I asked Daisy-2 to guide me to the wandering divination troupe that had been waiting for me.

I thought meeting them should come first, since I could explore the inside of the terrarium plenty while staying. But a few strangers approached me and spoke, forcing me to stop.

They were managers dispatched from the crop trio respectively. They said they came to greet me because I, as the administrative manager, had returned to the terrarium.

“This is the first time we’ve seen an administrative manager absent for so long, so we’ve been waiting for your return.”

“Ah, I prioritize traveling as a druid a bit more than the administrative manager role… I’m sorry for the unintended inconvenience. But if you have business, you can tell it to Daisy the dryad here, and she’ll relay it to me.”

“Then we’ll bring a druid who can communicate with dryads and proceed that way.”

Ah, right, to talk to Daisy-2, you’d need a druid.

“Thank you for coming all this way. I hope you’ll do well in rebuilding my terrarium.”

“We’re being paid handsomely, so rather, I’d like to say thank you for offering us the job. However…”

The person wearing the Great Bean Union badge trailed off and cautiously continued.

“Since the terrarium experienced a major fire, there are some problems. The fire was so severe that the water veins beneath the terrarium have dried up, making them hard to find. We need to search deeper, but we can’t just dig up all the ground, can we? Among those hired, there are quite a few druids, but we lack dryads who are good at finding water veins, so it’s becoming an issue.”

Ah… My terrarium has no water…? The unexpected problem made my mind ring blank.

“We can use the drinking water procured from the Golden Pumpkin Trading Post, but it’s only enough for drinking purposes. Other needs for water—such as people washing themselves or cleaning dirty materials—are falling short, causing difficulties. Hauling water from an external stream takes too long and wastes manpower, so it seems urgent to establish a waterway within the terrarium.”

“I’ve seen sap fountains bursting out in various places within the terrarium, the kind only found in single-digit terrariums… but as you know, that water is only usable by dryads.”

The three managers, nodding in agreement with each other, expressed the current difficulties inside the terrarium to me.

“Come to think of it, didn’t the pines of Notos find a water vein in the 16th terrarium? Could they possibly lend a hand?”

I had asked the guild members to connect groundwater with the black branches to heat up the 16th terrarium. They successfully completed my request. So, couldn’t we use that same method here?

But Iris hesitated to speak, glancing at my expression. Then Notos, the master of the pine dryads, opened his heavy mouth in Iris’s stead.

“I’m sorry, Jae. It seems my pines won’t be able to help.”

And he continued, looking around.

“With so many… such dryads lining the surroundings here… and especially since they have a history of attacking their master, the pines won’t answer the call. Even more so because this isn’t a crisis situation.”

Are the pines refusing the summons because of the artificially modified dryads? I flinched at Notos’s cautious wording, referring to the artificially modified dryads as ‘such’ dryads.

In front of outsiders unaware of the 16th terrarium incident, I nearly blurted out the term ‘artificial modification’ without thinking.

The dryads that had shed their black color looked no different from ordinary dryads. To a third party, it was impossible to tell that those dryads were born from the research materials that were nearly scrapped with blazing eyes in the 1st terrarium.

“Jae… I told you before.”

Iris sighed softly and said.

“Along with Herma’s laurels, Notos’s pines are so rigid that if your Wolfsbane is deployed in the field, those dryads might refuse to come out… And with Wolfsbane-like dryads everywhere, no matter how much Notos commands, it’s unavoidable. Forcing them out could even lower their favorability.”

So, as long as their masters remain in the 28th terrarium, it’ll be hard to see their faces. Then what about our terrarium? Are we becoming a water-scarce terrarium?

Somehow, I recalled the 26th terrarium, where the influence of fire from the surroundings made water relatively expensive. If we need it right now, how long will it take to find and bring in suitable manpower from outside?

“Hmm… If even the administrative manager has no solution, that’s quite a problem. As you know, in a place as blazing with fire as this, people who can wield water-related abilities and dryads are extremely rare, aren’t they? Many are already being called elsewhere, so finding one right away would take time.”

