Chapter 12

"Be careful. Do you want to turn the whole village upside down?"

As I staggered, Elder firmly grabbed my arm. Unlike me, who couldn't keep my balance, Elder seemed completely unaffected.

"The day has come, so there are a lot of dryads in this village. Daisy's kind is weak and easily buried. But trust me. I'm Jay, and I won't let you down."

The ground shook violently again. Elder clicked his tongue and, tucking his staff under his arm, picked me up.

"What, what is this!"

"Mesquite's earthquake is strongest at its source, so it's powerful. If you're not careful, you'll get caught in it. Normally, I wouldn't use it near you, but I forced it because I'm here. My roots are deep, so I'm immune to earthquakes."

Despite my weight, Elder showed no signs of strain. I just let go of everything and hoped Mesquite could find Daisy.

After a while, Mesquite, who had been rummaging through the ground, finally gave me the answer I so desperately wanted.

"I found her. I didn't find the perfect location, but I found a likely area. There are a lot of footsteps."

As the earthquake subsided, Elder's grip loosened, and I hopped down. I ran to Mesquite and urged her on.

"Not just Daisy... there's an unusually large amount of information about other dryads. Perhaps... the dryad Jay is looking for is in a bad situation."

Mesquite pointed to where Daisy's aura was felt based on my map. Although she couldn't pinpoint a specific location, considering the direction she indicated and the location of the guild, there was one likely spot.

Daisy is in danger. What could have happened... I hope Mesquite is wrong.

I ran with the dryads to the suspicious spot. However, my physical condition was poor, and I kept falling behind, becoming a burden. Cursing my poor physical condition, which was due to smoking and lack of exercise, I clenched my teeth and ran. Mesquite, despite her heavy armor and carrying a shield and lance, showed no signs of strain.

"The destination is in this area, but it's too wide. Should I try to root again?"

"The buildings are too densely packed. If I cause another earthquake here, it will be dangerous."

Mesquite looked around and raised her lance, but Elder, moving his staff around, stopped her.

After running at full speed for so long, I felt like I was going to vomit. Leaning against a wall and gasping for breath, I sensed a commotion on the other side. Still out of breath, I gestured to Elder and Mesquite. There's a commotion over there.

Mesquite leaped over the wall with a small jump. She frowned as she looked down.

"My master, Jay. You said you were looking for Red Daisy, right?"

As if Mesquite's words were a signal, Elder wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Hey... no. Let me walk over on my own. Please."

"How long will that take? It's too high for you to jump over."

I already felt like I was going to die, and Elder's grip on my stomach as he jumped made it worse. I thought I was going to suffocate. Elder easily landed on the wall next to Mesquite. Afraid of falling, I threatened to hold on to Elder and not let go.

Below the wall, three men and their dryads were gathered in a circle around something. The dryads were so large that I couldn't see what was in the center, which was frustrating.

I clung to Elder, ready to fall with him, and moved around. What's in there? Could it be Daisy?

"Goodness. Why is a young sapling here? The World Tree never lets young saplings leave its embrace."

"What? You have a connection with a wild dryad? The environment here isn't suitable for a dryad to naturally occur."

"The dryad I'm looking for... is a dryad forced into a wild state."

Mesquite's expression turned very stern as she understood my meaning. Although she wasn't angry at me, I felt a bit of fear from her aura.

"The soul was severed without mutual consent, but rather forcibly by the druid."

Mesquite said the same thing as the innkeeper.

"Originally, when the soul connection is severed, the dryad should be given a fragment of the owner's soul to allow for minimal living before returning to the World Tree. This soul fragment acts like milk to plants. But since this dryad didn't go through that process, it lost its power, became contaminated, and turned into a sapling. Judging by its size, it has been a long time since the soul was severed. If it gets any smaller, it will eventually return to the World Tree, which means the dryad's mental death."

Elder shuddered. We had previously discussed this topic at the orchard.

"Could Daisy be there?"

Mesquite spoke as if she knew everything about Daisy, looking at the center of the crowd. My heart raced.

Can I jump down from here? Will my legs break? As I was thinking, Elder grabbed me and jumped down. I thought my waist would break instead of my legs.

Mesquite followed, and the sound of her large body and heavy armor hitting the ground echoed. The gathered people turned to look at us.

"Hey! It's you!"

A familiar face shouted at me.

"Isn't that the kid who was spreading rumors at the orchard?"

"Should I kill him?"

Elder, pointing at him with his staff, asked me. What, are you some kind of healer who keeps talking about killing? I would understand if Mesquite said that.

"Get lost. I need to check something."

I waved my hand at the rude man as if shooing a fly and headed toward where Daisy was. But a dryad blocked my path with a large leaf.

Whoosh...!

Suddenly, a huge wind rushed past my ear. A giant lance, emerging from behind me, pierced the leaf. The leaf exploded as if hit by a bomb, and I swallowed hard, feeling a chill down my back.

"No one can block my master, Jay. Move aside."

None of the dryads gathered here could match Mesquite's aura and intimidation. They retreated to protect their owners. After everyone moved, I finally saw... Daisy, lying in a near-death state.

I almost screamed. I rolled forward and embraced Daisy. She was covered in dirt, and her bright red hair and clothes were stained.

"El... Elder..."

She couldn't even speak properly. Fortunately, Elder understood my intention and came to my side, crouching down. He touched Daisy's forehead with his glowing hand.

"Since we are not soul-connected dryads, this dryad can't fully accept my healing energy. Moreover, this Daisy species has no connection to me, making it even harder. The speed at which her body and mind are deteriorating is too fast for her to recover."

In other words, even Elder couldn't completely heal Daisy. Daisy, why are you like this...?

"Daisy... Daisy! Come on, snap out of it. Please."

"Tch, you lost a good fertilizer."

I turned my head reflexively. The rude man, protected by his dryad, was hiding behind and clicking his tongue.

"I was going to sneak some fertilizer since she was alone. But it seems she's not even your dryad! You have so many diamonds, why not be a bit more modest and leave? If you hand over the kid, I'll let you go without a fight."

What is this kid saying? I felt a surge of murderous intent.

"Did you do this to Daisy?"

"Is this disgusting guy the cause of your anger? Do you not like him? Should I kill him?"

Elder's staff pointed at the man I was looking at. The sound of Mesquite's metal armor clinking as she stood next to me was heard. Her lance scraped the ground.

"My master, Jay. Dryads are like brothers and sisters born from the World Tree, so we don't attack each other. The same goes for druids, who are small World Trees themselves. But I can feel a very intense anger from you. If you want, I will gladly become your anger and break the unwritten rule to point my lance at them."

Her lance, which had been dragging on the ground, was now aimed at the man I was glaring at. My two dryads looked ready to pounce at my command.

The tension was palpable. Despite this, I could faintly hear Daisy's breathing and tightened my grip on her. This small, fragile child... that bastard...

"Is the woman who insulted you that woman? You said it would be easy because she only had one red-haired dryad, right? But you were wrong, weren't you?"

"Look at the dryads standing next to her! They all seem to be of high rank, don't they?"

"Shut up! One is a healer, and the other is a defender. You got a Rare grade today, didn't you? If all our dryads attack, we have a chance!"

But their words were proven wrong by the dryads' atmosphere. Elder snorted, and the opposing dryads looked uneasy.

Did Daisy become like this for revenge against me? Did they mistake her for my dryad and make her look so terrible? Because of me?

"...Druid?"

The tense atmosphere, like standing on thin ice, was broken by a small, weak voice. Daisy's eyes, which had been closed like she was dead, opened.