Terrarium Adventure

I carefully placed the feather inside my pocket in case I needed it in the future. We searched for more evidence after that, but it was impossible to find any more valuable traces from burnt debris.

We eventually decided to stop working in vain and bury the wagon in the ground. Mesquite rolled her feet slightly to make the ground soft and Elder pulled the wagon into the ground using his flower branches.

We continued to travel after that, deliberately drawing the fire’s attention. The small fires were eliminated by Daisy’s quick movements.

We were able to pass through the mountains by the afternoon. We had completed our plan to pass the mountain before nightfall and reduce the number of fires in the mountains.

We were soon able to see the Dandelion Colony far away. It had only been a few days since we left there to travel to the 28th terrarium, but it felt like it had been a very long time. I wanted to tell Dandelion a lot of things when I met her, including how her panacea saved our team and how her staff piece containing divine revelation was used. I also wanted to introduce the Monkshood dryad to her.

When we crossed the border of their colony, small yellow petals in the wind greeted us. They used to be white flower seeds signaling we were enemies when we first came here… I had said they would send yellow petals if they knew how I was, and fortunately, they did this time.

I saw two unique Dandelion children. They escaped from the group of other children and ran out to greet us with yellow petals. The fact that these children can run around so freely may have something to do with the restoration of the 28th terrarium’s branch.

I tried to clean the area around the colony once more while I was here, but there seemed to be no more fires around here. I was glad to see that peace had come to the Dandelion colony.

“I’ll stay here for one more night!”

It was only late afternoon, but I thought it would be better to stay here than face the darkness on the road. The two Dandelion children, who showed a particularly unique behavior from the beginning, clung to Daisy as soon as we reached the center of the colony. They chattered amongst themselves. I wonder what they even have to talk about after not seeing each other for so long… 

“Please, make yourself at home. Master druid’s visit is rather welcome here, especially for those children.”

Dandelion pointed at the two children.

“I feel a stable energy. The dry air now retains moisture, and the fires that were running wild are now silent. Thanks to this, our unstable forest has also revived. Do you happen to know why?

I talked about what happened in the 28th terrarium; the parts that were not confidential.

“You did a great job. What you did is not limited to the 28th terrarium, but to all the terrariums in the 20s. They should all thank you for what you did.”

Dandelion bowed with her hand holding the staff on her chest. The little saplings gathered nearby and followed after her. I felt embarrassed by such a kind and polite attitude and shook my hands. Hey, we’re all in this together you know!

The Monkshood dryad, who was looking at the little Dandelion dryads with mysterious eyes and blushed cheeks became tearful when he saw Dandelion and hid behind me. It seemed that he felt comfortable around the children because they were around his age but was terrified to face the king of the forest.

“Oh, do you remember the staff piece you gave me? It’s stuck in his head.”

I grabbed the child hiding behind me by his shoulder and placed him in front of me. I don’t know if the staff piece is originally supposed to be inserted this way like a crown, but somehow it looks like a costume… Everyone’s eyes turned to him and the child bowed his head, not knowing what to do. The white fur that resembled dandelion seeds on the staff also swung forward with him.

“What was the reaction? How did the divine revelation appear?”

“It must have been an item that could awaken another characteristic of a dryad. He is a recovery type right now, but if I pull out this piece of staff, he can become an offensive type.”

I’m telling you, it’s a total scam! If I hadn’t accepted Dandelion’s sub-quest, I would have never gotten it.

Maybe it’s a rare item that could only be bought with cash… not that I intend to sell it, of course. Anyway, it’s an amazing item.

“I see that it was a very magical item. I’m glad that it was used in the right place. So, what is the name of this dryad’s mother flower?”

“Uh… well… it’s a bit complicated, but it’s similar to an alpine monkshood.”

At my words, Dandelion’s complexion changed dramatically. At her silence, the children gathered near the Monkshood dryad backed away from him back to Dandelion. Did she send a telepath or something to these children?

“Then it doesn’t sound good to pull the staff out here.”

Of course, I don’t have any intention of pulling out the staff here. I can’t even control the little one.

“It may not affect the dryads connected to master druid’s soul, but it might affect me and my children. I see that the dryad’s mother flower is a poisonous herb. It could be dangerous for my delicate children, even if they just go near him.”

At that instant, Belladonna, the leader dryad of Seedling’s team, came to mind. She said that she has a dangerous effect on everyone on the field, except for allies. Certainly, the child acts cowardly, but his power is great when he is switched to the offensive type.

… But he only knows how to attack with debuffs, which seems a little different from Belladonna. When Daisy went near him to put the piece of staff in him, nothing special happened even though she was close to him.

