Just in case, I carefully placed the bird feather in my pocket. Afterwards, I looked around here and there, but it was futile to find any other plausible traces in the burned debris.

Giving up on the futile effort, we decided to bury the carriage underground. Mesquite lightly stomped the ground to make it soft, and Elder used flower branches to pull the carriage into the earth, as using force might cause a landslide.

After that, we purposely made a ruckus along the way to attract the flames’ aggro. The flames that noticed us and popped out were swiftly taken down by Daisy’s agile movements.

Since there was no time wasted on combat, we managed to cross the mountain by afternoon. We met our schedule of crossing before nightfall and also succeeded in reducing the number of fire entities on the mountain.

And finally, the dandelion colony came into view in the distance. It hadn’t been many days since we actually visited, but it felt like an eternity. I had so much to talk about when I met Dandelion: how your Panacea saved our team, how the staff fragment containing the divine revelation was used, and I wanted to introduce Wolfsbane, whom we recruited along the way.

As we crossed the boundary of the colony, small yellow petals rode the wind and flew toward us. When we first met, they sent white seeds as a warning, thinking we were enemies. They said that if they had known who I was, they would have sent yellow petals of welcome. It seems they recognized me after all.

Two particularly conspicuous dandelion children were visible. They broke away from the group, ran out, and mingled with the yellow petals to greet us. That the children could run around so carelessly might be related to the restoration of the World Tree branch of the 28th Terrarium and the regained balance.

I had planned to clean up around the colony once more since I was here, but there seemed to be no threatening flames. It’s fortunate that peace has returned to the dandelion colony as well.

“I’ll impose on you for just one more day!”

It was still far from night, but this was better than greeting it while walking on the road. The two dandelion children who had acted particularly conspicuously clung tightly to Daisy as soon as we reached the center of the colony, chattering away. What could they have so much to talk about?

“Please rest comfortably. The Druid’s visit is actually welcome on our end, especially to those children.”

The children Dandelion pointed to were, as expected, those two.

“I can feel a stabilized energy. The dry air has become moist, and the rampaging flames have quieted down. Thanks to this, this unstable Forest has regained its vitality. Do you know the reason, Druid?”

I told her about what happened in the 28th Terrarium. Only the events that could be shared externally.

“You’ve accomplished something remarkable. This isn’t limited to the 28th Terrarium; it’s a great achievement deserving gratitude from all 20-series terrariums and their surrounding areas.”

Dandelion placed the hand gripping her staff on her chest and bowed. The dandelion seedlings gathered nearby followed her action and bowed. Embarrassed by that courteous display of respect, I quickly waved my hands. Oh, come on, we all help each other out!

Wolfsbane, who had looked at the small dandelion dryads with curious eyes and flushed cheeks, turned into a tearful face and hid behind me when facing Dandelion. The small children were around his age, so he was fine with them, but the aura of the Forest’s king was formidable enough to frighten him.

“Ah, remember the staff fragment you gave me? It’s stuck in this kid’s head.”

I grabbed the shoulders of the child hiding behind me and pulled them forward. I’m not sure if the staff fragment is supposed to be stuck in the crown of the head, but it ended up like this as a kind of costume… With everyone’s eyes on them, the child didn’t know what to do and bowed their head deeply. The white fluff above their head also drooped like a reed.

“Was there any reaction? How did the divine revelation manifest?”

“It seems to be an item that can awaken another characteristic of the Dryad. Right now, this one is in recovery mode, but if I extract this staff fragment, it will become attack mode.”

It’s a totally overpowered item. I wouldn’t have gotten it if I hadn’t accepted Dandelion’s sub-quest.

It’s a rare item that can only be obtained by forcibly detaching it once from the staff of none other than the king of Dandelion Forest. If I sold it, it would probably fetch a good price, right? Maybe it’s even an item tier purchasable only with cash. Of course, I have no intention of selling it.

“It’s an object with truly remarkable power. I’m glad it seems to have been put to good use. Then, what kind of plant is the base of that sapling Dryad?”

“Uh… well… it’s a bit complicated, but anyway, it’s close to Monkshood.”

At that, Dandelion’s complexion changed drastically. During her brief silence, the children who had been gathered around Wolfsbane scurried over to Dandelion’s side. Was she sending them telepathic messages to stay far away?

“In that case, it seems unwise to extract it here.”

Of course, I also had no intention of pulling out the staff fragment since the attack-type Wolfsbane was still uncontrollable.

“It might not affect the Dryads connected to the Druid’s soul, but I and my children are different. A highly potent poisonous plant is the base. It could be dangerous for my very delicate children. Just by the existence of that Dryad alone.”

I immediately thought of Belladonna, the leader of Siedling Team. She also said that her very existence posed a dangerous effect on everyone on the field except allies. Indeed, in nature, she’s just a crying, cowardly child, but her power in attack mode is formidable.

However, she only knows how to inflict debuff attacks, so it seems this is a slightly different case from Belladonna. When Daisy went nearby to insert the staff fragment, there was no special incident due to the close range.

