Committee office, it was noon.

It had rained in the morning, so the sun did not come out and remained hidden behind the clouds. The air was moist; a light breeze made it pleasantly comfortable, enough to make one involuntarily stretch and immediately forget the unpleasant experience from just before.

After stretching, Zheng Qing pulled out his pocket watch to check the time.

There was a tiny stain on the transparent glass of the pocket watch, like a splash of sauce from Xin Fat Man eating a chicken leg. Zheng Qing, feeling distressed, breathed on it and rubbed it with his sleeve.

Good, the stain came off.

The warlock breathed a sigh of relief—he hoped that in the future, once he had the capability, he would use this pocket watch to travel the long river of history. So he had to cherish it now.

The hands on the dial indicated it was twenty past one in the afternoon.

There was still a good half hour before classes resumed. After lunch today, he had accompanied Lin Guo to the School Works Committee office to ’report the case,’ lining up, filling out forms, waiting, and then that utterly unproductive conversation had made the whole afternoon slip away unnoticed.

The warlock suspected that he might ’accidentally’ fall asleep again during his afternoon class.

”I won’t take you to Alpha Fortress since I still have classes in the afternoon,” Zheng Qing explained to Lin Guo while yawning, after taking him to the Cat Fruit Tree—to prevent Lin Guo from feeling lonely, he had also summoned the forest cat down from the tree to keep the little warlock company.

”... You go back with it; the school is very safe,” Zheng Qing said, patting Lin Guo’s shoulder for comfort. ”Don’t worry about Big Black; the entire Absolution team is helping you. Doctor Jini is considering a new divination method these days; there might be good news... And, Sister Korma from Gini Cottage has already notified the Northern District Wizard. As long as Big Black appeared in the North District, we will definitely know.”

Lin Guo pursed his lips and nodded vigorously, ”I will pay attention in class!”

Zheng Qing was very satisfied with the little warlock’s response:

”I have a Fishman Common Language class this afternoon. The professor is an Old Fishman, said to be an Elder of the Lake Lingzhong Fishman Tribe. I will ask him to inquire in Lake Bell... as long as Big Black has ever lingered near Lake Bell, he surely can’t escape the eyes of the magical creatures there.”