High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2230: Chapter 451: News of Arrogance

After leaving the Greenhill Mansion, Zheng Qing constantly felt a bit dizzy.

To the point where he almost forgot he had a practical class in the afternoon.

The whole afternoon, his every move carried a sense of awkward clumsiness, like someone who walks offbeat; during the practical class, he could even mispronounce the simplest ’Ge Zhitianxi’ as ’Gezhitanye,’ summoning vines as limp as cooked noodles, bringing laughter to more than half the class.

Of course, his disoriented appearance also attracted quite a few scrutinizing and suspicious looks.

It wasn’t until the evening, lying in bed, stuffing a Nightmare Doll under his pillow, that the young scholarship student seemed to regain some ’anchors’ in life, re-establishing his sense of reality.

The short ’buying clothes’ trip gave the warlock a significant jolt.

Prior to this, he had been quite confident in his not-so-ample but substantial-enough wallet, believing that even if it couldn’t compare to some deeply-rooted wizarding families, it would be sufficient to present oneself decently in the Wizarding World.

Then reality harshly pulled his ear, roaring to show him what true ’decency’ looked like.

”All right, there are no outsiders now.”

As soon as he returned to the dorm that evening, Xin Fat Man couldn’t wait to grab the young scholarship student by the collar, raising his eyebrows and asking, ”What were you doing with Councilor Su at noon?”

Zheng Qing was stunned by this question.

If he remembered correctly, he had answered this question more than once today, and nearly everyone in the class, including Xin, had heard his answer.

”Buying clothes?” The young man struggled in confusion.

”I want the truth!”

The Fat Wizard, a bit frustrated, let go of him and, with unabashed suspicion, said, ”Just buy a piece of clothing and you spend the entire afternoon in such a distracted state?”

It wasn’t just one piece of clothing.

Zheng Qing thought of the long line of garments and immediately felt depressed again, saying sullenly, ”I really went to buy clothes... an outfit for the upcoming Under the Moon Dance... If you don’t believe me, ask Doctor Xiao to do a divination.”

Xin immediately turned around, looking at the Diviner by the desk.

Xiao Xiao, who had been fondling a crystal ball for quite a while, noticed his companion’s gaze, nodded slightly, and replied in a bland voice, ”Magic tells me he isn’t lying... but you know, he never really abides by the usual magic rules.”

Zheng Qing let out a heavy sigh.

The Fat Wizard, losing interest, waved his hand and lazily moved toward his bed with a box of preserved fruits he had pulled out from his pocket, reminding the two, ”By the way, we received a notification from the editorial department this afternoon that our anniversary celebration the day after tomorrow can’t be too extravagant... We can only invite a few guests in a smaller scope... So tonight, you two will have to work a bit harder, confirm the final invitation list, and send apologies to those we previously invited but now won’t attend.”

Zheng Qing accepted the hot towel offered by the Sprites, wiped his face, and finally gathered some spirit.

”Ah, what a hassle... Wait... Why is the notification coming from the editorial department?” He suddenly realized the oddity in the Fat Wizard’s words.

The sound of painful moaning came from the Fat Wizard’s bed.

Then came his comfortable sigh.

”Actually, it’s not quite a ’notification’,” the Fat Man, mouth full of preserved fruits, explained indistinctly, ”To be precise, it’s ’news’ received by the editorial department... It’s a plan just drafted by the Beta Town Management Committee this afternoon, not yet issued, but they’ve informed several newspapers in advance to facilitate reporting... We estimate our shop will receive the notice tomorrow morning... It seems Beta Town has finally realized something terrible occurred in the forest during the Winter Hunting, so they temporarily tightened control measures and banned large gatherings to be safe... like being so late to a shit show that you miss the best part.”

He uttered a cold laugh, then habitually criticized the Beta Town Post:

”Speaking of shit shows... perhaps tomorrow morning you’ll see some new reports from the Post — ’First University in Panic’, ’They hastily erected the School Guardian Array, abandoning many wizards in the Silent Forest’, ’Campus in Chaos’, ’School Spokesperson Declares No One Injured’, ’This Statement Fails to Quell Rumors of Several Students’ Families Receiving Death Notifications’, ’An Anonymously Evaluating High-Level Employee at First University States the Situation Isn’t Optimistic’, ’The Wizard News Ethics Committee Will Protest First University’s Tight-Lipped Actions’...”

He mimicked Ms. Pulitzer’s voice, vividly capturing the phrasing and tone that exuded the ’Post’’s distinctive flavor, evoking a slight smile from the initially gloomy Zheng Qing.

”You really won’t need to worry about employment after graduation.”

While teasing, he wandered to the desk, pulled out a stack of stationery, and began drafting the format for the apology letter, casually asking, ”Is the News Ethics Committee a subsidiary of the Alliance?”

”The Alliance doesn’t have that much energy to establish such an organization.” It was Xiao Xiao who answered this question, sorting the list on the other side of the desk, ”...Occurs to me, organizations with grand names but no preliminary terms are likely to be phony platforms where you can join by paying a fee... As far as I know, the News Ethics Committee isn’t even a part of the Post...”

”Know what the class’s interest group is?”

The Fat Wizard made a fitting comparison, ”A small group of wizards interested in a specific thing... Not up to formal club standards, but barely counts as an organization...”

”Exactly how many people can we invite?”

Doctor Xiao interrupted the Fat Wizard, clutching a feather pen in one hand, holding parchment in the other, and scrutinizing the names with some trouble, ”It seems like above every person must be invited...”

”Based on the shop’s size and the ’spirit of the notification’, I suggest no more than ten people.” The Fat Wizard cautiously advised.

”Does that include our Hunting team members?”

”Naturally not...”

”Hmm... then Li Meng, Lin Guo, and Shi Yuan don’t need to be counted.” Xiao Xiao exhaled softly, hesitated for a moment, and glanced at Zheng Qing, ”Hmm, does Councilor Su count as a member of our Hunting team?”

”She’s not on the roster anyway.”

Zheng Qing unconsciously touched his sleeve as if it already had two beautiful obsidian cufflinks, then uncertainly looked at the Fat Man, ”Does the news received by the editorial department have details? For example, about guests’ identities...”

”Just a small town management committee.”

The Fat Wizard evaluated in a seasoned tone, ”As long as it appears passable... Rules are made for ordinary wizards, Big Wizard! Moreover, it’s Councilor Su! Give them a hundred guts, they wouldn’t dare to say a word, would they?”

Doctor Xiao adjusted his glasses and glanced at the Fat Man, ”They indeed wouldn’t dare to interfere with Councilor Su, but they would dare to issue a ticket to D&K.”