“The Earthquake Workgroup is ready.”
“Sisters, step aside quickly!”
“Here we go.”
[Boom]
[Boom]
[Thud]
The sight of several elves simultaneously operating the earth spirits to upheave the land was quite a spectacle.
The earth spirits created cracks in the ground all at once. To establish a new boundary underground, they separate the completed green areas.
No matter how enchanted the forest may be with the blessings of spirits and elves, if groundwater is eroded by seawater for too long, the trees risk desiccation. Hence, desalination of the seawater penetrating from the land was necessary.
Of course, there are limits to how much the spirits can split the ground.
“Team Leader Lirisia, the land upheaval operation is complete.”
“Senpai, fight-o!”
Bribie tapped Lirisia on the shoulder and looked down, to which Lirisia muttered a curse mixed with a deep sigh.
“Ugh, damn…”
As Lirisia jumped into the cracked ground, her feet stuck to the muddy mixture of groundwater and soil with a squish.
She thought she’d have to throw away the slippers she had just put on when she returned.
[Miraculous Flesh – Divine Incarnation]
-Grr…
Of course, the corpse of the god grumbled, as if to say, “Do I really have to do this shit?” But what can be done? The Returnee wants a sea, so they need to create one.
As Lirisia clasped her fingers together, five tentacles, maximized in mass and size, burst forth from behind her and immediately dug into the ground.
What Lirisia was doing was creating pathways in the soil.
By tunneling out space beneath the ground, the groundwater slowly settled in all directions, allowing primordial spirits that couldn’t even become low-tier spirits, along with mana, to traverse and enrich the soil while desalinating the seawater seeping into the land.
At first, Lirisia did have her doubts, thinking, “Is this really going to leave any land behind? If we dig this big a hole, won’t it create a sinkhole?” But as she continued, it surprisingly worked.
Anyway, according to the original plan, this greening terraforming of the Great Forest was supposed to be finished within the week, but with Shia’s sudden request to create a sea, Lirisia and the elves were in quite the predicament.
○○○○
While Lirisia worked hard to transform into Yagada’s saint to create the sea…
“Hehe, hehe…!”
“……..Stop, stop, stop….stop it…”
“Slurp, slurp, nibble nibble…”
Yane was clearly licking Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess… No, Dongsaeng Ineo.
Is it just that all mermaids are fine, then?
Or perhaps it was because she sensed the aroma of Unnie Ineo from the younger mermaid that Yane, upon seeing the little mermaid Shia brought from the land, snatched her up like a doll and tirelessly groomed her with her rough tongue.
As if to vent the sadness from parting with the last mermaid, Yane was not letting Dongsaeng Ineo go for even a moment.
Shia did try to intervene, but as soon as she felt Yane getting all teary-eyed at the thought of losing Dongsaeng Ineo, she nearly handed over the mermaid to her.
“Anyway, it’s not causing any real issues.”
“That’s not entirely true. Just stop, enough already….”
Of course, during this process, Dongsaeng Ineo’s will was of no importance.
Initially startled, she seemed to be half-giving up under the relentless grooming from Yane.
“Hehe, it seems the saint’s little girl really likes the Mermaid Princess.”
“Right? I didn’t think she would like her this much. Maybe it feels like she gained a junior or sister.”
“Tsk tsk.”
“Saint… just stop. This land bug has been sucking on me until the sun is directly overhead… Unnie never looked at me like this…”
“She’s just happy.”
“Slurp… Om nom nom. Eek!”
Shia brought Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess to meet Olgania.
Naturally, granting a space for mermaids in the Great Forest, where elves resided, required Olgania’s approval. Originally, Yeonhwa and Menelapie were supposed to come too, but they said something about dealing with the Fishing Club or the Seongun Guild, so it was up to Shia to meet with Olgania.
“Anyway, I’ve heard well about the saint. Apparently, Small Olga said you were on a broadcast visiting the Mermaid Kingdom.”
“Small Olga? Ah, she was indeed a little mangchidan.”
“Actually, I’ve met mermaids a few times in my previous world. Of course, they aren’t the same as the ones from this world, but they too were tribes that received the saint’s salvation, so we ought to endure for the saint’s request.”
“Thanks, Olga. Truth be told, I had a bit of a bias against elves?”
“What kind of bias?”
At Shia’s words, Olgania tilted her head in curiosity.
That expression was quite cute, but Shia knew it was hiding a lustful and violent Spirit Fighter persona.
“I used to live in a world where elves rejected outsiders unless they were forced to submit to their power. Not all elves are like that, but high elves would exiled those who didn’t adhere to their rules or mixed with other races. So, honestly, I worried what would happen if you didn’t accept the mermaids.”
In reality, Menelapie, as an emperor, had established various diplomatic relations with desert elves, snow mountain elves, and shadow elves who had all been exiled by high elves.
