Chapter 27 I am a child
“Xu Yi, actually even if you didn’t add the five hundred gold coins compensation, the tribe chief would have agreed to your conditions.” On the horse carriage ride back, Master Lanus looked at Xu Yi and suddenly spoke with a sigh.
“Oh? What do you mean?” Xu Yi asked back.
“You couldn’t see it? The tribe’s living conditions were already very poor.” Master Lanus give a bitter laugh before shaking his head, “Actually I had suggested to the tribe chief long ago that we should let the tribe members wander in your human world. With the skills of us dwarves, it could greatly improve the living conditions of our tribe members.”
“This suggestion is pretty good, so why didn’t tribe chief Siluka agree to this?” Xu Yi asked in a curious voice.
Master Lanus looked at Xu Yi and after hesitating a bit, he replied, “Because we dwarves have been tricked by you humans many times before and the tribe chief doesn’t trust humans at all.”
This time Xu Yi was the one with a bitter smile.
“Then why did sir tribe chief agree this time? Could it be that he isn’t afraid that I’m lying to him?”
“Because there is already no other choice.” Master Lanus helplessly said, “The Sines Continent is completely controlled by you humans, almost all of the precious resources has been taken by you humans. Whether it is us dwarves, the elves, or the beast men, we can only stay far away from you humans and find a place to stay that hasn’t been seized by you humans yet. But these places are devoid of any resources and we don’t have the creativity of you humans at all, so the living conditions of my tribe members are getting worse and worse and there are less and less people. Xu Yi, do you know? When I was young, our clan had over a thousand dwarves, but now there are only around five hundred people left.”
“When you were small?” Xu Yi looked over Lanus. He knew that dwarves lived longer than humans, so when Master Lanus talked about when he was young, that was over several hundred years ago.
Master Lanus didn’t care about what Xu Yi was thinking as he continued to say, “Just last year, three people died of old age and not a single baby was born. That is a decrease in the tribe by three people. The tribe chief knows that like this, our tribe will gradually decrease until we disappear. But there is no other choice, we can’t compete with humans at all. We can’t fight a war with the humans for resources like thousands of years ago. But trying to integrate into human society isn’t easy to talk about. You don’t know this, but for me to continue living in Banta City, I’ve suffered quite a bit of hardships and have almost lost my life.”
Xu Yi silently looked at Master Lanus and gave a soft nod.
Although he didn’t know what happened specifically, he could tell just from his imagination. For someone from a foreign race like Master Lanus, to integrate into a human city and smoothly make a living, he needed to put in quite a bit of effort.
“The tribe chief actually wasn’t prepared to send out all those adults, but he had no other choice since the conditions you gave were just too good. Not to mention everything else, just based on you taking out five hundred gold coins at once could help solve many problems that needed to be solved in the tribe. Not to mention that you agreed to give a high salary of eight gold coins each month for each worker. With this salary, their families in the tribe could live their lives without worry. Tell me, with this kind of conditions, could the tribe chief reject you?”
Xu Yi thought about this for a bit and he couldn’t help asking, “Have the daily lives of dwarves already reached such a bitter state? What is the tribe chief basing on trusting me? Could it be that he isn’t afraid that I’m lying to him?”
“You still don’t understand? Even if you are lying to him, the fact that you have taken out five hundred gold coins is real.” Master Lanus rolled his eyes and said, “Then again, you are someone I brought in the end. Although I haven’t known a kid like you long, based on me living among humans for a long time, I can tell that you are not someone who lies to others. At the very least you try to fulfill what you say. Just based on this, I feel it’s worth trusting you this time.”
Xu Yi rubbed his head in embarrassment and said while laughing, “So I’m someone this worth trusting.”
Master Lanus glared at Xu Yi, “Kid, don’t be happy too soon. As for what happens, it still depends on how you treat my tribe members. Let me tell you, if you are tricking them in the end, I will use this old life to properly take care of you!”
Xu Yi waved his hand, “How could that be? Master Lanus, you and your clansmen are treasures to me, I will use everything to protect you all, how could I lie to you. Actually, I’ll be honest with you. Master Lanus, the work and your clansmen will be doing will be very important work that will change the entire Sines Continent. In the future, it is very likely you dwarves will play a very important part in the history of the Sines Continent. When the time comes, you will become masters welcomed all over the continent, will you need to worry that you can’t afford your daily necessities?”
