Chapter 95

"We also found this place by wandering around after getting lost, so we might not be able to find it again if we try to go back."

"Why would there be a mesquite statue in such a place?"

"I don't know. We tried to investigate the place and the statues thoroughly back then, but it was all in vain. The dungeon entrance was strongly sealed, so we couldn't even enter, and the statues had been abandoned for too long, leaving no information to be obtained. However, we estimated that the number of statues matched the number of self-generated fields, and one of the statues could be identified... It was probably the field that is legendary among the ancient dryads..."

"Hmm... That's enough. I think I should stop there. I'm just an old dryad, after all."

At that moment, Mesquite smiled and raised her shield to block me and them. She still looked somewhat unhappy. What was the next word after 'field'...?

Come to think of it, Mesquite had cut off her story like this before. It was when we first met the sapling dryads. Back then, I thought she cut off her story because the chatter was too loud... What is Mesquite trying to hide from me?

I looked up at her, who was standing tall behind me, and could only see the tip of her chin. Her mouth was tightly closed, as if she had never smiled.

Well, if she wants to hide it, I won't be curious anymore. If it was information I needed, she would have told me first. She must be hiding it because it's not good for me to know. My dryads, especially Mesquite, care about me, so maybe she's stopping the story for my sake.

"Um, then let's talk about the juniper grove, shall we?"

I said, pushing away Mesquite's shield. I won't ask any more questions or be curious. The previous topic is over.

Iris's party looked at Mesquite with questioning eyes, but they followed suit when they saw my smiling face, trying to change the mood.

"Ah, right. Yesterday, I gathered information while wandering around the terrarium and even visited the carpentry shop that issued the request."

Oh, why didn't I think of that? I only thought of using dryads to search the area, but I didn't consider gathering information from the terrarium. I thought it was just a simple exploration quest.

"From what I heard, there used to be a merchant who regularly supplied juniper wood to the carpentry shop. But he stopped showing up one day. Although he didn't seem to be a druid, he was getting a lot of wood from somewhere, so they thought he had discovered a grove that used dryad power."

"Hmm... So it's not even certain that the grove exists?"

"Not only that, but we could at least determine the direction where it might be. Notos, call them over."

At her words, Notos extended his terrarium artifact. While the others had one or two dryads standing beside them, Notos had none. Finally, I would get to see his dryads.

Two dryads with green heads emerged from the artifact, wrapped in a cluster of light. They looked like twins, similar to our dandelions, suggesting they were of the same species.

The dryads had sprawling hair and patterns, but they wore neat brown robes. Purple pinecones, resembling flowers, were attached like buttons and brooches.

"Notos's pines are quite useful when performing such requests. Do you know about pine dryads?"

"No, I saw them for the first time today."

Their hair resembled pine needles. Just by their appearance, I could guess the type of dryad.

"Pine dryads, although of the Normal grade and support type, are not preferred in combat due to their limitations. However, that's because people don't know their true value. Pines can see up to 10 years into the past of any area where a pine has once grown and thrived, as if it were the present. Even if the pine is no longer there, it can still see it as if it were still growing. And Notos's two pines can double this power using the power of the twin bond."

"Oh... So they can know up to 20 years into the past?"

"Yes, pines are Normal-grade self-generated fields, so they grow well in many areas. I thought they must have grown in this area at least once, unless it was a very poor land below the 60s. So I did some exploration yesterday. After identifying the merchant's appearance, I had the pines investigate. Although we couldn't get much information, we managed to find out that he frequently entered and exited the eastern gate of this terrarium. So the grove is likely to be in the east."

Even though the east is a vague direction, it's better than searching the entire area blindly. The power of dryads is truly amazing. They can even know about the past. They are incredibly useful, aren't they?

"Wow... I might recruit a pine dryad. They have such incredible power, right?"

"Indeed, pines are amazing dryads. However, as I mentioned, there are restrictions on using their power to see the past. That's why this power is not well-known."

"Restrictions?"

"Yes, quite strong restrictions. No other species can be in the druid's artifact except for pines. This is due to another meaning of the pine, which is fidelity. Only when a pine dryad is the only one protecting the druid, and the druid allows the pine dryad to connect to their soul, can the pine use its full power."

Only one dryad can be raised in the terrarium artifact to use this near-magical power to see the past. If I want to use the power of the pine, I would have to get rid of all my other dryads. That's absolutely not possible. The joy of card games is in collecting, right?

"Usually, druids don't just plant pines in their artifacts... That's why Notos only has pines."

The unexpected and severe restriction left me speechless. Notos was truly remarkable. How did he decide to only raise pines?

"If we head east and occasionally look into the past, we might find a clue to the grove."

After deciding on our destination, I was invited to join Iris's party again, this time as a formal party member, not a temporary one.

During the sapling stage, the party was formed unilaterally, but this time, I was excited to play with the druids as a party. Five people make a large party, don't they?

"Does Iris only have two dryads?"

Iris had two dryads, Jeppe and Hermia each had one, while I had six, including the dandelions. There was a clear difference. It felt like I had too many.

No, during the sapling stage, I also had a lot of dryads. Maybe I'm not that unusual?

"No, I have three species. The other dryads are in the artifact. Jeppe has three like me, and Hermia has two. Notos, as you saw, has two pine dryads."

"Why aren't they all out? Our dryads rarely go into the artifact when I'm outside. And I thought druids like Iris would have a lot more dryads, but it's different from what I imagined."

"Oh, there are several reasons... We always move as a team of four, so we don't need many dryads. The cost of recruiting dryads is high due to the fruits, and druids can share one dryad when they are in the Stonehenge mode together."

"Share a dryad?"

I hadn't heard of this before. I guess I would only know if I played in a party normally. Is it like borrowing a friend's hero?

"Yes, although you can't keep them for long, it's possible when the control share of Stonehenge is equal. You can share one dryad's soul connection at a time. Ultimately, all druids are small world trees, so it's possible. However, the dryad's priority is always their druid, so you can't control them perfectly. But our dryads have known each other for a long time, so they listen to us well, even though we have different artifacts. One of Jeppe's dryads only listens to its owner, though. It's because he spoiled it."

Indeed, there's a lot to learn from a properly formed party.

"Wow, can I share too?"

"Hmm... Mr. Jay, your control share is different from ours... You can't exert equal soul power..."

Oh, the ratio was different? I turned on my phone. I only checked if it was connected to Stonehenge mode and then turned it off.

Artifact network formation complete