Chapter 29: A Tree and Two Seasons
“So this is the Jade Sea…”
A small group had arrived at the entrance of a forest unlike any they had seen before. The scene was akin to something straight out of a picture book.
The forest greens were bright and sparkling as pure mana drifted in the wind. Plants here were easily twice the size of those found anywhere else, and this forest truly felt more alive than any other.
Maybe it was the magic in the air, coupled with the forest’s vibrant colors, that made the scene feel so bright and lively.
Or perhaps this was because the trees themselves were truly alive, with eyes that watched them from afar, observing their every move with vigilance, while others were readying their sharp branches to attack at a moment’s notice.
“With how sparkly and beautiful the trees are around here, it is no wonder it was given that name. To think that elves live in such a mystical place.”
The bard of the group, with a knack for spellswording, withdrew her enchanted sword back into her sheath as she marveled at the sight. A mage approached her from the side, sharing the atmosphere. He had on his usual stupid grin, one of sticky curiosity that knew no restraint.
“Beauties and gems together. Fitting, is it not?”
“Sellum, I hope you keep your mouth shut while we are here. I do not want any trouble with the elves.”
“Oh, Beline. I wonder when you will start referring to me by my first name. Have we not grown closer since the beginning of our journey together?”
The bard visibly paled and took a few steps back away from the mage, wearing an expression of complete and utter disgust.
“Gross. Gross, gross, gross, gross.”
“Hero! Beline is bullying me!”
“Stark. Shut.”
“... Yes, sir.”
Sigh.
The Hero was exhausted by his party members’ antics, as usual.
Perhaps, had this been another time, or another place, on a certain application, he’d be shitposting about this very scene. But alas, this was a fantasy world without the degenerate joys of the internet. Here, there was no place to express his dissatisfaction in memes.
“... Even if I had a phone with me, it’d be pointless without signal.”
As usual, a transparent screen that was invisible to everyone else appeared before him in response to his words.
The Constellation, Ringed Star Mother, says it is too early to introduce such technology into the world. She claims that her respected mentor, Utopic World Builder, taught her the importance of pacing. The world must progress at a pace that human learning can catch up to.
[Are you kidding, Goddess? My world turned out just fine without that so-called ‘pacing,’ didn’t it?]
The Constellation, Ringed Star Mother, is uncertain as to whether she should agree or disagree with that statement. She claims that, based on what she has learned about Earth, the premature introduction of powerful technologies that could lay waste to cities in an instant could have easily led to the near extinction of human civilization through mutually-assured destruction. She thinks that it was only by a stroke of good luck that humanity on Earth was not plunged into an apocalypse of its own making.
[... Okay, now things are getting too heavy. Let’s not continue that talk, shall we?]
“Ah! Hero! The elves are here!”
“Hm?”
The Hero erased the screen from his view with a thought and saw two elves emerge from the forest.
Tanned skin, slender bodies, beautifully feminine features, and pointed ears. The trademark appearance of the wood elves who lived outside the World Tree’s shade.
These wood elves were armed to the teeth, armored from head to toe in enchanted wooden armor, and equipped with machete-like swords. As ever, whether clad in armor or not, it was difficult to tell if these elves were men or women.
“... Wow. Elves truly are a beautiful people. Never have my eyes been graced with such beauty before.”
“Sellum, be quiet. I do not want an elven blade through my gut today.”
The wood elves visibly recoiled at the sight of the mage’s disturbing grin, which only doubled their disgust for him as he remarked about their appearance. So instead, they ignored the creepy mage and addressed the Hero.
“You there. With black hair, clad in heavy armor.”
“Yes.”
“Are you the Hero?”
The wood elves took on a more intimidating expression as they locked eyes with the Hero. The Hero took a moment to recompose himself before responding.
“... That would be correct.”
“Our great mother, the World Tree, has been awaiting your arrival. Follow us. We shall lead you to her.”
The wood elves then abruptly turned around and walked through the forest entrance, clearly expecting the Hero and his party to follow as they commanded. A flash of annoyance surfaced on the bard’s face at their arrogance.
“... Truly, there is truth to those rumors still. Expecting the Hero’s party to obey like trained dogs.”
“Beline, that is a bad habit, you know? You bardish types are much too quick to believe in those shapeless tavern whispers. One might question the quality of your character should you say such things in the presence of others.”
“I would rather hear preaching from a priest than a mage, Sellum.”
“Can’t you two get along for one day?”
“Of course!”
“No.”
Sigh.
