Chapter 106: The Knight Captain’s Questioning of Dried Meat Strips and Rabbit Soup.

“Hahahahaha—” Boon pointed at Shu Li and doubled over with laughter from across the table. “You’re so stupid! What kind of idiot bites straight into black bread?”

Shu Li’s face flushed bright red as he struggled to salvage his dignity. “I...was delirious with hunger.”

Ilio cleared his throat and covered for him. “Amo slept from last night until this morning. He missed two meals.”

Shu Li nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes! That’s exactly what happened!”

“You poor child. Hurry and eat!” the brown-haired girl said sympathetically. Then she moved like lightning and seized her brother by the ear. “Boon, you’re being terribly rude. How can you laugh at a guest? Have you forgotten how you lost a tooth biting into bread when you were seven and cried your eyes out?”

“Ow, ow, ow! Marie, let go! I’m sorry!” Boon howled.

Marie snorted and released him for the moment.

Boon rubbed his aching ear and made a face at Shu Li, but he stopped causing trouble and obediently sat down to eat.

Shu Li stared blankly at the black bread, which was as hard as stone.

How was he supposed to eat this thing?

Fairies and Elves did not have baby teeth and permanent teeth.

The teeth that grew after birth were permanent, but if one was accidentally knocked out, a new one would grow to replace it.

When Shu Li had learned this “common knowledge” at the age of five or six, he had been immensely surprised. It had also driven home the fact that Fairies and humans truly were different species.

While he sat there in a daze, a hand reached over and took the black bread from him.

“Huh?” Shu Li looked up at Ilio in confusion.

With his long, well-defined fingers, Ilio effortlessly broke off a small piece and dropped it into the thin gruel. “Soak it until it softens.”

So that was how!

“I’ll do it myself.” Shu Li took back the bread and, with some effort, followed Ilio’s example until he had finally submerged all the black bread in the gruel.

Sure enough, soaking softened it.

He scooped up a spoonful, placed it in his mouth, and frowned deeply.

The taste was...indescribable!

Not only was it completely unsweetened, but it was also sticky and pasty. Across both his lives, it was the worst food he had ever eaten.

He held it in his mouth for a long moment before forcing himself to swallow.

Turning to Ilio, he saw him calmly eating spoonful after spoonful, as though the bread paste were some heavenly delicacy.

Shu Li stopped hesitating, scooped up another spoonful, and put it into his mouth.

Just as Ilio had said, now that they had entered the Human World, they had to follow local customs. If they behaved too differently from everyone else, they would only draw attention.

Besides, he really was hungry. He finished half a bowl of bread paste in one sitting.

“Don’t just eat the bread. Have some dried meat too!” Marie urged enthusiastically. “Eat slowly. There’ll be rabbit stew once Bart finishes cooking it.”

Shu Li’s eyes lit up at the word “meat.”

He had not eaten any in ten years.

Fairies ate fruit, vegetables, bread, eggs, and similar foods, but never the flesh of animals.

When Shu Li had first transmigrated, he had missed the taste of meat. After adapting to life as a Fairy, however, he had gradually stopped craving it.

Now, Marie’s invitation to try the dried meat reawakened his desire for it.

Even so, he did not dare eat any without permission and instinctively looked at Ilio.

Ilio casually picked up a strip of dried meat and gave Marie a captivating smile. “Thank you, Miss Marie.”

Marie’s heart instantly fluttered, and her cheeks flushed crimson. “M-Mr. Al, you’re far too polite.”

Boon snatched up a strip of meat and bit viciously into it.

Hmph! Yet another fellow using his handsome face to freeload off their song-and-dance troupe!

Seeing Ilio calmly eat the dried meat, Shu Li took a strip as well and cautiously bit into it.

It tasted unexpectedly good, rather like beef jerky.

Ilio glanced at the Little Fairy struggling with the dried meat, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

With the dried meat to accompany it, Shu Li finished his entire bowl of bread paste, finally easing the hunger in his stomach.

“The rabbit stew is ready!”

The bearded man brought over a large pot of steaming stew.

Boon cheered. “Wow! Uncle Bart, I love you!”

Bart planted a hand on Boon’s head and said sternly, “You eat more than anyone else, yet you’re still as skinny as a monkey.”

Boon patted his stomach and protested, “That’s because I’m still growing!”

Bart served him a large bowl of rabbit stew. “Hurry up and eat. When you’re done, go gather firewood.”

“I know, I know!” Boon accepted the hot stew and wolfed it down.

“Slow down before you burn your mouth,” Marie cautioned her younger brother, her girlish infatuation momentarily forgotten.

