Chapter 195: Shushu’s Confession.

Seeing that Shu Li was fine, Kumandi left the tent after reminding him to get up soon. Once they finished breakfast and packed away the tents, they would be setting out.

Shu Li repeatedly assured him he understood. The moment Kumandi was gone, he collapsed backward as though all the strength had left his body, hugged the blanket, and rolled back and forth across the bedding on the tent floor.

Could I really have hit puberty?

That shouldn’t be possible!

Fairies only reached adulthood at a hundred. His current body was just eighteen years old. He was nowhere near adulthood!

His body might have developed surprisingly well, but he definitely hadn’t reached his mating period yet!

Oh, right. Fairies and Elves had mating periods.

If they encountered someone they were attracted to, their bodies would send out a signal telling them that they were ready to fall in love.

However, Fairies and Elves were generally indifferent toward romance. There were plenty who remained single for a thousand years. If they never met someone who stirred their feelings, their hearts remained perfectly calm and they had practically no desire at all.

Compared with romance, they preferred playing music, singing, dancing, studying, adventuring, and improving their strength.

Even someone as powerful as the Elven King was constantly exploring the limits of his own abilities.

When Shu Li studied dark magic under the Elven King, he often heard him tell stories about the gods. From the things the Elven King had said, Shu Li had guessed that he wanted to restore the passage between the Divine Realm and the Human World.

Shu Li had been stunned when he realized that.

The connection between the Divine Realm and the Human World had been severed for ten thousand years. How could something like that possibly be repaired so easily?

If anyone else had said it, Shu Li would have thought they were indulging in a ridiculous fantasy.

But if it was the Elven King...

Somehow, he felt anything was possible.

Shu Li had always worshiped the Elven King and wanted to become just as powerful as him—a truly formidable adventurer.

Yet those two strange dreams made him wonder whether someone had cursed him.

Otherwise, how could a Little Fairy who had not even figured out his own sexual orientation end up kissing the Elven King in his dreams?

Shu Li stuck his butt in the air and buried his face deep in the soft blanket.

If the person I fell for really was the Elven King... maybe whether they were a man or a woman wouldn’t matter anyway!

After all, the King possessed incomparable beauty and a noble bearing. His beauty transcended gender. Anyone who saw him would instinctively be drawn to him.

Smack!

Shu Li raised his head and slapped himself across the face.

The King was the teacher who guided him, an elder who cared for him, the king of all Elves and Fairies, the supreme Son of Light.

How could a tiny Fairy like him entertain improper fantasies about someone like that?

Shu Li repeatedly apologized to the Elven King in his heart.

"What are you doing?"

A pleasant male baritone suddenly sounded inside the tent.

Shu Li jolted and spun around. His gaze landed on hair that gleamed like gold and eyes as brilliant as emeralds.

"Ah!"

For one dazed instant, he thought he was looking at the Elven King.

He nearly jumped out of his skin and clutched the blanket to himself, his entire face flushing bright red.

"I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to... I shouldn’t have done that in my dream..."

His apology came out completely incoherent.

"What?" Ace looked worriedly at the frightened young man. "Kumandi said you had a nightmare, so I came to check on you. Are you all right?"

Hearing a voice entirely different from the Elven King’s, Shu Li finally calmed down.

He blinked his gray-green eyes and took a proper look at the blond man crouching at the entrance to the tent.

It was Ace.

Shu Li immediately let out a long breath of relief.

It was all that bizarre dream’s fault. It had left him so guilty that he had actually mistaken his human classmate for the Elven King.

Silently cursing himself, he replied awkwardly, "I’m fine, I’m fine... Falm was throwing a tantrum because it didn’t get any roast meat. I was apologizing to it."

"As long as you’re okay." Ace smiled. "I saved a roasted chicken leg yesterday. I just warmed it up. You can give it to Falm."

"Wow! Really? That’s great!"

Shu Li crawled to the entrance of the tent, grabbed his human classmate’s hand, and said gratefully, his eyes sparkling, "Thank you, Ace."

Ace lowered his gaze to the hand tightly clasping his own, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

"You’re welcome."

Shu Li released him and took out a comb to tidy his hair.

"Give me a minute. I’ll be ready right away."

Ace nodded and withdrew from the tent.

Shu Li quickly tied up his loose hair, touched the little flower crown that was currently taking the form of a circlet on his forehead, then removed his loose clothing and changed into his magnificent magic robe.

A short while later, he stepped out of the tent and greeted his companions, who were already awake.

"Sperien, I heard Kumandi say you dreamed that Falm kissed you?" Amanda asked curiously.