The Hero turned his gaze to something that was at the corner of his vision. A new screen that popped up shortly after the arrival of the armed wood elves.
The Constellation, Ringed Star Mother, visibly shudders in anger at the sight of something looming far ahead.
“... Let’s go.”
Days later, the Hero and his party arrived at the center of the forest. There, at the foot of an enormous tree that covered the sky with its leaves and branches, stood a wooden throne where a beautiful woman sat.
The seemingly unparalleled beauty had long green hair, purple eyes, and a wreath adorning her head. Unlike the elves, who were slim regardless of whether they were high elves, wood elves, or dark elves, this fair-skinned beauty was well-endowed and had a remarkable hourglass figure that men of various races adored.
Crossing her legs as she tilted her head with her chin resting on her fist, she gazed down at the mortals beneath her. Her arrogant and menacing gaze carried a weight that no one among the Hero’s party had ever felt before. It was as if the world itself was suddenly resting on their shoulders, forcing them, including the Hero himself, to their knees.
Then, her lips parted as she finally spoke.
“So you have finally arrived, Hero of Silver Flames.”
The woman slowly stood up from her throne and took one step after another down a flight of stone stairs covered in vines.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The air grew heavier as the woman came closer and closer to the Hero’s party. Then, she stopped an arm’s length away from the Hero, who was struggling on his knees before her.
“Raise your head.”
His body reacting instinctively at her command, the Hero raised his head and met her gaze. He felt as if the woman before him was staring into his very soul at that moment. It was as if an endless pit had opened up in his stomach, swallowing his heart whole.
The woman’s pointy ears twitched as she spoke the following words.
“To whom do I owe the displeasure of this visit, Hero Kenja? Or rather…”
The woman’s eyes directed themselves to a floating transparent screen that should’ve been invisible to everyone else, but the Hero.
“Esphera?”
The Constellation, Ringed Star Mother, glares at the Goddess before you.
“Let us have a long conversation about our dearest mentor, shall we?”
“Quit your bullshit, Ori. We are not making a male-only (manly men and femboys) elven civilization.”
“Oh, fuck off! Elves are better when they’re just burly and pretty men! Just imagine the paradise this place could be if elf ome–”
“AH! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You dirty fujo! We are NOT going to make this an Eden for Adam and Steve, you fucking degenerate!”
“What?! And you think your female-elves-only plan is any better? You pervert! You just want to stare at pretty girls’ boobs all day!”
“And what’s wrong with that?!? At least hot babes are more aesthetically pleasing than your filthy BL!”
“Huh?!?”
“Sir Gorilla… What should we do about them?”
“Oog…”
Not long after the discussions regarding the creation of this so-called “elf race” that Yvell proposed got started, things took a sharp turn after Ori designed a lean but handsome and muscular male character modeled after a K-drama actor.
Ramube’s newest divine creation, made in cooperation with Yvell, the LifeMakerUI, was a very user-friendly divine program that even allowed mortals to use it. And use it Ori did, going to town with her own aesthetic prowess.
Though she wasn’t an artist, somehow she had managed to reproduce the image she had imagined in her own dirty mind with the power of her burning passion for BL. While Yvell praised the appearance on the screen at first, after Ori started explaining her intentions behind the image, things quickly went downhill.
“I. am. telling. you. It CAN work! If we just make the internal organs for it, it can–”
“We are NOT here to entertain your fantasies, Ori! Sit your ass back down!”
“Oh, and what? Are we supposed to entertain yours? You just want to make an elven harem for yourself!”
Yvell walked up to the screen and swapped the image from a handsome elven man to that of a slender, beautiful, elven woman. Then, he turned back to face the group.
“There is a practical reason for keeping them female-only! Appearances and control! If we have it so that ents can only produce one of the two, then elves will be reliant on ents to increase their numbers, and both races can grow more connected to each other emotionally! On top of that, women get treated more favorably than men on both sides of the coin, so wouldn’t it be better from a strategic standpoint to keep things female-only?”
Ori held her forehead in astonishment and jumped straight into ad hominem.
“Wow! Look at you! Talking like you know so much about women! [Fucking virgin… (Muttering)] Bet I’m the only woman you talked to in the past year besides the constellations you’ve met! Think you can talk all that when I bet you’ve never even dated before?!”
“Hey, I heard that! For your information, I actually HAD a girlfriend before!”
“Y-You did?!?
“You did?...”
“Oog?”
“... Ugh. Stop looking at me like that. Look, I really don’t want to talk about that right now. This argument is reaching stupid territory, so let’s instead ask the Goddess in charge.”
