So far, it was no different from when I bloomed my dryads in the greenhouse. Maybe this makeshift setup is doing its job properly?

With my left hand, filled with the artifact, I gently touched the sprouted fruit… but the sensation was different this time. It felt like the small life force kept trying to hide deeper into the fruit.

A warm energy surged from my heart, flowing through my left hand to tap the fruit, but it seemed the energy inside refused to connect with me.

No, to be precise, it felt scared and disoriented, shying away from my touch and retreating deeper into the fruit.

Seeing this made me stubborn. By now, the blooming and greeting should have been long over—why is it playing hard-to-get with me?

Look here, little fruit. Your new master, brimming with capital, has come to take you. The miniature world tree acknowledged by the elder is right here.

I finally felt like I touched the edge of the energy. The artifact vibrated faintly, and the connection solidified in an instant. Like grabbing a clump of waterweed and pulling it up, I yanked out the hidden energy from within.

The same floral scent as Daisy filled the air. Red petals swirled, and the fruit, enveloped in a halo of light, floated up.

The light steadily grew in size and stopped when it reached the height of an adult. The widespread petals surged toward the center of the light, swirling and being swept in as the light faded.

A male-type dryad appeared, with short red hair reminiscent of Daisy and a red flower pinned in it.

Having seen many dryads of the same kind in the dandelion colony, I realized that their hair and eye colors seem fixed by species.

Although male in form, I expected that a fully grown daisy would look that neat… but that expectation went unfulfilled. Another newly bloomed daisy dryad cowered on the ground, clutching its head with a frightened expression. Who said anyone hit you…?

“Calm down. I won’t hurt you. My master, Jae. This looks like a dryad that has bloomed at least once. Just like Jae’s daisy child.”

“The special power engraved in the soul of the red daisy improved variety—you already know, right? It has died once and been revived.”

Our daisy was so amazed at seeing a member of the same species that its eyes sparkled, but that daisy, despite being much larger in stature, shrank away endlessly.

“Ah…. What’s going on…. Ah….”

The trembling daisy dryad finally calmed its body. It slightly lifted its face to glance at us, rolling its eyes vigorously to figure out the sudden situation.

“I died, huh. When those debris fell. Hmm… the back of my head did hurt a lot….”

“Hello! I’m also a red daisy!”

Right, it might be good for a fellow species to break the ice. Our daisy, unable to contain its curiosity, approached closely and peeked around. But then, as if it had been shrinking all along, it started moving its mouth rapidly, murmuring words nonstop.

“What a cozy soul. My new owner has an incredible soul. Amazing. Everything is amazing. The whole body is brimming with energy. Hmm, hello. Such incredible people stand before me that I can hardly meet their eyes. You say you’re also a red daisy like me? You don’t look it at all. You must be the finest among all red daisies in the world. A red daisy with such a strong soul. A pride of our kind.”

“Well, what was it? Didn’t they say that to form a forest, the daisy has to subdue that one?”

I couldn’t bear to stop the daisy dryad as it spilled out words in a daze, and I quietly asked Mesquite for his opinion. Then its mouth abruptly stopped, and chatter began again.

I guess all daisies are that lively. Of course, that dryad’s mouth is the liveliest.

“Oh, subdue? As you can see, I’m a low-grade, unremarkable dryad. Are you going to fight someone like me? Please show the consideration of a strong one. Ah, if there’s a fight, it would be you. I surrender. Please rule over me. You look overflowing with the qualities of a king at first glance. If even my meager power can aid you, it would be an honor for me.”

The daisy dryad deeply bowed toward our daisy. Somehow, I felt the size of our daisy’s soul—connected to me—suddenly swell up.

At that moment, the two daggers tied at Daisy’s waist began to glow brightly. The daggers elegantly curved, growing longer, and red patterns were engraved on the blades.

“Unlike you, I use weapons like these.”

Seeing that, he took out a boomerang made of iron, with two blades.

“With the power of my soul, you’ll now be able to use the same power.”

At his words, Daisy drew the two transformed daggers. When the handles struck each other, they connected to form a boomerang similar to his. Oh, ranged.

“Since my soul has been assigned to you, the power of the soul has doubled. Due to the characteristics of our species, you can use resurrection. You’ll be able to use it twice. Has this small power been of help?”

He looked at Daisy with eyes like a wagging puppy, eagerly appealing to her. Praise me! That’s how it seemed.

Daisy’s expression somehow turned a bit disappointed. Was it because she created the forest too easily? Compared to how tense she was, it did feel rather anticlimactic. “Alright. Our Daisy…” When she said that, the two Daisy Dryads suddenly looked at me. Uh… this is kind of cute.

“I’m glad I got new power. But there’s something more important right now. Was it you who called me?”

