High School of Demon Hunting-Chapter 2376 - 597: 1 Green Paper Crane

Tick tock, tick tock.

From the corner of the wall clock came the sound of the hand moving lightly and rhythmically.

The subtle hint of romance from moments ago quickly dissipated, and the study fell into a brief silence. Both warlocks and witches needed a moment to clear their thoughts. It only took a short time for Su Shijun to regain her composure.

"I’m not hurt."

Compared to before, the witch’s voice now seemed somewhat dry, with a hint of concealed annoyance: "I just had a minor conflict with the Wandering Wizard... permitted within the Alliance’s scope."

"Why did you bother him?" Zheng Qing asked softly.

"Because he’s the most well-informed."

Su Shijun folded her arms and leaned against the spacious high-backed chair, looking justified: "Although there’s no evidence, everyone knows he’s a Black Wizard. When I was in school, that bar was already illegally trading Dragon Eggs... Black Wizards always know another Black Wizard. I bet he’s definitely linked to those Ravens... it’s definitely right to find him!"

The witch’s response confirmed the news Zheng Qing heard at D&K.

He couldn’t help but step forward eagerly and ask, "How do you know the Ravens are still around? Didn’t Trident Sword and the school issue a notice stating that the Crow Organization has been completely eliminated?"

Su Shijun rolled her eyes beautifully.

"Such documents only bully ordinary wizards below the registration level." She curled her lips, revealing a dismissive expression: "The fall of a Big Wizard is enough to give everyone a decent explanation... As for the Ravens, I don’t know if they truly still exist."

"Then you..."

"I’m standing up for you!"

The witch finally realized she couldn’t expect Zheng Qing to understand the deeper meaning behind her reserved behavior and sighed lightly, answering in the most straightforward manner possible: "You’re already the male master of this mansion, which is a well-known fact on Buji Island or in the entire wizard world. If you’re attacked and I don’t intervene, then what does that say about our relationship? That night, at the banquet, your stance must be expressed in a clearer, universally understandable way."

Hearing the words ’male master’, Zheng Qing felt the urge to escape again.

He subconsciously touched the ancient, heavy bookshelf beside him, seemingly trying to find some trace of himself as the mansion’s master, but apart from the coolness at his fingertips, he couldn’t find any true sense of belonging.

The Head Maid brought two cups of hot milk into the study, and then quietly withdrew.

In the pale-blue hydrangea-style porcelain cup, the surface of the warm milk had already formed a thin layer of film, and Zheng Qing held the cup, licking that layer of milk film like a small cat. Perhaps due to psychological effects, he found today’s milk particularly sweet.

Not until he licked off that milk film did the warlock manage to organize his scattered thoughts.

"I heard you trashed the Wandering Bar... is that... perhaps somewhat extreme?" He worried that Su Shijun’s excessive reaction might draw dissatisfaction from others.

"Extreme?"

The witch sneered: "That action was already very mild. Actually, the best and most direct choice is to smash the first university’s school works committee office building, as they definitely know who the Ravens are. However, given my somewhat special status, I’m concerned this move might make people mistakenly believe the Moon Council intends to declare war on the school, which would disrupt the subtle power balance maintaining the entire Alliance... so I can only settle for trashing a small Wandering Bar. No one would object."

Regarding this, Zheng Qing had no doubts.

"Striking against Black Wizards is the Alliance’s biggest consensus," he nodded in agreement: "This approach indeed avoids misjudgments from others..."

Su Shijun seemed very satisfied with Zheng Qing’s attitude, picking up a cup and taking a small sip of milk, humming lightly: "If it weren’t for them crossing the red line first, this wouldn’t have happened."

"Red line."

Zheng Qing murmured, repeating the term, and suddenly let out a heavy sigh: "I still can’t accept why the school would tolerate the existence of those Ravens. This isn’t a decision made by a rational organization. When a banana tree develops wilt disease, the orchard owner should immediately burn down this banana grove to prevent other banana trees from being infected by the fungus... not just the diseased leaves, but also its branches, trunk, roots, and even the soil that supports its growth. Isn’t the principle of ’a dam breaks from an ant’s nest’ clear to everyone?"

"Rationality, clarity–those words have nothing to do with any organization."

The witch seemed reluctant to continue this tedious topic, tapping her fingers on the armrest, while changing the subject: "Recently... have you experienced any unusual physical conditions?"

Zheng Qing shook his head and immediately found the milk in his hand unsavory: "Sometimes, I really doubt if I’ve been delusional, as others say."

Su Shijun raised her slender index finger and shook it: "Wizards who conduct research know not to casually deny their intuition, lightly waver their beliefs, or ignore any sudden abnormalities... caution is the best partner for safety... it’s almost New Year, would you like to take Dong Dong to your teacher for a New Year’s visit?"

She was subtly reminding Zheng Qing to seek help from his teacher.

A bitter smile appeared on the boy’s face.

In fact, he had visited San You Bookstore four or five times in the past few days but hadn’t seen any signs of the store opening. Before entering First University, he would have thought the teacher was away for something, but now he could read from the silent response that the teacher likely doesn’t intend to intervene in this matter and wants him to handle it himself.

Thinking about how his eyebrows might become two droopy antennae made the boy gloomy.

Just then.

He felt an itch on his neck and couldn’t resist shrinking his head, tugging at his collar— for a moment, he thought his fantasy had become reality, and antennae were growing on him, but when his fingers touched the target, a faint and familiar magic feedback came through his fingertips, making him suddenly realize what it was.

Looking down, unsurprisingly, a pale green Paper Crane was shakily climbing out of his neckline, its short wings crisscrossing, struggling to climb up to his shoulder and trying to peck at his earlobe.

Before Zheng Qing could react, a breeze, like a thin cord, flashed past his ear.

The owner of Qingqiu Mansion reached out and grabbed the Paper Crane’s wing.

"Memo?" The witch raised her eyebrows, magic swirling at her fingertips, casually dismantling the little resisting Paper Crane.

Zheng Qing blinked, still thinking about what he had forgotten.

"On the first day of the New Year (Valentine’s Day), buy Jiang Yu a bouquet of fresh flowers. Urgent. First reminder on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month." Su Shijun squinted, reading each word clearly, not even omitting the parentheses and the three ellipses.

Ps, this Paper Crane memo must have been written in previous Chapters; I forgot exactly which one _(:з」∠)_