Rowella spun around in place, showing off her changed equipment to Thistle. Thistle clapped enthusiastically and praised her. It felt like their relationship was that of school friends of the same age.

Word about Thistle seemed to have spread among the artificially improved Dryads, as I could see some peeking over from a distance. They were probably flowers mixed with Thistle’s strain.

Although Rowella had shown a positive reaction, she hadn’t permitted teaching yet, but the atmosphere was already full of anticipation.

The artificially modified dryads seemed to treat the areas where they had settled as their own territories, rarely leaving them—so for them to abandon their land, they must have been quite desperate. Were they really that envious of teaching the dandelion children?

“Wait here for a moment.”

Leaving Rowella behind, I walked toward the dryads.

Among the dryads who had come, some looked quite similar to a thistle flower, while others seemed so distant in appearance that it was hard to believe thistle was mixed in at all.

To hide the fact that they were artificially modified and appear like naturally improved varieties accepted in this world, it seemed better to choose a dryad that at least resembled a thistle.

Since I couldn’t just allow teaching without any structure, a system was necessary. I advised them on how to hide their artificially modified nature and act, including not making mistakes that might reveal something suspicious.

“Of course, there may be many other flowers mixed in besides thistle, but when introducing yourself, say you are a thistle-improved variety. The same goes for other dryads. Introduce yourself by adding the name of the improved variety to the flower you most resemble. Never explain all the types you’re mixed with one by one. Here, you must be even more careful to hide your identity than when we were in the 16th Terrarium.”

We need to launder our identities.

“Yes, our World Tree.”

Fortunately, the dryads agreed without objection to my words. But their response was a bit peculiar.

“Huh? What do you mean by ‘our World Tree’?”

“Since humans call druids little world trees, we also discussed what to call you. The current World Tree is not the one that gave birth to us, so calling you a little world tree wouldn’t be right. You, who provided us with a place to rest, are truly ‘our World Tree.’”

Hmm… Is that okay for others to hear…? Won’t they think these dryads are being a bit over the top? I asked if calling me ‘Jae’ might work, but the dryads were stubborn about this odd point. They insisted on calling me ‘our World Tree.’

Since this wasn’t a meeting to debate titles, I decided to let it slide. I thought it would be good to use a suitably open clearing as a training ground, since there was no building ready for a school yet.

In case the dryads’ equipment got damaged in battle, a place with a diamond spring seemed ideal. I advised teaching the thistle dryad, but strictly limiting it to combat skills that thistles could use.

When I introduced and presented the improved thistle variety to Rowella, she showed an enthusiastic attitude, saying she could start training immediately. It seemed I had done everything I could for her for now, so I left to think about the schedule for visiting the 18th terrarium tomorrow.

It looked like Rowella would be staying in the 28th terrarium for a while.

***

Last night, we dragged discarded mattresses and washed bedding into the guild room of the orchard and all settled down to sleep together.

Although the experiences we had shared were eventful, they were quite enjoyable, so we chatted all night long, saddened by the parting.

Before my request came in, the Iris party originally said they had business in the rear terrariums, and I found out what it was.

“There’s someone who was very kind to us in our previous guild. That person ended up leaving because they didn’t fit in either. I heard through the grapevine that they’re starting a new guild, so since we don’t have any affiliation, we were planning to ask to join. But before that, we got this great opportunity to join the Gaia guild.”

“That’s fortunate. You would have missed out on good guild members if it had been later.”

“If that person hasn’t started the guild yet… could we try making a recruitment offer? They’re really impressive. Skilled and all.”

“Come to think of it, I wonder if they’re doing well.”

“If you all think so highly of them, I welcome it.”

Talking while walking was nice, but lying huddled together in a dimly lit room at night, exchanging stories under the soft glow of a lamp, felt even more endearing.

Using the darkness as a veil, we opened up more than usual, turning warmth and coziness into a warm cup of tea, deepening our mutual empathy.

Those who didn’t seem likely to fall asleep easily gradually sank into silence, and the day came to an end.

The next morning, since the guild members had to go their separate ways for a while starting today, we hurriedly finished preparations and said our goodbyes.

“We can’t put off the request any longer, so we have to part ways here. Please tell the family not to worry when Loop arrives. I’ll take responsibility and bring them back safely.”

She’s staying in the 16th terrarium to manage the people from the alchemy tower, so it might take a little longer for her to return to the 28th terrarium.

“It’s a shame, but we can meet again anytime. We also have the bee. I’ll be stopping by the 18th terrarium, but I was planning to head to the rear terrariums anyway, so if our paths overlap, we might run into each other.”

“We’ll also look into information about the Paradise Terrarium from our end. Of course, if you, Master, hear about it first, please contact us immediately. We’ll rush over as soon as we finish the request!”

They worried that I would meet the members of the Inferno organization, but they said they were somewhat reassured by my accompanying Siedling. Although the number of people had decreased, I thought it would still be bustling and not dull, what with Siedling and the other unique dryads making a racket.

Before leaving, I saw off Iris’s party, which departed first, and observed Rowella. I thought we were being quite diligent, but surprisingly, she too had been enthusiastic about dryad training from early on.

Not only that, she was even jogging lightly around a wide open field, exercising. In terms of mindset, it was me, not Rowella, who was the newbie.

“Exercising from the morning… I can’t even imagine it.”

