Actually, as soon as I heard about the butterflies, I already had a dryad in mind to mark as a honey mate: Daisy. That was back then, when my will to nurture Daisy was burning bright. Not saying it isn’t now, though.

But after discovering another daisy dryad in the 28th terrarium, my initial feelings reset. Daisy dryads seem to be a species easily found even without attaching a butterfly. Now, I’m torn over which dryad to directly attach the butterfly to.

Mesquite is already strong, so strengthening Elder could be fine too. Strengthening Daisy further, as I initially planned, also sounds good. Should I leave it to chance? Honestly, whichever dryad gets strengthened is fine. Letting the butterfly choose on its own isn’t so bad either…

Elder was tapping me, urging me to quickly send Mesquite into the artifact. Greedy, huh. But Daisy didn’t seem willing to give up either. Wolfsbane just stared at the butterfly with curiosity, showing no other thoughts.

Fine, I just can’t bring myself to personally pick one dryad!

I took the collection container from the old man and abruptly opened the lid. Before Mesquite could even return to the artifact, the butterfly fluttered and soared free. The butterfly immediately flew between my dryads, dancing through the spaces.

And as expected, it showed great interest in Mesquite. It hovered around Mesquite’s shoulders for a long time, almost landing but not quite…

“Huh?”

It tested the waters, then suddenly flitted away. The old man, who had been explaining that a dryad becomes a honey mate the moment a butterfly lands on its shoulder, fell silent. He seemed to have not anticipated this outcome.

On the other hand, Mesquite looked at the butterfly’s behavior and seemed to understand why, wearing an expression of realization.

Unexpectedly, the butterfly was torn between Elder and Daisy. Daisy, who had grown further by recruiting another daisy dryad, was, from the butterfly’s perspective, a fragrant flower in its own right. And Elder, shamelessly, pulled a trick.

The sweet scent of elderflower filled the entire room thickly. Before I could even call it cheating, the butterfly promptly landed on Elder’s shoulder.

The sight of the mystical opal-colored butterfly perched on Elder’s shoulder, and Elder’s white hair fluttering gently with the butterfly’s tiny wingbeats… was such a breathtaking spectacle that I was left speechless.

Elder hung a victor’s smile on the corner of his lips and looked down arrogantly at Daisy. Daisy wore a very regretful expression.

The butterfly lingered around Elder like a pet, never straying beyond a certain distance.

“You should play fair! It seemed like you were considering going to Daisy too.”

“It was a normal field butterfly, so it was drawn to both, but it would have chosen me, the higher-ranked one, anyway.”

Elder’s tone was overly confident. I think we need to hear the butterfly’s side too. Spraying that fragrance as if to charm even humans! Luring the butterfly like that!

“That’s a bit off, kid. It wasn’t just a field-restricted butterfly, was it?”

“That’s right. That butterfly is quite special. It’s a butterfly meant for you, who saved our 26th terrarium, and shouldn’t we give you a more special butterfly than an ordinary one?”

Honestly, I would have gladly accepted even a regular butterfly. What did I know? But how is it special? Is it because it looks more dazzling and mysterious? Of course, looks matter. Absolutely.

“Other butterflies hatch from eggs and imprint on a field after passing through the larval stage. But that butterfly is one that hasn’t been imprinted on any field. The cause is unknown. It flew around freely, unbound by specific collection containers that emit the field’s energy. If the butterfly had chosen, it wouldn’t be a dryad of a normal field…”

“That’s right. It could have chosen me. But it couldn’t have.”

Seeing on my phone that the notice about the terrarium stake the old man said he’d send had arrived, I asked Mesquite as I left the room. Why? Tell me too. I’m really curious.

The butterfly fluttered closely after Elder as he passed by. Then it flew ahead in a certain direction and stopped. When Elder approached, it fluttered back up to a certain distance, as if calling Elder to its location.

Ah, that’s that. I heard it would show where wild dryads of the same species as the Elder bonded through honeymate are. It acts as a guide. So, does the butterfly now know where another Elder flower is? Another dryad like Elder! Does that dryad have a crazy appearance like the insane Elder too? What about its personality…?

“My master, Jae. The butterfly judged that bonding with me through honeymate would be of no benefit. Because there’s only one host to gain power from.”

“Whoa…”

Wait a minute. Did I just hear something huge? As I stood there, mouth agape in shock, the two short dryads clung to me, looking as if wondering what was so surprising. You two didn’t catch that…?

Mesquite just now… said there’s only one host to gain power from. That means… there are no wild Velvet Mesquite dryads in this world yet. The one and only strongest dryad! My dryad!

“Can’t I just follow the butterfly first?”

Elder asks, oblivious. There are countless places to go and mountains of work to do. He wants to put it all off and just go explore his own forest.

“Aren’t you surprised? There’s no wild Mesquite out there.”

