High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 568: Chapter 237: Elena’s Teammates_1

When Zheng Qing found Elena, she was chatting with some unfamiliar wizards next to the holly plant.

As Jiang Yu said, the gypsy witch was wearing the Bohemian dress Zheng Qing had given her. The red kapok silk added an aura of grace to the normally lively witch, and the golden runes hidden in the folds peeked out under the blue-white glow of the fireflies, complementing the colorful tassels on her belt.

Seeing the figure of the cost student, the gypsy witch hopped gleefully and gestured with her hands. For a moment, her skirt fluttered and her jade pendant jingled.

A few glow birds perched atop the arch seemed infected by the witch’s enthusiasm, spreading their wings for another round of joyful dance.

”I’ve been waiting for you...” she said with a hint of annoyance, pulling the young cost student towards the group of unfamiliar wizards. ”This is my team member in the freshman competition, let’s get to know each other.”

The rich fragrance wafted towards the wizard as she pulled him over, and he noticed a cinnabar-colored pearl necklace around the witch’s neck. Any resentment he had seemed to dissolve and disappear with the scent.

As a result, his gaze towards the witch’s allies became much softer.

”This is Adam Carlyle O’Brien,” Elena said, turning slightly towards Zheng Qing. ”Our hunting team’s chaser, specialized in ancient magical texts, especially the ancient Futhark script of Scandinavia... Oh, and a master at talismans; you two should have a lot in common.”

Adam Carlyle O’Brien was a young wizard with grayish eyes and almost white hair. Dressed in a black flocking robe, the soft dragon belly fur collar shone under the glow of the fireflies.

”In front of you, Zheng Qing, no one would dare claim to be a ’master of talismans’.” This young wizard from the O’Brien family chuckled modestly, shook hands with the cost student, and saluted. ”Nice to meet you... You’ve made quite a name for yourself up in the castle.”

When he said ”castle,” he meant those in the Alpha castle: an intimate term for his own kind used by Alphas, though now mostly employed by old wizard families like the O’Brien’s.

”I am not worthy, truly not worthy,” Zheng Qing was quick to deflect the praise, but he couldn’t help the smile growing at the corners of his mouth.

Being complimented was a joyous event.

Being acknowledged by someone more talented was much more gratifying than being praised by regular people, and thus more elating.

”These two,” Elena interrupted the exchange between Zheng Qing and Adam, pulling the young cost student towards the other side. ”Are the siblings Nankai and Nanjian, our hunting team’s auxiliary hunters. Nankai specialises in combat, while Nanjian specialises in divination and potion brewing... I heard from Matthew they’re from the Nan family of Ru’nan, coming from the same region as you. Perhaps you know more about them than I do.”

Zheng Qing glanced at the two young wizards of the same skin and hair color as him, gave an embarrassed smile, and mumbled ’nice to meet you’.

He wouldn’t admit right to their faces that he had never heard of their family.

That wouldn’t be making new friends, it’d be creating new enemies.

”Nice to meet you, too, nice to meet you, too,” Nankai declared. He was an outgoing young man with a rugged, muscular build, who always talked with exaggerated movements, giving off a relaxed vibe. ”Glad you didn’t spout any cliches like ’I’ve long admired you’... I’ve never thought that the Nan family was famous in the wizard world.”

Zheng Qing was amused by his slightly self-deprecating comment and couldn’t help speaking up for him. ”It’s not on your account, it’s me. Before coming to The First University, I was hardly in contact with the wizard world ... I used to think that the supernatural powers of this world were only as big as a market and never considered that there were so many wizards in this world.”

”Me too, me too!” Nankai was thrilled to find a kindred spirit and chimed in. ”That was me too. I was chased up the mountain by my family’s old man to practice martial arts for over a decade. I rarely came down from there. I always thought the most evil things in the world were monkeys who constantly dropped pine cones on me... Then I came to school and realized that compared to the fish people in Lin Zhong Lake, the monkeys in the mountains are like devout monks.”

The comment made everyone burst into laughter.

Except for the thin, petite witch standing behind Nankai.

She was cradling a pure white sable in her arms—a very rare type of fur—and was engrossed in playing with the sable claws. The sable didn’t seem bothered at all and was hanging limply in her arms. It would shake its round ears from time to time to show that it was still alive.

”This is my cousin, Nanjian.” Nankai noticed Zheng Qing’s gaze and cheerfully nudged his sister toward him. ”She’s a bit introverted, but really cute!”

As he said this, he made a gesture by his ear and mouthed something silently to Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing blinked and opened his mouth slightly — he wanted to say that they didn’t have that level of understanding yet but felt too shy to say it outright.

But Nanjian solved this issue for him.

”He wants to tell you that I’m deaf,” Nanjian explained without looking up from her sable or turning to Nankai. Her voice was soft and slightly distorted due to her hearing loss, but it did not affect her cheerful tone—perhaps cheerfulness was a trait in the Nan family?

”Not at all! That’s not what I meant!” Nankai jumped in front of Nanjian, waved his hand and added, ”I was trying to tell him that we need to speak clearly, or others won’t understand...”

”It’s still because I’m deaf.” Nanjian sighed deeply, looked up, and lifted a paw of the sable in her arms, wagging it. ”Come, Little Snow, greet our new friend.”

The sable snorted and waved its tail aggressively at Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing was pretty sure that Nankai, who was standing slightly in front of the sable, got sprayed with a bit of nasal mucus on his robe.

But Nankai surely didn’t notice that.

He was tilting his head, one hand covering his mouth as he whispered to Zheng Qing, ”Not to brag, but my cousin’s fortune-telling skills are better than those of many teaching assistants at The First University... This is what Professor Yi said.”

”Wow!” Zheng Qing eyed the petite witch with surprise.

For a senior professor at The First University like Professor Yi to give such a comment was quite unexpected. From Zheng Qing’s perspective, no one in Astronomy Class 08-1 had ever gotten sincere praises from Professor Yi, let alone comparing them with the university’s teaching assistants.

”If you keep saying so, why not let Nanjian show her talent?” Elena seemed really interested in this topic and immediately asked, ”For example ...”

As she was speaking, she looked around and finally landed her gaze on Zheng Qing.