High School of Demon Hunting

The striped cat’s tail, like a furry golden ringed snake, slithered through the crack of the door, winding its way to the side of the two curled-up Mouse People at the entrance of D&K, wrapping around their waists and giving a tug.

The two Mouse People suddenly disappeared into thin air.

The Two-headed Ogre, who was eagerly rushing from the end of the Pedestrian Street with a wooden stick, was instantly stunned in place. He raised his hand and scratched the slightly smaller head on his left shoulder, then the big mouth on his right head opened, roaring around him. He lifted the stick and smashed it heavily on the tattered vest left on the ground by the two Mouse People.

Blue-green debris flew everywhere, splashing onto the glass of the shops by the street, creating a crisp crackling sound. There were no invisible prey hiding nearby.

The Two-headed Ogre sniffed twice at last, muttering complaints, dragging the wooden stick, and turned away dejectedly.

Pa Thud!

The two Mouse People were pulled from the air by the cat’s tail, landing on the soft floor of San You Bookstore with a dull thud. Perhaps due to the painful transformation process, they remained unconscious. The little green vest that once fit them had already been stretched beyond its limits by their enlarged forms, leaving only tatters hanging from their hairless bodies, making them look even more gaunt.

The Yellow Flowered Cat curled its mouth, used its claw to tug over a thin blanket, and covered the two Mouse People.

It noticed that these Mouse People had not completely transformed into humans, as they still retained a long, hairless mouse tail, with a hint of blue amidst the fleshy pink, trembling in the cold air like two newborn little snakes.

Only then did the Flower Cat turn back, looking at the Elder Wizard on the lounge chair.

”What did you just say?”

It lifted a paw, flicked out a claw, and scratched its ear impatiently: ”You’re talking so slow, not getting to the point—by the time you’re done, these little guys will be in that ogre’s rectum... I thought I heard you mention thread just now? What thread, is that the kind used for knitting sweaters?”

”Anchor.”

The bookstore owner took a gentle breath, correcting: ”Anchor line... the line with the iron chain and anchor cast when mooring a ship. What I meant was...”

”Oh, oh, oh, I get it now.”

The Flower Cat dismissively waved its paw: ”It’s no big deal... Speaking of which, I’ve helped that Big Mouse so much, shouldn’t he be grateful to death? Can he help me find the path to becoming a legend? Even a side path would do!”

Mr. Wu silently glanced at it, kindly reminding: ”You’ve followed me, and haven’t found the path to becoming a legend.”

The implication was that the Flower Cat, even while following a presence that had surpassed Ancient Wizards, hadn’t become a legend, yet it wanted to ask a newly-emerged legendary Mouse for advice on its path, perhaps wasn’t quite thought through.

”The path you walk is too broad, too distant.”

The Flower Cat sighed, its ears drooping to the sides of its body, a rare look of melancholy appearing on its round cat face: ”Your path suits those systematic, step-by-step Wizards... I’m just a cat, every step I take is marked with paw prints.”

”Maybe since you usually keep your head up, looking at the distant scenery, you haven’t noticed... ever since you broke through the Ancient One’s realm, Wizards in this world have increasingly more choices... like how that little girl from the North District became a Big Wizard, or like how the Rat Immortal advanced to a legend today.”

”I guess, it’s probably because the higher and farther anchor points have been confirmed, so everyone has the courage to explore those side paths.”

”’I want to find the narrow door, because the wide gate leads many to it, and that road leads to destruction; the narrow door and path few find it, it leads to eternal life.’”

In the final sentence, the Flower Cat borrowed a passage from Chapter Seven of the ”New Testament·Matthew Gospel,” only it replaced the opening ’you’ with ’I.’

The owner of San You Bookstore lay back down, pulled a book from the shelf, opened it, and covered his face, murmuring through the cover: ”You’ve only thought about asking the Rat Immortal for advice on how to advance to legend, have you considered the impact of the birth of a new extraordinary species on the entire Wizard World?”

For the wise, many insights need only a few words to bring clarity, especially when the subject of insight is a cat skilled in magic.

The Yellow Flowered Cat quickly did the calculations with its paw, then all its fur bristled, and its pointed ears instantly drooped down— a new extraordinary species signifies new interest demands, and new interest demands mean new conflict points.

Traditional Wizards are definitely not going to accept Mouse People, they can only choose the Moon Council.

The Moon Council, with an additional legendary wizard, will naturally not be satisfied with the current cake, and will ask the Mage Alliance for more.

Due to the birth of Korma and the North District Wizards, the wizard world already suddenly faced tens of thousands of ordinary-level Wizards, putting the Mage Alliance in a bit of a dilemma— subsidies, employment, education, healthcare, etc., involving resource allocation, none of which can be easily solved.

If at this time, another group of Mouse People demands resources, it’s simply a nightmare.

For instance, in terms of education, the First University annually allocates limited admission slots for clans like the Blood Race and Werewolves, and the capacity of Alpha Fortress is also limited. If Mouse People also want to study, it will inevitably squeeze the interests of other clans or forces; if the interests of the Mouse People are ignored, it will cause a rift within the Alliance, greatly impacting the Alliance’s prestige.

When a new Ancient One emerges on the Demon side, if there is a lack of unity within the Alliance, it will seriously impact the stability of the entire Wizard World.

This is truly a case of pull one thread and the whole fabric unravels.

The Yellow Flowered Cat could even imagine many specific scenarios— hordes of Mouse People appearing in every corner of Beta Town, grabbing every available job; these highly reproductive new extraordinary creatures sweeping across Buji Island like locusts, harvesting any resources they can see, leading Silent Forest to truly become silent.

Mouse People representatives in robes standing in the Moon Council’s auditorium, banging on the podium with a shoe, desperately fighting for living space for the Mouse People; while ordinary prisons in Danghag were overcrowded due to a surge in Mouse People thieves.

Not to mention the potential epidemic the extraordinary Mouse People might bring.

Back when the birth of the Vampires led to Bloodlust and the Werewolves’ emergence resulted in Frenzy, the whole Wizard World suffered huge losses, and the Yellow Flowered Cat had no doubt the epidemic brought by the Mouse People would be even worse than those of their predecessors.

Because when they were just a bunch of little mice, the Black Death had already claimed half of the world’s life.

At this thought, the Flower Cat couldn’t help but shiver, instinctively looking down at the two little creatures soundly asleep under the blanket, feeling that what its tail had pulled back was not a wonderful gift, but a Pandora’s box.