I Became a Cub in the Elven Kingdom

As shopkeepers in the commercial district, they actually loved serving little cubs who had only recently left the Fairy Nursery.

After all, the things the cubs brought to trade appeared only once every ten years.

The Fairy Nursery was a sacred garden created by an ancient god. A new group of Fairy cubs was born there every ten years, and every living thing that grew within it was favored by the Light God, making them exceptionally precious.

Because of the Fairy Nursery’s unique nature, its treasures could only be taken outside when the cubs left.

They were gifts bestowed upon the cubs by the Light God. Apart from caring for the cubs, adult Fairies were forbidden from taking anything away. Anyone who did would suffer the Light God’s punishment.

The cubs collected things from the Fairy Nursery entirely according to their own preferences. Most gathered sparkling seeds, pretty leaves, and cute little stones. A cub like the blond one, who even picked up insect molts and tree bark, was truly one of a kind.

The bark of the Kabal Tree was an important ingredient in a certain potion. Once ground into powder, even the tiniest amount could transform the potion’s quality.

Any potion maker on the continent who obtained a small piece of Kabal Tree bark could advance from Grand Potion Master to Divine Alchemist.

Unfortunately, Kabal Trees grew only inside the Fairy Nursery in the Faerie Forest.

Even Fairies themselves might never obtain any, let alone the other races outside the forest.

Very few cubs enjoyed collecting tree bark, after all.

Although the shopkeeper ran an armor shop, he was widely knowledgeable. As he stared at the treasures in Shu Li’s bag, he licked his lips greedily and wished he could buy every last one.

Unfortunately, his little shoes were not worth that much.

Fairies were curious creatures, but never greedy. After recovering from his astonishment at the pile of treasures, the shopkeeper selected the least valuable item, a moon lizard stone.

Even then, a pair of little shoes was not equal in value to the moon lizard stone.

An adult Fairy would never take advantage of a cub.

“Besides shoes, is there anything else you need?” The shopkeeper brought out a large assortment of protective equipment suitable for cubs under three years old. There were enchanted clothes, wrist guards, knee guards, forehead ornaments, necklaces, belts, and practically everything else imaginable.

Shu Li was very interested in the clothes.

The outfit he was wearing was the “beginner equipment” Aisha had given the cubs. Although it neither got wet nor dirty, anyone would eventually grow tired of wearing the same clothes for too long.

The armor shop carried clothes in all kinds of styles. The materials were excellent, the workmanship meticulous, and the fabric comfortable to the touch. Shu Li selected four outfits in one go.

He also took a liking to a medium-sized crossbody bag. It could easily hold five notebooks, and there were two small compartments on the side for miscellaneous objects.

The shopkeeper cheerfully wrapped everything for him. “You can choose a few more things.”

“Huh?” Shu Li was utterly astonished.

One tiny stone could be traded for this much? He almost felt embarrassed. It seemed as though he was taking advantage of the shopkeeper.

However, the shopkeeper insisted that he choose a few more items. Shu Li thought for a moment, then made a small request.

“Um... do you have... little undies?”

He had been so focused on choosing clothes that he had forgotten he also needed spare underwear.

In all his eighteen years, this was the first time he had worn the same pair of underwear for three months. He washed them every other day, but it still felt awkward. Whenever he waited for them to dry, he could not make any large movements for fear that one overly wide step would expose him.

“What?” The shopkeeper looked completely baffled. The cub had mumbled the last three words so indistinctly that he could not make them out at all.

Shu Li’s little face flushed. Scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, he stammered, “You know... the little thing... you wear underneath...”

“He means underwear!” Angel thought Shu Li did not know how to explain it, so he eagerly finished for him. Then he lifted his robe, revealing the boxer shorts beneath.

Shu Li froze.

The next second, he shot forward like lightning and yanked Angel’s robe back down.

“Don’t show your underwear to people whenever you feel like it!”

In his panic, Shu Li managed to say a complete sentence for once.

“Oh...” Angel responded blankly.

Shu Li’s head hurt so much he wanted to clutch his forehead.

Fairy cubs were innocent and had yet to develop any awareness of gender, much less a sense of shame. Their occasional thoughtless actions always left him drenched in cold sweat.

Amused by the cubs’ innocence, the shopkeeper burst into laughter. “Just like the shoes, I can make them on the spot.”

He turned to fetch his finest snow-silk cloth. It was guaranteed to be comfortable and breathable, ensuring that the cubs’ little bottoms would not turn red or develop heat rash.

Kumandi glanced at the blond cub sitting obediently on the chair and waiting, then fell into thought.

So he really did understand embarrassment.

When Kumandi had been the same age, had his sense of shame been that strong?

