I Became My Healer Elf Character

Hikari and the three girls ended up getting their own room in the mermaid palace. The ceremony was set to take place on the next day, so they were given a room to rest in preparation.

The elf looked around the room, separated from the hallway by an actual door. There were no normal beds to sleep in this place, but this was the only room featuring a door.

Princess Miliana said this room was ancient and used for people visiting the mermaids back then. According to her, people used to come and go as emissaries in those days.

It was weird for the elf to think that people would be able to get down there somehow. Did they use some kind of teleportation magic or barriers?

Either way, the room was completely empty, devoid of any furniture or decorations. The only exception was a small button on the wall with a glyph written in the mermaid language. Hikari walked up to the button and inspected it.

"Rune of water draining."

Ayase looked at the elf in disbelief. "Do you mean this button will drain the water from the room? How is that even possible with all of this water pressure?"

"Only one way to find out," Hikari said.

She tapped her staff against the button, and it depressed with a satisfying click. It glowed a bright blue, and a loud rumbling started. Slowly, the water level of the room began to drop. A pocket of air started forming, and it didn't take long until the entire room became oxygenated.

Oxygen pumped into the room from thin magic runes on the walls, much to everyone's disbelief.

The elf released her barriers on the girls.

Ayase sighed in relief. "It's so good to be able to move freely after so long. The rush of oxygen made my ears pop a little though."

"I'm surprised they'd even build anything like this," Hikari said. "Don't you wonder how those people would have gotten down here?"

Ayase placed a hand to her chin in thought. "Now that you mention it...It's strange. Magic has developed a lot, yet there are no records of people diving here to visit. However, it's not like the mermaids would be lying, or else, why would they build this room for their emissaries? This thing defies all of Earth's logic. Imagine if something was discovered like this on Earth? That would go beyond the realms of science and into science fiction."

Hikari chuckled at the witch. "It's weird to bring up science when I can pull a large ship from my inventory and set sail, while summoning an entire crew from another plane."

"Speaking of which," Ayase said, "are you ever going to bring me there?"

"I'll bring you there when we finish our business in the Empire. It shouldn't be long now. All we have to do is take care of a certain pink-haired goddess' sister and visit the Imperial Capital."

"Master, why do you want to visit their capital?" Kurayami asked.

"I should be able to get into their college to see what books they have. Moreover, there are certain things I'm interested in seeing. It's been said that they have unique architecture."

The dragon shrugged. "If Master wishes it."

"I certainly do. Now then…" Hikari summoned a table and chairs from her inventory. "We should really utilize the items given to us by those mermaids."

Ayase smiled at the elf. "I'm starving. Watching those elders gorge themselves on apples has made me hungrier than a Mosasaur."

Hikari shook her head and smiled wryly. "You're already making jokes about it? Haven't you ever heard the saying 'it's too soon?'"

"What? Nobody liked that guy anyway. I'm sure the tribe will be happy they got a new goddess. Just imagine your beautiful figure decorating that shrine. They'll cut down the old one to erect a new one in your image."

Hikari's face went pale at the realization. "Seriously? I almost forgot I told them they can worship me."

Mizuko walked behind the elf and kissed the back of her ear. "What's the problem, Mistress? They should consider themselves lucky that you saved them from their tormentor."

The elf smacked the cunning vampire's thigh. "Maybe I should get some help from my tormentor?"

"We both know you'll never cry for help. If it's you, Mistress, you'll be singing you want more."

Hikari felt her face grow red and pointed at the table. "Sit down, all of you. Now is not the time for fooling around. Food comes before anything. They've gifted us a large serving of kraken tentacles."

"How large are we talking?" Ayase asked.

Hikari answered by summoning it from her inventory and dropping it on the floor. It was only half of the tentacle, yet it was as large as the room, and it landed with a loud thud.

Ayase looked at the strange appendage in disbelief. "How are you even going to cook that thing?"

"I've a large stove from my years of collecting in the game...But really, I plan to cut it up and cook small pieces individually like steaks. If I fry them, I can make Kraken cutlets. Serving them with rice and seaweed will be good. They even gave me some strange seasonings. I wonder how they even use them as an underwater species? The mermaids are surprisingly advanced."

Ayase stared at the elf strangely. "They even gave you nori?"

