Chương 65: Payment in Food

Even after the World Tree confirmation ended, the elves did not disperse right away. The World Tree fruit still sat before the great root at the village center, and the water drop kept making and erasing a small leaf shape on the back of Kichan's hand. Each time the elders saw it, their lips tightened. Dust paid no attention at all to the elders' gazes, looking back and forth between the fruit, the branch, and the leaf tray. Kichan brushed his hand.

"Enough." The water drop went pop. The leaf shape disappeared. But the water drop clung below his wrist and would not fall off. The chieftain stood before Kichan. The leaf-vein patterns around his eyes had blurred a little. The orc invasion, the World Tree fruit, the child of the World Tree, Dust's attempted theft, and the pattern on the back of Kichan's hand — all of it had passed in a single stretch. Still, he lowered his head.

"The village owes a debt." Hearing those words, Kichan immediately looked around. The wounded elves lay beneath the leaf-canvas shelters, and the hands raising the broken markers were still busy. The torn leaf cloth on the tree paths was still as it was, and near the young branch, wet earth had been overturned.

"It's not a debt, exactly." Riphiel said quietly.

"You made the orc chieftain withdraw."

"My things were at stake too."

"You protected even the World Tree fruit."

"I just stopped what Dust carried off."

"A child of the World Tree follows you." Kichan looked at the end of his sleeve.

"This one hasn't given its own opinion yet." The water drop popped small.

"Don't you give vague answers either." Watching that exchange for a moment, the chieftain spoke.

"Is there something you want." As if he had been waiting, Kichan said immediately.

"Food." A quiet silence fell before the meeting hall — no, before the World Tree root. One elder's ear twitched as if they had misheard. Two young elves looked at each other. Riphiel opened her eyes wide and brought her hands together before her chest. Kichan added.

"And if there are any usable herbs, a few." The chieftain looked at Kichan.

"Is that all."

"For now."

"For now." A very small caution mixed into the chieftain's voice. Kichan immediately raised his hand.

"I won't touch the World Tree or the fruit." The elders' shoulders lowered a little. Dust flicked a leg. Without even turning his head, Kichan said.

"You too." Dust pretended not to hear. Riphiel looked deeply moved.

"You have no greed." Kichan said.

"I do. I'm hungry." At those words, the village's tension loosened slightly. The elves prepared a meal. Right after a battle, they could not manage a full feast. Still, beneath the wide leaf-canvas tent deeper inside the village, low tables were set, and wooden bowls and leaf plates came out in turn. Bread that smelled of the forest. Leaf soup with a strong fragrance. Liquor clear as water. Roasted roots and small pickled fruits. Kichan looked at the bowls for a long time at first. Elf food was excessively clean.

It would fill the stomach, but the mouth would be bored. Riphiel read that expression and said seriously.

"There is no poison."

"I wasn't worried about that." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Then what were you worried about?" Kichan scooped a spoonful of the leaf soup and tasted it. The fragrance rose first. A bitter leaf smell, a clear sap taste, a sweetness that came belatedly. It was not bad. He ate another spoonful.

"Not bad." At that one remark, the ear of the elf in charge of cooking went up slightly. Kichan saw that and narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you happy about it." Riphiel said.

"It is rare for an outsider to acknowledge the forest's food."

"I didn't say it that well.""'Not bad' is a very high compliment."

"Don't turn my words into a ritual." Kichan chewed a roasted root. The texture was somewhere between a potato and a chestnut. The taste was mild. Too mild. Without thinking, he thought of salt. Just then, low footsteps sounded from outside the village. The elves' hands stopped simultaneously. Several immediately moved to grab their bows. Kichan also set down the thin twig he had been using in place of chopsticks. The orc chieftain appeared between the trees. Behind him followed two subordinates.

They carried no shields, and their axes were tied to their waists. It was not the posture of one coming to fight. Still, the elves raised their bows. The orc chieftain paid no mind. Not entering further past the village boundary, he stopped outside the broken stone markers. Then he threw two small leather pouches. The pouches rolled to a stop at Kichan's feet. Kichan looked down at them.

"What's this." Riphiel pricked up her ears. The orc chieftain spoke low, a few words. Riphiel did not understand all of it, but picked out a few words she knew.

"Wager. Lost. One thing. First."

"First?"

"That seems to be the meaning." Kichan picked up the leather pouches. One was heavy. Opening it, white crystals were inside. He poked one with his fingertip and touched it to his tongue. That moment, Kichan's eyes grew wide. Salt. The second pouch contained black grains. They were slightly different from pepper. Rubbing them between his fingers, a spicy scent, earth smell, and a slight resinous fragrance rose. Kichan immediately looked at the orc chieftain.

