The interior of the terrarium was open for workers to move freely for reconstruction, but the orchard was being left untouched for now, as they were carefully selecting and entrusting it only to limited people.

I had already made this point clear when discussing the reconstruction project with the Great Bean Union, which provides many workers. Meanwhile, the Viburnum and Daisy2 took turns standing guard, blocking the attention of any nosy onlookers nearby.

When the Viburnum spotted me at the orchard entrance, it wore a delighted expression, but its face hardened upon seeing Flora.

“You must keep everything you saw inside a secret.”

“I will keep it strictly. Even if you give me the terrarium, I will never utter a word.”

I reiterated to the Viburnum the advice we had shared inside the tent to reassure it. Though I had already answered with firm resolve, she realized my intent and lightly parried by repeating the same answer she had given before.

The branch of the World Tree has already recovered and will look more pristine than any other branch, but the inside of the orchard where that branch lies remains in a devastating state, with nothing restored.

Not only was it charred black and dangerously on the verge of collapse from the fire damage, but unlike the orchards in other terrariums bustling with employees, this one stood empty, devoid of a single person.

Although a large fire had occurred, it was not advantageous for everyone in the neighborhood to know that the orchard had become so dysfunctional.

Still, whether my dryads had done some tidying up, the state was much better compared to when we first arrived and could barely lift our feet. They had cleared away the ash and provided adequate ventilation, making it easy to breathe.

We reached a vast room where the precarious door had been completely removed, and thick timbers were propping up the entrance to prevent it from collapsing. Amidst the blackened walls, the branch of the World Tree, shimmering with a faint, sacred light and accompanied by the clear sound of trickling water, existed in stark contrast.

Fortunately, Flora had tactfully said nothing on the way here.

“For now, there are no fruits in plain sight. Scatter and search to see if they’re hidden away in some corner.”

Unlike the Iris party, who seemed a bit excited as if playing a treasure hunt, Siedling stood still beside me, not budging an inch.

“You’re not going?”

“I would go if ordered. But since this place is at risk of collapsing soon, it’s better to stand by the entrance with you.”

He said that, looking up at a corner of the ceiling that was wide open, clearly showing the upper floor. I was the only one, along with Siedling, who had witnessed and experienced that day’s catastrophe with my own eyes. So much happened back then. If that day’s me saw this present self, how shocked would I be to be in the same space as him, and as a member of the same guild, so close like this?

At first, the thought that a high-level player was looking down on and crushing a low-level one, along with the anger at being separated from my Daisy, made my impression of Siedling sink so low it dug a tunnel underground. But after keeping him close, I’ve come to realize he’s not such a bad kid after all, unlike my initial impression.

Just like our Wolfsbane, born in the Swamp of Death and attacking druids without knowing anything, Seedling’s environment likely made him that way.

Just as Wolfsbane, who entered my enclosure, gradually adapted and grew this much, now that he’s part of my guild, I believe Siedling’s attitude towards others will improve significantly. We can fix things one by one.

“Seeing how he’s learned and used all those lame jokes from Papillion, his learning ability doesn’t seem bad… but does he need to be taught at a rote memorization level…?”

I felt Siedling glance down at me at the sound of my muttering.

“Master, I found it! There really is a fruit!”

Suddenly, Zephyr exclaimed in a voice filled with joy.

“What? Did it really bear fruit?”

I reflexively looked at Daisy2. His eyes, which were always half-lidded as if sleepy, were now wide open in clear surprise, showing that he truly hadn’t known.

There was no way Daisy2 would hide the existence of the fruit from me. That meant that although only a single branch of the restored World Tree had recovered, it had indeed succeeded in bearing fruit.

“Wow, this one really is a late bloomer. A dryad fruit appearing when it’s time to harvest all the unripe ones and leave only bare branches? How could it have hidden so meticulously?”

Zephyr was located at the boundary between the collapsed greenhouse wall with its hole and the branch room. The overgrown branch had apparently escaped its room and invaded the greenhouse. The pile of rubble directly blocked our view as we entered through the entrance, making it a spot we wouldn’t have noticed unless we searched carefully.

Who would have thought there really was a fruit? At this rate, I’d have to hand over the first fruit my World Tree branch bore after recovery to Flora. I wondered what kind of late-blooming dryad had come all the way to my terrarium at such a late time.

