After reading the report, Zheng Qing's first reaction was, They're stirring up trouble.
From beginning to end, the entire article gave off a strange air—it did not seem to explicitly name Zhu Si and Colmar or accuse them of doing anything disgraceful, but its peculiar wording, such as "plotting," "history has taught us," and "public anxiety," subtly implied something between the lines.
That was under the premise that Zheng Qing knew both Zhu Si and Colmar.
Those unfamiliar with the two witches would inevitably connect them, in their minds, with the evil wizards who had stirred up bloody turmoil throughout wizarding history, leaving them with a terrible impression of the pair.
Especially the photo accompanying the report: against the backdrop of a moonless midnight, Zhu Si, clad in a black robe, hurried out through a deep, shadowy gate—everything about her seemed to radiate an unspeakable air of secrecy. Coupled with the small caption beneath it, the impression it gave was even worse.
To be fair, everyone had gone out at night to visit friends before. That photo proved nothing at all.
The problem was that the North District Wizards and the Rat People truly were a massive headache for the Alliance, and Zhu Si really was Rat Immortal's daughter.
So this particular "visit to a friend" had happened to hit the sore spot of certain sensitive wizards.
What the young publicly funded student found even harder to understand was where the Beta Town Post had gotten the nerve to tug on a tiger's whiskers and skirt the edges of a Legendary Wizard. Although the article itself could be called "proper and restrained," without taking indirect shots at any Legendary being or making insinuations, that kind of provocation still earned the young wizard's great admiration.
"Look!"
Zheng Qing flicked the thick,