Chapter 19
Chapter 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Exactly My Type
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After the World Tree died from some unknown disease.
The world where even elves were nearly wiped out by plague.
With their natural predators gone, humans swiftly conquered the continent.
And the emperor who unified the empire enjoyed pursuing high elves.
And here, there was one high elf who fled to the "Forest of Dream Haze" to escape the emperor obsessed with elves.
Her name was 'Arserina Belfraim'.
Arserina was one of the few remaining purebloods.
A perfect high elf without a single drop of any other race's blood mixed in.
"Elves settled in this forest, hear this! His Majesty the Emperor desires you! He'll give you the chance to become his 13th wife! Come out of the forest at once!"
Every day, imperial knights came to the forest where she had made her home.
They tried setting fires in the forest and unleashing hunting dogs to track Arserina, but no matter what they did, they couldn't find the high elf.
In the end, they recruited professional hunters and released them into the Forest of Dream Haze...
"Hey. Human."
"Eek! E-elf...! No way, you're..."
"That's right. I'm Arserina Belfraim, the one you've been searching so desperately for."
"Crazy... Y-you're so... pretty..."
"..."
The hunter Ivan, who had entered the forest, quickly clamped his mouth shut and slammed his head to the ground.
He begged and pleaded with the forest's mistress to spare his life.
He had already lost five companions in the forest.
This place was utterly insane, and Ivan just wanted to escape alive.
"I'll let you live, so go back and relay this message. If he wants to propose to me, tell the emperor to come himself."
"Y-yes?"
"I can't stand cowardly men. Tell him I have no intention of marrying a scaredy-cat."
"Uh... Yes! Got it!"
Ivan expressed his gratitude for Arserina's mercy and fled in terror.
The queen of the forest watched the departing messenger and opened the mouth of a glass vial.
She poured the potion over the corpses of the dead.
This would make them rot faster, turning into high-quality fertilizer.
Then the forest would grow even richer and stronger.
And her workshop would become even safer.
The entire Forest of Dream Haze was Arserina's workshop and fortress.
She took a potion from her bag and downed it.
Savoring the bitter, sour taste of the potion.
Arserina opened the gallery.
(Photo of magic ferns piled like a mountain)
"Pfft! Cough! Cough!! This crazy guy. Hahaha!"
She couldn't hold back her laughter at the photo the newbie had uploaded and spat out the potion she was drinking.
She rubbed her eyes and checked the photo again.
"No way, how much did he harvest? Heh. Ugh. What am I gonna do with this human? He's just hopeless."
She wasn't one to laugh easily.
Especially after the World Tree died, she had completely lost her smile.
Yet lately, Arserina had been laughing a lot.
The reason she regained her smile was none other than the newbie's antics.
"What a hilarious guy. Harvesting this much must make the ground curse him. Humans are relentless, huh. Hehehe."
She chuckled darkly and quickly replied to the newbie's question.
Arserina only replied this fast to the newbie.
Of course, she hadn't liked the newbie from the start.
At first, she was wary of him.
But after having serious conversations.
And learning his circumstances, she felt an inexplicable pity.
Every time she saw his desperation, she wanted to help him more and more.
It might have been the compassion and sympathy still lingering in her heart.
Arserina pondered the newbie for a while, checking his past posts.
Then she clicked on the newbie's brand-new post that had just gone up.
"Hmm? What's this? No way... cooking?"
"Hahahahaha! Is he really insane? Who makes soup with this? Who boils soup from magic ferns? Hahaha..."
No matter how scarce food was, boiling magic ferns like that to eat.
Potion Addict laughed heartily at the newbie's antics before replying.
No matter how you looked at it, his ideas were impressively wild.
For some reason, she felt like that human would enjoy her own crude cooking.
Because the newbie's cooking level was about the same as hers.
"Hah. Kek. Cough! Cough! Ugh. Laughed too hard... Coughing again... I really need to cut back on the potions... Haha... So fun. What a ridiculously entertaining human."
True to her name, Potion Addict always carried hallucinogens with her.
But lately, she wasn't drinking them much.
She couldn't teach her disciple with a hazy mind.
She tried her best to stay clear-headed.
Thanks to the newbie, she had been laughing more and feeling healthier lately.
