CHAPTER 97

Elric's method for meeting the Tiger King Yul was very simple.

'Let's piss him off.'

In that case, there was a lot he could do.

***

[Hmm… I really feel alive now. It was so incredibly difficult to open my eyes after such a long time.]

The God of Camellias yawned widely, rubbing her eyes with both hands as she woke from a deep sleep.

Then, scratching her eyes gently with her index finger, she flicked away the eye booger to the side.

It was far from the elegance and grace she usually pursued as a 'god.'

Well, who cares?

That kind of demeanor was only necessary when she was among other winter flower gods or followers who are like kids.

Here, where she was alone, it was fine…!

"Your severe sleep habits remain unchanged."

[...Why are you here?]

The God of Camellias stopped fiddling with her fingernails and turned her head toward the voice she should never have heard here, frowning deeply.

Otto Han shrugged his shoulders and smiled mischievously.

"Did I come to a place I shouldn't have?"

[Of course! This is my room...! How dare an outside man step into a lady's space so recklessly! Are you out of your mind!]

This was the Room of Flowers.

A place like a mind realm or alternate world given individually to all the gods of flowers residing in the Temple of Flowers.

Ordinarily, no one could enter without the owner's permission.

Whatever method he used, Otto Han seemed to have entered with ease.

Should she call him a great ancestor of the Melvingers, or just an audacious guy? Otto Han seemed completely unconcerned by the God of Camellias's rebuke.

"Was I an outside man? That's unfortunate. But I remember receiving quite a lot of your affection back then."

[Hmph! My principle is never to be interested in someone who already has a partner.]

"For that, you seemed to cling to me a lot."

[Have you developed dementia with age? While I might have showered grace on my lovers, I never pursued them…]

"Was it due to alcohol? Anyway, you were completely drunk and came to me complaining non-stop about stopping those expeditions to the Dragon Mountain Range…!"

[Can you not shut that mouth of yours?]

In an instant, the God of Camellias, unable to contain her anger, shouted, her face turning bright red.

Otto Han, who continued to scratch at her nerves, was just so annoying to her.

Then, the God of Camellias, belatedly realizing her mistake, felt a wave of frustration.

[Aah. How uncultured of me to use such vulgar language…!]

"Haha! It seems you were the one who changed with age? To think such crude words would come out of your mouth that never lost its grace."

[Shut that mouth of yours!]

"Hahahaha!"

[Aaaargh!]

The God of Camellias was so annoyed by Otto Han's boisterous laughter that she felt like she might die, but it was unfortunate that she couldn't do anything about it at the moment.

With a sigh, she tasted psychological defeat once again.

[I thought that by the time I woke up, those little brats might have grown up a bit, but they are still the same, and now my only remaining friend is left in a spiritual form like this...! Once, as the Queen of the Winter Palace, I was the leader of 'Eight Colds' and 'Pharos,' but how did I end up in this situation! Oh, sorrowful times! It's so frustrating and heartbreaking!]

"How did it happen? Wasn't it because you were completely devoured by the demons? I told you repeatedly to handle politics on a grand scale."

[Are you still not gone?!]

At the God of Camellias's outburst, Otto Han laughed again, then adjusted his glasses and changed the subject.

"Why are you so angry? It's all in the past anyway. No one remembers it now."

[No one! Who in this era would remember those times filled with myths and legends! Even for me, it's a distant past, and those brats weren't even born then.]

The God of Camellias yelled.

[But even so, the resentment I held back then! The cries of the people! Their screams! Their grudges! How can I forget, when they remain frozen in my heart?]

The God of Camellias now glared at Otto Han with blazing eyes.

Realizing he had crossed a line, Otto Han took a step back.

"It seems I've gone too far. I apologize for that."

[Really, you are...! Ha!]

The God of Camellias found it annoying that Otto Han, no matter how irritating, always apologized when necessary without hesitation.

This made it impossible to truly hate him.

Of course, it was because of that charm that she had tried several times to make him her concubine.

[...Enough. Talking to you any longer will just give me a headache. What brings you here anyway?]

"Hmm? No particular reason. If I had to find one... I was bored?"

[You...!]

"Of course, I'm joking."

Otto Han quickly changed the subject just before the God of Camellias was about to explode again.

"Are you okay?"

[….]

The God of Camellias frowned silently.

This was it.

Another reason why she couldn't hate Otto Han.

"If you keep frowning like that, you'll get wrinkles."

[That's my concern, not yours!]

The God of Camellias snapped, crossing her arms with a pouty expression.

[It's been 40 years. Since I fell asleep. Do you think I can recover just from that?]

"Probably not. That's why I asked. Because I was worried."

[...Hmph! So stop worrying about me. I'll take care of my own health.]

Even though she scoffed, she quickly glanced at Otto Han, who was still looking at her with a warm smile, and continued.

[But for now, it's enough as a temporary measure. So don't worry too much.]

"That's a relief. Forty years ago... You sacrificed a lot to stop that curse. The more divine power you use, the slower it is to recover."

If Elric had heard this, he would have been puzzled.

Otto Han wasn't from this era, yet he knew so much about the events of forty years ago, when Usdun Melvinger had been around.

As if he had experienced it himself.

[But the appearance of Usdun's grandson means that what was barely suppressed back then is resurfacing.... I just hope that the events of that time won't repeat themselves.]

