“Should I put down roots?”

“Mm-hmm… Ah, Elder, don’t use that luck buff this time. Let’s save it.”

“But if you use it, luck that might help you avoid a bad situation could activate?”

“That sounds tempting, huh?”

No, let’s still save it.

Mesquite stabbed the tip of her lance into the ground and began to concentrate her power.

“My straight root can be found by any dryad born from the World Tree, based on genetic information. From now on, I’ll dig up this land from deep below to track down the Cannabis Dryad.”

Rumble!

A strong earthquake struck, just like when we tried to find Daisy before. Daisy seemed calm, enduring it as if it was nothing. Meanwhile, I had to grab hold of Elder, my legs trembling like a newborn fawn’s.

Of course, Wolfsbane was also clinging to me, looking like a scared hamster, just like me. Even though we came from the same Flowerpot mother, grown-up Daisy could withstand Mesquite’s earthquake, while Wolfsbane looked like a plant about to spill out of its pot at any moment.

After the noisy search, Mesquite fell silent for a moment. Then, looking at me, they seemed to ponder whether to share what they found. Why?

“…How is it?”

Just as that druid said. The Cannabis Dryad is not far from here.”

“And… and?”

“There are many other dryads too. They’ll probably be our enemies.”

If there are many dryads, there must also be many druids. As expected, there seems to be some kind of drug organization. Unless they deploy a special task force like in American dramas, I had to make a choice now.

***

“Didn’t you say you were scared?”

We were now reliably walking toward the location Mesquite had indicated, not along the path to the 18th terrarium.

Up until we got here, Mesquite had been very worried and Elder had scolded him frequently, but we couldn’t stop our feet from moving. All this, just to ease my own mind.

“I’ll just take a quick look. From really far away, just a peek.”

When reporting, it helps to know the enemy’s scale, right? What if there are just a few dozen enemies, but only two or three people show up in response? Unless you’re a superhero who can blow up buildings with one punch like in the movies, you might end up on the defensive.

And honestly, I had a secret advantage. The one-in-a-hundred special-grade Mesquite. With Mesquite’s sensing abilities, I was confident we’d spot them before they spotted us. So, I planned to take just a peek from really far away without being seen.

Frankly, this world isn’t about fights with guns and swords, it’s a world where dryads fight each other, right? So wouldn’t the side with nuclear weapons rather than guns have a bit of an advantage? If worse comes to worst, Mesquite could cause an earthquake….

“I can sense some energy nearby. Not many of them, and they’re not gathered together.”

Are they standing guard? Come to think of it, there are plenty of trees here, and I can even see a huge cave-like structure in the distance. That could be their base. In a spot central among the terrariums, good for avoiding outsiders’ eyes.

Feels like a total dungeon! Except the difference is that it’s filled with druids and dryads, not monsters.

I hid behind a nearby rock and slowly approached. In the direction Mesquite’s unwavering gaze was fixed, I saw a person yawning and casually glancing around. There were two dolls that looked like dryads beside them.

“See, I really did spot them from afar, just like Jae said. How about we leave now?”

“Hey, combat power measurer. What’s their grade?”

I asked, nudging Elder with my elbow. Since this guy usually looked down on others, calling them normal grade or below his level, I figured he could probably tell the dryads’ grades just by looking. And my guess was right.

Elder said one was normal and one rare, adding that they were still nothing special.

“Jae.”

Mesquite called my name more firmly. It was a scolding tone, worried that I kept trying to get distracted.

Yeah, I’ve done enough. Let’s leave the rest to more people. We found the base and know there are guards around, so that’s plenty of intel.

Just as I thought that and was about to leave.

“…I can’t do that…! Someone, please help!”

*Cough* I clutched my chest as weak feelings crept in, and Elder sighed at me. I never knew I had such a strong sense of justice in my life. Seeing the guards’ strength, I thought I might be able to take them on, and I couldn’t just ignore a plea for help when I had the power.

“Just… just take out the guards and check on Kanavis’s kid’s safety….”

Only after repeatedly vowing that my safety was the top priority in every situation, and that even if Kanavis was in danger, I’d leave if there was any risk to me, did my dryads finally act.

On the day of my dryads’ first battle against each other, Mesquite told me that originally, dryads are like siblings born together from the World Tree, and they don’t attack each other, targeting each other’s lives. Even for druids, who are small World Trees themselves.

But during the not-so-long time we’ve been together, my dryads have changed a lot.

They came to value only me, excluding all other small World Trees and even the ones they were born from, and they could now draw their weapons without hesitation if there was even a small threat to me.

I think Belladonna once said that a dryad overly loyal to its master could easily break the unwritten rule. And that’s exactly what happened.

