The enemy had a dryad with even sharper detection abilities than Mesquite. Under the excuse of catching fire, they disrupted the aura, and a dryad ambushed from where the sentry was buried, blinding the elder’s sight in the blink of an eye.

We had underestimated the criminal organization too much.

Once my life was held hostage, my dryads quickly surrendered. Mesquite, with a face as terrifying as a demon, gritted her teeth and knelt down when the one overwhelmed by the momentum accidentally cut my neck.

Even if the battle wasn’t unfavorable, my weakness was too great. These people were ones who could easily see through the dryads’ vulnerabilities.

“Stay still, or your druid dies!”

“If you so much as lay a finger on my master, I’ll tear you all apart!”

A strange ring was fastened to my terrarium artifact, and Mesquite, Daisy, and Elder were roughly dragged away. Resistance was futile. That bastard was pressing a knife to my neck as if showing off to my dryads.

Only Bellflower, treated like a mere sprout, was tied up with me and sat next to the fallen Cannabis. She was so scared she just cried, posing no threat, and since none of the dryads recognized her type, she was overlooked.

All sorts of talks went around about my fate. Some said they’d hurt my dryads in front of me to force them to take diamonds from the wallet, since it couldn’t be touched without its owner’s will, others said they’d kill me since I witnessed them, and still others said they’d use me like a slave since I had good dryads.

When I saw Cannabis getting hurt, it was horrifyingly chilling, but when I myself was sitting there as a hostage, I felt oddly dazed. At first, I thought my brain was avoiding reality.

But the cut on my neck stung, and gradually my mind became clearer. What, why am I not that scared?

“Did you think sneaking around like a rat, you wouldn’t get caught?”

“I thought I wouldn’t get caught in a rat’s den.”

At that moment, my vision flashed. It was the most painful moment since I came to this world. The bastard who had been viciously beating Cannabis now slapped my cheek. My head hit the ground with a dull thud, and my mouth felt numb.

Wow, that really hurt. Even in the fierce battle against the fire, I’d never felt this much pain. I realized anew how pampered and protected I was by my dryads. Bellflower screamed and tried to hide me from their sight with her tiny body.

If I had been as strong as a Sapling, I wouldn’t have become a weakness for my dryads. Without my dryads, I really was nothing, wasn’t I?

“Get that brat out of the way. She just screams and whines. Unlike the others, she’s a worthless dryad—let’s just kill her.”

Even with both arms tied, Bellflower clung to me stubbornly, refusing to leave me.

Truly nothing, me.

But even after being hit, instead of being scared, my mind kept getting clearer. Before coming here, I was truly afraid, and even when I was hiding and watching, or when Cannabis was being hurt, I felt fear and horror.

But when I actually experienced it myself, I thought, ‘What? This isn’t such a big deal. A slap on the cheek is getting off easy. It hurts, sure, but I’ve survived life-threatening crises before. This is nothing,’ and felt like my mind and situation were detached. Was I going crazy?

It wasn’t until I heard someone call me a tough bitch for not screaming or flinching that my vision finally caught a different scene. I saw Wolfsbane struggling to break free from the ropes. And next to them, I saw Kanavis looking at me with tear-reddened eyes.

No way… You…?

“No. I need to make this guy’s dryads more obedient. They were all high-level! There was even a massive one! If they break free, they won’t spare us!”

“Then, in front of those guys…”

They were going on about cutting fingers again. Just like they had planned to do to Kanavis. At that moment, Kanavis looked at me and tears kept streaming down. You… are doing something to me, aren’t you?

If that dryad was willing to break its promise to its master and use its power on its own, it must have seen me as its last hope. It truly is a dangerous power, just as Mesquite said. Given that even in this extreme situation, I feel no fear. I’ll need to be careful not to get addicted.

The mind that Kanavis had desperately kept intact for me began to race furiously. Am I really nothing? No, I didn’t take all the dryads away. Ridiculously, I’ve kept Wolfsbane by my side. Do I even know what they’re like? Honestly, when you think about it, maybe they’re even more dangerous than Mesquite.

Our secret weapon. Our little darling. Seeing me suddenly grin, Wolfsbane stopped crying and stared blankly at me.

“Can our little darling do it? Right? You’re totally amazing. What good are your arms being tied?”

“Hey! What are you muttering about?”

“I went through so much trouble to bring this one here. Our party’s healer can’t dispel debuffs. Do you guys have debuff removal?”

“What are you talking about? Did you hit your head and go crazy?”

I pushed the ground with my shoulders and legs, wriggling upward. Then, I bit down hard on the thing stuck in Wolfsbane’s hood. Turning my head, it came out easily. Just that small movement exhausted me, so I laid my head on the ground. Moments later, a siren signaling the start of hell erupted from Wolfsbane.

The events that happened that day at the Swamp of Death were replaying. Blue moths and a rain of horrific poison. People screamed and ran, but Wolfsbane’s abilities were far-reaching, as they had once ruled over a vast area. And somehow, it felt like their power had leveled up compared to back then.

A healer of our Elder’s level barely managed to hold out, but is there a healer of that caliber here?

