The brewery on the outskirts of Noirdel, which Kang Jinwoo had left behind.
Ailenna, the owner of that brewery that produced the finest wines, had lately been living a life so busy she could hardly breathe.
Kwa-ga-ga-gak—!
When Ailenna exerted her power, a tree instantly grew large enough to build a tree house in.
The elf who owned the house clapped her hands in delight.
“I’ll be able to decorate it even prettier than the house I used to live in!”
“I’m glad to hear that. I really am sorry for destroying your house...”
With this, the restoration work on the homes in the outskirts was complete.
Ailenna wiped the sweat running down her forehead with the back of her hand and took a breather.
The plant terrorism born from her somewhat excessive and twisted friendship toward Kang Jinwoo.
As the person responsible for that incident, Ailenna had been ordered, in lieu of additional punishment, to restore the areas damaged by the growth of plants.
She had not been involved in Kang Jinwoo’s kidnapping at all.
And though her intentions had been different... in the end, it was taken into account that her actions had contributed to defending Noirdel, so she was spared punishment.
Ailenna continued cutting away the lumpy tree roots still strewn about with magic and moving them aside.
An elf who had been watching her beautify the surroundings asked,
“Lady Ailenna, couldn’t you just order the plants to go back, instead of doing the work yourself?”
“Ah, well...”
The ability of the Liliendra family, which allowed them to wield the World Tree’s vitality more efficiently.
However, there was one fatal flaw in that ability.
It could only accelerate the growth of plants; controlling them or turning them back was impossible.
“In any case, it is the World Tree’s vitality. I can’t use it however I please just to make things easier for myself.”
“Wow... as expected of Lady Ailenna!”
Since telling the truth would be too unsightly, Ailenna dodged the question with a suitable answer.
Well... it wasn’t exactly wrong, so perhaps it was fine.
During the battle against Arthur and Kailan, the plants she had handled as if they were her own limbs, and the ones she had made burst up from beneath their feet, had all been Ailenna’s technique.
She could not control plants, but she could guide the direction of their growth,
so she had responded instantly in accordance with Arthur and Kailan’s movements.
Her application and sense were so outstanding that elves who didn’t know better would often misunderstand and say, “Wow! Plant control!”
‘As if something like that would be possible...’
Ailenna muttered inwardly.
Normally, she used her ability only for wine brewing, but it was a power with plenty of room for application in many fields.
Like building houses, as she was doing now, or repairing various broken objects by binding them with vines and tree roots.
Ailenna’s ability possessed boundless potential that went beyond simply producing crops, and—
“Ailenna. I need you to make a brief trip to the outside world.”
“What?”
Elioren, who had no chance of failing to recognize that potential, pushed her toward the Silvaerin construction site.
The work was almost finished, so she had finally thought she could make some wine and rest, and now what?
“Why the outside world all of a sudden? No, before that, why me of all people?”
“Because your ability is suitable for construction, of course. And... this is not simply a request.”
If she was just dumping troublesome work on her, then what did she mean, not simply a request?
Ailenna maintained a disrespectful gaze, as if telling her to go ahead and explain.
“I didn’t expect him to ask for help already, but it is Jinwoo’s request.”
“I’ll go! Should I leave right now?”
And so, Ailenna’s manual labor in Silvaerin was decided.
Fortunately, Ailenna was not talent that would be classified as an ordinary laborer, but a skilled technician.
If someone worked manual labor for just three to five years, they would already be treated as an experienced technician.
So an elf technician with the Plant-Plant Fruit (not really), who had lived for at least over a hundred years, was...
“Wow!! This is an industrial revolution!!!”
“Make Lady Ailenna the head of the construction guild!!”
Not merely skilled, but practically in the realm of a god.
“Wow, she’s putting up the roof without even cutting the materials. Precision’s gone over the limit.”
“That’s the real bio-technologia.”
“Could you say it in words I can understand...?”
Ailenna felt dizzy at the words that only humans in the construction industry seemed capable of understanding.
Regardless, Ailenna diligently carried out the work assigned to her.
‘Today’s pay-by-task... so I should hurry and go see Jinwoo!’
Yarikkiri: a system where, once the assigned work was finished, one immediately left work regardless of the time.
Human language remained a mystery to Ailenna no matter how much she learned, but she liked this yarikkiri thing.
Because the faster she finished, the faster she could go see Jinwoo!
Kku-deu-deu-deuk—
Gi-gi-gik—
Tree roots and vines grown by Ailenna’s power firmly fixed the factory tent in place.
With that, today’s quota was complete as well.
“I’ll be heading in first!”
“Yes, ma’am. Take care on your way!”
Ailenna hummed as she walked off with light steps.
Compared to Noirdel, it was rather tiring work, but she did not mind.
What would Jinwoo have prepared today? Pasta? Bibimbap?
Whether in Noirdel or Silvaerin, Kang Jinwoo always cooked for her.
Kang Jinwoo’s dishes had broadened the horizons of Ailenna, who had lived in a world as narrow as a well.
