I Became a Cub in the Elven Kingdom

Crystal Castle was bustling with activity. Dining tables filled the magnificent golden hall, and the aroma of food drifted through the air. Elegantly dressed Elves and Fairies gathered together, their cheerful voices and laughter ringing out everywhere. The music of harps, flutes, piccolos, drums, bells, and other instruments blended into a lilting melody, delighting everyone who heard it.

The Little Fairies descended upon the food and ate to their hearts’ content.

Sayah voluntarily took responsibility for looking after the Fairy cubs, leading Misina and the other seven little cubs to a table laden with little fruits suitable for them.

Jalot appeared with a beaming smile, claiming that he had come to help when, in truth, he merely wanted an opportunity to cuddle the little cubs.

Holding a little fruit in his arms, Shu Li quietly flew toward a statue beside a stone pillar in the corner.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his cloak.

“Eh?” Clutching the fruit tightly, Shu Li looked up and glared at the black-haired Elf holding him.

“Little Sperien, where are you going?” Ilio asked with a broad smile as he held the golden-haired Little Fairy aloft.

“Nowhere!” Shu Li replied innocently, firmly refusing to admit that he had intended to hide in the corner and avoid this grand story gathering.

Based on past experience, he was certain to spend the entire time hovering on the brink of dying from embarrassment.

There was the time he had exhausted himself climbing the mountain and Ilio had carried him on his back.

And the time he had nearly broken his teeth trying to bite into rock-hard brown bread.

If Shu Li were telling the story alone in the Faerie Forest, he could simply skip those embarrassing little incidents. But things were different here in the Elven Kingdom.

Ilio would be telling the story with him, and given his awful personality, he certainly would not pass up an opportunity to make fun of Shu Li.

As a Senior Mage, Shu Li was allowed to enlarge himself when visiting the Elven Kingdom. Yet even after entering Crystal Castle, he had maintained his Little Fairy form precisely because it would make hiding easier.

Unfortunately, Ilio had ruined his perfect plan.

Judging by the sly smile on his handsome face, Shu Li had every reason to suspect that Ilio had been watching him from the beginning.

He was waiting here to catch me!

“Is that so?” Holding Shu Li by his cloak, Ilio carried him toward the dining tables. “Since you weren’t going anywhere, why don’t you sit with me?”

Shu Li’s eyes darted around. “Didn’t the king tell you to work at the farm?”

Ilio lightly pressed a finger against his little head and raised an eyebrow. “How could I possibly miss such an important story gathering?”

Shu Li blinked and suggested, “I can actually handle it myself. It’s only a matter of telling everything from beginning to end.”

Ilio lifted him in front of his face and gazed solemnly at the little fellow’s delicate features. “I’m afraid your tongue will trip over itself if you talk too much.”

Shu Li fell silent.

This is infuriating!

I really want to throw this fruit in his face.

Like a wicked fox whose scheme had succeeded, Ilio carried the dejected Little Fairy back to his seat.

His place was near the throne. To prevent Shu Li from escaping, Ilio deliberately set him down on the Elven King’s dining table.

Shu Li did not dare sneak away under the Elven King’s watchful gaze. Resigning himself to his fate, he sat in a little saucer, hugged his fruit, and bit into it viciously.

The Elven King asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Chewing the fruit, Shu Li answered indistinctly, “Nothing.”

He was the Elven King’s good student. How could he expose his cowardly urge to bury his head in the sand?

He glanced at Ilio, who was leisurely drinking fruit wine, then took another resentful bite of his fruit.

Forget it. This isn’t the first time I’ve embarrassed myself to death. I should be used to it by now.

Shu Li threw restraint aside and stuffed himself.

Afraid that he might choke, the Elven King poured him a little bowl of nectar. Shu Li thanked him, lifted the bowl, and gulped it down in one go.

Once he finished, he burped. He was now thoroughly full and satisfied.

The story gathering soon began.

Shu Li and Ilio took turns recounting what had happened, filling in one another’s omissions, bickering, and exposing each other’s embarrassing moments. Joyful laughter rang through the hall again and again.

Unsurprisingly, the story of Shu Li nearly breaking his teeth on brown bread left everyone in stitches.

The story gathering continued from noon until evening, providing the Elves and Fairies with endless entertainment. Meanwhile, the Little Fairies all followed Kumandi’s example, holding a notebook in one hand and a quill in the other as they rapidly took notes.

These were all valuable experiences that would provide useful information when they eventually traveled through the Human World.

They could hitch a ride with a performing troupe and disguise themselves as musicians when necessary. They could also take the magic badge examination at a Magic Association. The examination was not restricted by nationality, and possessing a badge would make traveling across the continent much easier.

The Human World was not peaceful. Wars raged everywhere, and there were plenty of princes and princesses fleeing for their lives.

