High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 698: Chapter 46 - Waiting in the Cave for the Mouse_1

Even in clothing, a mouse remains a mouse.

After leaving the office building, the large black mouse chose the narrow alleys, edges of the roads, and tunnels beneath the bushes rather than the spacious, quiet, non-crowded boulevards. As a result, the black cat following behind had to shrink its body even more so as not to lose track of it.

Finally, the mouse halted and burrowed into a small hole beneath a large tree. Zheng Qing lifted his head only to realize he had been pursuing the mouse for half a day, yet only moved from the office building to the artificial hill by the lakeside of Bell Lake—a spatial distance less than a kilometer. If he followed the boulevards of the academy, a round trip would only take five minutes.

But that damn mouse led him in a long, roundabout route, nearly circling half the Bell Lake!

If he hadn’t been fed by Xin Fat Man’s small dried fish before setting out, Zheng Qing would have considered killing and eating the plump mouse, over and over again, out of hunger.

Fuming in anger, he squatted at the entrance of the tree hole. The silhouette of the black cat stealthily grew to nearly a meter high—Zheng Qing had decided, if that mouse dared to pop out, he would give it a good slap, teaching it why the flowers are red!

As for the possibility that the clothed, backpack-wearing large mouse was, in fact, the transformed shape of a wizard, the young sponsored student did not consider it. According to numerous judicial explanations presented in the Wizard’s Code, the rights of a wizard remain intact after transformation, but only in relation to relationships between wizard and small animals; for interactions between two small animals, the ’animal instinct’ within the food chain would weigh heavier.

For instance, if a wizard transformed into a rabbit and another into a tiger, and they voluntarily stayed in a sealed room together, should the hungry tiger harm or even kill the rabbit, the tiger-representing wizard would only need to take civil liability. That’s because a tiger eating a rabbit out of hunger is an instinct, and the rabbit agreeing to stay with the tiger should take potential risks into consideration.

If a wizard morphed into a rabbit, and another wizard murdered it using any means, including magic, the guilty wizard would have to bear huge murder taxes, related civil liabilities, and a charge classified as second-degree murder at most.

So for Zheng Qing, beating up a randomly running large mouse outside was not a big issue.

After all, catching mice is a cat’s innate right.

The tree-hole the large mouse burrowed into was situated at the foot of a magnificent oak. Besides willows and paulownias, oak trees were the plant species planted the most frequently by wizards in the academy. This plant carried long-standing tales and histories in many places, including Europa and Armenia. Especially for Druids, who worshipped it as a holy item.

The tree hole was low and narrow, only about ten centimeters in diameter, concealed behind a cluster of luxuriant evergreens. Scars left by damaged tree bark were visible around the hole. Looking into the hole, it was pitch black inside, without a single streak of light or any sound.

Even though Zheng Qing could keep shrinking, he did not intend to catch the black mouse himself by going into the hole—after all, as a wizard who had morphed into a cat, his curiosity was limited. Moreover, if there was a group of mice inside the deep tree hole, wouldn’t sending a cat in be like putting the cat into a mouse’s mouth? He rather not.

Although Zheng Qing did not like eating mice, he didn’t want to be eaten by one either. From outside, the tree hole didn’t seem big, and he wouldn’t be able to utilize his transformation advantage if the space inside was narrow.

So, the black cat obediently squatted at the entrance of the tree hole, staking out the hiding mouse. To not scare the large mouse into hiding, he moved a bit off-center from the front of the oak, concealing himself on the diagonal side of the hole. That way, as long as the mouse pokes its nose out, Zheng Qing would be able to see it clearly and then pounce.

As a cat, Zheng Qing was very patient.

Since the moment he started watching the hole, the black cat had not moved at all. If there was no time limit on transformation, he believed he could stay there the entire day.

Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour.

The night deepened, and the wind blew over the lake, turning from warm to chilly. The black cat lying in the bushes quiet, nearly blending into the night backdrop. If it were not for the occasional sparkle in his shiny eyes, Zheng Qing believed even the academy’s patrol team wouldn’t notice a meter-tall large cat if they walked up to him.

Maybe it was because his presence seemed weaker, but as Zheng Qing’s dormant time elongated, the once quiet lakeside gradually became lively.

A longevity tortoise, stumbling along the grassy lakeside, caught Zheng Qing’s attention. Although he was unsure why the tortoise would move from the east side of the lake to the west, it didn’t lessen his fascination with its every move—being bored meant everything was interesting.

At the very least, watching the tortoise slowly crawl around was much more interesting than observing the kappa basking in the moonlight.

Of course, besides the tortoise and the kappa, there were also squirrels and chipmunks, hopping around foraging for nuts above Zheng Qing’s head. Not far from him, a kitten was climbing up and down an artificial stone, and over the distant lake, a group of red birds were dozing off. Furthermore, several black bats silently glided through the evening sky, occasionally flashing past the water grass to snatch fireflies away from the Tree Elfs, who had gradually become dull due to the cold weather.

Due to the weather getting colder, the number and types of small bugs around the lake had significantly decreased compared to a few months prior, resulting in a fierce competition for limited food resources among the multitude of insects. The academy took this into consideration, so part of the patrol team’s recent assignment was to feed these small animals.

A shadow flickered at the corner of Zheng Qing’s eye. The black cat, who’d been distracted, immediately perked up his attention, focusing back at the entrance of the tree hole. It seemed like something was about to come out. However, after observing for another while and seeing no movement, there was a moment when Zheng Qing had the impulse to put a paw in to check what the big mouse was up to.

But he, in the end, abandoned that reckless thought, relaxed again, and resumed his waiting game.

A few lights flickered on the edge of the lake, slowly heading his way.

Those were Deadly Wind Lamps held by the academy’s night patrol. Zheng Qing had also held them and walked by the lake before. As the light gradually drew closer, whispers were carried over by the wind. Subconsciously, Zheng Qing shrank his figure, hiding behind the oak tree.

His position was right next to the patrol team’s regular route, only separated by a few bushes and a long, narrow wooden bench.