Iseni was a very unusual fishman①.
He moved between Linzhong Lake, Jiuyou, Alpha, and Beta Town with the agility of a real fish. Every side was his "friend," willing to offer him a little help within their means.
That was enough.
For no matter how unusual he was, he was still a fishman—one bound by the Wizard Codex and campus regulations, with a very limited range of movement, and deeply disliked (discriminated against) by ordinary wizards.
From another perspective, no matter how hard he tried to pretend he was "like" a wizard, the caution, selfishness, cunning, and even cruelty inherited from his fishman bloodline silently influenced him. Like his appearance, they drew a clear dividing line between him and his "friends."
On this side of the line were his wizard friends; on the other were his fellow clansmen.
When he led his kin from the bottom of the lake out of Linzhong Lake, across that line, and into unfamiliar territory, they displayed intense sensitivity and suspicion. The slightest disturbance could make them uneasy and restless.
Just like now.
The transaction between the fishmen and the Ouroboros Hunting Team had already put Iseni's companions on edge. Now, new uninvited guests had arrived by river—greatly outnumbering the fishmen with wizards. To ordinary fishmen, it was difficult to tell the difference between an Alpha and a Jiuyou student. In their eyes, anyone wearing robes was cut from the same cloth.
So when Zheng Qing's gaze fell on the fishmen, those behind Iseni bared their fangs one after another, hissing threateningly from their throats.
Zheng Qing had no intention of bringing these obviously illegal border-crossing fishmen back to school, even if doing so could earn him a small bounty from the School Labor Committee.
Having just escaped a pack of crazed Gaiterasi, the young