And so, dramatically, with Siedling, a 4th-grade Gardener, as our bodyguard, we headed to the Alchemy Tower to carry out Winter’s request.

As soon as I left the inn, I had resolved to kick that stalker bastard if I ran into Papillion, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. Was it because I was with Siedling?

Passing by the alchemy tower, I climbed the hill that Winter had mentioned. I’d imagined something like a neighborhood hill, but it was quite high. There was even a dense forest. I wondered how such a mountain could exist inside Terrarium, which I had thought was just a simple village.

Siedling was climbing without any difficulty even while heavily armed. I envied that sight to death. When would I ever have such amazing stamina? I don’t particularly make an effort, but I wished I could become like that overnight.

As I climbed while lost in thought, I felt my surroundings gradually darken despite it being a bright day. Yet, the heat pressed in as if the sun were beating down directly on my whole body. It was sweltering, like midsummer weather.

“Why is it so hot here?”

“It wasn’t like this before… but it’s been getting hotter and hotter…”

Winter, who was bundled up in clothes to hide his woody skin, seemed to be struggling the most.

“Over there… that’s the place I told you about, blocked by unknown branches. We need to get past that to reach the dryads.”

I looked at where Winter was pointing.

It looked like a net made of wood. Black, glossy branches were blocking the path that had been cleared for people to walk on, along with everything around it.

It was tall, but also curved round toward us like a cave, making it look difficult to climb over the top. It was also so dense that it didn’t seem easy for a person to slip through the gaps.

“Is that really a tree?”

“Yes. The druids who came here said so. They said it’s the mother tree of the dryads, imbued with the power of the World Tree.”

“A pitch-black tree… it looks just like it’s been burned. What do you think? Would it be dangerous to go near it?”

I looked up at Mesquite to ask for her opinion, but her expression was odd. He was frowning, as if something displeased him. Meanwhile, Siedling’s dryads all had ambiguous looks on their faces too.

Since no dryad specifically said it was dangerous, I let Siedling lead the way and approached the tree. From a distance, it looked black and the area was scorching hot, making me think it had burned, but up close, the tree seemed as shiny and hard as obsidian. It looked just like a tree branch made of gems.

“No matter how I look at it, I don’t think this is a tree. Is it stone? Or maybe coral?”

Could I touch it? I gently placed my hand on the tree. My skin barely made contact. I felt a very intense warmth. It seemed the reason the area was as hot as midsummer was because of the heat emanating from these branches.

But looking around, there was no fire to be seen. Neither ordinary blazing fire nor monster fire, not a single one.

Moreover, this place was inside the terrarium. It wasn’t like the time with the Viburnum, where fire could be trapped or hidden and blocked off somewhere. Thanks to the blessing power of the World Tree branch, the fire couldn’t get close to the terrarium, or even if it did, it was suppressed by the blessing and remained small in size.

Then where was the heat that made the surroundings so hot coming from?

That was when I saw something pale white flicker and move through the gaps in the tree net. I tried to follow it with my eyes, but it disappeared in an instant, and I couldn’t confirm what it was. What did I just see?

“This… I can feel the power of the World Tree, but…”

“It’s not the mother tree of the dryads.”

Kalmia and Mesquite said at the same time. You could feel the World Tree’s power, but it wasn’t the dryads’ mother tree. What exactly was this stone-made fake plant?

Bang!

While everyone hesitated to give an opinion and just wore unpleasant expressions, Siedling suddenly drew his sword and swung it at the branch. I was so startled that I stepped back to Mesquite’s side. You should at least warn me. I thought my heart was going to drop.

The branch, which looked very sturdy, was cut off surprisingly easily. I wasn’t sure if it was because Siedling was strong, or if the branch’s durability was weaker than I thought. It looked like he could easily cut a path with just a few more swings of his sword. But then Siedling suddenly sheathed his sword and stepped back.

White steam burst out from the cut ends of the branch. And astonishingly, something wriggling and pointed sprouted out, then began to extend rapidly. It looked as if the severed branch was regenerating.

“Cutting it isn’t easy, but…”

Winter glanced at Siedling’s sword and continued speaking.

“As you can see, when cut, it regenerates like this… So it’s hard to clear a path.”

Steam also rose from the remnants of the branch that had fallen to the ground. Then, like ice, it melted away completely.

“Is it really a plant in the first place? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like a plant to me…”

At my words, Winter turned her head sharply and asked in an urgent voice.

“Do the dryads say anything? Do they say it’s not a plant? Well… Among the druids who came, there was one who said they could clearly feel the World Tree’s blessing, even though they weren’t sure it was a plant…”

I moved away from Winter and quietly sidled up to Mesquite. Then I spoke in a very small voice.

“Could this be… like an artificially improved species created in the Alchemy Tower, like the monkshood? Is that why the dryads don’t recognize it?”

“My master, Jae. If that were the case, there should be at least one trait of the species mixed into the enhancement, but this doesn’t show any trait of any species I’ve seen so far. It’s as if… a new species has been created.”

Mesquite briefly relaxed her expression when she looked at me, but when she turned back to the branch, she wore a very displeased expression. The other dryads, even Daisy who was always smiling, also looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Is everyone sensing some bad energy? Your expressions are… really grim.”

“It’s absolutely revolting. This is a discomfort that wells up from inside. The more I look at that black branch, the more I feel like my stomach is twisting.”

