Chapter 8 - You are a Wizard
Chapter 8 of "High School of Demon Hunting" opens with: Thomas, that was the name of Zheng Qingâs interviewer.He was a young German, blond and... See what unfolds next!
Thomas, that was the name of Zheng Qingâs interviewer.
He was a young German, blond and blue-eyed, tall and muscular, with fair skin and slightly drooping eyes.
His pronounced nose added sharpness to his features.
Dressed in a well-tailored suit, a deep red tie, and gleaming shoes, he looked every bit the successful businessman.
Having inspected the acceptance letter, Thomas didnât bother Zheng Qingâs family too much.
Instead, he suggested that Zheng Qing show him around the city.
Zhengâs parents seemed to harbor no doubts, readily entrusting their son to this stranger without any reservations.
Standing awkwardly on the street, Zheng Qing watched the man in front of him fiddling with his map, and mopped his brow, asking, âMr.
Thomas, do you have a destination in mind?â
âI need to figure out how to get to your local market,â Thomas replied, frowning and scrutinizing the map in his hands, âAt university, youâll have to learn to live independently, which means youâll need various supplies.
Just like in high school, you will need to get some basic textbooks, stationeries, lab supplies, and so on.
The market has everything you need, and the shops there will have discount sales right before school starts, which would be highly cost-effective for you.â
âButâŚâ Zheng Qing glanced at the giant supermarket behind them, feeling increasingly confused.
âArenât there stationery stores everywhere on the street?
Just behind us is the largest warehouse supermarket in Pingyang.â
âSupermarket?â Thomas seemed taken aback, his eyebrows shooting up.
âDid you buy your school supplies from this supermarket?â
Saying this he turned around to scrutinize the bustling supermarket across the street.
âI usually buy from the stationery store in front of the school.â Zheng Qing replied hesitatedly, not too confidently: âWhat I meant was, this supermarket has a lot of stuff, probably including some of the stationery items I need.â
âWhere did you go to secondary school?â Thomas asked, his eyes still fixed on the supermarket.
âPingyang No.1 Middle School, a noteworthy provincial school.â Zheng Qing stated, sounding slightly more confident.
âNo, no no, I meant, where did you actually attend middle school?â Thomas clarified.
âItâs on the same road as this one, we just passed by my high school entrance a while ago.â
âIâm sorry.
I was trying to ask if youâve ever attended any special school?â Thomas finally turned around, looking somewhat surprised, gesticulating with his map and murmuring: âA special one?â
âNo!â Zheng Qing denied outright.
âUnless you consider a prominent high school as being special.â
âSo, could it be a system error?â Thomas put away his map and produced something resembling a cell phone from his pocket and began moving it up and down Zhengâs body.
The device beeped incessantly with each movement.
Zheng Qing looked around awkwardly, not knowing how to react.
âNo problem here!â After busying himself for a while, Thomas examined the device in his hands closely, gave a nod, then shook his head: âIf itâs not a mistake, then weâre dealing with another troublesome situation.â
âTroublesome situation?â Zheng Qing was anxious, nervously asking, âMr.
Thomas, should I inform my parents?
Or I could tell my grandfather.â
âOh no, thereâs no need.â Thomas shook his head repetitively, looked at Zheng Qing, then glanced at the large envelope in his hand, sighed and said: âI just need to find a place to talk to you first⌠Being an interviewer is truly no easy task⌠Letâs go to the teahouse over there, I donât like coffee.
What about you?â
âEither is fine.â Zheng Qing followed him, but still couldnât shake off his suspicion that this well-dressed stranger was some kind of trickster.
âI think you probably have never gone to a wizard school,â Thomas asked Zheng Qing gravely as they headed for the teahouse.
âWizard school?â Zheng Qing seemed taken aback, his voice rising a few notches.
âA wizard school?
Are you guys talking about Harry Potter?â A twelve or thirteen-year-old passing girl seemed to catch what Zheng Qing said and rushed over with a fanatical expression: âIâm a Potterhead too, what are you guys discussing?
Magical creatures?
Quidditch?
Hogwarts history?
Or the story of the Peverell Brothers?
I know them all.â
Zheng Qing jumped at the sudden intrusion, staring wide-eyed at the little girl with broad glasses on her nose, it took him a moment to regain his composure, he gave a nervous chuckle and shook his head vigorously.
Meanwhile, Thomas next to him observed the little girl curiously.
Blushing, the little girl muttered a few things under her breath and scampered off.
***
Zheng Qing closed his pocket watch, they had been there for twelve minutes and thirty-four seconds.
He and Thomas were seated in a teahouse halfway down Pingyang Road, with Thomas opposite him, flipping through a newspaper.
They had been sitting there for twelve minutes and thirty-four seconds now, with Thomas engrossed in his thick newspaper.
Zheng Qing cradled his teacup in both hands, sipping the pale green tea and discreetly peering at the newspaper.
On the back of the paper was an eye-catching headline: âWitchcraft Federation Committee expresses dissatisfaction with the Dark Blue Castleâ
ââŚ
At a press conference, Huang Shi, spokesman of the Witchcraft Federation Committee of the wizardsâ alliance, revealed that during the recent crackdown on illegal labs, abnormal dimensional fluctuations were detected at the Dark Blue Castle.
At the time of the report, Sam Marshall, the chief judge of the wizardâs court, had already signed a comprehensive
Zheng Qing couldnât comprehend a word of what was being said in the paper.
Zheng Qing looked on dejectedly as Thomas put his newspaper down and pulled out a pen to start scribbling.
The two of them sat in silence, as time trickled by, the atmosphere grew a bit awkward.
âWhat are you calculating?â Zheng Qing finally found a topic to break the silence.
âOdds.â Thomas didnât look up, he explained while calculating, âThe World Cup is half over.
The Venus team is still leading, but the Flamingo team is rising rapidly.
Theyâve bagged the Wild Demon King three times consecutively.
Thereâs always this type of dark horse team every few years.
If I can get this right, I can get rid of these annoying errands for the next couple of years and focus on my multi-dimensional magic fluctuation interference experiment under Secret Gardenâs spatial conditions.â
âAre you talking about betting on a game?â Zheng Qing looked at him blankly.
Thomas spared him a glance and continued to focus on his calculations.
Bored, Zheng Qing blew ripples into his tea, and tried to make sense of all the peculiar things he had encountered that day.
After a while, noticing Thomas finally folding his newspaper, Zheng quickly broke the silence, âI didnât quite understand what you meant about the wizard school.â
Thomas looked down, studying the tea leaves in his cup.
Then, he looked up, squinting at Zheng Qing across from him.
Those green eyes seemed familiar to Zheng Qing.
âYouâre a wizard,â he told Zheng Qing in a matter-of-fact tone.