Chapter 35

As I stood at the classroom door, I took a deep breath and firmly gripped the secret letter from my mother.

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Amidst the cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

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As the lava-like substance dripped and the fierce flames charged at me, my foothold kept shrinking, and I had to frantically dodge and run. Of course, the ground I stepped on often crumbled into ashes, making my heart race with fear. The fire in the sky was even harder for the skilled Mesquite to react to, making it even more difficult. Later, she burned daisies on the shield and launched them high into the sky, where the daisies launched into the sky dealt with the fire, gradually reducing the number of flames.

Regaining my position as the strongest in the ecosystem and with my energy drained, I secretly took a fatigue recovery pill and leaned against a rock. If I sat down here, I would want to lie down, and if I lay down, I would want to close my eyes.

I might as well take a nap. Knowing my hopeless state, I clenched my trembling legs with determination.

Damn, it's still too intense. It feels like I'm trapped in an apocalyptic movie where the world has ended due to zombies.

The fire keeps popping up like zombies, endlessly. If it weren't for my skilled dryads, I would have been an extra who dies within the first five minutes of the movie.

"Should we take a break, Jay? You look very tired. It seems we've just finished dealing with the fire in this area. You can take a deep breath now."

"Sorry. I feel like I'm causing trouble because my stamina is so poor."

"My master, Jay. How can you say you're causing trouble! Your very existence is a great help to us. Just standing there gives us strength. Don't say such things."

What a flattering thing to say... I'm realizing how hopeless my condition is, with my stamina being so poor.

I have no immediate way to invest my diamonds, so I'm really just a useless human. The only thing I have is an abundance of diamonds. I'm a no-good human, really.

How are the other druids training themselves? They can't all be no-good humans like me, right? I feel like I should do something, but there's nothing I can do right now.

I'm a waste, sniff. As I buried my face in the rock and rolled my body, I suddenly noticed something strange beyond the rock.

There was a large box-like object in the blackened bushes. No, it wasn't a box, but a carriage?

"Hey, I found something strange! Look over there!"

I gestured to the dryads. I don't have the courage to go there myself, so I need someone to check it out for me! If I go there recklessly and get attacked by the fire, what a nuisance that would be. I know myself, so I need to control my curiosity.

Mesquite immediately responded to my call. She walked briskly to the spot I pointed at and cleared the bushes with her large lance. The bushes were burned but still maintained their shape, so they crumbled at the slightest touch of Mesquite's lance.

"It's a carriage. An overturned carriage."

"There was a carriage? I wish I knew, I could have ridden it!"

A replacement for a taxi! Before I could say more, Mesquite advised against it.

It's hard to respond to the fire's attacks, and the large target makes it easy to become a target for the fire. Therefore, several skilled dryads need to be brought to guard it.

And the result is right there, she pointed with the tip of her lance. Hmm... I'll cancel that.

"There was a battle, but it seems everyone was wiped out. We should leave this place quickly. The fire that consumed everything here must have become extremely powerful. Although I don't feel such a strong presence nearby now, it's probably moving not far from here."

The fire that swallowed a dryad had such bizarre power, so what about the fire that swallowed several?

A lot of charred cargo spilled out from the overturned carriage. Among them was a box with a skull symbol. It looked like a carriage that was transporting dangerous goods...

Mesquite said there was no fire nearby right now. Then, it should be fine to take a quick look, right? This damned curiosity. I stuck closely to Mesquite's side and carefully observed the carriage.

"Huh? There are numbers on the boxes! 28 could mean the 28th Terrarium, right?"

The boxes with the skull symbol, as well as the relatively intact cargo, all had the number 28 and a faint tree pattern drawn on them.

They must have been items to be transported to the 28th Terrarium. I gathered more courage and clung tightly to Mesquite's arm as I moved forward. It would be great to get some information since our destination is also the 28th Terrarium.

The box with the skull symbol had its lid broken, and black soil was flowing out. I could see dried plants mixed in the soil.

Flowers? Plants? The contents were plants, but they were so burned that it was hard to identify the species.

