On the mountain outside the cave, there were no proper paths for walking, making it harder to move as we went on. Ashes and fallen leaves were tangled together, creating a muddy, slippery surface with some slopes, so if we misstepped, we’d slide.

Later, I held onto the sturdy Mesquite as a support and walked while tightly gripping its arm. It was amazing how, unlike us who got dirty with every step in the messy surroundings, the dryads’ clothes remained clean.

Notos moved along swiftly with the pine trees. The others changed into boots as the terrain got rough, and I envied how the nails on the boot soles prevented slipping. So just having combat gear wasn’t enough—I guess I needed to buy hiking shoes too.

I felt we had strayed quite far from the 18th terrarium. Looking at Iris’s map, it was an area far from the surrounding terrariums. If we kept heading down, we’d reach the 17th terrarium, and if we went up, we’d end up between the 7th and 8th terrariums.

“Since we usually use the direct routes to the terrariums, it’s certainly hard to find places like this.”

Since we’d been walking for a long time, everyone decided to take a short break. I called the dandelion kids back too. Having rested fully, the kids looked lively and energetic.

“This area looks really barren—will there really be a snowball tree grove here?”

At the foot of the mountain, there were still many green-leaved plants, but as we went higher, everything turned brown. Then Notos replied that even just ten years ago, this place had been quite lush too.

“Even in a place like this, there was traffic from people over a decade ago. But they’ve cut down all the visible trees, and the sections where pines can be seen are increasing. Judging by their shabby attire, they don’t look like Terrarium people.”

“Then is there a village here? I’ve often seen cases where people who couldn’t move into the Terrarium due to taxes gathered to form a village… But they must have struggled to avoid the risk of fire. If they were druids, even with a high number, they’d have moved into the Terrarium, so it’s definitely just ordinary people gathered there. In that case, there’s a high probability they’ve already been hit by fire.”

There’s a village of people who couldn’t move into the Terrarium? Ah, then I hope we’re invited to the 28th one! I was vaguely thinking that when Iris urged us to hurry on our way, saying it would soon get dark.

Rubbing my sore legs, I secretly opened and drank stamina recovery potions when my dryads weren’t looking. Ever since they caught me using stamina recovery potions to keep going even when I felt like I was about to die, they haven’t really liked me drinking these.

This damn pathetic stamina stat. When will it ever increase?

After walking for a while, Notos, who was leading the way, said he had found something. Could it be that we’ve finally discovered the Viburnum colony? What will it look like? The dandelion colony was a vast expanse of dandelion flowers, looking like a beautiful yellow wave!

Didn’t you say Viburnum is a tree that blooms white flowers? So will it look like it’s thickly covered with white snowflakes? A cluster of flowering trees all blooming together must be truly beautiful!

I hurried my steps and headed to where Notos was. Notos was standing there, pushing aside branches that hung like curtains. The place I saw standing beside him was far too different from what I had imagined.

“Oh my… What happened here?”

“This is all… such a horrific sight.”

“So it did get hit by fire after all…”

“Notos, can you see the memories of this land through the pines?”

“No, it’s impossible. The pines all disappeared from this place a long time ago. They were all cut down.”

Everything was just black. It did seem like there had once been a lush forest. The fallen and collapsed objects all appeared to be trees.

I could also see many forms of houses with walls that had completely collapsed. As Iris had guessed, it seemed like there had been a village a long time ago. I could see tents burned to ashes and household goods as well.

“Among the villages outside the Terrarium that I’ve seen so far, this one is quite large. This is probably indeed the Viburnum colony. They must have been able to hold out for a long time by using fire-resistant water as a hedge.”

“It doesn’t seem like the trees were all destroyed by fire. Look at this, there are quite a lot of them with their stumps exposed from being cut down.”

Herma’s words were true. There were an enormous number of round tree stumps, as if a harvester had passed through once. Even though they were all blackened from the fire, many rough cut marks were visible.

“Should we say we found the Viburnum colony… It’s become the site where the colony used to be.”

“My master, Jae. I feel an incredibly strong fire energy.”

At Mesquite’s words, everyone was startled and drew their weapons. A strong fire? Could such fire exist here, so far from the surrounding terrariums?

“If even Master Jae’s special-grade dryad says it’s strong, just how powerful is it? We need to prepare.”

Iris was seen summoning a dryad from her artifact. Along with a flash of light, a male dryad with short ivory-colored hair appeared.

The dryad was strikingly conspicuous, its entire body a dazzling array of colors. Its skin shimmered in multiple hues like painted pigments. Blue, yellow, green, pink, orange, black—every color was contained within that dryad.

“Deglupta, you will be the team’s main tank. Focus on defense.”

Starting with her, Zephyr and Herma were seen bringing out other dryads. Zephyr’s Beggarticks alba also reappeared. Their names could be known by the way they called forth their dryads, along with Mesquite’s explanations.

