A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 185 The Pizza Girl's Arcane Festival Night (80th Anniversary Surprise Edition)

Quinn's aesthetic sense wasn't bad. Although the dress was troublesome to put on, once the little girl wore it, she had a cuteness that was different from her school uniform look, specifically, she looked like the adorable girl next door.

But the bottom was still empty, so it really couldn't help with dressing. Quinn even suspected that Lynn didn't have any panties in her closet.

During this time, the two inevitably came into physical contact.

The little girl seemed completely unconcerned, but Quinn was different—not because of the slippery, pleasant feel of her skin, but because Lynn's body was too cold.

Before the time rewind, Quinn held Lynn's hand, and everything seemed normal. But now, her body temperature was almost the same as when she had run out of mana in the abyss; she was so cold that she felt like her skin was pressed against ice.

Quinn helped her get dressed before turning his gaze back from the ceiling:

Why is your body so cold?

Lin blinked; clearly, she wasn't aware of the problem herself.

It wasn't until he looked at the few empty glass bottles on the table that he finally uttered a single word: "Hungry."

"Shall I bake you a pizza?"

"it is good."

Quinn opened the bag next to him and took out an enormous twelve-inch flatbread—he could bake it in his dorm and bring it over, but it would be cold then, and it's common sense among older Chinese people not to feed children cold food.

Moreover, as a hired hand who was personally trained by an Italian chef, Quinn stubbornly believed that pizza must be baked and eaten immediately.

Do you remember the opening ceremony?

Lin nodded, stretched out her hand, and a ball of flame emerged from her fair palm.

In this strange place, she and Quinn shared a rare understanding.

The pizza dough rested on a round plate engraved with star charts and arcane runes—one of the divination tools issued by the academy. Quinn, of course, didn't know how to divine, but he figured he might as well use it; it was the perfect size for baking a pizza.

This exquisite craftsmanship could fetch tens of gold pounds outside, and if it weren't for the scarcity of people skilled in divination and arcane arts, the price could be even higher. If traditional arcane sorcerers saw Lynn and Quinn using such sophisticated arcane arts in this way, they would definitely condemn it as a sign of moral decay.

The divination disc wasn't a baking pan, after all; it didn't have a handle for heat insulation. Quinn held it by both sides as he handed it to Lin to bake, inevitably getting his hands burned by the heat. Quinn didn't mind; his body was far more heat-resistant than the average person's, and he would simply turn the disc around if it got too hot.

But to his surprise, Lin noticed this. Although the little girl didn't say anything, she slightly closed her hand that was casting the fire spell to concentrate the flames so as not to burn Quinn.

Quinn's eyes softened, and he said with emotion, "If you could be as considerate of the other students as you are now, those unlucky sixth-graders wouldn't have triggered the Undying Totem so many times."

There's a reason why Lin is so elusive.

Back in first and second grade, she never missed a class, and was even more punctual than everyone else; otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten to know her classmates.

But Lin has a big problem that she is unaware of—her view of the world is different from that of normal people.

Specifically, the little girl doesn't understand human speech very well, and naively believes that other humans are no different from herself. She can't feel cold or heat, her skin is as hard as metal, she has innate knowledge of most arcane arts, and her mental strength and control require no arduous training.
This year's sixth graders were in big trouble, especially the classes on the new arcane arts after the Age of Gods were prone to problems.

In modern alchemy class, Lin's mana output could blow up the boiler; when teaching hypnosis, everyone in the classroom, including the teacher, fell into a deep sleep and had to be rescued by the administration office; in demon defense class, an undead totem would randomly appear; in the annual Broom Academy Cup, Lin's broom almost knocked off the tail of the Whale Skeleton Library.
Such incidents were countless, but Grindelwald was not an ordinary academy that accepted accidents as part of the education—until a familiar summoning class in the third year, when Lin summoned a mirage dragon from the spirit world. This giant prehistoric sub-dragon caused the academy's defensive magic, Nibelungen, to breathe out on the spot, and a bolt of lightning destroyed the mirage dragon along with the twenty teachers and students in the classroom. After that, Lin was strictly forbidden from participating in classroom interaction and was only allowed to sit in on classes.

Starting in fourth grade, Lin rarely attended classes. After all, she already knew most of the arcane arts, and auditing classes would be a waste of time. She would only occasionally go to the classroom when the new arcane arts developed after the Divine Calendar were being explained. She would sit quietly in the corner of the classroom, a tiny figure, and disappear instantly after listening. The sixth graders treated her like a randomly appearing mascot.

Upon hearing this, Lin's face showed a reaction. She first stole a glance at Quinn, then lowered her eyes to continue staring at the pizza.

"Lin, I apologize."

"Pfft." Quinn didn't expect Lynn to actually feel guilty about the trouble he had caused, so he comforted her, "Actually, nobody cares. Rather, they hope you make a fuss more often. Dying once and resurrecting the Undying Totem isn't a big deal, but every time you cast a spell, it's a learning opportunity for them—like the fire spell for baking pizza, can they do that?"

