27 – Sowing Seeds
The emperor of the Histanias Empire, Redru Postergrey.
He was nothing less than a hero who pioneered a new era from the perspective of humans.
He had swept away the hunting civilization with the agricultural civilization, so he had a high chance of being remembered as the greatest emperor in the future.
But from the perspective of the Great Forest, he was no different from a demon king who devoured his kin and their homeland.
He kidnapped and exploited their beloved families, so he was nothing but a hateful existence for the elves.
Moreover, the elves were a long-lived race.
Although there were no high elves who lived out their full lifespan due to their crazy personalities, according to the guess that Shiz told me, the lifespan of an elf would easily exceed 1,000 years.
While the humans praised the emperor for generations, the victims on the elf side would still be alive with their eyes red.
So the discord between humans and elves was not a problem that could be solved by time.
The emperor of the empire would be remembered as a villain for over 1,000 years in the minds of the elves.
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So unless someone stepped forward, the war between elves and humans would surely continue forever.
It was time for a being who understood both sides and pursued peace to intervene.
‘I’m the only one.’
It was more than enough reason for me to step forward.
I opened my mouth with Pii, who was chirping, on my lap.
“Pii, is there no way?”
Pii threw the twig he was holding at Lenny and looked up at me.
[What way? I don’t know much about war and assassination.]
“No, not that. A peaceful way to solve it. I understand that you’re angry, but calm down a bit.”
[Ugh. I don’t know. I just want to beat them all up.]
Pii was furious to hear that his kin were being exploited.
Of course, I didn’t misunderstand his feelings, but now was the time to think calmly and prepare a countermeasure.
I pinched Pii’s swollen cheeks and laid out the plan that came to my mind.
“Pii, can you improve the varieties of plants with natural magic?”
[Variety improvement?]
“Yes. You know that. In the world we lived in, we farmed well without spirit trees.”
The empire was now forcibly cultivating crops that had not been improved with the power of spirit trees.
In other words, it was nothing but a deformed growth through inefficient agriculture.
So the plan I came up with was to improve the varieties of crops with natural magic.
If we provide crops that grow well and have high yields without spirit trees, the empire would not invade the forest at the risk of their lives.
Pii pondered over my plan and seemed to understand it at once.
He was from the same Earth as me, so our minds matched well.
As I waited with a pleased face, and Lenny with a tense face, Pii nodded his head and opened his mouth.
[It doesn’t seem impossible. Gaul, if you purify the mana.]
My plan was only possible if I purified the mana.
When I raised a question about what he meant, Pii leaned his back on my chest and explained.
[Imagining is important for using magic. But the elves have never seen improved varieties of crops. They will all fail to cast magic.]
“Do you not know either?”
[How would I know? I spread my roots here and there, but there was no rice field nearby.]
“Oh.”
[So the magic that requests breed improvement can only be used by you. Does that mean there’s one more reason to purify the contaminated mana?]
“Yes. I need to drink your sap quickly.”
[Ah! Eek~ I hate it so much!]
It was impossible right now, but that didn’t mean it was completely impossible.
It wasn’t a satisfying answer, but for now, it was enough.
I stroked Pii’s head as if to mess it up and then spoke to Lenny.
“Lenny. Did you hear that? What I just said is your lifeline.”
“Uh, yes?”
“The elves have no reason to spare you. That’s why I gave them a reason to let you go.”
“A reason to let me go?”
“Yes.”
Lenny looked at me with watery eyes and blinked.
She had heard the story, but she didn’t seem to understand it.
I explained the plan to her in detail so that she could understand it.
“Human beings capture spirit trees and elves and use them for farming. That’s why the great forest and humans are on bad terms and bloodshed.”
“Yes.”
“I want to resolve this situation peacefully if possible. I’d like to control all human access to the great forest, but if I tell them to give up farming and go back to living off hunting monsters, they’ll become violent and hostile.”
“That, that sounds likely.”
“So I’m going to provide them with an alternative. Something that will allow them to farm without spirit trees and elves.”
