Dripping lava-like substance, it fiercely charged, and each time my footing shrank, forcing me to madly dodge and flee. Of course, the spot I stepped on often turned out to be one the fire had burned away, crumbling beneath me and chilling my spine several times.

Unlike the ground fire, the sky fire was trickier for even capable Mesquite to react to quickly, making it more exhausting. Later, she loaded Daisy onto her shield, threw her high into the air, and Daisy, launched skyward, handled the fire, patiently reducing their numbers one by one.

Having reclaimed my position as the top predator in the ecosystem and with my energy running low, I secretly popped a fatigue recovery pill and leaned against a rock. If I sat down here, I’d want to lie down, and if I lay down, I’d want to close my eyes.

And if I closed my eyes, I’d end up sleeping. Knowing my hopeless state, I stubbornly put strength into my trembling legs.

Damn, this is still way too tough. I feel like I’m trapped in a zombie apocalypse movie where the world has ended.

Fires keep popping up endlessly from everywhere like zombies. If it weren’t for my capable dryads, I’d be the extra that dies in the first five minutes of the movie.

“Should we take a break, Jae? You look really worn out. It seems the fires around here are all taken care of, ending with that last one. I think we can catch our breath.”

“Sorry. I feel like my poor stamina is making me a nuisance.”

“My master, Jae. A nuisance? Have you forgotten that just your existence alone is a huge help to us? Even you standing there still gives us strength. Don’t say things like that.”

What am I to hear such flattering words about my existence being helpful? Especially when I’m creepily realizing I’m such a hopelessly weak stamina loser.

With nowhere to invest my diamonds right now, I’m truly a worthless human. I’m just a hopeless human with nothing but an abundance of diamonds.

How are other druids training themselves? They can’t all be hopeless like me, can they? I feel like I should do something, but there’s nothing I can do right now.

I’m trash, sob sob. I buried my face against the rock and rolled around, then suddenly spotted something strange beyond it.

In the charred black bushes, there was something like a giant box. No, not a box—a wagon?

“Oh, I found something weird! Look over there!”

I waved to the dryads. I didn’t have the guts to go myself, so could someone check it out for me? If I foolishly went up and got attacked by fire, what a hassle that would be. Knowing myself well, I had to hold back my curiosity and be cautious.

Mesquite responded to my call immediately. She strode over to where I pointed and swept away the bushes with her large lance. The bushes, which only maintained their form after being completely burnt, crumbled to dust at the mere touch of Mesquite’s lance.

“It’s a wagon. An overturned wagon.”

“There was a wagon? I would’ve ridden it if I’d known!”

I found something to replace a taxi! But as soon as I said that, Mesquite said she wouldn’t recommend it.

She said it’s hard to respond quickly to fire attacks, and also, because it’s a large target, it’s easy to become a target for the fire. So you’d need to bring several skilled dryads to guard it.

And the result of that is exactly that, she said, pointing with the tip of her lance. Um… I’ll cancel that idea.

“There was a battle… but it seems they were annihilated. We need to leave this place quickly. The fire that consumed everything here must have grown incredibly powerful. I can’t sense that strong aura nearby now, but it’s probably moving not far from here.”

If a fire that swallowed just one dryad used such bizarre power, I can’t imagine how terrifying a fire that swallowed multiple would be.

From the overturned carriage, a load of fire-scorched cargo spilled out. Among them was a box marked with a dangerous skull symbol. At first glance, it looked like a carriage transporting hazardous goods…?

Mesquite said there was no fire nearby for now. So wouldn’t it be fine to take a quick look? This damn curiosity. I snuggled up to Mesquite’s side and carefully observed the carriage.

“Huh? There’s a number on the box! Could 28 mean the 28th Terrarium?”

Not only the box with the skull symbol, but even the relatively intact cargo all had a faint tree pattern drawn along with the number 28.

It must be goods meant to be transported to the 28th Terrarium. Gathering a bit more courage, I tightly grabbed Mesquite’s arm and stepped forward. After all, our destination is also the 28th Terrarium, so getting some information wouldn’t hurt, right?

The lid of the skull-marked box was smashed, and black soil was spilling out from inside. Mixed into the soil were withered plants tangled in a chaotic mess.

Flowers? Plants? Was the contents plants? But they were too burned to even identify the species of the plants.

