"You cooked for an elf? Are you out of your mind!?"
A man who'd stopped by the restaurant shouted after hearing my story.
Was it really that surprising?
Can't elves eat when they're hungry too?
But the man's expression was dead serious.
With an attitude that this wasn't something to let slide, he continued.
"Listen, I'm asking just in case... You didn't cook for them multiple times, did you?"
"With one elf, it's been a while since we shared a pot; with two, about three days' worth of meals..."
"You madman!"
The man's face shifted from grave to terrified as he looked around.
The restaurant was empty except for him and me.
He opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
"Hear me well. Elves... have eaten nothing but tasteless food their entire lives, so they don't know what fine cuisine is."
"That's not how it seemed to me."
"That's why... if they eat something too delicious, they go mad and cross the line. They lose control."
"Come on, what are you talking about."
I hadn't been with Iseria for very long, but we'd lived together for almost a month.
During that time, she had never caused any trouble.
I waved my hands, saying it was nonsense.
And I called for Iseria, who should have been lazing around in her room on the second floor.
If this old man saw perfectly fine Iseria, he'd be able to throw away such prejudice.
"Iseria? What are you doing?"
However, Iseria did not respond to my call.
Feeling puzzled, I tried to go up to the second floor myself.
But. The old man grabbed my wrist.
"No, don't go that way!"
"It's fine. Not all elves are like that."
"Yes, they are!!"
"Wake up!"
Suddenly,
At the single word "Wake up" that the old man shouted, my head went blank.
Huh, what? I was definitely...
Eating pajeon, last I remembered?
And then, I woke from the dream.
"Gangkiyaack!!!!"
A dark room where I couldn't tell where I was or what time it was.
I raised my body drenched in cold sweat.
We were all eating pajeon together... when suddenly, a severe bout of dizziness came over me.
Did the elves move me here after I collapsed like that?
But no matter how I looked at it, this wasn't my house... It was a room I'd never seen before.
I got down from the bed and stood up.
I felt no dizziness, and nothing hurt.
Groping through the darkness where I couldn't see a thing, I opened the room's door.
Hwaaak-!
The bright light of the hallway rushed in without warning.
For pupils dilated and accustomed to the darkness, it was far too bright...
"Kuaaack, my eyes."
"*Gasp*, Hu...man-nim. You've woken up!"
"Huh."
In a situation where securing my vision was difficult due to a 200% flashbang to the eyes,
The figure faintly visible before me.
Even without looking closely, pointed ears and platinum-blonde hair.
But since she didn't have twintails, it wasn't Iseria.
It wasn't Seiran or Beilra's appearance either... Who was it?
"Um, where is this...?"
"Please wait a moment. My lady!"
Though questions were piled up like a mountain,
The unknown elf left me with instructions to wait, then went to find her lady.
Wait.
An elf with platinum-blonde hair.
Going to find her lady?
I felt puzzle pieces fitting together in my head.
I instinctively looked past the window pouring light into the hallway.
"Damn... Damn it."
What I saw through the wide-open window was a huge tree.
Not just a huge tree, but a truly enormous, beautiful tree.
It was the World Tree I'd only heard of in rumors.
Nowhere did it say 'This is the World Tree,' but I could tell.
What else could be the World Tree if not a tree so majestic, brimming with vitality, and absurdly huge?
And that meant,
That the place I was in was the elves' country. It meant Nuardel.
What the hell.
What on earth happened while I was asleep?
Did I teleport or something?
Just when my head went blank with confusion and panic,
A familiar voice reached me.
"Jinwoo! You're awake!"
"Iseria!"
Iseria's attire was different from usual.
Not as flashy as the Empire's nobles,
But a pastel-toned light green dress that went well with the elves' characteristic freshness.
Seeing Iseria dressed up, my guess turned to certainty.
I spoke.
"You crazy bitch!!! Where did you take me!!!"
"Hieeeek!"
I guess I could be a bit angry after being subjected to this.
It was time to resolve all questions with Iseria.
***
The elves' city was truly peaceful.
The shade of the natural wonder called the World Tree sat at the city's center,
And sunlight filtering between its leaves sparkled on the streets intermittently.
Due to the long-lived nature of the race, children weren't seen often, but they weren't absent either.
"It's my turn this time!"
Eeeeng-! Ing-!
The young elves visible here and there were playing with cute spirits just like themselves.
"Would you trade those shoes for this bowl?"
"Hmm. It doesn't look bad."
Beside them, two male elves were trading.
The concept of a market wasn't absent, but it looked somewhat different from human society.
A barter-based trading method that didn't use currency.
"I'd like to get a bowl too; is there anything I can help with?"
"That's perfect timing. I was about to organize the warehouse."
If one lacked goods, it seemed exchange could be made with labor too.
A truly mysterious and quaint way of life, different from humans in many ways.
Sitting on a suitable patch of grass and watching that, I quietly opened my mouth.
"Iseria."
"Ugh... Yeah?"
"So what."
"Sorry... I must have gone a bit crazy for a moment."
Earlier at Iseria's mansion, I had been furious and ready to unleash a storm of questions.
