After finishing the nursery rhyme, Siet set down his harp and looked at Sperien, who was bent over his notebook, scribbling away.
Ever since the cub had asked him for a notebook and quill, he had diligently covered the pages in strange scrawls during every lesson.
Why call them scrawls?
Because the marks looked almost like writing, yet not quite. They twisted crookedly across the page, utterly impossible to decipher. Whenever the little cub became stuck halfway through a sentence, he would open his notebook, check something, and then continue speaking.
His pronunciation was still lacking, but at least the others could understand him now.
Given Sperien’s unusual circumstances, Siet often gave him additional lessons, correcting his mispronunciations, expanding his vocabulary, and breaking sentences down word by word.
Sperien had an excellent attitude. He studied diligently and asked whenever he did not understand something. Unfortunately, the results remained disappointing.
Siet found it utterly baffling.
Fairies and Elves were both favored children of the Light God. They possessed extraordinary gifts, had a natural mastery of languages, and were renowned throughout the continent as linguists and translators. They were highly sought after. Any adventuring party with an Elf or Fairy among its members could travel through different countries without language ever becoming an obstacle.
However, after the War of the Gods ended, the Elven King sealed off the Faerie Forest and withdrew from worldly affairs, almost entirely cutting off contact with the outside world. Only a small number of Fairies and Elves who required experience beyond the forest were permitted by the Elven King to disguise themselves as humans and travel across the continent. When they returned, they brought back vast amounts of information.
Thus, even without leaving the forest, the Fairies and Elves still knew what was happening in the outside world.
In addition, a massive magic mirror stood within the Crystal Castle of the Elven Kingdom. With the proper spell, it could reveal anything its caster wished to see.
Siet’s thoughts had wandered.
In any case, Sperien’s complete lack of talent for languages made him an anomaly among Fairies.
Of course, Siet would never give up on him because of that.
Fairies were a people who cherished their cubs.
Even if a cub could not learn Elven, all they needed to do was patiently teach him a few more times.
When Shu Li finished writing down the phonetic lyrics to the nursery rhyme, he looked up and met Siet’s deep-blue eyes.
He guiltily snapped his notebook shut.
Then he remembered that everything he had written was in Chinese, which Siet could not possibly understand, and boldly opened it again.
The calligraphy classes he had taken for more than ten years had not been wasted. He could switch freely between several different scripts. Cursive was the fastest and the hardest to recognize. Anyone unfamiliar with it would only think he was drawing incomprehensible symbols.
Shu Li’s Fairy body was still in its cub stage. His fingers were short, plump, and tender. The first time he tried to write, he had nearly been unable to hold the quill at all. Only after four or five days of practice did he gradually grow accustomed to it.
Even then, the characters he wrote could not compare in the slightest to his elegant handwriting from before.
No wonder Siet’s expression had been so difficult to describe when he first saw the notebook.
Shu Li, on the other hand, had secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course he could not understand it!
"Sperien, you must speak more often," Siet said with a smile.
Fairy cubs younger than one year old focused mainly on spoken language. Only after they could speak fluently would they begin learning Elven script.
Speaking required practice. If he never opened his mouth, he would never improve.
"Yes." Shu Li obediently nodded.
He understood only part of what Siet had said, but that did not stop him from agreeing. Whenever a teacher spoke to a student, the student could usually muddle through by adopting the attitude of, Yes, yes, you are absolutely right.
Sure enough, Siet said nothing more. He lightly plucked his harp and called out to all the Fairy cubs, "Let us sing it once more."
The familiar, cheerful melody immediately began.
The Fairy cubs waited for him to finish the introduction, then started singing in unison.
This time, Shu Li did not write. He held up his notebook and sang along with everyone while reading the phonetic lyrics he had written.
"I have a great big pot lid,
It isn’t round, but square.
A square pot lid is hard to use,
So I take it to the blacksmith.
I ask him to fix it for me.
The blacksmith lifts his hammer, bang, bang, bang.
The square pot lid becomes round.
I happily carry my pot lid home.
On the road, I meet an old grandmother.
She wants to trade roast chicken for my pot lid.
The roast chicken smells delicious.
I agree to trade my lid for the chicken.
The chicken is fragrant, crisp, and tender.
Once I eat it, I want it again.
La, la, la—
Once I eat it, I want it again."
Siet played the final note and smiled at Shu Li.
He had sung it perfectly well, had he not?
A few words had been mispronounced, but overall, it was acceptable.
Shu Li grinned, revealing two newly grown front teeth.
