Terrarium Adventure

I told them to never show up in front of me again and now I’m the one… no, just because I’m in the same terrarium doesn’t mean we will meet.

“We’ll have to check if the artificial enhancement is happening openly in the terrarium there, or if the Alchemy Tower is keeping it a secret. Either way, it’s forbidden, so I think we’ll need to find a way to stop it. They will also have to pay for their actions.”

Mesquite said with a serious face. Listening to that reminds me of the secret organization of a certain animation company. Did we get ourselves into a tremendous secret by making this dryad a part of our team?

By the way, what does turnover form mean? The Monkshood dryad has all the traits a dryad can have except for the defensive type, but he was locked into attack type. It seems that only the recovery and support types are currently active.

Well, I guess it’s unfair for a dryad to be able to use three types at once. Even Mesquite who is a special dryad has only two characteristics. But can the attack mode be switched on and off? How do I do that?

I got close to the Monkshood dryad, who had a reddened face as if he had just come out from hot water. I looked at the child here and there, and the child fluttered but did not run away from me. Compared to the beginning, this is a great improvement. Good job, you didn’t cry!

“How do I switch you back to attack mode?”

At my question, the child opened his eyes wide. Looking at his expression, it looked like he didn’t even know what I was talking about. I started explaining that he was in recovery type like Elder and what recovery type dryad was, but it looked like he didn’t understand.

“Can you use your attacks like before, you know, like shooting out moth-like lights and poisoning others?”

When I asked, he said he was sorry and started crying. He said sorry because he didn’t know, and said he was sorry for everything. Sigh. Does he not know how to convert himself? Hey, don’t cry. Why are you crying again…

I’m an only child but had a feeling that this was what it would like if I had a younger brother. Even though he had a great title of being the King of Poison, he acted like an herbivore at the bottom of the food chain.

I tried to stroke the child’s disheveled head when Dandelion’s staff piece which Daisy had inserted into his hood caught my eye.

An item that reminds one of another power. If this child didn’t change his mode consciously and doesn’t know how to do it… does that mean this staff is the switch?

I grabbed the piece of staff and pulled it out.

Then… I had to cover my ears because he started crying like a newborn baby. It was a tremendous volume for such a little body. A group of moth lights sprang up around him like when we were in battle with him. Oh god, oh god, maybe this is the control device.

When I put the staff back into his hood, he managed to stop crying.

I’m already tired. I’ll have to rethink about using this child as an offense dryad.

That staff piece. It’s like a safety pin for a grenade. He will burst when I pull it out. What will burst out, you ask? The dam that holds back his tears. Sigh…

“I thought I was going deaf. Why are you crying, why!”

Although I was going crazy from him crying, I was able to confirm that the staff piece was a switch. When I pulled it out again, the lock indicator moved from attack type to recovery type.

The Monkshood dryad stopped crying at the same time the staff piece was inserted, but said in a teary voice, “because I remembered the time when I was left alone…” It looks like I got a good debuff dryad, but it’s obvious that I can’t use him if I don’t help him overcome his trauma. What do I do…?

“It’s probably a matter of intimacy.”

Elder replied while sulking. It looked like he couldn’t stand the sound of the little kid’s cry, either.

“It’s because you made the soul connection when the staff was inside him. He may feel deeply stable now…”

Elder pretended to pull out the piece of staff from the little dryad’s head.

“But when you do this, he will feel alone again.”

“Yes, intimacy! The receptionist told me something about that when I first picked you up. I could raise intimacy with you by using diamonds… can I do the same with him?”

I hadn’t thought about intimacy for a while. I almost felt devastated when I first heard about it after blooming Elder, but luckily, there was a very simple strategy despite him having very high self-esteem. Let’s see how it works with the new dryad.

Hey kid, do you like a rich owner as well? Would you like some diamonds?

“My master, Jay. Intimacy depends upon how well a dryad’s roots settle in Jay’s soul. There are dryads that match Jay from the start, and there are dryads who shudder from being put in an unfamiliar environment. When moving from the best environment, the World Tree, to the small World Tree, dryads who are new to the world, such as Little Elder, feel particularly different. Instinctively, they get scared.”

“Hey, I wasn’t scared. I just didn’t like her back then because I wanted a rich druid. At that time, Jay looked pretty shabby…”

He stopped mid-sentence and looked at me. Why? What?

“… Anyway, she doesn’t anymore.”

“I wish this kid was a snob dryad like Elder.”

“I’m not a snob! Just… ugh, whatever.”