Master Lanus glared at him, “Kid, don’t make it sound good! What changing the continent, what written in history, I don’t care about this at all. The thing I care about most now is, where are the houses that you promised my clansmen?”
Xu Yi laughed, as he thought it really wasn’t realistic to let Master Lanus believe this.
But he was certain that as long as everything went smoothly, Master Lanus and his clansmen will become the most important driving factors to changing the history of the Sines Continent.
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When he came back to Banta City after three days, it was already time for the night lights to be lit. When he came into the city, Master Lanus said a few things to Xu Yi before jumping out of the carriage.
Xu Yi ordered the driver to return to where he lived. When he jumped out of the horse carriage, he found that there was someone sitting on the ground in front of his house and this figure looked a bit familiar.
When he came close, Xu Yi couldn’t help being stunned
“Still? It’s this late, what are you sitting at my door for?
Still had been sitting there hugging her legs with her head between them. After hearing Xu Yi’s voice, she slowly looked up.
After seeing her face, Xu Yi was shocked.
Under the lights, Still’s face looked very pale and her face was much thinner. Her face had already completely lost the previous youthful beauty it had before. A pair of big eyes and no figure at all, it was like her entire person had collapsed.
“Hey, Still, what happened?” Xu Yi leaned over in worry and looked into Still’s eyes looking up, asking in a deep voice.
Still opened her mouth, but she couldn’t say a single word. After a while, she slowly shook her head.
Xu Yi knit his brows and didn’t think too much. He helped Still up by the arm and opened the door before walking in.
When he came in, the light from Vivian’s room lit up and Vivian’s timid voice rang out.
“Who…..Who is it?”
“It’s me! You keep sleeping, there’s no need to get up.” Xu Yi replied before supporting Still over to the couch to sit down. He turned to pour a cup of water for her before sitting in front of her. After a while, he asked in a soft voice, “Still, tell me, what happened? Could it be…..you were…..bullied by someone?”
Still suddenly revealed a bitter smile and looked at Xu Yi before taking a big gulp from the teacup on the table.
Because she drank too fast, she choked and gave several strong coughs.
Xu Yi deeply knit his brows.
Even if he dind’t understand much about girls, based on Still’s expression, she must have suffered a strong hit. Otherwise for a lively and naughty young girl like her, she wouldn’t easily become like this.
“Still, did you….give the gift?” Xu Yi tentatively asked.
The last time he saw Still was when she came to his place at night last time to thank him, but she was chased off in anger by Xu Yi saying “you are still a child”.
But in their talks before this, Still had said that she finished the model piano she had Xu Yi help build and the birthday of the person she liked was approaching soon. She was going to take a trip to the Lampuri Kingdom’s capital of Anvilmar to personally give the gift to that person.
Now after several days, Still had come back looking like she had lost her soul. It was very likely the problem came from this.
Hearing Xu Yi’s question, Still put down the teacup and looked at Xu Yi for a while before suddenly asking “Xu Yi, tell me, am I a child?”
Xu Yi was stunned. Could it be that Still still cared about what he said last time?
But it didn’t seem like it based on her appearance.
Xu Yi seriously thought for a bit, but he still didn’t know how to answer.
Still clearly wasn’t in a stable mental state right now, so if he answered wrong, it was very possible it would have an unexpected effect.
“This…..That depends on what aspect you mean. Based on my aspect, you…..”
“Alright, you don’t need to say anything! You are right, I am a child! A child who is incredibly dumb!” Still suddenly raised her voice and shouted out.
“Why do you say this?” Xu Yi asked with knit brows.
“If I wasn’t an innocent child who didn’t understand anything, how could I have liked that kind of trash!” Still suddenly cursed out in a rough manner.
Chapter 28 Uncle
“Trash?” Xu Yi was stunned before his face sunk, “Still, tell me, just what happened? If someone has bullied you, just tell me, I will definitely think of a way to take revenge for you!”
