Chapter 30: Birth of the First Elf

It is the dawn of a new day.

While neither Ori nor I were early birds, we woke up as soon as the rising ringed sun peeked over the horizon.

Why is that? Because both of us were eager to get Project EROFU Garden rolling. And it seems like we weren’t the only ones.

“We have already discussed the necessity of ents in the production of the first elves. While Green Earth Mother has voiced her desire to have both male and female elves, I believe that should not change the initial premise of conception.”

“Mentor, could you explain why this premise is so important? I am afraid I still do not quite understand.”

“Can’t we just skip that process altogether? It sounds a little extra, no?”

“Oog.”

Almost as if we had arranged for this early-morning gathering beforehand, everybody came around the same time to our designated meeting place.

While seeing Ori there wasn’t much of a surprise, seeing how excited she was by the idea of making handsome men and pretty boys, finding Green Earth Mother already there this early was. Was she simply being a diligent disciple, or was she genuinely excited about getting to create her first elf? Whatever the case, she looked a lot brighter than usual today.

“I will try to explain things to the best of my abilities.”

To establish a strong bond between elves and ents, their relationship cannot rely on functionality alone. Elves protecting ents because they provide food and resources may sound good on paper, but it doesn’t necessarily draw either side emotionally to the other. If anything, that kind of dynamic is purely transactional—emotionless and detached.

In a transactional relationship, there’s no incentive—emotional or otherwise—to act beyond the exchange of resources and protection. Therein lies the problem: neither side, on their own, would form sincere bonds with the other party. The absence of “muh emotions” makes them give less of a shit about each other, creating the perfect foundation for an imbalanced relationship.

We can see similar examples of this in nature: cleaner fish and their ‘clients’ are a perfect example.

Cleaner fish are essentially the car washes of the sea. Larger fish tolerate their constant touching so the cleaners can remove parasites from their bodies. One gains food. The other lives longer and healthier. Simple. Efficient. But nothing sentimental.

If a cleaner fish angers its “client”—say, by biting flesh instead of parasites—the “client” can simply attack or eat it without hesitation. No shits given whatsoever. Just consequences for breaking the deal. In the same way, a noble lady wouldn’t be surprised if a maid stole jewelry; she would fire her instantly, without a second thought.

In a similar theoretical scenario between elves and ents, the stronger side becomes the noble lady, while the weaker side becomes the maid. Because elves are far more adaptable, they could easily become the dominant partner. That could lead to an abusive dynamic where elves exploit the ents or ignore them entirely, leaving them to suffer when cooperation should be mutual.

What changes this transactional bond into something deeper is family. If elves and ents are bound as family from the start, then natural emotional attachment forms. Familial affection makes exploitation unlikely and abandonment far harder. In such a case, they’ll actually give a shit about each other.

“That makes a lot of sense, mentor! But… how would this work, exactly?”

“Yeah. How the fuck does a tree shit out an ent?”

“We already have an answer to that question, do we not?”

I point at the floating screen of the LifeMakerUI.exe in front of us with one hand, and then at Green Earth Mother with another.

“... Me, mentor?”

“Yes. Some further alterations to the ents will be necessary.”

Ents must be granted the ability to produce elves on their own. They aren’t gods, so giving them the ability to create such complex life might prove difficult, but thanks to Esphera tossing her divine power around the world, we have magic.

Magic has proven to be capable of altering bodies through mutations, creating monsters. Magic should be capable of producing life with divine intervention; however, the process would be much more difficult than Green Earth Mother’s gacha summoning animation, not to mention taxing on the user.

If ents had more magic capacity and had the instincts ingrained into them to produce elves using that magic whenever possible, then that would be ideal. Perhaps elves could be grown in a womb-like structure within the ent until they’re ready to pop out.

However, elves can’t solely be born from ents alone. If anything, that would probably be detrimental to the growth of Green Earth Mother’s nature-themed civilization.

Elven production through ents would likely be slow as hell. That’s not to mention the fact that the ents would also have to produce their own to grow their population. And there’s Green Earth Mother’s desire for elves to experience love to consider as well.

So, perhaps creating different races of elves will be necessary for Project EROFU Garden to work.

“Let us do things like this.”

I manipulated the contents of the floating transparent screen with my outstretched hands.

Ents (Multi-Species):

>Quick food generation. Also produces (or helps produce) various useful resources, depending on the species of ent.

>They can also serve as auxiliary defense should the need arise, or become a siege-tier weapon when sufficiently grown to an adequate size.

>Ents can reproduce amongst themselves naturally, just as trees do. But they can also produce elves through a magical process.

>Accumulates pure mana through the body over time by absorbing it from the earth.

>Accumulated mana strengthens the body, enhancing growth and development.

>When accumulated mana is sufficient for the process, it produces a High Elf baby. The gestation period may take years.

High Elves:

>Fair-skinned. Green Hair (Distinctive Trait). Very Hot. Very Sexy. Very Beautiful. ← Very important.

>Very long-lived. At minimum, a thousand-year lifespan, perhaps.

>Not as physically strong as humans (absent a meat diet), but they possess excellent memory and are very magically gifted due to being born from pure mana.

