Druid Jae’s flower…? What kind of flower name is that?

I was dumbfounded by my nickname embedded like a surname in Wolfsbane. The field appearance rate had also changed from ‘low’ back to ‘none.’

Was this because the other dryad of the Alpine Monkshood, who had been here until just now, had vanished? If it was because no other dryad existed besides Monkshood, then I could roughly understand.

And then, a completely different grade appeared that wasn’t any of the dryad grades I knew—Normal, Rare, Unique, or Special. Original…? What kind of grade is that?

“Ah… My goodness, this feels like a historically monumental moment. To witness the sole dryad that becomes the origin of its own species. No matter how rare the odds, no improved breed of dryad has ever been able to become the origin of its own species.”

Papyrus, having regained his usual composure, looked at the stone tablet and exclaimed in a slightly elevated tone. ‘Original’ seemed to mean a species that was the beginning, just as Papyrus had implied. An out-of-standard grade. So just how incredible is our Wolfsbane?

At his words, Wolfsbane shyly emerged from the container and stood by my side. The child looked at the stone tablet with wonder-filled eyes.

“I really… just as Jae said before… I’ve become the first Monkshood dryad to uniquely exist within the small World Tree that is Jae…”

Wolfsbane’s voice was filled with overwhelming emotion. He blushed and looked at me as if he was incredibly proud of himself.

The child, who was always timid, now had a face that shone brightly. My hand naturally reached out to that face seeking praise. I stroked her head, filled with affection.

Even though I said that back then, just as Wolfsbane recalled… I never dreamed it would be officially confirmed like this.

It was fascinating. A flower bearing my nickname. And at that, a flower embedded in an unripe fruit that my dryads opposed at our first meeting, but the World Tree gave to me as if encouraging me.

It was true that I had boasted I would raise her well, yet I had fretted over the affinity that barely rose. But to think she would grow so well and become my own unique dryad.

Another surprising thing was that the slot in Wolfsbane’s information, which had always displayed [There is unverifiable information.], was finally unlocked.

‘In desperate situations, the flower blooms even more strongly.’

I recalled the unlocked phrase and the battle Wolfsbane had just endured. At first, it was a fight where there was a clear advantage in power.

But when Wolfsbane was pushed to the brink of death and Papyrus damaged the virtual artifact space, it was as if that became a signal, and the tide of battle turned instantly. I remembered the sight of the larger Wolfsbane suffering more the more it attacked.

‘Greater power in desperate situations’—I felt I could understand what that meant. It was clearly a passive skill that increased combat power as vitality decreased.

Among game character traits, there are often cases where attack power increases inversely to health. The combat power, which shot up inversely to the health that had dropped to rock bottom, ultimately helped his gain the upper hand against the larger Wolfsbane.

I recalled Wolfsbane, who had been steadily preparing to stack debuffs in a situation that others would see as hopeless.

The two Dryads, unlike other offensive Dryads like Daisy, had no one-shot skills. They simply used a technique to increase the intensity of the poison that inflicted debuffs on the surroundings. Wolfsbane, who had been biding his time by allowing a dense poison to seep into the enemy’s vicinity, seemed remarkably clever.

“I said there’s a power of perseverance left by Galpul in a corner of my soul. He taught me that if you don’t give up even when it’s painful and difficult, you can bloom into a strong and beautiful flower. And….”

As Wolfsbane spoke softly, everyone looked at him. With attention focused on him, the child fidgeted, pushing up his glasses unnecessarily.

“I just remembered… what Master Belladonna said….”

I recalled what Wolfsbane had said in battle. He had mentioned that a poison that quietly infiltrates without one’s knowledge was the most dangerous. It sounded like he was relaying something he’d heard from someone, yet he had grasped it from just a brief encounter with Belladonna. She was truly a great teacher to Wolfsbane!

“Ah… oh no. In the end.”

Papyrus broke the atmosphere with a dismal groan. He was moving around just fine, even with Daisy’s stem attached to his waist like a dog leash. When the line grew taut, he would subtly tug it to convey his opinion to Daisy. Then Daisy would tilt her head and give him a bit more slack. What exactly was I watching?

“They’ve all died, not a single one left. Oh dear… They were precious seeds that should have been preserved even for future history….”

He checked not only the garden bed where the improved Aconitum species were being cultivated but also all the surrounding garden beds, rubbing his forehead.

“As expected… this happened because a human who shouldn’t be here came. This is a big problem… What should I do about this.”

Then, he timidly expressed his opinion while glancing at my Dryads. Looking around, it was just as he said—all the plants had withered and died, turning black. The flowers that had once flaunted their dazzling colors menacingly were now darkened.

This wasn’t because of me, a human. It was because the Great Wolfsbane had run wild on his own.

“It’s better for things like this, which go against the principles of the World Tree, to no longer exist.”

