“Ahhh—! Mom! I’m too young to die!”
Su Ling flailed midair, tears flying upward.
“I haven’t even gotten to eat the Academy’s free meals yet!”
As her body plummeted, the pitch-black abyss kept expanding before her, and that patch of greenish mist reappeared in her vision, making Su Ling shut her eyes in terror.
But no matter how much she resisted in her heart, the only outcomes awaiting her were either being smashed to pieces or having her very remains corroded away by the poison swamp.
Either way, she was dead meat. At the very least, she’d die as a Niu Niu with some backbone!
“Wicked stunted little loli! I curse you to be flat as a board for your entire life!”
“Who are you cursing?”
Hearing that the evil loli who kicked her off the cliff was actually chiming in, Su Ling’s anger flared.
She pointed at the voice and shouted:
“You, that’s who! I just accidentally stumbled on your little secret, and you try to kill me for it! In the end, you’re still after my meat, aren’t you?”
“Let me tell you—I’d rather die without a shred left than let you touch my meat!” Su Ling flailed her arms, her body still bouncing up and down with the rhythm.
After venting all the pent-up words, Su Ling felt a wave of relief. At least she’d eaten the Holy Maiden’s cooking before dying—worth it!
Next life, she’d still be a Niu Niu. She just prayed she wouldn’t run into another underdeveloped, petty, black-hearted loli like this one.
“You done cursing?”
“Yeah, I’m done.” Su Ling subconsciously wiped her face.
“Then get up. We need to find a new place to set up camp.” Sevitis’s voice came from nearby, accompanied by the sound of her dusting off her clothes.
“Huh? I’m still alive?”
Su Ling blinked, dazed, and only then realized she hadn’t died—not even a scratch.
Beneath her was a soft, cushiony sensation. When she pressed down lightly, it bounced her back up.
Looking down, where the bottomless abyss should have been, there was instead a huge, soft mushroom cap.
She raised her head and looked around. The air was filled with a greenish gas, but it wasn’t from a toxic swamp—it came from glowing green mushrooms.
“That thing you’re sitting on is called a Wind Sac Soft Fungus. It’s a special fungus infused with wind elements. The green gas it releases is just a disguise to protect itself—non-toxic and harmless.”
Sevitis leapt lightly from one mushroom to another like a nimble black cat, casually explaining.
“Its main feature is releasing a powerful cushioning airflow when impacted.”
“Ohh, I see.” Su Ling nodded vaguely. No wonder she wasn’t hurt at all.
It’s great to be alive! Now she could keep eating delicious food!
Having survived a brush with death, Su Ling was in high spirits. She patted her butt and stood up.
Wait a minute!
A serious problem suddenly hit her—if she wasn’t dead, then that whole dramatic “last words” speech she’d given had been heard word for word by someone!
Su Ling’s neck stiffened as she slowly turned to look at the small black-haired figure ahead. She swallowed hard.
This is bad, this is really bad. I barely saved my own skin. With Little Seviti’s vengeful personality, will she just chop off my cow head and make a full-cow feast?
Can I still take it back, lie down, and spread my belly…
“Don’t worry. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear any of that. Not discussing it with you before kicking you off was my fault. Consider this your chance to vent.” Sensing the stupid cow’s sudden silence, Sevitis said flatly without turning around.
“Really?! Little Seviti, you’re such a good person!” Relieved, Su Ling beamed and hopped after her. “I knew it—Little Seviti has such a kind heart, you wouldn’t really hurt me!”
Sevitis landed steadily on the ground and snorted.
This cow changed her face fast. She wasn’t wearing that expression when she was cursing in a rage.
But Sevitis couldn’t be bothered to argue with such a big idiot. Since she said she’d pretend not to hear it, she meant it.
Su Ling jumped down too, wobbling a bit before steadying herself.
“Speaking of which, Little Seviti, you’re amazing! You could tell at a glance that it wasn’t a poison swamp. Is this the power of knowledge? I’ve decided—once I get into the Academy, I’ll read lots of books!”
Sevitis didn’t deny it.
Actually, when she’d passed by the cliff during the day, she’d already seen through the true nature of the mist below with her Soul Vein.
That’s why she dared to jump straight off.
More importantly, using this natural camouflage, she’d finally shaken off that scheming woman Eulalia.
First, she deliberately emphasized that the cliff was a dead end.
Then she led her to set up camp at a place with only one escape route.
Finally, she used verbal cues to make Eulalia think she had no way out.
