Chapter 2977 - 21: Expanded Meeting

Chapter 2977: Chapter 21: Expanded Meeting

Ring-a-ling!

The copper bell on the door of the shop next door rang again.

Ding Dong perked up his ears, trying to catch the faint noise and chatter brought by the breeze as the door opened, but his hands never stopped tidying the shelves.

The fox proprietor behind the counter clearly noticed the small distraction of the shop assistant.

"—There aren’t many customers in the shop now, you can sort things out tomorrow morning."

Hank slowly flipped through the ledger in front of him, speaking without lifting his head: "I just saw Ding Dang go over... you can get off early too, I won’t count it as absenteeism."

"Can I?"

Among the Ears Brother, Ding Dong always had a bit of a timid nature—or rather cautious—so even with the proprietor’s words, he still instinctively confirmed once more.

"Of course you can." Hank, familiar with his temperament, nodded decisively.

Ding Dong cheerfully rolled up the slender tail around his waist, and without even changing the robe embroidered with the D&K emblem, dashed towards the next door.

Unlike the always bright and clean D&K, the facade of Mu Mingzi next door always appeared somewhat low and gloomy, even now with a change of owner, the shop itself retained much of its original character, sandwiched between San You Bookstore and D&K, appearing particularly inconspicuous. Even the new sign hanging over the door caught this ’low-profile’ aura, and passersby rarely stopped for a second look.

Ring-a-ling!

As Ding Dong pushed the door open, a blast of charcoal fire scent mixed with diverse magical energy filled the room, and the noisy voices of young wizards flooded his ears, causing him to instinctively pause.

"Are you here?"

A nimble Mouse Person from Buji Island weaved through the crowd, pulling his dazed brother inside while blaming: "—I almost went next door to knock! Almost everyone is here... just missing a few of you."

He didn’t clarify exactly who was missing.

Ding Dong had no time to ask.

Because a large cup of cooling Green Bee was thrust into his hand by Ding Dang, who reminded him with a tipsy tone: "You’re now an official student of Edge Academy, the kind listed in the First University roster! Not a small shop assistant from a grocery store! Don’t lose the academy’s decorum!"

"Yes, maintain decorum!"

A small brown mare poked her head in, nestled between the two Mouse People, lowering her voice a tad with a serious tone: "But decorum is earned... If we let those Northern District people seize the voice of Edge Academy, how much decorum can we maintain in the school? Think about it!"

Having said that, without waiting for a response from the two Mouse People, she nodded solemnly and, with a flick of her mane, squeezed into another circle of discussants.

Ding Dong looked confusedly at Ding Dang.

Ding Dang glanced around and quietly explained: "Luna wants to be the leader of Edge Academy’s squad... But you know, Catherine is almost considered Jini’s deputy head’s favorite, seems to have a greater chance... So Luna wants our support."

Though Ding Dong was often called ’scatterbrain’, it didn’t mean he was foolish.

The quick exchange between the Miss Centaur and Mouse Brothers gave him plenty of information.

What’s happening today is the expanded meeting of the Atonement Hunting Team—besides the original members of the hunting team, the participants also include many new hunters in their assessment period applying to join Atonement.

At the start of the new academic year, under Xiao Xiao and Jiang Yu’s joint management, the Atonement Hunting Team carried out its first major restructuring since establishment, formally rebranding from the ’dual-head system’ to the model of ’main team’ and ’squad’—squads were organized by academy, five total squads were established in five academies to recruit excellent young wizards enrolling, every formal member of a squad automatically became a substitute for the Atonement Hunting Team, registered in the hunting team’s roster; the main team undertakes registered hunting team’s regular hunting tasks, holds five regular hunter positions, selecting appropriate hunters from the squads based on the varying styles and preferences of different hunting games.

Currently, the five main hunters of the team are: Team leader and main hunter Zheng Qing, vice-captain and Left Auxiliary Hunter Xiao Xiao, Right Aide Hunter Xin Fat Man, Wandering Hunter Jiang Yu, and Hunter Dylan—a truly mature registered hunting team rarely has on-campus students as official members, from this perspective, the Atonement Hunting Team is still quite young.

Considering the team has only been established for less than three years, this flaw is not so noticeable.

However, among the main team’s five hunters, the captain has been missing for a long time, reportedly studying abroad, while the vice-captain Doctor Xiao and Wandering Hunter Miss Jiang are often absent from training for various reasons, urgenty needing suitable hunters to fill in to complete the alliance-assigned registered hunting team tasks.

This is why today’s expanded meeting occurs.

Though nominally a selection meeting for all substitutes, actually choices from the other four academies are set in stone: Jiuyou Academy’s squad leader Zhang Ji Xin is already a main hunter of Atonement, Starry Sky Academy’s squad leader Blue Bird also has long served as a Wandering Hunter of Atonement, Alpha Academy’s Lin Guo and Atlas Academy’s Shi Yuan are top veterans of Yuzui Knight Order, even the nomination of formal hunters would not face much questioning.

Only Edge Academy.

Appears weakest in power, yet the situation is the most complex—and critically, Edge Academy’s squad has the largest membership among the five squads.

Representatives include Northern District Wizard Catherine Stuart (she being Korma’s first Northern District Wizard), Luna Huisu representing alliance’s edge clans, Mouse Brothers representing emergent magical races’ Mouse Clan, and reportedly Yuzui Hunting Team’s captain’s illegitimate children: Zheng Su 123 sisters.

No matter who is elected, rallying complete support is tough.

"Then who do we cast our vote for?" Ding Dong weakly consulted his elder brother.

Ding Dang confidently stroked his whiskers: "Great Elves won’t do, hunting grounds are too dangerous, boss would not prefer them going, besides, among the three sisters, whoever we vote for, or not vote for, is wrong! We definitely aren’t going either... In the end, it’s a rivalry between Catherine and Luna."

At this, he paused, meaningfully glanced at his little brother, voice even lower: "Here’s a tip, these matters require comprehensive consideration! Both the Northern District Grand-Wizard and Luna have danced with our boss! As for Catherine? She’s just the subordinate of Northern District Grand-Wizard! Got it? Don’t mess with the seniority!"

Ding Dong thoughtfully, earnestly nodded.

The sound of Xin Fat Man’s violent coughing came from behind, apparently having been choked by his tea.

Ring-a-ling!

The door of the shop was pushed open once again.

A somewhat short figure, carrying cold air and snowflakes, entered, took off a wide hood, revealing a neatly combed Watermelon Head.

"—Thank heavens, I nearly thought I wouldn’t make it back."

Xiao Xiao pushed his black-framed glasses, exhaled a puff of white breath: "Jiang Yu confirmed unable to attend today’s meeting due to errands. If everyone’s here, let’s begin..."