High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1278: Chapter 25: Land Outside of Civilization

”Anyway, no matter what, you should really enhance the quality education for the wizards in the North District.”

”They used to be tricksters, beggars, thieves, or human traffickers, who didn’t fit in with the other areas of the town, and that wasn’t a problem... It was all part of making a living, and the Alliance would turn a blind eye.”

”But now they are mages of the North District.”

”That means they should better understand the ’Wizard’s Code’ and have more involvement with the ’real’ wizard world... It also means that people shouldn’t be dying casually in the North District anymore.”

Yellow Flowered Cat’s stance was very relaxed; it didn’t seem to care that a North District wizard had sacrificed a trickster, nor was it concerned about Korma’s responsibility in the matter—this surprised all the young wizards present.

Flower Cat raised its head, noticed the surprised expressions of several young people, slightly rotated its eyeballs, and then realized what they were thinking.

”You are already a Big Wizard.” It shook its whiskers, looking at Korma with a mocking gaze, tone filled with a didactic flavor, ”Don’t take such trivial matters so seriously... Does anyone bother Sevres, the master, because someone died using ’Divine Blade without Shadow’ in a duel?”

Sevres was a master of potions in Europa, but he was more infamously criticized for his radical inclination towards ’Black Magic.’ ’Divine Blade without Shadow’ was a very dangerous spell straddling the line between black and white magic, and its creator was Master Sevres himself. Even so, there was still a chair for him at the Big Wizards’ meeting of the Mage Alliance, and his voting rights had never been revoked.

No one in the wizard world had sued Master Sevres in Danghag for injuring someone with this dangerous spell.

This example relieved Korma.

”I will strengthen the management of the wizards in the North District,” she replied seriously, ”Starting from tonight, beginning with the most basic elements, like the standards of using magic and managing the Law books.”

”The First University has many charitable societies that would like this task.” Jiang Yu immediately came up with a few ideas, ”And I can also give my family a heads-up... We might be able to get some training sponsorships from companies like Nina Company, Martin-Child Alchemy Company.”

Korma looked at her gratefully—just equipping the North District wizards with Law books would be a significant expense, not to mention that Law books, magic ink, and other materials are consumables. And the tricksters were all broke. Getting sponsorships from other wizard groups would be more than welcome.

”This incident happened just in time, there’s still room for remedy,” Zheng Qing also tried to smooth things over, ”If we had discovered this problem only after a large number of North District wizards appeared sometime later, it would have been a huge trouble...”

”This is a minor trouble!” Yellow Flowered Cat raised its voice, reiterating its viewpoint, ”Compared to the real trouble at hand, even if a thousand North District wizards caused trouble, it would still be a minor issue!”

Saying this, it also raised two paws, comparing two kinds of troubles with one paw against the tip of another paw.

But—

”The real trouble at hand?” Zheng Qing chewed on these words, his eyebrows raised.

He turned to look at the two witches, noticing they were also confused.

The male student couldn’t help but tentatively ask, ”...Are you referring to the ’real trouble at hand’ as the Trident Sword or the subsequent investigation by the school? It’s not our fault...”

”But you are still ’on school probation.’” Jiang Yu reminded softly.

Zheng Qing was momentarily stunned—some time ago, during a night patrol, he had seriously injured Sepulano, causing a bad impact. The school had punished him with school probation for three months, and not even one month had passed.

”Oh... no!” The male student covered his face, letting out a groan.

”Stop buzzing about trivial things in my ears!” Yellow Flowered Cat finally lost patience, interrupted the male student’s self-pity, and with a swipe of its tail on his lower leg, making him stumble, ”I’m not talking about that!”

Zheng Qing awkwardly stood straight, carefully glancing at the two witches. Fortunately, the witches were captivated by Flower Cat’s words and didn’t notice the male student’s embarrassment. He sighed, secretly rubbing his struck lower leg.

Yellow Flowered Cat, with a wrinkled cat face, had yellow eyes that seemed somewhat eerie in the night.

But even more eerie were its words that followed:

”...The ’Outer God’ you described has a very suspicious origin. Just as Korma said, if it’s the Outer God in the Deeps of Starry Sky, it’s impossible to summon with just a curse seal and one or two tricksters. Not even a projection can be summoned. This is related to the rules of magic.”

