“It’s been a long time since a Druid met Siedling’s eyes and talked for a long time, so I think we had excessive expectations. I thought it could be a good opportunity to continue a normal conversation for once. Of course, Siedling felt the same way and kept stepping forward. Besides his notorious reputation, that kid seems to have a quite fierce appearance among humans… So many people get scared and avoid him as soon as they see him. Even when he meets someone who doesn’t avoid him, it’s usually for official matters, or as you know, because of his tone of voice…”

“Fierce… That kid is just a big brute. It’s because I have Elder beside me; if I hadn’t seen Elder, I might have thought that kid was handsome too. Uh… so, a likable appearance?”

His mouth is the problem. Though he has some battle scars on his face, that face is a look rarely seen in Korea.

But I’ve already seen Elder. There’s no face in this world as handsome as Elder’s. Elder has broken the ceiling of my standard for handsome men. Now, no matter how handsome a face I encounter, I won’t feel much excitement. This is a big deal.

“Perhaps the Druid’s standards differ from others. But thank you for the advice. Anyway, we will return to the 16th Terrarium. Unless the Druid comes up to the 10th Terrarium, we won’t meet again. Sorry for causing you discomfort every time we met.”

“No… well…”

Damn… I need to go to the 10th Terrarium. But the 18th is separate from the 16th, so it should be fine, right?

“We had other missions besides inspecting the 28th Terrarium. There was an item meant to be sent from the Alchemy Tower to this 28th Terrarium, but contact was lost, so we had to find its whereabouts. If it was too dangerous and didn’t reach the 28th Terrarium, they said we should retrieve it. But after searching, we concluded it was completely burned.”

Wait. Hearing that, the 16th seems like a number I’ve seen somewhere before. Where was it… 16th, Alchemy Tower, the item meant to be sent to the 28th Terrarium…

Oh! Isn’t that from Scarecrow’s journal? It said the Alchemy Tower sent a poisonous herb to exterminate the worms that infested the World Tree’s branches. But it arrived after the promised date, and it didn’t.

Kalmia apologized once more and returned to her group. Until they dragged Siedling away and disappeared, I finished figuring out the correlation between the completely burned carriage I saw on the mountain, the box with the skull mark, the support from the Alchemy Tower mentioned in Scarecrow’s journal, and the poisonous herb.

Anyway, the Alchemy Tower of the 16th Terrarium definitely sent support to the 28th Terrarium. But it was overturned on the way.

Scarecrow, unaware of this, had no choice but to wait endlessly in despair. What a tragic calamity.

By the way, what exactly is that deadly poison herb? Not just any poisonous plant, but one described as lethal. I followed behind Mesquite, who was leading the way, and mulled it over.

But since I was never someone with extensive knowledge of plants to begin with, nothing particularly came to mind.

***

The journey was far smoother than when we had set out from the 26th Terrarium. The minor mobs near the village were no longer a match for us.

Daisy, who had once struggled in the beginner hunting grounds, now seemed like she could extinguish the flames we encountered with just a puff of breath.

With the combat bonus ring she’d obtained, I watched Daisy catch flames by simply flinging a dagger without much movement, feeling proud of how much stronger our kid had become.

Right, right! Our kid is far beyond dealing with such pathetic little flames—she’s the one who took down massive fires!

Even Elder no longer maintained a tense stance as soon as battle mode kicked in, looking indifferent with an expression that said, That’s something Daisy can handle on her own.

Wow… has it only been a few days, and this is already becoming a memory? Are you going to sit in a rocking chair a month from now and say, ‘Back in the old, old days, something like that happened, heh heh’?

But thinking negatively… I had no experience. I’ve grown too big… my level has gotten too high! Now I can’t level up anymore! Just a few days ago, I was a low-level, but before I knew it, I’ve left the beginner stage.

Thanks to the World Tree branch of the 28th Terrarium regaining its power and restoring the broken balance, the flames we encountered were quite small, overwhelmed by the blessing. Even if I threw in a diamond, they wouldn’t grow enough for me to gain experience, which was the problem.

But now, at this level, I could probably take down flames myself if I grabbed a weapon, just like Siedling. Overconfidence wells up inside me.

Along the way, the only tension in our party was when Mesquite suddenly hoisted Daisy up—well, that was Daisy’s tension alone.

I had become like someone futilely pressing remote buttons, searching for something worth watching. At this rate, wouldn’t we be able to go back and forth in a day instead of two?

How long had I been walking, running simulations of me taking down flames? Just as I was imagining charging in with a massive lance like Mesquite, Mesquite noticed something odd.

Scattered objects and charred marks were situated far off the path, in a place hard to spot unless you had eyes as sharp as Mesquite’s.