>Not very active under the sheets, but when babies pop out, they are born as Great Elves, which are a step down from High Elves in specs.

Great Elves:

>Fair-skinned. Hot. Sexy. Beautiful. ← Still important.

>Long-lived. Not as long as High Elves.

>Not as physically strong as humans (absent a meat diet), but they possess excellent memory. Not as magically gifted as High Elves, but they can still use magic pretty well.

>More “woohoo” active than High Elves. Great Elf x Great Elf pairings produce more Great Elves. Their gestation period lasts about a year, similar to humans. Easier to reproduce.

“What do you all think?”

“...”

“Oog…”

“What?”

I took a moment to scan their expressions. All of them looked a bit shocked as they stared at the contents of the screen. Then, they gradually started responding to me one by one.

“So this is the mind of a Constellation who has guided countless worlds… Truly, mentor, you are a Constellation like no other. A god with no equal.”

“... I forget how much of a nerd you can be sometimes. Holy shit. Where were you keeping these notes? Do you just have them printed inside of your skull?”

“Oog… Oog.”

The Constellation, Gorilla of Fates and Twisted Futures, is astounded by the depth of your planning. He claims that had he not known of you until now, he would have mistaken you for a nature god yourself.

… I guess I can consider this an overall positive reception, barring that jab from Ori.

“Then, we should get to work. Let us start with Enotolia.”

Everyone turned their heads toward the ent at the mention of its name. Enotolia was in the middle of chewing on a large yellow land bird when it felt everyone’s gazes fall on it all at once. It tilted its body in confusion before asking a simple question.

“... What?...”

“PUUUUSH, ENOTOLIA! PUUUUSH!”

Kreeek!

“YOU CAN DO IT, ENOTOLIA! PUUUUSH!”

Kreeek!

“... What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? Giving Enotolia some emotional support!”

“Does it look like it’s struggling with the birth?”
“Huh?”

I turned my head to look at Enotolia, and surely enough, Enotolia didn’t seem pained at all. Rather, it seemed like it was simply going with the mood, excitedly shaking itself along with my cheers while the elven baby was slowly sliding its way out of the trunk.

The baby was now halfway out, with its legs dangling in the air.

“You fucking idiot! Catch it!”

“Oh. Oh shit!”

Luckily, I caught the baby before it hit the floor.

Waaah! Waaah!

“Ah… The death knell of joy. Truly, marriage is the end of happiness.”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“I was emulating my father for a second.”

“Huh?”

“Mentor! Mentor! May I hold the baby, please?”
“Of course.”

I handed the baby over to Green Earth Mother, who was now beaming with joy at the birth of a high elf. The high elf quickly quieted down in her arms.

The high elf was a baby girl, from the looks of it. She still had her “umbilical cord” connected to Enotolia’s trunk. Though, unlike a human umbilical cord, this one looked more like a root connected to her belly button.

“My! Oh my! What a darling, this one is! What a tiny bundle of cuteness!”

“... She’s really living up to her name, huh?”

“Well, such is the case with most constellations, I suppose.”

Green Earth Mother held the baby as if she were a treasure, carrying her with great care. I suppose this is how a new parent would look, carrying a child of their own. Though the high elf wasn’t exactly her child per se (it was Enotolia’s), she treated her as if she were her own. Enotolia, on the other hand, watched the scene from the side, seemingly not quite understanding what was happening.

Kreeek.

Come on. It’s your kid. A little more emotion would be nice. Though I suppose this ent hadn’t exactly reached a decent level of intelligence yet. That might have to wait a few years.

Now that elf birth was officially a thing, one might begin to wonder at this point why I hadn’t used this strategy with the humans and the efreets. The answer should be pretty obvious.

I don’t think anyone wants the image of a human giving birth to a ball of fire in their mind.

“... So, what happens now?”

“Hm?”

“I mean, the baby’s been born, right? And we’re going to need to make more of them.”

“That is correct.”

“And the ent that gave birth to it doesn’t seem to understand what it just did.”

“Enotolia will learn with time the importance of bringing life into this world.”

“Right... So, who’s going to raise the kid?”

“...”

“The ones that’ll come after this kid, too. Who’s going to take care of them?”

“... Ah.”

Fuck.

I hadn’t thought about that yet.

Ori, reading the expression on my face like a book, exploded into anger.

“Are you seriously telling me that you made this whole elaborate plan to unite two completely different races, only to forget who the hell was supposed to raise the elf kids?!”

“Hold on. Give me a minute.”

“You fucking dumbass! You might as well have created the world’s first orphan elf!”

“No, wait. If you could give me some time to think–”

“Oh, I’ll give you some time to think, alright. After I knock your lights out!”

Thud!

“OW! Hey! Stop! Quit it!”
“GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE, YOU ORPHAN-MAKER!”

“Oog…”

Ramube watched as the constellation he had come to greatly respect was chased into the distance by a mere human woman. The sight was certainly something unexpected, but these days, he found that just by being in proximity to Utopic World Builder, he would be met with all kinds of surprises.

