Chapter 91

And then I had a strange dream. It was a dog dream. I knew it was a dog dream right away because:

"Your Majesty, it's time to find a groom."

I was sitting on the throne in a strange palace.

"Why are you here...?"

Suddenly, Belladonna was serving as my dryad beside me. Not only Belladonna, but other familiar dryads were standing beside me as well. Of course, on the opposite side were my own dryads.

Blue Melow, holding a crystal ball, bowed and said,

"The throne... is a lonely path... You should find a partner to assist you soon..."

"I don't want to fall in love yet. I want to have more adventures..."

"A fine candidate has just arrived here. Bring him in!"

"But I don't want to..."

"Your Majesty, he is said to be very handsome."

"Let's see, let's see! Come in!"

I didn't want to fall in love yet, but I was curious to see him since he was said to be handsome. However, when the large door opened, the person who entered was surprisingly a Sildling. Why is he here? Or, since his dryads are here, it makes sense that he would appear too?

Sildling walked expressionlessly and knelt before me.

I was so surprised that I couldn't say anything, and suddenly Belladonna clicked her tongue.

"Tsk tsk, he may be handsome, but he falls far short of our king's standards. Our king is guarded by the most beautiful Elder Flower. How could your face even measure up? Isn't that right?"

Suddenly, Elder leaned in close to me, showing me his face. He is handsome. Well, I do have a taste for more flamboyant faces. But, what kind of dream is this?

"Even if his face falls short, he is said to be very wealthy. He can gather a lot of money through commissions and offer it as a dowry to the king."

This time, Rosewood, holding a violin, said politely. Belladonna then waved her long staff with bell-shaped flowers hanging from it and scolded him.

"No way! Who can surpass our king with just wealth? Our king can buy a country with money!"

"Then this man is a very poor candidate! Chase him away!"

"I will chase him away immediately!"

Calamia, with pink hair, waved her hand and shouted, and Cadon, holding a thorny club, ran out.

"Hey, you druids, can you treat him like that?"

"Wait! I heard he has one more charm that matches the king's taste. Our king likes tall men with well-built bodies. Show off your appeal!"

"Hey... crazy! How do you know that?"

Belladonna had a look on her face that said, "Isn't it obvious?"

My face turned hot as my preferences were openly revealed in front of my dryads.

However, Sildling's actions as he stood up were not ordinary. He began to take off his thick, sturdy silver armor in response to Belladonna's words.

"Hey, what are you doing in my dream!"

As he took off his layered gauntlets, the sleeves of a white shirt were revealed. Then, he rolled up his sleeves in front of me. Seeing his bulging, vein-popping arms, I clapped without realizing it.

"You're reacting. Show more!"

"Hehe, my master, Jay. Do you like this?"

Suddenly, black gauntlets grabbed my arms.

"How about it? Am I not to your taste, Jay?"

"Why is Mesquite doing this?"

As Mesquite stood in front of me, a large shadow was cast by the ceiling lights.

"All is lost! You are useless, being outdone by Mesquite even in terms of attractiveness!"

"Chase him away! The weak shall wait for the next chance!"

I could see Sildling's dryads, each holding weapons, rushing at him.

"Your Majesty! I will bring the next one! He is said to have a very handsome face, so he might be worth seeing!"

Belladonna, dragging Sildling by the back of his neck, said to me. Who is the next one?

While I was distracted, Mesquite urged me.

"Hurry up, we need to go."

"Where?"

"We need to go eat. It's really hard to wake you up."

Looking for a groom and then suddenly eating? Mesquite pulled my arms, and I was dragged up from my seat.

"How long are you going to sleep?"

That woke me up. When I opened my eyes, my arms were held by Mesquite, just like in the dream. Mesquite's face was right in front of me. Looking into his lazy, sun-filled amber eyes, I almost felt my heart stop.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Dream... dream... dream..."

Only then did I realize how bizarre the dream was, and I suddenly felt embarrassed, wanting to hide somewhere.

***

I ate the food in a daze. The feast was so lavish that it could be described as making the table legs break, but I kept thinking about the absurd dream, and I ended up gnawing on my fork. My teeth were numb.