After watching Quinn bake pizzas for a long time, Lin was able to perfectly imitate the flames in Quinn's dormitory fireplace, no longer shooting out astonishingly high-temperature white flames as on the day of the opening ceremony.

She said in a muffled voice, "I don't know how to get along with my classmates."

Recalling the scene on the train where the sixth-grade students were making a ruckus for Lin, Quinn smiled and asked, "How about we go see the Arcane Festival together tonight? With your classmates."

"Pizza too?"

"No, but I can make you a pineapple pizza when I get back, provided you can buy it at the market."

Lin's calm gaze swept over the man focused on baking pizza, and her pale eyes seemed to undergo a slight, almost imperceptible change, like white clouds ruffled by a gentle breeze.

"Quinn."

"Ok?"

"You are special."

Quinn knew that she was answering her earlier question, "If you could be as considerate of the other students as you are now."

So he smiled slightly and felt that the plate was no longer hot.

The intense aroma of durian and cheese spread as the flames rose.

Although Lin didn't urge her, her little head drew closer and closer to the pizza on the baking tray. In the darkness, the firelight reflected on her perfect face, and her long hair shimmered like the aurora borealis.

Seeing that she was practically shoving her nose into the pizza, Quinn finally pulled the baking pan away. Looking at the flame spell that had been burning for four minutes without going out and maintaining the same temperature, he exclaimed with a touch of absurdity, "Alright, I guarantee that Axwell won't find a better pizza than this."

Without any incantation, several magical blades divided the pizza into twelve equal slices. The legendary heat-resistant Wang Lin eagerly grabbed a slice and stuffed it into her mouth—

She remained craning her neck at the table, and only after a long while did she reluctantly begin to chew.

This time she ate very slowly, slower than ever before, and finally licked her fingers before asking Quinn casually, "What is this?"

"Durian." In the dimly lit room, Quinn pointed to the fruit puree on the pizza: "It's a fruit from the South Pacific islands. Normally, half the people should like it and half should hate it, but for some reason, most people in this world hate it, so it's sold very cheaply. How about it, do you like it?"

He thought Lynn would like it. In Quinn's mind, durian was much more palatable than the likes of cilantro or celery. Although many people disliked the smell and refused to eat it, they would become loyal durian fans after just one bite.

Mi Yutong's father, the man who gave Quinn the iPhone, was a big fan of durian. He once casually, yet also somewhat lecturing Quinn while eating durian, mentioned that it was his secret weapon for building relationships. The office, decorated with millions of dollars' worth of rosewood, didn't have many fine teas; after a client finished business, the secretary would bring out an unopened durian instead.

Regardless of whether others accept it or not, he'll insist on having them open the durian for him, then share this fruit that's difficult to open, smells awful, and tastes messy. Finally, amidst the customer's moved gaze, he'll tell them it's Musang King, from Pahang, Malaysia, and that a single segment is more expensive than a pot of aged Pu'er tea. This whole process breaks down the reserve of a businessman or official, pierced by the durian's thorns, and also strengthens interpersonal relationships, earning him an impression of genuine kindness.

He probably never imagined that it was those durians that betrayed him. A casual remark by Quinn that "Miss wants to eat durian" led his secretary to deliver the phone number of a Musang King durian supplier, which in turn led to the address list of addresses for the group's holiday durian gift boxes. That list was then handed over to the disciplinary committee by a narcotics officer, thus cracking the largest drug trafficking case in Jianghai City's history.

Memories flashed through his mind, perhaps faded by time. Quinn no longer felt regret or complicated emotions about what happened many years ago, just like a mountain watching water flow away, leaving nothing but the soft sound of water.

While Lin was lost in thought for a moment, she had already finished the sixth piece.

Whether they like it or not is self-evident.

"I want to marry Durian," Lin said with utmost seriousness.

"That's not how you use the word 'marriage'." "Eat." Lynn handed Quinn a slice. "The best pizza."

Quinn shook his head, indicating that the little girl could finish it all.

“I’ve already eaten.” He said, like a single mother bringing her daughter a KFC single meal.

Quinn had a guess: perhaps because her body was made of magic, the little girl didn't have a strong palate, but rather a dulled sense of taste, thus preferring high-sugar, high-salt, sweet and sour foods. Durian already had a pungent smell, and he had switched to an extremely rich-flavored cheese, plus an excessive amount of seasoning. For Lynn, this pizza might just be what pizza was supposed to taste like.

But it would be a bit too salty for Quinn to eat.

While Lin was eating pizza, Quinn placed the two gift boxes that Amamiya Yu had given him on the table.

Yuu Amamiya had specifically instructed that one box, engraved with an arcane array to keep the cake fresh and warm, was for Rin's birthday.

While marveling at the extravagance of big capitalists and nobles, who even used arcane artifacts to hold cakes, she was also somewhat puzzled as to why she was sending a cake.
In Temuran, there is no tradition of eating cake on birthdays. In the South, people usually eat chocolate pies, while in the North, they eat cream cheese chicken.