”But thinking about it another way... If the summoned one is on Buji Island, or somewhere closer, like an alley in the North District, then everything makes sense.”

This speculation brightened the eyes of the wizards present.

It sent shivers down everyone’s spines.

And that was not all. The Yellow Flowered Cat seemed intent on truly frightening the young people and bluntly shared its speculation:

”The more interesting thing is—the curse mark on little Korma is based on the gift from Satoguya, yet according to your description, the ’Outer God’ that descended far surpasses Satoguya in status... If nothing else, it must be ’The Mother of the Mountain Goat of the Forest,’ known as Gauze Nicolas.”

”Nicolas is one of the most powerful among all the Outer Gods, said to have reached the pinnacle of ancient wizards. Even the former headmaster wouldn’t dare claim he could completely suppress Her.”

Zheng Qing easily caught the key phrase ”former headmaster” and then noticed the Yellow Flowered Cat’s subtle warning glance, which made him prudently shut his mouth.

”The professor said he had surpassed the ancient wizards, so maybe he could suppress that Outer God named Nicolas... Nicolas, Nicholas, the names are so similar, it would be great if they were relatives. At least, that could strike up a conversation and keep Her away from Buji Island.”

While the boy’s thoughts wandered, the Yellow Flowered Cat had finished its speculation and suggestions, flipped its tail, and disappeared on the spot, leaving three young wizards shivering in the night wind.

It neither explained how an Outer God was hiding in the alleys of the North District nor did it offer them any safety tips. It simply stated that the ”current safety situation is manageable” and advised them to stay in school recently and not wander out casually.

”Let’s... go back to Sakura Pub first,” suggested Korma, looking around nervously.

”No,” Jiang Yu shook her head, somewhat troubled, ”tomorrow is Monday, I have Professor Yao’s Curse Course in the morning, I need to preview my lessons... and I haven’t checked Li Meng’s homework yet, I don’t know if she’ll slack off...”

This response was so quirky that it dispersed the tense atmosphere considerably.

Nothing is more important than studying.

A smile twitched at the corner of Zheng Qing’s mouth, and he held back from laughing aloud.

”Truly worthy of a student from Jiuyou Academy, still remembering to do homework at a time like this,” said Korma, stunned for a second before shaking her head, ”Then I’ll take you back to the school... Don’t worry, at least I am a Big Wizard.”

Before leaving, Zheng Qing glanced at the empty streets one last time and finally realized something he had been overlooking.

”Where is the school? Why is there no reaction at all!”

Zheng Qing snapped out of it, staring at the empty streets and couldn’t help asking the two witches, ”They aren’t usually this slow!”

Whenever he caused trouble, the school’s Assistant Team, the School Works Committee, or the external Trident Sword always sent people to investigate on-site. They might be late, but they would never miss.

Zheng Qing was already prepared for Thomas, Hilda, or Andrew’s sarcastic remarks.

He also thought through how to answer their inquiries, how to clear his own side of responsibility in this matter, and even started drafting his answers for the follow-up check.

But the black-robed had yet to arrive, despite him having drafted responses halfway.

This made the boy’s steps heavier as he left.

”Is there nobody in the school now?” he tiptoed, trying to peer through the pitch-dark streets towards the school. However, all he could see was pitch darkness. Not a single light, let alone a figure.

Hearing the boy’s question, Korma smiled—finally gathering a bit of spirit again.

”This is the North District, also known as the Land Outside of Civilization,” she responded with self-deprecating laughter. ”Officially, it belongs to the Wizard World, but in reality, this place is less protected than the Fishman Tribe reserve by Lin Zhong Lake... The dark stories that occur in this district every day are too many. Murders, abductions, frauds, cries...”

”If the school set the Protect Legal Formation to be more sensitive, it would probably exhaust the School Works Committee or the Enforcement Team. So, they set the threshold very high, very high. As long as nothing affects outside the North District, the school wouldn’t bother with such small disturbances.”

”Small disturbances,” Zheng Qing mulled over the phrase, feeling a bitterness in his mouth.

He once again deeply understood the circumstances of the Mages of the North District. He even felt some sympathy for the radical and biased actions of that Northern District Wizard not long ago.

This place was desolate yet prosperous.

Civilized yet savage.

This was the nominal North District, the actual Western World.