I Became a Cub in the Elven Kingdom

“Hi, Sperien, Angel! Where did you go for your mission today?”

Up in the divine tree, the adult Fairies greeted the adolescents returning from outside with cheerful smiles.

“We went to Lake Bogaman,” Shu Li replied cautiously.

He certainly did not dare tell them about scavenging spoils near the forest’s edge. The adult Fairies might not be as strict as Daigemon, but they would punish the youngsters by making them work.

For example, they might have to gather “nutrients” for the divine tree, clean bird droppings from every branch, or weed the orchards.

Those were all enormous undertakings. Even with magic, the work left them exhausted.

“That’s right! We went mining at Lake Bogaman, and we visited Niledi at the bottom of the lake,” Angel said with a broad grin that revealed a row of straight white teeth.

“Niledi recently brought back a lot of things from the sea,” Budno added.

“We traded with it for a huge treasure chest.” Disio spread his arms to demonstrate its size.

Their story sounded perfectly convincing, and the adult Fairies suspected nothing. They did, however, observe two minutes of silence for Niledi.

Ever since the Little Fairies had latched on to it, the three-headed water monster had not enjoyed a moment of peace. Lake Bogaman had become one of their favorite destinations.

Of course, the adult Fairies did not feel the slightest sympathy for Niledi.

Who told it to covet the red crystal flower seeds and deliberately trick a pure and innocent Little Fairy? Its actions had caused Sperien to be cursed and forced him to leave the Faerie Forest at such a young age, enter the Human World, and encounter the ugliness of human nature and the cruelty of the world far too soon.

After bidding farewell to the adult Fairies, Shu Li and his companions increased their speed. They first flew to the mission hall in the commercial district, where they turned in their completed mission and received their reward—two pieces of seventh-rank adamantine.

Adamantine was an exceptionally hard metal and an excellent material for forging weapons.

Although Fairies specialized in magic, they also used longswords and bows.

If the Little Fairies wanted longswords suited to them, they had to collect all kinds of forging materials. The finest materials could be purchased in the commercial district, earned through missions, or gathered in the wilderness.

The four adolescent Fairies happily stored the pieces of adamantine, each far larger than they were, in their storage rings and hurried out of the mission hall.

They decided to find Siet and ask whether he could break the magical seal on the treasure chest.

It was the weekend, so the school was closed. They would have to visit Siet at home.

Ten minutes later, they reached the Fairy teachers’ residential district. Standing outside Siet’s front door, they knocked politely.

“Siet, Siet! Are you home?”

They knocked for quite some time without receiving an answer. It seemed Siet was not there.

The four adolescent Fairies exchanged troubled looks.

“Sperien, do you need something from Siet?” Lia poked her head out of a window in the house opposite them. “Siet left an hour ago. He probably won’t return until dark.”

The sun was still high overhead, and nightfall was an hour away.

An hour was too long. They could not wait.

They merely needed an adult Fairy’s help. It did not necessarily have to be Siet.

Although Lia was their music teacher, she was older than Siet and had reached the level of an Intermediate Saint Mage. Breaking the seal on the treasure chest should not pose any difficulty for her.

“Lia, we found a strange treasure chest at Niledi’s place. Could you take a look at it for us?” Shu Li asked politely.

“Of course.”

Lia smiled.

A moment later, she opened her door and appeared before the Little Fairies.

“What sort of treasure chest is it? Take it out and let me see.”

Shu Li glanced around and pointed toward a nearby clearing. “Let’s go over there.”

The treasure chest was too large to fit inside a Fairy’s little house.

Lia’s curiosity was aroused.

What kind of treasure chest could make the Little Fairies act so cautiously?

Ever since Sperien had opened a treasure chest and been cursed, the experience had left a lasting shadow over him. He treated every treasure chest he encountered with extreme caution.

The poor child.

“Lia, this treasure chest came from the Serix Empire,” Angel said. “There was also a lot of beautiful porcelain with it.”

“I wonder what kind of treasure is inside?” Budno’s eyes shone.

Disio dampened his enthusiasm. “Maybe it contains another cursed letter.”

Budno glared at him. “Would anyone need such a huge treasure chest for one letter?”

It was large enough to hold an adult Elf!

As they spoke, they reached the clearing, and Shu Li removed the treasure chest from his storage ring.

Thud!

The chest landed heavily on the broad branch. Lia swiftly flew half a meter backward.

She had assumed it was an ordinary treasure chest used by humans. She had not expected it to be... a coffin.

