episode_0161

“Ziena, take the elves to the firewood flower plantation.”

“Yes! that… … By the way, where is it?”

“… … Ah.”

As I was about to instruct Jiena to lead the way to where the elves were staying, I later remembered that Jiena did not know that place.

It was a place prepared while Jienna left to purchase slave elves, so it was natural that Jienna did not know.

“First of all, I should provide the first guidance.”

In the end, I decided that I would be the one to guide the elves to their place. Even if I tried to use the undead to guide them, it was more efficient to do it myself to properly guide them since it was outside the city’s iron fence.

“For now, everyone, get back on the carriage. Since there is a distance, let’s go on the cart skeleton.”

I decided to tell them the location myself and got on the carriage, and the elves, led by Jiena, got on the carriage.

Seeing the elves sitting down, the carriage started immediately. There were two carriages, but one had a chest containing the remaining money and skeleton knights, so the only thing that moved was the carriage that was currently on board. The mercenaries who accompanied him had long since dispersed.

Anyway, even though it wasn’t that small inside, it felt crowded as the elves gathered together and sat down.

And, I don’t know if it was because the elves were gathered in one place, but their appearance was clearly visible.

There were a total of six elves that Jienna purchased, and all of them were women. The slave market was also a market, so it moved according to demand. So naturally, there was bound to be a large number of female elves.

As I looked at the elves for a while with that thought in mind, their shoulders began to gradually shrink. It seemed like it was because I was being stared at in a space where all sides were blocked.

However, I didn’t really feel the need to lighten the mood, but Jiena, who was sitting next to me, didn’t feel that way.

“Boss, boss.”

Jiena held my hand in a more cheerful tone than usual, as if she couldn’t bear to see her compatriot shrinking.

“Why?”

“Actually, did you know that the elves have another name for firewood?”

“Another name?”

“Yes! The elves call the firewood flower the flower of life. Well, even among elves, there are people who call it firewood flower.”

I tilted my head at the unfamiliar name, Flower of Life, and Jienna smiled brightly and continued the story.

“Originally, firewood flowers have separate roots and fruits. It’s not a fruit containing seeds, but it’s closer to the part where energy is concentrated.”

“Fruit? This is my first time hearing that firewood flowers have fruit?”

“It’s not strange to not know. It is very difficult for the Flower of Life to bear fruit. It is called the flower of life because it grows well anywhere and has strong vitality, but it is also called the flower of life because in very rare cases it bears fruit with an enormous amount of concentrated vitality.”

“Very, very rare? How rare is it?”

“Um… … . How should I explain this?”

In response to my question about how rare it was, Gienna seemed to be struggling with what to say. What is the probability of defective products coming out of the blacksmith shop? No, it’s rarer than this – I heard a muttering sound.

And then. Rajbub, who had been keeping his mouth shut and just observing, opened his mouth.

“Ordinary elves once in a lifetime. Elves who often raise the Flower of Life see it twice.”

“… … That much? It must be difficult for some people to even see it once.”

It is said that the average lifespan of an elf is about 700 years, and I thought that if you only see such an elf once or twice in your life, it is extremely rare.

It could be said that it was because there were no elves who specialized in raising firewood flowers, but since I didn’t know much about elves, I didn’t think that was for sure. It is said that even elves raised frequently see them twice.

Anyway, starting with learning things I didn’t know about firewood flowers, I started talking about various things with the elves.

These were personal stories, such as what I liked, what I did as a child, and what I knew how to do. Thanks to Jienna, the atmosphere became lighter, and the elves started to feel more comfortable with me, even if it was just a little bit.

Perhaps thanks to this, I was able to learn the names of the elves who were cowering and keeping their mouths shut.

However, all of the names were a bit strange by my standards. Starting with Rajbub, the names were Balan Kajas, Pawar Spanky, etc. If you speak clearly and clearly, it sounds fine, but if you speak quickly and blurry, it may sound strange.

When I thought about Jiena, it felt like the naming culture of the elves, so I decided not to worry about it anymore. They didn’t seem to think it was strange, so there was no reason to worry.

Still, thanks to that, it wasn’t boring to travel to the firewood flower plantation and elf residence, about 30 minutes away from the city’s iron fence.

It felt like we had been moving for several minutes instead of thirty, but since we couldn’t just chat even after we arrived, we got out of the carriage with the elves in tow.

“This is the place where you will grow firewood and flowers from now on and stay. Everything around here is my land, so if you need land, cultivate it and use it. The reason I’m staying is because there will be two houses over there, so use whatever you want.”

Hearing that this was where they would be staying from now on, the elves naturally began to look around.

Using skeletons, only the lush grass was removed to create an empty land, a building to serve as a dormitory for the elves, and a group of undead to monitor the surrounding area and protect the elves. The elves’ eyes scanned the surroundings.

“This place… … .”