"Basically," Hikari said, pulling out the thin seaweed, plucked from the ocean. "It doesn't really seem usable like this, but I'm sure that Kurayami can use her magic to dry them out."

"You're going to make nori chips? I missed those so much!"

"You bet! I've also never tasted them since I changed races."

"Master, I never understand what you two are talking about when you go to these conversations."

The elf grinned at her silly little dragon. "You'll understand one day. I'll take you two see that world, and you'll try the best meat money can buy."

Kurayami's mouth salivated at the mention of meat. "Then it's a promise, Master."

The vampire raised her hand. "What about me, Mistress? Are there things for me?"

"Hmm, I am not sure you will enjoy the taste of blood there."

Ayase shook her head. "I feel like Mizuko will become a major otaku. I bet she'd pick up on manga and anime really quickly. There are plenty of vampire mangas for her to read."

Mizuko put a finger to her chin and tilted her head. "What's manga?"

"I'll just have to show you when we go there. Rather than explaining it, it's better for you to experience it yourself."

Hikari finally pulled the magic stove from her inventory. There was plenty of free space in the room. The elf imagined that hundreds of years ago, this place was likely outfitted with a bed and dressers. The odd thing was what they'd do with the furniture when the room was full of water. Did they simply have magic beds and dressers?

The elf looked at the glowing light on the wall, realizing that it was a real possibility. There was a certain longing to discover lost history, yet the more one discovered, the more questions they had.

Hikari sighed and handed Kurayami the wet nori. "You can dry these with your magic, right?"

The dragon grabbed the seaweed, staring strangely at it. "What are you going to do with these water leaves, Master? I can dry them, but do I have to eat them, too?"

"Don't worry, Kurayami. The nori will make the food taste even better. When it's dried nori, it's like a chip. It will add a certain crunchiness to your meal."

"If you say so, Master." Kurayami gripped the leaves and began dry aging them with her shadow magic. One of the best uses of shadow magic is being able to bend the laws of certain materials. It's also often used for buffs or debuffs. Kurayami, being a master of the art, could easily manipulate the nori to become 'freeze dried'.

While the dragon worked on those, Hikari donned a cute little white apron. She began cutting the massive slab of kraken tendril into tiny sections. She licked one of the strange seasonings that the mermaids gave her.

"Hmm? This is sort of like ginger?" The elder that gave it to her said it came from one of those deep-sea red flowers. The only explanation she was given was that the flowers produced it for certain fish that fed on plants. "It's basically like a plant producing fruits to save itself."

Either way, she rubbed the seasoning along each thin cut. She stored the rest of the tendril in her inventory and began frying each piece in a pan of oil. She boiled a hefty serving of rice on the side, knowing that Kurayami had a massive appetite.

"Master, these nori things are done."

Hikari looked at the dried seaweed and nodded. She took one and bit into it. It snapped with a satisfying crunch, and the taste had the elf enraptured. I didn't realize how much I missed this flavor!

Ayase took the other half of the chip Hikari ate and tried it as well. The witch beamed. "I can't believe it! I never thought I'd be able to eat this again."

"It can't be that great," the dragon said, taking one of the nori and biting into it herself. She tilted her head from the strange flavor. "I don't understand, Master. It has a satisfying crunch, but there's no meat."

"You'll understand soon enough."

Hikari's rice finished, along with all of the kraken cutlets.

The fried squid adorned the top of the glistening white rice, making Ayase's mouth water.

To top it off, Hikari pulled out a bottle of soy sauce. Because of course a game made in Japan had soy sauce you could buy from vendors. The purpose of meals there was different though. When her character was simply an elf priestess behind a screen, the meals only served to give a buff for the duration of a couple hours.

All of them dove into the meal with vigor. Ayase's eyes teared up while she used the nori chips to scoop up rice and pieces of squid.

"This is truly divine! I'll worship you forever, Hikari!"

The dragon followed the witch's example, and her eyes widened from the flavor. "Master was right! These little water leafs make it better!"

It was only the vampire who had a slightly different take. "This is good, but it would be much better with some of the mistress's blood."

Ayase glared at her. "Don't make me think of weird things while eating this rare delicacy!"

Like that, the group continued to eat Hikari's food until they were full. The dragon had put away at least 10 pieces of kraken cuts by herself. Hikari smiled, wandering if she should make something for the mermaid's upcoming ceremony.