episode_0114

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

The countless sounds of the barrier being pelted felt like a sudden downpour.

There was something refreshing about it.

Or maybe it was more like a lively rhythm—

to the point it felt like music, fueling my cooking even more.

‘Elves prefer vegetarian food, right?’

This wasn’t just for us.

I cooked with the intention of feeding all the elves too.

‘They must be starving.’

They’d just lost their village, so they probably didn’t even have proper food supplies.

Of course they’d be hungry.

And that hunger had left them even more on edge.

Thus,

I figured delicious food would calm them down.

…Or so I thought,

but they were currently in an extremely agitated state, traumatized after having killed their own god with their own hands.

‘No way they’ll just quietly eat.’

The intruders were the ones who started this mess—

so if they just accepted food from said intruders without suspicion, that would be the strange part.

But.

If it’s the cooking of an S-rank chef… that’s another story.

“Hahahahahaha!”

Even the Goddess of Light, Serena, was drooling and wagging her tail from the sheer temptation.

So it should work on the elves too.

‘Not like this alone will solve everything, but…’

It’d still help.

…Thinking that, I finished dish after dish.

Vegetarian food.

…So I claimed,

but it wasn’t just a bunch of plain greens like what elves usually ate.

‘If you really think about it, the potato fries my kids love are technically vegetarian.’

Potatoes = Vegetables

Oil = Plant-based

Every ingredient was purely vegetarian—perfect.

‘Even the sauce is vegetarian.’

It’s tomato sauce, after all.

Even the sauce is flawlessly vegetarian.

‘And there’s plenty else too.’

Elves classify even milk and eggs as vegetarian.

So,

a pizza loaded with cheese also counts as vegetarian.

‘There are plenty of delicious pizzas without meat.’

Potato pizza.

Sweet potato pizza.

Cheese pizza.

Mushroom pizza.

Vegetable pizza.

Etc.

I made a variety.

‘And for other things…’

Strawberry cream cake is vegetarian,

chocolate cookies are vegetarian,

ice cream is vegetarian.

Even the red bean shaved ice Serena praised last time—vegetarian.

“Hahahahahaha!”

Lastly… a dish with an aroma so overwhelmingly tempting it could sway elves.

Sizzle!

Curry.

If we’re talking sheer fragrance, this was the ace.

“Lia, change the barrier to let the smell through.”

“Mm!”

Whoosh!

The moment Lia waved her hand, the aroma of all the prepared dishes instantly spread through the entire forest.

“Ugh…!”

“Uh… uhh…”

The elves froze the moment the scent hit them.

Drip! Drip-drip!

Saliva trickled as their gazes slowly turned towards us.

Growl~

Even their stomachs rumbled.

But.

They didn’t give in so easily.

“You damned demons!!! You deceived our eyes and made us slay our Great Mother with our own hands!!! And now—!!! You dare manipulate our noses?! Our tongues?!!”

Since this happened right after they killed the World Tree due to the demons’ deception,

they assumed the food was another trick.

But.

A misunderstanding like this was easy to resolve.

“We’re the Hero’s Party.”

“…Hero’s Party?”

“Guided by the Goddess of Light, Serena, we are the heroes destined to drive out the demons and slay the Demon King.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

The noisy elves gradually began to settle.

The Hero’s Party—

heroes who once flourished hundreds of years ago.

With humans and beastfolk living only 50–100 years, few had ever seen them…

but elves were different.

As a long-lived race with lifespans of 1,000–2,000 years,

many had actually witnessed the Hero’s Party firsthand

and knew exactly what they represented.

And so,

they demanded proof.

“If you truly are the Hero’s Party, you should bear its crest.”

“Crest?”

“Did we ever have something like that?”

The party members looked at me, clearly unsure.

“We do.”

We did have one.

But.

There was no real need to verify it here.

Everyone already knew who the Hero’s Party was—why bother with something as cumbersome as crests?

…Besides,

most humans had no idea the crest existed.

Even if we showed it and declared ourselves the Hero’s Party, extremely few would even recognize it.

So we never really brought it up.

But.

Now, the crest could serve as proof.

I explained how to summon it.

“Focus mana into the back of your right hand. The crest will appear as proof of the Hero’s Party.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah. That’s it.”

Lia, Elise, and Sophia—all three manifested the Hero’s Party crest.

“So it is the Hero’s Party.”

“Then you can trust us, right?”

“However… who exactly are you to speak as their representative?”

“?”

“You bear no crest, and you even omitted the honorific ‘-nim’ when referring to the great Goddess of Light, Serena!”