“You?” Still laughed and shook her head, “You can’t do it, his family background is very strong, you can’t do anything to him.”
“He has a lot of influence?” Xu Yi raised one before before saying with a faint smile, “If it’s like this, then I do need to investigate a bit. Come, tell me, what kind of person is the fellow who bullied you? The most important thing is…..what kind of harm did you suffer?”
Seeing that Xu Yi was looking over her, a faint blush appeared on Still’s pale face. She angrily rolled her eyes at Xu Yi, “What are you thinking? Nothing happened to me at all! Don’t forget, my grandfather is a Great Magician, he doesn’t have the guts to do anything to me.”
“That is true.” Xu Yi nodded, “According to what you said, you’re sad because you realized that he was waste, therefore…..you’re heartbroken?”
“Pei! I wasn’t even dating him, alright? How could I be heartbroken?” Still reprimanded.
Xu Yi laughed, “One sided love being lost can be considered heartbroken as well.”
Seeing Still recovering some anger on her face, Xu Yi became more relaxed.
It seemed like Still had just found out that the person she admired was trash, therefore the beautified image in her heart had been shattered, dealing a mental blow to her.
This was a very normal thing, it wasn’t rare for young girls to encounter this kind of thing. It was all good as long as she wasn’t injured, she would naturally recover after a bit of time.
“Humph! It’s a good thing you can still smile!” Still gave a snort and glared at Xu Yi.
Although she was a bit angry, Still found that after talking with Xu Yi for a while, she actually no longer felt like her heart was incomparably empty and the whole world had collapsed, it was like she had suddenly come back to life.
After a while, Still looked at Xu Yi seriously and said, “Xu Yi, the things I’m about to tell you, you definitely can’t tell grandfather, do you understand?”
Xu Yi knew that Still needed someone to vent to right now to get rid of her anger, so he gave an incomparably serious nod. He looked at Still and silently waited for her to speak.
“That gift…..I still haven’t given it yet……”
Under the cover of night, there was only a faint candle inside of Xu Yi’s room.
With this light, Still slowly narrated her troubles over the past few days to Xu Yi.
Actually, it wasn’t that strange of a story for Xu Yi.
The person Still had an unrequited crush on was a male student. That male student was from a large noble family in Anvilmar, so he had a deep background. Adding in the fact that he was handsome and dashing, as well as exceptionally talented in magic, he was publicly recognized as a “male god” in the Lampuri Royal Magic Academy. He was secretly admired by countless female students.
Still was one of them.
Properly speaking, this was just a normal story of unrequited love, but Still was quite the dedicated girl. Even after graduating the Lampuri Royal Magic Academy and coming back to Banta City, she still thought about that male student even though they were this far apart.
This time she wanted to use that male student’s birthday and use that chance of his birthday banquet. Still specially had Xu Yi help her make the model piano and brought this gift filled with her love to Anvilmar. She was prepared to personally hand this present to that male student at his birthday celebration and confess to him.
Who would have known that after she arrived in Anvilmar City, she would receive some terrible new! The male god in her heart had actually been engaged!
Still naturally felt dejected, but she still planned on giving her present. She was prepared to hide her feelings and bless the male god of her heart.
If this matter ended here, it would be considered a sad story with a decent ending.
But what happened next was something that people didn’t expect.
Still found that male god at the birthday banquet. She was prepared to give him the gift and give a few words of congratulations before leaving.
Who would have known that after seeing Still, the male god would secretly tell Still that he had always loved her.
Still was pleasantly surprised, but remembering that the male god was already engaged, she tactfully gave him a reminder.
But after hearing the honey coated words of the male god, Still strangely chose to believe him. She even had two secret appointments with him in the next two days.
“How did that fellow become trash?” Listening up to this point, Xu Yi looked at Still with a strange look, “Could it be that he…..forced himself onto you?”
Still’s face turned red, “He didn’t dare force himself onto me. But he…..he…..In short, he’s just trash! He’s clearly engaged, but before he is married, he gave me that kind of request. I rejected him and he said that I didn’t like him at all! Humph! Who set the rules that someone has to give their body away if you like someone? This trash, later I overheard some classmates say that this fellow had already played with several female students while in school and then didn’t admit it at all. He was already complete trash to begin with!”
