14.Elves Are Pretty (3)
Yoo-na was speechless. When she first saw the golden portal, she thought it was heading to the JW Gate. Although she was a bit dizzy, she followed in Jin-woo’s footsteps with composure. But the view before her eyes was far from what she had imagined.
It was a forest full of huge trees. The trees formed a village, and she could see a castle in the form of a white tree huge enough to cover the sky. It was so realistic that she could never think of it as a dream.
‘A different race…?’
Beautiful women with long ears were looking at them with curious eyes. As the Gate industry developed, fantasy movies poured out with force. The elf race was rarely absent from any of them. The world’s leading Gate science authorities had a heated discussion about whether or not there were different races with intelligence, and it remained unconcluded.
It was also a popular topic among the general public. There was once a fuss in some large communities and on MeTube because of the elf existence theory. However, the Association of Competent People dismissed it as a rumor. Yoo-na, who barely came to her senses, looked at Jin-woo. He was leading the way while being welcomed by the elves.
Yoo-na followed Jin-woo quickly.
“Yo-Young Master? What on earth is this…”
“I explained it to you earlier.
“What you explained is…”
Yoo-na recalled what Jin-woo said before he brought her here. To summarize, ‘The elves are really pretty and kind, but their circumstances are pitiful. There are some problems. That’s why I want to help.’ Could such an explanation make sense of this situation?
“You mean they are elves?”
“Right.”
Elves with spears approached. They were wearing white armor and cloth that seemed to have been woven from plants. They looked very noble, but when they saw Jin-woo, they bowed their heads deeply.
“My Lord Emperor, is this the one you were talking about?”
“That’s right. What do you think?”
“Indeed…she’s extraordinary.”
When Jin-woo said so, the elf nodded and looked at Yoo-na.
“I am the Commander of the Imperial Guard. Welcome.”
“Yes, ni-nice to meet you.”
Commander of the Imperial Guard? When the elf greeted her politely, Yoo-na greeted her with a bewildered expression that wasn’t like her at all. The elf didn’t seem to speak Korean, but strangely, they could communicate with each other. Yoo-na barely regained her composure when she saw Jin-woo smiling at her.
Jin-woo was enjoying himself quite a bit when he saw her bewilderment.
“I need you to explain.”
“I’ll tell you slowly as we go.”
“Where are we going?”
Jin-woo grinned at Yoo-na’s question.
“To meet the Queen here.”
“Queen…? Are you talking about their queen?”
“Right.”
Yoo-na was speechless. Were they on an informal walk like this to meet the queen of a different race? Yoo-na tried to understand somehow, even though it was hard.
There was one thing she was especially curious about.
“Does the General Manager know about this?”
“No, you are the first.”
“…I see.”
Yoo-na’s expression quickly brightened.
“Then, let’s move on.”
Even her steps grew faster. She followed Jin-woo and bombarded him with questions. Jin-woo answered, but the more she listened, the more she didn’t understand. Jin-woo introduced Yoo-na to Ella and disappeared, saying he would look around the field. The biggest reason, however, was that it was a pain to give complicated explanations.
Ella guided Yoo-na as she did for Jin-woo. Yoo-na thought it would be uncomfortable since she was the Elf Queen, but it was surprisingly relaxed. As Jin-woo said, she felt kind and innocent, so she felt like spending time with a younger sister rather than a queen. Ella was more comfortable with Yoo-na than with Jin-woo. As he was the Emperor of Gold, she felt no choice but to be formal.
“The Emperor has helped us a lot.”
“The Emperor…?”
“Yes.”
Everyone was calling Jin-woo the Emperor. Considering his influence on Earth, it wouldn’t be awkward to call him an emperor, but it didn’t seem like that was the case. Yoo-na decided to ask about it. The question was, how much did she know about the Emperor?
“He went to the Emperor of Greed, who had put all the dimensions in pain, and dealt with it himself. It is said that the Emperor of Greed knelt on its knees and offered him a golden crown. Right?”
“…Yes, maybe….”
“As expected, it was true!”
