"Every 'great arcana' possesses its own title. For instance, the first-ranked great arcana corresponds to the title 'The Fool,' the second to 'The Magician,' and the third to 'The High Priestess.' All twenty-two great arcana each have their unique titles."
"The 'little arcana,' on the other hand, are divided into four major sequences based on different academies. Nine Provinces College belongs to the 'Wands Sequence'; Alpha Academy belongs to the 'Pentacles Sequence'; Atlas Academy belongs to the 'Cups Sequence'; and Starry Sky Academy belongs to the 'Swords Sequence.' In addition to the rankings from Sequence One to Sequence Ten, each sequence also has four special sequences: 'King,' 'Queen,' 'Knight,' and 'Page.'"
"Although the rankings change every year, some positions are essentially fixed," Xiao Xiao said, drawing a few horizontal lines in his notebook and pushing it in front of Zheng Qing.
"For example, the top three positions among the 'great arcana' belong to our esteemed Principal and the two Vice-Principals, respectively. The 'King' in the 'little arcana' definitely belongs to the Student Union President of the corresponding academy. These positions match their respective identities and almost never change, which is considered an unwritten rule."
Zheng Qing looked at the nouns and order listed in Xiao Xiao's notebook, recalling his explanation.
"They just mentioned that the Wild Demon's brother from Daming Ward is Pentacles Sequence Seven. That means he's a little arcana, listed on the 'Individuals with Special Influence over Alpha' list, and ranked seventh. Is that right?" Zheng Qing summarized.
Li Meng nodded repeatedly, showing an expression that implied he was teachable.
"Strange, I distinctly remember that fat man saying his brother was a Publicly Funded Student from Atlas," Zheng Qing muttered softly, scratching his hair, as he stared at Xiao Xiao's notebook.
He felt his mind was a mess right now.
Across the dining table, Xiao Xiao raised his eyebrows and picked up the orange juice in front of him.
...
The silver-white curtains were rolled high. Outside the window, an endless, rolling sea of clouds stretched out. Pale golden sunlight streamed through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm, orange-yellow glaze on the restaurant floor.
A green Little Elves scurried frantically across this glazed floor, emitting faint cries. Her translucent wings appeared to have been roughly crumpled by hand, wrinkled and torn.
In the self-service restaurant, students walked around casually, no one noticing the tiny creature underfoot. Until she bumped into a playful little fox.
The fox rubbed its pink nose against her face, curiously examining her.
The Little Elves stopped, hesitated, then extended her delicate tiny hand and scratched the little fox's ear.
The fox comfortably narrowed its eyes.
The Little Elves leaped onto the fox's back, burying herself in its soft fur.
...
Most of lunchtime had passed. Adhering to the principle of entering a buffet so full you need to lean on the wall and leaving the same way, Zheng Qing and the others insisted on sitting at the dining table, waiting for the food in their stomachs to digest a little.
On the table, a snow-white pigeon cooed, picking fragrant grains of rice from its tiny owner's palm. The old tortoise, meanwhile, was Shrink in its shell, refusing to peek out no matter how Xiao Xiao tried to coax it.
To make their pets eat more, their owners were truly putting in the effort.
Zheng Qing leaned lazily on the sofa, rubbing his stomach.
One downside of eating too much was the inconvenience of moving. Zheng Qing felt he would have to remain half-reclined on this sofa until they disembarked from the plane.
"Where's your fox?" Li Meng kicked him across the table. "There are still a few small steaks, quickly stuff them into its stomach."
Zheng Qing wiped his somewhat greasy mouth with a tissue, put his fingers in his mouth, and let out a loud whistle. A greasy, full burp surged up his throat, following the whistle.
He quickly closed his mouth.
Not far away, the little fox scurried back from the crowd.
"You little rascal, where did you run off to!"
Zheng Qing grabbed the fox by the scruff of its neck and hugged it.
Then he discovered the Little Elves huddled trembling on the fox's back.
"There's a Little Elves injured here!" he shouted to Xiao Xiao.
Li Meng dropped the white pigeon she was feeding, jumped off the sofa, and squeezed over: "Let me see, let me see! I know healing spells, let me try!"
The pigeon, Little White, cooed angrily behind her.
...
"Stubborn wizards may not respect lives like Alchemy creatures, but they wouldn't do something so pointless," Xiao Xiao said, parting Poseidon's fur and carefully examining the injured Little Elves, his expression serious. "The abrasion on this little thing's wings is clearly man-made."
The Little Elves seemed to have been greatly frightened, clinging tightly to the long fur around Poseidon's neck, burying her head within it, trembling, and resolutely refusing to let go.
Li Meng rummaged through her small purse and pulled out a pure white feather, affectionately stroking the little creature.
The pigeon, Little White, stood on Poseidon's head, cooing in dissatisfaction.
Little Monk Shiyuan silently twirled his prayer beads, sitting cross-legged in front of Poseidon, praying for the Little Elves.
"It shouldn't be anything dangerous," Zheng Qing said, feeling the atmosphere was a bit heavy, and tried to comfort them. "Could it be a prank by some child? This Little Elves only has a minor wing injury."
"But the problem is, where did the other Little Elves go?" Xiao Xiao looked up, carefully surveying the entire restaurant.
Zheng Qing was speechless. Only then did he realize that it had been a long time since he had seen groups of Little Elves flying around the restaurant.
He glanced at the serving counter not far away; many empty dishes were still placed there. On the surrounding dining tables, used utensils and leftovers were mixed together, looking messy.
"Your question gives me a bad feeling," Zheng Qing frowned, pulling out a small gray cloth pouch from his embrace. He clearly remembered that earlier, when Li Meng merely sneezed and sprayed a little juice, several Little Elves had rushed over in a panic to clean it up for her.
"The Little Elves' scent is so familiar," Li Meng had initially buried her head on Poseidon's back, softly comforting the injured Little Elves. Suddenly, she looked up at the others: "Smell it, it's like I've smelled it somewhere before."
"It's not the Curly-haired Wizard's," she added.
Zheng Qing forced a smile, leaned closer, and sniffed.
On the broken tip of the Little Elves' wing, there was indeed a familiar faint fragrance.
"It's that flight attendant," he said, looking at Li Meng with certainty. "When she did our security check earlier, I was closer, and the smell is exactly the same."
Li Meng coughed ambiguously twice, looking at him mischievously.
"There might be some misunderstanding here," Zheng Qing pretended not to see Li Meng's smiling face and turned to his two companions. "Should we go ask?"
He pointed to the flight attendant's lounge not far away.