High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2704 - 925: Heretic

The location of the assistant group office is not on the same floor; some assistants—including Thomas—have offices located on the left corridor of the third floor of the office building.And Thomas’s office is further down at the end of the corridor.

It was the weekend, and the corridor was utterly deserted. Not only were the usually roaming Armored Warriors of the school nowhere in sight, but even the portraits on the walls and the Door God on the door were vacant.

A thought inexplicably flashed across Zheng Qing’s mind—In a place like this, should one worry about encountering ghosts?

"I remember your office..."

The Young Wizard couldn’t help but speak, not entirely out of curiosity, but more to fill the empty corridor with sound, making the surroundings seem less desolate and quiet.

Thomas took out a Brass Key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock.

"Ah, the offices of assistants are not fixed," he explained patiently, apparently guessing the question on the boy’s mind: "Every semester, our offices might change... due to the increase or decrease in personnel in the group or new staff arrangements by the school. Plus, not every assistant has an office."

Zheng Qing knew this.

Because he didn’t have an office.

As they spoke, the office door was already pushed open.

But just as they were about to enter, a hissing scream, accompanied by the light in the room, squeezed through the door gap into Zheng Qing’s ear, causing the entire corridor to hum.

"You forgot to turn off the fire when you went out, you fool!"

"—Luckily my belly is sturdy!"

"Are you planning to burn down the whole office building?"

"Don’t want your paycheck?!"

Thomas casually pulled off a towel from behind the door, rolled it into a ball, and threw it into the corner of the office, instantly silencing the scream. Zheng Qing craned his neck into the room and saw that the screaming came from a teapot, currently dangling mid-air, tied by the towel to its handle, wobbling as if it might fall any second.

No wonder it stopped shouting.

Zheng Qing couldn’t help but chuckle – this kind of handling was very Starry Sky.

"Sorry, I left in a hurry this afternoon, but luckily I got back just in time... Sit anywhere... Tea?"

The owner of the office greeted him, not waiting for the boy to reply before snapping his fingers, two beautiful teacups clang as they collided and floated out from beneath the coffee table, hovering below the teapot.

The teapot obediently tilted, pouring out a stream of hot tea.

"Thank you."

Zheng Qing nodded slightly awkwardly, his gaze wandering around, searching for a place to ’sit wherever,’ as Thomas had mentioned. But as far as he could see, both the sofa and chairs were piled with books in a chaotic arrangement, making Zheng Qing feel like he had intruded into a graduate student’s study.

Thomas, bending over under the desk looking for something, noticed the boy’s awkwardness.

"Ah... sorry,"

He suddenly realized, knocking on the Law Book, his voice tinged with a bit of apology: "You know, things have been busy lately... The busier the messier, plus not many people come to the office, so I didn’t tidy up well."

Obscured magical light blossomed from where he knocked on the Law Book, and the chaotic pile of books between the tables and chairs seemed to grow wings, flying in a flurry and neatly stacking into the open bookshelf beside.

Zheng Qing, with keen eyes, spotted several intriguing names among the spines of flying books—including "Six Beasts and Monsters," "Astronomical Ritual," "Transformation Malediction," "Prayers for Blessing," "Expel Unsightly Spirits"—from the titles involved, spanning demons, transformation arts, to blessings and exorcism, appearing unusually diverse.

"I never knew you were into blessing-type magic,"

Zheng Qing sat on the sofa, holding the teacup, blew gently into the amber-colored tea: "I mean, it seems this type of magic doesn’t quite align with your Starry Sky Academy background."

"I originally thought you would break away from those stubborn prejudices between different colleges, back when you joined the school..." Thomas smiled and shook his head, suddenly reminiscing: "Speaking of the past... At the interview back then, your cautiousness left me with a very deep impression... Um, you should smell first — How does it taste?"

He held his teacup, gestured as he sniffed under his nose, raising it towards Zheng Qing.

Only it was already too late.

Zheng Qing had just sipped a little.

Unexpected.

What seemed to be boiling hot tea, entering the mouth was just right in temperature, neither cold nor hot; yet the seemingly clear tea had a very rich flavor, as if several pounds of spices were added.

The boy’s face crumpled into a ball.

"Ew," he smacked his lips, letting the scent linger on his tongue, ultimately gave a mild review: "Your tea... tastes very special."

"You should smell first." Thomas had already set down his teacup, picked up a small wooden box from under the desk, placed it on the desk, and watched the boy with a chuckle: "What smell can you detect?"

Zheng Qing inexplicably felt like he was attending a Magic Potion class.

"Almond, or pine nut... Cinnamon and honey," his nostrils fluttered slightly, with a hint of uncertainty in his tone: "Can these really be in tea?"

"Your magic talent is really good."

Thomas sighed lightly, while undoing the magical lock on the box, shook his head: "Back then my sensitivity to herbs was low, so my Magic Potion class grades were always not very good, so I had to put more effort into anatomy... You guessed correctly, when brewing tea, I added a bit of cinnamon and honey, making its flavor more potent."

"Heretic."

Zheng Qing succinctly concluded—He had never seen anyone drink tea like this before.

"Heretic?"

Thomas seemed to be somewhat touched by this word, paused his actions, repeated it softly then suddenly smiled lightly: "After all, breaking tradition, calling it ’heretic’ is not inappropriate... I like adding some spices and seasoning to tea leaves, grinding them into powder, using boiling water to fully release the tea’s aroma. Then filtering out the residue, leaving only pure tea... Speaking of purity, what kind of bloodline do you think is pure?"

Zheng Qing felt that Thomas was unusually sentimental today.

"Nicholas’s bloodline is very pure."

He gave his former interviewer a surprising answer: "Whether before he extracted his Werewolf Bloodline or now, his bloodline is very pure."

"The veteran who transferred schools four times, flunked four times, and is now studying at the Edge Academy’s preparatory course?" Thomas evidently knew of the legendary figure from the First University, curiously asking: "Why do you think his bloodline is very pure?"

"Because his thoughts are very clean."

Zheng Qing thought of that boy who transferred schools four times for his sister, forcibly extracted his Werewolf Bloodline for his mother, and felt a warmth touch his fingertips, prompting him to adjust his grip on the cup: "—After all, this is a world where consciousness can decide everything; pure thoughts are the purest bloodline in this world."