Chapter 100

I joined Iris's party and on the way back, I was able to hear the details of what had happened.

When I found Jeppe and Hermar, they said they had encountered the people chasing me while heading here. It seemed that the information about me leaving the Terrarium with the druid party had stirred up all the surrounding druids.

Hermar quickly noticed something was off, and it seemed they also sensed something, as the atmosphere suddenly turned hostile, and they were about to engage in battle.

“I quietly told Jeppe and Hermar that there was a group chasing Lord Jay. We decided to deal with it on our own before finding Lord Jay. It seemed that the other side had already noticed that we were acting with Lord Jay.”

At that moment, the quiet Jeppe muttered.

“Strange… There’s something strange about it.”

“What’s strange?”

“It seemed there were people who weren’t druids. Isn’t it odd that ordinary people would be moving with them? They can’t handle dryads, so they wouldn’t be of any help in battle.”

“Is that so?”

Ordinary people, not druids. Indeed, the outside of the Terrarium, where the fire spreads, is dangerous unless you have dryads with you.

“Anyway, we were about to engage in battle, but then they suddenly saw the wallet and hurriedly turned back. It seems they received some kind of message. I suggested chasing them and finishing them off, but Hermar stopped me. He said it might be a trap. We had enough potions to give it a try!”

“Ah, I did that!”

It felt like question marks were floating above their heads as they looked at me. Their expressions were peculiar.

“Lord Jay sent them a penalty…? Then, wouldn’t our location be exposed because of the penalty?”

In an instant, I became the strange person who personally contacted the people chasing me. I calmly explained about the wasps and parasites I possessed. How I had approached to eavesdrop on their situation and intercepted and distorted their messages.

“Alchemists are amazing. To be able to create such things.”

“If the wasps and parasites Lord Jay possesses spread widely, it could become really dangerous. They are impressive but seem very risky.”

“Ah… Not just anyone can use them.”

Dias break very easily. Only someone with plenty of Dias, like me, can use them. I wonder what their expressions would be if they knew that over a thousand Dias had broken in a short time.

“It seems you went with Notos first to get the information about the alder grove! The place we went to was just a plain. From the camping traces, it didn’t seem to be a completely uninhabited area.”

“I received some help from Lord Jay’s dandelion dryads.”

After walking for a while, we arrived at the place where we had split from Iris.

“Even though they have returned, there’s a high possibility they will chase us again. We should set some obstacles using Jeppe and Hermar’s dryads here.”

Iris pointed to the cave entrance. In response, Jeppe summoned a dryad from his artifact.

I thought the goblin needle that was sent back to the artifact by Iris’s scolding would come out again, but it didn’t. From Jeppe’s artifact, a male dryad with blue-violet hair, resembling Bago, appeared. He was dressed in a costume that looked like something from a Greek and Roman mythology comic book, holding a large flower staff that resembled a cotton swab.

Hmm… I think I know what that flower is.

The dryad was an incredibly handsome young man, comparable to Elder. His face was incredibly beautiful, completely my type.

“This is Jeppe’s dryad, Hyacinth. As a species known for its beauty that can enchant gods, he is indeed very handsome. Although Lord Jay has seen Elder Flower, it might not be at the same level… Ah, it seems Lord Jay also finds him handsome.”

As I stared at the Hyacinth dryad in awe, Iris chuckled. At that moment, Elder, as if jealous, pulled me by the shoulder from behind.

“Look, Elder. I thought you were the most handsome among the dryads, but this one is no joke! He looks like he jumped out of a painting.”

I could see Hyacinth puffing up with pride at my words.

“Dryads are originally flowers. They are born with dazzling appearances to please the small World Trees. It is an honor to be appreciated by you. Please kindly look at other Hyacinth dryads and form a soul connection with them.”

“That’s just the opinion of flowers with strong self-love. Dryads are beautiful simply because they are flowers.”

Elder grumbled. For someone who is so confident in his own appearance, it was interesting. Anyway, it was surprising to learn that dryads have different perspectives.

“Our Hyacinth is amazing, isn’t he? He’s the first rare grade I got for free from the orchard! Oh… I still get a thrill thinking about how all the surrounding druids looked at me with envy back then.”

“Small World Tree, if you find it unpleasant, please don’t hold my hand.”

“Ah, sorry, sorry. I’ll be careful.”

“But don’t stay too far away.”

The relationship between Jeppe and Hyacinth was peculiar. It was a world apart from the goblin needle, which had been spreading goosebumps.

