High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 977: Chapter 39: Korama De Gini

The bell rang for a moment, and a young female student wearing a grey and white robe appeared in the courtyard with a delicate face.

”Who are you looking for?” she asked cautiously, eyeing the attire of the three warlocks, ”This isn’t that kind of place; you’ve got the wrong address.”

While Zheng Qing was still pondering what ’that kind of place’ might be, Xiao Xiao, with a smile on his face, handed over the note he was holding.

”We are students from Jiuyou Academy at First University. We received a recruitment invitation from Gini Cottage, so we came to see if there’s any way we can help.” His words were polite and tactful, not showing any anger at the other’s rudeness.

During the conversation, the slip of paper in his hand drifted like a swimming fish, with a faint rustling sound, gracefully landing in the young woman’s hand. This little trick brightened the girl’s face and made her express a look of envy.

”Please wait a moment; I’ll go ask Sister Korma,” she replied after inspecting the parchment in her hand.

Xiao Xiao was perfectly agreeable, nodding repeatedly.

After the witch had left, just as Zheng Qing turned to look at Xiao Xiao, Xin Fat Man approached with a mischievous grin.

”I know, I know. You want to ask about what that girl meant by ’that kind of place,’ right?” Xin Fat Man said, winking and squeezing his eyebrows. His normally honest round face suddenly took on a sleazy look: ”You know... that kind of place! Where men all want to go but can only sneak in.”

Zheng Qing wasn’t a child, and seeing Fat Man’s sleazy look, he knew exactly what he was talking about.

”Keep your distance,” he muttered, pulling at the corner of his mouth and subtly stepping back, ”I don’t want to catch any dragon pox syphilis or snake flower warts... Apparently, there’s been a disease around here in the North District called ’Magic Immunity Deficiency Virus.’ It’s an incurable disease that causes your magic power to steadily drain away until you’re no better than a trickster.”

Xin Fat Man’s face showed an uncomfortable expression.

”It was just a joke, am I that type of person?” Fat Man defended himself, then added, ”And that Magic Immunity Deficiency Virus you mentioned is just a rumor, more likely a smear campaign by some wizards in the Alliance against tricksters. Who knows if those who fell ill were not just victims of backlash while experimenting with black magic.”

This statement made some sense, but to be cautious, Zheng Qing absolutely wouldn’t engage in such dealings in the North District of Beta Town — not there, nor anywhere else for that matter!

With this particular confidence, he glared fiercely once more at Fat Man, who looked confused.

”What do you know about this Gini Cottage?” Zheng Qing turned back to Xiao Xiao, who had remained quiet, and asked, ”You didn’t just randomly pick this task, did you?”

Xiao Xiao silently nodded, pondered for a moment, then began to explain slowly:

”The owner of Gini Cottage is named Colorado Gini. He used to be a registered wizard, but due to some changes, he was stripped of his law book, sealed off his magic power, and had his wizard license revoked... After that, he was only known for owning Gini Cottage in the North District of Beta Town, becoming a master of magic among tricksters.”

”Gold shines no matter where it is,” commented Xin Fat Man.

”Is that the point?” Zheng Qing shot a glance at Fat Man, then asked worriedly, ”So this task of his, it’s not something illegal, is it... Is it appropriate for us to take on this kind of job directly?”

”I didn’t say the task was posted by Colorado,” Xiao Xiao lifted the notebook he was holding, ”The seal on the parchment is from Korama De Gini... She’s Colorado’s daughter, so she can issue assignments under the name of Gini Cottage.”

”Korama De Gini?” Zheng Qing repeated the name, feeling it very familiar yet also experiencing a strong sense of dissonance.

Xin Fat Man spoke first, voicing the dissonance Zheng Qing felt.

”De?” Fat Man’s eyebrows rose high, ”Is she a noble? Unless I heard wrong, you just said her father’s name is Colorado Gini, with no ’De’, right?”

Zheng Qing instantly realized where the anomaly he had sensed lay.

In French, the inclusion of ’de’ in a name signifies nobility and is used to express and flaunt one’s lineage. Similarly, there’s the ’von’ in German and ’van’ in Dutch; from a certain perspective, ’Don’ in Spanish and ’Di’ in Italian serve a similar purpose.

As is well known, the inheritance of nobility is exceedingly rigid and strict, but at the same time, this kind of heritage has become very much diminished in the modern era. It was very strange for Korma to have ’De’ in her name while her father’s name did not, from any perspective.

”Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, ’Gini’ should be an Italian surname,” Zheng Qing realized after a moment and added, ”It always feels odd for an Italian to use ’De’.”

Doctor Xiao nodded in approval.

”Recognizing these points shows that you have some common sense.” He adjusted his glasses and explained calmly, ”The ’De’ in Korma’s name was inherited from her mother, Miss Sophia De Heir, and Sophia’s father, the Baron of Heir from Cotangtan Peninsula, had only one daughter and no adopted children. In other words, the De Heir line ended with this generation. Therefore, after the Baron’s death, and with the approval of the Mage Alliance, Miss Korma inherited the ’De’ title, as the last echo of the Heir family in the world.”

”In other words, apart from having ’De’ in her name, Miss Korma isn’t considered true nobility.”

Zheng Qing and Xin Fat Man, listening to the Doctor’s endless explanations, were utterly impressed.

In conclusion, Xiao Xiao added, ”Actually, the school offers specialized courses on the study of nobility lineages, with ’Blood Race Emblem Studies’ and ’Werewolf Totem Studies’ being the two most popular subjects. You might also want to study them when you have the time.”

Can’t learn it, cannot afford it, better slip away.

Zheng Qing and Xin Fat Man almost simultaneously bowed to the Doctor, showing their attitude.

A cold breeze swept through, shaking a few plum blossoms from the branches in the garden. The snow-white petals gracefully falling added a poetic touch to the conversation among them.

Before the wind died down and the plum blossoms touched the ground, the female student who had brought them the message reappeared before the three men.

This time, she opened the door at 33 Gu Diao Street.

”Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said apologetically, leading them into the courtyard and explained, ”Sister Korma is inside giving guidance to a companion; you might have to wait a bit longer after entering...but don’t worry, it won’t take long.”

This delay was naturally not a concern for Zheng Qing and the others since they had already registered at a hostel in the North District dock and were not in a hurry.

”No problem at all, no problem, we’ll just follow the host’s lead,” Xiao Xiao politely spoke, walking ahead.

Zheng Qing and Xin Fat Man fell half a step behind, following the Doctor—since Xiao Xiao had received the assignment from that secret bulletin board, naturally he took the lead.

At noon, most pubs were not yet open, and the Sakura Pub located on the first floor at 33 Gu Diao Street was no exception.

Perhaps for this reason, the young woman leading the way did not guide them through the front door of the house but walked around the white exterior wall of the two-story building and eventually reached an external staircase by the side of the house.