Chapter 9: Do Not Use Mass Destruction Magic Indoors

After Ion regained consciousness and the doctor confirmed she was okay to be discharged, we immediately headed to the Korean Elf Association.

Packed together in Park Chunshik’s SUV, I unconsciously called Park Chunshik ‘Grandpa Chunshik’.

“Grandpa Chunshik, how many elves are there anyway, enough to establish an association?”

“Grandpa…?”

Rorsan speaks, suppressing her laughter.

“If Grandpa Chunshik is ‘Grandpa’, then Ms. Fride is…”

Kim Chunshik laughs and says.

“Grandma, she’s Grandma, uhaha!”

“What!?”

“Pfft.”

Rorsan finally bursts out laughing, unable to hold it in, and Grandpa Chunshik is already choking from laughing too hard.

Even Jeonghun is biting his lip hard, trying not to laugh!

Flustered, I could only stammer nonsense.

“No! It’s, well, his appearance! His appearance!”

Ion chimes in.

“That’s right! General Fride isn’t even elderly by pure-blood elf standards yet!”

“Then what is she?”

“Um… middle-aged?”

“Hey!!”

I finally ended up shouting.

‘Grandma, middle-aged… I’m still far from that age group…’

“I’m kidding, General. You know I like you, right?”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

‘Well, surely she doesn’t mean like like.’

‘It probably means respect.’

‘Ion is still young, so she must have expressed herself incorrectly.’

‘Right, 70 is the prime age for a fresh start in society.’

More importantly, while we share the name ‘elf’ and the characteristic of long ears, we definitely have different traits, having come from different worlds.

Isn’t Kim Chunshik proof enough?

He looks like an old man despite being younger than me.

And Rorsan too. She’s about my height… but her chest is quite, no, incredibly large.

‘Not that mine is small…’

The Korean Elf Association was located in Pyongyang, where the World Tree stood.

And the place was, surprisingly…

Nothing special.

Well, it’s essentially a social club, so what could be outstanding about it?

Still, to maintain the organization, they were engaged in commercial activities.

Namely, selling merchandise.

The existence of elves, frequently appearing in fiction, made them quite familiar to the general public.

And they were beings confined to fiction. Until the Gates opened, that is.

What followed was predictable. Elves began selling photos of themselves, and even images of the World Tree, keychains, and the like.

At first, everyone apparently thought, ‘Will this actually work?’

They sold like hotcakes.

Why am I suddenly talking about this?

“You want me to shoot what…?”

“A photoshoot! Photoshoot!”

I feel dizzy.

Aren’t they asking me to wear revealing clothes, take pictures, and sell them nationwide?

“No. I’ve never taken pictures like that, nor do I particularly want to.”

“Wait a moment. Let me show you the ones I took.”

No way, Ion took them too?

She rummaged through a bookshelf and brought out a booklet.

[Albheim Korea]

The photo book with the strange name contained pictures of various elves.

Ion flipped through a few pages and showed me a picture, saying it was her.

Her in uniform, her dressed cutely.

Fortunately, there were no revealing clothes or underwear shots.

“Cute, especially this picture.”

I said, pointing to the photo of her in cute clothes.

“Cute!… Eek…”

I looked at Ion’s reddened face. It looked like a high-explosive shell about to burst. Her ears turned red too.

She seems very embarrassed, but she just looks cute.

“So, what do you think?”

“Still, I’m not really interested.”

“Hing…”

Ion, crestfallen, drooped her ears, looking just like a puppy.

Tsk, maybe I should just do it once.

“Alright, fine. I’ll take them just once.”

“Really? Then let’s go right now!!”

Ion jumped up and down, her smile reaching her ears. Is she really that happy?

This is a photo studio, a place the association often rents, apparently.

Taking photos was more tiring than I thought. It felt like I took several hundred shots, but only a few dozen well-taken ones would make it into the photobook. If that’s the case, they should have just taken fewer from the start.

Most of the outfits were uniforms similar to what I used to wear. Although I wasn’t keen on it, I also took a few shots in casual clothes.

And…

“You’re Ms. Fride, right? You’re so pretty~”

“Your proportions are amazing, and your skin is so good too?”

The studio staff member showered me with compliments. I should have realized then. This was all groundwork.

“How about clothes like these?”

The clothes the staff brought were…

Barely clothes, more like rags or underwear.

“I think it would suit you so well,”

<Brēnnáupp>

-Fwoosh

“No.”

“Eh, Ahh…”

“Such clothes are not to my taste.”

Jeonghun unconsciously lets out an ‘Oh…’ sound.

Ion glares at Jeonghun.

Heh heh.

Ion decided to handle everything related to the photoshoot. Since I don’t know much about such things.