“This is… Hyacinth dryads don’t have a good affinity with men. Even though they have spent a long time together, Jeppe still has trouble handling him. The myth of the mother plant is strongly applied to Hyacinth flowers, and since the mother plant faced a tragedy due to the love quarrels of male gods, they dislike men.”

“Wow… That’s interesting.”

I had heard about the myths of the mother plant from Dandelion, the king of the dandelion dryads.

She could use the flower language ‘Divine Revelation’ because she inherited the ancestor’s myth as a Lord. Unlike her, who could inherit it as a Lord, Hyacinth seemed to have the default value. I knew about the story of Hyacinth because I had read Greek and Roman mythology comic books thoroughly.

“This Hyacinth dryad is a support type. He has the flower language ‘Play’ and can use its power. If we plant Hyacinth flowers in a different direction from where we are going, those who smell the fragrance will feel like staying there and not wanting to do anything. It will tie up the enemies.”

“Oh…!”

“Most likely, if the enemies don’t have a dryad that can dispel this power, they will continue to be affected as long as the Hyacinth flowers remain.”

In other words, if there’s no dryad like Bago who can remove debuffs, they will be helpless. Hyacinth’s ability was a debuff type. If used during battle, it would be a useful skill to temporarily stop the enemy’s attack and beat them one-sidedly.

“Plant the flowers in a place that’s not easily visible.”

“Yes, Small World Tree. I will do as you command.”

“Hyacinth! That place looks good!”

“I don’t like it. I will plant them there, but I will consider it.”

Hyacinth, who listened well to Iris, ignored Jeppe. The relationship with a dryad with a poor affinity was at that level. I looked at Elder, whose affection I had filled with Dias, and Bago, whom I was still trying to win over. It didn’t feel like someone else’s business at all.

Hermar also summoned a dryad from his artifact. A male dryad with long blonde hair down to his thighs and a laurel crown appeared, surrounded by a yellow light.

He wore a long skirt with a star-like bottom and held a staff entwined with several wooden branches. Strangely, the dryad had his eyes closed, only opening them to show a faint yellow color when Hermar spoke, then closing them again.

Iris explained as she saw me looking at him curiously.

“This is Hermar’s dryad, Laurel. If this dryad had been female, Hermar would have had a poor relationship with the dryad like Jeppe. This dryad was also born from a free fruit from the same orchard as Jeppe’s, and it seems that the branches there produced dryads with similar tendencies. The myth of the mother plant is strongly applied to female dryads.”

“It’s interesting that you can inherit myths as a Lord.”

Do our dryads have any myths? I suddenly became curious about the myths of my dryads. I should definitely ask them next time.

“My dryad is a Turn Over type, which you might not have heard of….”

“Oh! I know that! My dryad is also a Turn Over type!”

In response to Hermar’s words, I showed Bago.

Turn Over is a form where you can choose one side of the dryad’s tendencies. If you pull out the staff piece from Bago’s head, a grenade will explode, so he is currently forced to be a support and healing type.

But it doesn’t look like there’s anything stuck in the head of that dryad?

“Currently, it’s a healing type, but if you change it to Turn Over, you can use the support type’s skills… I can explain quickly because I know about it.”

“Laurel dryads are more often used as healing types, so they are usually kept that way. This dryad can use different flower languages depending on the type. In the healing type state, which focuses on the power of leaves and trees, it can use the power of the flower language ‘Distrust, Betrayal’ in the support type state, which uses the power of flowers.”

“Laurel, change to support type.”

At Hermar’s words, the dryad’s closed eyes opened. As he raised his wooden staff, a strong yellow light began to swirl at its tip.

Soon, small yellow flowers began to bloom densely at the end of the staff. Yellow flowers also bloomed from the laurel crown he was wearing. Oh… The appearance is changing a bit.

“Laurel can use his power to grow small laurel saplings around him, affecting the area around the saplings. Using the power of the flower language ‘Distrust, Betrayal,’ he can temporarily worsen the relationship between dryads. If there is no resistance, it can even make them fight each other. This power would be a very troublesome situation for the enemies if there is no dryad to dispel it.”

Laurel’s ability was also a debuff type. In the game, I often saw situations where debuffs were used to make enemies fight each other. Of course, if it affected the allies, it would make them attack each other, making it a quite troublesome debuff.

“The abilities are really good.”

“Right? We’ll do some work around here and then move on.”

We quietly waited for Jeppe and Hermar’s dryads to set the traps. There were quite a few debuffs besides the poisoning debuff. I could really understand why Iris didn’t take out her dryad from the artifact, as it was like hiding a trump card.

I need to raise Bago well and quickly develop his debuff removal ability. If Mesquite or Elder were affected by Laurel’s ability, it would be hell for me.