bookbashuk Page 296
Page 296
"Uh, uh..." Latis opened his mouth, countless sarcastic remarks flashing through his mind. After a long while, he sighed and said:
"Education and training is about creating outstanding next generations..."
"?" Artemis blinked.
……
After a vague explanation, Artemis finally understood what love was.
"Oh, so it's the reproductive behavior between organisms, I know that!" She nodded very confidently and said:
"I've seen many records about plant pollination in the library of Herod City before, it's amazing! Brother, did you know that two plants of the same color can produce offspring of different colors!"
"What? Mendel exists in another world too?"
Latis mentally scoffed, then nodded and said:
"I know, it's just dominant and recessive traits!"
“Dominant…” Artemis’s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth in a daze, saying, “And, recessive… traits?”
Latis chuckled inwardly, nodded seriously, and said:
"Right, Arte, being a clever plant expert, surely knows this, right?"
The half-elf's ears drooped instantly, and he said embarrassedly:
"I...I don't know..."
Latis suppressed a laugh, patted the half-elf's head, and said in a deep, high-pitched voice:
"How about this, you call me teacher, and I'll teach you."
“Teacher…” Artemis whispered instinctively as Latis had asked, but then she realized what she was doing, looked up at Latis’s expression, and blushed slightly as she said coquettishly:
"Big brother, you're teasing me again!"
"Ah, this is so great!" Latis exclaimed, tilting his head back in ecstasy.
“You you you…” The half-elf raised his eyebrows, a wicked idea flashing through his mind. He bit Latis’s ear and whispered in his ear.
"Teacher—please teach me..."
"hiss!"
Radist gasped sharply, as if an electric current had shot through his spinal cord, instantly numbing his entire body.
"Wait, I'll teach you!"
"Hehe." Artemis chuckled with a hint of smugness. Although her heart was still racing from her bold move, the fact that she had managed to make Latis retreat in front of her filled her with a sense of accomplishment.
However, a strange noise suddenly came from below her bottom. The half-elf looked around in alarm, her ears twitching nervously. In a familiar lift, like that of an elevator, she was lifted up twenty centimeters.
"This, this is..."
She immediately recalled the scene from her previous trip with Latis, surrounded by vines, and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Teacher Latis~” Atelier Blinked and asked, “Is this your teaching method?”
……
As Latis was being overwhelmed and begging for mercy by the pure love energy, Atelier listened to a short lecture on Mendel's pea biology.
"I see, every plant has unique genes." Remembering her work on plant improvement using magic, she suddenly felt much clearer and a delighted smile appeared on her face. She said:
"In that case, the work on improving those chili peppers and such will soon make progress!"
"Don't mess with my chili's DNA!" Latis couldn't help but shout. "Also, class is over, shouldn't you be coming down now?"
"Eh?"
Artemis exchanged a bewildered glance with Latis, only remembering from his downward gesturing look that she was still sitting on a small stool about twenty centimeters long.
Her face flushed slightly as she looked away, guiltily pulling away from Latis. She coughed lightly, took out the statue of Emperor Pova from the dimensional rift, and said:
"Brother, this is what I found in your old house..."
"Oh my god, isn't that Old Deng?" Latis adjusted his egg, looked up, and immediately recognized the face of Emperor Pova. He took the stone sculpture in surprise, fumbled with the memory fragments, and asked:
"Is this a family heirloom statue?"
"Yes."
Artemis nodded and said:
"When I got my hands on this stone sculpture, it suddenly started talking."
"The stone sculpture spoke?!"
"Yes, he called himself Emperor Pawa the Great."
"..."
Latis was silent for a moment, recalling the unreliable Emperor Pova, then released his grip, letting the stone sculpture fall onto the bed. He then swept it aside with a wave of his hand and said:
"Don't believe a single word he says."
"Huh?" Ateliers tilted her head and said, "He told my older brother about the conditions for activating your bloodline..."
"Holy crap! How could he tell you this?!" Latis exclaimed in surprise, "Old Deng is too rebellious!"
"……Eh?"
Artemis stared at Latis for a moment, then sighed, slumped against him, and whispered:
"So, my brother knew..."
"I……"
Latis's limbs gradually stiffened. The sorrow emanating from their shared souls caused him to involuntarily feel a pang of pain. He gritted his teeth, quickly embraced the dejected Ateliers, and anxiously explained:
“Arte, I… I know this through some special ability, but I’m not sure if it’s true, so I don’t know how to make you believe me… Moreover, I’m more afraid that you’ll think I’m deceiving you. If Arte doesn’t want to, then I won’t activate my bloodline! Magic is more than enough to achieve great things…”
He looked at the half-elf who lay on top of him, still seemingly dead, covered in sweat, and his heart suddenly clenched. He reached out his slightly trembling hand and cupped Ateliers's face, looking into her eyes that were constantly rippling with emotion. For a moment, he seemed to lose the ability to speak, and stood there dumbfounded.
