Luna eventually realized that punching Luca wasn't working.

No matter how many playful smacks she threw, it was like hitting a tree trunk and she was the one getting injured instead.

So, instead she started pulling his cheeks instead.

"This what you get for saying slime girls are better then elves, you big idiot!"

"Alright, alright, I surrender! Elves are better!"

He laughed, swatting at her hand until she finally let go with a huff.

"You two are like children." Nyx just snorted. "Now can we start cooking before these chickens get bored and fly away?"

And with that, all three of them returned to the fryers, which now brimmed with golden oil.

The heat shimmered in the air and Nyx's eyes gleamed unnervingly bright as she stood beside them, grinning like she'd just been handed a new murder toy.

Luca noticed immediately and sighed.

"Nyx." He said flatly. "Please tell me you're not planning to throw another one of your chickens into that fryer while it's still alive. I don't want to be an accomplice to animal cruelty."

Nyx blinked at him, genuinely surprised.

"What are you talking about, Hero?" She asked, sounding almost offended. "Even I have my limits."

She placed a dramatic hand over her heart.

"Chickens don't really have much in the way of brains. They don't even know what they're doing most of the time. So if they're going to die anyway, I'll give them a quick, clean death...and then mock them afterward for being so stupid."

"Okay. Good." Luca exhaled in visible relief. "That's...reassuring, actually."

But then, Nyx's smile turned dangerous.

"But of course..." She continued sweetly. "...there are people out there who know exactly what they're doing. Who know the sins they commit. Who understand the harm they bring to others."

Her voice dropped to something almost dreamy.

"Those people?" She purred. "They definitely deserve to be thrown in alive. Or better yet, I think I should put them in first, then slowly start heating the oil."

"So I can watch their face twist and morph and scream and—"

"Okay, nope!" Luca cut her off loudly. "We're not making fried humans, thank you very much!"

Meanwhile, Luna stood nearby, clutching the metal basket full of raw, battered chicken. Her hands trembled slightly as she held it above the hot oil.

"Alright, Luna." He said gently. "Just lower the basket in slowly. The oil's really hot, so go easy. If you drop it too fast, the whole thing could explode."

Luna froze. "E-Explode?!"

Luca bit his lip to stop from laughing. "Yup. Big fireball. Kaboom."

Her eyes went wide as saucers.

"Luca! I-I can't do it! Please take it from me! I'm only in my forties! I'm too young to die!"

Luca immediately started laughing.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" He said quickly, holding up both hands. "Nothing's going to explode. Promise."

Luna's shoulders sagged in relief before she glared at him.

"But seriously." Luca continued, still smiling. "Do it carefully. The oil will splatter if you're too rough. Just ease it in. Nice and slow."

Luna nodded before she took a deep breath.

Then, very slowly, very carefully, she lowered the basket into the fryer.

Pssst!

The moment the first pieces touched the oil, they erupted into a furious, happy sizzle.

Bubbles exploded upward.

Steam hissed.

Luna squeaked and jumped back half a step.

But she didn't drop it.

She pushed the basket all the way down until it settled properly on the hook.

Once the basket was submerged, he smiled.

"Perfect. Now just let it cook."

He then turned to the other fryers.

"Now we've got the rest of these going too. Nyx—fill the baskets. Luna—lower them in like you just did. I'll keep an eye on the temperature."

Nyx and Luna moved instantly.

Nyx filled basket after basket with speed, still humming happily, while Luna carefully lowered each one into the oil, wincing at every fresh hiss and bubble but growing more confident with each successful dunk.

It didn't take long.

Soon every fryer was full—bubbling, sizzling, filling the clearing with the most heavenly aroma the forest had ever known: hot oil, golden breading, garlic, paprika, cayenne, the deep savory richness of frying chicken.

"That's it for us right now."

Luca stepped back, arms crossed, looking immensely satisfied

"In a little bit, the baskets will lift themselves out automatically. We don't have to do anything else. All we have to do is wait for the final product."

Luna bounced on her toes, eyes shining.

"I did it!" She whispered excitedly. "My first time cooking anything like this—and it actually worked!"

Luca ruffled her hair again.

"You were amazing."

But then Luna's excitement dimmed slightly.

She looked around at the bubbling fryers, then back at Luca with a nervous gaze.

"But...Luca." She said hesitantly. "Even if this dish really is as amazing as you say, how are the villagers going to try it?"

"I mean...it's still chicken at the end of the day. And they won't just give in and eat it just because it smells good."

