Earth Essence

"Why wage war just for plants?" Luis scoffed. If it was indeed for the plants, that would be the dumbest reason for war.

However, Lilinette raised her head from the plate. She stared at Innis.

"How fertile?"

"Hm? Hmm, you mean our land. I think it's very fertile, our land can speed up the growth of plants."

"Failed?"

"I've never seen plants fail to grow. Maybe farmers or gardeners would know better. I'm not sure."

"Dead?"

"Dead, huh... Hey, bro. She's asking if there are plants that die in Edenia."

"After growing or before. Intentional or not?"

"Ah, after growing and then dying naturally."

Loudi frowned, recalling. Then he realized that since childhood, he had never seen plants and vegetation die naturally. If pulled or cut directly by humans, there might be many.

Listening to this, Lilinette nodded.

"Hm. Earth Essence."

"Earth Essence?" 

Kirana didn't know what Lilinette was talking about. Innis, too, didn't have to explain this time because he himself didn't know what this Earth Essence was.

As the atmosphere was about to become silent due to confusion, Loudi, as a botanist, made a sound. 

He knew the material called Earth Essence. However, as far as he knew, this material only existed in a fairy tale, making it seem like a fictional material.

Only those who study nature, and perhaps some Earth Magic Masters, are aware of the material called Earth Essence. 

However, for most, it remains a mere mythical substance. When compared, the rarity of Earth Essence is almost similar to the Heart of Ice from Huntara. 

Both have been considered myths. In Huntara, only the royal family and researchers know about the Heart of Ice. 

Fortunately, despite being considered a myth, the royal family knows that it is real because the king's crown is made from that fairy tale material.

As for Earth Essence, this material exists only in two book records. 

One is a book recounting the Fairyland, and the other is an old journal from a researcher hundreds of years ago. 

The latter only mentions its name, referring to the fairyland book. Apart from that, there is nothing else.

Honestly, Loudi was quite surprised to hear the name Earth Essence from Lilinette. Usually, only those who delve into botanical studies know about this. 

When Loudi asked how Lilinette knew, the girl simply replied, "I like reading. The Fairyland. Good book."

"Hahaha, is that so?" Loudi laughed dryly, feeling increasingly that the girl named Lilinette might be more eccentric than he thought.

"So, do you know what Miss Lilinette is talking about, Loudi?" Rene asked.

Loudi nodded. He then explained that Earth Essence is a mythical material that benefits the fertility of the area where it is planted. 

So fertile that even dry or sandy soil without water can become an oasis. 

A place where various trees can grow just by sticking a branch into the soil influenced by Earth Essence.

Earth Essence is mentioned as the origin of the Fairyland in the fairy tale. A land that was initially barren became a paradise for fairies because of a material given by the God of Earth, Earth Essence.

Loudi could also explain why Lilinette thought there might be Earth Essence in Edenia. It was because the characteristics of the soil influenced by Earth Essence in the fairy tale book were similar to what was happening in Edenia right now.

So fertile that a single tree branch could become a big tree in a few years. 

The growth rate of each plant became rapid. Never was a tree found dead. No plant failed to grow. Every plant in the field always succeeded with high quality.

Yeah, if Loudi thought about it again, all those characteristics matched. Loudi wondered why he had never noticed it before. Perhaps because he had felt all of this was ordinary?

"But if that's true, shouldn't there have been people who knew about it since long ago?" Innis asked, surprised why someone was only now targeting such a mythical material.

Lilinette shook her head, "New. Not long ago."

The girl then turned to Rene, asking if there were any dead plants when he was a child. 

This time, Rene answered yes. Rene even said that when he was a teenager, before marrying his wife, there was once a harvest failure in Edenia.

Fortunately, because they had saved a lot from the previous harvests, Edenia survived the famine. 

In fact, after that failure, Rene remembered that there were no more problems in the field of agriculture in Edenia.

"It's very likely that Earth Essence was present in Edenia at that time," said Loudi, who was now following Lilinette's train of thought. 

Looking at the current condition of Edenia, he couldn't deny that the possibility of the existence of Earth Essence was quite high.