Every single one of his dishes was full of personality, delicious, and brimming with inspiration.
So much so that they had instantly crushed the worries she had been having during her period of ennui with wine brewing and snacks.
Was that why?
Whenever Ailenna thought of Jinwoo, her heartbeat quickened, and a joy difficult to express in words filled her mind.
However, she did not regard this as love.
From birth until now, she had kept herself far removed from romance, and she did not particularly have any friends worth mentioning either.
‘Jinwoo and I are muses who inspire each other, and friends. Partners.’
Because of that, Ailenna ended up interpreting those feelings in another direction.
To begin with, he was human, and she was an elf, was he not?
He was difficult to see as an object of love, and even if he did become one, only sorrow born of their difference in lifespans would await her.
Then the question arose: why had she previously “devastated the village in order to protect Kang Jinwoo”?
‘Jinwoo is especially fragile, even among humans, so it’s only right that I protect him.’
A human with outstanding abilities, yet not a single ounce of combat or self-defense capability.
He was exactly the sort of person who could be abducted without a sound or rumor, so Ailenna had protected him.
For a friend, without any particular feelings.
As she walked while sorting out her thoughts about Jinwoo, she soon arrived before his house.
Ailenna took a light, deep breath and entered.
“Jinwoo, I’m here!”
“Oh, nice timing.”
Today’s meal seemed to be pizza, as Kang Jinwoo was just about to put a pizza into the oven.
But the shape of the pizza was a little different. It was much thicker and more generous than the ones she had seen before... like a pie.
“Are you ready to just die from how good this is, Lady Ailenna?”
“H-huh? What do you mean?”
Die from it? Was he talking about the pizza?
How could an elf die from pizza?
Ailenna looked meaningfully at the thick pizza Kang Jinwoo was holding, then caught the very faint scent of meat.
As if it had been coated with the World Tree’s sap, it was the gamey smell of meat that an ordinary human would never have been able to detect.
“Jinwoo, is there meat in that pizza by any chance?”
“Yes. I put in a bit of sausage... don’t tell me?”
“Melted cheese is fine, but... I can’t eat meat.”
“Ah.”
Embarrassment spread across Kang Jinwoo’s face.
***
Calm down. This is within expectations.
No? Actually, I didn’t expect this.
When I asked Ailenna on the first day she came to help with construction, she said it was fine as long as it wasn’t raw cheese, so I made it.
I didn’t think she would have trouble even with a bit of sausage added after packing it full of spinach, cheese, and tomato sauce.
It’s not like every elf eats only vegetables, so I thought she could eat a certain amount.
Elves simply don’t find meat attractive; eating it doesn’t cause allergies or make their bodies deteriorate.
In any case, this meant a change of plans.
I would give the Chicago pizza with sausage to the human workers and make a new pizza.
“Then I’ll make something else. Please wait just a little.”
“Ah, no! I can just eat anything else.”
“Tsk, no. Please rest for a bit.”
I brushed aside the restless Ailenna and went into the kitchen to prepare other ingredients.
Zucchini and pumpkin, and... artichoke.
Not artifact, artichoke. It might be an unfamiliar ingredient to Koreans.
Its appearance was also strange, like a cross between a succulent plant and a pinecone,
but surprisingly, it was an ingredient used very often from the Mediterranean to Europe.
Since this other world had an ecology and food culture similar to Europe on Earth, I had discovered artichokes at the market long ago.
I didn’t usually use them, so I’d thought there wouldn’t be much occasion to, but I ended up using them after all.
When you look at things like this, it really is fascinating.
Doesn’t it look difficult to eat no matter how you look at it?
That people thought to eat this, but never thought to eat tomatoes...
In any case, I peeled off the outer leaves of the artichoke until the tender inner leaves appeared.
I cut away the hard stem and the tips of the leaves as well, leaving only the yellow, tender parts, and the preparation was done.
At this rate, almost half of it was getting thrown away.
It wasn’t called a noble vegetable for nothing.
But to Europeans, it was an everyday vegetable they even put on pizza and boiled before dipping in mayonnaise.
Its taste was guaranteed.
Chiiiiik—!
I seared the artichokes over high heat together with round slices of eggplant and zucchini.
I’d originally planned to give the dish body with sausage, but since I couldn’t use it, I had to create some heft by grilling the vegetables like this.
Once they were nicely grilled while being seasoned with salt, all I had to do was add them as toppings for the Chicago pizza.
The spinach, eggplant, zucchini, and artichokes mixed evenly, while the empty spaces were packed tight with tomato sauce and cheese.
They say it’s chicken instead of pheasant, but in a world where there’s only chicken, this is the delicacy. This is gourmet.
Ailenna was a “lacto-ovo vegetarian,” meaning... a vegetarian who could eat dairy products and eggs.
Then this “artichoke deep-dish pizza” could be called her pheasant, and her beef.
Aside from excluding the sausage, I assembled the pizza exactly the same way and put it into an oven around 250 degrees.