Yoo-na replied evasively. It was an incredibly large-scale story. Jin-woo didn’t tell her what he was doing every time he went to the Gate. The General Manager didn’t even know when Jin-woo came to the Gate. From what she heard, the Emperor was like a demon king, even more, powerful than that.
Jin-woo was carrying a very large burden alone. Instead of comforting him when he came in dusty, she had a rather emotional reaction. It made sense to think that a beautiful potion was loot obtained by killing the Emperor. Yoo-na felt heartbroken.
‘…But still.’
Young Master believed in her and asked for help! Yoo-na’s heart was filled with emotion and loyalty. However, her lack of self-esteem made her expression darken. She felt too shabby to bear such huge trust. Ella looked at Yoo-na like that and smiled. She could guess Yoo-na’s mind. The eyes of the elves could reach the heart of living things.
Although, when she looked at the Emperor of Gold, she could only see an endless abyss.
“Lady Yoo-na is well qualified as the Commander of the Emperor’s escort. The Emperor looked very happy when he talked about you.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes! Do not doubt yourself. All trust starts with believing in yourself.”
Yoo-na nodded at Ella’s words, her heart feeling much lighter. Yoo-na understood why the elves loved her so much. Ella continued to look at her with a soft smile.
The two became close as they talked, their conversation soon turning to Elonti’s problem. Ella took Yoo-na’s hand and looked at her with twinkling eyes as she seemed to like her very much.
Ella had no friends. The elves looked at her as an object of awe, and even her closest guards were the same. They always treated her with respect and admiration. Although…they weren’t the same kind, Yoo-na felt like her friend anyway.
“The orcs attacked Elonti. It was a great army. However, the Emperor appeared and made a fuss…!”
“Do you mean he just ‘pang-pang’ them?”
“Yes! The orcs just ‘slash’ in an instant!”
“I see.”
“He also ‘whoosh’ and ‘bang’….!”
“Yes.”
What the hell did the Young Master do? Yoo-na couldn’t tell.
* * *
Jin-woo became quite close with the elves. Not only Ella, but he also became acquainted with the guards, and eventually, they naturally let go of all formality. Jin-woo was a nobleman, so it was natural. It turned out that the elves had only a queen, and no other status existed. So, nobility was a special status created only for Jin-woo.
The meeting between Yoo-na and Ella went impressively. It felt like their synergy exploded with the meeting of the beauty of the East and the West.
‘The main character must not have seen such a sight.’
Jin-woo smirked at the thought. Anyway, he was thinking of trying this and that in the field. Ella’s guard, Dellu, stood by Jin-woo’s side. Since Ella couldn’t always follow him, she was the elf who took care of Jin-woo.
Jin-woo took out a bag of dimensional gold coins.
“M-my Lord Emperor? That’s…”
“Um….”
He grabbed a handful of dimensional gold coins and sprinkled them on the field. Delu was half out of her mind watching him.
“Kyaaa!”
“Ah…!”
“Gasp!”
The same was true of the elves who were catching bugs in the fields. The reactions were wildly Jin-woo watched the dimensional gold coins seeping into the field. The high-purity mana was emitted and nourished the field, but soon, the bugs came in and ate up all the mana. It didn’t seem to work.
‘The effect is too small.’
The bug-catching device was quickly full and rendered useless. First, he brought some Golden Trees and planted them. He was looking forward to it because the Golden Tree grew by eating insects, but the results weren’t good either.
‘The soil is so bad. There’s a severe shortage of mana.’
The Golden Tree grew well on Earth thanks to the enhancement and the potion he gave it like water, but not here. The Golden Tree ate the bugs but immediately spat them out. It was quickly contaminated by the energy of the black bug and withered. It could survive, but it seemed difficult to achieve any results. Considering the explosive growth in the Golden Sanctuary, the mana should also be abundant. Since it was a plant-type monster, there was also the problem of compatibility.
‘It’s not as easy as I thought.’
He seemed to take it too easy. If it had been that simple, the elves wouldn’t have suffered for so long. Jin-woo put the Golden Tree back in his subspace.