She shows me the photos taken, and thankfully, they all seem to have turned out well.

I especially like this picture. It’s the same uniform, but the atmosphere varies greatly depending on the direction.

It was worth taking the shot with my hair flying in the wind from a strong fan.

It felt strange thinking that pictures like this would be published and sold in a photobook. What’s so good about them that people buy them?

Contrary to Fride’s thoughts, elf photobooks are always among the bestsellers.

Their stunning beauty, incomparable to ordinary people, and their unrealistically long ears were enough to open the wallets of those with specific tastes.

Kyaa!! I’m so excited!

The General is doing a photoshoot! I absolutely must own it.

Honestly, I thought she would refuse vehemently, but thankfully, she agreed quite readily.

Of course, the shooting process wasn’t smooth.

As soon as the staff suggested wearing skimpy clothes, the General burned the clothes, and my life was almost in danger too.

Why am I talking about life being in danger during a photoshoot?

“Ms. Fride, would it be possible to pose as if you’re using magic?”

“Magic? Well, it’s not difficult.”

“Is that so?”

The staff member positions the General and asks her to pose as if casting magic with her hand.

The General strikes a pose and begins an incantation.,Maybe there’s magic that just creates effects?

<Vilji Heimstrésins er miðlað í gegnum tungumálið…>

Huh.

That’s.

The General’s specialty, explosion magic. Specifically, large-scale magic that creates massive explosions to blow away castle walls or towns.

It’s also the magic that those detestable Allied forces gave the derogatory name ‘Mass Destruction Magic’.

If that goes off here…

We’ll all die!

Stop!!

“General!!! No!!!”

<Vilji Heimstrésins mun hverfa aftur til einskis>

“What’s wrong? I haven’t taken the picture yet.”

The flow of mana and the shimmering blue effect vanished in an instant.

That… could be canceled?

“Um… could that magic be canceled…?”

“Of course. What magic can’t be canceled?”

Is that so? I’m ignorant about magic, so I wouldn’t know.

If the General says so, then it must be true.

“More importantly, why interrupt during an incantation! It could be dangerous, you know.”

I even got scolded for making a fuss over nothing.

Only the staff member, unaware that we had just escaped mortal danger, stared blankly at us.

Only a few of the photos the General took will be included in the photobook.

And.

“Could we possibly make a separate photobook just with the pictures taken this time?”

“Of course. However, since it’s custom-made and the print run is small, the cost will be higher~”

“I don’t mind.”

A photobook filled only with the General… Just imagining it makes me so happy.

I must treasure it at home.

Heehee.

“To El Fride’s return, cheers!”

“”Cheers!””

A restaurant in Pyongyang.

A celebration was held for Fride’s return.

Kim Chunshik decided to pay. Of course, he said he’d use the association card.

Isn’t this embezzlement?

Well, maybe it doesn’t matter if everyone eating is an elf?

Where did Jeonghun go?

He went home.

He bolted, saying drinking here would cause problems for his commute tomorrow.

As the alcohol flowed and the initially heated atmosphere gradually calmed down.

Everyone starts sharing their stories.

The first to speak was Kim Chunshik, the Korean elf.

But honestly, it was boring.

A very ordinary story.

He lived in a straw-thatched house, farmed, and occasionally caught tigers coming down from the mountains.

Of course, catching tigers might be far from ordinary, but he was still an elf and could use magic.

Though it’s ambiguous to call it magic. Kim Chunshik’s specialty is imbuing arrows with mana to make them stronger. You could call it mana-enhanced arrows.

And while he can’t handle spirits well, he can communicate with them to some extent. Unfortunately, he said there are no spirits here.

“Well, the environmental pollution is too severe. If there were spirits here, they’d probably be spirits of fine dust or chemical substances. Hoho!”

The day he transitioned here, he was catching a tiger in the mountains and fell into a dimensional rift.

Rorsan was the stereotype of a fantasy elf we typically think of.

She primarily lived in forests, in dwellings made with minimal tree cutting, ate vegetarian, abstaining from meat, and lived wearing clothes typical of fantasy elves.

“Do you still not eat meat?”

“Yes, it’s a lifelong dietary habit. I just can’t bring myself to eat it.”

“Nom, this delicious thing…”

I said, eating a piece of samgyeopsal (pork belly).

As for Ion, well, I roughly know her story.

Besides them, I chatted with a few other elves Kim Chunshik had invited.

And now, it seems it’s my turn to talk.

I’ve shared my story a few times since coming here, but I’m still reluctant to bring it up in front of others.

Because it’s not exactly a pleasant story.

Leaning on the slight buzz from the alcohol, I begin to speak.

“Right… where should I start?”

I cautiously bring up the story of my past life.

Before becoming an elf, when I was still an ordinary human.