Roughly thirty to forty minutes.
Once the cheese on the surface bloomed with Maillard and the dough was baked crisp enough...
Hwaaaak—!
The golden, bubbling cheese and the aroma of the tomato sauce stimulated the appetite.
The eggplant, zucchini, artichoke, and spinach were all vegetables with their own unique sweetness.
The natural sweetness emitted by the vegetables spread pleasantly through the dining room.
Since I had just taken it out of the oven, I let it cool slightly,
then carefully removed it from the pan and transferred it onto a plate.
“The Chicago pizza is complete. Let’s try it together first.”
The one-and-only deep-dish pizza in the world, made for Ailenna, was served at the table.
***
In truth, Ailenna’s power had weakened compared to when she was in Noirdel.
The World Tree’s vitality did extend as far as Silvaerin, but it was still faint compared to the home base.
That was why, even when helping expand Kang Jinwoo’s factory, she had to use twice as much power, and her energy had been considerably depleted.
‘How did he know I was tired and make food like this...’
Perhaps out of consideration for her, the food Kang Jinwoo had prepared was very hearty.
He had even reworked and created it in an instant when she said she could not eat what he had originally prepared.
Marveling at his cooking skills, Ailenna looked at the pizza placed before her.
Its thickness and appearance were completely different from the pizza she had seen in Noirdel.
If she had not smelled it, she would have mistaken it for a strangely shaped pie.
Would the Margherita pizza Kang Jinwoo had made in Noirdel have to be stacked three, no, five layers high to reach this thickness?
For the first time in her life, Ailenna felt overwhelmed by food.
When she had no idea how she was supposed to eat it, Kang Jinwoo slowly cut into the pizza.
Seu-geuk—
Geu-geuk—
As the cross-section was revealed, the filling packed inside flowed out as if spilling over.
At the same time, the fragrance that had been tightly hidden within the pizza dough exploded.
Hwaaa—
At the thick smell of pizza that struck her several times more intensely than before, Ailenna’s body trembled slightly.
“Here, try it. Be careful, it’s hot.”
“Mm... okay.”
Kang Jinwoo carefully served a large slice of Chicago pizza onto Ailenna’s plate.
Even after being separated as a slice, the Chicago pizza displayed an intense majesty.
‘It’s too big. And... hot.’
She could not pick it up with her hands, since the ingredients would overflow, so she used a fork and knife.
Eilenna carefully gathered the pizza together so she could taste all the ingredients at once.
And then...
Hahp—
With her mouth opened as wide as possible, she took a huge bite of pizza.
“Ooh, h-heehee.”
“Huh? Wh-what’s wrong?”
“Heeheehee... hehe.”
The moment she put the Chicago pizza in her mouth and chewed once,
Eilenna burst into laughter.
‘It’s sinking in. It tastes so hearty...!’
The tomato sauce was still fresh, even after being baked in the oven for thirty minutes.
The cheese, which she normally did not particularly like, tied all the ingredients together and provided a salty savoriness.
Above all... the real kick was the eggplant and zucchini, bursting with vegetable juices with every bite, and the sweet artichoke.
The sweet vegetable juices mingled with the already-bright tomato sauce, wildly disrupting the cohesion of the crisp, thick dough.
Just like Eilenna herself, dazed by this massive, piping-hot Chicago pizza.
How had he preserved the richness of the vegetable juices while keeping the dough so crisp?
If she wanted to solve that mystery, she had no choice but to eat.
Munch, munch—
Eilenna’s body, exhausted from hard labor, craved calories at a cellular level.
The instant she recognized that this food was an excellent source of energy, Eilenna devoted herself to the meal.
‘I get it. The texture is similar to that tart crust from back then.’
At last, she realized the true nature of the Chicago pizza dough.
A tart, too, was a dessert that had to maintain the shape of a dish, so it used soft flour.
Eilenna had no concept of soft, medium, or strong flour.
But with her honed sense of taste, she recognized it.
If the tart from last time had seeped into her brain as a feast of sweetness that surged all the way to the crown of her head,
then this Chicago pizza was... energy itself.
Sweet vegetables, high salinity, high calories.
An intensity that indiscriminately pummeled Eilenna’s tongue, which usually savored wine with delicate precision.
The pizza, chewed and swallowed while her highly sensitive taste cells reeled from the thrill,
immediately infused her entire body with strength.
“Haaah... I’m recovering. I can feel vitality circulating through my body.”
“I made it because I thought you’d be tired from the construction work, so that makes it worthwhile.”
The optimal menu choice, taking both her tastes and condition into account.
In the face of Kang Jinwoo’s warm cooking, which made her clearly feel that she was being treated well, that she was being cared for,
Eilenna had no choice but to make a great decision.
“I’ll go too. I’ll go to the capital with you!”
“Pardon? You too, Lady Eilenna?”
The decision not to return to Noirdel even after the construction was finished,
and the desire to feel more of this warmth by his side,
filled her heart completely.