High School of Demon Hunting

Ding-a-ling!

A round pumpkin car wobbled its way along the winding path of the Silent Forest.

It was a seemingly ordinary four-wheeled pumpkin car, often used by many wizards. Underneath the massive pumpkin carriage, there were four wheels; the front two were smaller for steering, while the back two were larger for bearing weight. Atop the pumpkin car hung a vine that had yet to completely dry up, with a cluster of fireflies attached to it, sucking the leftover sap inside. Their swelling bellies emitted clusters of orange-red light that matched the pumpkin car’s color, giving off a warm feeling just by looking at it.

Pulling the carriage were four plump big mice.

They had short, stout bodies covered with white fluffy fur, and their tails seemed to have been cut off, making them slow runners. This also made the pumpkin car exceptionally stable.

The driver was a petite, handsome Little Warlock, standing about four feet tall, draped in a large light green cloak. However, he seemed somewhat forlorn; every time he snapped the whip, he couldn’t help but sigh.

ε=(´ο｀*)))

Alas!

"— Ding Dang! We’ve come this far, stop sighing!"

A voice of complaint came from inside the pumpkin car: "The talisman I just drew, because of your sigh, made the pen tip shake, causing the talisman’s foot to bend! You owe me a piece of talisman paper!"

Upon hearing the complaint, the mouse driver’s round ears twitched, tempted to sigh yet again. But remembering the unjustly compensated piece of talisman paper, he held the sigh back.

"I am Ding Dong, not Ding Dang." The driver muttered under his breath, cracking the whip with a loud snap.

The white mice pulling the carriage wiggled their butts and ran with even more vigor.

Truly a calamity without cause.

Whether it was the white mice pulling the carriage or Ding Dong himself, the phrase floated unbidden in their minds.

After school today, Ding Dong had merely stayed a few minutes longer in the classroom and was whisked away by three Great Elves to the Greenhill Mansion. Then he was stuffed into this pumpkin car and made to drive.

Snap!

He wanted to refuse but dared not, for sitting in the large pumpkin carriage behind were not only three Great Elves but also Poseidon, the young master of the Greenhill Mansion, along with those two reckless troublemakers, Li Meng and Su Ya. Especially the latter two, who indeed dared to shave the fur off his tail!

Recalling Li Meng’s threatening tone, Ding Dong shivered quietly, pulling his cloak tighter.

While the driver wallowed in self-pity.

Inside the pumpkin car.

Six witches, two adults, and four little ones were gathered together, each busy with their own tasks—Zheng Su’s three sisters were lying prone on the table doing homework, Su Ya was curled up with her tail, sleeping, Li Meng was gripping a talisman pen, gnashing at the talisman paper, and as for Poseidon, he stared at the map in front of him, daydreaming.

"— How much longer until we get there?"

As Zheng Susu lifted her head to relieve her wrists, she happened to see the daydreaming Poseidon. Suspicion tinged her tone: "Do you really know where daddy is?"

"You’re doubting me!"

Poseidon, like a fox with bristled fur, shot up, ears erect, pointing at the map in front of him and declaring: "This map was taken from mommy’s desk! I clearly heard her tell Aunt Man that daddy is at that red dot... absolutely true!"

Disturbed, Li Meng sighed, abandoning any further thought of practicing talismans, and grabbed the bristling Little Fox, smoothing her big tail, consoling: "— Shanshan isn’t doubting you, it’s just we’ve traveled so far yet found nothing, if family learns of this, we’ll surely get a beating!"

Speaking of beatings, she couldn’t help clenching her fists and hammering her own head.

"— I must’ve been bewitched, to be coaxed out here by you lot." Her tone carried a hint of regret, looking at Su Ya, whose drooling mouth was sleeping peacefully, she couldn’t help but kick her: "It’s all your fault!"

Su Ya snapped upright.

"Miss, it’s not me, it’s Li Meng’s idea... Are we there yet?"

Halfway through shifting blame, a drowsy Fox Maid realized she wasn’t getting punished at the mansion, hastily changing the subject, peering out the window: "... Where have we arrived?"

Li Meng frowned deeply, feeling a strong impulse to ditch these guys and head straight back home.

But she couldn’t.

At least not now.

"Wow! It’s so scary outside!" Su Ya, who had just poked her head out the window, promptly pulled her head back in, pale-faced: "Where are we? Weren’t we supposed to be in the school’s Protect Legal Formation? Why’s everything so dark? And that bizarre sound, what is it?"

Li Meng ’hmphed’ softly, staying silent.

But Poseidon, exuberantly wriggled out of her embrace, stood akimbo, reassuring the Fox Maid in a tone that wouldn’t make anyone feel reassured: "— Don’t worry, Sister Ya! I see on the map there’s a small path, slightly deviating from the intended route... But it’s alright, just a little further we’ll reach there! It’s very close!"

Speaking, she showed Su Ya the map she held.

The somewhat old parchment depicted the winding orange line as the path the pumpkin car followed, not far from their current position was the final destination marked by a red dot, which indeed didn’t seem far off.

Yet Su Ya’s gaze was glued to the virtual and solid lines marked on the map, her complexion turning from pale to ashen. The virtual lines represented the school’s Protect Legal Formation monitoring area, originally planned they’d leave the campus yet remain within the virtual line’s range, thus Su Ya reluctantly accepted the ladies’ adventure.

But now, she saw clearly, the orange line indicating the route had crossed the virtual line somewhere into ’The Land of Void’—compared to the dense annotations within the virtual line, outside is vast, unmarked blank spaces.

That’s not a safe void, it represents unexplored and unreliable information areas, a region in constant change. Perhaps a year ago a goblin tribe lived here, a year later, its landmark could be a Goblin Skull Tower and a smelly Ogre Camp.

Su Ya opened her mouth, looking at the confident Little Witch in front of her, yet couldn’t put the responsibility on her, turning her angry gaze to Li Meng.

"Why didn’t you stop her!" The Fox Maid scolded loudly with her eyes.

Li Meng rolled her eyes, as annoyed as the Fox Maid: "You think you’re the only one who slept in the carriage? I woke up and the pumpkin car had already left the Protect Legal Formation... what else could I do? Ditch you guys and run myself?"