Chapter 169: Ah, You're Saying You Couldn't Eat It Because It Wasn't There (5) "Th-this, what kind of magic is this?"
"To be able to put humans into such a small panel… No, it isn't just humans—there are all sorts of devices in there too?"
The elves were shocked by the smartphone that had appeared out of nowhere, and just as he had done many times before, Jinseo brushed it off by saying it wasn't real humans or objects inside—magic was simply making it look that way.
"Petra, move a bit. I can't see!"
"Alensia! Serika! Are you two going to be the only ones watching? Let me see too!"
Jinseo's surroundings became crowded with elves pushing their faces in to watch the video on the smartphone.
"Ah, the screen is too small to show you properly like this. Just a moment."
The instant Jinseo turned on the large TV, intense dance music poured out through the speakers attached to the Mobile Cooking Facility.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
"It's a gym. A place where people use various equipment to exercise and build muscle."
When the face of a man sweating buckets as he bench-pressed filled the screen, the elves forgot to speak for a while and only stared blankly at the large TV screen, much bigger than the smartphone.
"Huh… To think other races' magic could be this fascinating…"
"Are all the people training their bodies in that gym warriors of Korea?"
"Huh?"
Jinseo's mouth went dry at the completely unexpected question.
"To build a body like that, they must have trained diligently for at least fifty to sixty years. I heard humans can hardly live past one hundred at most, and yet they poured nearly half their lives into training the body alone. Remarkable."
"N-no, that's not it. They're ordinary people with normal jobs—people who have no need to use weapons like you do. And most of the people in that video are in their twenties and thirties. Compared to elves, humans age quickly."
Jinseo hurriedly clarified before misunderstandings about humans deepened further.
Even so, the elves did not stop questioning him.
"Is that so? But if they aren't warriors, then why do they build muscle to that extent? I truly can't understand."
"We're still young, and we're scouts, so we have no choice but to build our bodies, but… as expected, the culture of other races is very different from ours."
Even on the Keinua Continent, which looked peaceful on the surface, there were monsters that were undeniably a threat.
To protect their tribe and the World Tree from those monsters, young elves trained their bodies, and when they grew older, they learned magic.
Even though they were a race that was constitutionally unsuited to building muscle.
That was why it was hard for the elves to understand training the body even when there was no need to step forward and fight.
Of course, that was simply how it looked from the elves' perspective—it did not apply to other races.
"Hm… quite interesting."
Creid, who had been sitting on a stump in silence, stood up and walked over to Jinseo.
"Jinseo, can you procure those machines in the gym?"
"The machines in Korea that move with 'magic' would be difficult, but barbells and dumbbells should be easy. Since it's you, Sir Creid, I'll need to buy them by the ton."
"My food intake has been decreasing lately, which worried me. I plan to recover my food intake by exercising with the equipment I saw in that video."
Creid bent over and pulled a rock that had been stuck in the ground straight out.
"Hey, Creid. What are you going to do with that?"
"Exercise."
Creid gripped one rock in each hand—each about the size of Geshtain beside him—and repeatedly lifted them overhead and lowered them.
Seeing his sturdy arm muscles and bulging veins, the elf scouts swallowed hard.
"The person beside Mr. Jinseo also trained like that at a gym? His age is… Huh? He isn't even forty yet?"
"And yet he has muscles like that… We have an older brother who's been unable to learn magic for nearly two hundred years and has done nothing but physical training, but even his muscles are shabby compared to that young human's. Truly incredible."
Awe poured toward Creid, the owner of muscles that surpassed even young elves who had trained their bodies for as long as a hundred years.
In elf society, muscles were evaluated as a means that immature individuals had to choose, but that was only the perspective of elves who had properly mastered magic.
To the young elves, who still had to solve everything with physical strength alone, Creid's body looked like a physique beyond anything they could ever reach.
"You said Creid, right? Do you have some secret method for gaining such a strong body?"
"Eat a lot, move a lot."
At Creid's simple, clear answer, the elves all nodded, but then realized something and shook their heads.
"But no matter how much we eat, it's impossible for us to build muscles like yours."
"I heard you only eat vegetables. Without the help of meat, it'll be hard."
Ah, right. They said elves only eat vegetables. And they still spent over a hundred years living a life where they had to painfully build muscle. Thinking about it, that really is the path of hardship itself.
Hearing the conversation between the young elf and Creid beside him, Jinseo marveled inwardly. Without diet support, building a body like that would have been impossible with ordinary effort.
Unlike Jinseo, who now looked at the elves anew, Geshtain spat out words curtly as if something bothered him.
"Elves, you know… you're definitely tall. But you're tall and skinny, so you look pathetic. You youngsters have fairly decent bodies, but the older elves were really something else."
Geshtain envied humans and elves for being taller than him, a dwarf.
At the same time, he scorned the elf culture that looked down on actions taken to build a body matching that height.