Iris’s dryads were ‘German Iris,’ ‘Lantana,’ and ‘Eucalyptus deglupta.’ Zephyr’s dryads were ‘Beggarticks alba,’ ‘Hyacinth,’ and ‘Anemone,’ and Herma’s dryads were ‘Crocus’ and ‘Laurel.’ Notos only had Pine.

“Who goes there!”

Suddenly, a booming voice was heard. It was not the voice of any of us. At the same time that Iris’s Deglupta blocked with his shield, a long sword struck him down. The shield was seen shattering with a crunch.

“Whoa! The shield is smashed!”

“Don’t worry! The specialty of the Eucalyptus deglupta dryad is bark shedding. While its durability is somewhat low, it has many layers of bark, making it useful for defense. It can discard old bark and immediately switch to new bark.”

As she said, another shield was already in place on Deglupta’s arm. However, its color had changed from blue to pink.

Surprisingly, what was attacking him was a dryad. Moreover, its entire body was burnt black and looked precarious. That it was a dryad could be known by the white flower adorning its left chest.

That dryad, as if having exhausted its strength with that single blow, dropped to one knee and panted for breath.

“Pant, pant… this energy is… a druid? How could a druid be here….”

“Foolish dryad. Withdraw your sword! Do you dare to harm the Little World Tree?”

It looks like a masterless dryad. Could it possibly be a naturally occurring one?

“It’s a Viburnum dryad. It seems to be a dryad that luckily sprouted in a colony.”

Mesquite said, looking at the dryad. Oh, Viburnum!

“Wow, a naturally occurring dryad! But its condition is too pitiful. Is it alone? It would have been hard to endure for long without a king.”

“There’s nothing here for you to take… nothing at all! Go back!”

The Viburnum dryad shouted angrily at Iris’s words. Her white silver hair was filthy with ash, and the sword she held was chipped in many places. Her armor was burned or scorched, with no spot left unharmed.

“It seems the mother tree, being a fireproof tree, withstood even fire attacks. Given its size, if left alone, it might return to the world tree.”

“A dryad wary of druids? How shameful. The small world tree is a beloved being that provides us with sanctuary. Every dryad should love the small world tree as much as they revere the world tree.”

The Beggarticks dryad, tightly hugging Zephyr, said to the Viburnum dryad in a pouty tone. Though the thorns on her sleeve were cutting Zephyr’s cheeks, he was just smiling with pure joy.

At her words, I felt Wolfsbane flinch and tremble. It seemed he was reminded of his past self. He had attacked recklessly without common sense too. But that’s because he was born artificially and knew nothing.

“A druid is still a human in the end. Humans are very greedy beings. I too am a dryad, so I never want to harm you. So go back.”

The expression on the Viburnum saying that looked very pained.

“My master, Jae. Don’t you recall anything seeing that dryad?”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Mesquite asked me.

“Jae has seen a dryad of the same kind once before. It was with a druid. It was gathering its last life force to block the fire.”

“Oh… Could it be the former administrator of the 28th terrarium? Scarecrow! They were using a graft with a dryad. Ah, that dryad was called Viburnum. No wonder it sounded familiar!”

“Scarecrow… you say? That child is alive…?”

He stopped speaking and suddenly clutched his whole body in agony. Amazingly, his body was burning.

“Dangerous! He’ll die like that!”

Zephyr had the Beggarticks use her power. She looked reluctant, but because Zephyr told her to, she slowly gave her power to the Viburnum.

“Unless a soul bond is formed, even our restorative power is of little use.”

The fire burning the Viburnum soon died down. He gasped for breath and looked at me with bloodshot eyes. Seeing him like that was a bit scary.

“Tell me. Scarecrow, is that child alive? Is she doing well… Tell me how she’s doing…”

“Calling her a child is… um… She was also the administrator of the 28th terrarium…”

I saw a portrait of her from her youth in her office, but the last time I saw her, she was an old woman. Having consumed all her life force. In the end, she died, and I buried her in the earth with the Elder’s power.

“Ah… I’m glad she escaped well… What a relief… a relief…”

It was hard for him, who was hoping for good news from the Scarecrow, to break the news of her death to him. Were they acquainted? Was it related to that Viburnum dryad who was with her?

“What’s happening to the host plant?”

Suddenly, Mesquite asked her. Her voice was extremely sharp.

“Go back… Go back.”

“Answer me. I sense a strong aura of fire here. Is it connected to your host plant?”

“There’s nothing… nothing here.”

Despite Mesquite’s overwhelming pressure, the Viburnum dryad somehow held her ground. Mesquite, looking down at her coldly, said, “A hedgerow,” and gazed in a certain direction.

“My master, Jae. That dryad’s host plant is blocking the fire. Just like what we saw in the 28th terrarium that day. It’s possible because he was once the king of the colony. Though not a single entrusted soul is visible on him now. What will you do?”

“Good heavens… He’s blocking the fire with his bare body?”

Not just me, but everyone had startled expressions.

“I don’t need human help… Go back!”

Given his precarious state, the Viburnum’s attitude was far too firm. What in the world had made him so distrustful of humans?