High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2994: Chapter 7: The Hearing

”—Based on what we know, when you first entered First University, you committed violent acts against Mr. Arthur Nes of the Nes family, and were disciplined by the school for it. How do you view acts of bullying that occur on campus? Or, to put it another way, do you still hold, as you were quoted when interviewed by Louwei Pulitzer, a journalist from the Beta Town Post, that any competitive behavior between students is acceptable?”

”I never said anything like that to Ms. Pulitzer; she distorted what I meant. Besides, I oppose all forms of campus bullying. If you’d investigated a bit more, you’d know the root cause of the conflict between me and Mr. Nes was precisely my resistance to campus bullying. I have ample eyewitnesses who can testify that at the time Mr. Nes...”

”—What about Mike Gold Cypress Plano?” The questioner abruptly cut off the young wizard’s explanation.

”What?” Zheng Qing sensed a trace of nameless malice and, on reflex, pinched a tuft of soft fur on the Yellow Flowered Cat’s back.

The Flower Cat turned its head and glared at him angrily.

The questioner then rapidly brought up another ’violent’ incident: ”—According to what we’ve learned, while you were at First University you once used a charm gun loaded with extremely high‑risk fu bullets. We have here documentation from the Magic Association Investigation Bureau (Trident Sword) showing that those fu bullets are capable of inflicting damage at Great Wizard Level... yet you used them to severely injure your classmate?”

”...That was an accident.” Zheng Qing had no way to refute the facts.

...

...

”—Have you ever participated in any form of black magic experiment, or illegal magic experiment?” A witch wearing tortoiseshell glasses looked seriously at the young wizard seated behind the long table. On her chest were pinned the badges of the Wizard Alliance Anti-Black Magic Committee and the Standard Magic Experiment Association.

”Does being used as a test subject by a black wizard count?” Zheng Qing asked back very cautiously.

”...No, it doesn’t.”

”Then the answer is ’no’.”

The Great Wizard who initiated the questioning immediately raised a stack of documents: ”—But we have received a report stating that while you were enrolled at First University, you once took part in an illegal summoning experiment conducted by Miss Korama De Gini, Great Wizard of North Beita Town, attempting to make contact with the existence ’Satoguya’ in the deeps of Starry Sky. As a result, a witch named Ilyana Jones was grievously wounded and went missing, and the experiment caused severe magical contamination to portions of Silent Forest on the grounds of First University...”

”Objection!”

From the spectator seats came Korama’s calm interruption: ”This matter is irrelevant to the current hearing! That experiment has already been given a clear conclusion by the school and the Alliance, and was not deemed an illegal experiment. I can provide testimony personally written by Satoguya, confirming that He was an invited assistant in our magic experiment; it was normal academic exchange.”

Thump!

”Objection sustained.” Lady Shi Hui decisively rapped the wooden gavel in front of her.

The questioner turned his head toward the patch of pitch‑black shadow behind him, then, finally bracing himself, pressed on with one more question: ”And the missing student Elena...”

This time Zheng Qing answered him: ”Elena is not missing; she simply went traveling in the New World. If the Committee requires, I can provide Miss Jones’s contact logs from the past month, proving that she is currently in Palin World teaching Gypsy Crystal Divination...”

...

...

”—Edge Academy is a brand‑new institution. From its teaching philosophy to the students it enrolls, it represents a new experiment by the Alliance and the university. Yet we only learned from related reports in the Beta Town Post that Edge Academy once issued admission letters to witch demons from the Land of Desolation. The Alliance has never authorized any kind of teaching cooperation between wizards and demons...”

Cough!

On the dais, a Legend chewing on a pipe felt a subtle sense of affront and couldn’t help giving a soft cough.

That cough immediately received full respect.

”—I—What we mean is, if you become dean of Edge Academy and decide to enroll more students from the Land of Desolation, or even from the deeps of Starry Sky—what I’m saying is, before you issue similar admission letters, you will at least inform us first, correct?”

Zheng Qing couldn’t help tugging at the corner of his mouth.

”Of course.”

He did not make things hard for that poor soul, and replied courteously: ”But I’d like to add that all teaching work at Edge Academy is carried out under the direct supervision of First University. Edge Academy upholds First University’s fine tradition of ’education without discrimination’ and will not close its doors to any wizard who has accidentally fallen into darkness yet still strives toward the light. We are confident we can correct their previously mistaken outlook on life and on the world, and we are fully capable of ensuring that once they come to the Academy, they will never again have any contact with that fallen land...”

Tap tap!

On the dais, the esteemed dean of Jiuyou Academy curled his fingers and impatiently knocked on the table.

”This topic ends here! Next!”

No one voiced any objection.

...

...

”—First University is the institution where the wizard world trains its next generation of young wizards. Every teacher at the school bears the important responsibility of guiding young wizards to establish a correct outlook on life and the world. University deans even more so: they are not only role models for the students, but also the standards by which the faculty pattern themselves. Therefore, the Alliance believes that higher moral requirements should be set for the deans of First University. Lord Zheng Qing, do you agree with this view?”

”I do.”

”—Yet according to the materials we’ve received and anonymous investigative findings, while you were studying at First University, your reputation in matters of male‑female relations was far from commendable. You allegedly maintained special intimate relationships with multiple witches over an extended period, and at one point the entire student body even staged a ’Burn Zheng Qing’ march as its theme activity.”

”That’s a false equivalence! That march had nothing to do with any other witches!”

”So you are not denying the claim that you maintained special close relationships with multiple witches?”

”The situation is somewhat complicated...”

”If you become dean of Edge Academy, can you, here and now, guarantee that you will provide the young wizards of the university with a role model that conforms to the moral standards of the wizard world?”

”May I ask whether the wizard world even has a unified moral standard? I doubt it. The moral expectations for fishmen and centaurs are different, and the moral standards for giants and goblins differ as well. First University is a holy land full of tolerance and understanding, and Edge Academy is all the more an academy designed to embrace every ’minority’ within and beyond the Alliance. I have no intention of concealing my youth and indecisiveness, nor will I posture and recite pretty platitudes to sway any Committee Member here who has yet to make up their mind. But I can guarantee that my private life will not exert any adverse influence on my work...”