High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1490: Chapter 234 Minis’s Cat

Kitty’s Tavern in Minis had a mysterious black cat, and on his way there, Zheng Qing had heard passersby talking about it more than once.

For it was a cat that conquered the God of Death, existing between life and death.

When you see it in the tavern, it’s certainly a dead cat, either with its eyes rolled back, belly up, breathless, or simply a heap of dead cat bones, with maggots rolling in the broken black fur.

But when you can’t see it, the cat is alive.

It would stealthily climb onto the table to steal dried fish when the guests aren’t paying attention and leave plum blossom-shaped paw prints on your napkin; it would hide somewhere no one can find, but everyone can hear it snoring; if the guest is a pretty girl, the black cat would hide under the table and rub her ankles and calves with its soft belly – if at this time, the girl lifts the tablecloth to look underneath, she would only see a pile of dead cat bones at her feet.

In the beginning, both the tavern owner and the guests thought some ghost or specter was haunting the place, and they invited many Witches and Priests to cast away the evil spirits, but to no avail; the cat still lingered in every corner of the tavern.

It wasn’t until Elder Atar from the temple of Wusa city personally inspected that he confirmed it was just a black cat with a very special state and otherwise very ordinary existence.

With the judgment of the Elder, the tavern quickly attracted many guests who came for its fame.

The shrewd tavern owner went so far as to use it as a gimmick, installing a wooden box on each table with a hole on the side that only allowed one hand to fit through. Every guest who came to the tavern could add some small fish and have the chance to touch the mysterious black cat.

”You just need to grab a piece of dried fish and then stick your hand into that hole,” a Servant of Minis Tavern enthusiastically explained to several Young Wizards, pointing to the wooden box in the middle of the table: ”If you feel the fish in your hand is eaten, then it may be staying in your box at that time, and you can take the opportunity to touch it...”

”How do we know it’s the one that ate the fish?” Xiao Xiao asked with great interest.

The Servant’s face showed an unsurprised expression.

”This is a doubt that all guests will have.” He smiled gently, walked to an empty table, and skillfully lifted the lid of the wooden box, which was empty without even a plate inside. Magic Runes and Talismans were drawn on the inside of the wooden boards.

Zheng Qing carefully examined those Talismans and judged from their shapes and variations that they contained multiple effects like preventing prying and blocking observations.

”The box is empty,” the Servant bent his finger, tapped the box, and showed the guests, ”You can freely inspect the Magic or mechanisms on this box to confirm that we haven’t cheated... If any of you are proficient in Talismans, you should be able to see that Talismans like the Forbidden summoning are drawn inside the box.”

Jiang Yu and Xiao Xiao both looked towards Zheng Qing.

The young cost student nodded solemnly.

”And here,” the Servant bent down, lifted the heavy tablecloth on the table, revealing the dark underside, in the dim light of the tavern, one could see that there was only a supporting pillar under the table, and it was not in the same position as the wooden box on the table surface: ”...From top to bottom, there’s no place for trickery.”

”Let’s just sit here,” Jiang Yu made a decisive decision, a glint of excitement in her eyes.

Zheng Qing wasn’t surprised at all, for he knew Miss Jiang was originally a cat lover, and it would be strange if she were to ignore such an interesting cat.

Unlike most restaurants, Minis charged per head, one Gold Coin each time. The food provided was quite similar, mainly roasted meat and octopus balls, with only buttered cornbread and pumpkin cakes as the staple. But as a tavern, the beverages provided were very diverse; Zheng Qing took a long time to choose from the menu, and finally settled on honey wine and mushroom wine – these were the lightest beverages in the tavern.

Of course, the plate of dried fish for teasing cats was also indispensable.

After retrieving the menu, the servant stood by with a beaming smile, without leaving.

”For the pleasure, three Gold Coins.” The servant held the plate and spoke courteously.

”Shouldn’t payment be made after the meal?” Zheng Qing took out three Gold Coins from the Grey Cloth Bag, placing them on the plate—these Gold Coins were exchanged earlier by Xiao Xiao at the temple.

”Because oftentimes, customers would start brawling while eating, then while fighting, they all run away.” A portly customer passing by, while picking his teeth, added with a grin, ”... Minis lost quite a bit of gold because of this. So later, everyone started paying before eating.”

The servant smiled and bowed slightly, just about to leave with the plate when Xiao Xiao suddenly reached out, taking two Gold Coins from it.

”Unless I am mistaken,” the short-statured warlock pointed at the corner of the menu, saying: ”Here’s a line ’Neither Zu Ge nor dogs shall enter; cats eat free’.”

Zheng Qing craned his neck to look seriously, and indeed there was such a line.

Then, a certain ominous premonition suddenly rose in his heart.

Sure enough, after reading that line, Xiao Xiao reached over and from beneath Zheng Qing’s robe, fished out a cat tail, waving it in front of the servant: ”See for yourself, this is unmistakably a cat, entitled to free meals... it’s just that, for some reasons, he temporarily turned into a human, a very rare ’human-form cat’. And her, those pair of cat ears, you can see them too, right?”

The black cat tail forcefully slipped from Xiao Xiao’s palm, then briskly flicked, smacking right beside the mouth of the short warlock. Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses, unfazed, continuing to gaze steadily at the tavern servant.

Zheng Qing took a deep breath, slightly turned his head, and looked towards Jiang Yu.

The witch’s cheeks and neck were already pink, and the two white cat ears in her hair had drooped down in embarrassment, clinging close to her strands, looking like two fluffy hair ornaments.

The chubby customer who just passed by started to laugh heartily, clutching his belly.

The servant of Minis Tavern seemed to have been caught off guard, standing still, unable to deny the existence of the two ’human-form cats’, nor having any reason to give them both a complete comp.

After all, they looked human.

The ruckus in the corner quickly drew the owner of Minis Tavern over.

He was a middle-aged man in his forties, with neatly trimmed small mustaches, donned in a light gray waistcoat, with a neatly folded handkerchief in the breast pocket, and a fine gold chain dangling from the pocket, disappearing into the seam of his clothing.

”What’s the matter here?” he asked gently.

The servant immediately relayed Xiao Xiao’s words.

After listening to the servant’s report, the owner of Minis Tavern looked the young wizards over carefully.