Yes, the treasure chest before them, two meters long, one meter wide, and fifty centimeters high, was actually a coffin made for a deceased human.

Its exterior was inlaid with gold and jade, its carvings exquisite, and an advanced magic array had been engraved into the lid. The person who could afford such a lavish coffin must have been either wealthy or noble.

Lia looked at the four expectant Little Fairies and could not quite bring herself to tell them the truth.

What did coffins contain?

Corpses, of course.

“Lia, Lia, what do you think? Can you remove the magic array from the lid?” Budno asked eagerly.

“...Are you certain you want to open it?” Lia asked.

Seeing her hesitation, Shu Li asked in confusion, “Can’t it be opened?”

Could there truly be something strange inside the treasure chest—something that made even an adult Fairy at the level of a Saint Mage hesitate?

Angel and Disio watched Lia nervously.

They had given Niledi a precious Moonrise Stone in exchange for the treasure chest.

“It can be opened. I’m merely afraid we might disturb the...” Lia was searching for a suitable way to phrase it when a voice suddenly came from above.

“Oh? Isn’t that a human coffin? Where did you find it?” Dosia flew down from a higher branch and circled the coffin, clicking her tongue in wonder. “With such lavish and intricate workmanship, the deceased inside must have been an earl at the very least.”

“A... a coffin?”

The four Little Fairies’ mouths fell open in shock.

Shu Li retreated several steps and repeatedly blew on the storage ring around his finger.

Aaaaaah!

He had actually put a coffin inside the Guaota Ring the Elven King had given him!

Fortunately, because of its enormous size, he had stored it on a separate level rather than placing it alongside his other belongings.

He could only blame the coffin for looking nothing like those he remembered. Its magnificent exterior made it look exactly like a treasure chest.

“Why is such a beautiful treasure chest a coffin?” Budno cradled his cheeks in both hands, bitterly disappointed.

He knew that humans were laid inside coffins for burial after death, but he had not known coffins looked like this.

“Why would there be a coffin aboard a ship?” Angel asked, bewildered.

“Is it sealed? After being submerged for so long, is the thing inside... still all right?” Disio tugged at his fiery red hair, his face filled with terror.

At those words, Shu Li retreated several more steps as all manner of bizarre and horrifying images filled his mind.

Lia glanced at Dosia.

Lia had spoken so tactfully precisely because she was afraid of frightening the Little Fairies. Dosia, on the other hand, had arrived and immediately blurted out the truth.

Seeing the blood drain from their little faces, Dosia coughed guiltily several times.

“Don’t worry. This coffin was made with exceptional craftsmanship. It resists decay, water, and high temperatures. Combined with the advanced magic array, the corpse inside will remain completely unchanged for a hundred years.”

The Little Fairies’ expressions improved slightly after hearing her explanation.

“What should we do now?” Shu Li asked worriedly.

They certainly could not leave a human coffin in the Faerie Forest.

If Dosia was right and a powerful earl lay inside, his family would surely never stop searching for him.

Moreover, the coffin had sunk into the Danaga Sea during a shipwreck alongside porcelain from the Serix Empire. That meant the deceased might have been an earl from either the Pross Empire or the Dalia Empire.

Only those two empires bordered the Danaga Sea.

Dosia raised an eyebrow. “What should we do? That’s simple. We can throw it outside the Faerie Forest.”

Lia shook her head. “That would be inappropriate.”

If a human coffin appeared outside the Faerie Forest without explanation and was discovered by adventurers, it might cause all kinds of additional trouble.

“Then... let’s return it to Niledi and have it take the coffin back to the sea,” Angel suggested.

They could retrieve their precious Moonrise Stone while they were at it.

Disio nodded in agreement. “It should go back where it came from!”

“We can... pretend we never saw it,” Budno said.

Shu Li did not think returning the coffin was a good solution.

As the saying went, no matter how tall a tree grew, its fallen leaves returned to their roots.

This earl had died far from home. Someone had gone to great expense to commission an elaborate coffin and place it aboard a ship, all so he could be taken home for burial. Unfortunately, disaster had struck without warning. The ship had been wrecked, and the coffin had sunk to the seabed.

If the three-headed water monster had not recovered it, the earl would have slept beneath the sea forever. But since Niledi had found it and these Little Fairies had brought it back to the divine tree, perhaps the coffin was destined for somewhere else.

Seeing Shu Li remain silent, Lia gently asked, “Sperien, what would you like to do with it?”

