The Tenth Regular Meeting

During Zheng Qing's second week at the university, a second-degree murder occurred at Linzhong Lakefront.

A white short-haired kitten that had not yet been weaned had its neck broken, and the killer had cruelly gouged out both of its eyes. For some unknown reason, the kitten's body had remained atop the tall artificial rock by the lake for nearly an entire day.

After nearly a month of investigation, the university's final conclusion was that the kitten had been killed by a kappa from Linzhong Lake—without question, it was not a particularly convincing conclusion. But the university did not need to convince the students. It only needed a conclusion.

After all, it was only a kitten a few months old, and the professors had confirmed that it was not a wizard's Transformation Spell cast out of boredom. On top of that, the university had been swamped with all kinds of internal affairs recently, so the School Labor Committee staff responsible for the investigation muddled through and hastily closed the case.

It had to be said that the university's handling of the matter suited many people—the Wizard Alliance investigators did not want a stray cat to affect relations between the Alliance and First University; the reporters outside the university preferred a story with a conclusion over baseless speculation; and as for the students, their attention had long since been completely diverted by the Sand Hour Worms, the Silent Tideback arriving months early, and the month-long Academy Cup hunting competition.

Just one month later, most people at the university had completely forgotten the kitten whose neck had been broken and whose eyes had been gouged out. The occasional person passing by that artificial rock might put down a few withered daisies for show, but that was merely to attract attention and earn a