High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1437: Chapter 184: The No. 1 Prisoner

Just like a desert can’t escape its dryness and a rainforest can’t escape its humidity, what can never be escaped in Black Prison is the omnipresent chill.

Even within the Black Prison Castle.

Despite the thick stone walls, the multiple intricately carved Runes, and the powerful magical barriers, the chilly air stubbornly clung to every Wizard who appeared in this world.

The corridors had drafts, where the chill was especially intense.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Mai Dong shivered, waking up.

She muttered softly. On one side was the Captain’s broad and warm chest, while on the other was as cold as if it were hung in icy snow, so cold that it seeped in even through the thick Cloak.

The Little Witch couldn’t fall back asleep.

She poked her head out from under the Captain’s Cloak to look outside.

”Where are we?” she asked groggily.

”Almost there, we’re about to arrive. You can sleep a bit more,” Zhang Boren patted her head reassuringly, gesturing her to rest some more. However, the Little Witch did not put her head back under the Cloak as he asked but instead blinked her big eyes, staring at the white-haired Wizard leading the way.

”Zhang Yu?” she called out cheerfully.

The Wizard guiding them turned his head, a warm smile in his eyes.

”Mai Dong.” He nodded lightly and said: ”Professor Li Qihuang is just ahead in the rest area... He just prepared a batch of high-quality Recovery Potions today. You’ll regain your strength in no time.”

The Little Witch, or Mai Dong, blinked indifferently and glanced away from the lead Wizard, looking around: ”So this is Black Prison? It feels almost the same as the Ishikawa’s basement...”

The young Swordsman, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke up.

”There’s a big difference.” His voice matched well with the ambiance of the Ancient Castle, equally indifferent but with a hint of patience: ”The Ishikawa’s basement wouldn’t imprison so many Demons.”

Mai Dong finally noticed those narrow wooden doors with tiny wind holes on both sides of the corridor.

”Are Demons imprisoned behind those doors?” Her voice was full of surprise: ”I thought they’d be held in a very strict, very secure place... yet they’re so close to us!”

”These are all low-risk inmates.” Zhang Yu turned his head back and explained with a smile: ”And not necessarily Demons. Some Wizards with heavy sins are also imprisoned here.”

”Low-risk inmates?” This claim piqued the interest of the Witch in the team, who moved closer to one of the cells and glanced at the Wizard leading the team.

Zhang Yu stopped and smiled at her, not stopping her action.

The Witch confidently cast her gaze into the cell.

Through the narrow windhole, inside was a relatively spacious single room with dark green walls carved full of various complex Runes, the ground covered with a soft carpet, and several white candles hanging overhead. But this was not what surprised the Witch the most.

What truly surprised the Witch was the presence of a bookshelf, a desk, a sofa, a coffee table, and even a single bed that seemed very warm in the cell. At the head of the bed sat a pink rabbit, playing with a carrot in its hands.

If she didn’t know this was a cell, she would even think what she was seeing was a Wizard’s study.

Behind the desk sat a Witch with a gentle demeanor, dressed in a dark red robe, her legs bent and bare, resting in a large armchair, holding a Potion Making textbook and reading with relish.

Zhu Ling felt that her face looked somewhat familiar.

But before she could ponder further, the prisoner inside the room seemed to notice the gaze peering through the wind tunnel outside. She set down her textbook and, with a broad smile, waved towards the door to greet them.

The witch outside was so frightened that she immediately withdrew her head.

Then, she realized there was something off about the scene she had just witnessed.

”She... this place...” The visitor pointed at the cell and then at the ceiling, her face a mix of bewilderment, which made her speech somewhat stammered.

”What did you see?” Zhang Boren also curiously leaned in.

The swordsman named Ishikawa seemed to want to take a look too but was too shy to crowd with the captain and could only gaze longingly at the back of the captain’s head. The dwarf Balin, on the other hand, did not mind jostling for space, but since he was quite short, even on tiptoe, he couldn’t reach the handle of the door, much less the small wind tunnel above it.

This left him with arms folded, frustrated, and his forehead even turned a bit red.

Zhang Boren soon withdrew his gaze as well.

”That was a witch!” His voice was filled with surprise: ”Definitely a witch, uncorrupted... even a child could tell.”

”I didn’t see!” Mai Dong, who was hiding in his arms, loudly protested, trying to stretch his neck for a look but was held down by his own captain.

”Once.” The guiding wizard replied softly: ”She was once a witch. Now she is just a prisoner.”

”Why?”

”Because she facilitated the escape of two demons and disclosed the secrets of Black Prison. The Danhag Supreme Court sentenced her to fifty years of imprisonment without the possibility of parole.”

”But aren’t such criminals held in Danhag’s prison? Why is she detained in Black Prison!”

”She used to be a guard at Black Prison.” Zhang Yu answered simply.

The corridor suddenly fell into silence.

Until the swordsman named Ishikawa expressed his confusion: ”...Do you all feel that she looks somewhat familiar?”

”Yes, yes, I thought it was just an illusion.” Zhu Ling immediately nodded in agreement.

”That is because she once served as a practical class instructor at the First University, responsible for the practice supervision of some graduates.” Zhang Yu turned and continued walking deeper into the castle: ”You may not have attended her classes, but that does not prevent you from finding her familiar.”

The members of Kunpeng Hunting Team had to give up their curiosity about the cell and keep pace with Zhang Yu.

The guiding wizard’s voice rose in the depths of the corridor, mixing with the chilly drafts, sounding exceptionally cold: ”...I don’t know if the name Nikita rings a bell for you. She once served as Nikita’s mentor. After that accident, due to the grave error, she was stripped of her teaching position by the university and arranged to be a guard in Black Prison. It was there in Black Prison that she facilitated the escape of one particularly special infected individual.”

”I’ve heard of this... That infected individual was her daughter.” A female witch in the group suddenly spoke up, interrupting.

Zhang Yu’s footsteps paused for a moment.

”She knew, you knew, we all knew,” his voice was calm, yet there was a trace of cruelty within the calmness: ”What the final outcome would be when a witch is infected by a demon... especially when that witch is just a child. Choices are always difficult, and we must be accountable for our own choices.”