The elves looked around with complex expressions. It seemed to be a place of hope for escaping slavery, but also a place where slaves had to work for long hours.

“I will give detailed instructions through Jiena, so think of what she says the same as what I say. Jiena manages the elves through Rajbub.”

“Yes!”

“… … It’s not Rajbub, it’s Rajbub.”

I nodded roughly as I saw Jiena answering energetically and Rajbub reacting as if he had heard a lot about it.

“For your information, I have firewood seeds and various farming tools in the storage room at home, so feel free to use them if you need them. If there are any tools you need, feel free to ask for them.”

“Can I still make a request through Jiena?”

“That’s right. Jiena also has work to do, so she can’t come every day, but she will take care of it regularly, so please request it then.”

Rajbub, who became the representative of the slave elves, seemed to understand and said hello to Jiena, wishing her the best in the future.

And Rajbub, who had been talking to Jiena for a while, turned his attention to me again, as if something suddenly occurred to him.

“I… … . By the way, when can I start growing firewood flowers?”

“Unless you have a health problem and need treatment, start tomorrow. Don’t you want to be dismissed as soon as possible?”

The elves’ eyes sparkled at the sound of cotton cloth.

“Then, starting right now… … !”

As if they were going to place all their hopes on just one piece of cotton cloth, the elves went out and said that they would immediately grow firewood flowers, even though I said that they would give them a rest on the first day.

“Pawer, come with me to pick up seeds and farming tools from the warehouse. In the meantime, Balang, please use the spirits to plow the field with the others. ”

Not to be outdone as a representative, Rajbub immediately began commanding the six elves. Of course, by taking the initiative and making the move first.

And, the elves moved in accordance with Rajbub’s instructions. The elves named Rajbub and Paewor quickly moved towards the warehouse, and the other elves raised their mana to see if they could use spirits.

Mana gathered in the air, and soon fist-sized lumps were created. Red, blue, yellow. A total of three colored lumps flew around in the air.

“Oh… … . Is that a spirit?”

“Yes. The elements that make up nature have a will and are spirits. What… … . I don’t get along with spirits, so I only know that much.”

I wrapped my arm around Jiena’s shoulder, who was making a sound of regret, and observed the spirits. It looked like mana was lumped together, but it began to create a scene that could not be seen simply as mana lumped together.

A lump of yellow mana burrowed into the ground, and the land in the area was plowed by itself. I cleaned up the grass, but the roots that were in the soil came up.

And at the same time, the red mana lump burned the roots and reduced them to ash, and a large amount of water was scattered from the blue mana lump over the surrounding area.

“It’s just the right power for farming.”

“Because it is an element that makes up nature. Still, powerful spirits are more powerful than most knights.”

“I guess so. It is difficult to show such an immediate and flexible response in magic.”

Dealing with spirits seemed quite difficult. Therefore, it was clear that suppressing slave elves from using mana was not for nothing. Of course, I had no intention of suppressing mana again now.

Anyway, as I was expressing my appreciation for the spirit, Rajbub and Pawar, who had gone to the warehouse, returned. With farming tools and bags of seeds.

Rajbub put down the farming tools nearby and immediately unpacked the bag of seeds. And then, the firewood seeds that were in the bag started to spread out indiscriminately.

“I don’t know much about farming, but shouldn’t I sow seeds like that?”

“I don’t know about anything else, but since it’s a firewood flower, it doesn’t really matter. Also, there are no elves with an aptitude for wind-type spirits, so I’m spraying them like that. If you have a wind spirit, you can spray it wherever you want, right?”

I nodded when I heard that it was okay because it was a firewood flower, and looked at the elves a little more. However, since there was nothing else to do after sowing the seeds, the elves simply walked around to check the situation.

Since there didn’t seem to be anything particularly worth seeing here, I decided to return to the mansion.

However, at that moment, something like the sound of horse hooves was heard from a little distance away. It was someone approaching on horseback, and I could figure out who it was without looking.

Because the person approaching was none other than Amy. Since they were connected through a stigma, it wasn’t difficult to figure out that what was approaching was Amy.

“AndrewWoo!”

Even if that wasn’t the case, I couldn’t have known even if I wanted to if he ran towards me and shouted my name like that.

Anyway, Amy, who came running while screaming my name, jumped off the skeletal horse she had snatched from me as if she had gotten used to it even before becoming a Death Knight, and stopped in front of me.

“Ziena! It’s been a while!”

“Amy!”

Just standing in front of me, Amy showed more interest in Jienna, whom she had not seen in a long time. After letting them share the joy of their reunion for a while, I tapped Amy.

“Is something going on?”

“There is information I asked you to find out. The kids who requested that brought it!”

“Information? ah! Marquis of Kurid?”

In order to learn more about the Marquis of Kurid, he had gathered information from merchants and mercenaries, and Amy had come to inform him that she had obtained the information.