Lirisia was very angry.
Since being drawn to the world known as Earth by fragments of the Demon King, this was the first time she had expressed such righteous and straightforward anger.
When she was cut by Menelapie’s sword, instead of being angry, she actually felt relieved and liberated.
Even when she looked at her parallel self having a bit of a meltdown, she felt dumbfounded or shocked, but she wasn’t angry.
But from 8 AM onward, working under the scorching sun that would burn a normal person’s skin, overturning sand, terraforming, and laboring non-stop had finally pushed her over the edge.
Just barely finishing her quota, what did she get for a snack?
Vegan?
VEEEEEEGAN?
After all that suffering, the fact that the lunch served was a patch of green grass made Lirisia, no matter how much a Witch of the Dark Star she was, think that this was clearly crossing the line.
“Hey, everyone get up!”
“Supervisor?”
Lirisia’s work team, resting under the expansive shade of a giant tree grown by elves instead of an umbrella, looked up at her, unsure how to express Lirisia’s fury, which could only be described as almost frightening.
“S-senpai, what’s the matter?”
The one who reacted first was, of course, the overly enthusiastic elf.
Even though she was known for her weird obsessions, upon hearing there was trouble, her expression changed to one of seriousness. Truly a veteran elf, it seemed.
“Gasp! Are you in heat? Did you take a 3000-fold weak potion? No way! Could it be that you’re…!”
“……”
For a moment, Lirisia found herself resenting her own hope in that crazy obsessed elf.
How could she not have figured it out after more than three weeks with that lunatic? Her overall abilities and mental capacity must have truly diminished.
Thud!
“Gah!”
“Uh… Supervisor, what’s wrong?”
“What, they want me to work more?”
“Hey, do you guys know what today’s meal plan is?”
“Meal plan?”
At the mention of a meal plan, the elves tilted their heads in confusion.
The one responsible for the elves’ meal plan was known as the Nut Tree House Elf, a sister elf with over a thousand years of cooking experience.
Excluding the likes of Big Olgania or Elanar, the leader of the Lotus Lake Knight Order, she was one of the highest-ranking generations among the elves, capable of creating dishes far superior to those of any ordinary chef, no matter the ingredients used.
So, with the Nut Tree House Elf in charge of the cooking, the elves had no doubts or questions about the meal plan.
“If it’s made by the Nut Tree House sister, it’s bound to be delicious.”
“That’s right! Lirisia, you shouldn’t get too hung up on the menu…”
“Ha! Look at you guys! So, you mean you have no idea why I’m throwing a fit?”
“Uh… is there no meat in it?”
“Come on, it can’t be. This isn’t the Great Forest.”
“Senpai, don’t worry too much. The Nut Tree House sister definitely made us some delicious sautéed bean sprouts.”
And then Lirisia showed the flattened food tray covered in leaves to the elves.
Today’s menu was lotus leaf rice wrapped in lotus leaves for a delicate fragrance that permeated the grains, alongside soy-sauced seasoned greens and fried leaf snacks made in the secret sauce of the Great Forest, matched with a refreshing elven soybean sprout soup.
While each flavor was guaranteed to be delightful… there was no meat.
All she could see was green. Just green.
“……..”
“Wha…..”
Had it been three weeks ago, the elves would have exclaimed, “What’s wrong with this? It’s an excellent meal plan!”
Surely they would have argued with Lirisia about it.
However, the elves who had just left the World Tree and the blessings of spirits, coming to Earth, faced a grueling environment of intense labor exceeding 12 hours daily, terraforming greenery under temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius with extreme sunlight.
The desert dungeon belonged to Yeonseo, with no option for elves to settle on Earth perfectly. Given that the elves possessed an average capacity of Awakened Ones of A-grade, the work of the advance unit was indeed harsh.
Originally, the land was vast, but Yeonseo only built a villa on a small plateau in the center, conducting only a small cabbage farm, it lacked any infrastructure, compelling the elves to initiate nature-friendly large-scale civil engineering through their unique abilities and labor.
The first day was fine.
From the second day, however, the elves began to feel fatigue seeping into their bodies due to arduous labor.
Yet they managed to cope.
Now that they could communicate directly with the spirits and use their powers, they thought surely they could endure.
Nut Tree House Elf’s traditional vegan dish was tasty, perhaps not as energizing as before, but still delicious.
Just hold on a bit longer.
Endure a little more.
For the Great Forest.
For their compatriots.
For Lady Olgania.
The advance unit elves vowed to push through their hardships.
