Those Who Jump Die Young

"Human boy, are you in a good mood?"

The story was over, and it was getting late. Just as Ruben silently got up to leave, Dragon suddenly spoke.

"Yeah. I've always wanted to understand Mayuna better. It feels like I've seen another side of her."

"Oh? And what do you want to do after understanding her?"

"Analyze her behavior patterns, so I can gain the upper hand when she bullies me."

"...Should we tell them that the white-haired one does nothing all day and lives as a parasite?"

Dragon's single eye widened in surprise. After thinking about it, he decided he did not want to lower his intelligence by continuing this topic with Ruben. Seeing those ignorant people worship Mayuna made Dragon deeply unhappy. That white-haired woman bullied the two of them whenever she felt like it. The great Dragon would definitely find a chance to ruin her reputation.

"We'd probably get beaten and thrown out."

Ruben shook his head. One foot had already crossed the doorway when he suddenly heard the storyteller Huba speak again.

"The story session is over, and now it's time for the daily joke collection! Everyone may tell me amusing stories you've heard or come up with yourselves. After all, Huba's stories are limited, and I want everyone to hear fresh stories every day. Today's first prize is a third-rank magic beast the boss spent a fortune buying from the Tide Empire—the Twin-Clawed Beast!"

At some point, a huge block of ice had appeared beside Huba. It was easy to make out the strange magic beast frozen within. It was at least one and a half meters long, and its two massive claws looked extremely aggressive.

The moment Ruben heard the name Twin-Clawed Beast, he had an idea. It really was a lobster from Earth. However, real dragons existed in this world, and this creature could not possibly be associated with dragons no matter how he looked at it. That was why it had this scientific name.

"This type of sea magic beast is incredibly fierce and difficult to catch. One snap of its claws can sever an adult's arm, but its meat is exceptionally delicious. In an inland empire like the Holy Continent, only nobles get to taste it."

Huba patted the ice block beside him. The audience was startled by the boss's extravagance. A Twin-Clawed Beast this large might not even be purchasable for a thousand gold coins, yet it was being offered in exchange for a single story. Of course, only people in the storytelling trade could understand the charm of stories made from words.

"Oh! This gentleman looks rather confident."

Huba felt a trace of disappointment as the audience below stirred eagerly but no one came forward. However, he soon saw a hedgehog-haired young man walk up carrying a stack of papers, and he immediately said happily.

"I'll take the lobster."

Ruben handed the papers in his hand to Huba, then had Dragon put away the huge block of ice. It was not that he meant to cheat these people from another world, but their storytelling standards were simply too poor. They were immersed in magic all day, and few of them had the imagination to write novels. Surpassing the national treasure in his hands was absolutely impossible.

What he had offered was a story from another world called Journey to the West. Ruben had long felt that literature in this world was rather underdeveloped. In the early days, he had planned to write something to make a living, but later he had too many things to deal with and forgot about it. The manuscripts were still stored inside Dragon, though, and they happened to be useful now. Naturally, he was no fool and had only handed over the first twenty chapters, but that was more than enough for the exchange.

"Wait..."

Huba's first instinct was that this person had come to cause trouble. But before he could call Ruben back, his eyes were drawn to the words on the paper. Unlike ordinary magic paper, this paper seemed much more ordinary. The words were handwritten, and they could be read without infusing magic power into them.

The moment he saw the title, Huba could no longer look away. His hand unconsciously turned the pages. Over the following hours, no matter who called him, he could not be roused. He had been completely drawn into the story. It took him several hours to carefully finish the first twenty chapters. By the time he came to his senses, it was already midnight, and the person who had provided this masterpiece had long since vanished.

"Ruben! Where did you run off to? It's been dinner time for ages!"

When Ruben returned to the grand cathedral, he was met with the puffed-up face of the Mage God girl. She pointed at the completely dark sky and vented her dissatisfaction, while Tinasha stood beside her with a contented expression. It seemed that as long as she could stay by Mayuna's side, she was happy.

"Whew, I went to get ingredients. We're having seafood today."

For some reason, a lingering sense of disappointment welled up in Ruben's heart. It was really hard to connect the person before him with the grand image painted by the storyteller at the teahouse.

"Seafood?"

Mayuna repeated the word, and her eyes lit up. She had once seen seafood listed in Dragon's recipes, but how could Dris possibly sell marine products? The only marine product there was Aqua. In any case, the Mage God girl had no desire to find out what a mermaid tasted like.

"Are we cooking it here?"

When it came to lobster, grilling was the obvious choice. However, since this lobster was so huge, there were many possible ways to prepare it. An open space would make things easier.

"What do you take the Holy Church for? Although His Holiness the Pope wouldn't mind, let's go home instead."

"Home?"

"Mm. My house in the imperial capital."

Mayuna nodded. With food on her mind, she had no patience to slowly walk back, so she simply grabbed Ruben's hand and used spatial movement to leave directly.

"This is your house?"

Ruben stared at the estate before him and fell into thought. A vast expanse of lush green lawn spread before his eyes. In the middle of it, glittering magic crystal stones formed a path leading to the house. Though the building was only three stories tall, its horizontal span was frighteningly large. Just the windows arranged along its front numbered more than twenty.

He felt as though the Mage God girl had deceived him in some way, and deceived him badly.

"Mm."

"You said you had nowhere to live..."

"That's right, but I already donated it to His Holiness the Pope. He hasn't used it yet, so it's fine for us to stay a few days."

Mayuna gave Ruben a mischievous grin. The Mage God girl had prepared this excuse long ago, and Ruben had no way to deal with her.

"Ruben, come with me for a moment."

Mayuna gave Ruben no chance to react. She gently took his hand and led him behind the house. A section of the otherwise level ground was slightly raised, as though something had been buried there. A bouquet of white flowers had been placed before the mound.

"Your teacher?"

Ruben quickly realized what it was. Seeing the faint sorrow on Mayuna's face, he asked tentatively.

"Mm. Back then, I insisted on burying my teacher here. At least this way, I could see her every day... It seems His Holiness the Pope has already come by."

Mayuna bent down and pulled the weeds growing from the mound. The resting place of a Mage Saint was indeed rather simple, but no one had dared oppose Mayuna's decision back then. No one had dared provoke a Mage God on the verge of collapse.

"Was His Holiness the Pope close with your teacher?"

"With His Holiness the Pope... they were ordinary childhood sweethearts."

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P.S. Ruben: There was once a Thief Saint. Now the grass on her grave is two meters tall.

P.S. Thanks to reader Mo Yu Xiao Mo for the 5,000 donation, reader Mr. Mantou-jun for the 500 donation, and readers Autumn Wind Night Shadow, Global Cold Weather, and Xiao Mengchen for the 100 donations.