Show Them a Fierce One - chapter 5

When the messenger of the Goddess of Night flew across the firmament, night descended upon the entire Sky Fortress. At the foot of Academy Mountain, the Lamplighters, cloaked in dark gold capes, had already diligently finished a day’s work. With their lamp-lighters hanging from their waists, they brought light and hope to the whole town.

Within the Sky Fortress Magic School, the easygoing Principal Tacitus offered Anuo another cup of happiness-because he wanted to sneak another drink himself. The old man always had to rack his brains for a taste of something chilled.

The young queen and her silent assistant exchanged glances, seeing the same helplessness in each other’s eyes.

Regarding the sudden magical changes happening to Anuo, the well-read Principal Tacitus provided Salamander with some possible explanations and lines of thought.

The first possibility-Anuolaide has come of age.

The greatest difference between adult Elves and juveniles is their control over magical elements. It’s a leap from quantitative to qualitative change; at the moment each Elf comes of age, their magic level rises by at least one major tier. But coming of age isn’t a fixed age for Elves-some mature before one hundred and eighty, while others may delay until two hundred and ten or two hundred and twenty.

A little-known fact: Her Majesty Salamander, whose power is unrivaled across the continent, is widely believed to have inherited the memories of several previous queens, thus entering adulthood early and becoming so formidable. In reality, she is still a minor.

A very reliable minor.

As for the Prince Brother Anuolaide, who was supposed to fall from the tree on the same day as the queen, but instead hit his head and has been slow in speech and action ever since…

Salamander once thought her brother would never grow up.

The Elf Race’s Grand Elder once searched the continent for famous healers for Anuo-from the Pope of Light, who excelled at healing magic, to the Druid Sage, a master of Magic Potion, and even tried to communicate with the gods using the broken relics left by the Goddess of Nature. It’s fair to say, if the Grand Elder were only treating himself, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

But in the end, every method failed.

Salamander’s indulgence toward her brother was mainly because she had resigned herself to caring for a childlike brother for life.

Therefore, faced with the speculation that her brother had come of age, Salamander dared not hold out much hope.

The second possibility-Anuolaide’s God’s Favored rank has risen again.

It’s rather unbelievable, but the atheist Anuo was designated as God’s Favored before he was even born. Every follower who met him would say, “When you were just a tiny bud, the miracle had already descended.”

This was also the only officially recorded miracle to reappear on the Falres Continent in a hundred years. The senior clergy of the Church of Light mobilized almost entirely, gathering evidence and deliberating repeatedly, until they finally confirmed-trembling-that the God of Light, silent for countless years, had once again shown mercy to the continent, and to them.

After the Church of Light stamped its confirmation and spread the news across the continent, many fanatics fainted from excitement on the spot, and upon waking, revered Anuolaide as the church’s greatest treasure.

If not for the special status of Anuolaide and his sister within the Elf Race, they would have long been taken to the headquarters of the Church of Light, living as the revered Holy Son and Holy Daughter. Yet even without going to the Glory Empire, Anuo’s status as God’s Favored remained unshakable. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been the Pope of Light himself who treated Anuo’s illness back then.

In the whole world, only God’s Favored Anuo himself still firmly believes the miracle never happened.

Because he simply doesn’t believe there are gods in this world-why would a god favor him? Surely, it can’t be as his sister says, that the God of Light is a masochist?

Salamander herself doesn’t much believe in the God of Light. As an elemental Elf, she only worships the Goddess of Nature and the Kabbalah Tree of Life as her eternal mother. But when the principal mentioned her brother’s identity as God’s Favored, Salamander hesitated. What if? If the God of Light could be more merciful, perhaps even her brother’s illness could be cured.

“No-way-” Anuo wanted his sister to wake up.

Principal Tacitus looked at his student in confusion: “Why? Don’t doubt yourself, my dear Highness. Everyone can see your daily devotion at the chapel. The God of Light is all-knowing and all-powerful-how could He not see it?” As everyone knows, the God of Light is one of the most generous gods to His Favored.

Anuo: “…” No matter how good the God of Light is, if He truly knows, He’d probably strike me down first.

How was he supposed to explain that he was only pretending to be devout, just to avoid those fanatical followers who were desperate to marry him?

The Church of Light is recognized as the greatest religion on the Falres Continent. As the most powerful among the Twelve Main Gods, even if people don’t put the God of Light as their primary faith, He’s usually second or third in their pantheon.

Whether among the six major races or the countless empires and duchies of minority peoples, there are plenty of nobles who worship the God of Light. Faced with the continent’s only remaining God’s Favored, these nobles can hardly resist wanting to connect with him. And for nobles, what better connection is there than marriage?

Not to mention distant lands-just look at the Glory Empire. Since the emperor five generations ago, they have been tirelessly sending marriage proposals to the Elf Race.

If the father failed, he’d offer his children; if the children failed, there were grandchildren; and if that didn’t work, great-grandchildren. Literally, generation after generation without end-by now, it’s already passed to the fifth generation.
Anuo had to admit, the reason Adam left such a deep impression on him was precisely because he was the Third Prince of the Glory Empire. The first time they met at school five years ago, Anuo almost thought the Glory Empire was going for the childhood sweetheart route this time. He was so frightened he considered buying a standing ticket to escape overnight.