……
"My older brother is so stupid."
"I won't be sad about something like that."
Ateliers sighed, took Latis's hands that were cupping her face, and gently moved back onto him, whispering in his ear:
"Big brother, can you guess why I'm sad?"
"Wha, what?"
Latis snapped out of his daze, opened his mouth, and asked uncertainly:
"...Because I'll be surrounded by lots of girls?"
"Wrong, wrong!" Ateliers reached out and pinched Latis's cheek, shaking her head as she said, "The little birds are also children I like very much, I won't be sad because of this! You have two more chances!"
"Hiss..." Latis broke out in a cold sweat, his mind racing. He quickly grabbed the half-elf's hand and said:
"Let me think about it, don't be nervous, don't be nervous..."
"Big brother, you're the one who's nervous!"
Artemis let Latis knead her soft, boneless hands, her eyes curving slightly.
It seems that ever since she made up her mind to completely entrust her life to the man in front of her, she has become more and more fond of deliberately making him flustered.
"If my older brother can't guess, how can I properly explain my thoughts to him...?"
Her thoughts began to drift away. The small conflict before her was not a serious problem for her. On the contrary, she believed that different souls were bound to have various conflicts in the process of trying to get along. In the short span of more than ten years she had traveled through human society, although she had not personally participated, she had already witnessed such scenes many times.
Liking someone isn't difficult, but it's not easy either. The story of Miludo in the fairy tale isn't something every pair of fairies can achieve.
"If only my older brother truly understood me. I'm such a greedy little elf, wanting to skip the stages of smoothing out our rough edges. But what couple in this world is perfectly compatible from the start? My older brother is the most important person to me. Even if it means enduring shame time and time again so he can completely see through my heart, I'd do it..."
"Ate, ate!"
Latis's voice brought Ateliers back to her senses. She looked at Latis's determined gaze with surprise and instinctively asked:
"Big brother, what did you say?"
“I said, I think I guessed it.” Latis had already warmed the half-elf’s hands by rubbing them together. He took Arte’s hand, pressed it against his face, took a deep breath, and said with a smile:
“I underestimated you, Arte… no, I should say I subconsciously lacked trust in you.”
His mind was filled with memories of his encounter with Ateliers, from the moment they met until now. This little fairy always believed in him wholeheartedly, always so pure and beautiful. This made Latis feel as if he were having an extremely bright and beautiful dream when he was with Ateliers.
Just like one afternoon during a long summer vacation when he was young, he was still poor and couldn't afford to turn on the air conditioner. He ate half a watermelon, fanned himself with a palm leaf fan, and fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up, the aroma of food was already wafting from his house, and the opening music of Cartoon Fun Island was already playing from the TV in the next house.
Then these feelings were buried by the cold reality of growing up, to the point that Latis didn't even believe such a person existed, and was always worried that she would disappear because of some difference in understanding.
But she won't.
Latis stroked the half-elf's head and laughed. Instead of answering the half-elf's previous question, he said:
"I will give you everything I have, just as you have given me, if you are willing, my loyal Artemis."
Artemis opened her eyes slightly, smiled, and lowered her head.
The azure lake in her eyes finally overflowed, as if it had been suddenly filled to the brim by something utterly harsh, and her heart was overflowing with emotion as well.
Nothing is perfect forever, but you can always pursue it. When you watch the sunset forty-four times a day, the sunset also watches you forty-four times a day.
……
……
"This is really difficult..."
Latis looked at the leaf in his hand and fell into deep thought.
Last night's minor dispute ended with Atelier's words, "Then Latis, please train with me." Latis was quite tempted, but still didn't want to hastily resolve this important matter on an ordinary night, so he told the half-elf his thoughts.
After exchanging their souls, they no longer hesitated to tell each other their thoughts. When Ateliers learned that Latis wanted a memorable first time, she laughed in surprise for several minutes before begging for mercy amidst Latis's angry rubbing.
Ateliers seemed to have some ideas, but when she looked at Latis who couldn't guess at all, she said something like, "Stupid big brother, if you can't guess, you'll be shocked." This made Latis very angry. The two of them were in sync, and he still couldn't guess. Wouldn't that make him look like a clueless straight man?
But it's really nothing, since in the end, the half-elf, to make up for and express his gratitude to Latis, imitated what he did when Latis poured eggs and massaged him with his soft hands.
A wonderful night has passed just like that.
When Latis awoke, Ateliers seemed to have already begun working, leaving behind only a leaf-shaped letter.