Until then, Lirisia tasted their food, realizing it was a vegan meal without meat, and she expressed serious anger, but she figured she could let it slide since they were of a different race.
After all, Lirisia could just use Yeonseo’s Black Card to step outside the dungeon, have a quick meal, and come back, so it didn’t matter much to her.
She didn’t feel hunger anymore like in her days as the Witch of the Dark Star, so there was no need for excessive eating either.
However, the problem erupted on the third day when Small Olgania visited the terraforming advance team.
[In the name of the World Tree’s child, Olgania Parcerotipia, I declare!]
[Huh? What’s happening?]
[Is it Lady Olgania?]
Small Olgania currently held no significant political influence over the Great Forest elves, yet she was still recognized as a child of the World Tree.
To declare oneself as such was not something the elves could take lightly.
[Meat is a wonderful thing!]
[…Huh?]
[What?]
[…Oh….]
[Lady Elanar!?]
[Uh, Lady Elanar, get a grip!]
[Squad!!]
The scout guarding the advance unit, who witnessed Small Olgania’s nonsense, fainted instantly, while other elves began to seriously wonder if Small Olgania had lost her mind.
The young lady had been holed up in her room all day streaming or accessing some weird hunter gallery, and now she had finally gone off the deep end.
While the elves began to grow wary of Small Olgania’s words, she held up a jar of spicy red pepper paste she got from the Mangja Seongnyeo with great pride.
[Behold! This majestic and beautiful form!]
[Disgusting…!]
[How can something so barbaric…!]
[Brutal!]
[Ahhh…!]
[Lady Olgania, please maintain your decorum…!]
However, Small Olgania remained undeterred.
[Brothers and sisters, even if you think that my actions today are decadent and that I’ve lost my mind, I have no words to say. We of the Great Forest bear the duty to respect all life born of Mother Earth. We’ve lived this way and learned in this manner.]
Everyone among the elves of the Great Forest knew that.
[But!!! I received great enlightenment from the words of Mangja Seongnyeo Isia!]
[Lady Olgania… please stop…!]
[Ahhh! Small Olgania has lost her mind…!]
[Everyone, the Mangja Seongnyeo said to me! The vegetables, greens, cabbages, and all the countless crops we cultivate for a vegetarian diet are all, in fact, the fruits of countless lives and corpses stacked upon one another!]
[That’s…]
[To cultivate apple fruits, we needed to eliminate pests. To remove bugs chewing on the cabbage leaves, we used a protective barrier of spirits. We’ve chased away wild boars and deer that trample our fields. We performed these acts with no second thought until now! Yet, to be vegan or vegetarian… ultimately amounts to the arrogance of the ignorant and gluttonous!]
As Small Olgania’s explosive declaration echoed, the previously fainted Elanar regained consciousness, alarmed, but soon felt overwhelmed by the madness of what Small Olgania was saying.
[Who determines right and wrong? Did Mother World Tree forbid us from eating meat? No! The previous Great Forest interpreted Mother’s will at will, thinking that refraining from eating meat and embracing a vegetarian lifestyle honored the Earth Goddess. Yet, not once did Mother World Tree ban meat! She has never stated that meat is savage or vile, nor has she praised vegetarianism as righteous!]
[Well, that’s true…]
[Does that make… sense…?]
[Is it right?]
[Seems so…]
[Wait, you crazy idiots…! What will you do if you agree?!]
[But, it’s not like Lady Olgania is saying anything wrong, is she?]
[Could it be?]
[I, in the name of the World Tree’s child! Olgania Parcerotipia, announce! Meat is equivalent to vegetarianism! They are equal; no superiority can be established between them! Only taste can determine superiority! Therefore, brothers and sisters of the Great Forest! From this day on, I will allow meat consumption!]
While there were no thunderous applause or cheers, the announcement for meat consumption in the Great Forest fell upon the elven community from the point of the advance unit.
Of course, even if Small Olgania declared a ban on meat, no elf had yet to consume any meat.
Only Olgania herself enjoyed the delicious taste of the spicy red pepper paste grilled by the Mangja Seongnyeo among the elves. Perhaps overwhelmed by the smell of meat, the elves, after four days since the announcement lifted their meat ban, returned to their quarters after 12 hours of exhausting labor, noticing the most delightful and aromatic smell in the air.
Some elves, half-in a daze, followed the scent and discovered the source was actually Olgania’s leftover meat sizzling on the grill.
Thus, the first elven instance of meat “falling” after the lifting of the ban occurred.
