Rebuilding the Forest

His time with Evalin had been too short to truly understand elves as a race.

Compared to their delicate appearance, their sheer presence, or rather, overwhelming strength had been surprising, but the fact that she neither flaunted it nor harbored any desire for dominance was something to be grateful for as a neighboring human.

He didn't know her tastes or preferences, but even their brief acquaintance had made her love for the forest abundantly clear.

So he'd decided to bring seeds as a gift.

This time, he bypassed the mining city entirely, traveling straight through the forest to arrive at Evalin's cottage once more.

"What is that…"

"This is unbelievable."

Finn and Alexia's voices carried to him.

He felt the same way.

Before them, an army of miniature Puppes were working the land with farming tools.

They were heading toward the area where the barrier had been erected, the land that had been turned to sand by the Mosquito Monster and the forest spirit.

He'd wondered how Evalin was going to rebuild the forest by herself, but seeing this, it made perfect sense.

"Oh? What brings you here?"

Evalin called down to their stunned group from above.

She'd apparently been overseeing the work from the air when she noticed them.

"It's been a while, Evalin-san. I brought the Wind Elemental Stone I mentioned before. Do you have time right now?"

"Right now…? Give me a moment. Let me finish giving the Puppes their instructions."

Evalin extended the index finger of her right hand skyward and murmured under her breath.

The Puppes all marched off into the depths of the sandy area.

They would likely work without rest, just as instructed.

How enviable.

He could only imagine how many workers Evalin's labor force was equivalent to.

Puppes were golems, so they possessed strength incomparable to humans and never tired. As long as their master's magical power held out, they could work indefinitely.

She could probably run a small farm all on her own.

He recalled how Alexia had once used earth magic to till soil.

Could she do something similar with that as a basis?

He tapped the visibly stunned Alexia on the shoulder and asked.

"Alexia, could you pull off something like that?"

"… Don't compare me to an elf. I can make a few golems and set them to move on their own, but with the same amount of magical power, doing things directly with magic is far easier and more effective. That's a cheat that only works because she's an elf with massive reserves and advanced magic."

"Fair enough."

"I could do it with magic tools and a lot of prep work, but at that point there are plenty of better approaches."

If a skilled mage could replicate it, someone would have done it already.

If Alexia couldn't manage it, most human mages didn't stand a chance either.

That it could be accomplished with nothing but raw magical power, dirt, and wood was precisely what made it so impressive.

"I'm free for a while now."

"Good. Well then… it's a bit awkward out here, so could we go inside the cottage?"

"Go ahead."

They were shown inside.

The interior was the same as before, with only the bare minimum of furniture.

It seemed to reflect who she was.

"First, these."

He had Azu set a bag on the table.

From it, he pulled out several small pouches of seeds.

He'd prepared about four varieties, but would she like them?

Food wasn't an issue in this forest, and from what he could tell, she didn't seem interested in gems or accessories.

He'd tried to find something that might bring her even a little joy.

"These are plant seeds."

Her interest was piqued.

She picked them up one by one, examining each.

No doubt a product of her life coexisting with nature.

"Can you tell what kind of seeds they are?"

"Hm? Not a clue."

"Really? You seemed so interested, I assumed you could."

"I'm just excited to see how they'll grow."

He was the one caught off guard by how matter-of-factly she said it.

She coexisted with nature but wasn't an expert on it.

She didn't need that kind of knowledge to survive.

Right, to an elf, such things were trivial.

"I'll gladly accept these. There might be something in here suited to sandy soil. Once plants take root, the soil will retain water. The underlying soil was sound to begin with, so it should recover in time."

"I see. I hope they help."

Her expression didn't change, but she did seem pleased.

A wave of relief washed over him.

He'd wanted to leave a good impression, so this was a welcome result.

Evalin tucked the pouches of seeds away.

"Now then, let's see that Wind Elemental Stone."

"Right."

He took the Wind Elemental Stone from Elza and placed it on the table.

Compared to the other Elemental Stones he'd seen, it was dull and lacked presence.

Frankly, a casual glance wouldn't reveal any difference between it and an ordinary rock.

Emperor Kelves had probably let it go because he'd deemed it useless.

Now, what would Evalin think?

Evalin began gathering magical power in her right hand.

It compressed rapidly, to the point that even Yohane, who was no mage, could sense it.

Alexia and Elza both stiffened.

That they didn't do anything more was because Evalin showed no hostility.

Evalin unleashed the compressed, visibly manifested magical power at the Wind Elemental Stone.

Azu rushed to get in the way, but the magical power was absorbed entirely into the Elemental Stone.

Even though it hadn't been converted into a spell, that much raw magical power hitting something should have caused some kind of effect…

But there was no visible change.

"Its magical power is completely depleted. I've never seen an Elemental Stone in this state."

"Please don't fire off magic without warning. You startled me. So, do you think something can be done?"

"I'd like to say that even I can't do anything about it, but there is an interesting use for it."

An interesting use…?

Before he could ask what she meant, Evalin took the Elemental Stone and walked outside.