He had studied music and possessed an excellent ear. He could memorize a melody after hearing it once, so humming a nursery rhyme posed no problem whatsoever. Singing the lyrics was another matter entirely. He sounded much like a foreigner learning Chinese, his accent thick and unmistakable.
Had Siet known what Shu Li’s phonetic lyrics actually meant, he certainly would not have been smiling. He probably would have been hopping mad.
The nursery rhyme’s real lyrics told the story of an Elf and a dwarf.
Dwarves were famously gifted smiths. The finest weapons and armor on the continent were forged by their hands.
While traveling, an Elf encountered a dwarf being pursued by a magical serpent. The dwarf begged the Elf for help and promised that, if rescued, he would give the Elf his finest masterpiece: a high-level golden bow.
Bows were the weapons Elves wielded best.
The Elf agreed, drove away the magical serpent, and saved the dwarf’s life.
Once safe, however, the dwarf broke his promise and refused to hand over the golden bow.
The Elf did not force him. He simply turned and left.
The dwarf laughed triumphantly, but before he had finished, the magical serpent suddenly reappeared and resumed its vicious pursuit.
Perched on a high branch, the Elf watched calmly as the dwarf fled in a panic, then put away the flute he had used to summon the serpent.
Through humorous lyrics, the nursery rhyme warned innocent young cubs to think carefully before acting while away from home, never rescue strangers by the roadside without caution, and stay away from dishonorable people who broke their promises.
Shu Li’s vocabulary was limited. When Siet explained the story, he understood only fragments and relied on his impressive powers of deduction to infer the plot.
After finishing the lyrics, he had deliberately written a summary of the story’s actual meaning beneath them, lest his own phonetic version lead him completely astray.
After spending the entire morning learning nursery rhymes, it was time for lunch again.
Aisha had prepared a lavish meal for the cubs.
At two months old, the Fairy cubs had finally grown teeth and could now eat supplementary foods in addition to nectar.
There were all kinds of fresh, juicy little fruits, sweet jam, rich milk, and crisp baked biscuits. Beside each little silver bowl was now a plate for solid food. After washing their hands, the cubs sat cross-legged on the vine table and ate with great enthusiasm.
Having just sung an entire song about pot lids and roast chicken, Shu Li stared at the table full of fruit and sweets and suddenly craved meat.
Back in his original world, he had never been able to live without meat. Yet after transmigrating here, he had not seen so much as a single shred.
Come to think of it, could Fairies eat meat?
He would have to ask Aisha.
Shu Li finished his last biscuit, let out a satisfied burp, and rolled his pale-green eyes thoughtfully.
Aisha was clearing away the cubs’ empty bowls and plates when she suddenly sensed an intense gaze and turned around.
"Little Sperien, do you need help with something?" she asked kindly.
Shu Li licked his lips and hesitantly began, "Um... eat..."
Oh no. How did one say "meat" in Elven?
He gestured for Aisha to wait, opened his notebook, and searched for the Elven pronunciation of the word.
One page, two pages, three pages...
Strange. Was it not there?
Had Siet never taught it, or had Shu Li forgotten to write it down?
Shu Li scratched the back of his head, closed the notebook, and looked helplessly at Aisha.
Forget it. He could ask again once he had learned more words.
His teeth had only grown in halfway anyway. He probably could not chew meat yet.
When Aisha heard him say "eat," she assumed he was still hungry and asking for more food, so she placed two little fruits on his empty plate.
The portions she prepared for the cubs were carefully calculated. Apart from one or two with especially large appetites, most were always full by the end.
"Go ahead and eat."
The cubs were growing every day. Naturally, their appetites would increase as well.
Shu Li rubbed his round, swollen belly and reluctantly picked up the fruits. They were tiny enough to eat in a single bite, but he was already so full that he truly could not manage another morsel.
He stuffed both fruits into the belt pouch at his waist, patted it, then looked up and gave Aisha a sweet smile.
He had asked Aisha for the little pouch not long ago so that he could carry his notebook and quill.
When she gave it to him, she explained that it was only an ordinary cloth pouch. Once he learned magic, he would be eligible to receive a proper storage pouch of his own.
Shu Li’s eyes had immediately shone.
No wonder Aisha and Siet frequently pulled large objects out of the little pouches at their waists. Those were the legendary storage pouches. Space magic had been placed inside them, allowing them to hold enormous quantities of things.
Aisha’s gaze softened as she looked at the cub’s adorable smile.
Aside from being slow to learn speech, Sperien was excellent in every other respect.
She hoped he could overcome this difficulty and master Elven. In one month, the Fairy cubs would leave the Fairy Nursery and begin living in the Faerie Forest.
