The Injured Little Sprite

"Every Great Arcana has its own title. For example, the top-ranked Great Arcana bears the title 'The Fool,' the second is 'The Magician,' and the third is 'The High Priestess.' Each of the twenty-two Great Arcana has its own unique title."

"The Minor Arcana, on the other hand, are divided into four major sequences by academy. Jiuyou Academy belongs to the Scepter Sequence; Alpha Academy belongs to the Coin Sequence; Atlas Academy belongs to the Cup Sequence; Starry Sky Academy belongs to the Sword Sequence. Besides the rankings from Sequence One to Sequence Ten, each sequence also has four special ranks: 'King,' 'Queen,' 'Knight,' and 'Page.'"

"Although the rankings change every year, some positions basically remain unchanged." As Xiao Xiao spoke, he drew several horizontal lines in his notebook and pushed it in front of Zheng Qing.

"For example, the top three positions in the Major Arcana belong to our great principal and the two Vice Principals. The King among the Minor Arcana undoubtedly belongs to the Student Union President of the corresponding academy. These positions match their respective identities and almost never change. It is more or less an established convention."

Zheng Qing looked at the terms and rankings listed in Xiao Xiao's notebook, recalling his explanation.

"They mentioned that wild demon from Daming Market's older brother was Star Coin Sequence Seven. In other words, he was 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, wearing an expression that said he was teachable.

"Strange. I clearly remember that fat guy saying his brother was a publicly funded student at Atlas Academy." Zheng Qing stared at Xiao Xiao's notebook, muttering softly as he scratched his head.

He felt as though his mind had turned to mush.

Across the table, Xiao Xiao raised an eyebrow and picked up the orange juice in front of him.

The silver-white curtains had been rolled high. Outside the window stretched a boundless sea of rolling clouds. Pale golden sunlight streamed through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows and fell across the dining hall floor, as if coating it in a layer of orange glaze.

A small green sprite ran fearfully across that gleaming surface, letting out tiny, shrill cries. The pair of translucent wings on her back looked as though someone had viciously kneaded them in their hands; they were crumpled and torn.

Students wandered casually through the buffet hall, and no one noticed the tiny creature at their feet. Not until she crashed into a Little Fox that was happily darting about.

The fox rubbed its pink nose against her face and studied her curiously.

The little sprite stopped. After hesitating for a moment, she reached out with a slender hand and scratched the Little Fox behind the ear.

The fox narrowed its eyes in comfort.

The little sprite leaped onto the fox's back and buried herself in its fine, soft fur.

Lunchtime had already passed its midpoint. Upholding the principle that one entered a buffet leaning against the wall and left leaning against the wall, Zheng Qing and the others stubbornly remained at the table, waiting for the food in their stomachs to digest a little.

On the table, a snow-white pigeon cooed as it pecked fragrant grains of rice from its little mistress's palm. The old turtle, meanwhile, had withdrawn into its shell and refused to poke its head out no matter how Xiao Xiao teased it.

To make their pets eat a little more, these owners were really giving it their all.

Zheng Qing lounged against the sofa and rubbed his stomach.

Being too full had one drawback: it made moving inconvenient. Zheng Qing felt that until they got off the plane, he would have to remain half-reclined on this sofa.

"Where's your fox?" Li Meng kicked him beneath the table. "There are still a few pieces of steak left. Hurry up and stuff them into its belly."

Zheng Qing wiped his slightly greasy mouth with a napkin, stuck his fingers into his mouth, and let out a sharp whistle. A greasy, satisfied burp surged up from his throat along with it.

He quickly shut his mouth.

Not far away, the Little Fox came darting back from the crowd in a flash.

"You little brat, where did you run off to?"

Zheng Qing grabbed the fox by the scruff and pulled it into his arms.

Then he noticed the little sprite trembling atop the fox's back.

"There's an injured little sprite here!" he shouted at Xiao Xiao.

Li Meng dropped the white dove that had been pecking at food in her hand, jumped down from the sofa, and squeezed over. "Let me see, let me see! I know a Healing Spell—let me try!"

Xiao Bai the pigeon let out angry coos behind her.

"Although Stubborn Wizards do not respect lives such as Alchemical Creatures, they would not do something this pointless." Xiao Xiao parted Poseidon's fur and carefully examined the injured little sprite, his expression grave. "The bruising on this little thing's wings was very obviously caused by someone."

The little sprite seemed to have suffered a tremendous fright. She clutched the long fur around Poseidon's neck tightly, burying her head in it as she trembled, absolutely refusing to let go.

Li Meng pulled a pure white feather from her little handbag and gently stroked the tiny creature with affection.

Xiao Bai the pigeon stood atop Poseidon's head, cooing in dissatisfaction.

Little monk Shi Yuan silently fingered his prayer beads, sitting cross-legged before Poseidon and praying for the little sprite.

"She probably isn't anyone dangerous." Feeling that the atmosphere was a little heavy, Zheng Qing tried to reassure them. "Could it have been some child's prank? This little sprite only has a slight injury to her wings."

"But the question is, where did all the other little sprites go?" Xiao Xiao raised his head and carefully surveyed the entire dining hall.

Zheng Qing was struck speechless. Only then did he realize that it had been a long time since he had seen groups of little sprites dancing through the dining hall.

He glanced at the serving counter in the distance. Many dishes that had already been emptied were still sitting there; on the surrounding tables, used tableware and leftover scraps were mixed together in a mess.

"Your question gives me a bad feeling." Zheng Qing frowned and pulled a small gray cloth pouch from his pocket. He clearly remembered that when Li Meng had merely sneezed and sprayed out a little juice earlier, several little sprites had rushed over in a panic to clean it up for her.

"The scent on this little sprite feels so familiar." Li Meng had been resting her head against Poseidon's back, softly comforting the injured sprite. Suddenly, she raised her head and looked at the others. "Smell it. It feels like we've encountered it somewhere before."

"It isn't Curly Haired Dog's," she added.

Zheng Qing forced a smile and leaned over to take a sniff.

He stood up and wrinkled his nose.

There was indeed a trace of familiar, faint fragrance at the tip of the little sprite's torn wing.

"It's that flight attendant." He gave Li Meng a very certain look and said, "When she performed the safety check on us earlier, I was standing fairly close. The smell is exactly the same."

Li Meng coughed twice suggestively and looked at him with a teasing expression.

"There may be some misunderstanding here." Pretending not to see Li Meng's smile, Zheng Qing turned to look at his other two companions. "Should we go ask her?"

He pointed toward the flight attendants' lounge not far away.