The Injured Elf

"Each of the 'Great Arcana' has its own title. For example, the first-ranked Great Arcana corresponds to the title 'The Fool,' the second corresponds to 'The Magician,' and the third corresponds to 'The High Priestess.' All twenty-two Great Arcana possess their own unique titles."

"The 'Minor Arcana,' however, are divided into four major sequences according to different academies. Jiuyou Academy belongs to the 'Scepter Sequence'; Alpha Academy belongs to the 'Coin Sequence'; Atlas Academy belongs to the 'Cup Sequence'; and Starry Sky Academy belongs to the 'Sword Sequence.' Each sequence, in addition to the ranking from one to ten, also has four special sequences: 'King,' 'Queen,' 'Knight,' and 'Page.'"

"Although the rankings change every year, some positions remain basically the same," Xiao Xiao said, drawing a few lines on his notebook and pushing it towards Zheng Qing.

"For instance, the top three in the 'Great Arcana' belong to our esteemed Headmaster and the two Vice-Headmasters. The Kings in the 'Minor Arcana' definitely belong to the student union presidents of their respective academies. These positions are matched with corresponding identities and rarely change; it's a sort of established convention."

Zheng Qing looked at the list of names and order on Xiao Xiao's notebook, recalling his explanation.

"They just mentioned that the older brother of the Wild Demon from Daming Market is Star Coin Sequence Seven. That means he's a Minor Arcana, selected for the 'List of Figures with Special Influence on Alpha,' and ranked seventh. Is that right?" Zheng Qing summarized.

Li Meng nodded repeatedly, displaying a look of "a promising student."

"That's strange, I distinctly remember that fatty saying his brother was a scholarship student at Atlas," Zheng Qing mumbled, staring at Xiao Xiao's notebook and scratching his head.

He felt like his brain was a jumbled mess.

Across the dining table, Xiao Xiao raised an eyebrow and picked up his orange juice.

The silvery-white curtains were rolled up high. Outside the window, an endless sea of rolling clouds stretched as far as the eye could see. Pale golden sunlight streamed through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting onto the restaurant floor as if a layer of orange-yellow glaze had been applied.

A tiny green elf, stepping on this glaze, ran fearfully across the smooth floor, emitting tiny squeaking sounds. The pair of transparent wings on her back seemed to have been roughly crumpled by hand, their folds creased and broken.

In the self-service restaurant, students moved about casually, paying no attention to the tiny creature underfoot. Not until she bumped into a little fox frolicking around.

The fox nudged her face with its pink nose, looking at her curiously.

The little elf stopped, hesitated, and then extended her slender little hand to scratch the little fox's ear.

The fox closed its eyes comfortably.

The little elf leaped onto the fox's back, burying herself in its soft fur.

More than half of the lunch hour had passed. Adhering to the principle of entering a buffet needing to be supported and leaving needing to be supported, Zheng Qing and the others insisted on staying at the table, waiting for the food in their stomachs to digest a little.

On the table, a snow-white pigeon cooed, pecking fragrant rice grains from its young owner's palm. The old turtle, meanwhile, had retreated into its shell, refusing to poke its head out no matter how much Xiao Xiao teased it.

To ensure their pets ate more, their owners were really trying their best.

Zheng Qing leaned lazily on the sofa, rubbing his stomach.

The only downside to eating too much was that it made it inconvenient to move. Zheng Qing felt he would be half-leaning against this sofa until they landed.

"Where's your fox?" Li Meng kicked him from across the table. "There are still a few small beefsteaks left, hurry up and feed them to it."

Zheng Qing wiped his slightly greasy mouth with a napkin, put his fingers in his mouth, and let out a loud whistle. A greasy burp followed the whistle up his throat.

He quickly closed his mouth.

Not far away, the little fox darted back from the crowd.

"You little rascal, where did you run off to!"

Zheng Qing grabbed the scruff of the fox's neck and pulled it into his arms.

Then he noticed the little elf trembling on the fox's back.

"There's a little elf here who's injured!" he shouted to Xiao Xiao.

Li Meng dropped the white pigeon she was feeding and jumped off the sofa to squeeze through. "Let me see, let me see! I know healing spells, let me try!"

The pigeon, Xiao Bai, let out an angry coo from behind her.

"Stubborn Wizards wouldn't disrespect creatures like Alchemical Creatures, but they wouldn't do something this pointless," Xiao Xiao said, parting Poseidon's fur and carefully examining the injured little elf with a serious expression. "The bruising on this little one's wings is clearly caused by human intervention."

The little elf seemed greatly frightened, clinging tightly to the long fur on Poseidon's neck, burying her head within it, trembling, and resolutely refusing to let go.

Li Meng took out a pure white feather from her small handbag and tenderly stroked the little creature.

The pigeon, Xiao Bai, stood on Poseidon's head, cooing in dissatisfaction.

Shi Yuan, the young monk, silently twirled his prayer beads, sitting cross-legged in front of Poseidon, offering blessings for the little elf.

"It's probably not some dangerous individual," Zheng Qing said, feeling the atmosphere was a bit heavy. "Maybe it was some child's prank? This little elf just has a minor wing injury."

"But the question is, where did the other little elves go?" Xiao Xiao looked up, scanning the entire restaurant carefully.

Zheng Qing's jaw dropped. It was only then that he realized it had been a long time since he'd seen swarms of little elves flying around the restaurant.

He glanced at the food pickup counter not far away; many empty dishes were still on display. Around the dining tables, used cutlery and leftover food were mixed together, appearing messy.

"Your question gives me a bad premonition," Zheng Qing frowned, pulling out a small gray cloth pouch from his embrace. He clearly remembered that when Li Meng had just sneezed and sprayed out a bit of juice, several little elves had rushed forward in a panic to clean it up for her.

"The scent on the little elves is so familiar," Li Meng, who had been burying her head on Poseidon's back, comforting the injured elf, suddenly looked up at the others. "Smell it, you guys. It seems like we've encountered it somewhere before."

"It's not the curly-haired dog's," she added.

Zheng Qing managed a weak smile, leaned closer, and sniffed.

He stood up and twitched his nose.

On the tattered wingtip of the little elf, there was indeed a wisp of a familiar, subtle fragrance.

"It's that flight attendant," he said, giving Li Meng a very certain look. "When she did the safety check on us earlier, I was close by, and the smell was exactly the same."

Li Meng coughed ambiguously twice, looking at him teasingly.

"There might be some misunderstanding here," Zheng Qing pretended not to see Li Meng's smiling face and turned to his two companions. "Shall we go ask?"

He pointed to the flight attendant lounge not far away.