Magic Farm 147

Chapter 147: A Blessing from the Little Sprite

Drawing on the rumors he’d heard from Leslie and his son, Qi Yu spoke simply: “The Forest of Stars is a land of magic. Long, long ago, in ancient tales, it was once the home of the elves.”

The Duke and Duchess both glanced at him in unison.

Qi Yu shook his head. “Not me—I haven’t seen… any other elves in the forest yet.”

A lie, really—he wasn’t an elf, and there wasn’t a single elf in the Forest of Stars.

“In the Forest of Stars, spring is the season when all things grow. The whole forest blooms with flowers, and plant sprites are born from the fragrance of the blossoms. They are the forest’s best friends.”

The bluebell flower sprite cocked her head, listening intently to her lord’s words, and when she heard this, nodded vigorously.

Although what the lord described didn’t match the current snowy, frozen forest, a voice in her little head kept saying: Yes, it’s just like that!

“We choose the best time to invite friends from afar to the Spring Festival in the Forest of Stars…”

He couldn’t make up any more.

That was all he’d seen.

But it was already enough to leave the Duke and Duchess amazed.

My god.

Both thought the same thing: Such a place really exists in this world? With so many people longing for elves, how could you keep it hidden away like this?

Qi Yu caught a glimpse of Shen Xingyu giving him a big thumbs-up.

Shen Xingyu thought, This local kid can really spin a tale—he makes it sound so real.

But with that look, and those words, it was truly convincing.

If he hadn’t just come from the Forest of Stars himself and seen what it was really like, he’d have believed it too.

Just then, a maid came in quietly to report that Miss Clarissa had woken up.

The Duke and Duchess looked at Qi Yu and Shen Xingyu. “You two…”

Qi Yu said, “Please, lead the way.”

.

Clarissa had an especially large room, filled with books, toys, dolls, and decorations.

There were even precious pearls and gems, tossed in boxes and piled in some unremarkable corner, for the little princess to play with whenever she wished.

All this was because her weak health kept her indoors most of the time.

The Duke and Duchess had done everything to make her room a lavish, cozy fairy-tale world, hoping she could be a little happier there.

But Clarissa didn’t really find joy in this.

What she loved most was, on days when the weather was good and she felt well, being taken by her parents out of that room.

Even if she didn’t leave the house, just getting out of her room, sitting in the garden to feel the breeze, watching the maids dance or play lively games—any of that brought her happiness.

Her parents entered.

“Clarissa, my darling,” the Duchess said, kissing her forehead tenderly. “How are you feeling now?”

“Very well, Mama.”

The Duchess smiled gently. “Then let Mama take you out to the garden to enjoy the sun, how about that?”

“Really?” The little girl’s eyes lit up, a hint of secret hope in her voice. “Mama, will there be an elf waiting for me in the garden?”

“?”

The Duke and Duchess exchanged glances. The Duke couldn’t help but ask, “Clarissa, why do you ask that?”

Those two mysterious guests had arrived while Clarissa was asleep.

No one could have told her.

Clarissa’s voice was full of a small, sweet excitement: “I just had a dream. In the dream, a little sprite told me that when I woke up, an elf would come to see me.”

At that moment, both parents had the same thought: Could it be that some god, glancing down, had taken pity on this suffering little girl?

So, at the end of her life, she was given this blessing, to have her wish fulfilled?

The Duchess swallowed her sorrow and said gently, “We wanted to surprise our precious Clarissa, but it seems the elf told you first.”

“Is there really an elf waiting for me?” The girl’s eyes shone with a fierce light.

She looked at her mother, then at her father.

Both nodded.

She let out a small cheer. “Then Mama, I want to wear my white dress—the one embroidered with flowers!”

Her pale cheeks flushed with rare color. “The book says elves love flowers and plants. If only I could be a flower too.”

“Darling, Mama promises—the elf will love you.”

.

Qi Yu and Shen Xingyu sat in the garden.

Perhaps the butler had told the Duke and Duchess that the kindly elf lord had eaten quite a few pastries.

So now, the table covered in a snowy-white cloth was piled high with cakes and cookies of every kind.

This little “preference” made the Duke and Duchess smile knowingly: What bad intentions could an elf who loves sweet cookies possibly have?

The two were flipping through The Adventures of Andrew.

There really was a Golden Sand Desert in it.

But Shen Xingyu leaned over and whispered, “Other than the name, there’s nothing similar about it at all.”

Qi Yu asked a different question: “On safe days in the Golden Sand Desert, don’t you also get ‘Adventure Events’?”

He’d meant to visit Shen Xingyu’s place for this, but it had been delayed.

“You never got a golden flash?”

Shen Xingyu: “What! There was a gold-rank reward in that wheel?”

“……”

They both fell silent.

Damn, Shen Xingyu cursed inwardly.

Stupid game, always picking on the unlucky ones.

He held back, out of respect for his friend’s love of the survival game, and only grumbled silently.