"If only I could find him, I could help him more reliably. I could even cook for him..."
Arserina licked her lips.
What kind of human was the newbie?
He must be brave.
'A kid who survived five years in the frozen wastes without magic. He must be strong and tough. I want to meet him. Wonder what he looks like. Covered in wounds, face full of scars... that'd be perfect.'
The newbie's past actions perfectly matched her tastes.
Strong survival instincts, sturdy, eats anything.
So she checked every single post he made.
Humans could die anytime, after all.
She didn't want to miss a single one of the newbie's posts.
As a result, she grew increasingly curious about his face.
What he looked like.
If he matched her imagination.
Her expectations only grew.
To make fern salad, a staple side for bibimbap, you first have to blanch the ferns.
Adding salt at this stage removes the bitterness.
"Don't have any."
"Kwak?"
"No salt."
Just salt? No pepper, minced garlic, sesame seeds, cooking oil, etc.
Nothing at all. Of course not.
I only had ferns right now.
No seasonings whatsoever.
No choice.
Just blanch them plain.
I filled the pot with snow, shoved in a ton of magic ferns, and boiled them for a good while.
Just having something boiling made me feel better.
"By the way, Bingbing. Do ferns normally turn the water blue when cooked?"
"Kwaak."
"Don't ask you? Got it. Go play in the water then."
"Kwak!"
Weird.
Why does the broth look blue?
Magic ferns, I guess.
Come to think of it, Potion Addict said to dry them thoroughly and grind into powder.
Blanching and eating ferns didn't even seem like an option for them.
"Hm. Looks fully cooked."
The ferns had wilted completely.
Overboiled.
I immediately snapped a pic of the 'fern soup' and posted it to the gallery.
Needed to check if it was edible first.
What? Why these reactions?
The blue broth looks a bit odd, but it doesn't seem bad?
Smells nutty too.
Mouth's watering.
Phew!
Safe to eat!
I scooped out the ferns and popped some in my mouth.
Bitter. Bitter but edible.
This might not be half bad.
Anything's better than live bugs.
I've experienced the worst already, so as long as it's edible, taste doesn't matter much.
Her getting mad means Potion Addict can't cook either?
An alchemist who can't cook.
She's in no position to laugh at my food?
Whether she can cook well or not, what does it matter?
I've never even held a girl's hand.
And the women in this world are all dangerously unpredictable.
It's easier to think of everyone else—regardless of gender—as potential raiders.
So before asking about tastes or ideals.
First, ask if women are even safe.
Potion Addict suddenly got curious about my face for some reason.
It's not much to show off.
My face is full of scars.
Unerasable ones too.
Like I rolled through a battlefield.
Some people in the gallery had already revealed their faces.
But Potion Addict had never properly shown hers, as far as I knew.
The mysterious gallery regular showing her face to me first?
This was pretty tempting.
I quickly wiped the blue fern broth from my mouth and snapped a photo.
Then exchanged pics with Potion Addict.
"Ooh! She's gorgeous!"
They say all elves are beautiful, and it's true?
On par with Firepower Enthusiast's master?
The dark circles under her eyes and slightly fatigued expression only added to her charm.
No reply from Potion Addict.
Did my face turn her off that bad?
No way it's a 0/10?
This might actually hurt.
Bitter.
Bitterer than the fern broth.
"Sigh."
I drank all the remaining bitter fern broth.
Couldn't waste it.
"Kwak!"
"Done playing?"
"Kwaak."
"Yeah. Bingbing, you're all I got. Sun's down, time for bed."
"Kwak!"
The warm soup filled my belly, and drowsiness hit hard.
Time to turn in early today.
Didn't sleep well last night.
And today I worked hard moving base, so one chill day won't hurt.
I said goodnight to Firepower Enthusiast and Human Lover, then crawled into the tent and hugged Bingbing.
Still no reply from Potion Addict.
Sad.
A sad night.
"...Crazy. Wow... No. Huh..."
Potion Addict stared at the newbie's photo for a long time.
It matched her imagination perfectly.
"...Ah. Damn."
She got so focused on the photo that she forgot to reply.
Potion Addict ruffled her hair and vented her frustration on a tree for no reason.