Climbing onto the carriage as if it were natural, I felt a pang of conscience seeing that scene, wondering if I should walk instead of doing this, as if walking might count as some kind of exercise.

But even if I resolve to do something, plans always start tomorrow. Forcing myself to take comfort in the importance of moving quickly, I surrendered my body to the carriage.

***

The 18th Terrarium was where the training school attack had occurred, but the atmosphere was peaceful, as if the situation had been well resolved.

The administrative officer here, noticing I had arrived, assigned some people to me. They seemed to think I would again spend a lot of diamonds. But first, I needed to stop by Romgato’s to check on my special bullets.

The days spent in the Alchemy Tower, where I felt extremely powerless and tasted considerable frustration, were painful. I need to become stronger and more helpful to the team.

Arriving at the Alchemy Tower in the 18th Terrarium, I requested a visit with Romgato, and a graduate student—no, a researcher from Romgato’s lab came down to guide me immediately.

A worn-out T-shirt and pants fit for just lying down and sleeping, dark circles under the eyes from long nights of staying up, and listless eyes. Seeing how terribly they were struggling, I felt nothing but pity.

College students at least have vacations after their hardships, but do these people ever get a day off? Still, I prayed that their struggles, like being ground down as factory parts, would yield results.

Guided into Romgato’s lab, he greeted me as if he had been waiting.

“You’ve come just in time. As you requested, I’ve completed the bullets that condense the power of other dryads, in addition to the Awan tree ones.”

Romgato’s attitude toward me, his major sponsor, was full of politeness and goodwill, unlike our first meeting.

“Oh… Finally! Let me see!”

He brought over a small box from the desk. Inside were five bullets each with a lemon color and a vermilion color. Were they just different in color, or were their uses different too?

“Why did you make only these? The more, the better, you know.”

“Although I succeeded in imbuing the power of other dryads, I don’t yet know the exact utility of the bullets, so I made only 10 as prototypes. After verification, if you request it, I’ll mass-produce them like the Awan tree bullets.

Upon hearing that, I saw the faces of the junior researchers around me turn dark and gloomy.

“What kind of dryad’s power is imbued in it?”

“It contains the power of the Mistletoe Dryad.”

Mistletoe was a plant I had heard of. It was also used as a Christmas decoration. If they succeeded in condensing power into a bullet, could it be a unique grade?

“Using the grant funds you provided, I was barely able to request support from a researcher with a unique-grade dryad in the alchemy tower of the first terrarium. It couldn’t be helped, as waiting for a normal-grade dryad to form a large forest would take too much time.”

A demure dryad with lemon-colored glass beads, exactly the same shade as the bullet, woven strand by strand into her hair, appeared from the next room alongside a relatively neat-looking druid.

“Nice to meet you. I’m ‘Arc,’ who will be assisting Researcher Romgato. My Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that lives by attaching itself to other trees. Therefore, I can use powers related to that. The power imbued in the bullets is of the same kind.”

Hearing the word ‘parasitic,’ I flinched slightly as Loop’s invention—parasite—came to mind.

Romgato handed me three documents. It felt like they were simplified for my sake.

The documents contained information about the Mistletoe’s abilities, in more detail than what the researcher named Arc had explained.

“It says here I need to use the bullets on two dryads?”

“Yes. You should use the yellow bullet on the target on which to exert the Mistletoe’s parasitic power, and the scarlet bullet on the dryad that will serve as the host for that parasitic power.”

“Host?”

“The dryad hit by the yellow bullet will be able to briefly mimic the abilities of the dryad hit by the scarlet bullet.”

“Whoa… That sounds absolutely overpowered just hearing about it.”

“However, the restrictions are quite significant. You probably know that the bullet’s effectiveness is reduced if the user doesn’t have their own Mistletoe Dryad…”

I knew that. Since I don’t have an Awae Tree tree, I could only use the bullet as a basic thrown fire extinguisher to put out ordinary flames.

“You cannot use it between dryads bound by the same soul. Since they are already tied by a bond called soul connection, they don’t react at all to parasitism, which is inevitably a subordinate and forced bond. In other words, you have to apply the technique to another druid’s dryad, which might cause offense to that druid.”

“Hmm… The restrictions are quite unusual.”

I had imagined my own dryads mimicking each other’s abilities, but apparently that’s impossible.

“Additionally, the yellow bullet can only be used on individuals significantly weaker than the dryad of the scarlet bullet. More precisely, if the opposing druid has a smaller soul size than you, you can make that druid’s dryad the target of the yellow bullet. These many limitations made it difficult to easily assess its practical value.”

“If I use the crimson bullet on the dryad of a druid whose soul is larger than mine, and the yellow bullet on my own dryad…”

“Before that, please hand me the gun you will use. Unlike the case with the ahwae tree, to use the mistletoe, the flower’s power must be recognized by the gun for the bullets to work normally. Afterward, the gun will be bound to the druid of the dryad that first used the crimson bullet, along with the crimson bullet itself, so you must decide carefully when using it. If you, Jae, continue to use the gun, only your dryads will be able to act as hosts from now on.”

So if I use the crimson bullet on the dryad of a druid, the owner of that dryad will gain ownership of the gun? Then if I shoot the crimson bullet at Shedding’s dryad… the gun becomes Shedding’s?

That can’t be. If that happens, I’d be forced to use its power only on those weaker than me.