The Birth of the Elves

"If it's a tree that bears bows and arrows as fruit like this, it shouldn't be a burden for you all either."

They were already making their staple food from the fruits Yggdrasil produced. If bows and arrows grew like fruit, there shouldn't be any problem with that. They wouldn't refuse this too, would they? If they hated this as well, how were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they eating Yggdrasil's fruits?

"How can you... plant objects made of wood and grow a tree from them...?"

"Who in the world are you...?"

Hmm. Even though I did it myself, it must look pretty extraordinary. And it is pretty extraordinary!

"I'm just someone who wants you all to use these bows."

At my words, the humans knelt in unison and began prostrating before me.

"O great one...!"

"Now, now, no need for that."

These kids have pretty good eyes for talent.

I ignored Yggdrasil's untimely interjection and used my mana to lift the prostrating humans to their feet.

"I'm just a passerby. I have no intention of revealing my name to you. So there's no need to worry about it."

"How could... No, as a great one, you must have your reasons. Understood. If you wish to conceal your name, we shall respect that."

I gave a small nod at the humans' words.

"In exchange, I'll give you one more gift."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drew up my mana to envelop the humans, then began altering their bodies. No, I suppose they could no longer be called humans.

I sharpened their eyesight and hearing even further. Heightening their other senses would only get in the way, so I left them alone. And finally, I lengthened their ears. They transformed into long, leaf-like shapes.

Their completed forms were no different from the elves in my imagination.

"Th-this is... what...?"

"I've enhanced your eyes and ears. Now you can see farther and catch even the smallest sounds. With this, you can become natural-born hunters."

The humans were confused by their suddenly changed senses. Well, that's natural when your senses shift. If I had to compare it... like getting new glasses? Probably even more intense than that.

"In the process of that change, your ears grew longer to better hear sounds... but that ear shape evokes the leaves of the world tree, so it should serve as proof that you're the children of the world tree."

Mom? What did you do to these kids?! Their ears got longer?!

"And now that you've come to resemble the world tree, I'll give your new race a name. As children of the world tree, from now on, you'll call yourselves elves. Those long ears will be your proof."

Mom?! Mom?! Don't ignore me?!

"From now on, live as guardians protecting the world tree Yggdrasil and this quiet forest."

Mom?! Mom?!?!

And so, elves were born upon this land.

Long, long ago. When the world tree Yggdrasil created the elves.

The god of the hunt¹, who was close to the world tree, gifted bows and arrows to the elves, the world tree's children.

But those bows and arrows were made of wood. To the elves, who listened to the voices of trees and lived in close harmony with them, trees were no different from family.

Thus, the elves couldn't even dream of holding bows made from trees.

But how could they discard the precious gift from the god of the hunt? Not wanting to incur the god's wrath, the elves tried to force themselves to hold the wooden bows, but they couldn't bring themselves to do it. They could only weep in frustration.

¹) The records do not name the god, so scholarly opinions are divided on who gifted the bows and arrows. However, due to the symbolism, the theory that it was the god of the hunt is the most prominent.

Mom, that was too much. Suddenly making those kids' ears so big.

"But doesn't it look good?"

Well, yeah, but...

Compared to when they were just tall, handsome, or pretty humans, they now clearly gave the impression of a different race. Yggdrasil agreed that this impression came from the long ears I'd given them.

"From now on, various races will appear on this land. Don't you think your children need a clear way to distinguish themselves from those other races?"

This was a complete lie. I just wanted to see elves with long ears. Well, the elves seemed to like it well enough, so no problem.

Since the kids seem to like it, I'll let it slide... But what if other humans come wanting to live around me in the future? Should I change them like that too?

"Hmm, well. Are there many new humans coming in?"

Not a lot, but not none. A few come every now and then.

I nodded at Yggdrasil's words. If there were none at all, no issue, but if even a few trickled in, I couldn't just leave them be.

"For new humans to change like the other elves would take a long time, so we need to speed it up."

Right. Those kids changed over long ages, and fresh humans from outside wouldn't have that kind of time.

"Hmm, well. Manually changing them each time would be a huge hassle... altering every single trait of an outsider."

What if there was a magic that just copied a race's traits outright...? Hmm... No such magic existed... but I could make one, right?

First, designate the target. Select the one whose traits to copy as Target 1. Select the one to overwrite as Target 2. Compare the racial traits of the two targets, then overwrite Target 2 to match Target 1's race... Limiting the change strictly to racial traits. Carefully ensure no changes to physical features or mentality by mistake. Hmm... That should about do it.

And so, I created a new magic that copies and pastes racial traits.

It only copies racial traits and such, but the mana cost is so enormous that even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a dragon might struggle. Still, Yggdrasil, who had endured countless ages, should manage.

"I'll teach you a magic I just made. This should solve your dilemma."

You prepared it in advance?!

"As if. I made it just now. Just now. It's not optimized, so the mana drain is heavy—even dragons couldn't use it easily."

Yggdrasil sounded exasperated at my words.

What is that? What's the point of a magic like that?

"It has meaning for you, at least. You can turn incoming humans into elves like the others."

The easiest way would be to refuse outsiders altogether, but Yggdrasil was oddly kind-hearted and couldn't bring herself to chase them away. If you can't chase them off, you accept them. With this magic, she could integrate newcomers as elves.

I really don't get it watching you make magic, Mom. How do you handle that finicky mana like it's your own limbs?

"How? You just do it."

Normal people can't! Making even one spell requires so much care! I seriously don't get it.

Hmm, is it that hard? I'd been doing it so naturally I hadn't realized.

Ahem. Anyway.

"That newly grown tree... take care of it yourself."

Yes. I wasn't going to just leave it anyway since it's a tree. The elf kids look like they'll rely on it a lot too. I'll protect it even by wrapping my roots around it.

Yggdrasil spoke as if it were obvious. No one was more expert on trees than her.

But are you okay with it? Hiding your existence from those kids.

"Of course."

Right now, it was just a simple primitive society, so I could meddle freely... but as time passed and society grew, with politics and power structures getting complicated... I couldn't interfere rashly. You wouldn't stomp muddy feet into a delicate model garden built over ages, right? When that time comes, I'll just hide away and quietly watch the world. Well, if a crisis this world can't handle arises, I might step in. The biggest thing is, by then I'll probably be too lazy for worldly affairs and hole up in my room. For now, my sense of responsibility outweighs the laziness. The responsibility of having brought life to this world.