Apparently not.

For a long time, he and the other cubs had flown around bare-bottomed without ever considering the need for underwear.

Cubs had delicate skin and disliked anything restrictive. Given the choice, they would not even wear clothes.

With a few crisp snips, the shopkeeper cut the fabric. Then he took out a needle and thread and began sewing with care. One exquisite, adorable pair of underwear after another took shape.

Whatever Shu Li wanted, the other three cubs wanted too.

The shopkeeper made twelve pairs of underwear in one sitting, giving each cub three.

As soon as Shu Li received his, he swiftly stuffed them into his luggage bag.

Dixio and Angel regarded Shu Li as their leader, so they wanted everything he bought. Budno had joined their little group later and greatly treasured Shu Li, the friend who had shared food with him. Naturally, he followed along without hesitation.

Having bought everything they wanted, the four cubs happily left the armor shop with Kumandi.

The shopkeeper stood in the doorway, beaming as he watched them go.

Dixio wanted a silver bow, so Kumandi took them to the weapon shop.

Like the armor shopkeeper, the owner of the weapon shop enthusiastically welcomed the group of adorable little cubs.

With Kumandi’s help, Dixio and Budno bought bows and arrows that suited them, while Angel bought a short sword.

Shu Li had not originally planned to purchase a weapon, but since all his friends were buying one, he asked for a dagger as well.

The dagger’s sheath gleamed with gold and was set with tiny gemstones. Hanging from his waist, it looked more like a beautiful ornament than a weapon.

He liked it very much and traded the shopkeeper a sun-gold herb for it.

The shopkeeper felt that one dagger was not enough to equal the value of a sun-gold herb, so he also gave Shu Li a pair of protective gloves and wrist guards to keep him from cutting himself while playing with it.

After leaving the weapon shop, the group headed straight for the general store.

The general store carried an astonishing variety of goods. It had everything from everyday necessities to toys for cubs and resembled a massive supermarket.

The four cubs plunged inside with great excitement and spent extravagantly, buying one thing after another until their luggage bags were stuffed so full they could no longer lift them.

Having already helped this much, Kumandi saw the matter through to the end. He offered the use of his storage bag and escorted them home.

Shu Li stood outside his own door with the bulging luggage bag at his feet. Tilting up his fair little face, he gazed at Quiet Top Student with bright green eyes.

“Thank you... This is a thank-you gift. Please accept it.”

He opened his hand. In his palm lay a red crystal flower seed.

“There’s no need.” Kumandi shook his head. Taking the cubs to the commercial district had been a trivial favor to him, hardly worth mentioning.

“You have to take it!” Shu Li stubbornly thrust his hand toward him. Without Quiet Top Student’s help, the four of them might still be lost right now!

Seeing that the little cub insisted, Kumandi frowned and asked, “One red crystal flower seed can be traded for three spatial storage devices. Are you certain you want to give it to me?”

“Mm!” Shu Li nodded vigorously. He still had heaps and heaps of red crystal flower seeds at home! One more or less made no difference.

Kumandi stared at the little cub for a long moment before finally accepting the red crystal flower seed.

Seeing him take it, Shu Li’s eyes curved into happy crescents.

After placing the seed in his storage bag, Kumandi said, “I’ll set aside time every day to help you study Elven.”

“Huh?” Shu Li stared blankly.

What did the top student mean by that?

“I’ll visit again after dinner.”

Without waiting for Shu Li to respond, Kumandi lightly fluttered his dark purple butterfly wings and flew away like the wind.

Shu Li reached out dramatically, his mouth opening soundlessly as he watched Kumandi’s figure disappear into the sunset.

Did that mean what he thought it meant?

Quiet Top Student... was going to become his private tutor?

Shu Li was dumbfounded.

He could not believe such a wonderful thing had happened!

Waaaah!

Quiet Top Student was such an incredibly, unbelievably, amazingly good person!!

Shu Li’s spirits soared. After dragging his luggage bag inside, he called his friends, and they went to the school cafeteria for dinner.

Cubs their age loved showing off. When they went to eat, they brought along the spoils they had purchased in the commercial district.

“Wow, Dixio, your silver bow is so pretty!”

“Budno’s golden bow is nice too!”

“Angel, Angel, isn’t that sword heavy when it’s hanging from your belt?”

“I think Sperien’s dagger suits us best.”

“Your shoes are amazing! I want a pair too!”

“Is that a storage ring? Awesome! We can buy one and wear it right away!”

“Do they have storage bracelets, storage necklaces, or storage earrings?”

“Angel, is that a doll? Wow! Its mouth opens by itself! That’s so much fun!”