A drop of cold sweat slid down Shu Li’s temple.

"...Actually, it bit me. Ahaha. It was angry because it didn’t get any roast meat..."

Budno said, "I knew it! Falm didn’t get any roast meat last night. Of course it was angry."

The corner of Shu Li’s mouth twitched.

"Yes. Very angry."

Because they had run into the song-and-dance troupe, Shu Li had been afraid Falm would frighten the ordinary humans, so he had put it inside the Fire God’s Seal.

Unfortunately, they had roasted an enormous amount of meat for dinner.

Watching everyone eat while trapped inside the Fire God’s Seal, Falm had bounced around furiously, accusing Shu Li of abusing magical beasts.

Just now, Shu Li had used it as an excuse to conceal the truth about his dream.

Falm, meanwhile, was unhappily waving its short, chubby paws and making a tremendous racket.

How could Shu Li possibly dare let it out now?

He communicated with it mentally for quite a while, promising that he would release it once they were in the carriage and give it the chicken leg Ace had specially saved for it.

The moment Falm learned there was still a chicken leg waiting for it, it finally stopped causing trouble.

Since they needed to get back on the road, breakfast was relatively simple.

They soaked oatmeal in hot water and ate it with bread and fruit. Once they were about eighty percent full, they rolled up their sleeves and began breaking camp.

The song-and-dance troupe worked quickly and had everything packed in no time.

After discussing the matter with Troupe Leader Mu, Shu Li arranged for Harding to drive their carriage behind the troupe so the two groups could watch out for each other along the road.

Once they reached the border between the Dalia Empire and Prunse, Shu Li’s group would need to change carriages.

The clear chime of bells rang from the troupe’s carriages as five or six vehicles traveled one behind another.

Inside their carriage, Shu Li released Falm.

Before it could start complaining, he stuffed the roasted chicken leg into its mouth.

Falm had a bellyful of grievances, but the moment it bit into the fragrant chicken, it immediately quieted down.

"Mmm, mmm... Mm-mm-mm... Delicious!"

One chicken leg was far too small. It disappeared after only a few bites.

Even the roasted bone was crisp, and Falm crunched it apart with its teeth before swallowing it.

After finishing the chicken leg, Falm was still unsatisfied. It licked its short, pudgy paws and prodded Shu Li with its tail.

"Let’s eat roast meat again at noon!"

Shu Li reached out and pinched one of its horns.

"We’re traveling. We won’t have that much time at noon."

"Then we’ll eat it tonight!"

Falm jumped onto the table in the middle of the carriage and said to Amanda, "I’ll go hunting with you."

A baby dragon really was a baby dragon. It only knew how to hunt little animals.

"I’ll catch deer, wild boar, roe deer, and goats for everyone!"

Those were bigger and had more meat.

They would taste even better roasted.

Amanda did not agree immediately. Instead, he hesitantly looked toward Shu Li.

It was not that he did not want to hunt larger prey. He was simply afraid that the kindhearted Little Fairies would react badly to it.

Sure enough, all the Little Fairies looked uncomfortable.

Roast meat might taste wonderful, but slaughtering large numbers of animals simply so they could eat was something they still had trouble accepting.

Shu Li grabbed Falm by the tail and lifted it upside down.

"Do you have any idea how expensive spices are? One deer can use up ten gold coins’ worth of seasoning, and you still want wild boar, roe deer, and goats? Do you earn any money?"

Falm flailed its stubby paws and let out a series of babyish howls.

"Awooo! Awooo!"

Amanda cupped his cheeks.

"Oh, right! Spices are expensive!"

No wonder Sperien had frowned the entire time he was adding spices to the meat last night.

Amanda had thought he could not bear to see the little animals slaughtered.

Now that he had heard this, he finally understood.

Sperien had been frowning because his heart hurt over how much money those spices cost!

Angel said, "We should live frugally. We don’t even know how much money we’ll need once we reach the Central Court."

Budno licked the corner of his mouth.

"I hope there are lots of jobs that pay money in the Central Court."

Then they could afford lots of delicious food!

Ace said, "I heard my instructor mention that the Magic Tower posts more than a hundred missions every month. As long as you’re strong enough, you can earn very generous rewards."

Dio rubbed his hands together.

"Really? I’m already looking forward to life in the Central Court."

Kumandi said sternly, "First we report to the magic academy and learn the school rules. Anything else comes after that."

Shu Li set the struggling Falm down and nodded in agreement.

"If the magic academy doesn’t allow students to leave campus and accept missions, then we’ll have gotten excited for nothing."