After putting on that whole act, not even Eulalia would guess that she’d jump off a cliff with a cow!
Got you, Eulalia. This is my escape route!
Sevitis scanned the surroundings, then turned to Su Ling.
“We’ll camp here for the night. Saves us the trouble of finding another spot. Not just you—even mindless demon wolves will mistake this for a poison swamp and stay away.”
“Ohh, okay.” Su Ling nodded obediently, but she scratched her horn, feeling like she’d been subtly insulted.
Grrruuuumble—
A thunderous sound suddenly erupted from Su Ling’s stomach. She clutched her belly, face red, and bashfully approached.
“Um… Little Seviti… After that scare, I think I’m hungry again. Can you spare me some more black bread?”
“Sure.” Sevitis agreed readily.
“Really?! Thank you so much! I’ll follow Little Seviti to the death from now on!”
“But there’s a condition.” Sevitis changed her tone, crossing her arms with a cold smirk.
“Given your fence-sitting behavior earlier—almost getting lured away by that bad woman with just a little food—I can’t let you eat my rations for free anymore. As agreed before, one gold coin per piece.”
“Huh—? That’s so unfair!” Su Ling’s face fell.
“Of course, if you think it’s too expensive, you can choose not to eat. Or gamble on whether those glowing mushrooms are poisonous.” Sevitis gave a sweet smile that sent chills down the spine.
She’d said she’d pretend not to hear the cursing, but she never said she’d let the earlier debt slide.
If she didn’t teach this stupid cow a lesson, she’d think she was an easy target!
“Fine… fine, I’ll buy.” Su Ling weakly submitted.
Expensive as it was, she had to fill her stomach. She’d just have to work multiple jobs after getting into the Academy to pay off the debt.
Seeing her give in, Sevitis pulled a stack of black bread from her Storage Space and handed it over.
Just as Su Ling was holding the bread, ready to open her mouth wide and enjoy, Sevitis added casually as if remembering something:
“Oh, right. I forgot to mention. I didn’t say one gold coin for a stack.”
She held up one fair finger, smiling like a flower.
“It’s one gold coin—”
“per piece.”
Su Ling’s half-open mouth froze. Suddenly, the pile of black bread in her hands didn’t seem so appealing.
“Huh—?!”
……
Meanwhile, atop the cliff.
At the camp bathed in warm holy light, the two girls had long since vanished, leaving only the unfinished pot of stew.
With soft footsteps, a golden figure emerged from the dark forest into the glow.
Looking at the empty camp, Eulalia seemed unsurprised. She let out a light sigh.
“Ran away, huh. Pretty quick about it.”
She crouched down, her gaze falling on her own empty bowl. Far from being annoyed at being left behind, a bright smile flickered in her eyes.
“Well, if she’d stayed put and waited for me, she wouldn’t be Sevitis. She probably had this escape plan figured out in her head for a while.”
Eulalia stood up and straightened her skirt.
“But watching her elope with another girl, I can’t just do nothing.” Her blue eyes were still clear, but her tone carried a hint of jealousy.
“If I let her go, big sister here will get jealous, you know.”
The golden-haired girl parted her crimson lips. A melodious, ethereal wordless tune flowed through the silent night.
A dazzling platinum-gold holy light flared on Eulalia’s chest. Amid the interweaving radiance, the faint outline of a cross war flag fluttered in the wind.
“【Assassin】.”
“【Rider】.”
As her voice fell, a grand gate of holy light opened behind her in midair. Two tall figures—one green, one pink—stepped out of the gate.
“Wendy, please go find where they went.” Eulalia smiled as she gave the order.
“Yes, Master.”
The light-green-haired, pointed-eared girl knelt on one knee, bowing respectfully.
In the next second, her form dissolved like ink in water, disappearing into the shadows.
Eulalia turned to the other side.
“Irene, deal with those untimely little dogs that came to bother us.”
“No problem, my adorable Master.”
The girl with pink-gold hair, a halo floating above her head, smiled gently.
She slowly turned, spreading her broad white feathered wings, and walked gracefully toward the demon wolves snarling in the darkness.
The leader was especially massive, with a row of vicious bone spikes along its spine.
Having arranged everything, Eulalia turned back.
“Then for me… I’ll have dinner first.”
She picked up the bowl that had clearly been maliciously raided by someone, refilled it from the pot, took the same spoon, and casually brought the food to her mouth.
The girl chewed slowly, a sweet smile spreading across her face.
“Mmm~ Delicious. As expected of me.”