High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 682: Chapter 30 Elena’s gift_1

Sir Friedman’s resting room was quite spacious.

The massive French windows were tightly shut, with half-concealed blood-red velvet curtains hanging beside them, attached to two gold hooks adorned with silver tassels. Looking through the bright windows, the endless azure was visible in the distance, and underneath the sparse white clouds, one could vaguely perceive a flock of geese flying high.

Unlike most wizards, there were only two ordinary oil paintings hanging in this resting room. None of the paintings carried any magic effect, so naturally, there were no shadows of any old man attached to them — though, from an artistic point of view, both oil paintings were quite talented and did not lack the so-called ’soul of art’. When Zheng Qing saw them for the first time, he nearly threw a few silence symbols in surprise.

Of course, as he followed the witch, he eventually figured out the secret within the paintings, refrained from throwing the silence symbol in his arms, and maintained the composure that a young man should have.

Elena didn’t notice the subtle activity in Zheng Qing’s heart.

As she led the way, she casually introduced Zheng Qing to the furnishings in the room—as if it were her own home—giving a very strange feeling: ”...Those two oil paintings, the old man on the left sitting rigidly in the chair is Tony J. Black, the patriarch of the long-established Black family. The book under his hand is the basic rule that the entire ’Under the Moon’ council must follow—’Laws of the Moon’

”The handsome old man on the right is John Hugh Karen from the Karen family, a legendary character among the vampires. The cup he is holding is said to be the Holy Grail of the Blood Race... Of course, no one has ever proven this. These are just rumors.”

”And that date-red wooden table behind you, it is said to have been made from the coffin board of a vampire far superior to a grand wizard. Only Friedman could afford such a luxury...”

Listening to the witch’s introduction, Zheng Qing, who was initially leaning against the date-red desk, felt a chill on his back, an eerie feeling. He immediately recoiled and kept his distance from the table. At the same time, he reflected on his carelessness—he was well aware of the peculiar tastes of these vampires, yet he had casually touched things in the room, which was utterly inappropriate.

”As for the terrace in the front, it is the reason why I came here today.”

Speaking of this, Elena turned around, and in her hand, she flipped out her tarot cards again.

”Did you bring the Knight of Wands?” she asked out of nowhere.

Zheng Qing was stunned for a moment before quickly responding.

”Yes, I brought it.” Saying this, he immediately opened his grey cloth bag and took out the faded card from a small purple wooden box.

The card was given to him by the witch a few weeks ago to help him sleep after hearing about his nightmares. Although it had long lost its effectiveness, Zheng Qing had been carrying it with him as a memento.

The witch’s eyes wavered, a satisfied smile appearing on her lips.

”Just now, I said I wanted to give you a gift...” As soon as she saw Zheng Qing open his mouth, as if wanting to refuse, Elena immediately held up her tarot cards and shook her head: ”This is a congratulatory gift, and you must accept it... pick a card.”

The young scholarship roommate hesitated for a few seconds, chuckled—he knew this type of refusal was clichéd and hypocritical, but living in society, he had unconsciously picked up these habits—then squinted his eyes and pulled out the Knight of Wands from the tarot cards, the one he had just put back.

Compared to the other cards, the color of the Knight of Wands was noticeably dimmer and was handled by him for a long time. It was stained with his scent to some extent, making it easier to identify.

Seeing his choice, the witch couldn’t help but purse her lips: ”You’re cheating... hey, before I give you your gift, tell me, how did you kill so many demons in the hunting grounds? Did you really cheat?”

Hearing this, Zheng Qing felt a bit wronged and argued: ”How is that cheating? You saw it in the hunting grounds too... that big black... tiger, it was the one that killed those demons, and the one following behind me was...”

Thinking of the documents the professors had asked him to keep secret, Zheng Qing’s tongue tied, and the originally intended ’big black cat’ immediately turned into ’big black tiger’. Nonetheless, Elena took his rushed speech as being tongue-tied, overlooking the minor detail.

Apparently, she was taken aback by his sudden outburst.

”Don’t worry, don’t worry, I heard what everyone was saying.” Elena clearly understood the sensitivity of this issue and quickly explained: ”...you were saved by our hunting team in the hunting grounds, but in the end, you won the title of ’Best Hunter’ and we got nothing. Naturally, there were some rumors... I didn’t mean you cheated at all.”

Zheng Qing was initially a bit annoyed, but seeing Elena’s behavior, he felt somewhat mollified.

He casually waved his hand, smiling wryly: ”There’s no arguing with this kind of thing... after a while, people will find other topics of interest.”

”The Knight of Wands, carrying a stroke of luck, advances towards the unknown. This is not only courage, but also rashness.” Elena took the card back from Zheng Qing, bringing the topic back to the gift: ”I think, I know what gift to give you.”

”You didn’t prepare beforehand?” Zheng Qing’s words clearly weren’t considering the implications.

As soon as he spoke, he immediately regretted it, explaining: ”I mean, I thought, the gift you were going to give was a prepared gift bought from the store...”

”Why should gifts be bought from stores?” The witch seemed somewhat surprised: ”Gifts should naturally be something you cherish! Otherwise, how can they reflect their preciousness?”

Her words were too logical to refute.

Zheng Qing’s lips trembled, appreciating the logic profoundly.

”Turn around, I need to prepare a bit.” The witch suddenly spoke, driving the young man away.

Zheng Qing obediently turned around immediately. Various suitable scenarios and sweet nothings he might need later popped up in his mind. As he thought about them, he felt his nose heating up. When he touched it, he realized he had a nose bleed.

”How humiliating, how humiliating...you need to be calm when there’s something big.” The young man muttered to himself, quickly taking out a few symbols of mercy from his grey cloth bag and slapping them on his nose.

”What are you mumbling about?” The witch’s cheerful inquiry came from behind him: ”You can turn around now!”

Zheng Qing took a deep breath.

Trying to push out the romantic imagery in his head, he turned around stiffly.

”Ta-da, this is your gift! I just finished wrapping it!” Elena held out a square wooden box towards Zheng Qing, with a reluctant look on her face, ”You must treasure it...”

So she had me turn around just to wrap the gift...

Zheng Qing looked blankly at the crisscrossed golden ribbons on the box, his disappointment written all over his face.