While Jin-woo was thinking deeply, Ella and Yoo-na arrived at the field, holding hands. It was truly a delightful sight. When Yoo-na felt Jin-woo’s gaze, she coughed and gently let go.
“There are a lot of pests. It seems they reproduce like monsters.”
“Probably because the power of the World Tree has diminished.”
“Uum…”
Yoo-na picked up a black bug and observed it seriously. After thinking for a while, she looked at Ella. Insects were also a good source of nutrition.
“What is the elf’s diet? Do you eat meat?”
“We don’t eat meat.”
“Is there any special reason?”
“Elves have a well-developed sense of smell and taste, so we can’t stand the smell and taste of meat. Besides, the impure mana in animals can also make the elves’ mana murky.”
Vegetarian elves. It was a typical fantasy setting. The elves could survive a long hard life because of the pure mana they possessed, but they couldn’t eat the insects because it affected their mana. Yoo-na thought for a moment, then looked at Ella.
“If it’s mana-free and the taste can be covered up, would you mind if it’s meat?”
“No, I think that would be fine.”
As he listened to the conversation, Jin-woo also nodded. He had a good idea.
“Aside from Gate meat, what about something from Earth?”
“Yes, it is worth a try. Compared to JW’s food, Earth’s food isn’t as deep in flavor and has no mana. There is a study result that the nutrition isn’t much different from JW food.”
“It was shocking when I first cooked with gate ingredients. Conversely, if you think about it…”
Ella, who was listening to Jin-woo and Yoo-na, tilted her head.
“First, we should take the bug to the laboratory and analyze it. It could be toxic.”
“Yeah, I can see a clue somehow.”
It was surprisingly simple. It was no problem without the rich aroma and taste of the meat or the mana contained within. Jin-woo immediately returned to Earth and brought back food. According to an analysis of bugs entrusted to the laboratory, they weren’t particularly dangerous, although they devoured mana and polluted the soil. Most bugs died as soon as they came to Earth as there was no mana to eat. They couldn’t survive without the means to produce mana on their own.
There was no toxicity, so the result was consistent with the information seen with the Magic Eye. He gathered Ella and the guards and brought them Earth food. There were many potions readied, so they didn’t have to worry about what might happen. What Jin-woo brought was fried chicken.
Ella and the guards smelled the chicken. The elves reacted negatively to the smell of meat normally but not with the fried chicken. Rather, they even enjoyed the scent.
“It smells like Hylac.”
“Hylac?”
“Yes, it is a long-extinct plant.”
Jin-woo nodded. It made sense, given the plants from the Gate were very fragrant and rich in flavor. Looking at it, even the vegetarians were also excited and lining up at the JW Cultural Center to try it. Salads were one of the best-selling items on the menu.
“T-then I’ll try it.”
Ella picked up the chicken first. She took a bite after a moment of hesitation. Jin-woo carefully observed Ella, using the Magic Eye of information to watch for any changes in Ella’s body. Ella’s eyes opened wide in admiration.
“Ah! I-it’s delicious.”
Everyone started eating the chicken.
“Ah…”
“Oh my…!?”
The guards also tried it, their eyes widening. The seasoning seemed just right for the elves. Their mana hadn’t become murky at all. Rather, their mana, which had been asleep after a long time, was activated with the nutrients. Although it didn’t replenish mana, it was good enough on its own.
As expected, the chicken was great. Ella and the guards even shed a few tears. This was the first proper food they had in almost a hundred years. So far, they were eating withered leaves or porridge made by grinding bark. These days, even that was hard to find, so it was hard to withstand even for the elves.
Jin-woo nodded. As expected, the chicken was the truth.
“Shall we make a poultry farm?”
“I think it would be good to test it out. The food problem will be solved when self-sufficiency is available.”
Chickens were easy to get, so it wasn’t bad to try. Jin-woo ordered the Future Strategy Office to arrange the best native chickens. Hundreds were delivered shortly after the order was issued. Jin-woo handed them over to Elonti in his subspace. It was the moment when the native Earth chicken crossed the dimension and entered Elonti.