"They're scared of it. They think it's disgusting. So maybe we should do some kind of marketing thing?

She gestured around at the empty clearing.

"Like go around and talk to people? Tell them how good it is? You could say the same thing you told me earlier. How amazing it tastes, how it changed everything."

"...Maybe that would convince some of them."

Nyx, who had been licking seasoning off her fingers, suddenly perked up.

"Or." She said brightly. "We could just force-feed them."

Luca and Luna both turned to stare at her.

"Luna, you hold their mouths open." She explained cheerfully. "I pin their arms behind their backs, and then the Hero will shove it deep into their throats until they swallow."

"It might be brutal at first, but once they taste it? They'll give in. They'll even beg for more."

She smiled sweetly.

"It's a good idea, right?"

Luca stared at her for a long second.

Then he slowly turned back to the fryers.

"There's no need for any of that." He said calmly.

Nyx pouted, while Luca had a rather confident look on his face.

"In fact, there's no need for us to do any extra work at all." He continued.

"The chicken itself will do it. It'll attract them like moths to a flame. They themselves will come to us."

Both Nyx and Luna looked confused.

"How is that possible?" Luna asked. "Is there some kind of spell on the chicken? Does it control minds or something?"

"Not at all." Luca shook his head.

He then looked toward the edges of the clearing, where the trees thickened and the village paths began.

"You'll see in just a moment." He murmured. "Very soon...this entire area will be flooded with elves."

Nyx tilted her head, considering.

Luna bit her lip.

And even though they didn't understand how those hardcore vegetarians were going to come over on their own, instead of running away, they didn't argue with Luca.

They trusted him.

They had to.

Because everything, the future of their people, depended on this one impossible, terrifying, delicious dish.

—

Meanwhile, deep within the forest, on a high wooden platform nestled between two colossal trees, three young elves leaned lazily against a vine-wrapped railing.

The sun's golden light filtered through the canopy, dappling their faces as they sighed in unison.

Their moods were unmistakably sour.

Two of them were familiar—Selma and Alia, the same girls who had prepared Luca's house before his arrival.

With them sat their friend, Ivy, a petite elf with long dark green hair and a perpetually curious gaze.

Yet even she looked glum now, resting her chin on her knees.

Finally, Selma let out a dramatic groan, throwing her arms into the air.

"Ugh, this has to be the worst situation ever! I mean, seriously, could it get any worse?"

She cried, pressing a hand to her forehead as though the weight of the world rested there.

"We know the solution to help everyone, to stop this whole disease from spreading through the village—but we can't even do it! It's not fair! It's just not fair at all!"

Alia sighed softly, flicking a leaf off the railing.

"You're right. It truly isn't." She said, her voice calm but weary. "If it were anything else, even something painful, or humiliating—I'd accept it. If I had to walk on thorns barefoot or shave off all my hair…"

She paused to stroke her long strands.

"I'd still do it. But eating flesh? That's...that's too much."

She shivered at the thought, nose wrinkling.

"It's the worst thing anyone could tell an elf to do. Absolutely revolting."

Ivy let out a reluctant chuckle, though her smile was faint.

"It really is a pity." She said softly. "But I don't think we can blame the Hero. He's just trying to help, and he gave us the only solution he knows."

"The problem isn't him, it's our culture. We've been this way for so long that something so simple for others has become impossible for us."

Alia nodded in agreement. "True...if we were any other race, it wouldn't even be an issue."

"Exactly." Ivy said with a small shrug.

But then Alia's expression brightened slightly with irony.

"Though, if we already ate meat like other races, then we wouldn't be facing this disease in the first place, would we?"

Ivy blinked, her mouth forming an "O."

"Oh! That's right—I didn't even think of that!"

Then her expression grew worried.

"But wait, does that mean if we don't eat meat, we'll end up just like those sick elves? You know...all weak and bony?"

At that, Selma's face turned horrified.

"No, no, no! Absolutely not!"

She cried, grabbing her own arms dramatically.

"I look perfect right now—slim, curvy, glowing! If I become bony and shriveled, the Hero will never look at me again!"

She puffed out her chest with determination.

"I've worked too hard for this body, and I won't lose it now!"

Alia giggled behind her hand.

"Then what are you going to do, Selma?"

Selma froze, looking lost.

"I...I don't know!" She groaned, slumping onto the railing. "Don't ask me right now, my brain's a mess! The whole village is probably thinking the same thing, anyway—confused and miserable."

There was a moment of silence before Selma suddenly perked up, clapping her hands together.

