High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2159: Chapter 380: Stinkbug

One Pint.

Approximately five hundred and sixty-eight milliliters.

A ninth of an adult’s blood volume. Theoretically, this amount of blood loss would cause mild or early shock symptoms, such as palpitations, shortness of breath, dry mouth, fatigue, etc. For a wizard, it poses no real harm. On the contrary, many old-school wizards believe that moderate bloodletting has certain health benefits.

Therefore, upon hearing Doctor Duzem’s plan, Professor Montreya’s attitude subtly changed. Weighing his options, he slowly compromised in his heart and subconsciously began planning the possibility of completing the task.

”Can’t do it at school,” the professor’s voice was soft, his face still hidden in the shadow of his hood, as if it gave him some peace of mind: ”Too many eyes on her at school, causing a ruckus there won’t benefit our experiment.”

”But when she becomes an adult, she’s very vigilant, barely ever leaving school alone.”

Doctor Duzem slowly walked to the bookcase, plucked out his two eyeballs, and threw them into a glass filled with medicinal liquid, cleaning them slowly, analyzing his prior observations: ”...And when she sneaks out of school alone, she’s usually in a child’s form, making it unsafe to extract one pint of blood... so Beta Town isn’t a suitable choice either.”

Clearly, he was always very concerned about his ’lost’ Philosopher’s Stone.

Professor Montreya deeply gazed at the owner of the study, his eyes sweeping past the tall dressing mirror in the corner, muttering: ”If you were lost in the mirror for decades, and then wandered in Dreamland for decades, you’d become vigilant too... Since both the school and Beta Town won’t work, let’s wait until she leaves these places.”

”Like?”

”Winter Hunting.”

The professor’s voice grew colder, his plan more detailed: ”The reform of the school’s Hunting Competition has had good results this year, so this year’s Winter Hunting will continue to use the rules of the hunting team’s advisor... As the advisor for the Fringe Hunting Team, she will most likely receive a task to secretly watch over the team... This means she’ll need to enter the fringes of the Silent Forest.”

Rough plan drafted.

The study immediately fell into a heavy silence, with only the faint clinking sound of the glass rod stirring the eyeballs in the cup breaking the silence.

After a long time, Doctor Duzem’s voice sounded again: ”Will it attract her father’s attention?”

Ever since they planned to act on the Philosopher’s Stone, both had skillfully avoided words in their conversation, fearing to draw attention from a certain existence in the shadows.

”I thought you had considered this possibility at the start of the plan.” Professor Montreya’s voice inadvertently carried a hint of mockery, though he didn’t excessively ridicule, simply analyzing: ”Although we have intentions towards her, there’s no malice in concept, it won’t trigger those lofty eyes. Of course, for safety, apart from necessary anti-divination and shielding magic during execution, a certain degree of confusion magic can also help.”

Doctor Duzem raised his head, using his empty, blood-streaked eye sockets to look at the professor standing at the door, nodding slightly:

”You’re the expert in this area, just instruct me if you need anything.”

The professor raised his hand, pulling on the brim of his hat as a gesture of retreat.

After opening the door, he didn’t leave immediately, but paused at the doorway for a few seconds.

”By the way,”

Standing at the door, Professor Montreya, with his back to the study’s owner, reminded in his usual stiff tone: ”As a professor with a laboratory at First University, interacting with wizards whose research overlaps during the day is quite normal... If I were to sneak into your lab at night, that would draw others’ attention.”

As he spoke, his figure continuously faded, before the final word was spoken, he turned into a puff of smoke and abruptly vanished, leaving only a lingering echo, slowly dissipating over time.

Bang.

The study door shut heavily.

Doctor Duzem dipped his thin fingers into the glass cup, retrieving his two eyeballs, carefully and meticulously placing them back in his eye sockets, then closed his eyes, massaging several key acupuncture points around them.

A moment later, he closed his eyes, feeling his way to the tall dressing mirror behind the door, yanking down the velvet curtain covering it.

Normally noisy, the dressing mirror seemed to sense its owner’s mood, and became unusually obedient, holding its breath, refusing to utter a word.

For a long time.

Doctor Duzem slowly opened his eyes, using the faint light from the night outside the window to examine the dark figure in the mirror.

”You look like a stinkbug right now.”

He told the figure in the mirror.

...

...

”There’s an old saying, ’there can only be one stinkbug in noodles’.”

Elder Ruoyu, Vice President of First University, murmured this sentence.

At the moment, he was sitting behind his towering office desk, hands folded, turning his head to look at the deep night outside the window. The wide black robe engulfed all of the equally broad high-back chair beneath him, and in front of the desk, the Sphinx and statues of vampires, werewolves, and other figures seemed submerged like rocks in the tide of darkness, indistinct in the dim light.

In this palace-like massive office, besides the old man, there was no other wizard. But his words were not muttered to himself; he spoke to the wooden puppet sitting on the desk.

The puppet was wearing a black silk top hat, a neatly pressed tailcoat, dark striped trousers, pointy leather shoes, twirling a slender civility cane in its hand, face pale, eyes narrow, with a sharp long nose.

Upon hearing the elder speak, the puppet earnestly turned its brain.

Only it had neither a heart nor a brain.

Therefore, after pondering for a while, it had to give up thinking, curiously asking, ”Professor, why can only one stinkbug be in noodles?”

”Because when anyone finds a stinkbug in their bowl, they won’t bother to find a second one, but will directly dump the whole bowl of noodles.”

Elder Ruoyu withdrew his gaze from the starry night, looking at the little puppet on the desk, his tone gentle: ”Even though in actual life, many people, facing such a situation, will regret pouring out the entire bowl of noodles, believing the remaining ones can still be eaten after washing... At any time, wasting food is a disgraceful behavior.”

”This sounds a bit contradictory.” The puppet touched its slender nose, pondering with difficulty. After all, it was a puppet and didn’t need to eat noodles.

”Indeed contradictory.”

The elder shrank further into his seat, making him appear even smaller, then he turned his head again, looking at the splendid starry sky outside the window, muttering: ”Pouring out the whole bowl of noodles stems from a spiritual cleanliness; not wanting to pour out the whole bowl is based on practical considerations... Just like those experiments Professor Montreya conducts privately.”