Everyone turned their heads toward the newborn constellation with long green hair. Green Earth Mother, now put under the spotlight, shuddered a little from the intense gazes emanating from her mentor, Utopic World Builder, and the human he brought along, whom he called “Ori.”
After gathering some of her confidence, she finally spoke up.
“... I-I think that there should be men and women among the elves. I… I want my followers to be able to understand love. Not just the familial kind, but also the romantic kind. I think… that love is a wonderful feeling that must be shared among all life, and understanding love can start with loving one another. I wish to grant my followers that experience.”
“... I can’t really argue with that.”
“Hm. Not bad, disciple. Then we will proceed with the plan as you like it.”
“Oog!”
“Thank you, mentor!”
The ringed sun had already set by the time their discussion ended. Daylight had given way to night as the stars in the sky grew bright with the oncoming darkness.
“It is getting late. Let us rest for the night. If you need anything from me, you may find me at my tent. We shall start Project EROFU Garden tomorrow.”
“U-Understood, mentor! Good night!”
Just like that, Yvell left, looking exhausted as his back slumped on the way to his tent.
Ramube also shortly left in search of a decent tree to hang his hammock so he could relax lying down while playing on his Dontenin Flick 2. He wanted to reach GR rank 5 sooner on Slayer of Monsters Descent before the end of the season.
Ori let out an annoyed sigh before pulling out her phone and opening UTube.
She sat on a small boulder under the moonlight, watching a manhwa dub starring two handsome men—one scheming foxy type, and one honest hunk. The story concept was an entertaining one: the hunk was a regressor, while the foxy one could look at other people’s statuses. It was a story that involved the scheming character tricking the other into thinking they were a saint, and had lots of steamy tension the likes of a fujo couldn’t help but relish.
“Ehehehe~”
Ori, unable to hold herself back, was practically drooling at the sight of the foxy man in the arms of the hunky one.
Green Earth Mother, still a little in shock over the scene she witnessed between her mentor and the human, approached the human, who was enjoying herself with the scene playing on her phone screen.
“Excuse me, human.”
“Ehehe–erm, yes?!?”
“Please do not be alarmed. There is something I would like to ask you.”
“Ah… Ah… s-sure. Um. Take a seat, Miss Constellation.”
“Yes. Then, I shall.”
Green Earth Mother awkwardly took her seat on a boulder beside Ori.
“So, w-what did you want to ask me, miss?”
“Um… You see… You seem close to my mentor. Have you known each other for long?”
“Oh, V–I mean, Utopic World Builder? Yeah, we’ve known each other for a while. Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“We’re online friends. We only got to meet each other in person recently.”
The pair’s eyes wandered off to a tent in the distance. The lights in the tent were now off, so the person inside must have gone to sleep.
“... Why are you asking?”
“Oh. It is nothing so difficult, really. I… I wish to grow closer to my mentor.”
“... Grow closer, huh?”
“Yes. But I am still uncertain how. He seems very different from other constellations, so I do not quite know how to approach him better.”
Ori snickered at the mention of ‘other constellations,’ but luckily, it seemed that Green Earth Mother had failed to notice. Before she could get carried away with amusing herself over her friend’s constellation LARPing, Ori held herself back and responded.
“Why don’t you start by giving him your name?”
“My name...?”
“Yeah. You constellations all love hiding your names with fancy titles and stuff, but that just makes things really distant between you all, right? Why not start with that as a show of trust?”
“... You may be right.”
A smile bloomed on Green Earth Mother’s face as she stood up from her seat and turned to face the human.
“Your name was Ori, correct?”
“... I guess it is.”
“Thank you. To think that I had not thought of something so simple… it is quite shameful.”
“You’re welcome…?”
“I shall be off now. Just as my mentor had suggested, it is time to get some rest.”
“You’re really going with his ‘emulation’ shit.”
“Emulating mortal life has been very enriching for me, Ori. I hope to continue learning about mortals so that I may one day achieve my dream. I wish you a good night. I will see you tomorrow.”
“Your dream, huh?... Well, good night. See you tomorrow, I guess.”
Green Earth Mother vanished from her spot, likely teleporting to her true body—that giant tree in the center of the forest, to rest on its branches under the pale moonlight. Ramube had given her a hammock of her own to use, so she was likely going to set one up in her own branches.
Ori, now alone, pulled down her facemask and gazed up at the moon, her brows furrowed.
“... I’m such a hypocrite.”