But I couldn’t immediately clear up Dandelion’s misunderstanding. To prove it was a different case from Belladonna, I’d need to pull out the staff fragment and show her, but I can’t control the unexpected situations the child might create.

Someday, if I can build up enough intimacy with Wolfsbane to control it, then I’ll be able to clear up the misunderstanding.

“Well… for now, it’s safe because it’s in recovery mode. It’s weaker than the Elder, but it can heal too. I don’t know all its skills, but since it can inflict debuffs, it probably has a dispel skill too… However, due to some complicated circumstances, this child is unaware of its own nature. The recovery trait was forcibly awakened using the staff fragment…”

“Perhaps this sapling child might be a recovery-type Dryad with characteristics similar to ours. Indeed, our power differs from that used by the Elder Flower Dryad.”

Now that I had defended that it was safe, Dandelion relaxed her guard and approached Wolfsbane. From Wolfsbane’s perspective, it might have felt a bit disappointing, but she was the guardian of the Dandelion children. Her attitude was understandable.

Dandelion used the knowledge inherited by the Forest Kings to talk about plants that could be poison or medicine depending on how they were used. This dual-edged sword nature was information that could also be seen in the info window that appeared when recruiting Wolfsbane.

She said that if her knowledge was correct, Wolfsbane, like the Dandelion Dryads, specialized in the power to dispel negative energy rather than restoring vitality.

As I expected, the probability that he was a debuff-dispelling-only Dryad became very high. He also said that if Wolfsbane grew further, he might be able to create Panacea, just as he himself had done. Of course, that would be in the… very distant future.

Her lack of recovery power was fine. Our team already had Elder, an excellent healer. Above all, having experienced the danger of debuffs once, I knew its importance well, so the power to remove them was crucial.

Wolfsbane was truly the talent our team needed, both offensively and in recovery. Even if he wasn’t performing his role yet… Anyway, let’s raise his diligently!

Come to think of it, if we had to fight Belladonna, that would have been before we got Wolfsbane, so it would have been very risky with just Belladonna around.

Rather than Wolfsbane’s sloppy attacks, if Belladonna, who seemed more experienced, attacked intelligently… That team had the weakness of no healer, but in a long-term battle, we would have been at a great disadvantage.

It’s fortunate that she has a rough mouth but not a rough attitude. I’m glad we didn’t end up as enemies.

“By the way, the atmosphere of the Dandelion children seems a bit different. Last time I saw them, they were just innocently laughing and running around.”

Dandelion looked a bit tired at my words.

“They were stimulated.”

“Stimulated?”

There was Daisy where she pointed with her hand. Apparently, some Dandelion children who heard Daisy’s adventure stories were stimulated.

“It was useless to persuade them or make them realize their limits. The children want to go outside the colony.”

“Did I give them false hope…? I feel a bit sorry about this…”

“This too is probably the fate of those children. The fundamental purpose of Dryads is to protect the World Tree. But unless accompanied by a druid, they can never go out alone. Of course, even if the balance around here has been restored and it’s much safer.”

After all, even if we clean up the area thoroughly before leaving, we don’t know when fire might break out again. Moreover, the children are not the offensive type but the recovery type, specializing in debuff removal… In a one-on-one situation against fire, it was not a favorable trait.

“Also, the druid probably wouldn’t go out of their way to form a soul connection with those children. Other dryads would be more efficient at filling the limits of a soul with the size of those children’s souls, and the undeveloped children are very weak. Moreover, the children haven’t awakened a single skill that dandelion dryads can possess.”

This is the gap that comes from the difference between dreams and reality. The two children clinging tightly to Daisy are no different from dreamers who haven’t tasted reality yet. Daisy at least had a chance to meet me, but those two dandelion children seemed quite pitiful.

But it’s ambiguous. Even if I tried to do something for them, my top priority for nurturing right now is Daisy and Wolfsbane. Having two kids is already more than I can handle. I couldn’t afford to divert my attention away from my two dryads.

Including Dandelion’s subsequent light complaints, we chatted about various things until nightfall.

I took out the terrarium artifact and talked with Daisy 2, who was in the 28th terrarium. ‘You’re doing okay, right? Not crying because I’m not there?’

“…Something like this happened.”

“There’s a dandelion colony on the way to the 26th terrarium. Dandelions. Indeed, wild children not bloomed from fruit are not particularly helpful dryads to a druid. In battle, at least.”

That’s blunt. I like that about you.

“It seems they want to leave the colony and experience a wider world. But I’m already stretched thin with just Wolfsbane and Daisy. I’m afraid my attention will be divided. Dandelion said she’d make the children give up…”

I even have to take care of Wolfsbane’s affinity. I have a mountain of things to do.

“Then how about sending them to the 28th terrarium?”

“Huh?”

“If Master Jae has room in your soul’s limits, you could connect with them so they don’t die and place them in the artifact. They can gain experience from the outside even inside, and they don’t necessarily only grow through battle. If there’s a mature tree dryad as a role model, teaching is also possible. If you send them to the 28th terrarium, I might be able to teach them. Dryads with a soul connection to a druid grow faster than wild ones.”