There was great interest in whether the rumors about the food spreading. It was enough to force the elves who had flocked in to retreat. Jin-woo showed off the chicken.
“It’s cute.”
“Is it cute?”
“It’s small and cute. Is it a bird?”
“Yes, you can think of it as a flightless bird.”
“It’s so cute.”
The animals and plants at the Gate were all large, so the chicken looked cute. After hearing Jin-woo’s words, Ella looked at the chicken as if it were pitiful.
“This is what you ate before.”
“What? Ah…so it’s a nice bird!”
Ella’s eyes changed along with the guards. The other elves also had a twinkle in their eyes. After all, they saw an animal after a long while. The younger elves had never even seen one before.
The chicken tilted its head, not knowing what was going on. Jin-woo put the chicken down in the field. As he thought it was running away, it hovered around and looked down.
Puck!
It caught a bug with its beak and ate it.
“Oh!”
“Cute and brave!”
The elves were amazed. Jin-woo observed the chicken for a while, and it seemed fine. Rather, it seemed to be more active.
Yoo-na nodded.
“Surprisingly, the animals from the Earth are strong. It doesn’t feel inferior at all inside the Gate.”
“Yeah.”
Jin-woo nodded in response to Yoo-na’s words. The chicken only ate bugs and didn’t touch the sprouts. Ella carefully followed the chicken, and the guards followed her. The chicken seemed wary and hovered around Ella, who reached out and rubbed its beak.
‘She is an elf, after all. Seems there’s no problem.’
Jin-woo released all the chickens he brought to the field. Hundreds of chickens spread across the fields and started pecking at bugs. They miraculously obeyed the elves very well. Unexpectedly, they had great chemistry.
“It seems safe, so it would be good to keep an eye on the situation and gradually increase the
Jin-woo nodded at Yoo-na’s words. It was said that the animals, which were essential for mana’s life, either left the forest or died after suffering from the disease. Even the animals that survived couldn’t withstand the contaminated soil. But the chicken didn’t show any signs of struggle.
“My Lord Emperor!”
There were a lot of chickens around Ella. She smiled brightly while holding one. Jin-woo couldn’t help but laugh.
* * *
Jin-woo couldn’t find time to return to Elonti because of his schedule until about two weeks later.
He arrived at Elonti again with Yoo-na. They heard that Ella was in the field, so they headed to find her.
“Uhm?”
“Is that…?”
Jin-woo and Yoo-na couldn’t help but be surprised.
“My Lord Emperor!”
Ella called out to Jin-woo. She was riding on something and waving her hand, but it wasn’t a horse. It was a chicken, no matter how much he looked at it. It looked like an Earth chicken, but it was very big.
“The chicken has grown so big!”
“…”
“…”
Earth’s chickens were adapting much better than expected. He was worried that it might turn into a monster. Jin-woo looked at the chicken.
[F] Elonti Chicken
Native chickens from Korea evolved by eating Black Gauntlet Bugs. It is a special entity that was created by completely digesting the Black Gauntlet Bugs. Although it cannot fly, it can glide and is fast enough to outrun Earth’s ostriches.
It’s highly intelligent and follows its masters well. It can crush rocks with its beak.
*[-F] Glide
*[F] Run
Thirty out of the hundred had evolved to become enormous. The rest were also fat and laying lots of eggs, eating every bug they could find as if their appetite had become vigorous. The guards rode on the giant chickens with saddles. They were training, providing a strange and cool sight to behold as they marched in line.
Come to think of it. Earthmen had grown close to evolution inside the Gate. No law said that it was impossible for chickens too.
Bang-bang!
A bigger rooster ran out of the woods. When he checked their information, he found that they were Rank E. Its crest soared very high, and it was missing one eye. It was the chief of the chickens, wearing a black eyepatch the elves had put on it.
The chief had an orc in its beak.
Spit!
The dead orc fell to the ground. Jin-woo and Yoo-na were struck speechless for a moment.
Earth’s animals were much stronger than they thought. Bringing in other livestock was put on hold for a while.
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