LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Family Should Be Together
Since Yu took Alice as his student, the entire group had become much livelier. Alice was like a little sparrow, always chirping away, bringing joy to everyone around her. Before long, however, the group discovered a harsh truth.
This little angel… was a genius! No matter the subject, she picked it up instantly and could even extrapolate to solve related problems on her own. Occasionally, she would let slip a bit of unintentional smugness. When others asked how she learned so quickly, her answer was always the same:
"It's simple. How could anyone not understand?"
Yu soon realized that Alice was different from the others. She easily grasped concepts he introduced, even those that should have been unfamiliar. She seemed almost… familiar with them. But Yu didn't dwell on it—everyone had their secrets, and there was no need to pry.
But, as fate would have it, an unexpected accident occurred.
Standing before the blazing ruins of the manor, Yu fell into deep thought. Should he be happy or angry? Happy because his student's talent was beyond extraordinary, or angry because they now had no place to sleep tonight?
"Alice! Care to explain what happened?"
"Teacher…"
"Call me Headmaster."
"Headmaster, sir, it's like this: while you were all out gathering materials, I thought I could try adding some Electro Crystals to the mixture. I didn't expect… this. And, uh, one of the senior brothers on guard outside got injured… Alice didn't mean to, really!"
Suddenly, vines sprouted from the ground beneath Alice, forming a cage that trapped her inside.
"Three days of confinement. Reflect on your actions."
"No! Headmaster, please!"
"Protest, and I'll double it."
"…Alice understands." (Dejected)
"And the rest of you! Stay away from the cage!"
"No, Headmaster! Please, Alice is too adorable to leave in there."
"Do you want to be punished too?"
"Can we be punished with Alice instead?"
The other students: ...…
No one knew which brave soul uttered that absurd request.
With a vine whip in hand, Yu lashed out, his expression dark. "One day after another, none of you are learning anything useful. Just fooling around all the time!"
"Headmaster, I was wrong!"
After disciplining the students, Yu still felt annoyed as he watched them scatter in a panic.
"Why are you all still standing around? Set up camp! Tonight, you'll be sleeping with the ground as your bed and the sky as your blanket!"
"Yes, Headmaster!"
---
A few days later, Yu decided it was time to head back. Just then, a student came running over excitedly.
"Headmaster! Look what we found!" Two students approached, each carrying a small, fluffy wolf pup. The little creatures had soft, silver-blue fur and were so adorable they seemed capable of melting hearts at a glance.
Yu was startled. "Where did you find them? Did you steal someone's pups?"
"No, Headmaster, we didn't steal them—we snatched them. We scared off the pack with bombs and grabbed the pups."
Yu sighed. His nation clearly didn't raise any slackers.
"How could you do that?"
The two students assumed Yu was angry, since taking someone's young was indeed a questionable act.
"A family should stay together. Where are the parents? I'll go and snatch them too."
"Headmaster, you're brilliant! Follow us, we'll show you the way."
Yu was genuinely delighted—he loved raising pets.
"I'm coming too!" Alice, having finally been released from confinement, bounced up eagerly, bursting with energy.
"Fine. We'll sneak in quietly. No unnecessary noise. Understood?"
"Yes, Headmaster!"
---
"Headmaster, a few of them got away."
"Let's round them all up. If only a few are left behind, they'll be lonely. We'll grab the rest as we go."
Meanwhile, in the far north, Andrius, the Wolf of the North, listened as his pack's survivors recounted their ordeal.
"We were peacefully sleeping and eating when we were suddenly ambushed. Our pups were taken, and when we tried to fight back, they attacked us again! There was one white-haired figure among them who was especially ruthless—he captured most of us. To the males, he threatened castration if they resisted, and to the females… Well, his methods were terrifying!"
In a large circular enclosure, a few remaining wolves huddled together in fear, their eyes filled with dread.
"Wretched creatures! How dare they take my kin! They will pay the price!" A colossal figure emerged from the shadows—the King of the North Wind himself—who lunged ferociously at Yu.
The massive wolf's leap startled Yu. It had been a long time since any creature dared to approach him so aggressively!
"Everyone, stand back."
A vibrant green glow enveloped Yu, and countless vines erupted from the ground, spreading outward.
"This is getting exciting."
The Wolf King hesitated. Something about this human seemed… off. He sensed that he might be in over his head, but he had no choice but to press on.
The Wolf King roared, unleashing a frigid blast of wind to counter Yu's vines. For a moment, he gained the upper hand by pushing his strength to its limit, hoping to scare them off.
But Yu only grew more exhilarated.
Just then—
"Overlord, please stop! They're good wolves. Don't hurt them."
A young man wearing a tan hood and a Wind Vision at his waist appeared on the scene.
"I remember you—Anqi, right? What are you doing here?"
"Overlord, I came to Mondstadt to start a new life, but an accident happened, and the wolves saved me. What about you? Why aren't you back home…?" Anqi trailed off, unwilling to go into detail about his past.
"I brought some students here for an academic tour…"
The Wolf King dared not speak up, though inwardly he raged: Then why did you take my pups?! He glanced at the young man he had once rescued and felt a pang of gratitude—without him, he might have lost everything today.
"Fine. For his sake, I'll let your whole family stay together. Let's go home."
The wolves gathered, whimpering softly as they cried and licked Anqi's face in gratitude.
The Wolf King sighed in relief. That had been too close.
~~~
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