"What did that prove?" Zheng Qing stopped Xiao Xiao from continuing.
"Isn't it obvious?" Xiao Xiao had long since grown accustomed to Zheng Qing's dullness. He shrugged and explained, "You and I knew of Nikolas's existence because of prophecies or all sorts of coincidences... The school might know too, but judging by what they've done before, they most likely wanted to keep things quiet."
But those reports from earlier had all been promoting the existence of the Outer Gods from every possible angle.
"You mean someone didn't want the school to sweep this under the rug?" Zheng Qing was beginning to understand what Xiao Xiao meant.
"Obviously." Xiao Xiao raised a hand to stop Zheng Qing from speaking and continued his analysis. "The issue isn't whether they want to—the fact is, those people have already done it... The issue is, what will the school think?"
"What will it think?"
"The school will be furious at whoever was so inconsiderate, find them, and teach them a lesson."
"What does that have to do with us?" Zheng Qing was completely confused.
Xiao Xiao let out a heavy sigh and gave him a pitying look.
"If I remember correctly, you've reported the missing Black Goat to the School Labor Committee twice in a row, haven't you?" He was always very patient with this sort of thing:
"...But the school kept dragging its feet, and you got angry enough to complain to the Student Union... If the school wants to find the Black Hand behind those reports, all it needs is some simple Divination Magic, and it'll find you appearing in plenty of scenes. As it happens, you were interviewed by the Beta Town Post, and one of your companions is a school newspaper reporter."
"I have absolutely nothing to do with those reports!"