One druid with six dryads. And each of those dryads looks strong. Above all, the druid himself seems powerful. He’s even wearing heavy armor like Mesquite.

Unlike me, who only carries a cell phone, he has decent weapons, huh? Does he actually participate in combat?

“That is our druid, Siedling. Next to him, the one holding a violin is Brazilian Rosewood. The one with a pistol at the hip is Kalmia Latifolia, the dominant species of Kalmia Forest. The one with a whip is Periwinkle, and the one with a crystal ball is Blue Mallow. And the one who can’t take his eyes off your shield-bearing dryad is the Desert Prince, Kadon. It seems he hasn’t come to his senses because it’s been a long time since he last faced a dryad from the Desert Field.”

When she introduced the dryad named Kadon, her tone grew stronger. Probably to caution her rude staring at Mesquite. Thanks to that, he started and bowed his head deeply.

“Ah, I’m Druid Jae. It’s my first time meeting a druid outside the Terrarium… This is Velvet Mesquite, and this little one is Red Daisy….”

“I don’t even need to ask to know about you. You’re a dryad with a mother tree said to be the most beautiful among flowers. The fellow dryad I met before was also incredibly beautiful and splendid. It’s an elder flower, right?”

Oh, so the elder’s beauty is famous even over there. I only first heard of the elder flower here, but in this world, elders must be as famous as celebrities. His face must be stunningly beautiful.

The elder’s expression turned triumphant. Are other elder flower species you’ve met before also this arrogant by nature?

“Well, well, a Mesquite. As expected, you’re an impressive dryad. I was uncertain just by your appearance, but hearing your name confirmed it. It’s truly an honor to meet you. The field’s…”

“The honor is mine. You have quite an amazing team.”

Somehow, I felt like the Mesquite cut off Belladonna’s words. Though the Mesquite is undeniably a special-grade dryad, listening to Belladonna, does it have something even greater behind it?

Suddenly, the Cadon behind us started causing a commotion. As he reached out his hand trying to say something, the druid on that side raised his hand to stop him.

“Is the talking done now?”

At his words, Belladonna let out a long sigh.

“Yes. That concludes the three of us. You said your name is Jae, right? Please understand. Our druid, Siedling… has lived among dryads since birth and isn’t used to human social life. His social skills are a bit… lacking. So in our bouquet, there’s a rule that before he speaks, three dryads go first to talk. The dryads discuss the topic first, and then Siedling takes it over to speak. Since the first two dryads wasted their turns, I can’t expect him to speak with proper etiquette… I have no choice but to ask for your understanding.”

The man strode past Belladonna toward us. The Mesquite was tall, but this man was pretty tall too, not losing out.

Up close, his presence was overwhelming. It felt like being crushed by something intangible. There was something different from what I felt when looking at the Mesquite.

Is this what it feels like to sense a level difference? If so, just what level is that druid?

With dark brown hair and deep-sea blue eyes, he had quite a handsome face, but after staring at the elder’s face so much, it didn’t impress me much.

Near his eyebrow, there was a long scar that looked like it came from a sharp object. Under his chin, there were blistered burn-like scars too. He seemed to have been through many battles.

So this guy probably participates in battles like the other dryads.

When the man was about to speak, the kalmia dryad called out softly.

“Think before you speak! Don’t just blurt things out!”

The reaction of those dryads over there makes me unnecessarily nervous. No, how different is their social sense… Finally, he spoke to me first.

“You’re small.”

What is this now? I’ve never been told I’m small anywhere before.

No, relatively speaking, you and the dryads here are big, so I just look small! My height is above average! To call me small outright when we just met!

“I’ve taught you several times, but dealing with dryads is different from dealing with humans! You have to consider the other person’s feelings when you speak!”

This time, the Belladonna Dryad scolded him from a distance.

“Go back. This place is not fit for a human with a small soul like you to wander around carelessly. It seems you’ve benefited from Velvet Mesquite so far, but going any further is impossible.”

What the…?

“I told you not to speak so bluntly! You’re supposed to state the reason first and then your intention so the other person can understand more easily! Do you want to start a fight like last time? You nearly got kicked out of the 15th Terrarium because of that!”

The voice of the Kalmia Dryad grew louder. The man squinted his eyes as if displeased by that. Then, after some hesitation, he continued speaking.

