The Elf Saint is a NEET, so I Forced Her to Work in Another World

Kuro's Situation (Part 2)

***Somewhere in Cherwoods...***

An army of elves marched across the great forest of Cherwoods, with picks and shovels on their hands instead of bows and swords. A few distances away from them, a great structure was slowly emerging from the hollowed-out ground: the Grand Canal of Cherwoods, originally the plan of the human, Kuro of Arles, to combat the desertification of the elves' realm. As they arrived, the group went past another throng of their kin, moving out of the construction zone and into the rest areas.

The work was deemed important, so the elves hurried on its completion, organized into several teams taking turns after the other so that the construction never ceased.

At the head of the effort was Sir Eldarv, captain of the Elf Saint's Life Guards. His orders came from the Lord Kuro himself, acting in the name of the Elf Saint, with explicit orders to use everything and every way to speed up the work on the canal. It was a complicated compromise, as the elf lords from various cities around Cherwoods balked at the idea of a human directing their work. However, time was of the essence; Her Holiness the Lady Hinwe was nowhere to be seen, and the sands were advancing every moment they delayed. So, they begrudgingly cooperated.

With unrestricted powers in his hands, the elf captain enlisted the nearby local populations for the monstrous task. The Grand Canal required deep trenches lined with limestone, so the water won't get muddy and stretched from the Gulf to the forest edge of Cherwoods, bisecting the region into two. Smaller canals were also planned, but the priority was the main artery, estimated to bring in huge volumes of fresh water into the interior.

A significant part of the forest was cut down to make way for the temporary settlements, storage areas, and for the canal itself. However, Cherwoods' trees were not those found in Chersea, and Cherwind; these were giant ancient redwoods, a diameter of which required at least twenty elves joining hands to surround. Cutting a tree took several long sleeps, and a few changes of turns of the workgroups. And that's only one part of the task. There were also elves assigned to transport limestone from the cliffs to the northeast of Cherwoods, and elves mining and cutting those to proper shape as well.

The Grand Canal took a lot of the elvish workforce that the food production and other sectors of their economy were strained to keep up with their domestic demands. And they were nowhere near the quarter of the distance needed to fully complete the project.

"That human surely doomed us to death," an elvish leader muttered.

Upon hearing his murmurs, Sir Eldarv stood from his chair, and asked the elf, "Milord, do you have any concerns about our task?"

The elf—intimidated by the question of the Life Guards' captain—answered, "Sire, I mean no offense for what I uttered, but even with almost all of our people working all the time to hurry with the construction, the physical impossibility is just high! Several of our kin have already been injured because of the rush, and others are reaching their limits as well. Food supply is also dwindling; those who used to farm are drafted into our 'workgroups', and that pesky human—acting in the name of Her Holiness—cut off trade with the other realms. I'm afraid if this goes on, we will all die...either by the advancing sands, or by overwork!"

Sir Eldarv heaved a sigh, and explained, "Well, this is our chance to counter the sands. While we're of the same opinion, milord, the advises of that human are effective; it would be criminal for us to shelve it because we don't want to ask for help from outsiders. So, we have to take the risk. Surely, I believe you don't want to die without fighting against it."

"..."

"Anyway, it's just this one time. Let's finish this, then return to our homes without worries of advancing sands devouring our crops and land."