“Mm-hmm.” Boon nodded as he ate.

Watching their lively interaction, Shu Li sensed that this was a very close-knit group.

The ordinary humans of this other world were not very different from those in his original world. They valued family and friendship just as much and were even warm toward travelers they had met by chance.

He and Ilio had been extremely fortunate to encounter good people immediately after leaving the Faerie Forest.

Perhaps it had not been luck at all. Ilio had lived for five hundred years and possessed vast experience and excellent judgment. Otherwise, why would he have casually joined this particular song-and-dance troupe?

Thump!

A bowl of steaming rabbit stew was set down before him.

Shu Li looked up in surprise at the burly, heavily bearded man.

Faced with the child’s innocent expression, Bart said awkwardly, “You’re too thin. Eat more meat.”

Shu Li blinked his gray-blue eyes. “Thank you, sir.”

Fairies had slender, well-proportioned bodies. To live more easily in the forest, they needed to remain light and agile. Being too heavy would not only burden their wings but also prevent them from leaping and darting among the branches.

Shu Li’s current build was perfectly healthy and normal for a young Fairy.

Compared with a human child, however, he did look rather slight.

This bearded man was surprisingly kind.

Shu Li smiled at him, picked up his spoon, and lowered his gaze to the rabbit stew.

Bart froze when the child smiled at him, and the cheeks beneath his beard reddened slightly.

Food truly could solve anything!

The child was no longer afraid of him.

Unaware that his smile had resolved the man’s inner turmoil, Shu Li stared hesitantly at the rabbit meat in his bowl.

Dried meat no longer resembled the animal it had come from, so eating it did not weigh on his conscience. But the rabbit meat... He had personally watched the bearded man deftly skin the rabbit, and now it had become stew. He could not quite bring himself to start eating.

The thought that the chunks in his bowl had once been a cute little rabbit made acid rise in his stomach.

He covered his mouth, afraid that the bread paste he had just eaten might come back up.

Ilio reached over, picked up the bowl of rabbit stew, and poured half the broth into Shu Li’s empty bread bowl. “If you can’t eat the meat, drink some broth.”

“...Okay.” Shu Li gave Ilio a grateful look.

Ilio might infuriate him beyond belief whenever he began taunting him, but he also took excellent care of him.

He had healed the blisters on Shu Li’s feet, put soft insoles inside his leather boots, and covered for him at the breakfast table.

Shu Li lifted the bowl, took a tentative sip, and barely managed to swallow.

The broth had been seasoned with nothing but salt and carried the rabbit’s natural earthy, gamey odor. It tasted utterly different from the meat soups in his memory.

The members of the troupe, however, ate the rabbit stew with relish.

Meat was a rare luxury for them, not something they could eat every day.

They had been fortunate that morning. A rabbit had run out of the woods and into the middle of the road, and quick-eyed, quick-handed Bart had caught it, giving everyone an extra dish for breakfast.

As the troupe leader, Ximu sat at a small table of her own and enjoyed the tenderest pieces of rabbit meat. Her beautiful eyes occasionally drifted toward the two supposed brothers who claimed to be travelers.

The previous evening, while the troupe had been eating and resting beside the road, the black-haired young man had appeared with a child on his back.

He had looked travel-worn, yet his extraordinary bearing had been impossible to conceal.

The black-haired man had introduced himself as a traveler and offered to pay the troupe to take them along in one of its wagons. Ximu had readily agreed.

Their origins might have been unknown, but she liked beautiful people.

Men or women—it made no difference.

Anyone pleasing enough to her eye received special treatment.

She had charged the black-haired young man two gold coins and allowed them to join the troupe.

A traveling song-and-dance troupe often encountered people looking for a ride across the continent.

As long as they paid, everything could be discussed.

The black-haired young man was eloquent, witty, and humorous. Over the course of a single meal, he had already become friendly with everyone in the troupe. The child in his arms, meanwhile, had slept so deeply that he missed dinner entirely.

Ximu had actually been somewhat suspicious of them.

The black-haired man might be handsome, but that did not mean he could not be a child trafficker who specialized in abducting children.

The child slept far too soundly. Even the commotion around him had failed to wake him.

Once the crowd dispersed, the black-haired man carried the unconscious child into the wagon where they stored miscellaneous goods.

After the night passed, Ximu personally invited them to breakfast while secretly observing how the child behaved toward the black-haired man.

Her concern was clearly unnecessary.

The child was extremely close to him, and the way he looked at the man was full of dependence.

Ximu discarded her previous theory.

The child had to be a young master who had run away from some great family, while the black-haired young man was his loyal guard.

