Chapter 157: Shanghai Qingfeng High School
"Speaking of which, it isn't ideal to have you staying in a hotel indefinitely. I'll help you apply for the State Guesthouse. It's a place primarily used to receive important foreign dignitaries; there's never been a precedent for a Devil Hunter staying there."
President Jiang continued, "However, given your unique circumstances, the application should go through."
"The State Guesthouse... alright."
Otonashi Chiya nodded slightly.
He knew a little about the State Guesthouse, though not extensively. To put it simply, it was a villa-style complex, usually consisting of dozens of individual villa buildings.
Essentially, they would be moving into a villa, even if it wasn't one he had bought himself. Chiya did indeed need a temporary place to stay for a while; buying a villa wasn't the kind of thing you could do instantly and move into the same day.
With nothing else to discuss, Chiya left President Jiang's study.
The next day.
Otonashi Chiya took Higashiyama Kobeni and Reze to Shanghai Qingfeng High School.
Although they looked no different from students, they weren't wearing school uniforms, nor did they have student IDs.
However, the security guard at the main gate had already received word from the principal: if he saw a youth with strange, patterned blood-red eyes, he was to let them in immediately without the slightest delay.
Consequently, the guard didn't ask a single question and opened the gates for Chiya and the others directly. Immediately after, the guard called the principal's office.
A few minutes later...
Before Chiya even reached the office building, the principal had come down personally to greet him.
Chiya suddenly felt the man looked familiar. Wasn't this the father of that profligate young man from the hotel's luxury restaurant?
No wonder the name "Principal Liang" sounded familiar when President Jiang mentioned it; he had vaguely heard people whispering about it back at the restaurant.
"Young Master Otonashi, we meet again," Principal Liang said with a smile.
"Indeed. It's a bit unexpected to find out that you are Principal Liang," Chiya replied politely.
"My worthless son caused trouble previously. I apologize to you once again on his behalf," Principal Liang said with a sincere tone.
"It was a minor matter; I didn't take it to heart," Chiya smiled.
The two of them walked toward the office, chatting and laughing. Reze and Kobeni followed closely behind Chiya.
"Isn't that the principal? Who is he with... a student not in uniform?"
"It looks like the principal came out to receive them personally. Who is that guy and those two girls?"
"Maybe they're some incredibly wealthy young masters and ladies..."
Once they reached the principal's office, Chiya and Principal Liang began discussing official business.
As for Kobeni and Reze, they sat beside Chiya, remaining silent so as not to disturb him.
"I've already heard from President Jiang. Miss Reze and Miss Higashiyama are interested in enrolling in our school, correct? This is a minor matter; we'll just go through the formal procedures in a moment."
Principal Liang got straight to the point: "Let's discuss the 'Devil Hunter' special pilot program first. Following our on-campus publicity, we currently have over ninety students from the middle school division and over fifty from the high school division who have volunteered to be the first batch of specialty students."
"Over a hundred in total? That's quite a significant number," Otonashi Chiya remarked.
"Indeed. I suspect most of those children are just looking for an easier path to higher education, but we certainly can't let people just coast through. They still have to put in the work."
Principal Liang pulled out a document and handed it to Chiya. "This contains the final assessment standards issued to us. They must meet these passing marks to successfully graduate and promote."
Chiya quickly scanned the contents, grasping the level of proficiency required by the higher-ups.
Power, speed, stamina... there were passing standards for every aspect related to physical combat. The various numerical values and descriptions on the page looked tedious, but "translating" it simply:
It meant that middle school graduates needed to possess roughly twice the physical combat strength of an average adult, while high school graduates needed roughly three times that strength. Of course, those were just the minimum passing marks.
Only by hitting these standards—and then undergoing even higher-intensity training during their university years—could they become truly elite Devil Hunters.
"These standards might seem simple in your eyes, Young Master Otonashi, but they will be quite difficult for those children. The higher-ups also have requirements for our passing rate: no fewer than thirty middle schoolers and twenty high schoolers must pass the final assessment."
Principal Liang was feeling a fair amount of pressure. "I know next to nothing about the Devil Hunter field, so I can only rely on you."
"I understand. I will do my best to train them into qualified Devil Hunters," Chiya nodded.
"A building we finished a few years ago hasn't been put into use yet; it happens to be perfect as a dedicated venue for this pilot program. The interior renovations are already complete. You can head over in a couple of days to see if there's anything else you need, and just let me know at any time."
Principal Liang walked to the window and pointed to a building not far away.
Chiya looked toward the building and said, "Alright, I'll take a look in two days. For now, we should handle the enrollment matters."
"No problem."
By now, Principal Liang had processed the enrollment for Reze and Higashiyama Kobeni.
"So, which grade and class would Miss Reze and Miss Higashiyama like to join?" Principal Liang asked.
Since it wasn't currently the start of a new semester, he could only slot them directly into an existing class. He was, however, quite surprised that someone as powerful as Reze actually wanted to attend school here.
"Sorry, hold on a moment. Kobeni doesn't speak Mandarin yet, so let me speak with her first," Reze said to the principal with a smile.
She then switched to Japanese. "Kobeni-chan, I remember you were in your second year of high school back in Tokyo. Do you want to continue with the second year here in Shanghai, or...?"
"Um, well... I think I'll stick with the second year," Kobeni said.
"Got it! Then I'll join the second year with you. That way, I can help you out whenever you have trouble communicating."
"Thank you, Reze-nii, for looking out for me," Kobeni said, feeling a bit touched.
Reze turned back to Principal Liang. "Principal Liang, I've discussed it with Kobeni. we'll go into the second-year level. As for the specific class, any will do."
"Understood. I'll place you in a class with a good study atmosphere."
Ultimately, Principal Liang assigned Reze and Kobeni to Class 2-1.
At that moment, Chiya added: "By the way, these two also want to be Devil Hunter specialty students. That brings the high school division's count of 'guaranteed passes' up to two."