Chapter 147: New Wine… No, New Cabbage in a New Sack 1
S-Class Dungeon, Elf’s Great Forest
The Great Forest, where the elves lived, was usually treated as their home and even their nation, but its official designation was a dungeon.
Although the elves, being intelligent beings, were relatively more friendly toward humans compared to other monsters and capable of communication, from the human perspective, it was still an encroachment from another world, so calling it a dungeon wasn’t entirely inappropriate.
The elves themselves didn’t particularly care what humans called their Great Forest.
However, ever since the Saintess of the Dead, Shia, had visited, a new atmosphere had formed among the elves and in the Great Forest.
The biggest change, in particular, was that the elves, who had previously refused to leave the forest, were now suddenly eager to engage with the countries of Earth.
The reason for the elves, who had originally been passive in their relationship with humans, suddenly taking the initiative to go outside was a shift in governance, in other words, a transfer of power.
Previously, the elves had been in turmoil due to the World Tree burning in their old world, worshiping a fake World Tree, and a plague running rampant, leading to a very unstable political situation.
Nations, as a rule, tended to become diplomatically isolated when they had too many vulnerabilities or when their political situations were unstable. But thanks to Shia solving several of the Great Forest’s problems at once, the elves were now ready to venture out into the world without hesitation.
Anyway, thanks to the efforts of the Saintess of the Dead, Shia, and the false Hero Yujin, the child of the World Tree, Olgania, had officially been revived.
Upon revival, Olgania was immediately restored and received various administrative and ruling powers from the elders over both the elves and the Great Forest.
As a result, the political system of the elves, which had previously been managed by numerous elders deliberating on matters, was now focused on the child of the World Tree, Olgania.
Olgania, the spiritual fighter and Yujin’s companion, whose full name was Olganiaeirranielverd, had essentially become the de facto queen of the Great Forest.
Of course, unlike a traditional monarch, her relationship with other elves was more horizontal, but in any case, the representation of the Great Forest and the face of the elves was now the great Olgania.
Under Olgania’s leadership, the elves, who had previously shown passive behavior as part of the world of Earth, had officially begun establishing diplomatic relations with other nations and humans.
By the way, the small Olgania was now positioned as the heir, which was, in simpler terms, something akin to a princess.
Of course, even though she was called a princess…
“Ahaha, Shia-unni is hilarious, lol.”
She was actually holed up in her room, watching Shia’s broadcast on a computer made of Politier wood that absorbed electricity and radio waves.
There was a reason she was called part of the Mangji Squad.
When Shia wasn’t broadcasting, she would watch the replays, and sometimes sneak into other hunter streams to watch their shows.
“Aaaaagh! KawaiiHorned!! You little punk, I really don’t like you! It’s obvious that Shia-unni easily exceeds 130! I’ve seen it myself!”
[It’s easy to talk. Got any pictures?]
“You’re saying that knowing I’m an elf, right?! Ugh, if I met you in real life, you wouldn’t dare say a word…!”
Some of the Lotus Knight members looked pitifully at the small Olgania, who was lying under her blanket, fuming.
“She’s the child of the World Tree, and our Princess… She’s 79 this year, and yet she’s acting like this…”
“…Sniff, sniff.”
“Well, it’s fine. After all, the great Olgania is going to rule for thousands of years. And the small Olgania is still very young, right?”
“Hmm, I guess so?”
“Actually, I sometimes watch that Saintess of the Dead broadcast too. Except for the part where her tastes lean too much toward meat, it’s quite watchable.”
“Really?”
“Oh, me too, me too. I subscribed when she suddenly barged into my house yelling, ‘I love youuu~!’ the other day.”
“Pfft…!”
As the Lotus Knights mentioned, small Olgania was still very young, so there was no problem with her enjoying life without getting involved in political affairs.
However, the great Olgania, ‘Olganiaeirranielverd,’ was leading an extremely busy life.
Just yesterday, she had met with ambassadors from six different countries and had provisionally agreed to continue official relations between the elves’ Great Forest and those nations.