The God of Camellias sighed briefly, then decided the conversation was getting too long and changed the subject.

[More importantly, what is our protagonist doing? Planting the tree won't be easy if he can't find the 'method.']

Otto Han chuckled lightly.

"If it's that boy, true to his Melvinger nature, he's up to something very interesting."

[Hmm! Now I'm curious again.]

"It's not difficult, so I'll show you."

Clap!

Otto Han clapped his hands lightly, and a screen appeared before the God of Camellias.

On it, Elric was being chased by the beastmen, running away.

However, unlike a typical fugitive, Elric was laughing loudly, "Hahaha!"

With every swing of his hand, there was a "Boom! Boom!" as houses exploded. Ice storms blew incessantly, tearing through everything and turning the surroundings into a wasteland.

Because of this, while Elric seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, the beastmen were in a murderous frenzy, as if ready to tear him apart the moment they caught him.

[...What on earth is he doing?]

"What else? He's causing a ruckus."

[A ruckus?]

"It means causing a big commotion. Don't you know?"

The God of Camellias bristled.

[Do you think I'm a fool? Of course, I know! I was asking what kind of absurdity that is!]

"He said he wants to call out the Tiger King Yul."

[The, the Tiger King Yul...? In that manner?]

The God of Camellias looked utterly exasperated.

The background setting for this scenario was a collaboration between Otto Han and the God of Camellias, and she was well aware that the 'characters' active here were not much different from the actual people.

And the Tiger King Yul... was not someone to be taken lightly, even for the God of Camellias.

Of course, if she reverted to her status as the Queen of the Winter Palace, the story would be different, but as the god of the winter flower, Camellia, she always acknowledged him.

That's how significant the Tiger King Yul's influence was on the Black Snowfield and the Temple of Flowers.

In fact, one of the few ways to tackle this scenario involved the Tiger King Yul.

However, that was only possible by following the 'steps' given, 'one by one,' in the most difficult manner.

There were also significant restrictions that would be lifted through this process.

But to skip all those steps and do something like that...!

"Unexpected, isn't it?"

[Are you even listening to yourself right now?!]

"As expected of a Melvinger. Or should I say a prodigy beyond his time?"

To meet the Tiger King Yul, there were originally two prerequisite tasks that had to be resolved.

-The first was to resolve the anger between humans and beastmen.

At that time, the situation was such that the beastmen's hatred toward humans was at its peak.

All of them, who had been living peacefully in a corner of the continent, were forced north of the Great Wall due to the Empire's aggressive expansion policy, and in the process of settling in the Black Snowfield, they lost more than half of their people, a tragic event.

The reason the beastmen had to rapidly shrink into a tribe that valued bloodline and kin was that their population and control network capable of maintaining a centralized system had completely collapsed.

Moreover, slave hunters frequently crossed the great wall to capture beastmen.

As a result, the majority of beastmen began to consider humans their enemies.

In such a situation, for Elric to meet the Tiger King Yul, who was not only considered the strongest among the beastmen but also held the highest status, was nearly impossible.

Therefore, he had to solve this issue first.

In fact, the help of the beastmen was essential for planting the seed.

This was because the beastmen were the only ones who had cultivated civilization in the Black Snowfield.

'Of course, there's also the method of taming some monsters directly to plow the fields instead of relying on the beastmen, but this changes the strategy entirely, making it a different issue.'

-The second task was not only to resolve their anger but also to build friendship and be recognized as a fighter by them.

The biggest problem was precisely this second task.

While it might be possible to establish a trade relationship with the beastmen out of necessity, building a friendship was almost impossible.

Especially becoming a fighter was an even greater challenge.

The fighter system was a cultural identity of the beastmen that they had never let go of, even after experiencing their downfall.

Reverence or worship of the strong.

Respect for the strong.

A beastman recognized as strong, regardless of status or bloodline, was respected by all beastmen.

This was because they believed that only fighting could prove their worth.

And fighters were among the most distinguished of these strong individuals, representing their race beyond tribal boundaries.

The Tiger King Yul was at the pinnacle of the fighters. It was not easy to meet him directly without becoming a fighter.

In short, even for Elric, it was not easy to go through all these processes...

The problem was that if he did something like that, the Tiger King Yul would have no choice but to meet him.

Before being at the pinnacle of the fighters, Yul was also the king of the tribe called 'Anthromorph.'

Which king wouldn't get angry and come out if his tribe and related tribes were being turned into wastelands?

[What are you doing? Aren't you going to stop him right away!]

The God of Camellias rebuked Otto Han, who still found it interesting and showed no intention of moving.

If he wouldn't stop it, she seemed ready to jump out and do it herself.

However,

"Why should I?"

[What are you saying...!]

"I mean, just because he's trying that strategy doesn't mean we should intervene, right? It's unorthodox, but not wrong."

[...!]

"That unorthodox method is quite daring, but, haha! Well, the aftermath will naturally be up to my descendant to handle."

[....]

The God of Camellias slumped back into her seat. Watching Otto Han laugh, she thought,

Indeed, there was nothing normal about the Melvingers!

"And that guy, even though he seems reckless, he's very cunning inside."

A smile appeared on Otto Han's lips as he watched the screen.

It was a smile very much like Elric's, who was reflected on the screen.

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