“Come to think of it, you also belong to the high elves who directly serve the World Tree, yet you surprisingly have no bias, huh? I may have initiated it, but the elves from the Chaos Ant mimicry were also accepted as kin. I truly appreciate that mermaids will be living in the same space as you.”
Shia had come intending to playfully bother Lirisia while making unreasonable requests, but in truth, she had steeled herself to meet Olgania.
If the elves couldn’t accept the mermaids, she would kneel and plead right here, or do whatever she could to persuade Olgania—I would do whatever she asked.
One might ask if it was necessary to go that far for a mermaid newly met, but Shia was a saint.
If a saint promises a happy ending, they must uphold that responsibility to the end.
“Hehe, to be fair, I’ve mixed the essence of the demon king’s fragment, Chaos Ant, and the branches of that rotten World Tree. By those standards, I’m not entirely an elf either.”
Initially, Shia had planned to leave Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess at the Deep Sea Palace.
The curse had been lifted, allowing the mermaids to regain their intelligence and reasoning. The gate of the Deep Sea Palace now fully connected to the sea, allowing mermaids to swim freely, and they had all forgiven Dongsaeng Ineo.
Additionally, because the mermaids retained their memories from their time as idiots, they realized that Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess had always taken care of and protected them, which meant Dongsaeng Ineo was still the ‘Mermaid Princess.’
Among mermaids, it wasn’t so much a title or noble lineage but closer to a nickname, but after the curse was lifted, Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess truly became their princess, representing them.
However, just because everything seemed to be resolved didn’t mean there weren’t complex matters entangled in the Deep Sea Palace.
‘According to Menelapie and Yeonhwa, there’s a strategic resource called the Simhaeui Kkot buried here, and humans have been plundering or exploiting mermaids for a long time…’
There were multiple conflicting interests, and it was said to involve great guilds and political circles.
Even classifying the mermaids as ‘monsters’ was driven by factions that monopolized the Simhaeui Kkot. Yeonhwa had even called for an emergency meeting in the National Assembly as Yeon Family’s young lady to propose an amendment for the species registration of mermaids.
Many politicians and assembly members expressed their subservience to the young lady of the Yeon Family, but not all, and coincidentally, Olgania was there to discuss the elf refugee issues.
“By the way, I heard that your broadcast was a godsend, Shia?”
“Huh? My broadcast?”
“You had a broadcast in the Deep Sea Palace to help the mermaids. There was a moment when Cheon Danaa, a rogue, interrupted the drone’s broadcast, but even so, it helped normal civilians acknowledge that mermaids are not evil monsters attacking humans but another race of humanity.”
And indeed, that was true.
The key members of the Fishing Club immediately buried and dealt with Yeonhwa and Menelapie’s matters, but they had established themselves as a political power for a long time and were exerting various influences.
Even in the proposal to amend the classification of mermaids as a subspecies of humanity rather than monsters, politicians with ties to the Fishing Club raised opposing voices.
Even though Yeonhwa was the young lady of the Yeon Family, she was still a novice in politics. Menelapie, as a returnee, had limited power to speak up.
Of course, considering Menelapie’s political experience and eloquence, it was only a matter of time, but Shia’s broadcast provided a significant weapon for both Menelapie and Yeonhwa.
Thanks to that, suppressing the opposing forces was not difficult.
Shia’s broadcast could prove that mermaids were not a dangerous species. They only attacked in defense and did not inherently harbor animosity toward humans.
While some politicians tried to find a loophole, it was clear that probing into the realities of the Fishing Club would lead to self-destruction, so smart people would rather keep quiet and cast supportive votes.
“Well, everything is going smoothly. I’ve heard that this month, the Hunter Association will officially report the mermaids as a subspecies of humanity.”
“Huuh, that’s a relief.”
Shia hadn’t thought about how fast Yeonhwa and Menelapie were running around while she was at the Deep Sea Palace.
She had simply gone to the palace because she couldn’t refuse the wishes of those who sought help, but Menelapie and Yeonhwa had handled everything outside, even without Shia stating her intentions.
“Anyway, I’ll get up first, Shia. I heard Yujin will come for dinner soon.”
“Yujin? What’s he up to? I heard he’s busy all the time?”
“Hehe, he’s busy. The last time the saint played a little joke, but Yujin really is busy.”
“……….”
Ah.
Shia suddenly remembered joking about Yujin’s claim that he wasn’t busy during the last National Assembly meeting with Olgania.
At that time, Olgania had… oh, yeah, she seemed a bit scary.
Menelapie had had her moments where she looked at Shia a little intensely, but that was comparably frightening too.
“Hohoho, don’t worry, Shia. How could I harbor any ill will toward the benefactor of elves? Still, thanks to you, things are going smoothly, right?”
“Yeah. As long as the results are good, that’s what matters.”
“Oh, wait. Yujin might be exhausted from work tonight, so I’m planning to prepare him lots of delicious food. If you’d like, the saint can join too. We’ll prepare portions for both the Mermaid Princess and the little girl too.”