“Aah, so busy, so busy…”
Olgania had barely found time to bathe in the waterfall the elves used, washing her hair after staying up all night.
But even while she bathed, there was no rest for Olgania.
An elf from the Elders’ Council came to her with documents, even as she was in the water.
“Olgania, the next representative is from a human country called Hungary.”
“Which continent is Hungary on?”
“It belongs to Eastern Europe. It’s a predominantly white nation, so its culture and customs will likely be quite different from the Asian regions we’re more familiar with.”
“Alright… I understand. It might be difficult to prepare meat, but if possible, please prepare dishes according to the ambassador’s preferences. If we don’t have enough variety, use meat purchased from outside.”
“Elanarre, the commander of the Knights, bought some meat from the outside recently, so there should still be some left.”
Traditionally, elves, who loved nature, followed a vegan diet, akin to temple food in the human world.
But the Saintess of the Dead, Shia, who had saved the elves last time, was an extreme carnivore from their perspective, so a bit of change had been inevitable.
They had decided not to impose their vegan diet on outsiders.
Just as they respected others, they expected to be respected in return.
Thus, while the elves themselves didn’t eat meat, when hosting guests, they had decided to serve imported meat from Earth.
“By the way, why are the human nations of Earth so eager to reach out to us? It’s almost as if they’ve been waiting for our contact, with how quickly they send their envoys.”
“The reason is obvious.”
“Oh, what is it, Olgania?”
“It’s simple. They can talk about friendship and the hope for a peaceful relationship all they want, but in the end, it’s about power.”
Olgania reviewed the documents the humans had sent, meticulously examining each sentence with her elf-like vision.
Elves, despite their love for nature and isolation, were no fools.
Especially Olgania, who wasn’t called the child of the World Tree for nothing. In the previous world, she hadn’t been chosen as a companion to the Hero merely because she was strong.
“They wear suits, maintain decorum, and pretend to respect each other, but in reality, Earth is not so different from our old world. The logic of power still rules. And while we elves may be few in number, we certainly aren’t lacking in strength. In the human world, they say that even 30,000 hunters are considered an asymmetric force.”
“Hunters? Ah… You mean people with power?”
“Yes, those who can wield mana or spirit power, or who possess other special abilities, are called Awakeners or Hunters in the human world. Even though there are few of us, the siblings and kin of the Great Forest are a force that humans cannot ignore.”
The elves of the Great Forest were officially numbered at around 30,000, but in reality, their population was slightly higher.
However, the important point wasn’t their numbers, but rather that even the youngest and weakest of the elves, including Olgania, who was among the more fragile ones, possessed powers equivalent to a C-rank hunter by Earth’s standards.
Though their population was small, their average lifespan far exceeded that of humans, and the depth of their accumulated training and abilities over the years was incomparable.
Of course, numbers couldn’t be entirely dismissed, but with 30,000 elves possessing average abilities equivalent to an A-rank hunter, they could at least drag down the opposing country with them if it came to a full confrontation.
No, even if that wasn’t the case, the commander of the Lotus Knights, Elanarre, and the great Olgania herself had power equivalent to S-rank hunters.
It was like having at least two repeatable asymmetric nuclear weapons at their disposal.
“If the power of us elves were mediocre or weak enough to be easily overwhelmed by a small military force, there’s no way we’d be getting so many diplomatic letters. They would’ve wiped us out and developed this land a long time ago.”
At that comment, the elf from the Elders’ Council, who remembered the World Tree being burned by humans in the previous world, frowned.
Most of the elves knew that it wasn’t Yujin who had burned the World Tree but rather a group of human traitors.
“Hmph, I see. So humans aren’t so different, whether in the past or on Earth.”
“It’s not humans who are the problem, but the world itself. No matter how nicely things are packaged, the logic of power still governs.”
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
“And it’s not just that. We no longer have the Mother World Tree. Instead, her blessings have been evenly distributed among our people. We no longer need to pray to the Mother World Tree, as the spirits now dwell in everyone. The grass, trees, and
crops that we touch flourish and grow abundantly.”
“Now that you mention it, crops blessed by the elves are said to be incredibly useful to humans, like powerful potions, aren’t they?”
