Upon their return to the forest restaurant, everyone gradually departed for their designated workplaces. Ina presented Xavier with a large bag of succulent fruit, entrusting him with the task to deliver it to the teahouse, where it would be sold as a unique natural dessert.
Xavier was already planning for the tea house's next theme: "Sprites of the Forest," set to follow the conclusion of this week's festivities. He advised Ina to learn more about the dietary habits of sprites, surmising that if they could obtain some sprite-favored foods, it would be convenient for him to modify the recipes to better suit human palates for sale at the teahouse.
Ina, murmuring acknowledgments of "Got it, got it," ushered the overzealous Xavier, who was more passionate about running the tea house than she was, out of the door.
Reluctantly departing was Elvys, who had been frequently visiting Ina at the Imperial restaurant, an opportunity that was dwindling due to her constant presence in the Silverleaf Forest. "I've given you a teleportation crystal," Ina gently nudged Elvys, "You can come whenever you wish."
Elvys desired a goodbye kiss, but the presence of Atelika, with her innocent wide eyes unblinkingly watching them. Regrettably, Elvys ended up only kissing Ina's fingertips before leaving.
Only Ina and the curious child Atelika remained in the silver-striped treehouse. After staring at the pot of boiling soup for a long time, Atelika lightly touched the silver wind chime hanging at the entrance, her mouth forming a small 'o' shape at the clear sound. However, she wasn't an annoying child. Regardless of what Ina said, Atelika would stop and listen seriously, stealing glances at Ina when she was silent.
Ina was writing "Closed on Mondays and Fridays" on the restaurant signboard, days when she needed to inspect other branches. As she explained this to Atelika, the little one pondered aloud, "If there are seven days in a week, from Monday to Sunday, then each day has its own name!"
"Indeed," Ina replied while focusing on her writing, "Every day is unique."
"Every day is unique!" Atelika excitedly echoed. She waddled over to the now-hung signboard, touching the colorfully painted vines at the edge.
Upon touching the "fake vines," they came to life, swaying and intertwining around the signboard, adorned with delicate purple flowers. The young sprite tree overseer gently stroked the vines, her tone filled with excitement, "Today it's the purple wind violets, tomorrow the golden moon vine, then the light sparrow tail, flying swallow flower, blue feather flower... every day is different!"
While Atelika contemplated which flowers should accompany the daily signs, Ina had already prepared several sesame red sugar layer cakes. Asking Atelika what she wanted to eat, the latter, with a bewildered expression, said she hadn't tried food from outside but wanted to taste everything.
Having had her fill of roasted meat over the past few days, Ina felt like having some pastries and hence decided to make the sesame red sugar layer cakes. Simple to prepare, the dough is rolled into thin sheets, smeared with a layer of sesame paste, sprinkled generously with brown sugar, and then stacked and folded multiple times like a layered cake.
The high heat sometimes caused the brown sugar to leak out, but that was no problem. Although it didn't present the perfect aesthetic, the melted sugar formed a crispy crust on the outside of the layered cake, offering a unique flavor.
"Be careful, it's hot, and there's sugar inside," Ina cautioned as she handed the sesame red sugar layered cake to Atelika.
Atelika nodded obediently, clutching a piece of the layered cake. As she bit into it, the hot brown sugar oozed out, surprising her. She let out a tiny "oh," hurriedly licking the seeping sugar and finishing the cake.
The layered cake, with its sesame paste and brown sugar filling, was crispy on the outside, and sweet and delicious on the inside. After devouring a whole piece, Atelika voiced her realization with a hint of regret, "So this is what people outside eat."
Ina burst her sweet bubble, not letting Atelika harbor unrealistic fantasies about the outside world. "Sugar is precious. Common folk barely get to taste it. Humans pursue gourmet food in hunger, finding joy in food, but also suffer in its absence."
Atelika's expression conveyed a half-understood comprehension. However, she soon perked up, "So sugar is precious? I know where to find some!"
Edible sugar usually comes from plants, commonly made from sugarcane or beets into white sugar, brown sugar, or rock sugar. But there's another plant in nature that provides precious sugar - the sugar maple. This tree accumulates a great amount of starch during its growing period. Come spring, the starch turns into sugar, forming a sweet sap that sprites harvest to make syrup.
Atelika led Ina to a grove of maple trees, each standing tall at over 50 meters, being over 40 years old. Ina made a moderately sized hole in the trunk, inserting a tube to drain the thick sap.
She collected around 40 liters of sap, and Atelika gently stroked the tree trunk, "That's all. It would struggle in winter if we take any more."
