High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2319: Chapter 540: This Is Your Problem

Trident Headquarters.

File Management Office.

The Absolution Hunting Team, having rushed back from Eagle Dragon Hunting Ground covered in dust, was anxiously awaiting the investigation result.

”It’s verified now, there are no agents with the code names ’Potato’, ’Watermelon’, and ’Cowpea’ in the Trident London Branch, and none among the contracted hunters... nor at headquarters.”

Lewis, the office manager, looked compassionately at the few dejected young wizards before him, comforting them, ”This is not your fault. Based on your description, they appeared very professional... I reckon even the old hunters in the Bureau would stumble in such a situation.”

”More than professional... they even made us sign a Silence Contract!” Zheng Qing moaned softly, very thankful he was wearing a cat-face mask, which could somewhat lessen their embarrassment at the moment.

”But you’re lucky.”

Lewis waved his hand, the wide robe draped over his thin arm looking a bit empty: ”Those guys used a standard contract, without any tricks in the clauses. Otherwise, you’d likely be in hell mining for Mephistus right now.”

”I would wish they had pulled some tricks.” Xiao Xiao replied through gritted teeth—as the most cautious member of the team, he had checked those materials’ clauses and seals repeatedly before signing the contract, without finding any problems.

Although no one blamed him, as the diviner of the Absolution Hunting Team, he felt he had to bear the greatest responsibility for the mistake. This made the usually calm diviner look particularly irritable now.

”This is not your fault.”

Lewis repeated with a nagging tone of consolation, ”In this world, sometimes counterfeiters seem more real than the real thing. Young people, after all, will make some mistakes... It’s your first mission, there are bound to be oversights... The important thing is to learn from mistakes, gain wisdom from loss, and not fall into the same trap twice. Back when I was young...”

”How does the Bureau usually handle such matters?” Zheng Qing interrupted the tall, thin warlock’s rambling.

”What handling?” The archive manager looked somewhat puzzled.

The young scholar under the mask couldn’t help raising his eyebrows: ”Someone is impersonating a Trident employee! Aren’t the Bureau’s diviners going to track them down?”

”Oh, you mean that.”

The tall, thin warlock dismissively waved his hand: ”There’s no shortage of fraud in the wizard world. Generally, the Bureau doesn’t pay special attention to such trivial matters... The gentlemen diviners are busy and can barely complete their designated tasks each month, how would they bother with such additional troubles... Don’t look at me like that... Trident is responsible for most of the security cases within and outside the Alliance, and the personnel is limited, the number of cases outsourced to private hunting squads each year is countless, and many of them, after completing a mission, act in the name of Trident bluffing, as long as it’s not excessive, the Bureau turns a blind eye and won’t pursue.”

”But you said these imposters aren’t from the contracted hunting teams!”

”They didn’t cause any ’harm’, right?” Lewis spread his hands, hinting with profound meaning: ”At most, they just cut off a lead you found... In some sense, this is your trouble, not the Bureau’s trouble.”

Zheng Qing felt his eyes opened to a whole new world.

”Besides, even if you find them, what charges will you use to send them to Danghag?” The archive manager explored from another angle, continuing his analysis: ”Black wizard crimes? You have no evidence. Fraud? At this level, at most a fine of some gold... So, still the same suggestion, solve the trouble you stirred yourself. Trident isn’t First University, it won’t clean up after you.”

...

...

”There must be an insider in the Bureau!”

”Not surprising, even First University is like a sieve, with all sorts of strange people sneaking into the campus, let alone a small security bureau under the Alliance?”

”Small security bureau? Huh, so big words!”

”Am I wrong? If it operated more professionally, it wouldn’t need to employ those private hunting teams! It’s a complete mess! Trident masks, Trident documents, Trident procedures... those swindlers acted even more dutifully than real Trident agents! They could practically start a new Trident!”

Upon leaving the File Management Office, the atmosphere among the few young hunters was constantly off, except for Student Bluebird, who consistently maintained a ’composed demeanor’, even the typically self-proclaimed cultured and measured Dylan expressed strong dissatisfaction with Trident’s internal control level with full force.

In contrast, Student Xiao Xiao, who was initially the angriest, had calmed down.

Meanwhile, his hands kept rubbing the Crystal Ball in his arms, mumbling to himself, until boarding the Earth Dragon Express and entering a compartment, did he put away the Crystal Ball, took out a draft paper, and began to write energetically on the small table.

Zheng Qing stretched his neck to glimpse for a while, vaguely feeling that the doctor was calculating something using a method combining numerical divination and the Eight Diagrams from ”The Book of Changes”, the paper filled with dense numbers and figures, making people dizzy.

”Did you figure out anything?” the Absolution Hunting Team leader eagerly looked at their diviner.

”Handled very cleanly.” Xiao Xiao lowered his eyelids, and the Feather Pen in his hand didn’t pause a bit: ”The only thing we can be sure of is that they are definitely connected with those ravens. So, catch the raven, and you catch them.”

This was an absolutely correct nonsense.

The young scholar looked away disappointedly, muttering, ”Anyone can see they’re in cahoots... Do you need divination for this?”

”Cohorts? I don’t think so.” Fatty Xin unexpectedly expressed a dissenting opinion: ”Did you notice the swindlers’ attitude towards the captive? They gave that captive named ’Tom’ truth serum, even though we reminded them that he had already taken the serum twice, and further use might cause unknown magic damage, they still administered it.”

Dylan snorted: ”Do you think there’s something like ’unity and friendship’ among black wizards? I think they just wanted to know how much Tom had leaked about their secret, so they couldn’t wait to support a third round of serum use.”

Zheng Qing felt a bit overwhelmed.

”This discussion ends here!” He made a firm gesture as the squad leader: ”Let’s discuss how to find that one-eyed old crow... Then while we have time, rest a bit, have something to eat... where’s the cart selling stuff?”

He poked his head out of the compartment, glancing toward the end of the corridor.