“Yes. At first, I didn’t understand why humans desired elven goods so much, but later I realized there was a reason.”
In fact, elven crops were more than just luxuries. For hunters and Awakeners, they provided powerful recovery, replenished mana and spirit power, and, according to research, might even help turn non-Awakeners into Awakeners.
In the modern hunter era, elves were an incredibly attractive resource from the human perspective.
“By the way, after the meeting with the Hungarian ambassador, another ambassador is scheduled to arrive right after.”
“What? I thought today’s schedule was supposed to end with the Hungarian ambassador?”
“Well… we refused, but they went ahead and scheduled it anyway…”
“Where from?”
“They’re from a country called China. It seems they’re bringing other hunters along as well…”
Sigh.
Olgania let out a short sigh, shrugging her shoulders as she absentmindedly touched her horn, which had grown like a gnarled, rotten branch.
It was a habit that had developed after her rebirth.
Whenever things didn’t go well, or when she had a bad feeling, she would unconsciously fiddle with the dark wooden horn.
I shouldn’t hold any prejudices from the start.
Just as they respect us, we should respect them.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
○○○○○○○○○○○○
And three cabbage worms…
No, Saintess of the Dead, Shia.
Golden Hero Menelapie Hailam.
The Witch of the Dark Star… now just a human, Lirisia, knelt quietly in front of Grandmother Yeonseo.
They each ate one cabbage?
That could’ve been forgiven with a smile.
But one turned into two.
Two turned into three.
And three… well, they ended up eating an entire row from the field.
By the way, Menelapie and Lirisia didn’t look the least bit guilty.
Lirisia, after all, hadn’t become the Witch of the Dark Star for nothing—she was a villainess through and through. Meanwhile, Menelapie just wore a bright smile, seemingly finding her first experience of stealing with Shia to be nothing but fun.
Among the three cabbage worms, the only one who genuinely looked like she regretted it was Shia.
“Haa… Shia.”
“Ah… no, unnie, it’s just that…”
“This grandmother… no, this unnie doesn’t think it’s a waste to give you, our little Shia, some cabbages.”
Yeonseo, at 86 years old. And Shia, who was 85.
Although Shia had been judged to have a mental age of 21, between the two of them, there was still a tacit understanding that they were like unnie and dongsaeng.
Yeonseo cherished Shia more than anyone except her granddaughter Yeonhwa and the rest of the Yeon family.
It wasn’t just because Shia was an extremely rare and powerful ability user. She had also helped solve numerous large and small crises, saved Yeonhwa during their first meeting, and forgiven Yeonseo for the absurd misunderstanding that led her to attack Shia.
There was no way she wouldn’t value Shia.
“These measly cabbages are nothing compared to you.”
“……”
“If you want, you can take them whenever you like…”
“……”
With each word Yeonseo spoke, Shia’s eyes grew teary, filled with guilt—or perhaps, touched with emotion.
“But you should get permission from this old lady first, shouldn’t you?”
“Yes, yes ma’am…”
“It’s not right to steal without the owner’s consent, now, is it?”
“Hmph…”
Every word was so reasonable that Shia couldn’t argue.
No, she couldn’t argue at all… After all, it was wrong to steal in the first place…
For a saintess to be this weak to temptation, oh stars, please forgive them, for they know not what they do…
“As a farmer who spends half the year pouring her heart into this field…”
“Eh… unnie, but if you use your ability, you can grow high-altitude crops in less than a day, not months.”
“………”
…Did she just hit me with facts?
No, how dare this girl interrupt me when I’m speaking!
“Ah-hem! How dare you speak while this old lady is talking!”
“Hmph…”
“You did this last time too! Even if everything in a dungeon belongs to whoever finds it, this old lady’s dungeon was bought with money from the state and is my private property! So if you keep this up, Shia…”
“Excuse me… no, Hero of Earth, isn’t this going too far?”
“What?”
Suddenly, Menelapie jumped into the conversation.
Lirisia, who had been quietly observing, now leaned in with an ‘Oh, this is going to be good’ expression, dropping her kneeling posture and peeking out her head to watch the situation unfold.