The elf chief glared at me.

“What manner of fool dares show such disrespect?!”

Oh.

That was the issue?

Then I’d explain.

“Why would I call my own friend with honorifics?”

“Friend?!”

“Yep. Serena and I are friends. Close enough that she outright acknowledged it herself.”

“Such lies—!!! ”

“It’s true. Our Master is friends with my mom.”

“Hero?! Mom?! What kind of—!”

“She’s Serena’s biological daughter—born from her after descending to the mortal world in human form, carrying her for ten months, and raising her for twenty years.”

“Sh-she’s the Goddess’s own flesh and blood?! Th-that esteemed one…!”

“Now that you know, how about dropping the hostility?”

“V-very well!”

The elves lowered their bows and loosened their guard.

But.

They weren’t entirely free of suspicion.

“We shall verify if illusions or transformation magic are at play.”

“Go ahead.”

Considering they’d slain the World Tree due to illusions,

their caution was justified.

But as they were inspecting us—

“The alleged friend of the Hero’s Party and Goddess of Light… shows no abnormalities.””

The chief spoke while eyeing me with clear displeasure.

The feeling was mutual.

In Prophecy RPG, these very elves had constantly interfered whenever I tried romancing Marianne.

‘Well… I get why they’re like this, but…’

The demons had tricked them into slaying their Great Mother, the World Tree.

Naturally, they were furious—

so much so that they’d become a race of madness, willing to do anything to exterminate demons.

As a result,

even Marianne—who’d been peacefully living in a rural village—had been hunted down and killed.

Her transformation magic was high-level, yes,

but the very first thing the elves researched was magic to see through illusions.

Driven by the resolve to never fall for demonic illusions again, they’d developed an infallible detection spell.

They saw through Marianne’s disguise,

tracked her relentlessly like madmen, and slaughtered her.

So,

of course I disliked them.

How could I not resent the ones who killed Marianne the most?

…That aside,

they were also a bunch of stubborn old fossils who’d lived for thousands of years—hard to reason with.

‘Though they seem to be listening now.’

Perhaps hearing that Serena’s own daughter was present had mellowed them out considerably.

During the game, they’d been so prickly they’d snap at the Hero, saying, “What does a brat like you know?!”

But now, they were even using honorifics.

They’d become remarkably docile.

Though not entirely.

“However… there is an issue.”

“An issue?”

“Regarding those beasts over there.”

“Shiro and Kuro?”

“Correct. We detected traces of magic masking their true forms. They may well be demons in disguise.”

“Ah… No need to worry about that. We cast the concealment magic on them.”

“Then you’re aware of their true nature?”

“Sure am.”

“Then enlighten us.”

“You’d be better off not knowing.”

“Unless you reveal it, we cannot permit their entry.”

The chief’s tone brooked no argument.

But what would happen if they learned one of those “beasts” was the Goddess of Light herself?

‘Hmm…’

Curious as I was,

I had no intention of exposing Serena’s identity like that.

So I phrased it differently.

“Their identities are a grave secret—one Serena herself ordered kept. And yet… you demand it be divulged?”

“Guh…”

The chief faltered at the mention of Serena’s command.

However suspicious he was,

defying the Goddess of Light’s word was far too dangerous.

He couldn’t push further.

“Let’s just eat first.”

“……”

“I made plenty. After we eat, we’ll discuss how to handle the demons that infiltrated the elves’ forest.”

“But…”

I already knew what the chief would say.

How could we sinners who slew the Great Mother dare eat?

Our grief chokes us—we cannot swallow food.

Something along those lines.

So,

I cut straight to the point.

“If you cooperate, we can expedite the World Tree’s revival. So let’s eat first.”

“The World Tree’s revival?!!! Is that possible?!!”

“It’s not a 100% guarantee, but I’m 90% confident it’ll work. Should succeed without issue.”

“If that’s true, we have no time to waste on—!”

“Shut up and eat. We’ll talk after.”

“But—!”

“You’ll need your strength to help revive the World Tree. So eat.”

Taking them as they were now would be pointless.

‘Starvation sapping their strength is one thing, but…’

The real issue was this:

‘They still don’t trust us.’

In Prophecy RPG, they’d constantly doubted the Hero’s Party, even backstabbing them.

They were still suspicious now.

So,

I couldn’t take them yet.

‘At the very least, one of two things needs to happen.’

Either forge a solid alliance,

or crush them so thoroughly that the hierarchy is undeniable.

Only then could we proceed with slaying the World Tree Zombie and reviving the true World Tree.

So for now—

Let’s just eat first.