What were they trying to transport to the 28th Terrarium?

The cargo was not only charred but also showed signs of age, making it difficult to examine further.

Following Mesquite's advice, we decided to leave this place, hoping to avoid the fire.

Finally, the uphill path ended, and a flat area appeared.

I hope it's just a matter of going downhill from here. And we came across a fork in the road.

It was the first unique terrain we encountered after walking along the open road. One side was a steep, dense thicket, and the other side had no obstacles but started to slope again.

Elder said that either path would lead to the 28th Terrarium without needing to check the map.

I would like to choose the downhill path, but it looks treacherous. If I encounter the fire in such a place, my movements will be restricted. What should I do?

"I sense someone."

Mesquite made us step back. The sound came from the downhill path on the left. The bushes rustled, and voices could be heard.

Oh, are they people? Mesquite's vigilance eased a bit.

"There are definitely signs of escape, but it happened a few years ago. It was a waste of effort."

"It seems to have been a very fast dryad. So, they probably survived alone. But it seems they didn't achieve their goal? They disappeared without a trace. Everything else was burned."

"Wait! I sense someone ahead."

The standoff was brief. The other side reacted first and revealed themselves.

Did they determine that we were not a threat? Unlike our group of four, they were quite numerous.

More figures emerged from the bushes, all with elaborate appearances. Were they all dryads?

"Ah... The group Sibling found that night must have been them."

A tall man with light purple hair, a light purple flower in his hair, a dark brown frock coat, dark skin, and a large violin said.

"They have an ideal combination. The best combination that allowed a small soul to reach this far. But they must have had a lot of luck. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made it."

A woman with long light pink hair with white streaks, a loose red top, light pink flower branches woven into wings on her back, and two pistols at her waist said.

The wings suggest she might be a king of the forest like Dandelion.

As I observed them in detail, they seemed to be sizing us up as well. After the two finished speaking, the other four behind them hesitated, looking at each other.

A blue-haired man with a whip, a blonde man with a large spiked club, a black-haired woman with a long weapon that could be a spear or a staff, and a purple-haired man with deep blue eyes and a blue crystal ball.

Six people with diverse and elaborate appearances. There are quite a few. It's a feast for the eyes.

Ah, there's one more at the very back. They all seem to be dryads, as they are adorned with flowers or leaves representing their mother plants.

The tall man at the back, wearing silver armor and holding a large sword, was the only one without any plant features. He must be the druid of these dryads.

"Only one is left. Who will speak?"

The light pink-haired woman said, scanning the dryads except for the man at the back.

Except for the blonde man who was staring intently at Mesquite, everyone else was clamoring to speak. Eventually, a winner was decided.

"You wasted the opportunity. You should have introduced yourselves first. Isn't the druid over there confused?"

The black-haired woman, holding a long weapon, waved it to stop the other dryads and stepped forward.

She wore a华丽的黑色长袍，黑色的小铃铛状花朵装饰在腰带上，她一动，这些花朵就像风铃一样摇摆。

走过来的女人停在了一个适当的距离。

“很高兴见到你们。我是贝拉多娜，目前是这个花束的主干。我认为这个距离是合适的。由于我的母体特性，对非花束成员来说可能有危险，所以希望你们理解我从远处与你们见面。”

“啊，你好。”

当她开始说话时，最后面的德鲁伊拨开干草人，走了出来。看到我的目光转向他，她举起手制止了他。

“西德林，还没轮到你。我还没说完。”

大步走来的男人在她的制止下紧闭着嘴停了下来。

“你的灵魂似乎还很弱小，能穿过这么危险的地方，真是令人惊讶。我们这个花束接受了委托，正前往第28个温室。我们刚从第16个温室下来。”

“哦……我们是从第26个温室来的！”

“果然，那天晚上我们遇到的那群人就是你们。”

那意味着之前清扫狩猎场的德鲁伊就是他们。虽然很好奇他们长什么样子，但看到他们真的非常厉害。有看起来像国王的干草人，数量也比我们多。