The first step was the hardest, yet afterward, it became as simple as a toppled domino.
Once one elf spread the delight of meat to another, soon the long-held belief of veganism adopted like a tenet among the elves was casually discarded, as more and more elves found themselves enamored by the splendor of meat.
That was just a recent event.
In the end, not all elves of the Great Forest accepted the idea of consuming meat, but at least most of the members of the advance unit had undergone the ‘meat transformation’ through Small Olgania, and even at this moment, they were working to increase their numbers.
Having finished over 12 hours of hard labor, the sight of sizzling meat, paired with the large lettuce wraps blessed by spirits from the Great Forest, along with ssamjang (a Korean dipping sauce), forced into their mouths, accompanied by makgeolli bought by Yeonseo to take care of them, and once they toasted and clinked the cups together, it was sheer ecstasy.
Yet, despite all those experiences of a meat transformation, what suddenly popped up?
Vegan?
Vegan, really?
Lirisia, the work supervisor, realized why she was furious and jumped up, surprising the other elves including Bribie.
“Whoa, Nut Tree sister, are you out of your mind? After working so hard this morning, you serve us a patch of grass for our snack??”
“This has crossed the line.”
“This is an unbearable impulse! We’re charging the dining hall right now!”
With that, Lirisia and the dozen elves affiliated with her, including Bribie, charged straight towards the dining hall without hesitation.
The dining hall was packed.
Not for serving food, but because other part-time workers had been shaken by the fact they’d received a vegan meal plan, and they had come to protest.
On one side, Small Olgania was also there, angrily confronting the Nut Tree House Elf about the absence of meat on the table.
“Nut Tree sister! Isn’t this too much?!”
“That’s right!”
“We’re supposed to work 18 hours today!”
“We’ve been doing overtime since last night! How does it make sense to have this menu!”
“Your meals are delicious, but this simply doesn’t add up.”
“This kind of herbacious treatment while forcing us to work is downright unacceptable!”
Those who were once mere oddities seemed to be teetering on insanity.
Lirisia approached the Nut Tree House Elf, who, scratching her cheek in awkwardness, found herself at a loss.
For Lirisia, as both the work supervisor and an elf recognized by Yeonseo, she held a bit more authority.
“Ah… this is troublesome…”
“Hey, Nut Tree sister.”
“Aaaah~ Isn’t it Supervisor Lirisia?”
Over the last three weeks, the Nut Tree House Elf had encountered Lirisia many times, regardless of whether she liked it.
With a tone of familiarity, she greeted her.
“You were adding at least one piece of meat to the meal plan for a week, right? So why suddenly revert back to this patch of grass?”
“Ah, well…”
Losing her composure, the Nut Tree House Elf reluctantly pulled away from the conversation, causing Lirisia to tilt her head in confusion.
The Nut Tree House Elf, while ancient and wise, generally had a gentle and nurturing nature, so she would usually comply with requests from younger elf compatriots.
Even if someone craved something that wasn’t on the menu, like corn salad, she would squeeze time to make it, and if someone complained of a lack of side dishes, she would make sweet potato fritters with honey, never raising an eyebrow amongst the elves.
However, now, she suddenly had no reason to drop from the generous offerings to a vegan meal alternative.
“Someone must have told you to do it?”
“Ah…”
“Who?”
“T-that’s…”
Grinning without intent, the Nut Tree House Elf looked helplessly at Lirisia.
There was no need to even think about it.
Only someone with considerable authority could even have a hand in manipulating the elves’ meals.
And an individual with that level of power, able to counter Small Olgania, would be someone of great stature.
Taking into account that Small Olgania proclaimed a ban on meat, there were few others who could stand alongside her.
It could either be Elanar or the illustrious Big Olgania negotiating with the South Korean government and the Hunter Association for asylum.
But Big Olgania was known for being quite fond of meat, while Small Olgania stood on the side of advocating for the goodness of meat, so they would be exceptions.
Thus, through deduction, the only one left would be…
“It was me.”
‘As expected.’
Only Elanar.
“Wha… Elanar?!”
“If it’s Elanar’s doing, there’s nothing we can do…”
“Sniff… I’m so hungry…”
As soon as Elanar appeared, a few elves hung their heads in submission.
Even Small Olgania seemed to cower her gaze away upon Elanar’s arrival.
Though Elanar usually refrained from taking political stances, she, with her elder-level authority and countless years guarding the Great Forest, was unmatched amongst the elves outside of Olgania.