Ina packed away her tube, and Atelika touched the carved hole which instantly healed.
Ina collected sap from five of the stoutest maple trees. The sap flowed slowly, and without Atelika by her side, an entire afternoon might yield less than 10 liters. Now, over 200 liters of maple sap filled several large buckets but would only be produced to less than five liters of maple syrup.
This was a sugar more precious and tastier than the finest rock sugar.
Ina quietly added maple syrup, succulent fruits, and blue hawk eggs to her list of ingredients to exchange with the sprites. Xavier's idea of new Sprite-themed desserts for the tea house might genuinely be a hit. After all, the sprites, secluded for years, were seen as fantastical and beautiful by humans. Their food, though natural, possessed an inherent charm.
Of course, to ensure a better sales volume, they needed to tweak the recipes, making these Sprite-exclusive foods more palatable for humans.
As evening approached, Savi appeared at the restaurant's entrance, nimbly climbing up to the treehouse hovering over a meter high. He left the wolf cubs behind, who were playfully romping around the shrubs beneath the treehouse.
"I'm standing in for Cicely, who couldn't make it," Savi explained from the door, "Any food will do, I know there's no menu here... Why is the Tree Warden here?"
He saw Atelika, cheerfully assisting Ina in the treehouse, and his eyes widened in shock.
Ina, who was packing meat dumplings and fruit salad with yogurt into takeaway containers for Savi, never kept a tab for the sprites, knowing that they always remembered their debts. To Savi's surprise, she turned around, "Why are you so shocked to see Atelika? Aren't you neighbors?"
The geographic proximity of the sprites and the Tree Wardens, as the Sacred Grove and the Sprite Kingdom were adjacent. In fact, the sprites and Tree Wardens shared a closer relationship. The Tree Wardens protected the Mother Tree, existing for its sake, and sprites were born from the Mother Tree. Many people outside of the Silverleaf Forest couldn't tell the difference between Tree Wardens and sprites, naturally considering them both as sprites.
Savi, seemingly unwilling to reveal internal sprite secrets, merely said, "Atelika is the only Tree Warden born in the past three hundred years. The others are worried about her getting hurt, so they're reluctant to let her out."
Ina handed over the food containers, and Savi, trailed by a string of wolf cubs, hastily departed.
Atelika watched Ina carefully, fearful that she might be left behind, "I'm really strong. I can change into not only fruits and vines, but also a lot more things, so I won't get hurt easily."
Ina merely observed her for a while, "It seems like you're not having an easy time." She had visited the Sacred Grove before, where it was too quiet. Each tree was a living Tree Warden, yet it was even quieter than a land of the dead.
In the past, Tree Wardens would often leave Sacred Grove. Most of them would cohabitate with the sprites, while a few, like Yahirah, ventured to human lands. One might go mad from staying in a place like Sacred Grove for hundreds of years.
Sitting in a high chair, swinging her legs, Atelika softly said, "I know it wasn't like this before. I've seen Alfred and their memories."
With a touch of desolation, she bowed her head, "Then they stopped letting me see."
"You're in trouble, aren't you?" Ina seemed to find a hint of her old gaming sensation - asking, thinking, then solving - the familiar process of undertaking tasks.
Atelika lifted her head to look at Ina as if gauging whether she could confide in her. Tree Wardens could sense emotions, a skill that allowed them to distinguish between good and bad intentions. However, it wasn't infallible; some sly humans could deceive their own hearts.
She decided to reveal this secret, although it may not quite be considered one. "No new Tree Wardens have been born for many years, and although there are some sprites, their number is dwindling, soon to be like us."
"King Sprite and Alfred tried many things and attempted to find the cause." Atelika shook her head, indicating that both races were still deeply trapped in the predicament of not having new members.
"Then they thought that this change happened 200, or maybe 300 years ago. During that period, many Tree Wardens died within a few short years. Those who left Silverleaf Forest had nearly all withered. Perhaps, with fewer Tree Wardens guarding the Mother Sprite Tree, the Mother felt insecure, hence unwilling to let new sprites be born." Atelika used a lot of 'perhaps' and 'possible,' hinting that all of this was just their speculation.
"It could also be possible that the Mother Sprite Tree punished us because the Tree Wardens did not stay peacefully in the Sacred Grove, but instead ran around in various places across the continent. Anyway, since then, the Tree Wardens no longer stepped out of the Sacred Grove."
"She is your mother. She wouldn't punish you," Ina didn't quite agree with the sprites' speculations. However, after all, it was not Ina who was facing the crisis; she couldn't feel the panic and fear of the sprites. She silently noted down the information, then began comforting the dejected Atelika.