The demons had gone from asking for a Seed of Nature to four Seeds of Nature. It was a scummy play on words by the demons, and it had caused great dissatisfaction among the elves.
However, the elves were a serious race, so while they might have gotten angry at the demons, they felt they were also at fault for hastily agreeing to the demons’ demands without clarifying the conditions.
Now that they had agreed on four Seeds of Nature, though, the demons could no longer employ any more of their word games. If they did, they would be blatantly raising prices, and it’d lower the demons’ reputation even further.
After such a long period of development, the demons were no longer the same barbaric race they were thousands of years ago. They had already developed their own civilization and culture. So, even the demons would have to care for their reputation during times of peace.
“In that case, we will await your good news.”
In the end, Davis did not dare to casually change the number of seeds he demanded again. This was because his orders were to delay the negotiations with the elves for as long as possible and wait for Alice to take care of her own affairs before coming back for the final negotiations with the elves.
If he rashly demanded more Seeds of Nature now, he might thoroughly anger the elves and start a direct confrontation between the demons and the elves. This would be going against Alice’s request, so Davis decided to end his talks with the elven patriarch on a peaceful note.
However, upon returning to the demon army’s base camp, Davis’s calm expression immediately turned into a nervous one as he hurriedly pulled out his phone and called Alice.
He needed to ask Alice what they needed to do next if the elves were truly capable of taking out four Seeds of Nature within the next few days. Although the elves looked very reluctant to part with their Seeds of Nature, they were most likely willing to hand them over to avoid the bloodshed of their people.
“That’s enough. It’ll still take them a few more days to hand over the seeds, so just continue negotiating with them normally during this period.”
Alice was in the middle of studying in the Nature Shrine when Davis called her. After hearing Davis’s report, she promptly made the decision to have him buy time.
The elves might not know how many days exactly the Fruits of God would need to ripen, but Alice knew it. She had already learned from the Loli Goddess that the fruits would need roughly a week to ripen. That was more than enough time for her to learn all of the elf’s unique taboos to an entry-level.
Thus, all Alice needed Davis to do now was to buy time and avoid creating any direct conflicts with the elves. Once the time was right, she would have Luna appear before the demons and the elves as the Demon King. Then, she would make her appearance as the Hero and fight off the Demon King.
“Who were you talking to?” Abel asked as she hovered above Filia’s body—or rather above Filia’s panties—and looked at the piece of metal Alice held in her hand. As she had been attached to Filia’s panties throughout all these years, she knew that this piece of metal was called a cell phone, an invention of modern times.
“Just a friend.”
Alice naturally couldn’t tell Abel that she was talking to an adviser to one of the demons’ Heavenly Kings. Although the enmity between the elves and the demons had faded over time, Abel was someone with a vendetta against the demons. After all, the demons were directly related to her death. Other Heroes might lose their hatred for the demons after they defeated the Demon King, but Abel definitely wasn’t one of these Heroes.
The only way Abel could let go of her hatred was if the memories her remnant soul lost just so happened to be her memories about the demons. However, the possibility of this being the case was low, and Alice wasn’t willing to gamble on this small chance.
“Continue with your studies, then. Although I can understand your reluctance to reveal your identity, it still isn’t appropriate for you to stay here for long periods,” Abel said, sighing. She had lived for a very, very long time already. So, different from young elves like Lalu, she still possessed a conservative mindset.
If possible, Abel hoped that Alice could reveal her identity and study the elves’ taboos openly. However, she also understood the danger Alice faced, so she didn’t try to force the issue.
“By the way, I suddenly thought of something.”
Alice was originally going to resume her studies, but after hearing Abel’s words just now, she suddenly thought of another matter: the Seed of Nature’s uses.
Alice had always been curious about what uses the elves had for the Seed of Nature. However, she had refrained from asking anyone about it since this was one of the elves’ national secrets. Although the elves had given away some seeds in the past, very few people could actually get their hands on one. So, not everyone knew what uses the seeds had.
One of the few people who should know about the Seed of Nature’s purpose should be alchemists working for the various human kingdoms. After all, alchemists were individuals who came into contact with all sorts of strange materials. While they might not have personally come into contact with a Seed of Nature before, they should have learned about it through records.
However, if Alice were to name someone who she could reach right now and should know about the Seed of Nature’s purpose, it would definitely have to be Filia and Abel. These two people held important positions among the elven race, so they should be qualified to learn the Seed of Nature’s secrets.
Since Filia still needed to sleep for a few more days, Abel naturally became the only person Alice could pose her questions to.
“Do you know what the Seed of Nature is used for?” Alice asked curiously as she lifted her head to look at Abel’s floating soal. “I heard that it could be used to reconstruct bodies for souls. Is it true?”
“The Seed of Nature, is it? Yes, it’s true. The Seed of Nature comes from the Tree of Nature planted by God. It possesses a special ability to produce mana, so it can be used to replace the mana source of living creatures.”
Although Abel didn’t know why Alice was suddenly asking about the Seed of Nature, she didn’t bother hiding this information since Alice was the Hero.
“A highly skilled alchemist might be able to construct a physical body that can house a complete soul, but without the Seed of Nature, the body created wouldn’t have the ability to produce mana.”
After pausing for a moment, Abel continued:
“A body that cannot produce mana will be unable to house a soul that originates externally. This is because souls that have once occupied a body can only remain in existence when preserved using a special type of magic. If such a soul enters a body without mana, the magic preserving the soul would be canceled, and the soul will dissipate immediately.”
So that’s why a Seed of Nature is needed.
Alice nodded her head in realization. She now understood why Kristine stated that a Seed of Nature was essential for reconstructing her body.