“The saint simply can’t refuse the meal offer, right? I’m really looking forward to how tasty the meat from the elves will be!”
Shia was also curious about how good the elves’ cooking had become.
It wasn’t for nothing that Lirisia, the Witch of the Dark Star, had become the saint of Yagada; after all, she’s been digging up the ground for at least over ten hours a day without voicing major complaints, and she didn’t even try to escape, mainly because the flavor of the food cooked by elves was simply superb.
When Shia recalled the time when the Great Forest was maintaining a vegan policy, she admitted that the cooking skills of elves were unmatched by humans.
After all, it was said there were elves who had been cooking for thousands of years, so it would be odd if their skills weren’t top-notch.
Anyway, now that those elves were directly handling meat to soothe the spirits of Yagada’s tired terraforming team, surely their cooking would be stellar.
According to Lirisia, the overwhelming frustration of waking up knowing she has to go out to Yagada made her think of “Screw it, let’s snack and quit.” But after her snack, she felt like “I’ll just have lunch and quit.”
Then, after tasting the legendary elven special Gae-Dae-Lim-Bibimbap for lunch, she’d think, “I’ll just have an afternoon snack and quit,” and after the afternoon snack, again, “I’ll just have dinner and quit,” until eventually reaching the conclusion of “Damn, I’ll run for tomorrow’s breakfast.” This cycle continues.
Thus, Lirisia had been working hard as the chief of the elven terraforming project for over a month.
“By the way, Bribie, despite her appearance, is actually second only to Elanar when it comes to skills. It’s true she’s overly influenced by that anime from humans, but her talent isn’t fake. Originally, I had assigned Bribie to Lirisia for any potential emergencies, but now she’s actively reporting positively about Lirisia to me.”
“Well, that’s a relief. It looks my choice wasn’t a mistake after all.”
“Then I’ll request some extra food from the Zelkova House sisters.”
“What’s on the menu?”
“Lava eel rice bowl, sky abalone with butter, underground octopus fry. By the way, I personally brought the lava eel during my venture into another dungeon. Sounds tasty, right?”
“Uh… that does sound kind of good?”
But all those dishes were considered… aphrodisiacs, right?
Shia, however, decided not to worry as long as they tasted good.
“I also asked them to use asparagus, chives, thoughts, blackberries, and garlic for the seasoning or garnish. Hehe. Oh, and Yujin needs to drink a lot of water. So, I brought about 30 cartons of orange juice from the Great Forest.”
“30 cartons…?”
“Yup! That way, Yujin will taste like oranges!”
“Huh….”
While Shia tilted her head in confusion, Olgania was licking her lips with bright anticipation.
At that ominous look, Shia briefly worried whether Olgania was really the same person she knew.
‘She hasn’t been influenced by the Demon Lord, has she?’
To be safe, Shia spread her awareness and confirmed that Olgania was indeed herself.
‘Well, Yujin! You really are the hero!’
Shia decided to be thankful for being able to eat such delicious food, thinking it didn’t concern her too much.
[Ding ding ding]
“Oh wow, is that you, Yujin?”
“Yujin? He must be coming soon?”
By the way, Olgania and Yujin were using a communication network that only one person could connect to outside.
Usually, this type of network is used for family or parental communication, but it employed a costly mana-enveloped connection that wouldn’t break, even in places without internet or signal, thanks to the returnee’s technology.
“Yujin~ Why did you call? Are you on your way~?”
“Oh, look at that face, looking in a good mood?”
“The saint probably has this expression when talking to the hero too, right?”
With a sultry voice, Olgania smiled.
In any case, Olgania seemed to be in a good mood just by the fact that she would soon meet Yujin and spend a long night together.
During the day, she had to deal with policy-making toward elves, announce future schedules, manage the Great Forest and other forests, and engage in boring debates and exchanges with human politicians, so it was no wonder she felt stressed, but tonight was the night she would meet Yujin and spend a night together once a week.
Just imagining it seemed to wash away the stress piled up from a week spent with humans.
[……….]
“Yujin? Why did you call? What’s up? Everything is almost ready here, so you can come at any time…”
[……]
“Oh, do you know Shia is next to me? It’s fine, Yujin. Shia actually likes you, and she’s just having dinner before heading out…”
[Sorry, Olgania.]
“Uh?”
[….I don’t think I can keep the promise.]
“…………………………..”
Huh.
The voice that came through the phone caused the expressions on both Shia and Olgania’s faces to freeze simultaneously.
Huh, huh…
“What did you just say?”
[I’m sorry…]
Bam bam bam!
In an instant, one side of the table made of platanus wood that Olgania was touching splintered to pieces.
“Oh no….”
Shia chose not to look at Olgania’s face.
She certainly didn’t want to see her looking more terrifying than the demon lord.
