High School of Demon Hunting-Chapter 2372 - 593: Servants and Reports
Zheng Qing heard a saying.
When you’re alone, you should learn to treat yourself well. When there are two people, learn to treat each other well. When there are three or more, learn to treat principles well.
Previously, Zheng Qing wasn’t sure about the specific meaning of these ’principles.’ Now, he thinks they merely refer to rules or order. When many people are together, rules become a necessary condition for maintaining relationships.
"You have five minutes to have breakfast."
Zheng Qing put on a stern face, mimicking the tone of Su Shijun, trying his best to demonstrate the authority of a guardian: "After breakfast, do the foundational exercises first. Wait for the home tutor to come, then attend class according to the timetable... well, you can rest for ten minutes every thirty minutes... Ah, xi... stay away from me! First, wash your face clean! Don’t lick! Your mouth is all greasy!!!"
Unfortunately, it seemed his words were spoken to the air.
Once Su Shijun left, Poseidon was like a wild dog off the leash. Pulling off the napkin from her neck, she used her paws and emptied the plate in mere seconds, then jumped into Zheng Qing’s embrace, her little head poking all around, her small mouth rubbing here and there, causing Zheng Qing’s newly changed clean robe to wrinkle and become smeared with oil.
She wasn’t satisfied yet and stretched out her tongue like a little dog, licking erratically on Zheng Qing’s cheeks. Zheng Qing tried hard to push her away but didn’t dare use too much force, ending up with this scented adhesive plaster carelessly stuck all over him.
After ’washing her face’ in Zheng Qing’s arms, the little fox flicked her tail and dashed off, disappearing around the corner of the dining room.
Zheng Qing wiped the saliva from his face with a napkin, disregarding the dignity of an old father, and shouted after her: "Don’t bother those flower sprites in the garden! Also, the home tutor will arrive in half an hour!"
Who knows if that little creature heard him.
The young man sighed heavily, then involuntarily broke into a smile that could only be described as an ’auntie grin.’ After a few seconds, he blinked and suddenly thought of a suitable ’personal servant.’
"Furry Bean!"
With a puff, the grey pup appeared wagging its tail in the corner of the dining room, gazing eagerly at the warlock.
"You know Dong Dong, right."
The pup nodded obediently and made a meow-like sound.
Zheng Qing still wasn’t quite accustomed to its sound, coughed a bit, then instructed: "Follow her, in case she sneaks out of the mansion, don’t let her get caught by an owl or anything weird... yeah, quietly, don’t let her notice..."
Saying this, Zheng Qing instinctively glanced at Furry Bean’s drooping tail, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally refrained from nagging further, merely waved a hand in annoyance.
Furry Bean vanished with a puff into the corner.
Nearby, the head maid Su Man, who had remained silent all the while, withdrew her gaze from the corner where the grey pup disappeared, raised a hand to summon another maid, whispered a couple of orders, and the maid quietly departed.
Then, the dining room returned to silence once more.
Zheng Qing did not notice the maids’ little actions. After Poseidon left, while slowly enjoying the exquisite breakfast of Greenhill Mansion, he quickly browsed through the other sections of the "Beta Town Post."
Most of the sections detailed the event where First University and the Trident Sword teamed up to stamp out Black Wizard Walter’s illegal laboratory yesterday. Some articles specifically analyzed Black Wizard Walter, from his background to his misdeeds, and why he concealed his Big Wizard cultivation, leading the readers’ cognition unknowingly by detailed and logical content; there were also articles discussing the ten hunting teams involved in the event, analyzing each team’s advantages, weaknesses, and hunter characteristics; and articles lavishly praising the sensitive and excellent reaction mechanism of First University’s Protect Legal Formation.
Upon seeing this article, Zheng Qing firmly suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
If yesterday he hadn’t experienced that thunderous baptism akin to a storm, or if the Bo Fu Clan giant from the Absolution Hunting Team hadn’t been heavily assaulted by the lightning, maybe he could agree with some choice words in this article.
But now, he only wanted to doodle graffiti on the campus walls.
Of course, such a thing could only be thought about privately, as the entire campus of First University was alive, and accidentally annoying it might mean Zheng Qing couldn’t attend class on time or find the library’s location the next semester.
Rattle.
The newspaper flipped to the last page.
At the top was a dry-looking column article without pictures, authored by Ms. Pulitzer. Zheng Qing originally intended to skim over it, but very unexpectedly, he caught some familiar terms out of the corner of his eye—Absolution, Talisman, Dean Yao Xiaomi—and thus, patiently read on and unsurprisingly soon frowned.
"... According to reliable information, the Absolution Hunting Team, which made a significant contribution in the battle against Black Wizard Walter, managed to become the last straw that broke the camel’s back thanks to a private reward from Jiuyou Academy’s Professor Yao Xiaomi... Simply for an ordinary school hunting competition, Dean Yao Xiaomi of Jiuyou Academy awarded his students—the five hunters from Astronomy Class 08-1 in Absolution Hunting Team (five second-year students at First University)—with five talismans imbued with legendary aura... That’s more than the number of super-tier talismans awarded to all school students by First University throughout the entire past year..."
Super-tier talismans are those exceeding the tier stipulated by the Alliance, generally only those crafted by legendary or higher-grade wizards are counted. But if he recalled correctly, besides Absolution, Nicholas, Liu Fei Fei, and Carmen from the Fringe Hunting Team also received corresponding talismans, yet they weren’t mentioned in the report.
His frown was caused not only by this.
"... Indeed, a legendary wizard engaging in such encouraging behavior with a certain legendary tint might have some unknown intent, fulfilling many wizards’ fantasies of ’adventure’ or ’wealth’... But this doesn’t hide the institutional destruction and hidden negative impact such private rewards bring to the overall Alliance hunting competition environment... 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
... Regardless of whether such disparate rewards have discriminatory overtones, the mere uncontrolled influx of super-tier talismans into the hands of students yet to graduate already poses a significant campus safety risk...
... It’s hard to believe that among students receiving super-tier talisman rewards is one who was once given school probation by First University for attacking students from other academies at night... Perhaps Jiuyou Academy hadn’t violated any Alliance or school regulations when crafting the reward plan, yet we still must ask, does the rampant spread of high-risk super-tier talismans align with First University’s longstanding education philosophy? Would it impact students’ understanding of bullying and competition? Is it responsible concerning the next generation of young wizards?..."
How is this discriminatory?
Bullying too?
And dragging the future of the Wizard World into it?
Zheng Qing knitted his brows tightly, somewhat teeth-clenchingly reading through this biased and erroneous report, wanting to get Xin Fat Man to write a thorough and rational rebuttal article.
But immediately, he thought of the phrase the Fat Wizard often said in the dormitory—media usually only create sensational topics, not dig into the truth; even if sometimes media really get into the truth, it’s merely hitching a ride on the bandwagon of creating hype.
Thinking of this, Zheng Qing sighed slightly and abandoned giving the journalist lady further fodder to hype up the topic, raised his head looking toward the window.
At this time, the sun is just rising.
The sunlight is nice and bright.
But the sunlight this season lacks warmth, carrying a bit of chill.