He turned his head to look at his junior, Green Earth Mother. She gently rocked the high elf baby as the little girl slept in her arms. She smiled as she continued to gaze lovingly at the tiny ball of life.

“Sir Gorilla, I think that I will raise the child myself. I will also raise the ones that will come after.”

“Oog?”

“Yes. Indeed, I am still inexperienced, however…”

Green Earth Mother brushed a hand over the small tuft of hair on the baby’s head.

“Where else shall I gain the experience if not here and now?”

“Oog.”

“Of course, I do not plan to bear the burden completely on my own. I will ask for help when necessary. I simply… wish to care for these wonderful beings myself.”

“Oog.” (Thumbs-up)

“Thank you. I will be sure to give it my all.”

Green Earth Mother gazed longingly into the distance where her mentor and the human woman had gone.

“If I am to be the mother of this child, then…”

“Fuck. Did she really have to hit me that hard? I think that might have left a bruise.”

I returned to my campsite shortly past sunset. I had spent the last few hours being chased around the woods by Ori, so I was exhausted and in complete pain from all the beatings I received. All I wanted to do now was get some rest and call it a day.

“Mentor! You have returned!”

To my surprise, it seemed that a certain disciple of mine had been waiting for me at the site.

“Oh, I did not expect to see you here, disciple. Um. How is the high elf child?”

“Lively! I left her with Sir Gorilla for the moment. It seems she enjoys his company!”

Oh. That’s good to hear. But what’s she doing here? I’m too tired for any more of the constellation LARPing right now, so I really just want to go to bed.

“I see… Did you come here to discuss something with me? If it is not too important, I would like to go rest in my tent now. The day has been quite tiring for me.”

“Please wait, mentor! It is something important!”

“Hm?... Then, what is it?”

“It is… It is…”

Green Earth Mother’s words lingered in the air for a moment before dying off. The atmosphere was growing more awkward by the second, so before things could reach their peak, I decided to switch gears. I gestured to my foldable chairs, which were sitting folded in a stack beside the tent.

“Let’s talk over there.”

Green Earth Mother followed me to the chairs. I pulled two out of the stack and unfolded them. I positioned one in front of my seat and gestured for her to take hers. Then, I lit a nearby campfire with a lighter and started preparing some hot chocolate, as I usually do.

Tonight was pretty cold, so having something warm to drink over a nice evening chat seemed fitting.

“Here’s your cup.”

“Um. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Green Earth Mother awkwardly took a sip of the hot chocolate. Although I was sure it was her first time taking a drink of this stuff, it didn’t elicit much of a reaction from her. Maybe I was wrong? Or was her mind just elsewhere right now?

“Mentor.”

“Hm? Yes?”

“I… I would like to thank you for your help.”

Green Earth Mother raised her head and met my gaze. Her cheeks were starting to grow red with… embarrassment perhaps?

“Thanks to you, I have been feeling like I have finally taken my first steps as a goddess.”

“It’s not too big a deal. You would’ve figured things out on your own without me, anyway.”

At least, that’s what I assume to be the case. Maybe it could be said that I had her grow into her role faster than she would have without me, but I believe that the deities among the constellations would’ve learned their job on their own, given time. Isn’t that how most gods turn out?

“That cannot be true. Had it not been for you, I would have made plenty of mistakes…”
“Mistakes are part of the learning experience. Hell, one could say that the pain felt from mistakes can teach better than an actual teacher.”

“Is that so?”

“How else would I have learned?”

Well, of course, I’m just bullshitting. I didn’t learn jackshit about being a constellation. I’ve figured some things out so far, but I can’t exactly apply those things by myself. In that case, can I truly say I’ve learned when I can’t even do these things on my own? I haven’t really thought that far yet, so I don’t know the answer to that.

“... Mentor, do you not think that we are a little too distant?”

“Hm?”

What’s she on about now?

“You always refer to me as ‘disciple.’ Sometimes, you feel so far away despite being so close.”

“Ah. No, no. I didn’t intend for it to be like that.”

“I know…”

“Huh?”

Green Earth Mother set her empty cup aside and held out her hand. I hesitated for a moment, but then decided to take it.

“It is warm…”

“Yeah.”

“When you hold me like this, I can truly feel that we are close, you and I.”

“Uh… Yeah.”

“Do you truly think such distance is fitting between a mentor and their student?”

Why are you looking at me like that? Why do you look like you’re… No, it can’t be. Agh.

“I… think…”

“Then, will you call me by name if I gave mine to you?”

“Pardon?”

She took my hand in both of hers, cradling it gently. Her gaze carried a sincerity I hadn’t seen in ages, and for a moment, a tide of old, bitter memories washed over me.

“Graille.”

“What?”

“Please… call me Graille, mentor. And… may I know your name as well?”

Why can’t I think straight right now? Ugh…

I can’t just give her my real name. So, I suppose I ought to have her call me by my username, just as I had done to Esphera before.

“... Yvell. Call me Yvell.”

“... Yes, mentor. No–Yvell.”

“...”

F-Fuck…

I feel sick.

Suddenly, I felt the wind brush against my face.

Something appeared in the sky, eclipsing the moon.