“I’m… so angry I feel like crying…”

Kalmia and Blue Mallow answered instead. The dryads’ condition was very strange.

“Stay back. I’ll call Belladonna.”

At Siedling’s words, Winter ran far away from us. Violet petals fluttered from Siedling’s artifact, and Belladonna appeared. As soon as she stepped onto the field, she covered her mouth and bowed her head deeply.

“Belladonna, can your poison completely eradicate this? With your poison, no life should survive.”

Siedling asked Belladonna. A black hood completely covered her, so her face couldn’t be seen.

“Siedling, I’m sorry. I feel really awful… I have no urge to attack that strange branch at all.”

“Uh… Daisy, can you cut down that tree?”

“Master Druid… I’m sorry. I can’t bring myself to draw my weapon against that branch either.”

Daisy looked crestfallen, apologizing for disappointing me. Huh? Why is everyone acting like this?

“Mesquite too? Elder? Wolfsbane, what about you?”

Unlike Siedling, who had swung his sword without hesitation, none of the dryads could attack the branch. They all said, like Belladonna, that they felt bad but had no desire to attack it whatsoever.

I shouted at Winter, asking about what had happened earlier with the other druid’s dryads he had brought. Whether they too had been unable to attack the tree. He replied that it was true. Well, he should’ve told me that beforehand!

“Then the only one here who can attack that tree is Siedling, but even if we cut it down, it just regenerates instantly, so we’d only be wasting our strength. If we can’t use the dryads’ special abilities, isn’t it hopeless?”

I had to count us as lacking combat power. I couldn’t just throw diamonds at the branch to attack it. This seemed like a problem I couldn’t solve, even as an administrative officer.

But does Papillion know? That such a bizarre tree is growing in his terrarium? No, since he’s said to be meticulous, maybe he knows and has left it alone? Why on earth would he?

I picked up a stone from the ground and struck the branch hard. A dull sound came from it. It definitely didn’t feel like I was hitting a tree.

That was when it happened. Suddenly, a shattering scream rang out from all around me. It was a voice that made it impossible to discern gender, screaming so loudly it gave the listener a headache.

“Stop it! Stop! Who’s doing that?”

No matter how much I covered my ears, the sound wouldn’t fade. It was as if the noise was coming from inside my ears.

“Jae! What’s going on?”

“Who’s screaming? Can’t you all hear it? Why is it only me….”

Everyone gathered around me with serious expressions. But no one else was covering their ears. It felt like only I could hear this terrible screaming. Even Siedling was looking utterly confused, reaching a hand out toward me. Mesquite wrapped her arms around me as if to protect me, but it didn’t help at all.

“Stop it! My eardrums are about to burst! Which bastard is it?”

My stomach churned as if I was seasick. Then, with a piercing ring in my ears, my vision suddenly dropped. The world around me narrowed and went blurry, like it was being eaten away.

I could hear the dryads frantically calling my name, but I couldn’t answer. If I opened my mouth, I felt like I would throw up.

Standing on both legs became too difficult, so I collapsed. A severe wave of dizziness swept over me. My memory cut out in fragments by the second, and with the feeling of cold metal touching my forehead, my heavy body slipped beyond my control.

When I opened my eyes again, the screaming that had tormented me was gone. But everything around me was pitch black.

A crackling sound of something burning reached my ears. The area around me was burning in a circle, like the glowing tip of a lit cigarette.

What’s this? Everyone’s gone, and I’m alone? Where am I? I wanted to speak, but my mouth wouldn’t open. Is this a dream? Did I pass out?

Suddenly, a brilliant white light burst out from behind me. With light flooding the utter darkness, I could finally see my surroundings clearly. The black branches that had been blocking the way were here too, surrounding me like a fence.

When I turned around, the source of the white light was a mysterious white branch. I recognized it at a glance. It was a branch of the World Tree. And not just any—it was from my 28th terrarium’s World Tree.

Countless other terrariums have orchards with World Tree branches too, but I was certain that the glowing branch there was specifically from the 28th terrarium.

And then, as if a wave of memory came rushing in, my mind became clear. The black branches—I had seen something similar before. In a dream, just like this one. Though back then, it was a dry, withered branch. It had given me an unripe fruit containing Wolfsbane’s soul.

Both those things surrounding me like a fence in my dream and those black things blocking the path—all of them were branches of the World Tree. Even though they looked nothing like branches of the World Tree, appearing as if made of stone, I had the conviction that they were unmistakably branches of the World Tree.

Then, even though I knew it couldn’t be, I felt as if the black branch was thanking me for recognizing it.

If so, why hadn’t the dryads—not even Mesquite—recognized it? Could it be that even though they didn’t recognize it, no one could attack the branches because they instinctively knew they were branches of the World Tree?

How on earth did the World Tree’s branches end up in such a state?

What? Hot? It’s suffering from the heat? Asking for help?

Even though I couldn’t hear any voice, I could read the white branch’s mind as if I had heard a god.

I recalled the branch of the World Tree that had spoken to me when the 28th terrarium was completely destroyed by fire. It felt as though it was speaking to me again, just like back then.

How can I help? If that black branch really is a branch of the World Tree, then it’s responsible for the administrative management of the 16th terrarium, so I can’t do anything about it, right? But why is the 16th World Tree’s branch out here, not in the orchard?

Then the screams came again. At last, I understood. It was the black branch that was screaming. The black branch was screaming and saying it would rather die.