According to Elder, who had memorized all the maps, we were just about to enter a terrain dotted with small swamps.

If the swamp were wide and deep, we would have to go around, but the area was described as having small, shallow swamps that allow passage by stepping on sufficiently solid ground. It wasn’t a problem, but the Elder warned us because it was a place where the terrain changes.

But to find such suspicious traces right before entering that area!

“This….”

Mesquite wore a serious expression. Well, it was clearly evidence of a battle. It seemed they had been defeated by fire, just like in the mountains.

But all the fires on the way here were weak, right? There couldn’t possibly be another boss like the carriage fire, could there?

“What if we encounter another giant fire….”

“My master, Jae. This isn’t a trace of a battle with fire. Of course, fire might have passed through here. You can see the scorch marks. But look closely.”

Her reaction was a little different from when we saw the overturned carriage. So I observed the scattered items once more. Daisy also bent down to follow my gaze and examine them.

The scorching here and there was the same as before, but the difference was that the items were relatively intact? It was easy to identify their shapes. Even trying to look closely… what am I supposed to see? There’s a tattered bag, an empty bottle with nothing inside, a scabbard….

“It might not be obvious because of the scorch marks, but if you look carefully, you can see cuts from a sharp object, right?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Yes!”

Right. Now that you mention it, I can see it.

“Huh? Do fires use swords?”

Elder looked at me with a face that said I was pathetic. Man, you’re being a bit too blunt. Well, I did say something pretty foolish. Thinking about it, fires just burn things; there’s no way they’d use swords….

Huh? So does this mean there was a fight between people or dryads, not fires?

“With no bodies, either they were cleaned up or they fled.”

Elder spoke, looking toward the direction we were heading. It was a place where withered, dead trees had collapsed mid-fall and leaned against each other, creating what looked at first glance like dark caves inside. Purplish-red vines hung down long like disheveled hair, making it look even gloomier, as if ghosts might appear.

So there’s a swamp there too, huh? Could there be bodies? Should I reconsider going there…?

“My master, Jae. The obstacles you were worried about might be different from the fires we’ve encountered before. Nothing could be worse than fire, but they could be more intelligent, or more vicious. Whatever they are, we need to be careful.”

“Druid! Look at this!”

While Mesquite pointed out the oddities, Daisy, using her small stature to the fullest, crouched down and poked at the items with her dagger before speaking. As she pulled out something that had been buried deep in the ground, left abandoned for a long time, dirt and dust poured down with a rustle.

As Daisy flicked the dagger, flipping the object, its relatively less burnt backside was revealed. And there, an familiar mark was embroidered in a deep green thread, like a patch.

“Wow… I feel like I’m watching a crime drama now. Or a mystery game.”

Along with the pattern of a giant tree symbolizing the World Tree, the number 28 was inscribed. Goosebumps rose on my forearm. Unconsciously, I clung tightly to Mesquite. Hugging his thick arm, which felt reassuring just to hold, I racked my brain fiercely. Damn, another 28th.

Maybe the person who owns this 28th mark—or the dryad who doesn’t—might be the messenger Scarecrow sent as the 29th? Who killed someone carrying out official duties? Why?

“Is the killer still out there?”

“I’m not sure. Given that it seems old, maybe not. Everything… might be confirmed if we go there.”

Even fire is scary when it’s big. After all, they’re dangerous beings. But those things just burn everything in sight, moving based on maybe primal instincts. In the end, I end up thinking they’re just monsters in a game, something to fight, win, and gain experience from.

If I encounter them, I can just assess their combat power and think about how to fight in a very game-like way.

But these guys who scheme and plot while turning their heads give me various fears by making me think in multiple directions. I might even end up suspecting everyone I meet from now on.

No, how the hell can I know what that bastard’s intentions are when approaching me? It makes me consider whether I should hide the fact that I’m the 28th interim administrator.

“Ugh, damn…”

“The carriage we saw on the way, and these things too. They’re all related to the 28th Terrarium. This is… yes. It definitely caused the 28th Terrarium to become isolated. Why did misfortune pile up on the 28th Terrarium? Is it related to the disease that made the World Tree’s branches lose their power?”

I’m the only one among us who knows the contents written in Scarecrow’s journal. Somehow it’s become even harder to speak up. Not just the pest-infesting insects, but other strange things are involved, making the scale grow bigger and more complicated for me to explain to Mesquite.

Back then, I’d vowed to tell everything once things were settled. But honestly, after checking these items just now… doesn’t it seem like someone deliberately orchestrated things to kill the World Tree’s branch?

In the end, I feel like I won’t be able to sleep until I go there and confirm it. Just in case, I moved the discovered items to a more remote spot to hide them, then steeled myself before entering new terrain.