“Daisy!”

Like the sun finally emerging from dark clouds, her moist, hazel eyes became visible. Despite my attempts to stop her, Daisy immediately lifted her upper body.

The shoulder I held to support her felt so fragile, as if it would shatter at any moment. Daisy weakly rolled her eyes, glancing once at Elder and Mesquite beside me. Then she gave a faint smile.

“You’ve obtained some fine dryads… I truly congratulate you.”

…How can you, who carries the pain of being abandoned by someone, say something like that so casually?

At Daisy’s words, the dam of emotions I had been holding back seemed to burst. Daisy’s painful past, which I had uncovered without permission, trickled down as tears of pity.

If I had met a better druid first, if Daisy hadn’t been of a low grade, if she hadn’t met me, if she hadn’t followed me to the orchard—perhaps there were countless stories that could have unfolded differently, and the regret over their beginnings was unbearable.

“Not yet…. I haven’t obtained one yet. I can’t accept your congratulations.”

With a flustered expression, I carefully grasped both of Daisy’s hands that were wiping the tears from my cheeks.

“I haven’t found my luck yet. I told you, my luck is you. Without you, I’m not whole.”

“I don’t understand what you mean, Master Druid…”

“Become my dryad, Daisy. I’ll make you happy. Just as you became my luck, I’ll give everything I have to make sure you can be happy.”

I hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go of the flower that had become a mess while I wasn’t looking.

From the tightly embraced child’s bosom came the painful smell of earth and dust.

Even from a distance, Elder exuded a sweet fragrance, and Mesquite, when approached closely, gave off a dizzying, strong smoky scent.

Those two lively dryads emitted their own unique scents like this, but Daisy, being a dryad as well, had no fragrance at all.

That seemed to say she was dying as a dryad, and it felt like my heart was being torn apart.

“Wouldn’t it be better to run away even now? There seems to be no chance of winning.”

A whispering voice came from the group of men who had committed a terrible deed.

I resolved that once Daisy regained her composure, I would repay them several times over for what they had done to her.

“A dream… a dream…”

In my arms, Daisy squirmed. It was just as I was about to tell her it was definitely not a dream.

I thought I was holding her firmly, but Daisy slipped out of my arms in an instant. Then she grabbed my shoulders with both hands. Leaping with her one shoeless, wounded foot, she pressed down on my shoulders.

I wondered how such strength could exist in that small body. My upper body bent down deeply, while Daisy’s body, in contrast, floated and flew through the air.

Splash…! A sound like a water balloon bursting rang out. Droplets of water scattered onto the ground around me as if it had rained.

“Th-this…! Now you can’t escape either! Aaagh!”

Screams and the sound of tearing leather rang out in succession. The ground shook, and the noise of large pebbles falling in a cascade was heard. The force that had been pressing down on my shoulder was released in an instant. Behind me, I heard a soft thud as Daisy, who had vanished from my sight, fell. It was clear that the child had taken the attack aimed at me to protect me.

The scene that greeted me as I straightened my bent waist was starkly contrasting to the thick, sweet fragrance of Elder wafting in the air. The faint scent of blood mixed in with that fragrance jolted me back to my senses.

The dryads and humans before me were bound together, pierced like skewers by countless tree branches that had sprung up from the ground. At their tips, Elder’s white, snowflake-like flowers were stained with red blood.

“This… what….”

I turned my body haltingly, like a rusty, unoiled machine. Daisy, with white smoke rising from her back and legs, collapsed again. The same smoke rose from Mesquite’s shield and the translucent barrier Elder had cast.

Mesquite’s massive lance shot out toward the man wrapped in flower branches. The man, his chest pierced, dropped the crimson fruit he held and let out a gurgling scream.

A viscous liquid flowed from the fallen fruit, soaking the ground. White smoke rose up. It was the same smoke that rose from my dryads.

“Jae! Are you okay? There was one among their dryads that could produce acid!”

Mesquite asked me while still holding up her shield and stepping backward.

“I’m… I’m fine. But….”

Light shot from Elder’s hand, traveling to me, then Mesquite, and finally Daisy. But the light that touched Daisy was deflected.

“It’s the end…”

Elder withdrew his hand and said flatly. That can’t be. The sight of his skin melted away, revealing red flesh, was so painful that even I felt it. I couldn’t bring myself to touch Daisy.

“Daisy… Daisy….”

I cried out, asking Elder to use a recovery skill immediately. But he shook his head, saying there was no longer even a vessel for the soul to accept healing. Yielding to my frantic insistence, he shot out light again, but the light rebounded again, as if to confirm the kill.

“That can’t be… I can’t just go like this, in so much pain….”