“Our Shia could make a mistake. Isn’t it too harsh to push her like this?”
“….?”
What is this? “Our Shia could make a mistake” all of a sudden?
“Menelapie, you coddling her like this is exactly why Shia has become so reckless…”
“What? Reckless? Ha! Fine, if you say so. Shia is reckless, a glutton, a pig, and sometimes she acts like a fool. There are even times when she does idiotic things that aren’t even funny! But so what!?”
“….?”
What is going on?
Menelapie… are you defending me…?
You are, right?
No, wait. Have you really lost your mind just because you’re no longer an empress??
You’ve been acting kinda strange since earlier! What’s up with you? Huh???
“Recklessness, foolishness, her chest, her holiness—everything that makes up Shia, my dear friend, and no matter how much nonsensical mischief she gets up to, she is still the noble and sacred Saintess of the Dead! My recognized friend! No matter how much you suppress her personality… well, okay, you do have the right since she did steal your cabbages.”
Wait, Menelapie… are you subtly pushing all the blame onto me and making it seem like you and Lirisia weren’t the main culprits?
“Me-Menelapie…”
“Ah, quiet, Shia! The adults are talking, so don’t butt in!”
“…But I’m an adult too…”
“Ah-hem! Sssh!”
Hey…!
I… I’m an adult too!
I’m 85 years old, for crying out loud…!
“So, are you saying we should just let Shia get away with stealing cabbages?”
“Letting her off would be fine, but a little scolding is okay too! What I’m saying is, she’s still my saintess, so isn’t it too harsh to press her this much? Mistakes can happen!”
“Mistakes can happen, sure. But in all my life, I’ve never heard of a monstrous child with a chest size over 130.”
“She’s right here, isn’t she? And not only is she tall, but her smile is beautiful too.”
“Fine, let’s say, for the sake of argument, that it’s possible for children to make mistakes… But you shouldn’t be making them too!”
“Why shouldn’t I? I’m no longer an empress. I’m just Menelapie Hailam!”
“Hahaha… Crossing worlds has made your mind cross boundaries as well, hasn’t it?”
At this point, I suddenly wondered if the Hero of Earth and the Hero from the previous world were ganging up on me to mess with me on purpose.
I thought they were defending me, but now they’re using their “defense” to beat me over the head with the shield! This dizzying confusion was making it hard for me to think straight.
Yeah, Menelapie is definitely doing this on purpose.
She’s no longer an empress.
She’s free from the duties of a hero, and now she’s messing with me for fun, pretending to be as carefree as I am…!
“Anyway, as a farmer who spends half the year pouring effort into my field… I can’t forgive anyone for wasting that labor.”
“That’s… true. If you do something wrong, you have to be punished.”
So, in the end, I’m still going to be punished, huh?
But seriously, what’s so wrong about eating a cabbage… Okay, fine, I admit it! We didn’t just eat one or two cabbages; we ate an entire row, and that’s a bit much!
But they were so delicious!
Honestly, they weren’t even comparable to regular cabbages! Once you take a bite, you just can’t stop!
“I won’t ask much.”
Yeonseo’s face turned cold as she looked down at Shia, and also at Lirisia, who was pretending not to notice.
“Between Black Shia and White Shia, who do you think is better at getting things done?”
“Eh….”
“What the hell? Wait… am I in trouble too?”
“Did you really think you’d get off scot-free?”
Of course, Lirisia was also guilty.
After all, it was she who had coaxed Shia with sweet words, leading her down the path of temptation, and who had turned a perfectly normal person into one of the “three cabbage worms”—no, a cabbage-eating cow.
“And let’s not forget about the yellow Hero. Among all of you, who’s the most effective? Or should I say, the yellow Heroine?”
“Ah-hem, yellow Heroine, you say!”
Menelapie, who had suddenly been labeled “yellow,” glared sternly at Yeonseo.
“Call me Shia’s yellow Hero!”
“………”
Shia wondered if Menelapie even knew the connotation behind the internet slang “yellow” and whether she had used it on purpose or not.