“Pa, pa, pa.”
Xu Yi suddenly started clapping.
“Still, congratulations.”
Still looked at Xu Yi with wide eyes, “I’m this pitiful that you’re even congratulating me? Are you trying to comfort me, or are you just laughing at me?”
“No, no, no, I’m seriously congratulating you.” Xu Yi said with a smile, “Still, being able to recognize someone’s real face before suffering an even greater loss, isn’t this worth congratulating? Other than that, I also admire your firm and clear mind very much. Since this fellow has tricked all those female students, he must be quite skilled in tricking girls. Since you could remain this pure and firm in front of his tricks, it really is something rare.”
Still’s face turned red and she gave a soft snort, “I wouldn’t sell myself cheap like that.”
Xu Yi said while laughing, “Good words. But Still, since you know that he is trash, why are you doing this to yourself, putting yourself in such a bad state? It completely isn’t worth it at all.”
“I just…..just couldn’t think it through for a while.” Still mumbled.
“Then what about now? Have you thought it through?”
Still looked at Xu Yi before looking at the night outside the window. After thinking about it for a bit, she took a fine box out of her backpack.
She opened the box and naturally there was the model piano she personally made inside.
Still looked at the model piano in a daze for a while before suddenly taking a deep breath and smashing her fist down.
“Hong——“
This model piano was incomparably intricate, so naturally it was very fragile. Adding in the fact that Still’s fist was covered in low grade fire magic, when this fist came down, the model piano was instantly shattered to pieces. The remaining pieces also burst into flames, instantly turning into ashes.
“Alright, I no longer have anything to do with that fellow.” Still flipped her head up and the beautiful golden hair floated up.
In just an instant, she returned to being the lively and beautiful girl from before.
Xu Yi couldn’t help revealing a happy smile.
Still really was a strong girl,, she could recover this easily.
But that meant that she didn’t have real feelings for that so called “male god”. It was no more than the admiration a young girl had for something beautiful in her youth.
This was also good, most girls would experience this once. For still to experience this, it could be considered as gaining experience, making her more mature.
“Xu Yi, I’m not going back tonight.”
When Xu Yi was praising her in his heart, the words Still suddenly said made him spit out his thoughts.
“Ha? You’re not going back? It can’t be that you’re spending the night here, right?” Xu Yi’s eyes popped out as he looked at Still in disbelief, “Are you kidding me? I am a man who lives by myself and if a little girl like you spends a night in my place, aren’t you afraid of bad rumours spreading? If Great Magician Camilla knew of this, it would be strange if he didn’t send my flying with his magic!”
“Che, I’m not worried, what are you worried about?” Still looked at Xu Yi in distance, “Aren’t you always saying that I’m a child, so what can happen if a child like me spends a night in the house of an uncle like you? Then again, you have a small girl like Vivian here, how can you be a bachelor? Relax, I’ll sleep with Vivian later and won’t disturb you, uncle.” After saying this, Still stretched herself out before walking into the bathroom, “I haven’t had a bath in several days, I’m so dirty. Hey, uncle, can you lend me some clothes? I haven’t even washed my clothes in the past few days, I don’t have anything to change into.”
Seeing Still enter his bathroom without any politeness, Xu Yi could only helplessly stand there in a daze. He looked to the side and found that Vivian had opened a crack in her bedroom door, secretly peeping on them. He waved his hand at her.
“Come over, Vivian. Go and take care of Still, tell her how to use our bathroom. That’s right, are there any clothes you haven’t worn yet from the ones I bought you last time? Take out a set for her to change into first, I’ll buy a few more sets for you later.”
Vivian gave an obedient nod and went back to her room to bring a set of clothes to the bathroom.
Not long after, there was the sound of water splashing and Still’s soft singing coming from the bathroom.
Xu Yi couldn’t help shaking his head.
“This fellow, how does she look like she’s just been heartbroken at all? Humph, calling me an uncle? I’m only twenty seven this year, alright! How am I like an uncle? Hey, Vivian, do you think I’m like an uncle?”
The pitiful Vivian looked at Xu Yi in a daze, not knowing whether to nod or shake her head.