“…It’s okay to be in pain, Master Druid.”

Daisy’s trembling fingertips touched mine as I reached out. Her voice was so faint that it was barely audible without focusing.

“The pain has grown dull… since some point, I couldn’t feel anything anymore.”

With her drooping head, Daisy smiled as brightly as ever. If not for the dust and blood that had thoroughly dirtied the child’s pale face, I would have almost fallen into the illusion that we were lying side by side on the inn bed from the day we met.

Daisy’s smile was so brilliantly radiant from beginning to end that it ached my heart. Yet, it flickered precariously like a match flame on the verge of going out.

“But if the druid had been hurt… I would have been in pain. My body doesn’t hurt anymore now… but my heart would have ached terribly. I’m glad the druid is safe.”

My entire body stiffened as if trapped in ice, unable to move. It was hard even to breathe. The only movements I had were my trembling eyes capturing Daisy’s fading smile in real time and my tears flowing like a broken mechanism.

“I’m happy. Because for a brief moment, I had a precious master who wanted me… I thought it was a dream. But the moment I believed I protected the druid… I realized I was in a truly happy reality.”

Daisy seemed to lack even the strength to lift her hand anymore; her slender arm dropped limply like a falling leaf. I immediately reached down to catch it but missed.

“No… Don’t close your eyes. You mustn’t close them, Daisy.”

“The druid… called me… luck, didn’t you? I feel the same. The druid is also my luck… and my hope.”

And then silence fell. Daisy’s lips no longer parted. Her closed eyelids forever hid her beautiful eyes. It felt as if the sky was collapsing.

Even though this place was a world within a game, it was the first time I had actually witnessed the death of someone I had interacted with.

Daisy was a child who had been kind to me and had given me so much help. If it hadn’t been for Daisy, I might have remained slumped forever in that dark alley where I hid from people.

A child who became a bright guiding light for me in an unfamiliar world. If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed with her longer. I would have taken her for a walk, not just to the orchard. I was just so happy to be inside the game, and what did that amount to?

My chest felt like it was being cut apart, and I wrapped my arms around myself, bending over. With every breath, the air felt like a blade piercing my lungs.

A beastly howl rose from deep in my throat. I bowed my body deeply until the sandy soil of the ground was crushed against my forehead. The scent of elder touched my shoulder as if to console me. I no longer wanted to think about anything.

That was when.

“Jae! Jae! Lift your head! Look ahead!”

Mesquite’s urgent voice was heard. When my body didn’t move, Elder slid his long arm in and forcibly lifted me up. The dirt stuck to my forehead fell off in a flurry, and through it, a warm white light pierced through.

Daisy was glowing white. The small child’s body was enveloped in the light and grew smaller and smaller. It kept shrinking until it became a tiny ball. I couldn’t close my mouth at the astonishing sight.

Mesquite dropped her lance and shield to the ground. He knelt down and carefully pushed the ball toward me with his freed hands, being careful not to touch it.

“My master, Jae. This is the small hope of a dryad child.”

The ball of light floated gently toward me, guided by Mesquite. I carefully caught it with both hands. It looked as though my hands were glowing.

“So that’s how it is.”

Elder muttered to himself and grabbed my weakening hands along with his own.

“Pure dryads born from the World Tree all return to its embrace when their life ends.”

The ball grew warmer as the light faded.

“But when the parent is not just the World Tree but combined with another species to become a modified breed, a special power they themselves don’t know of is sometimes engraved into the soul. That’s why this child can stay here without returning to the World Tree.”

Where the bright light vanished, a sparkling golden fruit was left. I had seen this fruit in the orchard before. The fruit from which dryads are born. The fruit that Elder and Mesquite were in before they bloomed…

With a soft plop, the top of the shell cracked open, and two round, golden sprouts poked their heads out. At that sight, I unconsciously held my breath.

“The special power engraved into this modified dryad’s soul is revival. Here is the seed, ready to be reborn.”

“My master, Jae. It’s the small hope that has come to find you again.”

It felt like the faint light on the sprouts was greeting me, saying hello.

My heart raced. How did I do it when making other dryads bloom? Can I do it here? Do I need to go back to the orchard?

“Jae, calm down. Breathe. You don’t want the little seedling to see you collapsed from holding your breath when it meets you again, do you?”

Mesquite’s amber eyes looked at me warmly. Elder’s hand, filled with light, gently covered my nose and mouth before letting go. The breath I had been holding burst out all at once. My head felt a little dizzy.

“My master, Jae. Let’s go to where the dryad pot is. To the place we first met. We need to greet each other there again. With the small, red flower.”

Mesquite lifted me up very gently. Then he bent down deeply and brushed the dirt off my pants.