When she called every elf to the Great Hall during Shia’s stay at the Great Forest, it was Elanar’s strength that enabled such authority. Even to this day, every elf revered and admired Elanar.
“Sigh, Elanar? Is meat that distasteful to you?”
“Don’t misinterpret it weirdly. It’s simply a necessary measure.”
“A necessary measure? It seems like you were trying to go vegan because eating meat was a nuisance to you?”
“Ah, it’s true that I despise and dislike meat. That’s natural, considering I’ve subsisted solely on plants showered with the blessings of mother for over a thousand years; however, it’s not intentional.”
“Not intentional?”
“The ingredients brought to Nut Tree House are sourced from human outsourcing companies due to current conditions.”
Naturally, many ingredients were brought along by the elves, but the distance from the Great Forest to Yeonseo’s dungeon made it necessary to get assistance from human outsourcing companies for even elves capable of self-sustenance.
“Every day, around dawn at 4 AM, night-duty sisters receive handovers, and that’s when the human companies deliver the ingredients. The price was settled with the Hunter Association in Korea. The outsourcing companies deliver ingredients equivalent to the daily price each day. I simply instructed the Nut Tree House sister to come up with a meal plan from the ingredients those humans brought.”
However, hearing those words, Lirisia couldn’t accept them and narrowed her eyes in frustration.
“If that’s the case, you’re saying those damn outsourcing humans played tricks with the ingredients? And while you’re in charge of checking the ingredients, you didn’t even protest and just accepted them?”
“I will hold them accountable later.”
“Accountability, or what not, how are you going to deal with the fact that those kids toiling in 12-hour shifts haven’t even had meat to eat? If you received the supplies at dawn, there was certainly time to step out and buy some meat!”
“Do you seriously believe it’s conceivable that an elf of the Great Forest loses energy just from skipping one meal of meat?!”
“What’s happening here?!”
At that moment, as the gate opened, a refreshing fragrant breeze swept away the scorching heat of the desert.
It was Big Olgania, having returned after discussions and negotiations with the Hunter Association in South Korea.
Realizing the atmosphere wasn’t quite right as soon as she returned to rest, Olgania stared at Elanar, demanding an explanation.
“Oh, Olgania. They are here protesting about an issue with the meal plan.”
“Meal plan?”
“Yes, this is today’s meal plan.”
The Nut Tree House Elf proudly displayed the lotus leaf rice wrapped in lotus leaves, elven soybean sprout soup, seasoned greens, fried leaf snacks, and the deliciously prepared vegetables.
It was indeed an admirable meal, but it was predominantly plant-based.
“No meat included? And that caused this uproar?”
“Yes.”
Elanar was hopeful.
No matter how much the elves had embraced meat, even if Small Olgania was spreading the merits of meat like a cult, as the Big Olgania leading the Great Forest, she would surely correct their mistaken paths.
And true to her expectations, Olgania smiled.
“Elanar?”
“Yes?”
However… there was one fact that none of them knew.
Even though Small Olgania had declared a ban on meat, and it was assumed that she was the first elf to taste meat among the elves, that was not entirely the case.
Big Olgania had been part of the warrior party alongside Yujin in the previous world.
In that world, she persevered with Yujin through thick and thin to smash the Demon King’s head.
Of course, the early Olgania had refused meat, proclaiming, “One cannot harm the lives blessed by the Earth Goddess,” but the wretchedly troubled path wasn’t merely a matter of one or two years, and as it continued without end, her weary mind and body were swayed.
In the end, she grew weary enough to occasionally dabble into meat.
Though it was eaten purely out of necessity for survival, it meant Olgania had pretended not to eat ever since becoming the representative of the Great Forest.
Yet one day, after coming back from an outing with the Mangja Seongnyeo, Small Olgania radiantly poured forth the mouthwatering scent of meat, which naturally meant that after many years, Big Olgania felt an undeniable craving to indulge in meat once more.
“And I do it for Yujin too. Since he’s human, he needs the energy to keep going…”
This melting pot of motives came together, leading Big Olgania to tacitly permit the meat ban set by Small Olgania.
But now what?
She could have her fair share while acting dignified. How dare this brat turn around and revert the meal plan back to some naturalistic, herbaceous diet?
“Fufu, Elanar?”
“Yes, Olgania.”
“Headbutt the ground.”
“Yes, understood… wait, what?”
“Headbutt.”
BANG!
At that moment, Elanar felt compelled by the element of wind to smash her head down into the ground.