“Well, I was surprised that there was a wild dryad of the same species as me. But I kind of expected it in her case. I’ve never seen or heard of another Velvet Mesquite dryad since I was a seedling. Why else would she be that amazing Special grade?”

The end of her words were sneered in an obnoxious voice. It could have been annoying, but Mesquite just looked at Elder as if he were a child throwing a tantrum before sleep. That’s the experience of someone who raised Elder from the start…

“Ah! Are you all done with your business? Here are the unripe fruits you requested.”

As if he had been waiting, the guide approached. He stepped aside, revealing two wooden boxes stacked up.

Is that the box of fruits packed to the brim with as many as I could carry without even asking the price? The fruits, like hollow glass orbs, sparkled under the orchard’s ceiling lights. When gathered and illuminated, the box looked like a treasure chest.

Honestly, I only needed two right now. Fruits to hold two dandelion children. The rest were for any wild dryads I might encounter on my travels.

I can’t visit the terrarium often, so I thought I’d prepare ahead.

“They were picked not long ago, so you can store them for a while, but you mustn’t forget that there’s still a proper expiry date, okay?”

Yeah, that was the problem. I learned too late, but since it’s fruit after all, it has a storage period and isn’t a permanent item.

If too much time passes, the blessing inside the fruit fades and it becomes ordinary. But even though I have plenty of diamonds, it would hurt my pride to say, ‘Please refund this.’

“How much is it?”

“100 diamonds each, and there are 20 per box.”

And two boxes. 4,000 diamonds is quite a sum for an ordinary person. I can’t believe you just prepared this without any questions. You really know me well.

They say real VVIPs at department stores don’t even look at the price tag and just hand over their card after picking. But I can’t help being curious about the price. Normal fruits are 300 diamonds, but unripe ones drop to a third of the price.

He brought a box with numbers on it, just like when I drew dryad fruits. As I’m waking up my phone, Elder approaches with a pout. Even with a pout, he’s as pretty as the butterflies fluttering behind him.

“What are you going to use all that for? You don’t even need it.”

The point was that he was whining about wasting diamonds again. But look at this phone right here. Aren’t these little shorties making a fuss for me to use diamonds? Oh, right, I forgot you can’t see them.

I was pouring diamonds clatteringly into the box, but his wrinkled face showed no sign of relaxing. Since I’m finally back at the terrarium, how about some shopping?

I need to get new gear too—what I’m wearing now is low-level equipment. And I should visit the artifact workshop again, right? I’ve also recruited a new Wolfsbane, so I’ll need to outfit him with artifacts.

Let’s throw away all the bad-tasting emergency rations and get some proper food for people to eat. Come to think of it, I’ve been craving a real home-cooked meal again.

I laid out my plans, saying I’d stay at the terrarium for a day to rest and take it easy while shopping, and promised to buy him whatever he wanted. Only then did his face relax. He’s too easy to handle, but it’s annoying how transparent his intentions are. That pretty face must be compensation for that personality of his.

After paying all the costs and packing all the unripe fruits into my inventory, I left the orchard.

I eagerly took in the lively streets with my eyes.

I wish my terrarium had a place like that. Does the inn really have to be just three floors? Let’s stack it dozens of stories high like a hotel. Should I create a food alley too? A park would be nice. I’ll plant lots of trees and flowers.

“Master Druid, we don’t even have the manpower to clear away the waste materials right now.”

Take a good look. Every time I play management games, I’ve only ever built pre-prepared buildings—I’ve never built anything from scratch based on my own ideas.

How about building tons of hospitals and making all treatment free? Wouldn’t that make our terrarium incredibly famous for its healthcare?

“Master Druid, we’re short on people and dryads…”

I heard there are orphans here but no separate orphanage. Like Daisy mentioned before, they had no place to stay and ended up living in the village community hall. So, should we build an orphanage? For the kids with nowhere to go…

“Master Druid, there aren’t even people, let alone kids.”

Based on my previous experience, I clung tightly to Mesquite to cover my body as I moved around, which gave me the leisure to observe various parts of the village. So even though I’m only a temporary administrative officer, I was projecting and examining this place and the 28th terrarium.

Worried that Daisy2 might get bored, I linked the artifact and chattered away, only to realize I was acting like that relentless boss who even pesters subordinates with work during outside errands. Truly relentless…

“That’s not it, Druid. I’m enjoying this. I enjoy everything you say. Are the dandelion seedlings ready yet? I’ll help realize your dreams as much as possible, so please send workers quickly… Ahem, I mean, so I can quickly guide the growing seedlings on the right path…”

Listening to Daisy2, whose thoughts were as clear as day after the Elder, I found myself arriving at a plaza lined with shops without realizing it.

Do I have some kind of shopping instinct? No, actually, I was just so distracted looking around that I ended up following only the fluttering white robe of the Elder ahead of me…

Yeah, it wasn’t my instinct—it was yours!