Terrarium Adventure - Chapter 49
If I wear this, will Mesquite become even stronger? It might be good for Daisy as well, who is growing fast.
“Give it to Little Daisy.”
Mesquite immediately made a decision regardless of my worries. Uh… wouldn’t it be nice if you could become stronger? We finally managed to get an accessory that fits your battle bonus.
“My master, Jay. I am strong enough without it.”
Wow… awesome! You’re strong enough to not have to borrow a bonus from a ring like this. My heart rang at what Mesquite said with a calm face. She’s so cool…
“But what if… you got stronger… than now…”
On the other hand, Daisy seemed to have some interest in the diamond ring. It wasn’t as much as Elder, but she was giving glances at it.
It makes sense. My child has been really focusing on getting stronger. It seemed that she didn’t feel comfortable since Mesquite yielded it so easily to her.
Does she think she is being cared for and becoming burdensome to the team? It is true that she is still the weakest out of all three.
Mesquite solved her troubles at once. She let Daisy put on the ring for now and asked to hit her at least once with the ring on. Then, she asked me to decide who should keep the ring depending on the result.
The result was quite obvious in a way. Daisy flew around faster than before with the ring… but never managed to cross Mesquite’s shield. She ended up keeping the ring for herself.
***
Okay, now the tax has been removed, residents should move in soon. But how soon…? It will take a long time to get the word around.
Probably not too soon. I had no intention of sitting around until the terrarium was restored.
I have to go back to the 26th terrarium to complete the quest, and when that is done, I have to visit the 18th terrarium to become the permanent owner of this terrarium. I have a lot to do, and I want to play a card-drawing RPG now rather than a management game.
However, on the other hand, I didn’t want to leave the 28th terrarium like this.
Even if the branches of the World Tree are in good shape and can protect the terrarium from the threat of fire, it is a little like a ghost town with no one here.
The problem was unexpectedly resolved with the Daisy dryad volunteering to remain in the terrarium.
He said that was the most he could do for me. Well, that is true, since he had a career in public service.
The 28th terrarium was also tied to my artifacts, so even if he was far away from me, there would be no problem with our connection as long as he did not leave the terrarium.
The Daisy dryad was rather happy to be able to wander around the terrarium unlike before when he was in a position to stay in the orchard.
If he had decided to stay because of the differences between his ability and the party’s ability, I would feel uncomfortable letting him stay.
Maybe his dream is not a white-collar job, but a field job? I was relieved by seeing his face full of excitement, ready to explore every corner of the terrarium.
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure what to do about leaving this terrarium for a while.”
“I must thank you more. I was always tied to the orchard. Now that I have the chance, I will explore the far outskirts I’ve been curious about, and plant red daisy flowers there. The forest’s authority in the artifacts is with my king, so can I at least decorate the interior of this terrarium the way I want?”
“When I become a permanent administrative officer and come back, the red flowers that symbolize you and my Daisy will be in full bloom. Just imagining it sounds wonderful! This is your area now. Go for it!”
At my words, he turned into a serious expression as if he was planning to build a whole area of red daisy flower gardens. According to his plan, this terrarium won’t be the 28th terrarium anymore, but the red daisy terrarium. That seems fine, too.
Anyway, if I have to return to the 26th terrarium… that will be another mountain. Sigh.
I opened the map and looked hard to see if there were any shortcuts Elder could have missed, but there was no such way.
However, I realized something by looking at the map closely. It was something that I hadn’t considered as important before I became the temporary administrator of this terrarium.
This terrarium was said to be isolated. The 26th, 27th, and 28th terrariums are all connected in a V-shape. Let’s say the 26th and 27th could not get here because of the wagon boss.
But what about the 29th terrarium…? Why didn’t they come to help? The map here says that it is right next to our terrarium.
Even though the 29th terrarium was relatively far from here compared to the 26th and 27th, Scarecrow probably requested support from them in advance. It seemed that it wasn’t far enough for the exchange to be cut off.