Human society was rigidly divided by class. Nobles and wealthy people looked down on commoners and often behaved arrogantly. If they did not cause trouble, they could simply be ignored. But if they provoked a Fairy, the Fairy should strike when necessary and show no mercy.

Keeping a low profile had its advantages, but attracting attention had advantages of its own.

In short, when they traveled the continent in the future, they would have to adapt to the circumstances.

After dinner, the Fairies went to the Elven cubs’ courtyard to see the Mother Tree’s newly grown fruit.

“Wow, the fruit is so pretty!”

“It’s round like a ball.”

“It looks a little like a Romi fruit!”

“Idiot, Romi fruits are for eating. There’s a little Elven cub inside this fruit, so you can’t eat it.”

“Don’t frighten the little fruit.”

The Little Fairies crowded around the fruit with wonder, discussing it incessantly.

“Can such a tiny fruit really nurture an Elf that big and tall?”

“The fruit will grow too. I heard it takes a hundred years for an Elf to be born.”

“A hundred years? That’s so long!”

“No wonder there are fewer Elves than Fairies.”

Elder Federo stood beside the Elven King and asked discreetly, “My King, did this fruit come from...?”

As a Fairy elder, he exchanged information with the Elven King at all times. He had always known about Sperien and the Mother Tree stealing the Dark Elves’ fruit together.

At first, he had opposed sending a little cub into the Dark Elves’ territory on an adventure.

However, Sperien was the Little Fairy chosen by the Mother Tree, and even their contract had been settled long ago. All they could do was allow matters to unfold naturally.

Ten years had passed, and Sperien had created a miracle.

Not only had the Mother Tree regained her vitality, but she had also borne a new fruit.

At last, there was hope for the future of the Elves.

“Yes,” the Elven King answered, his gentle gaze following Shu Li as he flew about.

“Praise the Light God.” Elder Federo clasped his hands and prayed devoutly.

After viewing the Elven fruit, the Elves and Fairies gradually departed. Some returned to their rooms to rest, while others went back to the hall to continue singing and dancing.

As long-lived peoples, they could work themselves to the bone when necessary and relax just as thoroughly when they had nothing to do.

Carrying a pile of notebooks, Shu Li knocked on the quiet top student’s door.

“Kumandi, I’m here.”

They had agreed inside the flying carriage that morning to continue their tutoring session that night.

Kumandi was now tall and slender, with straight black hair reaching his waist, deep purple eyes, and sharply defined features. He had grown into a strikingly handsome young man.

However, a ten-year-old Fairy was still considered a minor.

Kumandi invited Shu Li inside and flew to the long table. He increased the brightness of the magic stone lamp, illuminating the room.

“What do you want to study first?” he asked.

“The language of the Winged People.” Shu Li opened one of his notebooks. “They speak like birds, don’t they? Their pronunciation is so strange. It sounds like singing.”

As their name suggested, the Winged People were humans with wings growing from their backs.

Yet they were also distinct from humans. They possessed an extraordinary aptitude for light magic and lived for an average of five hundred years. If they surpassed the limits of their rank, they could attain immortality.

After learning about the Winged People, Shu Li reached a conclusion.

The Winged People are basically angels!

The feathered wings on their backs were as white as snow. The higher their rank, the more wings they possessed, and those at the highest rank could grow as many as six pairs.

They lived in the great eastern mountain range, peacefully isolated from the rest of the world. Occasionally, they descended from the mountains to trade resources with the great nations of the east.

Shu Li was quite curious about them. He planned to visit the great eastern mountain range when he came of age and began traveling the continent, so he could see whether the Winged People were truly as pure and flawless as the books described them.

Then again, the Winged People were also targets for adventuring parties.

Certain high-ranking nobles would pay enormous sums to hire adventuring parties to capture Winged People in the great eastern mountain range and satisfy their depraved desires.

Kumandi took out one of his old notebooks. “They really do sing instead of speaking.”

Shu Li was surprised. “They actually sing?”

“Once you understand the patterns, it becomes easy to learn,” Kumandi said. “Their language is much simpler than Elven.”

Much... simpler?

Shu Li swallowed with difficulty.

To him, every foreign language was difficult!

Once upon a time, he had been utterly incapable of learning English. Now, he was already a Little Fairy who had mastered seven or eight foreign languages!

Shu Li could have wept.

For the next two hours, he studied diligently, took careful notes, and practiced pronunciation with the quiet top student.

It was late at night when he put away all his notebooks and left Kumandi’s room.

Ever since he had begun studying in the Elven Kingdom, he had been given a room of his own and no longer needed to share with the other Little Fairies.

After closing the door, he flew to the window and peered through the glass to survey his surroundings. Only after every light in the courtyard had gone out did he furtively push the window open, slip through the gap, and fly to the Mother Tree.

First, he rubbed affectionately against the little fruit. Then he softly called out to the Mother Tree.

“Onomysis, I’m here!”