A cub who could not speak would be at a disadvantage.
Shu Li knew nothing of Aisha’s concerns. He found Redhead and Whitehead, who had already eaten their fill.
"Ilia, Angela, go play!"
Redhead’s little face tightened as he corrected Shu Li for what felt like the hundredth time. "My name is Dixio."
Whitehead planted his hands on his hips. "I am Angier."
"Oh. All right. Dixio, Angier." Shu Li accepted the correction without hesitation. At first, mispronouncing their names had embarrassed him. Now, he did it without blushing or missing a beat.
He actually knew the proper pronunciation. Whenever he repeated the words in his head, he never made a mistake. Yet the moment he spoke aloud, his mouth and tongue seemed to form opinions of their own and forcibly warped the sounds.
Perhaps this was what people meant when they said the heart and mouth did not agree.
"Sperien is a big idiot—bleh, bleh, bleh!"
A plump brown-haired Fairy cub pulled a face and mocked Shu Li.
Shu Li frowned.
Him again!
His name was Budeno. Ever since gaining greater awareness, he had developed a habit of opposing Shu Li.
Calling it opposition might have been an exaggeration. After all, the cubs were innocent and displayed every emotion openly. One day during a lesson, Siet had asked Shu Li to answer a question. Shu Li answered incorrectly three times in a row, and Budeno pointed at him and burst out laughing.
Shu Li himself had not cared, but Redhead and Whitehead had lunged at Budeno to defend him, and the three had ended up brawling.
From then on, a grudge was born.
Whenever Shu Li mispronounced a name or said something wrong, Budeno deliberately ran over to mock him in revenge.
As an adult, Shu Li magnanimously refused to argue with a child. Besides, his speech was too clumsy for him to win a verbal fight anyway.
Unfortunately, the more Shu Li ignored him, the harsher Budeno’s taunts became.
"Sperien is a little mute! A little, little mute!"
The followers behind him immediately echoed, "Sperien is a little mute! A little, little mute!"
Ever since Shu Li’s hopeless lack of talent for languages had been exposed, his prestige among the Fairy cubs had plummeted. Furthermore, once the cubs became more aware, their individual personalities and tempers began to emerge. They no longer worshiped him blindly, and several small groups formed.
Budeno and the three Little Fairies beside him were one such group. They acted together, played together, and joined the same games.
Although Shu Li’s prestige had fallen, Redhead and Whitehead remained steadfastly loyal to him as their big brother and would never tolerate anyone mocking him.
Redhead stuck out his tongue at Budeno. "Bleh, bleh, bleh! Budeno is the big idiot! He fell into the pond while washing his face and almost got swallowed by a huge fish!"
Whitehead promptly exposed another embarrassing detail. "Who cried afterward? Oh, it was Budeno!"
Budeno’s face turned bright red.
At two months old, Fairy cubs had already developed a sense of shame.
Because he ate so much, Budeno was heavier than the other cubs. That morning, while washing his face at the pond, he had picked a small leaf to stand on. The leaf could not bear his weight and sank beneath the water.
As luck would have it, a large fish emerged from below and opened its mouth to draw in water, nearly sucking him straight inside. Fortunately, Aisha saw what happened, used magic to drive the fish away, and saved his life.
Once he returned to shore, the more Budeno thought about it, the more frightened he became. In the end, he burst into uncontrollable sobs.
Aisha told him that the fish in the pond were friends of the Fairies and would never eat a cub. Only after a long period of comforting did he finally stop crying.
Unfortunately, the other Fairy cubs had witnessed the entire scene and laughed at him for quite some time.
Now that Dixio and Angier had brought it up again, Budeno was both humiliated and furious. His mouth twisted, his wings beat hard, and he charged toward them aggressively.
While Shu Li envied the cubs’ ability to argue so fluently, he refused to back down. He stepped in front of Redhead and Whitehead and forced the words out one by one.
"No. Fighting. We. Get. Punished!"
Heaven only knew how difficult it was for him to say a sentence that long.
Budeno remembered that Aisha’s punishments included reduced food portions and abruptly stopped.
He struggled to suppress his anger.
For the sake of food, he would endure it!
He pouted, gave a cold little snort, and led his followers elsewhere to play.
Shu Li let out a long breath of relief, wrapped an arm around each of Redhead’s and Whitehead’s shoulders, and said with deep emotion, "Good brothers!"
He had spoken those words in his native language.
Yet Redhead and Whitehead unexpectedly repeated them with perfect pronunciation.
"Good brothers!"
Shu Li fell silent.
Why did he have to struggle so desperately to learn Elven while they could pick up Chinese with such ease?