Chapter 98

"You seem to have stumbled upon a strange group. We don't know much about them since they are so secretive, but the rumors are never good."

She looked at me with a very worried expression. After hearing that I was being pursued, Iris stood behind me with the dryads, while Notos moved forward to keep watch.

"Can you tell me more about the rumors?"

The gorge had a stream, but the water was so shallow it barely wet the soles of our shoes. It seemed like there used to be more water here. Large rocks, as tall as my shoulders, had been smoothed by the water's flow. Could the water have dried up due to the influence of fire?

We stepped on the damp pebbles, crunching underfoot. Apart from the trickling water and the sound of our steps, there was no sign of any living thing. Compared to the 28th Terrarium where birds were flying around, the surroundings here were strangely quiet.

"Perhaps it's a group that worships fire. They commit all sorts of evil deeds... There have been many fire incidents related to this group. Oh, and according to rumors, they once burned an entire terrarium to ashes. I don't know if it's true, but it's a bizarre group, isn't it? They don't discriminate, accepting both humans and dryads. But that's not right for dryads, is it? How can they harm the World Tree with the blessing of the World Tree's power?"

Mesquite hummed in agreement.

"Even though we don't know the name or members of the organization, they can be identified by the flame-like burn scars on their bodies. We've traveled a lot but haven't been involved with them, so I can only tell you what I've heard."

I thought I had really gotten myself into trouble. A group that worships fire. In my world, there are also those who worship demons or strange religions. If fire is the embodiment of evil in this world, then it must be like a demon.

But what do they do by worshipping fire? They are irrational and burn everything around them. If they worship, they should pray to the fire, so why did they try to kidnap the Cannabis dryad? It's absurd.

As we moved away from the terrarium, we started to encounter small and large fires. Since this was a terrarium from an earlier era, the blessing of the World Tree's branches was strong, making the number and influence of the fires very weak.

The daisy children were scared of even the smallest fires, but the small fires seemed to avoid us. It seemed like they had some level of intelligence, judging by how they would attack based on our levels.

The daisy seeds, which had been diligently detecting fires around us, finally found something. They had discovered a tree similar to a dogwood.

We stopped walking along the gorge and looked for a way to climb up. We found a cave in the middle, which was hidden by rocks but revealed by the daisy seeds flying around like fireflies.

The cave was dark, but sunlight was visible not far ahead. While I was thinking about using a diamond to light the fire and illuminate the inside, Iris and Notos took out lamps. High-level characters really have a variety of items.

I felt a bit embarrassed for thinking like a primitive and quickly put away the diamond I was rolling in my pocket.

Using the lamps they had, we walked through the darkness toward the sunlight. This world is quite bright even in the dark, so I hadn't prepared for such a cave. I resolved to buy a lamp the next time I visited a general store.

The path up was quite steep, almost vertical, but there were rocks scattered like steps, making it possible to climb if you held on.

The daisies and other dryads, even the daisy children, hopped up easily, and Iris and Notos seemed quite comfortable with the rocky terrain.

The problem was me. I reached out my arm bravely and put my hand on a rock, but I just stuck there like a sloth hanging from a tree. Damn... I lack jumping power... It was so embarrassing that I couldn't help but laugh.

Daisy was about to pull me up with a vine from above, but Mesquite, who had been watching me struggle, waved her hand to stop her. Unlike the elder who lifted me roughly, Mesquite carried me gently and jumped up in one go.

It was embarrassing to be held so closely, but Mesquite looked so cool. I wish time could stop right now...

"Ah, it really is a dogwood tree. Although there's only one."

The daisy children had found the dogwood tree. It was a small, round tree with red berries hanging like grapes. The leaves were sparse, and it didn't look very healthy, but compared to the surrounding trees, the wood seemed sturdy.

The area was filled with trees covered in dead leaves and dry branches. Iris looked around the tree and said,

"Hmm... The field here is similar to the natural habitat of the dogwood tree. There's water flowing below and a high mountain behind. The area above is relatively flat and has fewer rocks. Even though there's only one tree, there might be a grove nearby. The probability of pine trees growing and thriving in such a place is also high. Notos' dryads might bring back good news."