"Anyway! Enough of that depressing talk. I'm starving. What's for lunch?"

Alia blinked.

"Lunch? What else but the usual?"

She began listing them off on her fingers.

"Nectarines, parfis, honeydew, tibet berries, citrus doves, moon peaches—"

"Ugh, no! No! No! No!"

Selma groaned so loudly it startled a passing bird.

"No more fruits! No more veggies either! I'm sick of them! I can't keep eating sweet things every single day!"

She leaned back dramatically, clutching her stomach.

"If I see one more peach, I'll scream!"

"Then what else do we have?" Ivy chuckled. "It's not like we can eat anything else."

"That's the problem!" Selma exclaimed, standing up suddenly. "What the Hero said actually makes sense. We need something else in our diet."

"I can't keep eating fruits forever—I want something new! Something that makes my mouth water!"

Alia raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly would that be?"

"I don't know!" Selma said, flailing her arms. "But I want it!"

Then she clasped her hands together dramatically, closed her eyes, and faced the forest.

"Oh, great Spirit of the Forest, please help me! Please give me something delicious, something that will make my mouth water and make me crave it so much that I can't stop thinking about it!"

"Something different, something amazing! Grant me this was and my life is yours!"

Alia couldn't help but laugh softly.

"Oh, come on, Selma. The Spirit isn't a genie. She won't just drop food from the sky because you—"

But before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly froze.

Her nose twitched.

"Wait...do you...smell that?"

Selma blinked and sniffed the air curiously.

"Smell? What smell—"

Then it hit her.

A rich, warm, intoxicating aroma drifted through the air.

Something savory, deep, and unlike anything they had ever smelled before.

It wasn't sweet like fruit, nor earthy like roasted vegetables.

But it was...mouthwatering.

Selma's eyes widened. "Oh my gods—what is that smell?!"

Alia stood up quickly, sniffing the breeze. "I—I don't know! But it smells...incredible! I didn't even know a smell like this could exist!"

Ivy leaned over the railing, her nose twitching like a small animal's.

"It's not sweet—it's not fruit. It's...It's something else. It smells good, though. Really, really good."

She pressed a hand to her stomach.

"Oh wow...even my stomach's growling."

"Mine too!" Selma nodded frantically. "It's like my body's begging me to eat whatever that smell belongs to!"

"What could it be?" Alia asked, her face full of wonder. "Some new kind of fruit, maybe?"

Ivy tilted her head. "No way, it doesn't smell like fruit at all. It smells...thicker. Heartier."

Then, jokingly, Alia said, "Maybe it's animal poop."

Selma and Ivy both froze, turning slowly to glare at her.

"Really, Alia?" Selma said flatly. "We're standing here being blessed by the gods' most divine smell and that's your theory?"

Alia chuckled nervously. "I was just kidding…"

Selma turned back to the forest, her eyes blazing with determination.

"No. I need to know what that smell is. I have to!"

She then leapt onto the wooden steps leading down from the platform.

"Come on! If it's coming from someone's kitchen, I'm going to find it—and if it's as good as it smells, I'm stealing it!"

"Wait—Selma!" Alia called, but she was already halfway down.

Ivy and Alia exchanged glances before quickly following her, their curiosity outweighing their doubts.

As they moved through the forest, the smell only grew stronger—thicker, richer, almost magnetic.

Their pace quickened instinctively, their steps guided by scent alone.

And they weren't the only ones.

As they descended toward the lower walkways, they noticed more and more elves—some on tree branches, some gliding along the ground—all sniffing the air curiously, their ears perked up like animals on the hunt.

Ivy blinked, looking around in amazement.

"You guys smell it too?" She asked a passing group of three elves.

"Yes!" One of them said eagerly. "We've been following it! It's incredible—what is it?"

"We have no idea." Ivy replied. "But we're finding out!"

More and more voices joined in around them, the crowd swelling as the mysterious aroma guided every elf like an invisible thread.

"I can taste it in the air!"

One elf shouted, dramatically sniffing with her eyes half-closed.

"If I die right now, bury me where this smell came from!"

"It's so unfair!" Another one, clutching her stomach, groaned. "Why does it smell like roasted heaven dipped in sin?!"

A younger elf ran past yelling,

"I don't care what it is—I'm eating it, even if it's poison!"

The entire village was awakening, drawn together by a single, intoxicating scent that grew stronger with every breath—

—and all trails were leading straight toward the place Luca, Luna, and Nyx were standing.

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