Fortunately, it was all a beautiful misunderstanding. Compared to marriage, Prince Adam was clearly more interested in being a magical prodigy, always thirsting for knowledge and immersing himself in the sea of learning. Bless him.

Even if Anuo claimed he didn’t believe in the God of Light at all, these people wouldn’t give up.

Because in the history of Falres, there had been God’s Favored with such strong personalities. For example, a devout follower of the Goddess of Agriculture was chosen by the God of Commerce as their God’s Favored. Yet, that person never changed their faith and served the Goddess of Agriculture steadfastly for life. Such “love triangles,” or even “multi-angled romances,” happened all too frequently on the polytheistic Falres Continent.

Anuo could only take another approach. Amid constant harassment, he came up with a trick-using magic to defeat magic. Upon arriving at the Sky Fortress, he transformed into the most devout follower of the Light Church.

And not just any follower, but the most fanatical and ascetic kind.

For zealots, maintaining purity of body and mind was one way to prove their devotion to their god. If you confessed your love to him, you’d be insulting his faith.

This trick was truly effective. After Anuo adopted the zealot’s stance, the swarm of admirers around him finally subsided, restoring peace to the world as much as possible. The only sacrifice was that from then on, no one dared to talk about romance with him. But Anuo had been single for two lifetimes and felt this was no big deal.

Principal Tacitus also wrote to Salamander about other possibilities, including Origin Power, and specifically introduced a friend who researched Origin Power.

Currently, Anuo’s body was still very healthy, so Salamander wasn’t particularly anxious. After politely thanking the principal, she took her brother and left. On the way back, she gave her brother a strict order: “Starting tomorrow, I want to see you praying devoutly to the God of Light in the school chapel every day. I’ll have Qinke supervise you and record it with a Memory Crystal.”

Anuo: “???”

This time, his surprise was perfectly timed-so much so that Salamander deliberately waited. Sure enough, she heard her brother say, “I-haven’t-finished-drinking-yet.”

He actually said a few more words than usual.

Salamander couldn’t resist and ruffled her brother’s fluffy white hair. If Ludwig hadn’t passed by just then, Salamander, who took her queenly dignity very seriously, would have shown her brother what bloodline suppression really meant.

Anuo, with his ahoge sticking up, enthusiastically suggested to his new friend that he must try the principal’s Sunset Orange ice slush when meeting him.

“Alright.” Ludwig put his glasses back on, holding some parchment and gold-edged books from who knows where. The whole demon looked as if he radiated the holy light of knowledge, cultured, polite, and elegant. Even Salamander hesitated in her judgment-was this really Ludwig?

After Ludwig brushed past the siblings and entered the principal’s office, Salamander had to hurry off as well. The Foreign Minister had sent a Communication Magic-an invitation from the Pope.

Her Majesty the Queen was truly busy, but before leaving a trail of silver waves behind for her brother, she didn’t forget to remind Anuo: “Don’t take the gods lightly.”

Even though she herself suspected the God of Light had long since fallen.

-In this world, only the Goddess of Nature should be eternal!

That very night, Anuo ended up in the school infirmary.

When he, weak all over, hands and feet cold, struggled to slowly knock on the door of the neighboring dormitory, the whole Elf was about to fall apart. Was this divine retribution for disrespecting the gods? So soon?

This worry ended when the beige curtain of the neighboring sickbed was slowly drawn back, revealing Principal Tacitus’s beady eyes. The friends of ice slush were reunited.

The human school doctor took off his bird-beak mask, stood with arms crossed between the two beds, and smiled, “Sunset Orange is delicious, isn’t it?”

With a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, the school doctor shared a little-known biological fact: Sunset Orange, which only grows in Great Waterfall Town, is harmless to ordinary humans, and Long-lived Species can have a little without issue. But if they eat too much, they’ll experience symptoms similar to Flower Vomiting Syndrome-throat burning, violent coughing, and even spitting out flower petals when they open their mouths.

However, this reaction doesn’t cause much harm to the body: “Once you’ve vomited a whole flower, the desensitization reaction is over.” All the doctor could do was arrange for them to lie in the infirmary beds… and leave it to fate.

The two patients looked at each other with tearful eyes, full of regret.

The dwarf principal took the lead in apologizing to the school doctor, swearing to the heavens that whoever eats it again will turn into a Tutu Pig!

That night, after finally vomiting out almost a whole flower, Principal Tacitus magically produced a plate of Nun Puffs from his Spatial Ring-red crisp pastry, fluffy cream, clearly a carefully crafted delicious dessert.

He generously shared with the neighboring bed, “Want some?”

Anuo: …I suppose that’s fine.

Author’s Note:

Flower Vomiting Syndrome: Not a real disease, mostly used in fanfiction. Literally means vomiting flowers. This story is a derivative work and differs from the traditional concept of flower vomiting.