"Hey." The orc chieftain stopped.

"Where did you get this?" As Riphiel tried to relay those words to the orc, she saw Kichan's face and opened her mouth a beat late. The orc chieftain laughed loudly. Then he pointed in the direction of a deep valley beyond the forest, below the mountain. A few more words came. Riphiel listened intently.

"Valley. Black water. Spicy seeds. White stones." Kichan looked at the pouches again. Salt, and something like pepper. The orcs and elves and World Tree and meetings all receded at once.

"Where's the path." Riphiel blinked.

"Are you planning to go now?"

"No. Just to know." The orc chieftain did not laugh this time. With his large hand, he made a gesture of cutting his own throat, then pointed toward the valley again. The two subordinate orcs also growled low. Riphiel's face stiffened slightly.

"He says there is a terror of the valley. That no matter how strong you are, going alone could be dangerous." Kichan closed the pouches.

"We'll talk about danger later. Tell me the path first." The orc chieftain looked at Kichan for a moment, then laughed again. This laugh had no fighting intent. It was closer to approval. He raised one finger. One thing wanted was not yet over. And he withdrew with his subordinates beyond the forest. Only much later did the elves lower their bows. Kichan was already thinking of something else. He looked at the roasted roots the elves had put out, and the dried meat the orc had left behind.

The meat was tough, and the smell was rough. But there was salt and pepper. That was enough.

"Is there something that could work as a griddle?" Riphiel could not react right away.

"What is a griddle?"

"A plate for grilling meat."

"In the forest, we usually use leaves and stones—""Give me a stone." The elf in charge of cooking brought a flat, wide black stone. Kichan lightly tapped the stone's surface with the tip of his wake-up rod. It was not metal, but it could endure heat. He gathered some of the small metal rings and broken orc equipment pieces from around to make supports. Riphiel watched the entire process, barely breathing.

"Are you preparing a ritual right now?"

"I'm preparing food."

"I still do not quite understand the difference."

"You'll understand when you're hungry." Kichan sliced the dried meat thin. He cut the roasted roots flat as well. A few leaves of forest herbs, he tore small just to check the fragrance. The water drop went pop above the steam, and Dust crawled onto the edge of the plate.

"Don't eat it raw." Dust flicked a leg.

"Not the dried stuff either. Wait." As the stone plate heated, a little grease came from the meat. Not much. Still, the moment the salt touched it, the smell changed. As he crushed the black pepper-like grains with his fingertips and sprinkled them, a spicy fragrance spread over the clean, bland air of the forest. The elves raised their heads at the same time. Even the saber-toothed tiger pricked up its ears. Riphiel held her breath. Kichan flipped the meat. Tssss. The sound came small.

The orc's dried meat and the elf's roasted roots, forest herbs and salt, pepper-like seeds — they mingled on the stone plate. Kichan picked up a piece and ate it. The moment he chewed, his expression loosened a little.

"Now it's better." Riphiel looked down at the piece of meat.

"Is this also a forest cooking method?" Kichan flipped the meat and said.

"Something like Korean-style barbecue."

"Korean." Riphiel repeated the word almost like a sacred name. Kichan said immediately.

"Don't take it that way." Riphiel ate only one piece, for courtesy's sake. And stopped. His eyes grew wide. The saber-toothed tiger also looked at the piece of meat in Riphiel's hand. The elf in charge of cooking looked back and forth between their leaf soup and the meat on the stone plate. Dust moved its legs very quickly at the edge of the plate, and the water drop bounced happily in the steam. Riphiel chewed slowly. Swallowed. And said very seriously.

"I will guide your way." Kichan said immediately.

"No." Riphiel smiled brightly.

"You have not yet stated your destination."

"That makes it even more no." The chieftain quietly interjected.

"Riphiel cannot leave the village." Kichan looked at Riphiel for a moment.

"Why." Without even looking at Riphiel, the chieftain answered.

"If he leaves, he causes trouble." Kichan immediately nodded.

"That's true." Riphiel looked more wronged than hurt. She still held a piece of barbecue in her hand.

"I do not cause trouble. I discover the hidden possibilities of events." Kichan said.

"That's trouble." Riphiel pretended to hang her head. In that state, he very carefully picked up and ate the last piece of meat on the plate. Seeing that, Kichan grew more uneasy. In that gap, Dust climbed onto the back of Kichan's hand and pointed with its leg toward the salt pouch. The water drop went pop again in the steam. Kichan put the pouches inside his clothes.

"This, you don't steal." Riphiel raised her head.

"Who steals?" Kichan looked back and forth between Riphiel and Dust.

"Both of you."