Along the way, we could see spots where Wolfsbane had once lived and settled. Piles of collapsed tree trunks, circular dug-out patches of ground, and areas thick with dead leaves that looked like they could crumble at any moment.

Watching it made me feel so sorry that I kept reaching my hand to Wolfsbane’s head. Forget it, forget all the bad memories.

Wolfsbane followed me with small steps, its gaze solely fixed on me. Like a little puppy. Well, what’s the point of taking in such a gloomy place.

At the opposite exit, vines hung down like a curtain, so Mesquite flicked them aside with her lance.

We had to walk for a long time until the end was in sight, and I was once again amazed at Wolfsbane, who had unknowingly taken control of this vast area. If only he wouldn’t recklessly burst into tears, he’d really be a formidable attack-type dryad.

Once outside, while Mesquite heightened her spiritual sense to search for nearby fires, Elder moved his staff around in every direction.

“The world tree branch from the 28th terrarium has regained its power, so things are much better, but this is still within the influence of the 29th terrarium, so it feels like a druid’s touch is somewhat present.”

He said that with the fires mostly dealt with and the balance maintained, a faint life force could be felt.

“That’s a bit troublesome. It looks like I’d need a lot of fire to burn up that swamp. That won’t do. Since things have come to this, how about I revive a bit of past experience?”

“Daisy, you have to hit it without putting any force into it.”

Pointing to the fire Mesquite had barely managed to find in the distance, she said to Daisy, “If you hit it with force, it’ll just go out, so you have to strike gently. Just enough to split it cleanly in half.”

The child, who had always only hit with all her strength, looked troubled at my request. To think our kid has grown enough to need to control her strength now…

There’s a quest like this in some games too. ‘Reduce the monster’s health to a certain level and then capture it.’ When its health is full, capture doesn’t work, and if you reduce too little, the capture chance is low. And they always give that quest when I’m strong enough to one-shot field monsters.

“Even one hit kills it!” To complete the quest, I had to reluctantly strip off my gear and, instead of using skills, poke at it little by little with my bare hands. But even then, it would still die… When you get too strong, hitting gently is the hardest thing.

I grabbed Daisy’s little hand and took off her diamond ring. It’s not like I’m giving and taking away; even you, who’s already strong, have to remove your equipment.

“Can I do it?”

A question from the little one to steel her resolve… why does it have to come out in this ironic situation of asking if she can hit without killing? For the usual you, it should be ‘Can I catch that fire?’ instead.

To that, I had to give a ridiculous answer like, “I believe in you.”

I kept throwing diamonds at the fire to strengthen it, ensuring it didn’t get one-shot by Daisy. The child moved with such precision, accurately splitting the fire in half without killing it.

Seeing the child, who had grown immensely strong, scrambling to hide her power was somehow pitiable, yet her efforts to fulfill my request were incredibly adorable.

Just like we did in the beginner hunting grounds early on, we split the fires, threw diamonds into each piece to make them grow, and then split them again… We multiplied their numbers like that.

Thanks to that, after finishing the work, disposal became a hassle. To deal area damage limited to fire… it still seemed too early to use Wolfsbane, and I needed the Elder’s power from back then.

“Elder, can we use that Graft once? Even though diamonds are being wasted left and right, you’ve been loafing around.” I nudged the Elder’s side.

The fires were moving around, scorching the surroundings as they headed for the diamonds thrown into the swamp. We were using the diamonds like firewood tossed into a hearth—at this rate, shouldn’t the Elder be grumbling by now?

“What are you so distracted by?”

“Since you’re recklessly gathering the flames, I have to protect the nearby plants from burning.”

Come to think of it, the Elder’s staff, glowing with white light, was pointing at a patch of ground a little ways off. There was a tiny puddle there, filled with water seeping from the swamp.

Amazing—there were still plants living nearby? Curious, I looked, and they turned out to be something I recognized. Small, cute, round leaves floating sparsely on the water.

“It’s duckweed!”

I know this. I’ve seen it a lot. It floats on ponds, on rice paddies, and it’s used to decorate fish tanks. It’s a fairly common plant—so much so that in places with standing water, it naturally settles in like a piece of an ordinary landscape.

I didn’t expect it to be in such a tiny puddle, though. Feeling proud to show off what little knowledge I had, I looked at it with satisfaction, and Mesquite laughed and praised me.

“That’s right. It’s duckweed. It must have been hiding in this secluded spot, evading the fire’s gaze all this time.”

While Daisy forcefully hurled the chunk of diamonds I’d passed to her far away to draw the fire’s aggro, we gathered around the tiny puddle.

The duckweed was so small that when the massive Mesquite moved, the vibrations helplessly rocked it on the water. The duckweed, splashed with water, sparkled in clusters like dewdrops on a windowpane.

“The puddle looks way too cramped for all of them to live here.”

“Right. Duckweed has strong reproductive abilities. Normally, this little puddle would’ve been bursting at the seams in no time.”

“It’s highly reproductive and also great at purification. At this distance, even though it gets water from the swamp, it probably doesn’t suffer much harm. Since it’s naturally good at purifying, it must have managed by cleansing a little pollution along the way. But continuously using energy for purification and the poor environment seem to have kept it in check.”

