episode_0127

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“How about becoming the food slave for my favorite character?”

“……?”

“Ah.”

I accidentally blurted out my true thoughts.

‘Hmm…’

Even if the World Tree was an obsessive fan utterly infatuated with Serena, calling her a “food slave” seemed a bit harsh. I racked my brain, wondering if there was a way to rephrase what I’d said.

But then—

“I’ll do it! Please let me do it!!!”

“……?”

The World Tree declared with more enthusiasm than ever that she wanted to be a slave.

‘She’s into this?!’

Well…

Considering even Saintess Sophia once said she’d happily become Serena’s spoon, it wasn’t that weird for her to volunteer as a slave.

‘Not that weird, but…’

A world filled with this many fanatics…

In games or novels, fanatics are usually portrayed as insane, psychopathic villains.

Was this world really alright?

Were there Serena-devoted zealots causing chaos somewhere?

…The moment that thought crossed my mind, I pitied Serena, who had to manage a world full of fanatics, and gently patted her head.

“What’s all of a sudden?”

“I just felt bad for a goddess who has to manage a world filled with nothing but zealots.”

“Cain…”

Serena’s expression twisted as if to say, ‘Finally, someone understands my struggles!’ Her eyes even welled up slightly as she buried her face in my embrace.

Since she’d clearly been through a lot, I obediently kept petting her.

Several minutes passed like that.

“Ahem…”

It was nice that Serena was moved, and it was nice that the World Tree was weirdly overjoyed about slave life, but—

Misunderstandings needed to be cleared up.

“World Tree.”

“Yes!”

“I called you a slave earlier, but… I don’t actually plan to exploit you like one. Here’s what I’m thinking.”

I laid out my plan:

The core spirit of the World Tree would make a contract with Phine and travel with her.

“T-Together?! I can travel and spend time with Lady Serena?!!”

“Right?”

“Thank you!!! I can’t thank you enough!!!”

“Uh… Glad you’re happy, but this isn’t the whole plan… Can you calm down a bit and hear the rest?”

“Yes!”

I continued explaining.

Her main body would travel with us,

while the trees here would act like clones to produce fruit.

“Clones?”

“Yeah. Just like how Serena here has both a main body and a clone.”

Serena was the perfect example—

Her main body remained in the Celestial Realm as the core of divine power,

while her clone roamed the mortal world, lazing around.

So,

the World Tree could live similarly.

Her main body would travel around,

and her clone would handle fruit production.

“What about management?”

“Leave that to the elves.”

They’d been idly eating fruit grown by the World Tree for thousands of years.

It was time they did some actual work.

…That said,

just having them harvest and store fruit grown by the World Tree alone felt like a waste.

One person could handle that job easily,

but there were a hundred elves.

If I left it at that, it’d just mean 99 of them would keep lazing around.

So, I thought of something else.

Instead of just the World Tree growing fruit,

have the elves cultivate crops and grow things too.

“Wouldn’t my fruits be more efficient than what our children grow?”

“Well… Yeah.”

Elves were a race skilled in plant cultivation.

But

they weren‘t as good as the World Tree.

In quantity, quality, taste, and efficiency—the World Tree was overwhelmingly superior.

Of course,

even the World Tree couldn’t produce enough food for tens of thousands of people.

But since there were only a hundred elves,

producing enough food for them was trivial.

So,

the elves didn’t need to farm.

But

if they had knowledge of life sciences, there’d be a reason for them to do so.

“Knowledge of life sciences?”

“Something like this.”

I pulled out some books I’d prepared in advance.

Fundamentals of Life Science.

Applied Biotechnology.

Methods for researching genetic modification and selective breeding based on this knowledge.

Books crammed with the expertise of bioscientists.

“I’ll teach the elves this and have them do their own research.”

“Research?”

“Yeah.”

At first, I planned to do the research myself.

I’d pushed it back slightly due to the Demon King subjugation and Marianne situation,

but once everything was settled, I intended to dive into it leisurely.

Why?

Because I felt something was missing.

The fruits and vegetables of this world were incredibly delicious—

far tastier than anything I’d eaten in Korea.

But

there were still disappointments.

‘Selective breeding is underdeveloped.’

Grapes here tasted amazing,

but nothing like the enhanced taste of varieties like Shine Muscat.