It seemed to be a very remote area. The path was definitely difficult for people to travel. This might make it hard for the organization chasing me.

The underbrush crumbled like well-cooked fish bones with the slightest touch. While I was brushing off the remnants on my robe, Iris noticed Notos standing in one spot for a long time and said,

"We should call Japher and Hermus here. Staying in one place for so long, reading the earth's memories, means he's found something."

She took out a goblin needle fruit and crushed it in her hand. It was clearly filled with emotion.

"By the way, don't you use wasps? It seems more convenient to send messages in text, even if it's fragmented."

It had just occurred to me after receiving Kalong's wasp. Iris answered my question simply.

"Wasps are expensive."

I see.

"Notos couldn't read the memory with one power, but with two, he read that people had been here."

"The memory is over ten years old."

Notos stopped reading the memories of the pines and approached us, looking at me.

"I saw a merchant with a cart full of trees on the road. It seems there was relatively frequent traffic in the past. On the way to the 18th Terrarium, he was sometimes alone and sometimes with others. The faces in his group changed each time. If we follow his trail backward, we might find the grove."

"What do you think, Mr. Jay? It seems we've really found the grove!"

Iris looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask if I would give her a good score on the entrance test.

"It's too early to say we've found it."

Notos pointed in the direction we should go and asked the daisies to send seeds in that direction.

While the daisy seeds were scouting, we waited for Japher and Hermus and discussed what to do if we found the grove. We sat on a flat rock and talked.

"Mr. Jay, what do you plan to do with the dogwood tree?"

"Ah, I haven't really thought about it. I was just curious because no one had found it. It's like a treasure hunt..."

Iris muttered that people with many diamonds sometimes do things that are hard to understand, like me. Her words made me think of how I had wasted diamonds on all sorts of things.

This person hasn't seen me use diamonds like water yet. Have you ever seen it rain diamonds?

"How about using the dogwood trees as a fence in your 28th Terrarium? Since it's waterproof, it would be great for blocking fire!"

"Hmm... I don't think so. There's no way to move all the trees... I don't want to destroy the grove."

The grove is a place where dryads are likely to be born. I thought of the daisy grove. I didn't want to pick even one daisy flower from the thickly blooming field. Even though daisies are common, the flowers are most beautiful when they bloom together.

We continued to chat. What would the dogwood grove be like? How impressive would it be to see the trees growing together? Why hasn't anyone found it despite it being in a remote area? We spent quite a while discussing.

"Japher and Hermus are late... Did they get lost? I made the flowers bloom along the path with my dryad's power, and they won't disappear for a long time. They should have found the flowers. They're really late."

Notos called back the daisy children who had been sending seeds in the direction we came from and asked them to send seeds to find Japher and Hermus.

"Did something happen?"

"There's not much fire around here... They're not the type to be harmed by fire..."

After a long wait, the daisy children finally responded. They had found Japher and Hermus, but there were also many other dryads and druids around them.

The children were exhausted and collapsed. I approached them in surprise, and Mesquite said,

"My master, Jay. They're still young saplings, so they can't sense much. But they did a good job holding on for a long time. Don't worry too much. If you send them back to Jay's artifact to rest, they'll recover quickly."

I hurriedly sent the children back to the artifact. The children, who didn't want to go back, eventually disappeared in a cluster of light.

"If there are other druids and dryads... Could they be the ones chasing Mr. Jay?"

"Damn, if Japher and Hermus got involved because of me, what should I do?"

Iris looked at the direction we came from for a long time. Then she pulled me into a dense thicket.

"We don't know if they're in battle yet. Notos and I will go check. Since they're after Mr. Jay, it's best for you to hide here."

I was very worried about them, but I thought they would handle it well since they were high-level characters, unlike me. I should follow her advice.

I saw Notos sending the pines back to the artifact after talking with Iris. They started to return in the direction we came from, looking at me sitting quietly in the thicket. I hope nothing happens.

Mesquite and Elder were standing in the direction they disappeared, keeping watch. They said they couldn't hide in the thicket because of their size, so they would hide behind rocks or trees and keep an eye on the surroundings.

Only Daisy and Barog, who were small, stuck to my sides, using the thicket like a blanket and nodding their heads from side to side.