"If I were your height, I'd sweat blood to build a body worthy of it. But muscles are something only immature elves build? I really can't understand it. Anyway, if you want to refine your bodies more than you do now, it'll be hard if you only eat grass. Jinseo, I'm right, aren't I?"
"Yes. It would be easier if you eat meat. And among meats, there are some that are efficient, but wait a moment."
Going into the additional trailer, Jinseo pulled out vacuum-packed chicken breast and a tub of protein supplement powder to mix with water from Interspatial Storage.
They were gym foods he had bought long ago, planning to eat them while exercising once he had more leeway, but he had never had the chance, so they had been unused for a long time.
"What? You're saying you can build muscle just by mixing this white powder with water, drinking it, and exercising?"
Seeing the protein supplement in the small plastic tub, the elves reacted like it was impossible.
"Please believe it once. Many people in Korea consume it and see results. It's even on the screen right now. See those people drinking something from long bottles? That's this."
Jinseo handed a tub of protein supplement to each of the young elves who were doubtful.
"Jinseo, could you also give me some of that protein supplement you just handed out?"
"Could I ask for some too? My height won't grow anyway, so I should build more muscle instead."
"Yes. I have plenty left, so I'll give it to you later."
"If I drink that and run, will my thighs get thicker too? For us centaurs, sturdy thighs are practically life itself!"
The young elves surrounding Creid and Jinseo talked passionately about muscles together with the dwarves.
Even the centaurs joined in, heating the atmosphere up further, but those with no interest in muscles spent time watching the spirits and eating the snacks Jinseo handed out.
While everyone spent time in their own way, more elves sent out by the tribe came to greet them.
"What are you all talking about so intensely?"
The allied delegation's eyes gathered on an elf dressed in a distinctive outfit that clearly set him apart from the others.
"Huh… Sir Beryllus came in person? As for the Elder…"
"Keras isn't feeling very well. So I came instead. I also wanted to see with my own eyes what that Mobile Cooking Facility everyone's talking about looks like. Let's see—humans and dwarves are here… even centaurs came? You really brought a variety of races together. And… yes, this is it!"
After carefully looking over the members of the allied delegation one by one, Beryllus spotted the Mobile Cooking Facility still showing the gym video and smiled brightly.
"So this is the Mobile Cooking Facility that will grant the gift of meat-eating to us elves, who had to live on vegetarian food? It looks truly strange. I've lived over a thousand years, but I've never seen anything like it. But what in the world are those humans inside that wide iron plate?"
Huh? That elf… could it be…
The young elf wearing a classical-looking black suit and cloak did not feel unfamiliar to Jinseo at all.
Pale skin, crimson eyes, and long fangs matched the image Jinseo had of a certain race.
"Isn't that person over there a vampire?"
"Huh? A human who recognizes me. I'm an elf, but I'm also a vampire."
Beryllus, the elven vampire, lightly flicked the fang jutting out below his lip with his right index finger.
"You're Lee Jinseo, right? Do you know about our bloodline?"
"No. I've just seen and heard things about vampires. But…"
Jinseo turned his head toward Fedora beside him.
"Your Eminence, are you alright?"
"Hm?"
"No, it's just… Doesn't the Heyrem Order view vampires as enemies?"
"Huh? Should it?"
"Ah… I see it doesn't."
When Fedora did not answer and instead asked back, Jinseo scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Why would the Heyrem Order and I fight? Did the Order's policy change while I was on the Keinua Continent?"
"That's not it. On the continent where I live, vampires and orders often end up being natural opposites, so I assumed it would be the same here and misunderstood."
"Good grief. I've never been to that continent, but why is it so rough? If you want to live long, you have to get along with everyone. Peace is what's good."
As Beryllus waved his hands at the word "opposites," Jinseo grew even more awkward about having brought it up.
So this is a world where the Order and vampires don't oppose each other. That's a relief, but… it also feels a bit anticlimactic.
Jinseo had tensed, expecting scenes he'd seen in novels, comics, games, and movies to play out.
But the vampire he met preached peace, and there were no vampire hunters in the Heyrem Order wielding guns loaded with holy silver bullets or sharp whips to oppose vampires.
Then again, starting with elves who crave meat, these elves are already far from the elves I know. And if I'm being cold about it, the "elves hate meat" setting isn't even the most standard setting to begin with.
Jinseo felt he needed to erase his preconceptions about other races from his mind.
"Come to think of it… You really do look alike. It's you, huh? The one they said was Rainfolt's twin older brother."
Beryllus recognized Painfolt Artran standing to Jinseo's right and placed his hands on Painfolt Artran's shoulders.
"So you're the elf who was close to my younger sibling?"
"While that brat stayed here, he practically stuck to me. He was quite knowledgeable about magic, so we got along well. And unlike the folks here, I liked that he had innovative ideas."
Unlike the elves he had seen earlier, who treated other races by considering what age they would be by elf standards, Beryllus treated them by their actual, real age.
Just like Charlotte treated other living beings.
"Now that I think about it, it's about time Charlotte noona should be waking up and becoming active again. Any news about her?"
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