Wolfsbane’s attacks were so fierce that no one could get close. I tilted my head slightly and looked up; everyone was poisoned, with blue-tinted eyes.

Even though he had let his guard down, the paralysis ability that had brought an Elder to their knees in an instant was, ironically, ineffective against Wolfsbane. The poison was so overwhelming that no other venom could compare to the child’s.

At the commotion here, the place where my other dryads were isolated also erupted into chaos.

In just a moment, my body was gently lifted into someone’s arms. The heavy sound of metal. It was Mesquite. I didn’t have the confidence to see Mesquite’s face right now. Whatever expression he made, it would hurt my heart. So I just buried my face in his chest and said, “I’m totally fine.”

The surroundings were quickly cleared. As long as I was safe, my dryads had no weaknesses left. The enemies afflicted with poison debuffs stood no chance against my enraged dryads.

My mind and body kept growing drowsy, and my eyes closed. I thought I’d only closed them for a moment, but before I knew it, the scenery had completely changed. We had left the dungeon-like place overgrown with vines and were moving through an open area.

My hands and feet, which had been tightly bound with rope, were free, and the artifact that had been fitted with a strange ring was intact. It seemed my dryads had taken care of everything while I was unconscious.

“Jae… Are you okay?”

Mesquite’s voice was trembling slightly.

“I’m fine. Actually, I feel great.”

I can’t even hear Wolfsbane crying. Guess the control device was reinserted.

“What about Cannabis?”

“Thank you for saving me….”

On the contrary, I was surprised that Cannabis was unharmed. That’s because I and my dryads are bound to Wolfsbane by soul, so we’re not affected, but he isn’t. Could it be that Wolfsbane removed the debuff?

“Even though I look young, my very existence is a cure… a body resistant to poison. Of course, if your dryad had been stronger, even I would have had no choice but to be defeated.”

When I asked why, he answered like that. And he added that if Wolfsbane had been stronger, his own power might not have worked on me either.

Cannabis, despite having been rescued, was keeping his distance from us. Like a loner. Maybe our dryads think I was endangered because of him….

“I’m still within the influence range. I need to move farther away.”

At those words, Cannabis backed off even further.

“That’s not it. It’s because since that dryad used its power on you, just its very presence has been continuously affecting you. The master isn’t around, so the power can’t be controlled.”

I didn’t think I’d opened my mouth, but how did he read my mind so perfectly?

“Your thoughts are leaking out to us more than usual.”

Geez….

“My master, Jae. Don’t worry too much. Once freed from the power of the Cannabis Dryad, he’ll return to normal. Right now, he’s in a very peaceful and stable state, with a heightened soul connection to the dryads.”

Wow… This is a really dangerous power. It feels like it could be addictive.

“That’s right. I’ve heard there were those in the past who used this power and were driven madly into war. It makes you forget pain and fear. But…”

“Yeah. I don’t want to become a junkie.”

Elder kept infusing energy, saying it would help. I felt like the drug’s effects were being pushed back.

“Good thing we underestimated Wolfsbane. Thanks for pulling off something big. Now, if you can just control that thing yourself, it’d be perfect.”

Don’t forget the praise. I said this to Wolfsbane, who looked utterly exhausted, as if he’d been crying a lot. Wolfsbane stared blankly at me, then fell into thought. Just as he was about to start nagging me about how Elder was making light of things and how dangerous the situation had been.

“Found you! Over here!”

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a group of people rushing over. Were they other remnants following us? I’d have to pull out Wolfsbane’s control device again…

“Relax! We received a report and came to help.”

A man approached cautiously with a gentle expression as he spoke. Since there were others around, I couldn’t keep lying down, so I struggled to get up. Mesquite quickly helped support me.

“Ah… that doctor’s…”

“Yes, that’s right. We’ll quickly guide you to the safe 18th Terrarium. Where is the Cannabis Dryad?”

“Over there.”

When I pointed to Cannabis, he brightened up and ran over. He asked where the remnants were, saying he was glad we were safe, and Daisy told him instead of me, since I didn’t know the way we came.

“How did you rescue this dryad?”

“Uh… well…”

“We sneaked it out. They might be chasing us.”

Huh? Didn’t we wipe them all out thanks to Wolfsbane? Were we on the run? Elder’s words didn’t match what I knew. But since Elder gave me a signal, I kept quiet.

Several people headed to the location we told them about.

“Come on, let’s quickly go to the 18th Terrarium where your master is.”

“Is my druid safe?”

“Yeah, he’s waiting for you.”

The 18th… But didn’t they say they were on their way to the 17th Terrarium because there was an emergency patient? Was I mistaken? I thought they’d be at the 17th Terrarium by now…

My thoughts leaked out again, and the dryads’ expressions changed.

And then I saw it. The wrist of that man who was grabbing Cannabis’s forearm and leading it. There was a scar I’d seen somewhere before.

If there’s no coincidence that a burn scar could have exactly the same shape…. The doctor we rescued, the one who started all this, the one named ‘Matchi,’ had the same scar on his wrist.

It looked like a pattern at first glance, the exact same scar. Yet the two are clearly not the same person.