“To wander around with your pathetic skills is no different from seeking death. If you die, your dryads will probably be devoured by the fire. If a Mesquite-level dryad is devoured, a catastrophic fire is born. So go back to the Terrarium you came from. If you want, I’ll escort you.”

“What? You son of a….”

What is that bastard saying now? I was about to flare up at his insult when the Belladonna Dryad gestured, and the Rosewood Dryad hurried over.

He kept bowing to me. The Kalmia Dryad also ran over and stood between the man and me. Then, with an awkward smile, she apologized and asked for a moment’s time.

The man’s behavior was absurd, but since the dryads stepped in to apologize, I held back for now.

“Sapling, you’re a human too, so every action of meeting and talking with another human must feel new and fun. Especially since that druid is the first human you’ve met in a while who didn’t immediately avoid you. But your language, taught by the dryads, is raw. Dryads aren’t hurt by anything the druid says. But humans are different. So I’ve taught you many times that you need to consider the other person’s feelings when speaking.”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to use the word ‘pathetic’?”

The Rosewood Dryad swung the violin bow around as he spoke to the man gently. The Kalmia Dryad added to his words.

“That’s what I said after thinking about it.”

“Are you blind? Don’t you see that Mesquite over there holding a lance? If you had made that druid feel any worse, she would have stepped in. There could have been a fight! We have numbers, but they have a Mesquite and high-level healing dryads we lack. The matchup is too unfavorable for us! We wouldn’t have avoided injury.”

As Mesquite listened to the Kalmia dryad’s words, I found myself staring at the man with cold eyes without realizing it.

It really seemed like if Siedling had blurted out a bit more, Mesquite wouldn’t have held back. Not just her, but Daisy and Elder also wore grim expressions.

While the two dryads had the man tied up, the Kadon dryad, who had been exuding an unusually strong presence all along, suddenly popped out.

Without reading the mood, she immediately stepped in front of Mesquite and extended her hand. Was that a first strike?

“Res… respect! It’s a true honor to meet you! I never thought I’d encounter the guardian of the desert in a place like this! I’ve admired you since I was a sapling! Please, just one handshake!”

What was that all about? Her sudden action slightly eased Mesquite’s guard. More precisely, the tense atmosphere flowing between the two groups was abruptly defused.

“Hey! Aren’t you coming here? I knew he’d do that!”

“I… thought he’d… do something like that…”

The Periwinkle dryad shouted angrily, and the Mallow dryad muttered gloomily. Those dryads over there are just as full of personality as their master, the druid.

“If a handshake isn’t possible, you can hit me with that lance! What an honor it would be to receive a glorious wound from the great guardian of the desert! The desert field dryads would boast about it forever!”

“What’s that? It’s annoying.”

At my words, Mesquite raised her lance to drive the Kadon dryad away.

But he didn’t dodge, only squeezing his eyes shut. Even more irritating. Even more annoying.

“We’re on our way to the 28th terrarium on a request from the 26th. I have no reason to listen to your words. It seems you cleared the surrounding flames while I was sleeping, but that was unnecessary concern. We’re not weak enough to warrant that kind of talk. If you make any more dismissive remarks, I won’t maintain any further courtesy.”

Be grateful that I didn’t curse first. From a distance, the Periwinkle dryad extended a whip, wrapping it around the Kadon dryad’s neck and yanking him away. The Kadon dryad choked and was dragged off, while the Kalmia dryad spoke to me with a surprised expression.

“Is this related to the request about the completely burned 28th terrarium? That’s… a task that would be difficult for you to handle… Ah, this is absolutely not a dismissive remark. That request was specially given to druids with high ratings, like our master. I’m saying this because it seems like a task that would be too much for someone whose soul’s limitations are still small. The 20th-tier terrariums seem to have sent off any druid as an investigator, unaware of the seriousness of the situation, but I understand they all lost their lives. So the 10th-tier terrariums selected a few highly rated druids, like Siedling, and sent them down. Although it seems we’re the only ones to have arrived here intact so far.”

“What is this again? The beginner quest the administrative manager of the 28th Terrarium gave me… turns out it was extremely difficult?”

Was what he said about no one ever returning true?

Suddenly, Mesquite grabbed me and pulled me back. The dryads on that side also retreated in the direction we were heading and each drew their weapons.

At the same time as the Elder’s barrier enveloped us, a searing heat that felt like it would melt my skin began to rush in.