Anyway, I can’t resolve Dandelion’s misunderstanding now because I don’t have control over him when I pull out the staff. 

One day, I will be able to show her that he won’t be harmful to her and her children.

“Well… he’s safe now because he is in recovery type. His skills are weaker than Elder’s, but he can still heal. I don’t know much about his skills, but since he knows how to apply debuffs, it seems that he has a skill to cancel it out as well… However, because of complicated circumstances, this child does not know much about himself either. The recovery characteristics were forcibly awakened by using the piece of staff…”

“Maybe this child is a recovery dryad similar to us. Our power is certainly different from what Elder Flower uses.”

In my defense, Dandelion let her guard down and approached the Monkshood dryad. I thought her attitude could be a little disappointing from the little dryad’s point of view, but she was the guardian of the children. That’s what she had to do.

Using the knowledge passed down to the kings of the forest, Dandelion talked about plants that could be poisonous or medicinal depending on their use. The double-edged sword-like characteristic she explained was similar to the information shown on my cell phone when I first connected to my soul to the Monkshood dryad.

She told me that if her knowledge was correct, Monkshood dryad would be specialized in the power to cancel debuffs rather than the power to restore energy, which was similar to Dandelion dryads.

As I had expected, the probability of Monkshood dryad being a dryad exclusively for canceling out debuffs increased. Dandelion also said if he grew more, he would be able to make panaceas like she did, but that would take a long time.

I did not mind the Monkshood dryad having poor ability to restore energy. Our team already had an excellent healer, Elder. Above all, the power to cancel debuffs was more important because I knew very well that I needed it after having experienced it once.

Monkshood dryad was really valuable for our team, both as an offensive dryad and as a recovery dryad. He doesn’t have the ability to do his part yet… but I will work hard on nurturing him!

Come to think of it, if I had a fight with Seedling, it would have been dangerous for us because of Belladonna’s presence…

If Belladonna, who seems to have more experience compared to Monkshood dryad, attacks using her intelligence… we would have been very disadvantaged even though they don’t have a healer in their team.

I’m glad he only has a rough snout and not a bad attitude as well. I’m glad I didn’t meet him at all until now.

“By the way, it seems like the attitudes and behaviors of the Dandelion children have changed. They should be laughing and running around innocently according to what I saw last time.” 

At my words, Dandelion looked a little tired.

“They are inspired.”

“Inspired?”

Dandelion pointed to Daisy and told me that some Dandelion children who heard Daisy’s stories were greatly inspired.

“It is useless for me to teach them about their limitations. The children want to leave the colony.”

“Is it possible that I caused that…? I’m sorry about this…”

“Well, that is the fate of the children since dryads exist to protect the World Tree. However, they cannot go out alone without a druid, even if the balance around here has returned.”

It’s true that we don’t know when the fires will start again. Moreover, these children are not offensive type, but recovery type against debuffs… That’s a weak trait to fight against fire.

“Druids aren’t going to try to establish a soul connection with those kids. There will be other dryads that are more useful to fill the limits of a druid’s soul, and the younger children are even weaker. To add on, these children never realized the skills Dandelion dryads can have.”

I guess that’s the difference between dreams and reality. The two children listening to Daisy are like dreamers who haven’t tasted reality yet. Daisy had a chance to meet me… but these two little ones… 

But I can’t do anything about them. Daisy and Monkshood dryad are my top priorities right now; I should focus on them. 

Dandelion and I talked until night came.

When it became dark outside, I took out my terrarium artifacts and talked to Daisy 2, who was in the 28th terrarium. You’re doing well, right? You’re not crying without your mommy?

I told him about the things Dandelion and I talked about.

“I see, there is a Dandelion colony on the way to the 26th terrarium. Dandelion… Certainly, wild children who do not bloom from fruit are not particularly helpful to druids. I mean, in battle.”

He’s blatant. I like that.

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“I think they want to go out of the colony and experience the bigger world, but I am a bit overwhelmed with Monkshood dryad and Daisy already. I’m afraid I will be too distracted to take care of anyone. Dandelion said she would just make the children give up their dreams…”

I need to care about raising intimacy with Monkshood dryad as well. Whew, there’s a lot of things I have to do.

“Then how about sending them to the 28th terrarium?”

“Huh?”

“If you have leftover space in your soul, you can connect them so that the children do not die and put them in your artifact. They can still gain experience inside your artifact and do not necessarily have to engage in battles to do so. They can be taught if there is an adult tree to act as a role model as well. If you send them to the 28th terrarium, I can try teaching them. Dryads that are connected to a druid grow faster than when they are in the wild.”