What exactly were they trying to transport to the 28th Terrarium?

The cargo had turned to ash, and traces of time were evident everywhere, making further inspection impossible.

Following Mesquite’s advice, we decided to leave this place, praying we wouldn’t encounter that fire as much as possible.

The uphill road finally ended, and a flat plain appeared.

I just hope the only thing left now is to go downhill. Then we faced a fork in the road.

It was the first distinctive terrain we encountered while walking along the wide-open main road. One side was a steep, rough-looking area overgrown with thick bushes, while the other had no obstacles but started sloping again.

Elder said that without the trouble of checking the map, either path would lead to the 28th Terrarium.

In my heart, I wanted to choose the downhill path, but the route seemed treacherous. Running into that fire in such a place would restrict our movement. What should I do?

“I sense signs of people.”

Mesquite pulled us back. The sound came from the left, downhill path. The bushes rustled softly, and I could hear murmuring voices.

Oh, people? Mesquite’s wariness subsided a bit.

“There are definitely traces of someone fleeing, but it’s been years. It was a wasted effort.”

“It seems like a very fast dryad. That’s probably why it survived alone. But in the end, it seems like it didn’t achieve its goal, did it? It ended up lost. Everything else burned down.”

“Wait! I sense someone ahead.”

The standoff was brief before it ended. It was the other side that reacted and revealed themselves first.

Did they determine we were not a threat? Unlike our group of four, they were quite numerous.

Figures kept pushing through the bushes and appearing. All with striking appearances. Are they all dryads?

“Ah… I guess that’s the group Siedling found that night.”

A man with light purple hair, a maroon tailcoat adorned with flowers the same color as his hair, tall, with dark skin, and carrying a large violin spoke.

“An ideal combination. The best setup for a druid with a small soul to make it this far. But there must have been a lot of luck involved. Otherwise…”

A woman with long light pink hair peppered with sparse white strands, a loose red top, wings woven from multiple light pink flower branches on her back, and two pistols tucked at her waist spoke.

Does having wings mean she’s a Forest King like Dandelion?

As I scrutinized them in detail, they seemed to be sizing us up as well. After the two finished speaking, the remaining four behind hesitated, exchanging glances.

A blue-haired man with a whip, a blonde man with a giant spiked club, a black-haired woman with a long weapon—whether a spear or a staff—and a purple-haired man with striking deep blue eyes that matched the blue crystal orb he held.

Six people, all with varied and flamboyant looks. Quite a crowd. Easy on the eyes, too.

Ah, there was one more at the back. Seeing that each is adorned with a flower or leaf representing their host, they seem to be dryads indeed.

Only the tall man at the back, wearing silver armor and holding a giant sword, showed no trace of plants. He must be the druid for these dryads.

“Come on, one left. Who’s going to speak?”

The woman with light pink hair said. She scanned the dryads, except for the man at the back.

Except for the blonde man staring intently at the Mesquite, they all clamored to speak themselves. Then a winner was decided.

“You wasted time needlessly. Should have introduced yourselves first. Didn’t you make that druid flustered?”

The black-haired woman swung her long weapon around to restrain the dryads beside her and stepped forward.

She wore a splendid black robe, with small black bell-shaped flowers dangling like ornaments from her belt decoration. Whenever she moved, the flowers swayed like a mobile.

The woman walking forward stopped, maintaining a suitable distance.

“Nice to meet you. I am Belladonna, currently the main of this bouquet. I think this distance between us is appropriate. Due to the nature of my mother plant, I may be dangerous to those not part of the bouquet, so I hope you understand that I face you from afar.”

“Oh, yes. Hello.”

Around the time she began speaking, the druid at the back pushed through the dryads and walked forward. Seeing my gaze turn toward him, she raised her hand to stop him.

“Siedling, not yet. I’m not done speaking.”

The man who had been striding forward stopped, his mouth firmly shut at her intervention.

“Your soul’s limits still seem small, so it’s quite surprising that you’ve come through such a harsh place. Our bouquet is on a contract heading to the 28th Terrarium. We were descending from the 16th Terrarium.”

“Oh… we came from the 26th!”

“So it was indeed your group that we encountered that night.”

That means the druid who swept through the hunting grounds earlier was from their side. I was curious what they looked like, and now that I’m facing them, they truly seem formidable. They have what appears to be a king dryad, and they outnumber us.