Npc 145

 The golden totem-adorned hoof stepped elegantly onto the old storage room floor, the wooden boards creaking under its weight.

Professor Lucius, a centaur, adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. Sunlight streamed through the mint-green ceiling window, accentuating his refined features.

His wise green eyes coldly scanned the storage room, filled with golden dust, idle desks and chairs, herbs, specimens, and various discarded magical items, searching for traces of truant students.

“Look, I told you Jiang Yan isn’t here, really…”

Professor Lucius ignored him, stepping gracefully with his hooves, inspecting between the cabinets. Jian Hou followed closely, glancing around nervously.

After a full sweep of the storage room, Lucius found only a few lost magical teaching tools, some ancient herbs, and scattered traces left by other students.

No sign of Jiang Yan.

Jian Hou let out a long breath, following Lucius toward the door. As they walked, he said lightly, “See, I told you Jiang Yan isn’t here! The academy clearly forbids early relationships. Why would he break the rules?”

At the doorway, Lucius paused again, turning to scan the storage room once more. Jian Hou’s heart sank.

Lucius turned to the chattering Jian Hou. “Jian Hou, as one of the first human students at the academy, your presence has always been controversial. For the dignity of humans, you should act with more composure.”

“Yes, yes!” 

Seeing this, Lucius sighed, his expression softening. “Though Jiang Yan is the prince of the Elf Clan, due to certain rumors, hardly any students are willing to befriend him. I’m pleased you’ve ignored those rumors and become his friend.”

“Jiang Yan and I hit it off right away. He’s a very kind elf,” Jian Hou replied.

Lucius nodded approvingly. “But as a friend, when you know someone has done something wrong, covering for them is also wrong. You should guide them to correct their mistakes.”

“Teacher, Jiang Yan really didn’t…”

“Enough! I believe he’s not here. Let’s go check his dorm,” Lucius said.

As his hoof elegantly stepped out of the storage room, he paused once more, casting a meaningful glance back inside. Ultimately, he adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, said nothing, and turned to leave.

“Teacher, wait for me!” Jian Hou called, following him.

With a bang, the storage room door closed.

The moment it shut, in a corner previously obscured by idle desks and chairs, the handsome giant appeared in the golden-green sunlight, wrapped in his robe. In his arms, a naked, beautiful little elf sat on his lap, clutching his stomach and gasping heavily.

“Beast… Beast!” Jiang Yan panted, clutching his swollen belly. “Get out!”

The man being scolded toyed with his slender ankle, then leaned down to find his lips, sharing a sweet kiss before slowly pulling back.

Jiang Yan clutched his stomach, enduring the sensation that made even his soul go limp, cursing the man several times as a beast.

Yu Xiu chuckled, watching the trembling little elf in his arms, seemingly enjoying the insults. Only when Jiang Yan stopped, leaning against him to catch his breath, did Yu Xiu ask with a hint of suspicion, “Why aren’t you crying?”

Jiang Yan’s expression remained blank. “What?”

Yu Xiu gently brushed the sweat-dampened hair from his forehead, saying casually, “Shouldn’t Yan Yan be crying from shyness, hiding in my arms, calling my name over and over, wanting to beg me but too embarrassed to speak?”

Jiang Yan froze for a moment.

Yes, he was a sensitive, shy little elf. In this situation, he should be crying from shyness… should.

Jiang Yan looked at Yu Xiu.

He loved him, the rhythm of his heartbeat couldn’t lie. They were indeed lovers.

But…

Jiang Yan frowned slightly. He felt the entire world was steeped in dissonance, and the most discordant thing was himself.

Jiang Yan was the Elf Clan’s little prince, defiled by an evil god, made sensitive and suspicious by his clan’s rejection and his peers’ bullying and discrimination.

And yet… he didn’t feel like Jiang Yan at all.

—

Professor Lucius returned to the office with elegant steps.

It was lunch break, and there were no students in the office, so the moment his hooves stepped inside, the teachers looked up.

“Any discoveries in the storage room?”

Katherine Jane, a witch with a head of voluminous red curls and black round-framed glasses, asked with a gossip-hungry grin.

“They weren’t there, but…”

Lucius reached his desk, raising an eyebrow. “I caught the scent of Freud roses.”

Freud roses, symbols of dreamy love, carried the fragrance of passion in the Giant Clan’s kingdom.

At that, all the teachers broke into knowing smiles.

“Haha! The scent of love!”

“Oh, youth is wonderful!” 