Elder turned his head away from me as if he remembered the time we first met. Only he would know if he was embarrassed by those memories or something else. It looked like the former reason based on how Mesquite was looking at him.

“Since this seedling is quite young, it seems that he is viewing himself as a different being when the mode is changed. He does not know much about himself in the first place as he is not a dryad that grew up under normal circumstances. He also didn’t form a forest with other Monkshood dryads. If a dryad lacks social skills that are acquired by growing up in the soil, they can create a forest with similar dryads to fill in the gaps, but this child couldn’t do either.”

“We became in charge of a bothersome kid. We can’t do anything about it because the soul connection was already made, but now we have to teach him everything from the beginning.”

Elder spoke in a scolding tone.

“When he grows up, he will be able to overcome the sense of disparity he feels. Don’t worry too much, Jay.”

It is true that all my dryads have made me very comfortable and at ease until now. This child will be my trial and the task I must overcome. I don’t know what kind of dryad I might face in the future, so I must train myself. I can do it! With love! With affection!

“Let’s see…”

I grabbed the elongated hood of the Monkshood dryad and lifted it up. The staff piece floated above his fluffy blue-purple hair like the bottom of a dandelion seed.

I struck the staff piece back into him because he was crying so loud, but I got lucky… it could have penetrated his head. I see that I can’t push it in anymore when it reaches a certain part. A pale gold color whirled around where the staff piece touched the child’s head. Daisy stood next to me and watched what I was doing.

When I grabbed the staff piece and took it out very carefully, there was a moment where the gold color disappeared. That means this can be picked out with very little effort… I should be very careful not to touch it until he is ready.

“Daisy, what should I do? Come to think about it, I haven’t been worrying about increasing intimacy with you. Mesquite as well.”

“He will be fine soon! Master druid is so nice, and he will soon realize that he won’t have to worry about anything when he’s with master druid!”

Daisy smiled brightly and replied without hesitation. It was as if she had been prepared to answer me. Overwhelmed by her boundless affection, my hand unconsciously moved to stroke Daisy’s fine red hair.

As I petted her, she smiled brightly and turned to the Monkshood dryad. She looked into his deep blue-purple eyes.

It was as if she was silently asking, ‘You need to be fine soon, okay?’ Are you threatening him with such a pretty smile…?

The Monkshood dryad shrugged reflexively, then glanced at me and opened his shoulders. He rolled his eyes back and forth Daisy’s head and my hand on top of it. He soon lifted his little hand and fumbled it around his head. As I watched him, I thought my heart was going to stop at the indescribable cuteness.

I guess I’m weak against small creatures… he’s showing that he’s envying Daisy, right?

Mesquite told me that he seemed to have made Daisy his role model since she had a similar size as him. She said it was a good sign.

She also told me that a seedling dryad instinctively makes a similar, but stronger dryad its role model, and grows by imitating them. Seeing this, she could tell that this child would soon find his identity as a dryad.

“Moreover, because he is envying Little Daisy, who is favored by Jay, it means he is feeling reverence for the small World Tree. I was afraid that he might not be able to recognize Jay even after the soul connection…”

Uh… what were you going to do if he didn’t recognize me…?

“I think what the seedling child needs the most now is Jay’s praise. When he does the right thing, do as you do to Daisy. You will soon see progress.”

Mesquite added as if to preserve the positive atmosphere. Daisy grows by imitating Mesquite and the Monkshood dryad will grow by imitating Daisy. I was so proud of this flow and once again thought about my fortune in meeting good dryads.

“My master, Jay. Is the work here finished? You wanted to see what was on the way to the 29th terrarium, right? Are we going back to the terrarium where the other Daisy is now, or will you visit the 29th terrarium?”

“Yes, the work here is done. There is certainly no one who could have passed this place when this little guy had been attacking indiscriminately in the swamp. I promised the other Daisy we would get back after checking this place out, so let’s go back. I am curious about the 29th terrarium, but there are so many other things we have to do now.”

At my words, the Monkshood dryad flinched, but I put my hand on his head. As if this felt very comfortable for the child, he looked at me with wide and clear eyes.

“… I don’t feel good leaving this place like this though. The swamp is turned upside down, there is sticky mud all over the place, and that stinky water and rotten wood smell.”

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“Surely, even dryads native to the swamp fields would have a difficult time living here.”

Elder said, pointing to the vines that were drooping like leeches.

“There is a way to fix this place. It’s not so desirable, but…”

Mesquite’s suggestion was to use fire. She told me we could burn the dead things here and let the ground breathe.

There were no more fires from the entrance we came in from, so we went through the swamp and headed for the other side.