Qi Yu told him, “The golden flash is just a short scene. I drew two, and from them I saw… a Forest of Stars completely different from reality.”

Shen Xingyu caught on right away. “That’s what you just described?”

Qi Yu nodded.

Shen Xingyu thought, So this local kid really isn’t the type to make up stories and lie. He’d just been shocked at how smoothly he’d spun that tale—but it turns out he was just reading from the answer sheet.

Qi Yu, meanwhile, was mulling things over and slowly voiced his thoughts: “I’ve always wondered what those scenes meant. Now, seeing this book…”

The book was open, his hand resting on the page describing the Golden Sand Desert.

“I just remembered, the first time I went out exploring, I mentioned the Forest of Stars to someone.” He recalled Leslie’s reaction.

“At first, he had no impression at all, then remembered it as a place from stories he’d heard as a child.”

Later, when he met Gareth and Mia in the resource zone, he’d asked about the Golden Sand Desert.

Not only had they heard of it, Mia had even sung a song about it.

“Shen Xingyu,” he said softly, “do you think the Forest of Stars and the Golden Sand Desert are really real places?”

His words were like a cold wind, sending a chill down Shen Xingyu’s spine.

If what this local boy said was true, then the Forest of Stars, the Golden Sand Desert, and all those other survival regions weren’t real places on this continent at all, but “phantom lands from stories and legends.” What did that make the players surviving in those lands?

And besides, he didn’t know about the other places, but the real Forest of Stars and Golden Sand Desert were nothing like the stories.

A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind, but before he could sort them out, they heard footsteps behind them.

Clarissa was being pushed over in a wheelchair by her father.

Her health was poor, but her eyesight was not.

From a distance, she spotted the two figures sitting with their backs to her.

Her gaze locked onto one of them: in the warm sunlight, that long silver hair practically glowed.

Sensing someone approaching, both turned around.

“Wow!”

Qi Yu saw a tiny human child.

If he hadn’t known she was seven, he would have guessed even younger.

She had big blue eyes, skin so pale you could see the faint blue veins beneath, and hair of pale gold—dull and colorless, like her complexion, perhaps from illness.

She looked like a flower about to wither.

But now, seeing him, that flower seemed to come alive, if only for a moment.

“You must be the elf from my dream,” the little girl said, utterly certain.

She gazed in wonder at the elf before her, who was even more perfect than the elves she’d imagined.

Qi Yu saw her reaction and knew his disguise had passed.

He relaxed a little, happy to have met her expectations.

“Yes,” he said gently. “I heard there was a little girl in Aufeli who loved elves very much, so I came to see her.”

Clarissa’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes glued to him, not daring even to blink.

“Mr. Elf, where are you from?”

“The Forest of Stars.”

She frowned. “I’ve never heard of it. Mama told me many elf stories, but none about the Forest of Stars.”

Qi Yu’s expression didn’t change. “The Forest of Stars is very hidden. Ordinary people don’t know about it.”

“Oh.” Clarissa clearly believed him, and asked innocently, “In the stories, elves are powerful nature mages and archers. Are you like that, Mr. Elf?”

The Duke and Duchess looked a little nervous, worried Qi Yu would be offended.

They’d noticed the badge on his mage robe.

A third-rank mage wasn’t considered very powerful in Aufeli.

Qi Yu replied naturally and confidently, “I’m still very young, and not yet a great mage. But I will work hard to become one.”

He reached out his hand to the little girl.

Clarissa didn’t quite understand, but eagerly placed her hand in his.

She felt a gentle breeze in her palm, and a green vine grew from their joined hands, lengthening and budding with pale yellow flowers.

Then, the vine curled around itself, forming a fresh, lovely little garland.

The girl watched in delight, expecting the elf to give her the garland or place it on her head.

But the elf only called out, “Little Bluebell.”

What? Clarissa was puzzled.

The next moment, she saw a tiny light fly from the elf’s silver hair.

It was a sparkling, flower-crowned little sprite!

The girl was stunned.

She watched as the little flower sprite fluttered her transparent wings and landed in her palm with a “ya!”—then hugged the garland, which was many times bigger than herself.

Qi Yu thought the bluebell sprite was truly amazing—she actually managed to carry a garland so much bigger than herself, flying slowly up to Clarissa’s head.

Then, she gently set the garland on top of Clarissa’s hair.

The tiny sprite even fussed over the placement, adjusting it carefully to make it look just right.

Then she hovered in the air and bowed gracefully. “Blessings to the clever and beautiful Princess Clarissa. May you always be happy. From the bravest bluebell flower sprite in the whole Forest of Stars.”

“I…”

Clarissa was so overwhelmed by the magical surprise that she was completely stunned.

She looked helplessly at Qi Yu, then turned to her parents, and suddenly, huge tears rolled down her cheeks.

“S-sorry…” she sniffled, laughing through her tears, “I’m just so happy!”