“So the commercial district is that exciting? I’m going there tomorrow to buy, buy, buy!”

“Waaah... I only brought a few seeds from the Fairy Nursery. What if I don’t have enough?”

“Don’t cry. I have lots. I’ll give you half.”

“Thank you! Just a few will be enough. You don’t have to give me that many.”

The Fairy cubs’ dining table was bursting with noise and excitement. The four little fellows who had visited the commercial district had their vanity thoroughly satisfied.

Shu Li had not actually intended to show off. After all, he was already eighteen. But influenced by the friends around him, he unconsciously joined in, displaying the shoes on his feet and the dagger hanging from his waist.

A crowd of cubs surrounded him, asking question after question.

By the time dinner was over, he had promised to take the other cubs shopping in the commercial district after school the next day.

The armor shopkeeper was sure to be delighted.

After all, every other cub wanted a pair of shoes and some new underwear.

Back in the dormitory district, Shu Li waved goodbye to his friends and returned home in complete satisfaction to sort through the day’s purchases.

He took one item after another from the luggage bag.

Clothes, underwear, a teapot, teacups, a water bottle, plates, a mirror, a comb, toilet paper, a little stove, tea leaves, a rug, wall art...

There was far too much. He spent ages sorting everything and worked until sweat covered his forehead.

He really loved shopping.

And he really loved collecting things.

During his three months in the Fairy Nursery, he had dragged Redhead and Whitehead out exploring every day and picked up all kinds of random objects to keep as a collection in his flower cradle.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined those collections would be worth so much outside.

A tiny stone, a blade of grass, or a seed had somehow been traded for all these things.

All of a sudden, Shu Li felt like a billionaire.

There were still plenty of items in his cabinet. He had accumulated one or two hundred red crystal flower seeds alone.

Shu Li went into the bathroom, took a bath to calm himself down, and changed into new clothes and fresh underwear. He emerged looking completely renewed.

After leaving the bathroom, he sat down at his desk and opened the notebook he had bought that day.

It was a magic notebook.

It might look thin from the outside, but once opened, it contained an endless number of pages. One was equivalent to a hundred ordinary notebooks, giving Shu Li more than enough room to write as much as he pleased.

The moment he had heard the general store owner’s explanation, Shu Li had asked for it without a second thought.

Such a miraculous magic notebook was practically a treasure made just for him.

What a steal!

As Shu Li stroked the magic array engraved on the notebook’s cover, excitement surged through him.

Those smooth lines, that complex design, the superior craftsmanship, the sleek paper—it was obviously the work of a Grand Alchemist.

He took out five ordinary notebooks and lined them up across his desk. After flexing his fingers, he picked up his quill and decided to copy all his previous notes into the magic notebook.

It was a rather massive undertaking, but reviewing old material helped one learn something new!

He could treat it as revision.

Just as he was about to begin, a polite knock sounded outside.

Huh?

It was almost dark. Who would visit him at this hour?

“Knock, knock, knock.”

The rhythmic knocking sounded again.

Shu Li suddenly slapped his forehead as he remembered.

It was Quiet!

His private tutor!

Shu Li spread his wings and flew over to open the door at once.

Outside stood a black-haired, purple-eyed adolescent Fairy, who greeted him with refined courtesy.

“Good evening. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

Author’s Note:

P.S. So, um, I drew a map of the continent and put it at the very bottom of my author page. You can go back to the author page and scroll down to take a look! I drew it with a mouse, so it’s pretty rough. Ahem. As long as you can generally understand it, that’s good enough. At present, Shu Shu has only unlocked the Faerie Forest portion of the map.

(Note: The wood spirits, water spirits, and so forth marked on the map are elemental spirits. They do not possess physical bodies and are manifestations of power.)

P.S. Another explanation:

Elves have bodies the same size as humans. They have pointed ears but no wings.

Fairies resemble flower fairies. They have pointed ears and wings.

Adult Fairies are palm-sized, Fairy cubs are thumb-sized, and adolescent Fairies are somewhere between the two.

Kumandi is an adolescent Fairy. He is shorter than an adult Fairy but taller than a cub, roughly equivalent to a ten-year-old human boy!

As Fairies advance, their bodies grow larger. They still have wings, but they can hide them. This will be mentioned later. If he didn’t grow bigger, how would Shu Shu fall in love with the Elven King? Ahem.

The Elven King really does appear a little less often in the early chapters, but he’ll appear much more later. After all, he and Shu Shu need to fall in love! Haha.

Right now, this is the story of Shu Shu’s personal growth. He’s working very hard to grow up!

The Elven King will appear at the proper place and time, and there certainly won’t be any shortage of interactions between them.