High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 379: Chapter 48 The Girl Who Recognizes Scents_1

Zheng Qing stood in the quiet corridor, licking his dry lips.

Most students of Astronomy Class 08-1 had already followed Professor Yao into the new classroom. He and some classmates were initially lagging behind to discuss a post-class student union interview, but they unexpectedly ditched him halfway.

Of course, he could easily catch up with those distant figures.

But that wasn’t his intention.

Zheng Qing’s fingers unconsciously touched the grey cloth bag in his arms. In the bag was a reserved Bohemian dress for its owner.

Is now an appropriate time?

The young cost student swiftly thought this idea over and then immediately dismissed it.

No one gives a gift just for the sake of giving, and he didn’t wait for so long just to deliver a dress.

It was already class time.

The hallway was deserted. The portraits of revered figures hung on both sides, dozing under the dim light, and a solemn draft slipped along the polished floor. Shadows faintly outlined a row of ghosts sunning themselves and their gleaming innards at a far-off windowsill.

Scent of a girl.

This beautiful phrase unexpectedly crossed Zheng Qing’s mind and he took a deep breath.

The sweet scent filling his nostrils gave him tremendous courage.

”Hi!” He conjured a wide grin, swiftly turned around, and facing the Gypsy witch before him, he tried to sound surprised, ”What a coincidence... I thought you had already entered the classroom.”

Perhaps he tried a little too hard; his voice echoed loudly in the vacant hallway.

Even the sun-basking ghosts in the distant window couldn’t help but look back.

This made a herd of alpacas frolic across the heart of the young cost student.

However, the Gypsy witch didn’t take note of the slightly exaggerated voice of the boy. She was draped in a large red shawl, holding a few thick reference books in her arms, and seemed as if she had just revived from a daze.

”This is no coincidence.” Elena brushed her long hair back from her face, revealing her fair neck. She blinked her large eyes, looked earnestly at Zheng Qing and said, ”I was waiting for you.”

Perhaps due to fatigue, her voice still sounded pleasant but slightly hoarse, and her face was paler than usual. It was unclear whether too much foundation was applied or if it was due to a lack of sunlight. Her eyes were heavily outlined, providing a sense of despair and decadence.

A strong desire to protect her surged in Zheng Qing’s heart.

So much so that he didn’t even take smug satisfaction in the witch’s previous response.

”What’s wrong?” He stepped forward to shorten the distance between them and asked anxiously, ”I noticed you’ve not been attending class regularly recently... Is it because of the witch group? Is there anything I can help with?”

He sounded sincere.

Which made the witch’s eyes sparkle a little more.

”I still haven’t had a chance to congratulate you on the honor of the Merlin Medal.” Elena sidestepped Zheng Qing’s question, smiled, and said in a light tone, ”Maybe we could have a meal together sometime... It’ll be my treat, as a compensation.”

The abrupt change of topic and its extent left Zheng Qing unprepared.

A second ago, he was worried about what troubles Elena might have and whether he could help; a second later, the Gypsy witch was inviting him to dinner with a beaming face.

She’s inviting him to dinner?!

Is this a date?

Where would it be, and does he need to buy a suit?

Oh, and that dress, she could finally give it away!

Images flooded into Zheng Qing’s mind of the two of them sitting together in a small booth: colourful fireflies flickering amongst the tendrils, naughty little elves flinging flower petals from their baskets overhead, flower sprites plucking ancient zithers in accompaniment, and all sorts of rosy scenarios.

Just like what Mr. Lu Xun once said, he was utterly unable to put on the brakes.

”A date?” The word Zheng Qing had been thinking about inadvertently slipped out of his mouth. He jolted, and then, with rising colour in his face, he quickly amended, ”I mean, where do you need me to treat you... By tradition, it should be me treating you.”

Elena seemed to enjoy seeing his embarrassed expression and stood beside him, smilingly.

”You said you were waiting for me earlier, was there something?” After much struggle, Zheng Qing finally grasped a lifeline, managing to extricate himself from the suffocating atmosphere.

He took a deep breath, the color quickly returning to his face.

Then he noticed the reference books that the witch was holding in her arms.

”Principles of Rune Construction,” ”Complete Rune Vocabulary,” ”Etymology,” ”Ancient Texts and New Meanings,” and so on.

Much of these were profound research books in the field of talisman studies.

”Is it something about Talisman Studies?” Seizing the opportunity, the young scholarship student asked this question first.

Elena seemed taken aback, the smile on her face slowly fading.

”Isn’t it?” Noticing her expression, Zheng Qing felt a little disheartened and apologized, ”I’m sorry, I thought...”

”You don’t need to apologize,” Elena said gently, ”You weren’t wrong... Indeed, I was hoping to discuss a problem related to talisman studies.”

Without waiting for the young scholarship student to respond, she directly pulled out a notebook from her Kun Bag.

The notebook was somewhat ancient, with greasy traces on the black cover, looking like some type of creature’s blood.

Elena flipped through the pages swiftly, but Zheng Qing still noticed the complex rune diagrams flashing between the pages. Most of the runes appeared to have been patiently analysed, with dense notes marked on the side.

The witch flipped nearly to the last few pages of her notebook.

Then she pointed at a rough talisman sketched out in pencil on an empty page, asking anxiously, ”This rune, can you recognize what it means... or what its original form would be?”

Zheng Qing reached out to bring the notebook closer, but startled as if she had received an electric shock, Elena quickly withdrew the book.

Zheng Qing’s extended hand froze midair.

An awkward expression appeared on Elena’s face.

However, Zheng Qing quickly reacted, opened his own notebook, and traced the outline of that talisman with his brush.

”This talisman seems quite complex... I can’t figure it out for now,” said the young scholarship student apologetically. ”If you don’t mind, can I respond to you later?”

”No trouble at all,” Elena tried to express her thanks in a light tone.

Obviously, this behavior could not defuse the awkward atmosphere between the two.

Regardless, Zheng Qing had to show the wisdom a male should have, ”It’s my honor!”

The figures of a few classmates appeared around the corridor’s corner. They curiously observed the young female and male witches, whispered to each other, and speculated about something.

Elena swiftly folded up her notebook, crossed the young male witch, and whispered:

”About the meal... I’ll see you after class.”