High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 784: Chapter 132: Doing Businesses That Skirt the Edge _1

The wall-climbing ivy, withered to a crisp on the wall, shook in the bitter chill of early winter. Its dry twigs and leaves collided in the wind, producing an occasional rustling sound.

The young scholarship student, slightly embarrassed with the little elves’ paper house in his arms, looked toward the two wizards standing at the end of the hall. Deep in his heart, he desperately hoped for a couple of naughty Tree Elves to scurry out from the withered ivy branches above him, to help him rid of his current awkwardness.

But he knew, in the end, it was just wishful thinking. After all, it was winter. Whether they were Tree Elves or Grass Elves, any elf with a clear mind was already hiding deep in their caves, waiting for the moist ambiance of spring rains to awaken them.

The two wizards standing at the end of the hall seemed completely oblivious to the young scholarship student’s inner hopes.

Jiang Yu’s face still held a curious mix of anger and surprise that hadn’t completely faded away, making her expression look rather amusing. For a moment, Zheng Qing desperately wanted to capture her current expression with a camera. Of course, this was something he just mused about privately.

After sensing the young scholarship student’s gaze, the witch swiftly turned her head to readjust her expression. Simultaneously, she quickly tucked a small wooden box that was in her hands into a Kun Bag hanging from her arm, then tightened the shawl over her shoulders. Only then did she turn around again, grinning as she looked back at the scholarship student.

Doctor Du Zemu, as always, appeared haggard-looking.

His gaze continually wandered over the young male and female wizards, his eyes filled with unease.

”You’re quite early today!” Jiang Yu was the first to regain her senses, breaking the silence. She walked briskly over to the young scholarship student and laughed, ”Usually, you don’t come until the afternoon, right? Why are you here so early today?”

Indeed, Zheng Qing typically napped after lunch before sparing time to do medical check-ups on the little elves at the Abnormal Life Research Institute. Today, however, the sun was still hiding behind morning mist, yet he was already standing at the entrance of the small courtyard. No wonder the witch was curious.

However, Zheng Qing was equally curious about the conversation between Jiang Yu and Doctor Du Zemu. Although the current situation didn’t seem right for pressing such matters.

”We have to go over to D&K in the afternoon to tidy up the shop. We thought we’d be quite busy after that, so I thought I’d come over here first and help her check on these guys.” Zheng Qing glanced down at the cardboard box in his arms, then looked up, answering with a chuckle.

”Is that the shop you all are preparing to sell mice?” Jiang Yu seemed to have just remembered something, her face took on a teasing expression, ”Let me warn you, you must absolutely not sell mice to Li Meng... She’s a university student now, she should learn to be independent and complete her own tasks.”

Hearing the witch’s words, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but remember the little witch by the lakeside grove unconsciously hiring cats with dried fish to catch mice for her— back then, even Zheng Qing hadn’t become the leader of the cat group, and he couldn’t help laughing.

”No, of course not.” Zheng Qing waved his hands repeatedly, clearly establishing his position, ”Even if Li Meng wanted to buy, we would absolutely not sell to her!”

Of course, if she insists on wrestling them away, or if we were to gift her a few mice as a present, that wouldn’t be considered a violation of our promise, right? Thinking about the headache-inducing little witch, the young scholarship student couldn’t help muttering to himself, preparing a backup plan in advance.

Jiang Yu naturally couldn’t expect Zheng Qing to think that far ahead in an instant. After hearing the wizard’s guarantee, her mouth curled into a smile.

”There’s also another thing you should pay attention to.” The witch hesitated for a moment before reminding him, ”Last week, during a student council meeting held by the class monitors, Lei Zhe specifically emphasized that the main task of students of Jiuyou Academy is to study, not to focus on irrelevant matters, especially when it involves the reputation of the academy... Although he didn’t name anyone during the meeting, we suspect he was referring to you guys opening the shop on Pedestrian Street.”

Hearing this, Zheng Qing was taken aback.

”Who did our store opening disorder?” He raised an eyebrow, ”The campus management regulations don’t say students can’t sell mice! Can the student council president even manage off-campus matters?”

Jiang Yu let out a bitter smile, but didn’t explain any further.

”Anyway, you guys should also find some decent goods... You can’t just sell mice, right?”

”No, of course not.” Zheng Qing lifted his chin in pride, ”Not long ago, we befriended a bunch of mice who wore clothes. If nothing goes wrong, we will also sell Deathwatch Beetles in our store in the future! We believe Alpha Academy students would like those little bugs,”

Jiang Yu turned pale at his words, holding her head in despair.

”Don’t worry, all these are just under-the-table businesses, we definitely won’t put them out in the open.” Zheng Qing knew what she was worried about, he found it a bit amusing, but also genuinely pleased, so he couldn’t help but further explain, ”Whether it’s mice or beetles, we won’t put them on display in the store for sale, what we sell in the store out in the open are Talismans, potions, and the like. As for mice and beetles, those are essentially school-mandated tasks, we can flirt with the rules, but we definitely won’t violate them.”

”What we are actually selling are ’slips’. Anyone who gets a slip can find the corresponding ’unconscious’ prey at a designated time and location specified by the school... Xiao Xiao studied the school’s task rules, we absolutely did not violate the rules!”

After hearing this, the witch’s face relaxed somewhat, but she found it slightly amusing as well.

”Don’t always apply your wit to these sorts of places. With that kind of dedication, you might as well ponder over the homework left by the professors or next semester’s textbooks. As long as you finish studying the registration wizard course early on, no one would care whether you skirted around the school rules or not.”

”Understood, got it!” Zheng Qing nodded repeatedly in response. If it weren’t for the large cardboard box in his arms, he would’ve raised three fingers to swear his determination.

”When is your shop opening? Have you decided on a date?” It seemed like Jiang Yu remembered something and inquired further.

”The tentative plan is next Saturday, the day before Winter Solstice.”

”Seems like the schedule is a bit tight.”

”Hmm... week after next is Christmas, as well as Winter Hunts, then afterward we have to prepare for the end-of-term exams. If we don’t start business earlier, I’m afraid we can’t make it until next year.” Zheng Qing shrugged, explaining in a casual manner, ”Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, there are many tomorrows. If you always wait for everything to be ready before doing anything, you won’t be able to do anything well.”

”Great! Very good! Just like when I do experiments, if I only do fail-safe experiments, there won’t be room for progress. Sometimes, appropriate rule-breaking is actually a breakthrough to oneself.” A sudden voice sounded from the side, startling the young scholarship student.