High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2151: Chapter 372: All Trouble Stems from Transfiguration

Thanks to the best wishes of the chief student, the Absolution Hunting Team had a very successful hunt that night.

Not only did they not encounter any unexpected situations, but with Furry Bean’s help, they easily found a nest of Blue-mouthed Pheasants, one male, two females, and five chicks.

No one in the hunting team intended to raise these chicks as pets, and the D&K store has limited space and could not accommodate five noisy little fellows. Therefore, after binding their parents and sending them in for the task, Zheng Qing gave these chicks to Furry Bean as a treat.

”What a cold and cruel world.”

The following afternoon before the magical zoology class, Zheng Qing happened to turn to the page on Phasianidae, seeing the images of them leisurely pecking at bugs in the forest, he couldn’t help but shake his head slightly and sigh.

Unfortunately, no one echoed his sentiment.

The young cost student resisted the urge to look around, trying his best to focus on the textbook in front of him. Since magical zoology is an elective course with students from other academies, to avoid rumors and unexpected situations, in recent classes, Zheng Qing has chosen to sit away from Jiang Yu.

Other students in the class, either intentionally or unintentionally, left a circle of empty seats around the warlock—some of them didn’t want to be involved in the school’s biggest trouble, but more gave Zheng Qing the feeling of ’keeping a respectful distance’, as if some of the halos that were once surrounding Su Shijun were, over time, unknowingly expanding to him.

This subtle atmosphere to some extent reduced part of Zheng Qing’s pressure, manifesting in daily life as fewer people openly causing him trouble. In public, everyone subconsciously maintained a certain safe distance from him; but at the same time, this atmosphere also increased his pressure in another direction, which could be described with a trendy term as ’pressure of fame’, with all his actions being secretly observed.

Zheng Qing would bet that if he greeted or exchanged a few more words with a witch in class today, the next day’s Beta Town Post or Horn Report would be filled with articles accusing him of being fickle and seeking novelty. There might even be professional legal experts analyzing issues of custody with Poseidon or inheritance of property in the Greenhill Mansion. Correspondingly, the witch who greeted him would inevitably be exposed, bearing some very irrational remarks.

After all, there are many people in this world without brains and those who think they have brains but actually don’t, and wizards are no exception.

Tick, tock.

The second hand ticked steadily, paying no mind to the warlock’s inner anxiety. After his unfocused gaze lingered on the textbook for a while, Zheng Qing’s attention was slowly drawn to the pocket watch placed at the corner of the table, and he subconsciously lifted his hand, pressing the tip of his index finger on the transparent glass face.

He had fantasized more than once about his fingertip being able to pierce through the glass like a gentleman and tweak the hands on the dial, making everything go back to before the Horn Report came out—or fast forward to the end of this class.

But every time, the hard feeling of his fingertip coldly denied his fantasy.

This time was no exception.

Just as his fingertip touched the pocket watch, the whispered conversation of two wizards slightly behind him caught the boy’s attention.

”Only two silver dimes for a fox? How did it drop so much! I remember the task mentioned five silver dimes for a fox, with payment upon delivery... It doesn’t make sense to go back on it in just a few days!”

”Someone has already complained to the School Works Committee, but apparently, this task was not certified by the school, it belongs to a ’private commission’, and the explanation rights are all in the hands of the commissioner, so the chances of a successful complaint are very low.”

”Simply speechless!”

”Calm down, calm down... Foxes are not Twin-tailed Squirrels, they don’t fly, they are still quite easy to catch. Just bring a chicken leg and take a stroll through the forest meadow between classes, and you can earn a few silver dimes, quite a deal.”

”It used to be quite a deal, but these days, with all the catching, eligible foxes are getting fewer and fewer...”

For some reason, the voices of the two warlocks grew quieter and quieter, almost inaudible.

Zheng Qing finally couldn’t hold back, propping his head with his hand, and glanced slightly back to the side, only to be shocked to find that the two wizards speaking were quite some distance from him, too far for normal ears to hear.

Transformation side effects!

These words immediately popped into his mind, and the thoughts originally attracted by the ’fox trade’ were suddenly drowned in a surge of unease, so much so that when the round-faced lecturer entered the classroom with a strange tooth, eliciting gasps of surprise, the young cost student was still rolling up his sleeves, carefully examining the thickness and color of the hair on his arms.

This absent-minded attitude lasted the whole magical zoology class.

When the class bell rang, and the teacher on the podium said ’class dismissed’, Zheng Qing ignored the strange looks from others and, clutching his textbook, bolted straight for the dormitory.

Thank goodness, after a careful check, he didn’t find any other symptoms of transformation side effects on his body.

When Xiao Xiao hurried back to the dormitory, Zheng Qing had already regained his composure and was on the balcony letting a blue Paper Crane fly—Paper Crane was his reply to Jiang Yu, as his sudden departure from class had also caught the witch’s attention.

”It should be a kind of benign side effect.”

After listening to Zheng Qing’s detailed description, Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses and replied somewhat uncertainly: ”In any case, if you want to be completely assured, you either have to go to the school hospital for treatment, or control the number of transformations yourself... As before, I still recommend you control the number of transformations.”

This choice has been discussed between Zheng Qing and his companions more than once. Going to the hospital for treatment would mean his transformation form would be known by more people, which in the current environment, not only exposes him to more risk but also makes it highly likely that he would face school punishment for ’illegal use of transformation’—after all, as per the professors’ original plan, Zheng Qing was learning transformation to treat a head condition, with a strict limit on the number of times it can be used, yet he has now turned filling application forms into a kind of perfunctory task.

”I am already avoiding transformations unless necessary.”

The young cost student sighed heavily, his thoughts shifting as he remembered the conversation between the two warlocks he overheard in class: ”By the way, have you heard of any task at school about catching foxes recently?”

Xiao Xiao tilted his head and glanced at him.

For a long time, he hesitantly nodded.

”I’ve heard about it.” He seemed reluctant to discuss the matter.

Zheng Qing couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, sensing the answer might not be pleasant: ”Is there something I don’t know? I feel like you’re all hiding something from me.”

Xiao Xiao earnestly adjusted his glasses and finally answered: ”It’s not really hiding. It’s just that there is nothing bad for you in this matter, but knowing it doesn’t benefit you either, so no one mentioned it... Speaking of which, this has something to do with your ability in transformation. Recently, there’s been a rumor from who knows where that you’re proficient in transformation and your form is a fox, which is why you gained Su Councilor’s favor.”