“What is that thing?”
I thought of the modern crops in my head in response to Lenny’s question.
Rice, wheat, barley, corn, etc. There were dozens of crops that I could provide to humans just off the top of my head.
They would all be incomparable to the crops of this era in terms of seed size and yield.
I was a woodcutter, but I had a fair amount of knowledge in that area, so I could select the crops that suited the environment.
It was a plan with a high possibility of realization.
With that confidence, I smiled and said to Lenny.
“A miraculous crop that grows well without spirit trees and has a huge harvest.”
“Is there really such a thing?”
“Yes. But it takes time to prepare. I’d appreciate it if you could buy me some time.”
“Me? What should I do?”
Lenny asked me, tilting his head.
As his hope for survival became firm, he shed his fear and gained motivation.
Seeing his satisfying appearance, I nodded and continued.
“Go back to the humans and tell them. The druid of the great forest hopes to meet the emperor.”
“A druid?”
“Yes. I may look like this, but I’m a druid candidate.”
“Oh! That’s why the elves….”
Fortunately, the existence of druids was widely known among humans.
He seemed to have accepted my identity to some extent, so I thought it was okay to start educating him about the plan.
I sat down comfortably and stared at Lenny.
“Then we’ll start the training now. If you want to live, you have to memorize everything in your head.”
Lenny had to recite the details of the plan without missing anything, and she also had to have a sense of duty to prevent responsibility avoidance.
There was no room for even a small mistake in this plan.
I had to avoid the situation where the entire forest would be in danger because of my one mistake.
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
“Good.”
Fortunately, Lenny showed a cooperative attitude with hope.
I was worried that she would be scared and disappear as soon as she left the forest, but her enthusiastic response made that possibility seem low.
The late afternoon of the western root tribe.
The intensive training with Lenny continued until late at night.
* * *
The next morning.
I finished Lenny’s training and recharged everything.
Now all that was left was to let Lenny go and watch the result.
As we finished a simple meal and came out of the room, a high elf who was waiting for us spoke up.
“Candidate. Do you really have to spare that human?”
He looked very displeased with the idea of letting the human go.
I pointed to Lenny who was far away.
Lenny was checking her equipment before the rough journey.
“I told you yesterday. That woman is worth using. I can’t be sure of the outcome, but at least she won’t bring any harm to the forest.”
“Will that human move according to the candidate’s plan?”
“He has no choice but to do so. I planned everything with the possibility of betrayal in mind.”
I could say that confidently because it was all sincere and true.
The high elf nodded at me as if he understood my appearance.
Then, Lenny, who seemed to have finished preparing, came up to me nervously.
“Um… Mr. Gaul. Can I go now?”
“Did you pack everything without missing anything? It would be troublesome if you die on your way back.”
“I’m, I’m fine! I can go back safely.”
“Really? That’s good then.”
I approached Lenny and put a green hood on him firmly.
If he wore a hood made of spirit wood leaves, he wouldn’t be attacked by the elves without any questions.
It seemed like he was ready to go, so I could let him go now.
I nodded and pushed Lenny’s back.
“Be careful.”
“Th, then I’ll go! Thank you so much for saving me!”
Lenny turned around and bowed, then started running.
He was heading towards the river, cutting through the forest. It looked like he was going to the secret route I told him yesterday.
He was really slow for a mid-level adventurer.
Could he really make it back alive?
I frowned as I thought that, and the high elf next to me spoke quietly.
“Then I’ll follow them and erase the intrusion route.”
“Okay. If you feel it’s dangerous, help me out.”
“I’ll think about it.”
The high elf who answered took two of his colleagues and disappeared in an instant.
They had long ears, but they were almost like ninjas.
As I stared blankly at him and admired him, another high elf asked me.
“What will you do, candidate?”
I safely sent away the human I captured as a prisoner.
I also left some breadcrumbs for the empire to be interested in.
I did a lot of things in one night and felt a proud fatigue.
I yawned and stretched and answered.
“I’ll go see how Siz is doing.”
I need to get some rest there.