"Do you remember how many hunting teams took part in last year's School Hunt Competition?" Fatty Xin did not immediately answer Zheng Qing's question. "...Not the Freshman Competition—the official Campus Cup hunt."
"Twenty-seven?" Zheng Qing blurted out the first number that came to mind.
The Fat Wizard rolled his eyes.
Zheng Qing immediately caught on and hurriedly corrected himself. "Oh, right, I remember now. Twenty-seven was the number of officially registered hunting teams last year. This year, Youzui became an Official Hunting Team too... I remember Doctor saying that the Ouroboros Hunting Team had also successfully advanced. So there should be twenty-nine?"
Fatty Xin took a deep breath. A hint of blue flashed across his face, and veins bulged at his temples.
Zheng Qing had never known veins could show on a fat man's head. Greatly surprised, he could not help taking a few more looks.
"I should have known our captain was just a mascot... Why did I waste time asking you in the first place?" the Fat Wizard muttered, his face full of regret.
Zheng Qing paid no attention to the fat man's grumbling.
He only noticed that the little tortoiseshell cat by his feet was about to finish that piece of roast meat. He quickly washed down the food in his mouth with fruit juice and sped up his eating.
"We're not an Official Hunting Team yet."
The Fat Wizard's first response overturned Zheng Qing's understanding. "We merely have the qualifications to submit an application to become one... Take Matthew's Cullen Hunting Team, for example. Because of personnel, prey, training, and other factors, it failed before reaching that stage. That is the fate of most newly formed hunting teams."
"I remember Doctor saying..." Zheng Qing instinctively tried to argue.
"Having a chance to participate in the School