High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1979: Chapter 200: A Conversation Between Two Daughters

An aging firefly crawls forward along a shallow wooden groove on the bar.

It’s too old, having long lost the ability to regenerate through molting. Time has left its marks all over its body. One side of the translucent wings is curled up, while the other side is filled with holes resembling those eroded by the wind, appearing thin and fragile.

Its oversized belly is slowly being dragged by the remaining three legs, and in the abdominal cavity, visible to the naked eye, are large areas of white calcified material, with only a small region still emitting a faint glow.

Two slender fingers descend from above, gently pinching the firefly, placing it on a small puddle of spilled liquor. It eagerly extends its mouthparts and starts to suck forcefully.

Then, the glow behind it becomes slightly brighter.

”The shop couldn’t afford magic candles before, so it raised a small group of semi-wild fireflies.” Korma watched the greedy bug with slight melancholy and explained casually, ”But now there are only a few left... This one is the bravest, daring to come to the table to beg for a drink. The others, who are timid, only hide in the corners of the wall to nibble on dew.”

Outside the bar.

The customers at the Sakura Pub stared at the bug, yet their eyes lacked focus, their minds revolving around the previous story told by the pub owner.

The lost little girl, just like her—only one was lost in the World in the Mirror, and the other was just lost in the Silent Forest—and then a big mouse who lost its child found emotional solace with the lost little girl. Then, the two lonely souls snuggled against each other, striving toward their respective ideals...

The guest shook her head vigorously, trying to rid her mind of that complex truth.

”So...”

Zhu Si lifted her cup, finished the last sip of juice, and slightly shook her head, always feeling that the fruit at the bottom of the cup carried a hint of tartness, ruining the previous excellent taste.

Then, she looked up at Korma and concluded, ”So, for a while, your relationship with him was like father and daughter?”

”This period,” Korma corrected Zhu Si’s choice of words.

’A while’ carries a slightly limiting meaning, seemingly past tense; whereas ’this period’ expresses a broader interpretation.

Although Zhu Si has returned, it doesn’t mean that the big mouse has to stay away from her—after all, she has knitted several beautiful scarves since last year, and hasn’t given them to it yet.

Zhu Si was momentarily speechless.

When she was lost in the mirror, she was still very young, and the Dreamland wasn’t a place where one could properly learn, so she always handled human nature affairs with a bit of innocence, instinctively using silence as a response to the slightly strong pub owner.

Conversely, Korma, who once served as the vice-president of the student council at the First University, seemed more adept at handling these matters.

She playfully stared at the bright red spot on Zhu Si’s forehead.

After a while, she retorted, ”It looks like you don’t know about my relationship with the Old Mouse... So what are you doing at the pub tonight? Just came for a cup of juice?”

The juice did taste very good.

Zhu Si felt the magic power filling her body, thought silently, then shook her head: ”No... just decided to wander around... then came here... and heard an interesting story.”

”Wander around.”

Korma caught a small strand of silver hair hanging in front of her chest, wrapping it around her finger, with a bit more contemplation in her eyes, repeating the adjective Zhu Si just used: ”...Interesting.”

Indeed, interesting.

For wizards, there is basically no such concept as ’accident’ in the world; any collision between two seemingly unrelated entities is an inevitable event arranged by destiny.

Of course, even though she thought Zhu Si’s arrival tonight was not accidental, Korma did not pull out her Tarot cards to attempt divining the trajectory of fate—although she was now already a Big Wizard, she did not feel that her Tarot cards had any significant effect in the face of traces involving legends.

”Since you’re aimless and the juice is finished, get some rest early.” Korma sighed lightly, let go of the silver hair wrapped around her fingers, attempting to dismiss this uninvited guest before her: ”You have class tomorrow... Don’t worry, if there’s any news about the Old Mouse, I’ll let you know.”

Zhu Si did not get up to say goodbye.

She rubbed the empty cup in her hand, hesitated for a moment, then asked: ”Do you plan to do anything recently?”

The North District Great Wise Person raised his eyebrows in surprise.

”I mean, do you have any new plans these days.” Zhu Si put down her cup, her expression becoming a bit more serious: ”Destiny wouldn’t direct me here for no reason... If you have any plans, maybe I can help.”

”Plans? There are some plans.” Korma laughed lightly, but quickly turned her thoughts to the plans she recently approved, to some extent agreeing with Zhu Si’s opinion.

But as a newly formed wizard group, as the soul figure of this group, Korma had to make many big and small plans and decisions every day—for example, applying to the Alliance for seats at the wizard general meeting; requesting legal assistance from Danghag for North District Wizards; friendly exchanges with groups like The Gypsy Witch Coven and Semler Witch Group; maintaining North District public order; sorting out unknown threats at the edge of Silent Forest; organizing Northern District Wizards to learn magic knowledge; communicating enrollment quotas with schools; and setting up new Philosopher’s Stone simulation laboratories with Doctor Du Zemu, etc.

Without considering myriad affairs, it is difficult for her to think of anything directly related to Zhu Si immediately.

”Something related to the school teachers, there’s probably only one these days.”

Korma’s thoughts swiftly captured a moderate matter that wouldn’t trouble Zhu Si too much: ”...Isn’t the school going to hold a hunting party next month? Because of the rule modifications, any hunting team has a chance, so I had Nicholas try to organize a hunting team.”

Noticing Zhu Si’s slightly confused expression.

The pub owner immediately added explanation: ”...Nicholas is also one of the Northern District Wizards, currently studying at Jiuyou Academy, already in second grade... Hmm, that’s not the point... The point is, his team organization is not going very smoothly, and he doesn’t have much confidence in getting a place in the school hunting competition... I mean, do you have any channels in the school’s Hunting Committee that can inquire about the specifics of the hunting competition’s rules this time?”

”Rules?”

It took Zhu Si a while to react, cautiously probing with uncertainty: ”Do you mean... cheating?”

”Ah hahaha,” the pub owner laughed heartily, waved her hand slightly awkwardly: ”Cheating sounds harsh... it’s just letting those young people familiarize themselves with the rules first... familiarize themselves with the rules... It’s within the rules.”