Manor Lord of the Elf World

Chapter 17 The Snowman's Gift
A panicked shout came from outside the tent.

At this moment, the strong and healthy men were all out in the forest cutting down trees and building cabins, leaving only women, children, and the wounded in the entire territory.

Hearing these sounds, Raven's heart tightened. The image of the tundra bear he had encountered outside last night flashed through his mind. He wondered if that guy had discovered he had been tricked and was now chasing after them for revenge.

Raven quickly got up and went to check on the situation.

However, when he came outside and saw the true face of the so-called "monster," he was stunned.

Those Pokémon are... Snowcaps?
The people nearby scattered in fright, while the three snow-hatted monsters stood still, scratching their heads and looking at the people with confusion on their little faces.

"Ugh..."

Until one of the snow-hat monsters spotted Raven rushing over.

"Ugh!"

Hearing their companion's cry, the other two snow-hat monsters immediately turned around to look.

"Your Highness Raven, please be careful!" The old butler, Elif, quickly stepped in front of Raven.

“It’s alright, Elif.” Raven shook his head and said, “These magical beasts are not malicious. We encountered them yesterday on our way to find Anna, so they must have followed us here.”

Snowcap is considered a relatively friendly Pokémon to humans.

Their encyclopedia entries clearly state that snow cap monsters do not pose a threat even when they appear in human villages; instead, they become good friends with children.

Judging from the appearance of these three snow-hatted monsters, they clearly recognized him.

Under the stunned gaze of the old butler, Eriff, Raven stepped forward and greeted them with a smile:
"Hello, Snow Hat Monster."

"Ugh~!"

The three snow-hatted monsters responded happily.

The panicked civilians around them froze in their tracks upon seeing this scene, stopping in their tracks and cautiously observing the situation.

The next second, the three snow-hatted monsters suddenly moved.

They spread their arms and rushed towards their lord.

"Your Highness Raven!" A woman covered her mouth and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Your Highness, please be careful!"

Elif, who had been on guard, immediately stepped forward to stand in front of Raven, reaching out to try to protect Prince Raven.

But the deep-seated fear of the monsters made him close his eyes tightly, grit his teeth, and prepare to face the attack of these terrifying monsters.

However, the old butler waited for a long time, but the expected attack did not come.

He only heard a gasp from the civilians, who seemed to be surprised by something.

Elif cautiously opened his eyes.

Warcraft... Warcraft is gone?!
"Ugh~!"

Just then, the roar of a monster came from behind him.

The old steward's heart tightened. The cunning magical beast had actually bypassed him to attack Prince Raven?
Elif turned around abruptly, but the scene before him made him freeze in place.

"Mmm~ Mmm~!"

The three magical beasts had surrounded Prince Raven, reaching out to hug his legs while letting out joyful cries.

He looked just like a little kid asking an adult for a hug.

"This...this is?!" The old butler was completely dumbfounded.

At this moment, all the civilians stared at this scene in disbelief.

Suddenly, one of the snow-hatted monsters let go of its grip.

With a happy expression, it plucked a snow-white fruit, about the size of a baseball, from its body and then held it out to Raven.

"Is this... for me?"

Raven was slightly taken aback by the Snow Hat Monster's actions.

"Ugh~!"

The snow-hat monsters' eyes crinkled into crescents as they happily nodded. Yesterday they ate the delicious fruit the humans gave them, so today they wanted to share their own fruit with the humans too!

Raven suddenly felt like laughing; these snow-hatted monsters were really innocent and cute!
He broke the fruit into four pieces and handed them to Elif and the two shivering farmers, saying to them, "You should try some too."

“Your Highness Raven… what is this?” Elif reached out and took it, stunned.

“These magical beasts gave us as a gift,” Raven said, taking a bite as he spoke.

Hmm... It's sweet, and the texture is a bit like a combination of ice cream and rock candy, which is unexpectedly delicious.

The moment Raven tasted it, his first thought was that they could use the fruit to make sugar.

Seeing that Prince Raven had eaten, Elif looked at the fruit in his hand, gritted his teeth, and also took a bite.

The next second, he opened his eyes wide in surprise.

How could it be so delicious?!
Seeing that Raven had eaten his companion's fruit, the other two snow-hat monsters couldn't wait to pluck their own fruit and hand it over.

"Mmm!" Let's taste their fruit too!

Raven couldn't help but laugh and said, "You guys came all this way just so I could try this?"

"Mm-mmm~"

The three snow-hatted monsters scratched their heads sheepishly.

"Your Highness Raven, what is this...?"

Somewhat confused, Elif finally couldn't help but ask what was going on.

Lei Wen briefly recounted his experience from the previous night.

Looking at the snow-hatted monsters surrounding him, their faces full of curiosity as they observed everything around them, he couldn't help but guess:
"Perhaps they want to play with us?"

"Play?" Upon hearing this word, Elif paused for a moment: "It sounds a bit like a playful little child."

“Haven’t you realized it yet, Elif?” Raven suddenly spoke up.

"what?"

“Countless magical beasts live in this world. Some of them are ferocious and will attack humans on sight, but others are as innocent and playful as children and are very friendly to humans,” Raven said slowly.

Elif paused slightly, looking at the three monsters called Snow Hat Monsters, and suddenly felt that what His Highness said seemed to be true.

Just like the king and that monster named Victini.

His Highness also has a magical beast called Mini Dragon by his side.

"Elif, give the order that everyone need not be afraid of these three magical beasts. As long as we do not attack them first, they will not harm us," Raven commanded.

“Yes, Your Highness Raven!” Elif replied.

Raven turned his gaze to the three snow-hatted monsters beside him.

Snowcap is a Grass/Ice-type Pokémon.

He was just worried about not having any Grass-type Pokémon in his territory, and now they've arrived!

If you can build a good relationship with these three snow-hat monsters, you might be able to ask them to help take care of the fields, cultivate crops with grass-type energy, shorten the crop growth cycle, and thus make the crops mature earlier.

The only problem right now is that Snow Hat Monster seems to be much better at ice-type powers than grass-type ones.

However, it's too early to think about these things now.

The most important thing right now is to build a good relationship with these three snow-hatted monsters.

This could be a good opportunity to change the prejudices people in the territory have against Pokémon.

Thinking of this, Raven said, "Snow Hat Monsters, this is where we live. If you don't mind, you are welcome to play here. Everyone will like you. I have some things to do, so I'll come and play with you when I'm done!"

Time was of the essence; they had to find suitable land to cultivate and plant the crop seeds before the next blizzard arrived.

This concerns the survival of everyone in the territory, and Raven will not be at ease unless he goes there in person.

"Ugh~!"

Upon hearing that Raven would come back to play with them, the three snow-hatted monsters immediately and happily agreed.

(End of this chapter)