The land of the elves, Nuardel, was a nation said to exist beneath the Kalian Mountains.
The detailed location, culture, vegetation, and environment of Nuardel had not been made public, and this was due to the nature of the elven race.
As a long-lived race, elves feared death by any means other than natural causes, and made it a virtue to spend their long lifespans tending the World Tree, which formed the foundation of elven society.
Because of this, exchange with other nations and races naturally became taboo.
After all, no one knew what kind of influence outside variables might have on Nuardel, which was like a greenhouse.
However, as with every group in the world, there existed a heretic.
"Iseria! Did I not tell you not to approach the domain of humans!"
"The Great Forest is boring because it's the same every day!"
Iseria, who had only just passed the age of adulthood for elves, hated boredom.
The temperament of a living creature is something that cannot change even if the heavens were overturned.
Her temperament was the exact opposite of the placidness of the elven race—it was stimulation.
One might say it was because she had only just become an adult, but the age of adulthood for elves began at fifty.
Opening their eyes in the blessed forest, for fifty years they learned the duties they must perform as elves and the happiness of peace.
Ordinary elves spent those fifty years learning to pursue a peace without a single ripple.
But in Iseria's case, it was not so.
"Dad! A snake!"
"U-uh, put that down, Iseria!"
She would run around the forest all day, unconditionally grabbing anything that piqued her interest.
"Spirit juggling!"
Based on the elven affinity for spirits, she would even materialize spirits to juggle them.
Crack—! Crunch!
"So this is... what the World Tree tastes like."
She committed the atrocity of peeling off the World Tree's bark with a stone to taste the flesh inside.
Of course, she received five hundred lashes from the Elven High Elder afterward.
Thus, Iseria wanted stimulation, more stimulation. She craved dopamine.
Therefore, she eventually escaped Nuardel without anyone knowing.
The excitement of leaving to find freedom under the moonlight while holding her breath, combined with the thrill and sense of immorality, delivered extreme stimulation.
But the racing heartbeat of adventure lasts only a day or two.
No matter how wildly she had rampaged, the place she had stirred up was the closed greenhouse called Nuardel.
How could a mere greenhouse flower survive outside the greenhouse, no matter how roughly it had lived?
A safe roof? Forget that. She slept in fitful naps beneath leaves that barely blocked the dew.
On days she couldn't find a handful of raspberries or tree fruit, her stomach twisted with hunger.
"Ugh... I can't live like this!"
Harried by cold and hunger, Iseria finally took out the emergency rations she had packed when leaving home—Elleskits.
Elleskits were simple hardtack made by elves.
Yet facing them while starving, the aroma was so savory and mouthwatering that Iseria swallowed her drool.
The moment she took one Elleskit from her pocket with trembling hands to put it in her mouth.
"Kweeeek!!"
"Kyaaak!!!"
A monstrous wild boar, whether it had smelled the Elleskit or had been tracking her for some time, roared and charged.
Iseria let out a sharp scream and threw the emergency ration bag far away.
At that, the monstrous wild boar turned its gaze from Iseria and went to fetch the thrown bag.
Iseria ran. She ran frantically, seizing that opening.
She had never run this fast even when fleeing from the High Elders after gnawing on the World Tree.
When Iseria came to her senses after running mindlessly, the monstrous wild boar was no longer in sight.
Relieved by that fact, yet Iseria found the path ahead had become bleak.
'My Elleskits... I didn't even get a single bite.'
If until moments ago cold and hunger had been the only problems, now cold, hunger, fatigue, and mental stress all drove Iseria onward.
Even a wildly impulsive nature is bound to take a step back before a physically harsh environment.
Having become utterly empty both physically and mentally, Iseria trudged through the night forest.
Her original plan had been to go to Silbaerin, the nearest human city, but now that no longer mattered.
Without even knowing if this was the right direction, Iseria walked.
No, it was less walking and more a movement to display her despair.
Then, at that moment, a certain scent brushed against Iseria's nasal membrane.
'Wh-what?'
An outrageously delicious aroma that ventilated her gutter-like mood in an instant.
Even elven cuisine prepared by a world-class elven chef could not produce such a fragrance.
The aroma carried in the scent held no animalistic nuance whatsoever.
Yet it was deep and rich, fresh and savory.
Could such food truly exist in this world?
Forgetting even her exhausted body, Iseria quickened her steps along the path where the scent grew stronger.
At the end of that fragrance appeared the rear of a building presumed to be a restaurant.
It was human civilization faced for the first time in her life, but Iseria had no time to care about such things now.
Iseria lightly leaped over the wooden fence in the backyard and approached the building's back door.
