Chapter 43

Up to this point, everything had gone smoothly, just like when I made my dryads bloom in the greenhouse. The makeshift greenhouse must be doing its job well, right?

I gently touched the sprouted fruit with my left hand, which held the artifact... but the feeling was different from before. I had the sense that a small life force was constantly trying to hide inside the fruit.

The warm energy that flowed from my heart through my left hand struck the fruit, but the energy inside the fruit seemed to refuse to connect with me.

Or rather, it seemed to be frightened and unable to find its way. The energy kept avoiding my touch and retreated deeper into the fruit.

This made me more determined. By now, I should have already made it bloom and exchanged greetings, but it keeps playing hard to get, doesn't it?

Look here, little fruit. A new owner, full of capital, has come to take you. An Elder-approved small World Tree is here.

I felt as if I had finally reached the tip of the energy. The artifact vibrated slightly, and the connection became firm in an instant. It was like pulling up a clump of seaweed from underwater, and I pulled out the hidden energy.

The air was filled with the scent of daisies. Red petals swirled, and the fruit, enveloped in a cluster of light, floated up.

The light steadily grew in size until it reached the height of an adult, then stopped growing. The widely spread petals swirled into the center of the light cluster, and the light faded.

A male dryad with short, red hair and a red flower in it appeared.

From observing many similar dryads in the dandelion colony, I realized that hair color and eye color are fixed by species.

Although he is male, I had hoped Daisy would grow up to be neat and tidy... but the newly bloomed Daisy dryad cowered and sat down, looking frightened. Did someone hit you...?

"Calm down. I won't harm you. My owner, Jay. This looks like a dryad that has bloomed once before, like Jay's Daisy."

"The special power inscribed in the soul of the Red Daisy improved variety, you already know, right? You've already died and been resurrected."

Our Daisy is shining her eyes, amazed to see a similar dryad, while the other Daisy, though much larger in build, is huddled up.

"Ah... what's going on... Ah..."

The trembling Daisy dryad finally calmed down. He lifted his face slightly to observe us, trying to grasp the sudden situation.

"You died. When those remains fell. Well... the back of my head hurt a lot, but..."

"Hello! I'm a Red Daisy too!"

Yes, it would be good if a similar one takes the lead in conversation. Daisy, unable to contain her curiosity, approached and poked around. But he started to mumble quickly, as if he had never cowered before.

"A cozy soul. My new owner has a tremendous soul. It's amazing. Everything is amazing. I'm full of energy. Well, hello. It's hard to even meet your eyes, you're so amazing. You're a Red Daisy too? I don't see it at all. You must be the best among the Red Daisies in the world. A Red Daisy with such a strong soul. A pride of our kind."

"Um, what did you say? Daisy said to form a forest, you have to subdue that one, right?"

I couldn't stop the chattering Daisy dryad and asked Mesquite for an opinion. But his mouth stopped, and then the chatter resumed.

Do all Daisies act so lively? Of course, this dryad is the most talkative.

"Oh, subdue? I'm just a low-grade, unremarkable dryad. Are you going to fight me? Show the consideration of a strong one. Ah, if you fight, it would be you. I surrender. Please rule over me. You have the qualities of a king. If I can add my weak power to yours, it would be an honor."

The Daisy dryad bowed deeply to our Daisy. I felt as if the size of our Daisy's soul, connected to me, had suddenly swelled.

At that moment, the two daggers hanging from Daisy's waist began to glow brightly. The daggers became longer and more curved, and red patterns were engraved on the blades.

"I use weapons like these, unlike you."

He pulled out a boomerang made of iron with two blades.

"Receive the power of my soul, and you will be able to use the same power."

Daisy, hearing this, pulled out the transformed daggers. When the handles touched, they connected and formed a boomerang similar to his. Oh, ranged.

"Since my soul has been allocated to you, the power of the soul has doubled. Due to the characteristics of our kind, you can use resurrection. You can use it twice. Was my weak power of any help?"

He was appealing to Daisy with eyes like a wagging puppy. Give me a compliment! That's how it looked.

Daisy looked a bit disappointed. Was it because she formed the forest too easily? Compared to the tension, it might seem a bit anticlimactic. "Good. Our Daisy..." When I said this, the two Daisy dryads suddenly looked at me. Oh... this is kind of cute.

"I'm happy to have new power. But there's something more important now. Did you call me?"

"I don't know what you mean. How should I call my new druid owner?"

"I'm Jay."

"Yes, Master Jay. I was deeply asleep inside the fruit until just now. My soul's power is weak, so I'm not strong enough to call you from far away."

I missed. If it's not him, who could it be?

"Then what happened to your previous owner?"

"I was a dryad in charge of miscellaneous tasks in the 28th Terrarium Orchard. The administrative manager bloomed me and tied my soul to a branch of the World Tree with his special power. Thanks to this, I could live without any problems, but I couldn't grow stronger. If you're talking about an owner, the administrative manager who bloomed me would be the one. By the way, what happened to him? I was crushed by the debris during the evacuation and died..."

"If you died in the fire, you wouldn't have been able to resurrect."

Mesquite said. So, although it might be lucky, you could resurrect because you died from a physical cause other than fire? The scarecrow we met outside must be the administrative manager.

"He... well... no. Let's talk about something else."

When I changed the topic, the Daisy dryad closed his mouth, looking at me.

"I came here to check what happened in the 28th Terrarium. What exactly happened? According to Mesquite, the branches of the World Tree shouldn't have been so easily set on fire. I want to know everything you know."

Mesquite nodded in agreement with my question.

"Well... it was originally a secret within the 28th Terrarium... but now that you're my owner, there's no need to hide it. You're right. The original World Tree wouldn't have allowed the fire to invade. Of course, I'm talking about the original World Tree. By the way, this place is in ruins. Everything is burned. How could it have come to this?"

He kept trying to divert the conversation, so I subtly urged him with my eyes.

"...I'm sorry. The branches of the World Tree have been suffering from an unknown disease for a few years. The branches have been withering and losing their light. Because of this, it couldn't bear fruit recently. Since the orchard couldn't provide fruit, the druids haven't visited for a while. Internally, this was kept secret, but the villagers, who somehow heard the news, felt fear and left in a hurry."

"The branches of the World Tree were diseased? What kind of disease?"

"I didn't hear the exact details. We were prevented from approaching because it could be contagious to dryads. But I, tied to a branch of the World Tree, started to feel weak and powerless. It felt like the life and blood were being sucked out of my body."

"Why didn't you immediately ask for help from other terrariums? It seems like the other terrariums don't know about this situation?"

If the branches of the World Tree are diseased, it's a big deal. The branches' blessing is what allows them to resist fire, so if there's something wrong with the branches, they should have asked for help immediately.

"Because of poor management, they could be criticized or lose control. There must be adult reasons. But more than that, the administrative manager believed that he could solve everything without making a big deal out of it. If the unrest in the terrarium grew, everyone would leave. A terrarium without residents can't be maintained. Of course, they did ask for help from other terrariums. Not the 20s, but the higher ones. They asked for help from the 16th Terrarium, where the Alchemy Tower is. They promised to send a solution, but it's been a long time since we heard from them. This happened two years ago. Maybe they turned their backs on us..."

Could the overturned carriage we saw on the way here...?

"The visitors to this place suddenly stopped coming a year ago. The whereabouts of those who left became unknown. There were disruptions in the supply of diamonds... and even when druids were urgently dispatched, none returned. This place has been isolated due to some unknown external factor. And the fire attack was sudden. There were few people inside who could resist the fire. I saw the administrative manager go out to protect the orchard... and yes,