“This batch of kids is just like we were back then…”

—

The teacher’s scrutiny was over, and with no classes in the afternoon, the giant wrapped his lover in his robe and returned to his castle near the academy.

He first placed the little elf in a hot spring, carefully cleaning his body, then carried him back to his bed.

Throughout, he was as gentle as if handling a precious piece of porcelain.

Jiang Yan, meanwhile, was drowsy the entire time, letting himself be tended to as if accustomed to it. The moment he touched the soft goose-down bedding, he fell into a deep sleep.

He didn’t know how long he slept, but he was awakened by the pleasant chirping of a bird.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already dark. Yu Xiu wasn’t by his side, and his body felt so sore it was as if it had been reassembled.

A chubby robin hovered near his pillow.

Jiang Yan frowned, struggling to lift his hand to touch the bird’s head. The robin perched on his finger, tilting its head, but it spoke in Jian Hou’s voice: “Jiang Yan! Jiang Yan, are you okay? No word all afternoon. are you sleeping? Lucius didn’t find you guys. Congrats on getting through”

The corner of Jiang Yan’s lips twitched slightly, though his expression remained subtle. He said to the bird on his fingertip, “Thanks!”

The bird tilted its head, seemingly relaying the message.

Soon, Jian Hou’s voice came through: “You’re awake? How do you feel?”

Then the bird let out a cheeky “hehe” laugh.

Jiang Yan knew what he was laughing about but ignored it, saying only, “Thanks for covering for me.”

The bird tilted its head again, and Jian Hou’s voice responded, “No need to thank me. Haven’t we always had each other’s backs since we were kids?”

Jiang Yan froze.

The bird’s head-tilting stiffened, as if Jian Hou, far away, was also stunned.

After a moment of silence, the bird tilted its head again, and Jian Hou’s voice came through: “Haha! Sorry! I don’t know why, but even though we only met this semester, I feel like we’ve known each other forever.”

Jiang Yan’s long lashes trembled slightly. Strangely, he felt the same way.

But, as Jian Hou said, they had only met this semester, not even three months ago.

Jian Hou was human.

By the continent’s traditions, humans weren’t allowed in this forest, and the academy wouldn’t admit human students.

The reason Jian Hou and others were accepted by the forest and became the academy’s first human students was because the human cities and villages had faced a terrifying event, the corruption of an evil god.

No one knew why the long-dormant god had suddenly awakened or why it had gone to the human world, just as no one knew why it had once defiled Jiang Yan when he was still an elf fruit.

Though the races living in the forest didn’t particularly like humans, they were allies against the evil god.

If that fearsome deity fully awakened, they would need to stand together to face it. Thus, the forest offered humans shelter, and the academy agreed to admit a group of human students.

That’s how Jian Hou became one of the first human students at the academy. On the first day, when he saw Jiang Yan alongside Yu Xiu at the student council recruitment, they hit it off instantly and quickly became friends.

Jiang Yan gained his first friend besides Yu Xiu.

However, other humans weren’t as kind to Jiang Yan.

Due to the rumors circulating in the academy, especially the Elf Clan’s demonizing tales about the tentacle in Jiang Yan’s body, he was seen as a “vessel” for the evil god in their eyes.

Jiang Yan didn’t comment on this. He was used to such rumors and unkind treatment from childhood.

Besides, the evil god was indeed a terrifying entity.

It represented impurity, corruption, and consumption.

Consumption… consumption… consumption…

Jiang Yan felt he had indeed forgotten something. Memory fragments flashed through his mind, but he couldn’t grasp them. 

His head suddenly throbbed unbearably.

A strange static buzzed from within Jiang Yan’s body, his glass-like blue eyes flickering.

“What’s that sound? Yan Yan, what’s wrong?” The bird tilted its head on his fingertip as Jian Hou’s voice asked from the other end.

Jiang Yan’s head grew increasingly painful, but he couldn’t describe the sensation. It was as if the data code in his brain was being erased and reorganized.

Pain… excruciating pain.

Jiang Yan was usually good at enduring pain, but at this moment, he abandoned the robin on his fingertip. 

Amid Jian Hou’s anxious questions, he curled up on the bed, clutching his head and letting out a scream.

“Ah!” 

“Yan Yan! Yan Yan, what’s wrong?!” Jian Hou’s bird frantically flapped its wings.

“Yan Yan!” Yu Xiu burst through the door upon hearing the sound.

A sharp “beep” rang out.

A strange yet familiar voice echoed in Jiang Yan’s mind.

[Dungeon Reset: 35%]