“I don’t know what you mean. What should I call my new druid master?”

“I’m Jae.”

“Yes, Master Jae. I was deeply asleep inside the fruit until just now. My soul’s power is weak, and I’m not impressive enough to call you from afar.”

I guessed wrong. If it’s not her, then who is it?

“Then what happened to my previous master?”

“I was a dryad in charge of odd jobs at the 28th World Tree Terrarium Orchard. After the administrative manager bloomed me, he bound my soul to a twig of the World Tree with his special power. Thanks to that, I could live without issues, but I couldn’t grow my power. As for calling someone master… referring to the one who bloomed me, wouldn’t it be the administrative manager? By the way, what happened to him? While we were evacuating, I was crushed under the rubble and died…”

“If you had died from fire, you wouldn’t have been able to resurrect.”

Mesquite said that. So, though it’s hard to call it lucky, she died from a physical cause other than fire and could be resurrected, huh? By administrative manager, does he mean that Scarecrow I met outside?

“That person… um… no. Let’s talk about something else.”

When I changed the subject, the Daisy Dryad watched my expression and fell silent.

“I came here to check what happened in the 28th Terrarium. What exactly happened? According to Mesquite, the World Tree’s branch couldn’t have been so easily burned by fire. I want you to tell me everything you know.”

At my question, Mesquite nodded in agreement.

“Hmm… Originally, it’s a top-secret matter within the 28th terrarium… but now that you are my master, there’s no need to hide it. You are correct. If it were the original World Tree, it would not have allowed the intrusion of fire. Of course, I’m speaking of the original World Tree. Come to think of it, this place is a wreck. Everything has burned down. How could it have come to this?”

Since he kept straying off topic, I subtly urged him on with a look.

“…I apologize. The branches of the World Tree fell ill with an unknown disease several years ago. The branches withered and lost their luster. Because of that, they haven’t borne fruit until recently. With the orchard unable to provide fruit, it’s been a while since the druids stopped coming here. The matter was kept hidden internally… but the villagers somehow caught wind of it, grew fearful, and hastily left this place.”

“The branches of the World Tree are diseased? What kind of disease, exactly?”

“I haven’t heard the exact details. They prevented me from approaching, fearing it might spread to the dryads. But I, too, am bound to the twigs of the World Tree. From a certain day onward, I started feeling weaker and weaker. It felt like my vitality and blood were being drained away.”

“If it’s that serious, why didn’t you immediately ask for help from other terrariums? It seems like the other terrariums don’t even know about this situation?”

The World Tree’s branches falling ill is a huge problem, isn’t it? Even the ability to block fire intrusions is thanks to the blessing of the World Tree’s branches. So if there’s something wrong with those branches, shouldn’t you have asked for help right away?

“Because if mismanagement was exposed, we could be held accountable or lose our management rights. The adults have their own circumstances. But more than that, the administrative officer seemed firmly convinced that he could resolve everything without escalating things. If unrest grows within the terrarium, everyone would leave. A terrarium without residents cannot be sustained. Of course, we did seek help from other terrariums—not from those in the 20th range, but from higher ones. I understand that we requested assistance from the 16th terrarium, which has alchemy towers. They were supposed to send a solution… but it’s been silent for a long time. This, too, happened two years ago. I wonder if they’ve turned their backs on us…”

Could it be that overturned carriage we saw on our way here…?

“Visitors to this place suddenly stopped coming around a year ago. The whereabouts of those who left also became unknown. There were disruptions in the supply of diamonds… Even when druids were urgently dispatched, none returned. Due to some unknown external factor, this place became isolated. And then, the fire attacks came suddenly. There were few inside who could resist the flames. The last I saw, the administrative officer stepped forward to defend the orchard… and yes, he died.”

“Mesquite, what do you think?”

“There’s nothing that can threaten the World Tree except fire. Saying it’s diseased—that doesn’t make sense.”

She said firmly. But that dryad said the world tree was sick. Who is right?

“Come here….”

This time, I got the direction right. A faint singing voice. It was to my left, near the center of the village. Listening closely, the voice was different from this dryad’s too. It seems there’s someone else in the village.

“Is the orchard over there?”

I pointed to where the singing had come from. Then Daisy Dryad nodded. I should head to the orchard. Maybe there, I can find out if the world tree is really sick.

“Can you guide me?”

“Though I was bound to the orchard, I know the geography of this terrarium well. I’ve been in charge of chores for a long time, so I know most things about the village.”

“There’s something dangerous roaming around here. It’s probably a giant fire. We need to avoid it to get to the orchard.”

“I see… So the fire is finally… We’ll have to take a detour, but there is a side path.”

Daisy Dryad wiped her face once and slapped her cheeks to pull herself together. She looked pained when talking about the fire, but barely managed to compose herself.