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

Start of a Journey (Part 1)

***The Saint's Tree, Cherwoods***

"We really need help! Her Holiness can lift a finger or two to send us aid, can't she?"

"We offer our apologies, but the Saint can't be disturbed right now!"

"I don't need your apologies! Show us Her Holiness, or at least, bring us to her! Tell her the elves—her people—is about to die from hunger, or from the encroaching sand! When would she even move; when half of Cherwoods are already desolate?"

"We ask for your understanding—"

"I refuse to understand now; my people dying!"

"Stop that elf! He has drawn his sword! Arrest him!"

From the windows of the small 'tree palace' allotted for him, Kuro watched another delegation of elves turned away, and their 'vocal' members arrested for running amok. The human could only close his eyes and shook his head. It's not like he couldn't understand the despair and sense of urgency from those elves coming to the Saint's Tree to ask for their saint's help, only to fail in the end. As the desert outside the limits of Cherwoods' ancient forests advanced to the interior of the Elvish territories, so was the threat of starvation and death rose.

However, what's even more remarkable for him was that, even with all the voice calling out to her, the Elf Saint remained unmoved. Far hidden in one of the inner rooms of the tree palace, the only concern in her mind right now was how to get her laptop connected to the internet.

Well, while Kuro was aware of her current situation, the Lady Hinwe's god-power greatly weakened as her people gradually lost faith in her. At this rate, he surmised that it might vanish once everyone started cursing their saint, instead of praising her.

It's the opposite of the conditions for his own god-powers to gain strength...

"..."

And, even complicating the problem were the Elf Saint's palace officials and servants. Originally brought there to serve the needs of their holy lady, soon they realized they possessed the 'power' and 'influence' to interact with the people outside the palace grounds. With the Lady Hinwe refusing to take charge, they brought matters to their hands, deciding on issues their mistress had no knowledge.

And he read enough history books on non-ruling emperors of Imperial China to expect what will happen next...

So, to keep the order of things without drawing flak to him, Kuro tried his best to shore up positive public opinion back to the Elf Saint by helping those Elvish delegations arriving from all over Cherwoods. But then, some of the palace officials had seen his efforts as attempts to undermine their hold on their newfound 'power', so they worked to prevent him from talking to the other elves.

Humans have no business with the lives of the elves, as they declared to him. And honestly, Kuro thought they were right. He shouldn't be dipping himself into the affairs of the elves. However...

"..."

Kuro's eyes went from the window to the set of clothes he was given by Her NEET Holiness after she summoned him. If it wasn't for the Lady Hinwe, perhaps his spirit and body would remain buried deep in the swirling sands of Cherflammen.

"..."

On a related note, how did he gain another life? Isn't it—if he remembers well—the Saint of the Flame who possesses the god-power over life and death?

The human commoner shook his head, returning to the pressing issue. For now, questions and answers about his 'third life' would have to wait. The court politics of the Saint's Tree was so bad, Kuro told himself that a 'power shift' was about to happen anytime soon. And everyone was so fixated on the power struggle that they had no idea of how dangerous their situation was, given that the desert kept on advancing into Cherwoods.