High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 222: Chapter 146 Iseni’s Business_1

The establishment of Jiuyou Academy dates back a long time. It stood staunchly atop Buji Island before the first university had even hung up its signboard.

Equally ancient, apart from the Book Mountain Library with its extensive collection, is the vast Lin Zhong Lake.

Countless students clad in red robes have left their marks on these waters.

Duels under the cover of darkness would end with the discarded remnants of magical equipment in the lake, broken-hearted wizards would throw their love token trinkets into the lake’s heart, and of course, there are scores of objects accidentally falling into the water from wizards boating on the lake.

’No need to pick up things that fall into the lake’.

This is a warning often heard by many newcomers to the academy.

Because Lin Zhong Lake is a reservation of the Fishman tribe. And these Fishmen, who increasingly see their territories diminishing, defend their homeland to such an obsessive degree.

Any object that falls into the lake now belongs to Lin Zhong Lake.

Unless the school sends out a special delegation to negotiate, no wizard should attempt to remove even a single stone from the lake.

Most of the time, the staff of Jiuyou Academy is reluctant to deal with the fishmen, who have brains the size of walnuts and emit a pungent odor, over a fallen bag or a flattering makeup mirror. So the staff would procrastinate any related requests, stacking them up until there was a significant batch, and only then apply to the Fishman tribe.

But by the time the items were fished out, they had deteriorated in the water and were of no use.

This attitude only strengthened the Fishmen’s resolve to guard their lake territory, while discontent was growing among the students.

So, some savvy young wizards began to make sly deals with similarly-minded young Fishmen under these restrictive conditions.

”For friendship!”

Iseni twisted his lips and struggled to pronounce these words, his gill pouch somewhat dried up. He then passed on his scraps to the wizards in black cloaks, receiving their gifts in return.

Fancy glassware, smooth porcelain tools, beautiful silk wares, iron weapons coated with a waterproof layer - these objects, seen typically only in the Elders’ caves, were now in his grasp.

Now.

Iseni fondled a shiny fork in his hand, as if he were seeing the golden fishhooks his friends gave him.

Iseni quickly won the friendship of the wizards through their gifts.

This clever Fishman even started to lure his tribesmen with some of the gifts to help salvage the fallen odds and ends.

According to the agreement with the wizards, the less time the fallen items were in the water, the more valuable they were. It was therefore crucial to find and protect the items quickly.

Luckily, this wasn’t a challenging task for the Fishmen.

However, Iseni soon discovered that things were not as simple as he had imagined.

Lin Zhong Lake was vast, large enough to accommodate an entire Fishman tribe to live and multiply.

Lin Zhong Lake was also tiny, so much so that even slight ripples on the surface attracted the attention of the Fishmen at the bottom of the lake.

You should know, all Fishmen had a keen interest in whatever fell into the lake. You couldn’t expect these ’treasures’ to remain in the lake’s mud for too long.

Dispute meant struggle.

And, in the lake, fists were the best means of struggle.

Despite his youth, Iseni, endowed with excellent physical talents, was almost as confrontational as any of the mature Fishmen. After a few life-and-death battles, he quickly established prestige among the young Fishmen, and his business started booming.

But the items that the wizards dropped in the water every day were ultimately limited.

Iseni’s business faced its first bottleneck.

At this point, simply helping the wizards to retrieve fallen items in exchange for a few goods could no longer quench his appetite.

He turned his attention to the fallen items that the Fishmen had accumulated over history.

Ragged leather, soggy wooden carvings, faded books, and of course, the wooden boxes and stone chests that the wizards had magically locked up and that the Fishmen couldn’t open. These were the most common among the items.

During a transaction, a portly wizard was intrigued upon hearing Iseni’s idea:

”That sounds like a good idea.”

The plump wizard promised to buy those odds and ends at a reasonable price.

This expanded Iseni’s business from salvage services to bulk trade.

It bought various brand-new crafts, weapons, and decorations from the wizards, then exchanged them with the tribal members at the ”lake bottom” price for those odds and ends that had been soaked in rock caves for a long time.

To many fishmen, it was a good deal.

New was always better than old.

To the black-robed wizards, it was also a profitable trade.

They could always find some unexpected treasures among these odds and ends.

Say, some old wizards’ notes, a few jade amulets that stood the test of time in the lake, or those small boxes locked by magic.

In the Wandering Wizard’s bar, buying a small box to try their luck became a great amusement for the young wizards.

Many of them had reaped enviable treasures out of those boxes.

However, the water treasures were finite. After most of the salvage of the fishmen at the bottom of the lake was depleted, Iseni’s business encountered a new bottleneck.

”If you want to grow your business further, you should branch out.”

The black-robed plump wizard always gave generous advice to the fishmen’s questions.

”When there’s a will, there’s a way.”

”If things fall from the lake surface, you pick up; if nothing falls from the lake surface, you can try to make things fall into it, and then pick them up.”

After hearing these words, Iseni suddenly saw the light.

Since then, the students riding in the Ze Meng boats on Lin Zhong Lake noticed that the fishmen started to frolic on the water surface. At first, many students gathered to watch, the young wizards were all desperate to witness these mysterious underwater creatures.

Gradually, the academy received many complaints about the frolicking of the fishmen causing Ze Meng boats to capsize. Although governed by the agreement with the academy, the fishmen would bring the students who fell into the water back to shore, but their belongings were often nowhere to be found.

After several investigations, the academy had no choice but to state that Lin Zhong Lake was the territory of the fishmen tribe and the academy had no right to interfere with the fishmen’s frolicking in their territory. It could only advise everyone to be more cautious when crossing the lake by boat.

Iseni didn’t care about the troubles of those muddy beings on the shore.

Its business started to grow once more.

It was pleased.

That was enough.

Since humbly accepting the plump wizard’s advice, Iseni happily found that his partners’ harvest steadily increased. Especially during the new student season, when taking advantage of the opportunity of having these ignorant newcomers crossing Lin Zhong Lake, the fishmen could always reap more abundant results than before.

What was more rewarding were the admiring looks from its partners.

No one made fun of Iseni’s name with a fishhook anymore.

More than a year of trade with the black-robed wizard not only made it a leader of its generation, but also won the appreciation of many fishmen elders. For a tribe like the fishmen, which values seniority greatly, this was no easy achievement.

However, high rewards and high risks always go hand-in-hand.

If you live near the lake, you’re bound to get your fins wet occasionally.

Though the young fishmen didn’t know these theories summed up by wizards, it didn’t stop them from clearly realizing the risks involved in their actions.

A failed transaction like tonight’s was not the first to occur.

”What has to come, will eventually come.”

Iseni, who was darting through the forest, suddenly stopped, wiggling its dorsal fin.

The glistening surface of Lin Zhong Lake was just before its eyes, and it could even hear the gurgling flow of water and smell the delicate fragrance of water plants from the lake.

But the difference between failure and success can often be as thin as a hair’s breadth.

In front of it, a young male wizard in a red robe, leaning on a staff, suddenly appeared, blocking the end of the forest trail.