Chapter 98: King

With little farm work in the cold months, Ethan had spent his spare time at the kiln. He glanced at Zharok.

"What is it?"

"Help me load the cart."

"Fine, fine. I suppose I’ll reluctantly get up and stretch my legs."

...

Two days later, Ethan and Pearl boarded the carriage. The plan was to ride the Blood Jade Ox to the edge of the Great Forest, then meet up with the elves and travel to the Elven Kingdom together.

"Have a safe trip."

Under Zharok’s watchful gaze, Ethan urged the Blood Jade Ox forward.

"Remember to bring gifts back for me!"

The Blood Jade Ox had taken the form of a massive red bull, pulling the carriage at a steady clip along the forest road.

Pearl sat on Ethan’s shoulder, ears perked. "It’s been so long since I’ve left the forest, meow!"

"You’ve been out before?"

"Once, meow! A long time ago with Lady Witch, meow."

"With Lady Witch? What for?"

"She went to visit the Elven King, meow, that same king should still be on the throne — elves live for a very long time, meow!"

"Oh? What kind of person is the Elven King?"

"Nothing special, meow. But back then, he took Lady Witch’s instructions seriously. That left a good impression on her, meow."

"Think he’ll give us a World Tree fragment if we ask?"

"If we say the fragment is for growing a new World Tree, he should, meow?"

But it had been many years since Pearl’s last visit, no one could say for certain what the current situation looked like. The most pressing task remained obtaining that fragment, Ethan’s gaze drifted to a small wooden box resting inside the carriage. He couldn’t help but feel a bit worried.

"Don’t worry, meow. Nothing will happen, meow."

"I hope so. At least I brought gifts..."

He had packed carefully crafted porcelain and Mana Grass — offerings that should carry some weight with the royal court.

They chatted the hours away, Pearl told stories from its time with Lady Witch, and Ethan shared what little he remembered of Earth, before he realized it, the trees had thinned around them and the forest canopy was giving way to open sky. They were approaching the edge.

"You’re here."

A familiar voice reached him from the cursed lands, Walter, calm and composed as always, he strolled to the carriage and rested a hand on the shaft with a slight smile.

"Looks like you’re leaving the Great Forest?"

"Heading to the Elven Kingdom, need me to bring anything back?"

"Just some Elven Yogurt."

After all, Moonlight Tomato juice required it, Walter didn’t elaborate, but his eyes lingered on Ethan with quiet expectation.

Ethan reached into the carriage and handed over an earthen jar.

"What’s this?"

"I used some leftover Elven Yogurt to make a batch of Moonlight Tomato juice. Not a huge amount, but it should hold you over for a while."

"Thank you." Walter accepted the jar, lifted the lid, peered inside, and a satisfied smile spread across his pale face.

"You’ve always taken care of me, yet I rarely find a way to repay the favor... How about this — I’ll keep an eye on your fields while you’re gone. No fierce beast will get close."

"Zharok already promised me the same, with both of you on guard, I’ve got nothing to worry about."

"Good." Walter paused, then reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a ring, it looked ancient — tarnished metal, worn edges.

Ethan took it, confused, Walter’s expression turned solemn.

"Do me a favor, hand this ring to someone from the Vire family in the Elven Kingdom."

[Lost Ring of the Vire Family]

[This is the ring of Atlas Vire, the former head of the Vire Family. Returning this ring to the Vire Family will earn you a reward.]

"What is this?" The moment Ethan took the ring, a system notification appeared, Walter seemed to notice the shift in his expression and pointed at the ring with a bitter smile.

"I believe that once you hand it to them, the Vire family will change their minds."

"About what? What’s going on here?"

Walter answered carefully. "This ring is the key to untangling the grievances between the head of the Vire family and humanity."

"Meow... the Vire family..." Pearl murmured from Ethan’s shoulder.

Walter nodded. "The Vire family is the current Elven royal family."

"They defied the will of the gods — and chose to farm."

Ethan stared, as far as he knew, no race besides humans could engage in agriculture in this world, Pearl shook its head; even it hadn’t heard this before.

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly what I said, agriculture is a blessing bestowed by the gods, and only humans can do it. But precisely because of that, many races harbored resentment."

"That’s only natural, meow, agriculture massively strengthens a race’s power, meow."

"Indeed." Humanity had prospered because farming provided a stable food source, the same principle clearly held in this world as well.

A heavy silence settled over the three of them. After a moment, Ethan broke it.

"So... did the elves succeed?"

"Of course not, this is a cosmic law, it cannot be defied."

"What method did they try, meow?"

"At first, they tried intermarrying humans and elves, hoping the offspring would inherit the strengths of both races."

A hybrid race, the dream of the Vire royal family — combine human agricultural talent with elven longevity and magic, if it had worked, the elves would have possessed the most powerful civilization the world had ever seen.

But it ended in failure, the half-bloods leaned far closer to their elven heritage and still could not farm, no matter how many generations they tried, the blessing of the gods refused to transfer.

"Since that was just the beginning, there must have been a second method, what was it?"

"They tried farming with undead-transformed humans." Walter’s gaze swept over the undead under his control, then settled on the ring in Ethan’s hand.

"The Vire royal family once petitioned me — asked me to create undead from human corpses and have them work the fields."

The result needed no explanation, Ethan nodded.

Walter sighed. "Even the undead failed... They must have given up by now."

"Were there only those two methods, meow?"

"Generally — unless you count the dead ends, asking priests to pray to the gods, inviting humans to teach farming techniques, all failures."

’So Walter wants the elves to stop obsessing over agriculture, that’s why he’s handing me the ring.’ Ethan studied it for a moment.

"I just need to return this to them?"

"Yes. I’m counting on you." Walter reached into his pocket again and produced a brooch, before Ethan could ask, Walter pinned it to his chest.

"This means you are under my protection. With it, no one in the Elven Kingdom will dare disrespect you."

"Meow? Walter, do you have some deep history with the elves, meow?"

"I used to, but for the long-lived elves, that was several generations ago." A faraway look passed through Walter’s eyes, he patted Ethan on the shoulder.

There was nothing more to say, Ethan climbed back into the carriage and set off, as the wheels turned along the road, Walter’s words replayed in his mind.

’The Elven royal family wants to develop agriculture...’