“Were they all artificial hybrids born from alchemy? No wonder they felt unpleasant.”

Mesquite said, scanning the area with dry eyes. Meanwhile, Elder bluntly spat out his words, not even glancing at the dead plants. Both of them seemed to be targeting Papyrus.

“As I thought, from the moment I first saw you, I believed you were clearly obstinate Dryads.”

Papyrus said calmly to Elder and Mesquite. However, perhaps it was a display of bravery only possible from a distance, as he was slowly backing away.

“Human alchemy is developing very rapidly. The era is writing a new history. The World Tree is certainly a great being, but given the pace of human progress, something that can replace the World Tree could emerge at any time.”

At those words, Mesquite’s eyes turned extremely sharp. Papyrus continued to retreat, not stopping his steps, while moving his mouth.

“If you remain still in the changing flow of history, you’ll inevitably be left behind. Even if you’re a living witness to a long history!”

Having backed up to the wall, he took something hanging on it and pressed it against Daisy’s vine wrapped around his waist. A small spark leaped from the point of contact.

“Ah!”

Daisy flinched and retracted her vine. Seizing the chance, he quickly ran toward the exit. She tried to chase him, but the glass door shut instantly.

“We have to catch that guy! He’s going to call for people!”

At that, Mesquite thrust her lance without hesitation toward the closed glass door. At the same time, Elder cast a shield to protect me. Unlike Papyrus, who had barely made a hole by bashing with a stone, the glass door and all the connected glass walls shattered with a tremendous noise.

And as if the crashing sound were a starting gun, Daisy shot off at high speed in the direction Papyrus had fled. I stared blankly at the countless shattered glass fragments scattered on the floor. Wow… the glass wall looked pretty thick… And it just… in one blow…

Not long after, Daisy brought Papyrus back, coiled around him like a rope of vines, escorting him like a prisoner. Despite how desperately he had run away, he was caught again within a few seconds. Unlike Daisy, whose expression hadn’t changed at all, he looked utterly exhausted.

“…Did you say I was left behind…? Actually, history is also appealing in that we can learn wisdom from the past. After all, to judge the rights and wrongs of this new flow of history, it can only be known when history becomes the past, so it might be this side that gets left behind… Yes, indeed so.”

Papyrus looked at the completely shattered and scattered glass fragments with fearful eyes, then lowered his head. He realized that if he moved his mouth carelessly, he too could end up shattered like that glass.

But honestly, I had no intention of doing anything violent to him. From the start, I didn’t have any particular negative thoughts about artificial improvement like us dryads, and besides, he had helped us Wolfsbane by damaging the virtual artifact.

Besides, what he said was quite interesting, and I picked up a lot of knowledge from it. Given how he kept going on about the history of the Alchemy Tower, he seemed to know quite a lot about it.

Seeing that he had urgently gone to call for people, I judged that unless someone inside contacted them first, external intervention wouldn’t happen for a while. So staying quiet inside meant we could probably hide for quite a long time.

The original goal of obtaining Wolfsbane’s information from the 16th Alchemy Tower was successfully completed. Now the question was how to get out of here.

But what happened to Ewing, who was left on the lower floor by now?

“Now that you mention it, there’s something I want to ask. You seem quite knowledgeable about the history of the Alchemy Tower.”

At my words, Papyrus, who had been gloomily bowing his head, snapped it up. Huh? He looks really excited. He must love compliments. And he shows it so obviously.

I thought he seemed a bit careless, unlike the solemn scholar-like appearance I first saw. It’s been a while since I’ve encountered an easy-to-read dryad like this, not since Zephyr’s Beggarticks’s Needle.

Forgetting to nervously check Mesquite’s reaction, she spoke with a confident expression.

“Yes, that’s right. I am well-versed in much history. I am a dryad specialized in recording history.”

“I figured as much. You really know a lot, don’t you? I felt like I was reading an encyclopedia.”

“I’m on a whole different level from an encyclopedia. I am more valuable than hundreds of books. Managing this seed storage was entrusted to me because of this ability, despite my lack of combat power.”

Suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu, I looked at Elder.

“Our Elder sure knows how to flaunt his face.”

“Of course. I am the most beautiful flower among the flower trees.”

See? Exactly the same. I think I get how to handle him. I looked back at Papyrus. So, according to Papyrus, he’s like a search engine where you input a question and get an output? Or maybe like the Siri on my phone, which was taken by my dwarves…

Should I try to figure out a way to rescue Honeysuckle? Not just because she’s Earning’s dryad, but leaving her as she is seems too cruel.

“But maybe you know about this too? Do you know about the hill behind the Alchemy Tower?”

“Of course I know. According to past history, that place was originally a slightly elevated hill.”

This was exactly the same story Earning had told. She also said there was no hill, only a mound.