How to explain it…

It was like regular grapes with a +3 enchantment?

Delicious, sure,

but lacking the transcendent flavor of something like Shine Muscat.

“Shine Muscat?”

“It’s a thing. A grape variety with zero sourness and insane sweetness.”

“I want to try it too!”

“Hmm… Since we’re on the topic, wanna summon some and try?”

I summoned a few right away, and we each ate one.

“Woah…”

“This is… a grape?…”

Both Serena and the World Tree were amazed.

A grape with no sourness and nothing but sweetness must’ve been a whole new world for them.

‘I heard news about breeds even sweeter than this—like cotton candy grapes…’

Sadly, I didn’t know the specifics, so I couldn’t summon them.

The Holy Grail of Sacrifice only summoned things I knew about.

What I didn’t know, it couldn’t replicate.

So, I made a decision.

I’d take existing research and push it further to create even tastier food.

“Research can make food even more delicious?!”

“Exactly.”

Most ingredients sold in Korea were already selectively bred for—

Better taste.

Bigger size.

Easier cultivation.

Repeated refinements led to what existed now.

Recent advances in breeding technology sped up new variant development,

but the basic principle had been around for ages.

‘Primitive selective breeding is feasible even here.’

It wouldn’t be hard.

Grow lots of plants.

Collect seeds from the best performers and regrow them.

Repeat the selection process—filtering for the best traits—to improve quality.

…That was primitive selective breeding.

But

my teaching would go further—more modern, more scientific.

‘Direct genetic manipulation allows immediate trait modification.’

Mix genes.

Combine desirable traits to create superior breeds.

Easier said than done, though.

An ugly but smart man.

A gorgeous but dim-witted woman.

If they married and had a child blending their genes—

Would the child be smart and beautiful?

Well…

Maybe.

But

it could also inherit the worst of both—ugly and stupid.

‘That’s the problem with genetic engineering.’

Achieving desired results wasn’t easy.

Even with good genes,

bad outcomes were possible.

So?

How do you succeed?

‘Keep trying until you get it right.’

Genetic engineering is a gacha.

Keep mixing until the desired result appears.

Hence, the need for elf labor.

“Ah…”

“Ah…”

Just have the elves farm endlessly until the gacha succeeds.

Not farming for food—

Farming endlessly to create one ultra-delicious fruit.

And

the World Tree could replicate successful breeds.

That was the plan.

“What do you think?”

“It’s wonderful. Our children would absolutely jump at the chance.”

“That much?”

“They’d love knowing Lady Serena would enjoy the fruits of their labor.”

“Ah…”

Having your favorite character personally eat crops you worked hard to grow…

Oh.

That would be motivating.

If she even left a rave review, you’d be moved to tears.

…Right?

So,

I proceeded immediately.

“Connected?”

“Yes.”

The World Tree linked herself to the tree by embedding a fragment of her soul into it.

Whoom! Whoom! Whoom!

The tree pulsed with her energy and began sprouting countless fruits.

Good.

Automatic fruit production facility—complete.

“Next…”

I told the elves they could stop now.

The tree was smaller than the original World Tree,

and insufficient to house her full soul—

But for housing a fragment and acting as a clone, it was more than enough.

This would suffice.

“Hah… Hah… Hah…”

“Lord Cain…”

“Yes.”

“What… happened to the World Tree…?”

“Feeling her presence means the revival succeeded, but…”

“Could you clarify what exactly happened…?”

“The revival succeeded.”

“Ooooh!…”

“Oh, Great Mother!…”

“Goddess of Light, Serena… Thank you… Lord Cain… Thank you…”

“It did succeed, but—”

“?”

“?”

“?”

“That tree is her clone. This is her main body now.”

I showed them the tiny green spirit.

“…The World Tree?”

“Mother… has become a spirit?”

“Yes. And—”

I placed the little green spirit into Phine’s hands.

“She’s the spirit you’re contracting with.”

“……What?”

“Contract with the World Tree.”

“……What?”

Phine stared at me like I’d spoken nonsense.

Relax.

The World Tree already agreed.

“Right? You wanna travel with us too?”

“Yes! I want to travel!”

“Exactly, so hurry up and contract with the World Tree so we can move to the next region.”

“……What?”

Phine short-circuited.