Shu Li emerged from his thoughts and raised his pale green eyes, gazing earnestly at Lia.

“I was wondering... whether there might be some way to send him home.”

Home was where the heart found comfort and belonging.

Shu Li studied diligently, worked hard to become stronger, and aspired to become a hero because he never stopped worrying about the family he had left in another world.

This earl had died in a foreign land. Someone had gone to tremendous trouble to commission a coffin and transport it thousands of miles by sea for no other reason than to bring him home and reunite him with his family.

Lia and Dosia exchanged a look.

Sperien’s ideas were always different from everyone else’s.

“Are you certain?”

Shu Li paused.

He had not given that question much thought.

In truth, based on his previous experience traveling through the Human World with Ilio, the nobles of every country were fundamentally exploiters. They could hardly be called good people.

Yet human nature was complicated, and no one could be judged solely by that.

Perhaps the earl had possessed qualities worthy of respect in some regard.

Without knowing the whole story, Shu Li would not pass judgment.

“I think... since we found him, it must be fate,” Shu Li said.

It was just like the small treasure chest that had cursed him five years ago.

By insisting on delivering the letter, he had not only broken the curse but also obtained a precious treasure map that provided an important clue for his future search for the water elemental spirit.

“But Sperien, how are we supposed to take him home?” Budno asked, puffing out his cheeks.

“We’re underage. We can’t leave the Faerie Forest,” Disio said.

Angel’s eyes darted thoughtfully. “Didn’t Sperien travel to the Human World with Ilio before?”

Shu Li waved his hands. “I was cursed that time. I had no choice but to deliver the letter myself.”

The situation was different now. Any adult Fairy could help them.

The only problem was that this had been his own decision. He could hardly trouble an adult Fairy to make a special journey on his behalf.

Fairies did not enjoy dealing with humans.

As he fretted over the problem, Siet—who was not supposed to return until nightfall—came home early.

“Oh? Why are all of you here?” Siet asked in confusion. Then he saw the exquisite coffin standing in the middle of the clearing and looked at the four adolescent Fairies in surprise. “Did you trade with Niledi for that?”

As expected of their first teacher, he knew his students inside and out.

The four adolescent Fairies nodded in perfect unison.

Lia smiled. “We were discussing what to do with it.”

Siet raised an eyebrow. “Have you reached a decision?”

Dosia spread her hands. “Sperien wants to send him home.”

Siet was surprised, but not astonished. It was exactly the sort of thing Sperien would do.

Shu Li stood obediently, blinking his pale green eyes as he gazed hopefully at Siet.

“Yes, I want to send him home, but... {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} I’m underage and can’t leave the Faerie Forest.”

Siet snapped his fingers and smiled. “Then you’re in luck.”

“What do you mean?” Shu Li asked, puzzled.

Siet winked. “I just received word that the human Saint Mage Danlov is visiting the Elven Kingdom.”

“The human Saint Mage—Danlov!”

The four adolescent Fairies exclaimed in unison.

They had heard Danlov’s name countless times. Aisha often mentioned him while teaching them human history.

Danlov had been the first person to receive the Elven King’s blessing. He was also the only human who had grown up in the Elven Kingdom. After completing his education, he had left the Faerie Forest and returned to the Human World.

Three thousand years ago, his overwhelming power and extraordinary talent had allowed him to become head of the Central Court. He personally founded the renowned Saint Vilia Academy of Magic, which trained many outstanding practitioners of white magic and greatly elevated the Central Court’s standing on the Austin Continent.

Danlov had not visited the Elven King in nearly a thousand years. Why had he suddenly come today?

Whatever his purpose, Shu Li believed this was a rare opportunity.

He decided to try his luck in the Elven Kingdom. Since Danlov was also human, perhaps he would help the earl inside the coffin return home.

“Sperien, we’ll go with you!”

His three companions excitedly threw their arms around him.

Shu Li nuzzled them and said, “All right!”

Good brothers naturally acted together.

Seeing Shu Li put away the coffin and prepare to depart immediately, Siet pointed at the sky.

“Are you sure you want to leave now?”

The four adolescent Fairies looked up at the gradually setting sun and instantly wilted.

Traveling at night was dangerous, and disturbing someone’s sleep after dark would be rude.

Siet comfortingly stroked their heads. “Go eat first, then get a good night’s sleep. Once you’re well rested, you can visit the Elven Kingdom tomorrow.”

“Oh...”

The Little Fairies answered dispiritedly.

Lia and Dosia could not help laughing at the sight.