I wanted to install the Temple of the Sun in the artifact right after getting up and ask Mesquite for a favor, but it was impossible until the dream was completely out of my mind.

I patted my full stomach while munching on the small bread served as dessert. Even though my stomach was full, it still had room for dessert. After all, the dessert stomach is a separate entity.

"Jay, you said you were looking for something with the druids. Can you tell me about it?"

Mesquite, who had been watching me, asked. Oh, that?

"There's a grove of mock orange trees near the 18th Terrarium. Someone wants to find this grove, but no one has found it yet. So, it's considered a legend. I want to find it! The druids who agreed to form a guild with me will join. Mesquite wanted to meet them once."

"Mock orange trees... Why are you looking for them?"

"From what I read, they are fire-resistant and used as hedges. That's why they are being sought."

"Hmm, those trees are indeed very helpful to humans in that way."

Elder's expression was peculiar as he listened quietly. Why?

"Those trees don't get along with us. They are all stuffy and boring."

"Elder, you're the only one who doesn't get along with them. I think there's a lot to learn from those trees. Their upright and quiet virtues, which you, who are still growing, can't see."

"I'm fully grown."

I was amazed at how much Mesquite and Elder knew about the dryads of new plants.

"Did you meet the mock orange dryad when you were in the World Tree?"

"The World Tree contains information about all the plants in the world. I often met mock orange dryads because they are relatively numerous."

"Mesquite has lived for a very long time and knows almost all the dryads. Unless humans create them separately."

Elder pointed at Bagoth. Why is he picking on a quiet one again? Bagoth looked dejected when his sore spot was touched.

"Ouch, did that good-looking but mischievous dryad act up again? He always relies on his looks and thinks only of himself. Don't be too dejected. After all, you are the one the World Tree took with its own fruit. In a way, you are a unique dryad."

"The unique one is Mesquite. There's only one of him. Bagoth was born in the wrong way."

Hey, you pretty face! Did you have to crush his spirit like that! Do you have to take both a beautiful face and a hellish mouth to feel satisfied!

"So, Jay, how are you going to find the grove? It might be really hard to find. It might not even exist anymore."

"Wow! Not exist?"

"Meeting a naturally occurring dryad is very rare. While groves increase the likelihood of a dryad being born, the natural birth rate of dryads is very low. If no one was born to protect the grove, it might have been destroyed by fire."

"That's possible... So, is that why no one has found the grove yet? I was really curious to see how other druids would handle the request this time. I wanted to see how they do it. If it doesn't work out, I have Mesquite, who has good detection abilities. He can find it by sending out roots. I was thinking of trusting that."

"That might be dangerous. If Mesquite searches a wide area, it will cause a massive earthquake."

"Oh..."

Now that I think about it, there was an earthquake when Mesquite sent out roots to find a dryad. If he digs up the ground without knowing the exact location around the 18th, it could be...

"Jay, if the grove still exists, you might get unexpected help."

Mesquite pointed to the Terrarium artifact on my wrist.

"I noticed that the dandelion children have grown quite a bit. At this stage of growth, you might be able to use them."

"What do you mean?"

I looked at the artifact as Mesquite spoke. Despite it being late at night, Daisy2 and the dandelion children were diligently cleaning up the debris.

Do you sleep and work? Oh, dryads don't need to sleep. Still, it hurts my heart to see them working day and night...

"Do you remember the technique used by the king of the dandelion grove?"

"Hmm..."

I thought, resting my chin, and Mesquite waited patiently with a smile. If he's talking about dandelions, they used to create a fog around the grove to hide it. They also made Panacea. What else did they do?

"These seeds were sent out as scouts to identify intruders."

"If they knew you were a druid, they would have sent welcoming petals instead of warning seeds."

I remembered the white seeds that clung to Daisy's red hair like cat fur.

"Oh! I think they scattered dandelion seeds! They also showed the location of the fire."

"Yes, you do remember. Even though they are still seedlings, they grew up by the king's side. Now that they are grown, they can mimic the king's abilities."

I looked back into the artifact. The dryads who had been cleaning up the debris were now sitting on a bench, waving at me.