High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1328: Chapter 75 Ninfus and Professor Garcia

After briefly expressing some goodwill, Sepulano and his followers departed.

As soon as he disappeared around the corner of the street, Xiao Xiao silently appeared beside Zheng Qing, startling the young cost student.

”How are you so fast?” Zheng Qing looked at the ”Book of Law” in Xiao Xiao’s arms, surprised, ”I thought you’d stay in that store for a while.”

”Buying books isn’t like choosing a wife, why be so meticulous?” Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses and responded leisurely, ”Enter the bookstore, see the book, take it, pay... It’s not that complicated. Besides, it’s not that I took a short time, but you talked with Sepulano for quite a while. I never knew you two had so much to talk about.”

Zheng Qing sighed heavily.

Then he briefly recounted Sepulano’s earlier words to the doctor, concluding, ”What do you think he wants to do? Set someone up to ambush me on the east side of the lake and push me into a mud pond to eat a couple mouths of mud?”

He speculated about the other party with the worst intentions.

Unlike him, Xiao Xiao’s view was somewhat more objective and fair.

”Perhaps he really is showing goodwill.” The doctor lifted the book he was holding and mused, ”Aside from the conflict between Jiuyou and Alpha, you two don’t have fundamental conflicts of interest... Also, with the school currently enforcing a curfew and the Blood Comrades about to change terms, objectively speaking, having one less trouble is beneficial for everyone.”

”So, you mean, we can go check near the mud pond?”

”Why not? It’s at the heart of the academe, and you have an entire hunting team at your disposal, Even if Sepulano wants to pull any tricks, it wouldn’t be so easy.”

During the conversation, the two of them had already turned two corners following a small street in the Quankela Fair.

Then Zheng Qing saw a familiar figure not far away.

It was his professor in Fishman Language, Mr. Garcia.

Thinking that his invitation to Quankela was given by the old gentleman, Zheng Qing felt obligated to go up and greet him, so he tugged Xiao Xiao and walked forward.

Xiao Xiao rolled his eyes, finally pausing the analysis of Sepulano’s words.

Professor Garcia was negotiating with a Ninfus to buy some dried seahorses.

Ninfus are water elves living in the distant north, possessing beauty comparable to mermaids, voices rivaling sirens, and they also have transparent, dragonfly-like beautiful wings.

It’s said that under sunlight, their wings sparkle with a rainbow of colors.

But now they were underwater, surrounded by glowing pearls and octopuses, the only other thing visible were Werewolves’ greenish eyes. Zheng Qing regretted not being able to see the beautiful wings of the Ninfus.

Last year during the school’s hunting party, the school had invited some Ninfus dancers. But due to the distance, Zheng Qing could only see a group of figures dancing in mid-air, unable to see more details.

The Ninfus in front of Professor Garcia had beautiful big eyes, long eyelashes, and skin so white and shiny, nearly transparent. Her body was enveloped in a layer of fine gauze with tightly packed magic runes and magical halos circulating, making it dizzying to watch.

”Welcome... welcome guests,” she greeted the two young wizards with a hoarse yet charming voice, ”What do you need? Here we have North Sea pearl powder, dried seahorses, Penglai’s shiny-leaf nightshade, squid bone, and fresh oysters.”

Her string of words came out like a song, elegant and refined.

Zheng Qing caught a glimpse in the corner of his eye as the Doctor had already pulled out his notebook and feather pen, seemingly preparing to record the ’score’ Ninfus had used to greet the guests just moments ago.

But he had no time to remind the Doctor to mind his manners.

Because Professor Garcia had already noticed the young government-funded student.

”Zheng Qing, is that you?!” The Old Fishman waved his hand enthusiastically and called out, ”I was just wondering where you might be at the fair.”

”Do you need me for something?” Zheng Qing immediately perceived the Professor’s implication.

”No rush, no rush,” the Old Fishman waved his hand dismissively and skipped the topic, ”Let’s talk about that later... first, let me finish up this deal... How about five Silver Horns and three Bronze coins per item? I’m not buying these for myself, they’re all for the younger generation.”

The last sentence seemed somewhat forced.

Zheng Qing, recalling the benefits of dried seahorse, silently lowered his eyelids, pretending not to notice this.

The shop owner, Ninfus, smilingly agreed to the Old Fishman’s request, and Professor Garcia, seemingly encouraged, began to speak incessantly,

”Generation after generation, it’s truly... a sad reality.”

”If you told me a hundred years ago that the Fishmen youngsters of Lin Zhong Lake liked to wear fishhooks on their fins and apply oils to the scales on their faces, I would have laughed at you for adding too much Kavagan to your soup at noon, or for planting too many Mandala flowers in your garden.”

”The young Ninfuses have their own trends too,” the shop owner replied gently, ”We live in our times, and they live in theirs. The world is large enough for many different eras to coexist.”

”That may be true, but isn’t that where conflicts arise?” Professor Garcia sighed deeply, ”Just as someone once said, once people no longer greet each other with ’sir’ or ’madam’ in a friendly manner, bad things will start to happen... and now, the youngsters in the lake no longer show the respect they once had for the elderly.”

Professors could always discuss a minor issue to an incredibly profound level.

Initially, Zheng Qing had a slightly teasing attitude, but as Professor Garcia and shop owner Ninfus chatted, his mood gradually grew more serious, and he began to seriously consider each of their statements.

Conflicts can arise between different generations, just as they do between different cultures; one is observed vertically, while the other is compared horizontally. Thus, conflicts between young and old are essentially no different from those between Jiuyou and Alpha.

Until they left that little shop.

Professor Garcia then shifted to what he had previously wanted to discuss when calling for Zheng Qing.

”Last week, you asked me to inquire about whether a Black Mountain Goat had been seen in the lake recently?” The Old Fishman spoke as unhurriedly as ever, causing frustration, ”I went back and asked.”

Zheng Qing had almost forgotten about it.

Last week’s incidents were no less numerous than the week before, with dramatic changes in the Club Union, lectures from his professors, and encounters with two Black Wizards dealing in Tricksters last weekend; each issue was vexing.

So much so that only when the professor of Fishman Language mentioned the Black Mountain Goat did Zheng Qing suddenly recall that he hadn’t discussed finding the goat with Lin Guo for the past two days. A sudden sense of guilt filled him, and he wanted to leave the market quickly to talk with Lin Guo.

He did not really expect to get any useful clues from the Old Fishman—over the past week, the Forgiveness Knight Order had exhausted all methods, including the Gini Cottage, Qingqiu Club, even the student council, Astronomy Class 08-1, and patrols, but had found no trace of the big black goat.

Zheng Qing had virtually lost all hope.

Yet reality always seems to offer hope when one is in despair, like a Line Drawing chart, breaking all averages and plummeting to its lowest point before rebounding slightly, as though it needed to find a support point to keep life going.

”... At the shore, a Longevity Tortoise said that some time ago, it saw a cat fighting a Black Mountain Goat. There were many people making noise by the lake at the time, and it was annoyed, so it didn’t notice where the black goat eventually went...”