“You’ve fallen into the wrong hands with a strange group. It’s a very secretive group, so we don’t know much about it, but the rumors have always been bad.”

Then, with a very dark expression, she worried about me. After hearing that I was being chased, Iris took the dryads and stood behind me. Notos stepped forward a bit more and kept watch ahead.

“Could you tell me what kind of rumors?”

Water was flowing in the ravine, but the amount was so small it barely wet the soles of our shoes. Somehow, it felt like there must have been more water flowing here in the past. I could see large boulders as high as my shoulder that had been worn smooth rounded by the water’s flow. Had the fire caused the water here to dry up?

We walked forward, crunching over gravel that held moisture. Apart from the sound of trickling water and the crunching of stones underfoot, no voice of any living creature could be heard. Compared to the birds flying around near the 28th terrarium, the surroundings were eerily quiet.

“I think it was a group that worshipped fire… They’re said to commit all kinds of evil deeds… and there are reportedly a lot of arson cases linked to them. Oh, rumor has it that they once burned down an entire terrarium somewhere. I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s a really bizarre group, isn’t it? They say even people and druids join regardless. But druids shouldn’t do that, right? I can’t understand how they can wield the World Tree’s blessing power and still harm it.”

Mesquite let out a short grunt as if agreeing with her words.

“We don’t know the name of the organization or its members, but I’ve heard they can be recognized by a flame-shaped burn scar somewhere on their bodies. We’ve traveled a lot but have never gotten entangled with them, so I’m just passing on what we’ve heard.”

I felt like I had messed up badly. A fire-worshipping group, of all things. Well, even in my world, there were plenty who worshipped demons or strange things. Since the axis of evil in this world is fire, does that make fire something like a demon?

But what’s the point of worshipping fire? They’re beings that indiscriminately burn everything around them without reason. And if they worship it, they should just gather and pray quietly to the fire—why were they trying to kidnap Cannabis Dryad? I’m dumbfounded.

As I moved away from the terrarium and got farther, I started encountering fires of various sizes. I guess since it’s the earlier terrarium, the blessing of the World Tree’s branch was strong, making the number of fire entities and their influence seem overall very weak.

The dandelion children were scared every time they saw even a tiny fire, but instead, the smaller fires kept their distance from us. Even as aggressive mobs, if they’re agro-ing based on level, does that mean they have… reason?

The dandelion seeds, which had been steadily playing the role of drones by detecting nearby fires, finally found something. They said they discovered a tree similar to a viburnum.

We stopped walking along the ravine and looked for a way to climb up, finding a cave opening partway through. It was a place hard to spot, hidden by rocks, but the dandelion seeds flew around like fireflies, pointing out the location.

Inside the cave was dark, but not far off, sunlight was pouring in from above. I was wondering if I should bring out the Diamond to light up the inside when Iris and Notos took out lamps. As expected, high-level players have a variety of items.

Feeling ashamed for briefly thinking of them as savages, I quickly pulled my hand away from the Diamond I had been rolling in my pocket.

We parted the darkness with their lamps and walked toward the sunlight. This world is quite bright even when darkness sets in, so I hadn’t prepared for a cave like this—I vowed to buy a lamp next time I visit the general store.

The path upward was quite steep, almost vertical, but there were rocks spaced out like stairs, making it climbable if you used them for support.

Daisy and the other dryads, and even the dandelion children, hopped up easily, and even Iris and Notos seemed unbothered by climbing the rocks.

The problem was me. I reached out boldly and put my hand on the rock, but I just clung to it like a sloth hanging from a tree. Oh man… it’s probably because my jump stat is too low… I let out an awkward, embarrassed laugh.

Daisy tried to pull me up with vines from above, but Mesquite, who had been watching my struggles with a smile, waved her hand to stop her. Then, unlike Elder, who recklessly lifted me by the waist, Mesquite politely picked me up and leaped up in a single jump.

Even though I felt embarrassed being carried like this, Mesquite was too cool. I wish time could stop right now…

“Ah, it really is a viburnum tree. Even though there’s only one.”

The dandelion kids had, to my relief, found the viburnum tree. It was a tree bearing small, round red fruits hanging like grapes. Its leaves were sparse, and it didn’t look very healthy, but its wood seemed sturdier compared to the surrounding trees.

The area was filled with depressing trees festooned with fallen leaves and dry branches. Iris looked around the tree and spoke.

“Hmm… the field resembles the Viburnum’s natural habitat. There’s water flowing below, a high mountain behind, and it’s relatively flat and rocky above. Even though it’s just one tree, if this tree is here, there might be a colony nearby. In a place like this, there’s a high chance pine trees would have grown too. Notos’s dryads might bring good news.”

It seemed like an incredibly remote place. The path definitely looked rough for anyone to travel. If it’s this bad, wouldn’t those organizations chasing me also have a hard time?

