“It’s rare to see the young master with a furrowed brow. You should think about happier things instead.”
XÄ« raised both hands and gently clapped them together, tilting her head slightly at him.
“I remember there’s a book on the bookshelf in the young master’s room. It’s about a pure and unyielding Sacred Elf woman who was subjected to Mind Magic and forced under control to do that kind of thing with some evil noble girl… The noble girl in the book also had golden hair, just like the young master.”
“Now’s really the time to bring up those dirty books… huh?”
Suddenly, Lin Nuo paused mid-sentence, his eyelids snapping wide open.
It was as if a previously silent, overlooked memory had been torn open, revealing a crucial gap.
Even the slightest thread of thought was enough to sharpen his senses.
“I just think that even if the content is a bit unhealthy, the book wouldn’t randomly include purely imagined scenarios. Maybe, as they say… books need to be drawn from life, so the reader can truly immerse themselves and feel it’s real? I’m not sure if that’s an actual saying though.”
“I mean, maybe the part about some elves being forcibly controlled in the book actually has some basis in reality.”
XÄ« rested one hand against her fragrant cheek, her other white fingers tracing circles on the table.
“Who knows?” Her tone was casual and natural.
But to Lin Nuo, it was like boiling rainwater splashing onto a calm lake; he couldn’t help but slap his thigh.
‘See? You really can learn real stuff from those dirty books!’
“…XÄ«, you’re really… amazing!”
To be able to think about the plots of those books and connect them to reality!
Every time Lin Nuo forced XÄ« to read those books aloud, he couldn’t help but feel humbled by her talent.
Novels in this world strive for realism, drawing from current events or ancient texts… and that just reminded Lin Nuo.
XÄ« might not know, but he did!
The listless expression on his face vanished, replaced by excitement as he slapped his thigh repeatedly.
‘How could I have forgotten this!’
“Looks like the young master just had a huge revelation. But next time you get this excited, you should probably slap your own thigh instead…”
Lin Nuo looked down in shock at the slender, pearl-like white legs tightly wrapped in white silk that had somehow ended up in his arms.
“Huh? Since when did your legs get into my arms? Don’t blame me—my hands have a mind of their own!”
“Mm-hmm, I see.” XÄ« gently stroked the delicate white legs intertwined in Lin Nuo’s firm embrace, nodding but with just a hint of annoyance in her tone.
“Now can the young master please let go of my legs?”
“And my feet, too. They’re starting to get a little ticklish from you touching them.”
***
Sacred Relic Hall, Meditation Chamber.
Amidst piles of magical items, Scrolls of Relics, magical balls recording memories, and countless other objects, Lin Nuo rummaged tirelessly.
Facing illustrated catalogs detailing various magic abilities, he carefully searched line by line from start to finish.
The Fatty Bird busily flapped its wings, fetching scrolls from higher shelves and placing them beside Lin Nuo, until it was utterly exhausted and collapsed onto the towering heap of books, its bird legs twitching spasmodically.
At last, Lin Nuo’s face lit up with delight as he found a record about a certain Mind Magic.
He flipped open the ancient magical scroll in his hands and began reading every word.
“Magic Name: Whisper of the Nightmare”
“Magic Trial Subject Name: Ano”
“Condition Before Magic Attack: Ano claimed to be the strongest-bodied, sharpest-minded steel-muscle alchemist to date, believing his intelligence unmatched since birth, thus calling himself ‘Never Defeated Ano.’ Slightly lower IQ, language and logic fluent, thinking relatively clear.”
“Attack Process: The magician cast a confusing, whispering mind spell on him.”
“Condition After Magic Attack: The magician asked the trial subject Ano why his head was pointy. Ano repeatedly answered, ‘Then I ask you,’ but did not respond directly, indicating he was unable to properly comprehend the question. Several seconds later, Ano responded evasively, questioning the magician, ‘Are you male or female?’ He then further asked, ‘So what if his head is pointy?’
“Initial assessment: mental and logical abilities completely disordered. The magician believes Ano’s left brain was attacking his right brain, with probable damage to the cortical s area, though the trial subject himself was unaware…”
“Chirp chirp?”
The Fatty Bird flew over to Lin Nuo’s side, tilting its head at the densely written scroll, but Lin Nuo quickly closed it.
“No need to read further. Knowing the origin of this Mind Magic is enough.”
Lin Nuo thought of a straightforward but forceful method—this did involve Mind Magic—but of course, he didn’t expect this whispering mind spell, which only works on those with lower IQs, to be effective on the clever Water Saint Princess Amidina.
He had just suddenly recalled the story behind the whisper:
Whisper of the Nightmare originated from the battlefield where gods and demons were judged, born from an ancient curse of the Elf King.
At the moment when the Nature Goddess, having sacrificed herself to forcibly seal away the evil god, was dying, she infused all her magic into the bloodline of the elves.
The Elf King swore an oath to the Nature Goddess: “Under the witness of the gods, the elves shall dedicate their lives to justice and order, fighting for the weak, protecting the Nature Goddess’s pure magic with their flesh and spirit, ensuring no evil god’s follower may contaminate it…”
Blessed by the Nature Goddess, elves are naturally endowed with a special power to manifest powerful Sacred Relics through their magic.
And if their Sacred Relics are seized by enemies, the Elf King’s protective oath turns into a curse:
—Whoever obtains an elven Sacred Relic can use it to impose mental suggestions on the elf, rewriting and twisting their will, serving as the cruelest punishment for elves who fail to guard the goddess’s magic and lose their relic.
The Mind Magic “Whisper” was developed by a magician during the mental suggestion process inflicted upon an elf whose Sacred Relic had been taken.
Legend says the “Whisper” only harnesses one-thousandth of the power of the King’s Curse’s mental suggestion.
Even spirit sorcerers who deal in deception desperately seek to unravel this strange magic that can rewrite cognition and will.
But elves blessed by the Nature Goddess and born with Sacred Relics are extremely rare, and they rarely reveal their identity.
Even seasoned adventurers who traverse the Elemental Forest have difficulty finding a single elf with this unique ability.
Yet Lin Nuo knew the Water Saint Princess Amidina was precisely one of these rare elves!