High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1083: Chapter 145 The Alliance Under the Tree

”It?”

After the Rat Immortal indicated that the Black Cat was the ’Guide’ he had provided for Korma, the Witch did not hide the skepticism on her face or in her tone, ”A Black Cat of questionable origin, likely suffering from schizophrenia, why should it serve as my Guide?”

She had placed extra emphasis on ”questionable origin” and ”why.” Zheng Qing quickly grasped the focus of her questioning.

”Well, cats, after all, have a slightly keener sense than you humans, especially wizards,” the Rat Immortal vaguely justified his recommendation before signaling with his eyes for the Black Cat to introduce itself.

The Black Cat first shrank its body down a bit.

Then, tilting its head up to look at Korma, it carefully said, ”First of all, I must stress that I do not have schizophrenia, nor am I of unknown origin... sure, sure, I know you want to speak of Mendel’s Paradox, but magic is a means to turn the impossible into the possible. The occasional paradox breach isn’t such a big deal, right?”

”Just like the example you were just discussing, magic can even reverse time. Not adhering strictly to magical theories, what’s the big deal with a cat speaking?”

Sitting in the Taishi Chair with his eyes narrowed, the Rat Immortal looked completely relaxed, as if he were listening to the Black Cat’s words, yet he also appeared to be taking a nap.

Korma couldn’t help but retort, ”Time reversal isn’t entirely at odds with magical theories. Indeed, in classical magic theory, time reversal contradicts two theorems of magical power studies, but within Dimensionism´s magic theory, time reversal can be completely explained! It can’t be directly compared to Mendel’s Paradox!”

The Black Cat ignored her. As long as the Rat Immortal didn’t object, it assumed its own explanation was valid.

”Again!” The Black Cat lowered its head and paced back and forth in small steps in front of the Witch, then continued in a bellow, ”I am not a cat of unknown origin! The fact that the First University’s Guardian Array didn’t turn me into mincemeat has already proven my identity! Moreover, I can tell you that I am the leader of the Cat Fruit Tree! I have dozens of feline subordinates at my command!”

”Who would count cat subordinates as combat power?” Korma scoffed hastily, ”And besides, where is this Cat Fruit Tree? The School Guardian Array isn’t omnipotent... If it can let a pet snake disguised by Painted Skin enter the school, then what’s so strange about a cat sneaking in?”

The Black Cat glowered, left speechless.

Indeed, the Witch’s reasoning made sense; from her perspective, the school’s Guardian Array didn’t seem so reliable. It was only at times like this that the Black Cat would begrudgingly acknowledge the benefits of the Guardian Array.

A woman, a mouse, and a cat looked at each other in silence for a long while.

Finally, the Black Cat spoke again, its voice dry, ”If you don’t mind, I can invite Dean Yao or Professor Li Qihuang to vouch for me, to ensure I belong to the First University.”

This remark checkmated the Witch.

”If I could let them know, would I bother going through such trouble in the woods?!” Korma glared irritably at the Black Cat, then turned to look at the Rat Immortal, ”Since Little Mouse says you’re alright, I will just have to trust you for now.”

With one statement, she managed to offend two beings, as the Black Cat and the Rat Immortal simultaneously rolled their eyes.

”Lastly,” the Black Cat said, now somewhat disheartened, ”Hunting Area Alpha is your investigation target... Don’t ask any foolish questions like ’how do you know it’s this Hunting Area’ or ’you’re not just guessing, are you’? What I can tell you is that my feline subordinates have seen ripples of what appeared to be spatial fluctuations in that hunting area... See, having cat subordinates does have some use after all.”

Although he appeared casual while speaking, Zheng Qing’s mind was furiously at work. Just like the words he had just spoken, on the surface they seemed to inform the witch about a very likely breakthrough, but in reality, they blurred his identity amidst jests and jibes.

Korma was still frowning in thought about the black cat’s words, while the Rat Immortal had already lifted a sliver of eyelid, enthusiastically tapping the hardwood armrest beneath his claws.

”Excellent! Very excellent! That’s why I have always had confidence in my own judgment!” The Rat Immortal’s fingers tapped on the armrest, his whiskers quivering, ”Look, you already have clues for your next step of work... hmm, as a senior, I can also give you a bit of news for free. Of course, if you have some connections at the school, you should be able to find out this information too. The Black Cat just mentioned an explosive incident that was attempted but failed in Hunting Area D Alpha during the winter hunt. And this accident is inseparably linked to the early termination of the winter hunt.”

Of course, it is inseparably linked! The Black Cat listened to the Rat Immortal speak and inwardly rolled his eyes—aside from itself, the main character of that attempted but unsuccessful explosive incident was a hamster named Fei Rui, who had recently been chatting with you, shoulder to shoulder!

”Hunting Area D Alpha... The Absolution Hunting Team, huh?” Korma pulled out a notebook from somewhere, flipped through it, and murmured, her face gradually revealing a smile, ”Yo, also an acquaintance.”

The Black Cat stared at the notebook in the witch’s hand, feeling the fur on the back of its neck stand on end.

”Whoosh!”

A curled piece of parchment floated from in front of the Rat Immortal to in front of the Black Cat and stopped. The Black Cat warily watched the rows of gilded small text on the parchment and cautiously took a step back.

”Ahem,” the Rat Immortal coughed softly, ”Since we’ve all spoken openly now, it wouldn’t be too much to sign a silence agreement for everyone’s safety, would it?”

Korma nodded in agreement.

The Black Cat first nodded, then shook its head.

”A silence agreement is necessary, of course, but I won’t sign yours.” It still remembered the words Xiao Xiao had repeatedly told it, resolutely unwilling to sign an agreement of unknown origin, ”To put it bluntly, who knows if this silence agreement you’re offering was written on parchment from Mephisto.”

The witch sneered, ”Do you think it’s necessary to waste such precious parchment on dealing with a mere cat?”

The Black Cat flicked the tip of its tail and with flattened ears maintained its skeptical attitude.

”Alright, alright, if you insist.” The Rat Immortal seemed a bit helpless, lifting a finger and languidly withdrawing the parchment covered with gilded words, ”If you refuse to sign this piece of parchment, you must provide another option.”

The Black Cat raised its head with a light snort, twisting its bottom and hiding its front half behind a tree.

It always used a piece of black cloth to cover and fasten its grey cloth bag to its chest. This was an insight from multiple transformations, which ensured the Black Cat could pull out a weapon to defend itself when necessary, without revealing its identity through the grey cloth bag.

Then it took out a standard contract from Green Grocery and, after thinking, also pulled out a brand-new feather pen.

”Mmm, I say, you write, let’s draft the terms now!”

The Black Cat emerged from behind the tree, threw the feather pen and the mostly blank contract paper at the witch’s feet, snorted with its nostrils in the air.