Why?

Only a pampered young master from a wealthy family would frown so deeply at commoners’ food. Although the child tried his best to endure it, his acting was clumsy, and he could not conceal how difficult he found the food to swallow.

The black-haired young man, on the other hand, ate without the slightest change in expression. He clearly was not fussy about common fare.

Ximu had met countless people and had great confidence in her judgment.

Having determined their backgrounds and concluded that they posed no danger, she temporarily lowered her guard.

She picked up a tender piece of rabbit meat, placed it in her mouth, and chewed slowly.

Clop-clop-clop—clop-clop-clop—

“Whoa!”

A troop of armored knights came galloping toward them from the distance. When they spotted the song-and-dance troupe resting beside the road, the knight captain at their head swept out a hand. More than twenty horses spread out in a disciplined formation and aggressively surrounded the camp.

The members of the troupe were frightened into remaining exactly where they were, afraid to make any sudden moves.

Bart and the other three burly men stepped forward to shield the rest. Their right hands rested on the hilts of their sabers, their muscles taut as they watched the knights warily.

Shu Li edged closer to Ilio, completely unable to understand what was happening.

Ilio took his hand and silently told him to remain calm.

This was a well-established traveling song-and-dance troupe. They had to be adept at dealing with unexpected trouble. Otherwise, they would never have so many young, beautiful women among their members.

Sure enough, Ximu rose and walked unhurriedly toward the knight captain, swaying her alluring figure as she went.

“Greetings, noble knight! I am Ximu, leader of the Miliya Song-and-Dance Troupe. It is a pleasure to encounter you here. We are currently having breakfast and still have plenty of delicious food. If it is not beneath you, you and your companions are welcome to join us.”

Ximu gave the knight captain a graceful, alluring bow. Ignoring his icy gaze, she warmly invited the knights to eat.

The knight captain narrowed his eyes and studied her. “Are you the song-and-dance troupe from Felo City?”

Ximu looked delighted. “Oh! You know that we come from Felo City? What an honor! To tell you the truth, the musicians and dancers of our Miliya Song-and-Dance Troupe are exceptionally skilled and beloved by the citizens of Felo City. We are traveling day and night to reach the royal capital, Diyalan, for the Festival of All Things in half a month.”

With only a few sentences, she openly revealed her destination and submitted calmly to the knight captain’s questioning.

Expressionless, the knight captain swept a piercing gaze over the troupe’s campsite. When he spotted Ilio and Shu Li, his eyes paused. He pointed at them with his riding crop.

“Are those two also members of your troupe?”

“Of course.” Ximu smiled broadly. “Why do you ask, sir? Is something wrong?”

The knight captain gave a cold snort. “We’re pursuing two wanted criminals—a young man and a child. Those two are highly suspicious.”

A calculating gleam flashed through Ximu’s eyes as she considered whether two gold coins were worth continuing the lie.

The members of the troupe gave their two newest companions strange looks, but without an order from Ximu, none of them dared speak.

Shu Li was utterly bewildered.

He and Ilio had only just left the Faerie Forest. How had they already become connected to wanted criminals?

The real fugitives had to be someone else. Shu Li and Ilio were simply unlucky enough to be mistaken for them.

What should they do?

Shu Li looked to Ilio for help.

Ilio remained perfectly composed. He said something to Marie, who looked slightly surprised before nodding and heading toward the wagons. A moment later, she returned carrying a twelve-stringed harp.

“Are you certain...?” It was not that Marie had no confidence in the black-haired young man, but anyone lacking musical skill could never pass as one of the troupe’s musicians.

“No problem.”

Ilio accepted the harp and first bowed to the knight captain. Then he sat down elegantly, settled the harp into position, and lightly plucked the strings with his slender fingers. A beautiful melody immediately filled the air.

“Noble knight, I am Al, a musician who recently joined the troupe. This is my younger brother, Amo. It would be our honor to perform a song for you and your companions on this fine, sunny morning.”

The best way to dispel suspicion was to demonstrate genuine skill and let their actions prove their innocence.

Ximu raised an eyebrow in considerable surprise. She walked over to Shu Li and asked with a smile, “Won’t you perform with your brother, Amo?”

Without hesitation, Shu Li replied, “Please give me a set of handbells, Leader Ximu.”

Since they were brothers, they had to prove their innocence together.

Ximu removed the handbells hanging from her waist and handed them to Shu Li.

“Thank you.” Shu Li accepted the exquisite handbells with both hands, brimming with confidence.

In their music lessons, Little Fairies had to learn other instruments in addition to the harp, including handbells.