But Iseria suggested talking outside, so I'd suppressed my anger for a moment and come out...
Nuardel's fairytale-like daily life was certainly impressive,
But it couldn't be the reason I'd been kidnapped.
"Let's hear the reason. Why did you kidnap me?"
"Because... I didn't think you'd come even if I asked you to go together..."
"No, before that, I mean the reason you tried to take me."
Yeah, of course I wouldn't have gone.
I hadn't even traveled the Empire yet, and I had a lot to do.
In that situation, I had even less desire to go to an elf country I knew nothing about.
Well, that's not very important.
I was curious 'why' she brought me.
Did she bring me here just to ask me to cook while in Nuardel?
"Be... because it's delicious."
"What?"
"Because it's delicious! I brought you because your cooking is delicious!"
"Why is this real."
Why is this real.
I was confused whether I should be happy about this or annoyed.
What Iseria was saying now was,
"Your cooking is so fucking delicious that I kidnapped you regardless of morality or law!" something like that.
Should I accept this happily as a chef...?
Or should I obviously be angry?
Perhaps because too many bizarre things had happened these past few months, I felt like my emotional threshold had become strange.
I'd always been the type to just shrug things off, but had it gotten worse?
"No, no matter what, this isn't right. I have a schedule too!!"
"S-sorry... I'm really sorry."
Whether my threshold had lowered or risen, wrong was wrong.
Even if Callius wasn't returning immediately from his merchant trip, anything could happen at any time.
I had to check on the hardtack factory, see if the supply deliveries to the knight order were going well...
And I'd just finished making doenjang perfectly, so I was planning to enjoy it a bit.
Who knew I'd get kidnapped to a foreign land to cook.
Oh, my fate.
While worrying about the things I'd left behind, a sudden question came to mind.
"But, can humans just come into the elf country? Did Seiran and Beilra give permission?"
"Forgiveness is faster than permission. Seiran and Beilra also agreed to bring you, Jinwoo."
"Hoho... The state of this country is a sight to behold. It's the end times, the end times."
"A-and! You're a Silvaerin citizen. So it should be fine. Probably?"
"Huh. Why is that?"
These elves are all the same.
Is it okay for border security to be this lax?
While resolving questions through my exchange with Iseria,
Another keyword was thrown in.
Why would it be fine because I was a Silvaerin person?
But am I even counted as a Silvaerin person?
'My genes are pure Korean, though.'
I was administratively registered as a resident of the Empire's Silvaerin territory.
But it didn't seem like Iseria was speaking in that sense.
Then what did she mean by saying it was fine?
Just before hearing the answer to that, the elf I'd encountered immediately upon leaving the room approached.
The elf glanced at me and spoke.
"My lady, the Patriarch has arrived. He says he wishes to see the Hu...man-nim."
"Father's here. I understand."
"Human-nim," such an ambiguous title.
It seemed like she was forcing it out because she didn't want to say it... I felt somewhat aggrieved for no reason.
It's not like I came here because I wanted to.
"Jinwoo. Can you come with me just this once?"
Iseria carefully watched my expression as she spoke.
She wasn't someone who originally spoke so prettily.
She always basically had fierce eyes, and a sharp tone to match.
Sigh, what can you do. The water has already been spilled.
Even if I threw a tantrum and refused to go here, it would be meaningless,
Since I've come to the elf country, willingly or not, it'd be best to go along with them.
Before getting up, I added a word.
"You, if something like this happens again, there'll be no mercy. I'm letting you off just this once."
"Yeah... I got it. I'm really sorry..."
"Let's hurry. Is there anything I should know?"
"No! There isn't. He'll understand even if you're comfortable."
This was the first time she'd shown such serious regret since we first met.
Perhaps she was reflecting even more than back then.
'Then she shouldn't have done something bad in the first place.'
I thought so, but a moment's impulse is quite hard to restrain.
Moreover, while she's fifty in human years, Iseria was an elf who had only just become an adult.
Taking that into account as well, there was no need to give her more of a hard time.
I followed Iseria into the mansion.
It wasn't as large as Duke Cailan's mansion, but it was still a big building.
We headed to the mansion's drawing room.
In the drawing room decorated with neat and natural furniture,
The patriarch of House Sildiel, Iseria's father, was sitting there first.
With an appearance that looked around the same age as Duke Cailan,
Platinum-blonde hair with less luster than Iseria's.
Even so, his sharp eyes and features radiated the charisma of a handsome middle-aged man without reserve.
When our eyes met, I shrank back slightly.
When a man with that kind of looks stared at me, a weak-spirited person like me couldn't endure it...
An awkward atmosphere lingered inside the drawing room.
Sswuk, tak-!
Then, Iseria's father sprang up from his seat.
"Our daughter has caused you great inconvenience. As her father, I apologize. I'm sorry!"
Kkukbeok-
And Iseria's father slowly bowed at the waist.
The 90-degree bow that I'd always only performed to troublesome customers.
For the first time in my life, I wasn't the one doing it, but the one receiving it.
And from an elf estimated to be around the age of my great-grandfather, at that.