Dio collapsed onto the table and wailed dejectedly, "They wouldn’t be that strict, would they?"

Little Fairies were used to freedom. They did not like being restrained.

Angel smiled with pursed lips and stroked Dio’s head.

"We’ll find out when we get there. There’s no point worrying in advance."

Dio puffed out his cheeks.

Falm crouched on the table and tugged at the sleeve of Shu Li’s magic robe with one small paw.

"Fruit! If there’s no meat, give me fruit!"

Helpless, Shu Li stuffed a pear into its arms.

The moment Falm got the pear, it jumped into a corner and started gnawing on it.

A chicken leg and a piece of fruit were nowhere near enough to fill its stomach.

Once night fell, it planned to sneak into the forest and hunt by itself.

Amanda asked, "Want to play cards?"

Traveling by carriage was incredibly boring. Playing cards was their only entertainment.

Kumandi took out two decks, skillfully shuffled them, and began dealing.

Three days later, the convoy finally reached the border between the Dalia Empire and Prunse.

Shu Li paid Harding the remainder of his fee and thanked him.

Harding accepted the money with a broad smile, then stayed in the border town to wait for another employer.

Seeing that Shu Li’s group no longer had a carriage, Troupe Leader Mu led them through the border gate and, with practiced ease, hired them a moderately comfortable carriage in the Prunse town for the lowest possible price.

To thank him, Shu Li gave him what remained of the spices in his storage pouch.

Troupe Leader Mu was delighted. He accepted the spices and immediately handed them to Bart, ordering him to make roast meat that evening.

Prunse was a small country wedged between the Central Court and the Dalia Empire.

As a major thoroughfare between them, its transportation network was extremely developed. Towns appeared at regular intervals along the roads, giving travelers places to rest.

Every town had its own commercial street selling practically everything imaginable, enticing travelers to spend their money.

The convoy continued onward, and they stayed almost exclusively in town inns along the way.

The rooms were inexpensive, but in order to save money, the Team of Light often had two or three people share a room.

Shu Li and Ace shared so many times that being around each other gradually became completely natural.

For example, right now, they were sitting together against the headboard, shoulder against shoulder and head beside head, completely absorbed in the same book.

Ace had bought the biography at a bookstore in the previous town.

Its author had been an adventure-loving mage who had been injured during one of his expeditions and lost the ability to walk. Forced to settle down, he had spent the rest of his life recording his adventures in writing.

Ace had found the book fascinating.

Shu Li became curious and started reading along with him.

Then he got completely hooked.

The biography was very thick. There was no way they could finish it within a week.

This was already their third day reading it together.

"Wait, don’t turn the page yet."

Shu Li caught Ace by the wrist.

"Hm?"

Ace lowered his gaze slightly to look at him.

Staring at the passage on the page, Shu Li said, "I’m interested in the Valley of Wind he mentions here."

The Valley of Wind lay in the northern region of the Seryx Empire.

Terrifying hurricanes raged there all year round. Ordinary people could not approach the area at all. Only high-ranking wind mages were capable of exploring it.

Shu Li had searched through many ancient records before but had never discovered any information about the Wind Spirit.

He had never expected to find a clue in a biography.

He took out his notebook and quill and copied down the book’s description of the Valley of Wind.

The Seryx Empire was one of the great powers of the Austin Continent.

Known as the great nation of the east, it possessed abundant resources and a pleasant climate and was famous for producing tea, porcelain, silk, spices, and many other goods.

Because grasslands, mountain ranges, and swamps obstructed its land routes, most of the Seryx Empire’s trade traveled by sea.

Dozens of ports, large and small, had been constructed along its coastline.

The only exception was the region containing the Valley of Wind.

There was not a single port there.

The hurricanes raging through the Valley of Wind had plagued the Seryx Empire for more than ten thousand years.

For ten millennia, every king who inherited the throne of the Seryx Empire had issued missions hoping powerful adventuring parties and mercenary groups would discover what caused the hurricanes within the valley.

Unfortunately, no one had solved the mystery to this day.

Combining this with the other information he had gathered, Shu Li suspected that the Wind Spirit was inside the Valley of Wind.

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

He copied rapidly and, without realizing it, filled an entire page.

"Done."

He put down his quill and apologized to his human classmate.

"Sorry for making you wait so long."

"It’s fine."

A gentle smile spread across Ace’s handsome face.

His gaze fell on Shu Li’s notebook, and he asked curiously, "What people use those square characters?"

"Uh!"

Shu Li looked down.

His face changed dramatically.

Crap! I got so excited that I copied the whole thing in Chinese!