High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1324: Chapter 71: Acquaintances

Korma was at the Quankela Fair today to discuss a major business deal.

A deal involving tens of thousands of frogs.

On all of Buji Island, or perhaps even in the entire Wizard World, there weren’t many merchants who could provide tens of thousands of live, energetic frogs at once to the Northern District wizards, let alone on a long-term basis.

And among those who were qualified, most were traders from the Aquatic folks.

After all, in the past, the largest group in the wizard community that needed live frogs were the Fishman Tribes scattered across various regions of the world. They had the habit of eating salted frogs, and many young Fishmen even kept frogs as snacks or pets.

The young Fishman Iseni from the Absolution Hunting Team had a flying frog for a pet, which Zheng Qing had seen during last year’s Hunting Competition.

He wondered if it was still alive.

When pets coincided with delicacies, there was this slight inconvenience—cute while alive, delicious once dead. Koko.

”I just want some ordinary green-skinned frogs... of course, yellow-skinned ones are fine too,” Korma complained to several young wizards, pointing to an old Fishman next to her, ”but he tried to swindle me with snow frogs!”

Snow frogs, also known as toad frogs, were mainly found in the Changbai Mountain and Xingan Ridge areas. Their meat was delicious, the whole frog could be used in medicine, and toad oil was also an excellent remedy for asthenia. Zheng Qing had eaten this delicacy as a child.

”Aren’t snow frogs a more precious variety than regular frogs? How is that considered swindling?” Zheng Qing, his mind in a mess, asked casually.

”This little master sees the truth!” The old Fishman, unexpectedly gaining support, was overjoyed and immediately protested with high spirits, ”Those snow frogs cost three Silver Horns and five Copper Coins each at purchase, but I’m selling them to you for three Silver Horns and six Copper Coins each... There’s no one in the Wizard World who offers a more honest price than me!”

Korma rolled her eyes dramatically.

”Why should I buy snow frogs for three Silver Horns each when I can buy three frogs for one Copper?” She tossed her snowy white ponytail and pouted, ”Don’t compare me with those high and mighty wizards who spend all day cooped up in their towers doing experiments... When I was young, I was a northerner who had braved the Dark Forest and caught corpse beetles!”

The two Northern District wizards following behind her puffed out their chests, looking proud by association. Zheng Qing thought that in that moment, their faces nearly glowed.

”Could you consider it further?” the old Fishman persisted, ”I can lower the price by half a Copper... This really isn’t just business. It would look so unsightly for a beautiful young lady to perform magic with an ugly green-skinned frog in her hands. Snow frogs are the appropriate frogs for them to carry.”

”If it’s not business, you might as well give me the batch of snow frogs.”

”Though it’s not business, there is no reason for me to suffer a loss!”

”Still not enough sincerity!” The witch finally concluded, unwilling to compromise.

The old Fishman sighed deeply and walked away, shaking his head.

”I’m a bit confused... what exactly does he want?” Zheng Qing watched the old Fishman’s retreating figure and asked.

Korma did not answer.

Instead, Doctor Xiao from the Absolution Hunting Team, the team’s brain, responded, ”The Fishmen seek to curry favor with the newly advanced wizards, to find allies for their tribe, yet they are tentative. If they act too boldly, they fear the Mage Alliance might disapprove... A group of magical creatures confined, engaging freely with important wizards of the Alliance; don’t they have some ulterior motive?”

”But if their gestures are too small, they appear petty and narrow-minded,” Zheng Qing caught on and nodded, ”just like that old Fishman.”

He shook his head.

”For the Fishmen, it’s extremely difficult to grasp the subtle difference between being a profiteer and being shrewd.” The warlock sighed, considering the small-sized brains of the fish species, ”They could indeed have a more relaxed life.”

”No one wants to be penned up like pigs... An overly relaxed life isn’t good for the Fishmen. You don’t have to worry about them at all in this regard,” Korma, sending her assistants to fetch new sources of goods, overheard the wizards’ conversation and interjected, ”The fragility and resilience of a race are both beyond imagination. Sometimes, a single sentence could lead a race to collapse. But sometimes, a race can endure through darkness and despair for long ages.”

Zheng Qing found the last statement vaguely familiar; he remembered Maupassant might have said something similar.

But at the moment, he had no more energy to recall the books he had read as a child.

Because Sister Korma walked carelessly between him and Jiang Yu, her hand resting on his shoulder and the other on Jiang Yu’s, holding them both tightly.

The summer robes were quite thin, and Zheng Qing could vividly feel the coolness and fullness beneath the two layers of fabric.

His entire body had become somewhat stiff.

Jiang Yu seemed a bit surprised too, and his footsteps became clumsy.

Xiao Xiao felt somewhat speechless, holding his head with both hands, looking up at the sky, and dragging his feet, aimlessly following behind the trio.

Sister Korma seemed completely oblivious to the discomfort of the male and female wizards around her.

She appeared very relaxed, and without her entourage, she spoke with less reservation:

”Actually, I don’t think using toads as sacrifices is bad either, they’re cheaper. But everyone says that lacks a sense of mystery, making the Northern District wizards seem ugly.”

”Many times, you have to learn to compromise, to choose between being utterly useless and not so useful. I’m already regretting why I didn’t use rabbits as sacrifices in the past.”

”Because rabbits are one of the protected species specified by the Wizard’s Code,” the warlock replied faintly, ”killing rabbits indiscriminately is a criminal offense.”

Korma laughed heartily, slapping the warlock’s shoulder vigorously.

”You’re much craftier than you appear!” she commented.

The warlock disagreed with this assessment.

So, he changed the subject:

”I heard that newly upgraded big wizards need to be careful to stabilize their realm and condense their true form. Is it really okay for you to be wandering around like this?”

What if some black wizard attacks? he thought to himself.

”This is the Righteous Body,” Korma said, tightening her grip on Zheng Qing’s head toward herself, teasing him, ”Can’t you tell the difference between real and fake?”

Although the fullness he touched felt even stronger, Zheng Qing somehow let out a deep sigh of relief. His previously stiff body relaxed considerably.

Only then did he realize that he hadn’t felt the ’big wizard’s aura’ from Sister Korma that he had witnessed that night.

He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he keenly felt that Jiang Yu, ’next door,’ also quietly relaxed.

With this pressure gone, the visit became very enjoyable.

Compared to the Four Seasons Pavilion, the Quankela Fair was much smaller—even smaller than Hui Zi Ji.

The trio walked around the entire market, bumping into quite a few acquaintances.

Such as Professor Li from the magic potion class, Uncle Sistanda from the School Works Committee, Lady Bella from the school hospital, and the neighbor across from D&K, the owner of the Wandering Bar.

And then there were other students.

Such as Sepulano.

Zheng Qing would bet that Sepulano was here to discuss smuggling and illegal dealings with the Fishman tribe.

This was one of the few opportunities to openly chat with the Fishman tribe—Sepulano was almost confirmed as the next Augustus of the Blood Comrades, and it was obvious that a lot more mages were surrounding him.

Zheng Qing was somewhat surprised by Zhang Ji Xin, who appeared with his brother.