Deli Aurora

Wayne shook his head, dispelling his wandering thoughts, and entered the villa.

He washed his hands first.

Only then did he leave the villa, planning to eat first.

A quarter of an hour later,

At the academy's central plaza, Wayne had just stepped out of the teleportation passage.

When he saw a crowd gathered around the plaza.

Seeing this,

Wayne, a Chinese man born with a love for spectacle, curiously squeezed closer and burrowed into the crowd.

When he saw the person surrounded in the middle,

The corner of his mouth could not help twitching.

Only one thought remained in his mind: The melon-eating somehow landed on my own head.

The person surrounded by everyone,

Was clearly a girl of eleven or twelve. Of course, most importantly, there was a sign standing beside her.

The sign read:

[Missing Person Notice: Personal maid was forced to go missing. Her master is named Wayne.]

Of course,

That alone was not enough for Wayne to think it was about him. What truly confirmed it for him was the bottom of the sign,

Where three more words were written:

Little Elf.

Seeing this, Wayne became one hundred percent certain that the person before him was probably a child of General Deli's family.

But this was far too absurd.

What even was this? With such a huge family, could they really not find out where he lived?

If they wanted to find him, they could have just gone straight to his house!

Wayne calmed himself.

He carefully listened to the discussions around him.

"Hasn't it been three days already?"

"That's right. This kid named Wayne is really something.

Such a grown person,

And he still didn't know she'd been missing for three days."

"Tsk... and she's even his personal maid..."

As he listened, Wayne finally understood the whole story.

Simply put,

Three days ago, the girl before him had begun living like this. Wayne shook his head and stepped forward.

"I'm Wayne."

As soon as the words fell,

The girl looked at Wayne and giggled. "Hehe,

I finally waited for you."

At that moment, the crowd also erupted into lively chatter.

Wayne shook his head.

He put away the sign, tapped lightly with his fingertip, and unfolded a flight array, lifting both himself and the girl into the air.

They flew toward the teleportation passage leading to the dining hall district.

A quarter of an hour later,

Inside the dining hall, Wayne sat at a table and looked at the girl before him as he asked calmly.

"With General Deli's status and strength, finding my residence

Shouldn't have been a problem.

Why did you do this?"

The girl shook her head. "You think too highly of Father, and you think too little of the Lord Wizard Academy.

Father couldn't find you.

Before the academy—or rather, the Tower of Truth—even if Father is a seventh-level Holy Dragon Knight,

He still isn't worth mentioning."

Wayne was somewhat surprised upon hearing that, but he felt even more relieved.

After all,

If even a seventh-level Holy Dragon Knight was treated like this, then Wayne could feel even more at ease about raising the Little Elf.

It was not a big piece of news, but neither was it small.

Therefore,

The embarrassment Wayne had initially felt subsided. At the same time, as he looked at the girl across from him,

He found her a little more adorable.

"You know my name. What about yours?"

Hearing this, the girl sat upright and spoke solemnly.

"My name is Deli Aurora."

Wayne nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

Then he said calmly:

"General Deli, your father, arranged for you to become a follower,

Not a maid.

So, Aurora, tell me your purpose."

The girl gave a radiant smile.

"On the day new students reported in, Father told me about it when he returned home, so I wanted to come see you.

The reason I wanted to become a maid

Was because of my own wishes."

Wayne looked at the girl before him, somewhat puzzled.

"Your own wishes?

Why?"

"I want to become your woman."

Wayne instantly broke down.

"Aurora, you beast! I'm only twelve years old!!"

Watching the agitated Wayne,

The girl merely curled her lips indifferently. "As if I'm not twelve too.

Besides,

My brother already had a son when he was twelve."

Hearing that,

The corner of Wayne's mouth twitched. That was true, but the belief from his previous life that adulthood began at eighteen was deeply rooted in him.

That was why he had reacted so strongly.

He had forgotten that this was another world. Though it seemed highly advanced because of supernatural power, its overall era was still set against a backdrop similar to the Western Middle Ages.

After calming himself internally,

Wayne could not help asking curiously, "Why do you want to become my woman?

This is our first time meeting,

Isn't it?"

Aurora shook her head. "Your talent has already destined it.

Your future is bright.

I would not lose out by becoming your woman, and a knight's cultivation

Needs resources most of all.

Though I was born into the Deli family, the Deli family is a newly established family, and we are not lord nobles.

Therefore, the family's resources

Can only support my three older brothers.

There is simply no spare resource to invest in me."

Hearing that,

Wayne questioned her. "But your father is a seventh-level Holy Dragon Knight.

He isn't some expert you can find everywhere.

How could he possibly be unable to support you?

And isn't General Deli, your father, a noble too?"

Hearing that,

Aurora smiled sweetly.

"It seems you really do not know much about the Empire."

As she spoke, she explained further.

"There are two kinds of nobles in the Empire. One kind is the lord wizards, praised as the protagonists of the age.

They are the true nobles.

Under the Empire, they are divided into kings, dukes, marquises, counts, viscounts, and barons,

Six ranks in total.

The other kind are [knights], granted titles only after rendering meritorious service to the Empire or to a lord.

They are generally divided into seven levels,

Namely, first-level knights, second-level knights...

These nobles

Are vassals.

Besides possessing the corresponding strength, they must also render meritorious service. Take my father as an example: he is a seventh-level knight and also serves as a general of a knight order.

Such knights,

Because they possess no resources of their own that can produce income, receive their resources entirely through the distributions controlled by those they serve.

The Deli family, for example,

Relies on resources distributed by the Empire."

As the girl's words fell,

Wayne's horizons broadened greatly, and he also understood

Why, back when he was in Rose City,

It had been Xun Lie afterward. He had originally thought it referred to a martyr who had rendered meritorious service, but now it seemed that the Xun in Xun Lie meant nobility.

But at the same time,

Wayne was somewhat lost. Did they have to live at the mercy of others' moods?

"Couldn't they do business?"

Aurora gave a light laugh.

"Of course they do business. For example, my mother is a sixth-level wood-element wizard.

She runs an alchemy potion shop.

But even so,

Supporting their own cultivation, along with that of my three older brothers, has already pushed them to their limit.

Moreover,

Because of my three brothers, Father and Mother's cultivation has also stagnated somewhat."

Hearing that,

Wayne looked at the girl before him with a complicated expression.

In the end, he said only one thing.

"It seems your father loves you very much."

Hearing that,

Aurora naturally understood why Wayne said that. Her face lit up with a smile, and pride filled her voice.

"Of course."

But after a pause, the girl shook her head again.

"That is because

The Deli family is a newly established family.

There are only six core members in total. As the Deli family's only girl,

That is why I receive such treatment.

If I had been born into a family with a long history, then with my talent,

I'm afraid..."

She would only become a tool for marriage alliances, vanishing from this beautiful world a hundred years later."

At this,

Wayne neither agreed nor disagreed.

With top-tier talent,

A powerful family was a trump card and a source of support.

But with low talent, a powerful family would not only fail to become a trump card; perhaps it would even become a disaster for oneself.