High School of Demon Hunting

The sun had set.

Beta Town.

North District.

Inside the Sakura Pub.

Korma quietly sat behind the bar, with a bottle of Sea Monster Langmu in his left hand and a bottle of Amber Light in his right. In front of him, two exquisite jade cups glimmered with soft hues under the dim light.

Knock, knock.

A polite knocking sound came from outside the door.

"Please come in."

The witch waved her hand, and the slightly ajar door silently opened, allowing the tranquil night to blend seamlessly with the quiet inside. In the night stood a tall and slender wizard.

"Good evening, Miss Jini."

The visitor took off his pointed wizard hat, revealing a head of messy gray hair and a pair of sharp gray-blue eyes. He discreetly glanced around to confirm no one else was present before stepping over the threshold: "—Sorry to intrude."

"Good evening, Professor Montreya."

The witch also greeted politely—both understood remarkably well not to use their identities from Edge Academy, signifying that this conversation was private. She picked up the Sea Monster Langmu with one hand and the Amber Light with the other, showing just the right amount of hesitation on her face: "What would you like to drink?"

Professor Montreya was silent for a few seconds.

The Sea Monster Langmu represented the North District or perhaps Edge Academy, while the Amber Light represented the Wandering Bar, or those wizards who didn’t belong to Edge, nor the Alliance, nor the school.

"A glass of water will do, thank you." He made his choice.

This slightly surprised the witch.

She had initially thought the professor came representing some dissatisfied factions to have a ’chat’ with her, but from this situation, it seemed Professor Montreya was here of his own accord?

A glass of water and a glass of Sea Monster Langmu stood opposite each other, their deep blue and transparent shadows intertwined in the light. Though the drinks and water in the cups were perfectly still, their shadows rippled incessantly, just like the current state of mind of the silent host and guest sitting at the bar.

After a long while, it was still Professor Montreya who broke the silence.

"I heard the review committee talked to you?" he asked, staring at the glass of water in front of him, his voice a little hoarse.

The ’review committee’ he referred to was the ’Final Test Committee Review Panel of the First University’s Giant God Soldier Project Team’, consisting of two vice-presidents, four deans, and three department heads of the First University, responsible for reviewing the project’s progress, test candidates, and other related details.

The owner of Sakura Pub was slightly taken aback, and then smiled.

"I thought you would first discuss the matters from the afternoon." She chuckled, picked up her glass, and was clearly caught off guard by such a direct inquiry from the professor. She paused before giving a slight nod: "—Indeed, I have met them."

She didn’t mention the outcome.

But Professor Montreya seemed to have gotten some confirmation, as his expression grew visibly dimmer.

Ever since it was unofficially floated within the project team that the First University would only manufacture two specially configured Giant God Soldiers, and one had been confirmed to be piloted by the Qualified Group, the ’ownership’ of the remaining one was fiercely contested. The two vice-presidents of Edge Academy were among the most formidable competitors.

Now it seemed that the results were likely out.

Professor Montreya picked up the water before him, swirled it, and sighed deeply: "—A horse may have a thousand miles of strength but cannot reach it without a rider; a man may have aspirations to soar into the sky but cannot fulfill them without luck. Many times, the distance between failure and success is just a small bit of luck."

Korma couldn’t respond to this and could only lower her head, pretending to focus on her Sea Monster Langmu.

Professor Montreya looked at her seriously, his tone sincere: "You may not know, but I’m leading a very challenging experiment that’s almost completely successful, but a small error just occurred..."

"Number one prototype could help you correct that error?"

Korma ultimately decided to interrupt the professor. She raised her head, looked at the old wizard before her, and shook her head slowly but firmly: "—However, I’m very sorry, Jini Cottage, North District Wizards, and Edge Academy... I have too many things to care about right now, and I might not have the energy to get involved in a new high-level magic experiment project."

She declined two possibilities in one breath.

Not only did she express she wouldn’t join Professor Montreya’s experiment, but she also implicitly stated there wouldn’t be a possibility of handing over the piloting rights for number one prototype.

Her attitude was very firm.

The professor frowned.

"You’re young and come from the North District..."

Saying this, he seemed to realize the inappropriateness of his words and quickly added: "Of course, I mean no disrespect to North District Wizards. I just want to say that being from the North District limits your perspective, even though you’re already a Big Wizard, you may still not see the dangers Edge Academy poses clearly... For the group of wizards dedicated to magical exploration and world expansion, their competition will create a larger cake, allowing every competitor to get their due share. But Edge Academy is different. Its appearance is not based on exploration or expansion but on forcibly pushing someone onto the table who originally wouldn’t have a seat."

"No one understands the meaning of ’danger’ better than people from the North District."

The witch picked up her Sea Monster Langmu, took a gentle sip, her azure-painted lips appearing exceptionally enchanting under the glow of the firefly: "—Wizards in other ordinary places might think that death is the scariest thing in this world, but for North District people, death is a commonplace concept. Going to Silent Forest to dig herbs for the lords, catching poisonous insects, becoming apprentices in the Alchemy Workshop, becoming mice in laboratories... People from the North District have seen too many strange and unusual ways of dying. They are born in danger, live in danger, and die in danger. Maybe I can more intuitively feel how steep the cliff before us is than you."

Saying this, she paused for a moment and suddenly smiled: "—So, do you now understand why I insisted on pitching the Edge Academy tent on the cliff back then?"

Professor Montreya nodded thoughtfully: "No wonder when discussing the purpose of Edge Academy you insisted on putting exploration and sacrifice side by side... Is it to tell others that you won’t covet the cake on the table?"

He shook his head, showing pessimism towards the witch’s vision: "—In game theory, the most classic case is dragon hunting: two hunting teams must cooperate to capture the Fire Dragon. But thereafter they must decide how to divide the spoils. Who gets the dragon blood, who gets the dragon bone, who gets the dragon scale or dragon meat, and who will inherit the Fire Dragon’s fortune. The larger the share one side gets, the less the other side receives. If you can establish a leading position in the North District, you gain the power to influence the other districts of Beta Town, and thus the possibility to influence Alpha, influence the First University. You are already at the table, without the option to give up the cake on it."