"Zheng Qing... who exactly was he?"
Rat Immortal tugged at his short whiskers, staring at the newspaper spread across the coffee table and studying the nervous young wizard in the photograph. He asked softly, "Or rather, why him?"
"Who was he?"
Wanderer Wizard repeated Rat Immortal's question, then began to chuckle softly. He laughed and laughed, his laughter growing louder and louder until it made the whole room hum. The Firefly Beetles hanging from the vines fell to the floor in droves like leaves battered by a rainstorm.
Rat Immortal frowned and sat up a little straighter, his round belly protruding as he silently watched the old wizard across from him.
"He was both nightmare and hope; both demon and angel. He was Satan's incarnation, come to sow the seeds of fear in the mortal world; he was Yahweh's child, praying for the dawn of peace for all living things."
At that, Wanderer Wizard stopped. Looking at Rat Immortal, he said softly, "Besides that, he was also a path."
"A path?" Rat Immortal keenly caught the hidden meaning behind Wanderer Wizard's words. His tiny eyes widened round. "Him? That first-year student? He had a path?"
"He was that path." Wanderer Wizard corrected Rat Immortal's wording, then suddenly smiled faintly and raised the glass in his hand. "Oh, right. He was also a Gold Card member of Wander Bar."
Rat Immortal paid no attention to Wanderer Wizard's smug addendum.
Its plump body strained to lean forward, then it somehow produced a monocle and perched it on its pointed nose. Aiming it at the little figure in the newspaper, it muttered over and over, "...Unbelievable. Incredible... Could this be the headmaster's final work?... He looked completely like an ordinary student."
In the photograph, the young wizard standing helplessly on the award platform