And without a moment's hesitation, she opened the door.
***
"Uu...uugh..."
I stood frozen with the broom raised above my head.
They say that when a person encounters a situation completely beyond expectation, they don't get surprised or run away—they freeze.
That was exactly the situation right now.
I had attacked thinking it would obviously be some ugly, despicable little thief, but who knew it would be an elf.
I don't know if there are elves that look so-so, but this one was anything but ordinary.
Platinum blonde as refreshing as a lemon, and luminous jade eyes like vegetation.
Though a bit short in stature, her face was nothing short of nation-toppling beauty.
But why was such a beautiful elf rummaging through my fridge in the middle of the night?
Startled by my attack, the elf fell over, spilling the bibimbap vegetables she had been stealing and eating.
It was quite a tragicomic sight, but I soon regained my composure and lowered the broom.
Perhaps realizing I had no intention of attacking, she flinched but slightly relaxed her shoulders.
"Um.. who are you, no, before that, why are you here..?"
"Slurp!"
"Hey, stop that, stop that!"
Ignoring my question entirely, the elf slurped up the vegetables stuck to her cheek.
One thing became clear from the elf's actions.
Right now, to hell with shame—she was hungry.
She seemed to understand me from how she reacted to my words, but her gaze was fixed on the vegetables with no intention of dropping.
Anyway, it looked like we could only talk after feeding her.
What am I even doing at night like this. I let out a deep sigh and approached the elf.
The elf tried to push off the floor with her legs to get away, but it was no use.
I reached out toward the elf without hesitation.
"No!!"
"Yes!"
"Give it back!"
And I swiftly snatched the side-dish container holding the vegetables.
The elf, robbed of her side dish, thrashed about wildly trying to get it back, but I stopped her by pressing her head with my other hand.
"Stop struggling and stay still! I'll make you rice."
"Huh? U-uh, okay.."
"Yes, yes. Brush off the vegetables on your clothes and go sit down."
I seated the elf at the dining table and prepared bibimbap.
Since I had leftover rice anyway, I simply reheated the rice and arranged the vegetables prettily.
A spoonful of gochujang in the middle and a drizzle of sesame oil around it, and it was complete.
The elf watched me making the bibimbap, and when I mixed in the gochujang, she swallowed her saliva, and when I finished by drizzling sesame oil, her eyes widened in shock and her hands trembled.
What the. Was she really that hungry?
Having finished the bibimbap in less than five minutes, I placed it in front of the elf and said,
"Here. Mix it well with your spoon and try it."
"Mix.. mix it? Like this?"
"Oh, you do it well."
The elf hesitated slightly at ruining the picture-perfect bibimbap, but after sniffing the aroma with her nose, she mercilessly mixed the rice.
Thus, the bibimbap was mixed appetizingly.
I wasn't sure if it was correct knowledge, but since she was an elf, I figured she wouldn't eat animal products, so I didn't give her a fried egg.
Regardless, the elf scooped up a large spoonful of the glistening bibimbap and put it in her mouth.
Munch munch—
Chew chew—
The elven girl, her mouth full of bibimbap, chewed quietly for a while, and then,
Drip—!
Suddenly, tears began pouring from her pretty eyes.
"Sniff! Uwaaa!!"
Not a single tear like Count Kailan, but literally pouring down.
Sniffling like a pure, crying child,
Nom nom—
she didn't stop moving her spoon.
Look there, she's eating rice together with her tears.
I thought it must taste salty.
Suddenly, a famous military video came to mind.
'Have you ever eaten a tear-soaked Choco Pie!!'
I didn't know about tear-soaked Choco Pie, but I felt I now understood tear-soaked bibimbap.
The elf only stopped crying after scraping up every last grain of rice.
Her fresh, new-leaf-green eyes, as refreshing as a summer forest, were swollen puffily, and her mouth was covered in gochujang seasoning.
I silently handed her a napkin and cool water.
The elf glanced at me cautiously, wiped her eyes and mouth with the napkin, and gulped down the water.
'Isn't it a bit late to be watching my reaction?'
I thought that, but let it go. She must have been quite hungry.
But now that she was full, it should be fine.
I pulled out the chair across from the elf with a screech and sat down.
The elf flinched and looked at me.
"So, who are you and why did you sneak in?"
I asked as gentlemanly as possible.
After all, if I had cooked rice for a thief stealing food in the middle of the night, I had already surpassed gentleman. Beyond Gentle, Ultimate Gentle.
At my question, the elf moved her lips.
"I.."
"I?"
"A mere human!!!"
This crazy bitch.
For the first time in a while, I felt a distant dizziness.