But even if the enemies are lower grade, can they overcome the level difference? What if I’m much lower level than those guards and get wrecked? Yet, despite my worries, the dryads faithfully followed my request not to cause a commotion and swiftly took down the guards in an instant.

Mesquite drew their attention, and before they could react, she and Daisy cooperated and took them down in a flash. Even if it’s a game, watching people die in front of me is still hard to get used to, so I avoided looking until Elder got rid of the bodies.

But isn’t it surprisingly easy? I mean, this dryad’s rank is way higher. Since it’s a drug organization, isn’t it like the mafia or a gang? I thought there would be a fierce fight. No, in dramas or movies, the sentries usually have the weakest combat power…

The spot where the sentries were allowed an easy view of the situation inside.

“Looks like a cub that lost its master isn’t being very docile.”

“But still, I can’t use my power in such an unjust place! I promised the druid!”

“Let’s take it easy, shall we? We’re just people in need of treatment. Our minds are sick. Isn’t that pitiful? Huh? Now it’s time for you to use your fantastic power to heal us!”

“My power is not fantastic! Moreover, I don’t have the power to heal a sick mind! And healing can only happen when my druid is by my side…!”

A dull, thudding sound rang out. I was so startled that my heart pounded. Where the sound came from, terrible acts of violence were rampant. At the center of it all was a small dryad, barely taller than Daisy.

Though her body was battered, she curled up as much as she could without resisting even once. It was so painful to watch that I turned my head away. I even wondered if it wouldn’t be better to send the young dryads back to the artifact.

What do I do… What am I supposed to do now…

There were many people. Those committing the violence, those watching and snickering, and also many dryads standing guard around them.

Even the dryads, who now had dead eyes, would willingly move to protect their masters if a fight broke out. And I knew this battle would be on a completely different level from the fire battle.

“You damn bastard…”

“Hey, don’t hold back, let’s do this.”

One of the onlookers spat and said.

“What? Isn’t this supposed to be fun before selling it?”

“Right now, it doesn’t even look like it’ll last long enough to see its mother, let alone have fun. If it’s going to die anyway, I should at least profit from it.”

“What’s that?”

I didn’t want to hear what it was, even if I didn’t know.

“Huh? I’m planning to throw it into the fire. These dryads give off a different kind of smoke when they burn…”

“That smoke is absolutely killer.”

I felt as if all the blood in my body was draining away. A ringing in my ears echoed long, as if I were hearing hallucinations.

“Then there’s no need to kill him? Just cut him bit by bit and burn him. Start with his fingers so he doesn’t die, and toss them to him.”

“Look at this clever guy. Yes, you are the elite.”

“They say educated ones are different.”

While they chuckled at trivial jokes, Kanavis, who had learned what was about to happen to her, burst into tears.

“Just in case, keep a healing-type dryad on standby. It’d be a problem if it dies before we’re done using it.”

“Druid… Please save me… I miss you…”

“Should I cut off your mouth or tongue first? Because you’re too noisy?”

“Someone, please help me…”

“First, let’s go find a fire.”

“Bring a small one. If it swallows this and gets stronger, we’re in trouble.”

“Yeah. Bring one we can handle.”

A large crowd rushed out, leaving only two people to guard the place.

“Jae….”

The dryads, who must have felt all my emotions vividly, looked at me in their own ways. This ordinary card game about taking down fire monsters was laden with the ugliness of the human world.

It sent chills down my spine to realize what might happen to the young dryad while I was away.

“Now… now there are only two left, so should I quickly grab them and run? There are only four dryads too…”

“It’ll cause a commotion.”

The elder tried to persuade me in a cautious tone.

“Jae, I know you’re kind and gentle, but that dryad has no connection to you. Are you still willing to take that risk?”

“Of course, I know what vile things that sapling will suffer. As a dryad, I can feel the pain of dying dishonorably, being used like that instead of protecting my master.”

I shook my head at the elder.

“What I feel is a little different from dishonor.”

To me, that child felt less like a dryad and more like a human kid. That’s why the whole situation seemed so horrifying and hopeless.

Mesquite stared at me silently for a long time.

“My master, Jae. Whatever you wish.”

Then he looked at the people playfully kicking Cannabis.

“Instead, hide your body here. We’ll handle the rest. They don’t seem like tough opponents. Just in case, the elder and Wolfsbane will stay, while Daisy and I go.”

“Won’t we need a healer?”

“I’m taking Daisy because she can use her stem to hook and pull up that poor dryad. And the elder can provide support from a distance, so it’s best for him to stay by your side. It won’t take long. We’ll return to you straight away.”

Mesquite and Daisy exchanged brief tactical words and then left. But not everything went smoothly.

It was only when Mesquite ran back toward me with a terrifying expression, the elder knelt covering both eyes, and a cold metal touched my neck that I realized something was wrong.

It was a trap.