High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 800: Chapter 148: Rat Immortal’s First Appearance

In Ding Dang Ear’s impression, Elderly Ancestor was a very special Big Mouse.

The reason for the perception of uniqueness was that Elderly Ancestor’s size, compared to an average mouse, was too vast to be measured in common terms—perhaps because Elderly Ancestor had cast a special magic on himself, or maybe it was just that a mouse’s brain capacity was limited. In any case, not long after each audience, Ding Dang Ear would forget the specific appearance of Elderly Ancestor.

Only the imposing stature remained deeply engraved in the soul of this young mouse. Each time it remembered, it would feel an inner shudder of awe.

And today, seeing Elderly Ancestor once again, it realized anew where its sense of admiration came from.

”So big!”

”Huge!”

At their first glimpse of Elderly Ancestor, the two Mice clad in green vests, Ding Dang Ear and Ding Dong Ear, could not help but exclaim in admiration with words of the same meaning.

Because what appeared before them, sitting at the end of the hall in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows on a vast black Taishi Chair, was Elderly Ancestor, measuring nearly one hundred and sixty centimeters in height.

Without exaggeration, if Elderly Ancestor were to don a black robe, cover his face, and walk around the campus, nobody would think of him as a mouse, but rather as a stooped Elder Wizard—a stature that would not seem out of the ordinary for most Wizards at First University. However, for other members of the Mouse Clan, this height difference was quite pronounced.

”Mind your words!”

The guide, Red Vest Mouse, turned his head and glared fiercely at the two green-vested mice behind him, his voice lowered as he complained through clenched teeth, ”Why does every mouse that comes in have to spout such nonsense!”

Startled by the scolding, Ding Dong Ear shivered all over, his ears instantly flattening against his forehead, his tail stiffening, causing him to stumble as he walked, becoming all the more inappropriate.

Contrarily, Ding Dang Ear boldly lifted his head for a glance at Elderly Ancestor.

Since they were still quite far from that chair, Ding Dang Ear was fortunate to catch a full view of Elderly Ancestor.

What met its gaze was a huge mouse face that seemed somewhat chubby. Thick eyelids and bags stacked together, forming several layers of wrinkles, making it difficult to discern where the eyes were situated; the flesh on the cheeks drooping along the Decree pattern, squashed against the neck fat, giving the appearance of multiple chins.

Elderly Ancestor was draped in a black robe, his bulging belly creating an amusing arc in the garment. Over the robe, he also wore a white vest, but unlike the other mice’s vests, Elderly Ancestor’s was left unbuttoned—a fact which wasn’t hard to understand. After all, with such a spectacular belly, normal vests would hardly button up.

At the moment, he sat comfortably, belly protruding, hands resting on the arms of the Taishi Chair. A dozen Elves held pens, ink, paper, inkstones, along with documents and seals, attending to him on either side, while two Red Vest Mice reported their work to him in hushed voices on his shoulders.

The three mice, lined up neatly, took turns approaching Elderly Ancestor’s feet, kissing the tip of his tail.

”Hmm, arrived?”

On the Taishi Chair, the Rat Immortal—Elderly Ancestor’s official title in the records of First University—lowered his head to glance at the two mice in green vests near his feet, his tone kindly, ”I heard that you encountered a talking Black Cat outdoors?”

”Yes, Elderly Ancestor!”

Dangdang Ears immediately bravely raised his paw, with a loud voice and rapid speech, clearly articulating the story of his negotiations with the Black Cat—all of which included how he negotiated with a troop of cats in a tree, how he bravely climbed down the great tree and walked into the midst of the cats to converse with that terrifying Black Cat with Red Eyes.

He also interwove tales of how he used his linguistic skills to earn several Shiny Crystal Stones from a shorter Wizard—in order to enhance the persuasiveness, he even presented those few small diamonds on a black velvet cloth to the Elderly Ancestor—as well as his plans to further expand trade with the Black Cat.

At the end, he used flowery language to describe his battle of wits with the Black Cat that tried to follow him, especially highlighting his own image as fearless and righteous when he furiously rebuked the cat. Then, this little story concluded with the Black Cat being terrified into Escape by the ”Piercing Cloud Arrow” he had lit.

”But all my experiences were of value! Just as the Elderly Ancestor previously said, ’In this World, the most valuable treasure is information’... and today I have brought such information.”

In making his final summary, Dangdang Ears held up a small, glittering diamond, his eyes fiercely scanning those around him, ”The Black Cat, along with the Wizard who is with him, wants to purchase our corpse-eating beetles.”

”Corpse-eating beetles! Those little bugs that are rampant in the Underground World, we can easily bring out a thousand! Ten thousand! Even a hundred thousand! In our World, these insects are no tastier than a group of spiders.”

”But we can exchange these worthless creatures for some uncivilized members of the Mouse Clan as well as a large amount of shiny treasures from the hands of the Black Cat or Wizards!”

”Is there a more profitable trade than this?!”

The Red Vest Mice who were originally standing to the left and right of the Taishi Chair, their gazes following the beautifully shimmering little Stone, simultaneously nodded and wagged their tails in agreement.

Dangdang Ears, satisfied, gave his whiskers a pleased twitch, took a slight bow, and then respectfully returned to his own place.

Following him was Ding Dong Ear, who also stammeringly recounted his own tale.

Of course, compared with Dangdang Ears, Ding Dong Ear’s story was somewhat more pitiable. Whether it was feigning death to be caught by a forest cat or attempting to Escape only to have his Tail pinned down by a Ragdoll cat, his own tale made him appear somewhat miserable—but, fortunately, thanks to his adept Hole-making Skills, he had managed to play a trick on the cats, regaining at least some reputation points.

After the two Mice dressed in Green vests finished telling their stories, the room fell into a deep silence.

The Mouse Clan’s Elderly Ancestor sat motionless on its spacious Taishi Chair, appearing as though it had fallen asleep.

After a long time, its head moved slightly.

”A very interesting experience... perhaps your decision was the correct one.” The Rat Immortal’s whiskers drooped a bit, his voice sounding somewhat hoarse as he sighed, ”It’s a pity. Because I didn’t possess high Talent, I never properly studied divination... otherwise, we wouldn’t be in such a passive situation now.”

After saying this, it fell silent once more.

”A Black Cat that speaks human language... and a pair of Red Eyes.” The Mouse Clan’s Elderly Ancestor kept its eyes closed, yet its head involuntarily tilted back a bit, as if it wished to look up at the sky.

The orange flames merrily burned within the lotus lanterns, leaping and occasionally emitting small crackling sounds.

”Could it be that someone else has chosen this path?” it murmured, silent once more for a long while.