So it takes a long time after all. As I recall, a pine dryad is a normal-grade dryad, so if you want to find one, it’s possible. But they’d need to be like Notos, capable of using only a single pine tree species on an artifact and even exerting interlaced growth to reveal a hidden skill at the level of reading twenty years of land memories.

“My master, Jae. I think Jae could handle this alone without needing outside help.”

“Right. Why insist on getting help from another dryad? You can handle a stronger and more reliable existence yourself.”

Mesquite and Elder, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. Huh? You’re saying I can find water veins? Me?

“The great World Tree that manages the land of all things can’t find a single waterway? Try asking it to use a World Tree branch to bore through.”

Is the World Tree my friend? I’d call it to ask for help when in a pinch. But I get the gist of what they mean. They’re telling me to use my Gardening skill.

In the 16th terrarim, I tried controlling a World Tree branch that broke out of the orchard, but I’m not sure how it’ll work here. The orchard building isn’t sturdy due to the fire damage; what if it collapses?

I raised my left arm, where the tree branch tattoo was. A golden pattern rose and slowly rotated. And I felt a clear difference in the gazes directed at my arm.

Some people stared blankly without reaction, while dryads looked at me with wonder and affection. Even the artificially modified dryads nearby all turned their gaze toward me.

“Say… Siedling, can you see this on my arm? This golden glow.”

I held up my arm with the slowly rotating pattern to him, who was closest. Siedling replied with a stoic face that he couldn’t see the golden light. So then…?

“Daisy, can you see it?”

At my words, the Daisies answered simultaneously. Right, they were both Daisies, after all.

“Yes, Lord Jae! It’s the shape of a World Tree branch, truly beautiful.”

“Master Druid, it looks similar to what I saw when the former administrative manager used their ability on me. Does this mean you’ve come to wield the same power as that person? My Druid is truly amazing!”

I see. So the tree branch tattoos on my arm and phone are only visible to dryads. I wanted to show off flashy, wizard-like sparkling skill effects, but to others, it’d just look like I’m flailing my arm around. Isn’t this a bit embarrassing?

However, the moment I conveyed my will toward the World Tree branch in the 28th terrarium, a tremendous change occurred that everyone could notice. It was clear from the way they all tightly shut their eyes against the bright light that burst forth in an instant.

The ground trembled lightly. I was eating so much that uncultivated diamonds were bursting from my body, so do your job properly. Not too much, not too little—just enough water to spout like a fountain in the terrarium…

Kwar!

“I said not too much! Ack! Water’s leaking!”

With a loud noise, white, sacred branches like white jade burst through the ground from all directions. At the same time, a roaring sound accompanied thin streams of water shooting up, and soon muddy water began to fill the area around the branches.

Golden light shimmered over the murky mud water. As if begging for praise, the golden glow from the branches flashed brightly. And they turned the surroundings into a sea of water!

At the sudden commotion, everyone stopped what they were doing and hurried to evacuate.

“Everyone, stay calm! First, proceed with containing the flowing water!”

The managers standing nearby ran toward the workers. Judging by the noise from afar, it seemed there were more than a few water holes besides the ones visible right away.

“See, I told you you could handle it alone.”

The Elder said indifferently, as if it were obvious. I’m not sure whether to say I accomplished this or caused an accident.

I saw sandbags filled with soil being stacked neatly around the places where water was gushing out. After some time, when the dust settled, the manager of the Great Bin Alliance reported the progress and said they could start using the upper water first, then returned to the scene.

Anyway, since it turned out well… that’s fine, I guess.

As the branches that finished their work disappeared, the golden patterns swirling around my arm slowly subsided as well. Jaeffer looked at me and clapped his hands lightly.

“Wow, as expected of the Master! The Master of the Gaia Guild! The one who controls the World Tree’s branches! You’ve flipped the terrarium upside down.”

It seemed like pure praise, but it was oddly irritating.

“Uh, Master Druid. Those people over there. The wandering fortune-telling troupe.”

Daisy 2 pointed to a group of people in violet robes. It seemed that the commotion I caused had revealed my location to them. So, without me having to go looking, they came to find me on their own.