High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 3025: Chapter 38: Are You My Store Manager?

Elena had been awake for some time now.

Zheng Qing wasn’t sure whether there had been any influence from high-dimensional forces in between, or if she’d simply slept enough inside that glass sphere, or maybe it was really those tuning forks ringing at 528 hertz outside San You Bookstore every day that had awakened the spiritual spark of life.

Anyway, about ten months ago, on a certain day, right after Zheng Qing twisted off a Hell Flame Demon’s head and had just taken off ”Taiyi” to catch his breath, the Yellow Flowered Cat appeared in front of him with great seriousness and told him that a stranger had shown up in the San You Bookstore in Beta Town.

Zheng Qing knew full well how important the bookstore was.

It scared him so badly he rushed back to Buji Island in a panic.

And then he saw her—a young witch wandering between the shelves of San You Bookstore, stark naked and utterly confused, like a ghost, pale and glowing in the pitch-black room—Zheng Qing swore that, at first glance, the only thing he really saw were Elena’s eyes, those childlike, pure pupils, so sharply contrasted with the impression in his memory.

She didn’t know who she was.

She didn’t know where this was.

She didn’t even know what Magic was.

But the moment she saw Zheng Qing, she smiled, a bright, delighted smile.

”—Elena Moonlight, awakening in obedience to the guidance of my heart. Excuse me, are you my store manager?”

After saying this, she suddenly came back to herself, a look of vague realization appearing on her face: ”Oh, so my name is Elena Moonlight? That’s such a pretty name.”

Zheng Qing stared at her, utterly at a loss.

Only when the witch started slowly walking toward him did he hastily fumble a large cloak out of the Grey Cloth Bag and drape it over her shoulders. Only then did he finally exhale a deep breath of relief.

”You don’t know who I am?” the Warlock tried probing in a low voice.

The witch tilted her head, thinking hard for a moment, then gave a tiny nod: ”—Of course I know. Aren’t you my store manager?”

Zheng Qing gave a bitter smile and glanced up at the bookstore’s ceiling.

By now he could be sure that Elena’s Awakening had everything to do with Mister.

”You used to...” He had only said these three words when he suddenly stopped, then after a long moment let out a soft sigh: ”...You used to not be here. Come with me.”

And so Elena followed him to the Palin World.

The reason he chose Palin was, on one hand, because this World was extremely remote—Zheng Qing suspected that within the entire Wizards Alliance there might not even be ten Wizards who knew this World’s name; on the other hand, because the World’s Magic Power was extraordinarily abundant, perhaps thanks to the lack of large-scale Wizard development, so Magic Power pollution was also minimal, making it very suitable as a convalescent retreat for Wizards in special conditions.

Elena belonged to one of those very special cases.

On the first day after her Awakening, she was still like a blank sheet of paper, unable to use even the simplest Poker Magic.

But by the second day, after flipping open a Magic Book in the bookstore titled ”Five Fireball Divine Skill,” she spent just one afternoon before she could spin five Fireballs gleefully around in the palm of her hand. The next day, she was already able to make those five Fireballs change colors and shapes as they bounced and danced.

And from then on, things simply got out of hand.

She absorbed the knowledge supplied almost without limit by San You Bookstore like a sponge soaking up water, enjoying it from dawn to dark without a single pause. She seemed to grasp nearly every Magic at a touch, her Talent so great that Zheng Qing could think of no one who might rival it. And not only that—her Magic Power was rising at a frightening pace.

”—If this pace keeps up, in at most a year you’ll have yourself a brand-new Big Wizard enforcer.”

After carefully examining the witch’s body, the Yellow Flowered Cat let out a slightly melancholy sigh: ”That snake taking a single month to become a Big Wizard, I’m not surprised in the slightest—after all, it was an aberration hatched from an Ancient One’s obsession. But this little girl? This is just against the laws of Heaven!”

A green tail reached out of the void and collided hard with the cat’s tail that had appeared just as abruptly; circles of beautiful cracks blossomed through the air, accompanied by faint, intermittent sounds of shattering.

Zheng Qing pressed down on his restless ”ear ornament” and didn’t spare the astonishing phenomenon at arm’s length a second look, merely holding his breath and asking in a low, worried voice: ”—Then what do you think, when will she be able to become a Legend?”

The Flower Cat shot him a sideways look, her tone tinged with the annoyance of someone who felt underestimated: ”Legend is not Big Wizard! It’s not the sort of realm you reach by simply piling up Magic Power or knowledge! She might grow smoothly all the way into a Top-level Great Witch, but Legend? Without a heaven-defying stroke of fortune, how could it be so easy to cross the threshold into Legend!”

Ads by PubFuture This answer quietly loosened something in the young Warlock’s heart.

Big Wizard was enough.

Big Wizard was plenty.

Big Wizard should already be enough to fulfill all of Elena’s wishes and expectations from long ago.

He thought, his emotions in turmoil.

”—Store manager? Store manager!”

A pale arm waved in front of the boy’s eyes, pulling Zheng Qing back to himself. He realized that Elena, who had just been apologizing, had somehow already leaned in close before he noticed, the blush on her face had completely vanished, and she was staring at him with wide, curious eyes, unblinking: ”Store manager, what are you thinking about? Did you hear me apologize?”

”Y-yeah, I heard you.”

Breathing in the orange scent curling around his nose, the boy awkwardly stepped back half a pace, his tone carrying an indescribable hint of vexation: ”Haven’t I told you many times, don’t just wear a single robe?”

”The bookstore’s closed today, there’s no one else around...”

”That’s not an excuse!”

”It’s really comfortable dressed like this...”

”No more excuses!”

Zheng Qing’s gaze went a little distant; for no reason he felt that the witch before him was getting more and more like that figure in his memory. He drew in a deep breath and invoked his privileges as store manager: ”Next time I catch you breaking the dress code, you’re banned from reading for a whole month! No discussion!”

The witch’s eyes instantly filled with tears.

”Also,” the Warlock turned his eyes away, looking out at the dim yellow sky beyond the door, ”Palin sits on the edge of the Outer Domain, underdeveloped, with very high Magic Power richness... it’s normal for Drunk Magic to show up here. If you feel sleepy, just go straight to bed. The store’s closed anyway.”

The witch, who had been so aggrieved just a moment ago, immediately threw up both hands in a cheer.

”Thank you, store manager! Store manager really is the best!”

”—Go back and change your clothes!” Zheng Qing roared.

Hum—

A faint tremor rose from underfoot, cutting short the little squabble in the bookstore. Zheng Qing’s expression immediately turned grave; he strode quickly to the doorway and, following the direction the tremor had come from, looked out. Under the dim yellow sky, at the far limit where earth and heavens met, a knot of twisted seven-colored radiance was slowly drifting.

With every filament of radiance that fell, a shudder rippled through this World.

The intersection of high dimension and low dimension had already manifested.