Ohh, these are sweet little things! And they’re perfect for what—for the new swamp that’s about to be born! They’ll purify the water and breathe life into the dead land. We’ll make a new home for them!

I could see Wolfsbane squatting right below me, watching the duckweed floating around with curious eyes. It seemed like everything he saw outside was new and fascinating, even the common duckweed.

The crackling sound of leaves burning came sporadically, and acrid smoke spread thickly high into the sky. It seemed the fires were now burning the trees that covered the swamp like a dark curtain in earnest.

Daisy looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask if I could stop throwing them now. Though she had done as told, it seemed throwing so many diamonds onto the ground was a heavy burden for the child.

Around then, Elder, spotting the pile of diamonds Daisy was carrying, burst into belated fury, asking what on earth she was sprinkling such precious things on.

“I think we should put it out before the damage grows. The fire can’t leave the swamp.”

I said, pulling on the angry Elder’s arm. Can you use Graft? Huh? I’ll give you more diamonds than the ones I threw over there.

“The communion was already raised as much as needed for fighting that dryad. But how much more diamonds are you planning to waste?”

“Waste? I’m using them where they’re needed, so this isn’t waste!”

To me, waste is pouring diamonds just to see your pretty smiling face. No, wait, this is also necessary for my aesthetic sense, so maybe it’s not waste? Anyway, it’s not.

Elder made a displeased face and stretched the staff toward me. It felt completely different from our tight bond.

Anyway, fine, shall I bring some rain? I need to cover the dead water with clean water. You mentioned that during the fight with the carriage fire, the Si-drying dryad turned the area into a sanctuary.

Putting out the fire is a side task. To regenerate the land and also block the approach of fire for a while, there’s nothing like this rain of life.

As Elder said, the communion seemed to be already raised. Without needing to focus my mind to grasp the feel like during the fight with the carriage fire, the moment I grabbed Elder’s staff, the sensation from that day came rushing back instantly.

My heart pounded wildly as if I had sprinted, and Elder’s staff shimmered brightly. White flower branches bloomed like flares, and the sweet scent they gave off announced the time.

Now’s the time. Dwarves, it’s time to work. The range is wider than before, so you’ll have to turn the faucet all the way.

This feeling of my heart throbbing when using Graft was still awe-inspiring, even experiencing it again.

The approaching dark clouds swallowed the mouse-colored smoke spewed by the burning fires. I felt a tingling sensation, as if branches were sprouting from my body.

The Elder’s staff was as long as the Elder was tall, requiring the use of my entire body to swing it. Besides my own body, the immense, tree-like aura enveloping me also moved along, making every gesture feel grand.

Pitter-patter.

The sound of raindrops striking the ground was like a knock signaling the start.

Fire workers busy dismantling the dead trees in the swamp, it’s now time for you to exit. The rain, pouring down like a burst dam, began to chase away the fire with a fearsome force.

The black soil crusted with ash turned over, and bright-colored earth shot up like fireworks. The stagnant water that had formed a nest overturned, and clear water filled its place.

The branches falling in thuds formed a very low bank pushed by the overflowing water, and the fresh air that seeped in pushed out the heavy, gloomy air that had settled.

The somber area, once like a forest of death, was transforming into a pure region imbued with the spring of life, like a fruit shedding its rotten peel to reveal a luscious white interior.

Even the small puddle that Wolfsbane’s child had been watching with sparkling eyes overflowed in the pouring rain. The trickling thin stream traced a long course toward the swamp. Duckweed, like little boats, floated gently into the swamp now filled with clean water.

The force of the falling rain was so intense that the small boats seemed about to sink, yet even when they hit clumps of dirt or the banks, they plunged briefly beneath the surface before bobbing up again. The duckweed flowed and flowed, stopping at their respective spots.

Like a splash of light green paints flicked from a brush onto a colorless landscape, tiny duckweed dotted the scene here and there.

Now, forgetting the past when they huddled stagnantly in small puddles, they would fill the swamp with light green, like a watercolor spreading in water.

The Wolfsbane’s child, watching the rain pouring from the sky with wide eyes, glanced at the drifting duckweed, then looked at the Elder’s staff in my hand.

A glint of peculiar light swirled in their bluish-violet eyes. With a look of realization, they followed me and extended their slender staff. The staff, with a large ball-like ornament dangling at its tip, let gathered raindrops roll down and emitted a bluish-violet hue.

The sweet scent of elderflower, thickly layered in the air, was lightly infused with a fresh fragrance like mountain herbs. Then, a refreshing energy gently swept over me and the dryads standing around. It was a healing power, faint but similar to that of the Elder.

Stimulated by the graft with the elder, it seemed I had unconsciously awakened a power of recovery, but alas, this power was too weak to be useful in battle. Unless, perhaps, in a dire situation where even a small hand needed to lend aid.

But given how formidable the elder’s recovery power was, would such a situation ever arise? Wolfsbane seemed to have a turn-over form of recovery ability, but healing didn’t appear to be his specialty.

His adorable actions made me laugh involuntarily, breaking my focus. At the same time, the graft halted.

The rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the afternoon sunlight poured down. The sunlight spread a warm energy everywhere, as if drying a freshly finished watercolor.