The World Tree branch visits my dreams so well, so why didn’t it tell me it had borne fruit? If I’d known, I would have acted quickly. I’m grateful for the fortune-telling, but if it had asked for diamonds, I wouldn’t have felt so regretful.

The people who had scattered around the room to find the fruit gathered near Zephyr. There, a perfectly transparent and smooth round dryad fruit sat on the branch like a dewdrop. It was slightly smaller than the dryad fruit we had seen earlier, but its shape and luster were flawless.

I looked at the fruit with eyes full of regret, then eventually yielded my spot to Flora. She approached the fruit with a very bright expression and carefully plucked it from the branch.

The greenhouse was quite damaged, but with soil and water flowing along the raised patterns, it was still functional. Flora placed the fruit on top of the shattered dryad pot, where soil was spilling out. A brilliant golden light filled the inside of the transparent fruit. The top of the fruit cracked like an eggshell, and a cute, round sprout peeked out.

At the same time, blue text began to appear on the cracked stone slab beside the pot.

Marguerite

Title: Prophet for All

Flower Meaning: Prophecy, Divining Love, Revealing Secrets

Habitat: Normal Field (★★★☆☆)

Field Generation Rate: Middle-High (★★☆☆☆)

Value: Ornamentation, Medicine (★★★☆☆)

Trait: Supporter

Confirmed Grade: Rare

It is the flower most traditionally used in flower fortune-telling since ancient times.

Receives a combat bonus in May.

Also called ‘tree crown daisy’ due to its crown-like leaf shape and woody stem, similar to a chrysanthemum.

Flora said she could sense the dryad of the flowers included in the bouquet, and that wasn’t an empty boast. It was indeed the fruit of the Marguerite dryad that accompanied Flora when she did flower fortune-telling for me.

It was even a rare-grade dryad. Moreover, its trait was a single-support type, which I lacked. The more I thought about it, the more regretful I felt, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

She used the dryad’s power when telling fortunes, but in battle, what role could a support-type Marguerite play?

I saw Flora raise her hand, filled with artifacts, and place it against the fruit to make the dryad bloom. I expected the fruit to fully awaken soon, revealing a beautiful dryad alongside splendid flower petals.

But for some reason, the fruit she touched remained completely still, without any movement.

“What could be the matter…? I can’t seem to grasp the energy of the dryad inside the fruit at all.”

She looked quite flustered as well. Could there be something wrong with the fruit? The timing was off, too—it was the first fruit the branch bore after a major ordeal. Maybe it had formed into an unhealthy fruit? Even though the fruit had left my hands, I felt anxious about whether it might be defective.

“Ah…!”

That was when it happened. The fruit, nestled like an egg in the pot as if it were a nest, rolled to the side. Its tender leaves plunged into the soil like an anchor, barely stopping it, but it nearly fell out of the pot. It looked exactly as if it had fled from Flora’s touch.

Startled, Flora reached out again, but the fruit trembled faintly, as if to prove my suspicions.

“This is the first time I’ve encountered such a case. It feels as though this fruit is rejecting me.”

Flora spoke in a deflated voice. Hearing her beautiful voice so somber made my heart ache instinctively.

“After all, it’s a greenhouse that suffered a fire… the soil in the dryad pot might be compromised. How about we take the fruit to another terrarium’s greenhouse to make it bloom?”

Revealing my terrarium’s shortcomings wasn’t pleasant, but it couldn’t be helped. However, after hearing my words, Flora didn’t even pick up the fruit—she just stared at me silently.

“I feel like, even if I took it to any terrarium, it still wouldn’t show me its petals. Perhaps this dryad wasn’t meant to come into the world for me.”

Saying this, she gestured to me.

“Would you come here? If even the touch of Jae, the owner of this terrarium, is rejected by the fruit, then I’ll truly take it to another terrarium.”

“What? You want me to form a soul connection in your place? I don’t think I’ll want to break it once it’s made. It feels like I’d end up keeping it.”

I meant it sincerely. Even if I had given the fruit to her, the story would change if it became my dryad.

“If that is the case, then it too is my destiny. Whether the pull of fate I felt led me to take this dryad, or to inform Master Jae of its existence, the blooming of a marguerite’s petals will reveal the answer.”

If I succeed in blooming… does that mean I can have the Marguerite dryad? I wasn’t sure how much COST I’d have left after recruiting the Viburnum, but I prayed that there would be plenty of room.