With just a little force, the bushes crumbled like dried grilled fish bones. As I was brushing off the remnants stuck to my robe, Iris saw Notos lingering in one spot for quite a while and spoke.

“It would be good to call Zephyr and Herma now. Staying that long reading the land’s memories means he’s found something.”

As if she had been waiting, she pulled out the tickseed fruit and crushed it with her hand. Clearly, there was emotion behind it.

“Hmm… come to think of it, don’t you four use bees? I think exchanging letters would be more convenient, even if it’s a bit fragmentary.”

It came to mind shortly after receiving Kadon’s bee. At my question, Iris answered simply.

“Because bees are expensive.”

I see.

“I couldn’t read the power of one, and the power of two read that people have passed through here.”

“That means it’s a memory from over ten years ago.”

Notos stopped what he was doing with the pine trees, came over to me, and spoke as he looked at me.

“I saw the image of a merchant carrying a cartload of trees along a road. It seems there was quite a bit of traffic here in the past. On the path leading to the 18th Terrarium, he was sometimes alone, sometimes with others. The companions’ faces changed each time. If we trace his tracks in reverse, I think we can find a colony.”

“How about it, Jae? I think we really found a colony!”

Iris said with a look that said, “Praise me, did I get a good score on the entrance test?”

“It’s too early to say we’ve found it yet.”

Notos spoke, pointing out the direction we should go. Then he asked the dandelions to send their seeds in that direction.

While the dandelion seeds scouted ahead, we decided to wait for Zephyr and Herma and go together. Sitting on flat rocks as if they were chairs, we discussed what to do when we found the colony.

“Master Jae, what do you plan to use the arrowwood for?”

“Ah, I’ve never really thought about that. I was just curious because they said no one had ever discovered it. Like a treasure hunt…?”

Iris murmured quietly that people like Dia sometimes do things that are hard for someone like me, a commoner, to understand. Her words reminded me of how I had wasted Dia all over the place.

It seems you haven’t yet seen how I use Dia like water. Have you ever seen it rain Dia?”

“How about using it as a fence for your 28th terrarium, Master Jae? Since it’s waterproof wood, it would be great for blocking fire!”

“Hmm… I’m not sure. There’s no way to move all the trees, and… I don’t want to destroy the colony.”

Because a colony is a place with a high chance of a dryad being born. I thought of the dandelion colony. I hadn’t wanted to pick even a single dandelion blooming densely there. Though they were common dandelions, the flowers looked most beautiful blooming together in that place.

After that, we chatted leisurely. What kind of place would the arrowwood colony be? How magnificent would it be if the trees grew clustered together? Even though it’s a remote area, why had no one discovered it? We spent quite a long time on such musings.

“Zephyr and Herma are late… Could they have lost their way? I used my dryad power to make flowers bloom along the way we came, but it’ll still be a long time before those flowers disappear. So there’s no way they missed the flowers. They’re too late, way too late.”

Notos called back the dandelion children who had been sending seeds intensively in the direction we came from. He asked them to send seeds in our trail to find Zephyr and Herma.

“Could something have happened?”

“There were few fires nearby… and those kids aren’t the type to be burned by fire…”

After waiting for a while, the dandelion children finally answered. They said they had found Zephyr and Herma, but not just them—they also sensed the presence of many other druids and dryads beside them.

Then the children collapsed, exhausted, and slumped down. Startled, I approached them, and Mesquite saw this and spoke.

“My master, Jae. It’s because the seedling children are still young and lack the strength to sense many things. Still, they held out for quite a while. Don’t worry too much. If they return to Jae’s artifact to rest, they’ll recover soon.”

At that, I hastily sent the children back to the artifact. The children, who had stomped their feet saying they didn’t want to go back, eventually disappeared, drawn by a light.

“As for the other druids and dryads… Could they be the ones said to be chasing Master Jae?”

“Oh no, what if Zephyr and Herma got dragged into this because of me?”

Iris stared in the direction we came from for a long time, deep in thought. Then she pulled me into a thicket of bushes.

“I don’t know if they’re still fighting or not. Let me and Notos go check it out. They’re after Jae, so it’s best you hide here.”

I was really worried about them, but I figured those high-levels would handle things better than me, a low-level. I had to follow her advice.

I saw Notos, after talking with Iris, send the pine trees back as artifacts. They knelt down in the bushes, sitting primly with their knees together, then started heading back the way we came. I hope nothing worrying happens.

Mesquite and Elder stood in the direction they disappeared, keeping watch around them. They said since they were too big to hide in the bushes, it was better to hide behind rocks or trees and keep an eye out.

Only Daisy and Wolfsbane, being small, pressed close to my sides, using the bushes like a blanket and tilting their heads left and right.