Loudi had to admit that he was annoyed. Because the enemy knew more about Edenia than he did.

If they were targeting Earth Essence, even if he didn't know what the material was used for, Loudi was sure that the value of Earth Essence for the enemy was immense.

"If it's really because of this material, then what should we do? Knowing the existence of Earth Essence won't stop the war. Our problem in facing the enemy remains the same," said Innis.

If the material being sought was indeed Earth Essence, it meant that even if Prince Langris woke up and stopped the war, sooner or later, they would come back with a different excuse.

Finding Earth Essence and giving it to the enemy with the condition to leave Edenia might be possible. 

The problem was, what would they do with that mystical material? If the material was used to cause a major disaster, Edenia could suffer the consequences.

Responding to Innis' statement, Lilinette spoke up again. She neatly arranged her eating utensils on the now-empty plate, took a sip of water, and before revealing her plan, she asked Rene Turelina a crucial question.

"Choose. Edenia. Or. Earth Essence?"

"Do you want to hand over Earth Essence to the enemy? As Innis just mentioned, isn't that dangerous?" Rene questioned.

Lilinette shook her head, "Not them. the Nature Fairy."

"!"

Hearing that nickname, even without Innis interpreting, they understood what Lilinette meant. 

The parties interested in Earth Essence must be numerous. One who, according to Lilinette, surely had a significant interest was Lindell Zephiras, the Nature Fairy, Champion of Westya.

Lilinette suggested to Rene Turelina to use Earth Essence as a negotiation tool to seek assistance from Lindell Zephiras.

With Lindell on their side, the enemies would hesitate to launch attacks. 

And if they still insisted on attacking, with Lindell's power, Edenia would have a chance to win.

"But how do we contact Lindell? Her whereabouts are not even known by the kingdom's officials. Searching for her within three days seems like a waste of time," Rene expressed doubt about Lilinette's plan.

However, Lilinette smiled confidently, "Don't worry. I have a way."

She spoke with assurance. What made her so confident? It was because Lilinette had met Lindell once in her childhood.

At a time when her Mana Nucleus had just been destroyed, plunging her into despair. Back then, Lilinette, bullied by her former friend, cried in the forest not far from Baron Millard's territory.

That's where she encountered a beautiful and elegant woman with long, shimmering green hair and golden eyes.

When Lilinette first saw her, she thought the woman was a fairy from a Fairyland. It wasn't until about a year later that she realized the woman was Lindell Zephiras.

Honestly, Lindell's arrival at that time wasn't to comfort Lilinette, who was crying. 

On the contrary, she mocked Lilinette, saying that she had been eagerly anticipating the talent from the Millard Family. However, the family's foolishness had destroyed that talent.

"Tsk, tsk, it's really sad. Raphael's greed for power has only destroyed his puppet. One is too cold, and the other is too lazy. Sigh... is there no future for Westya? Hey, Millard puppet. Now that your fate has changed, what do you desire?"

At that time, Lilinette didn't understand what the mysterious woman was asking. But she answered the question without much thought.

"Death."

"Ahh~ you really are a puppet. Don't you have any desire to escape? This is foolish. Coming here is just a waste of time. Bye, beautiful puppet."

After that, Lindell left by entering a tree trunk. Rather than entering, it's more accurate to say she merged. Then she disappeared from Lilinette's stunned gaze.

That was just a small part of Lilinette's memories. But after watching Prince Hanibal of Mandora first hand, Lilinette now realized that contacting Lindell might not be difficult.

If Hanibal was the Ruler of Sand, Lindell earned the title of Nature Fairy because she could easily create forests.

Considering Lindell's ability to merge with trees like Hanibal with his sand. Maybe, the fairy could travel throughout the Kastia region by using the trees in those plains, allowing Lindell to quickly reach Edenia from wherever she was.

Now the problem was how to find Lindell.

Lilinette had only one plan – using C-Owl. She would instruct C-Owl agents to go to the forests in the Westya region, calling Lindell's name directly while using the name Earth Essence as bait.

If this plan succeeded, Lilinette was confident that making Lindell come to Edenia within three days was not an impossible task!