Leaving aside the fact that they are cut into small triangular pieces and sold as desserts, large, round cakes like this in boxes have only one use in Temuran—marriage proposals. This somewhat strange use is said to be related to the First Hero, but Amamiya Yuu said that the Cavendish family eats cake on their birthdays, so it must be explained clearly to avoid misunderstandings.

When Quinn told Lynn this, the little girl didn't react much; she always got cake on her birthday.

As for Amamiya Yu, she shook her head, indicating that she did not know her.

To order around those important figures to run errands. It is said that the Cavendish family donates a large sum of money to the college every year and is Grindelwald's number one sponsor, so it is not surprising that they have a relationship with the headmaster.

"There's another gift box. Here, open it yourself."

"Ah."

It means you help me dismantle it.

Lynn was engrossed in eating her pizza, and Quinn, knowing she was uninterested in almost anything other than food, helped her unpack it.

This was a gift from Amamiya Yu. As the richest woman in the Southern Continent, she wore no jewelry except for the silver ring on her ring finger. But her aura didn't lie. Quinn, who had dealt with many top-tier wealthy people, knew that this elegant yet languid demeanor was a sign of almost being detached from material desires—she had everything, so she no longer cared about anything.

Quinn was curious about what she would give.

Strangely, the thief's ability to appraise the items didn't seem to register; he even thought the gift box wasn't as valuable as the cake next to it.

Quinn opened the gift box, and sure enough, it was just an ordinary plush toy.

"Wow, a fish, such a big fish! A tiger shark! This shark looks so lazy, like it eats vegetables."

Along with the shark came a letter.

Lin had just finished her pizza. After wiping her hands, she took the shark, glanced at it briefly, and casually placed it on the bed, adding it to her family of bedside toys.

But before Quinn could even give her the letter, Quinn reached out her hand, looking unusually expectant.

"Here, did Harry write this? Uh."

Quinn frowned when he touched the little girl's hand.

"Why is it still so cold?"

My body temperature didn't rise at all; it was still ice-cold.

This is a 12-inch pizza; it would fill him up.

Lynn paused, then reluctantly placed the letter aside. Quinn keenly sensed the sullen emotion on her face, like a child afraid of a needle—an emotion even rarer than anticipation for Lynn; it was the first time Quinn had ever seen her avert her gaze.

"I don't want to eat," Lin said with a hint of disappointment. "I want pizza."

Quinn immediately realized that "rice" did not refer to food.

"Is this what it is?" He pointed to the several glass bottles on the table that seemed to devour light.

"It's very cold."

"Cold?" Surprised that Lin could also feel cold, Quinn asked in confusion, "Then can we not eat?"

“I will die.” Lin lowered her head. “Humanity will be extinguished.”

Quinn paused, then said nothing more. She picked up a glass bottle containing the contents from the table and lifted her clothes.

A beautiful body and snow-white pigeons were exposed in the darkness.

"With pizza here, I don't want to die."

After saying this, he plunged the needle into his heart without the slightest hesitation.

The skin collapsed like clouds falling into the eye of a storm, revealing a dazzling array of complex and intricate magical circuits that extended, rotated, and connected with the mana inside the glass bottle.

The next second, Quinn was teleported out of the room by spatial magic.

He finally understood why the house was built so securely.

After the Demon King's Eye was activated, through the dark door to the girl's room, he saw a wave of mana energy no less powerful than the bombardment of Grindelwald's Eye, swirling like a vast ocean and circling like stars, trapping the girl inside.

I don’t know how much time passed.

It could be a long time, or it could be a very short moment.

Every time Lin eats, she loses consciousness for a moment, followed by a familiar, bone-chilling cold, like countless icicles piercing her flesh and bones, dragging her into the deep sea, unable to move, breathe, or speak, and even her thoughts become discontinuous.

But this time, she didn't seem so cold.

Something warm enveloped her, tightly enveloping her. Gradually, warm liquid flowed over her body, spreading from her back to her entire body. It was 37 degrees Celsius, the temperature of a human body. For the first time, she felt warmth so vividly.

The first breath she took after regaining her senses was no longer the gasp of someone on the verge of death; it was as comfortable as the shallow breaths of a peaceful night's sleep. A moment later, she opened her eyes, her expression still serene. She saw the blood flowing over her body and the candlelight before her.

Why am I bleeding?

Amidst these doubts, she found herself curled up in the man's arms, her entire body soaked in his hot blood. It was probably because the mana leaked during their "meal" that had hurt him. Yet, his breathing remained at a familiar, reassuring frequency. Lin's once majestic white eyes trembled slightly, the magical part dissipating, replaced by a strange emotion that welled up and flowed away.

The candlelight flickered in the darkness. Lin nestled in his arms, lost in thought, not knowing why she was crying. Perhaps it was because there was a cake with candles on the table, and no one had lit candles for her on her birthday for the past two years. It was a warm light.

"I'm sorry I lied to you. Happy birthday."

(End of this chapter)