I suddenly remembered an old CD game I played when I was a child, which was a café management game.
In order for customers to visit my store, I had to reduce the number of monsters that were running around the village since it interfered with traffic.
Obviously, there is something on the path between the 28th and 29th terrarium. In short, there is a terrible obstacle like the wagon boss, resulting in the exchange to be cut off!
The problem in the 28th terrarium was resolved, and it seemed like that could be overlooked, but if I did so, it would be giving up the residents who might move here from the 29th terrarium.
Why don’t I follow the path to the 29th terrarium and check what’s there? The Daisy dryad didn’t seem to have specific information on this, either. That means I have to go and see it for myself.
The dryads agreed with my suggestion. They told me to do what I wanted to do. They were worried to face dangerous obstacles like I predicted, but said that my will was their own.
“Are you going to leave right away? Why don’t you stay for another day or so… although everything is destroyed, I can give a tour of the terrarium. Everything… has been destroyed… but if we look closely, there may be one or two places intact…”
“I’m just going to check the road to the 29th terrarium and come back. I think it took like 3 days to get here from the 26th, which means that I’ll come back in two days if we take long. Oh, if you are worried about becoming lonely…”
“No, I’m not lonely. It’s not like I’m a wild dryad that bloomed alone without a forest. I’m a blessed dryad contained in Master Jay’s soul. Your soul is so cozy and warm that the cold feeling of being alone cannot arise at all. Such feelings are luxury for dryads belonging to a druid. I’m just sad since we were only together for a few days…”
The Daisy dryad spoke with a face full of sadness. Even though he was going to be connected to me by my artifacts, he was no different from my other dryads who wanted to be by their druid’s side.
Ah, I’m getting weak from looking at his sad face. Maybe I feel more emotional with the Daisy species.
However, the day was still bright, and my curiosity was far greater than my emotions. All I had done for the past few days was to use my diamonds like it was water. It wasn’t like I was in a long battle, either. Above all, my fatigue was recovered from leveling up during the fight with the huge worm-shaped fire.
In other words, I was thinking of doing anything since I felt so energetic.
Meanwhile, the Daisy dryad pondered while stroking his chin and suddenly showed an enlightened face.
“Ah! No. Have a safe trip! Come to think of it, there is something I didn’t realize until now since it is my first time I officially become a druid’s dryad. If you are concerned, you can look into your terrarium artifacts from time to time. You will be able to see the 28th terrarium at a glance. Also, if you have anything to say to me, you can look at the artifact and think about it. Your thoughts will be passed onto the dryad in the artifact, which will be me! When Master Jay looks at the artifacts, I can meet Master Jay as well, so there was nothing to be disappointed about.”
Immediately after he said that I moved my eyes to my left arm. As I looked down at the hemispherical glass and thought that I wanted to see the 28th terrarium, the town came into my eyes. It was like looking down in an aerial shot. I couldn’t zoom in to see it in detail, so it was like seeing a miniature village on display.
Looking at it like this, I can see all of the destroyed interiors. My heart hurts. It looks like someone trampled on and burned down a well-made miniature town.
The Daisy dryad pushed me to go as if he didn’t remember the disappointment he showed a while ago. He told me he wanted to show a new terrarium when I returned.
He told me he was also a dryad and lifted debris with his slender arms like my Daisy. He said he wanted to at least clear the road so people could get around normally. “If I can’t show you how great a dryad I am in battle, I can at least show you by doing this!” he said with zeal.
This feels like I’m a mom telling him to clean his room because I’ll check it later.
The Daisy dryads said goodbye to each other in private, and we left the 28th terrarium. Then, we met Seedling, who I didn’t expect to see for a while.
What? He got kicked out, but he’s still here? Seedling stood with a dark face in a distance, as if he had heard what I had said to his dryads. Kalmia stepped forward on behalf of Belladonna, who could not come near us.
“Oh, you already came out. I thought we might have had to wait another day. The experience of being expelled from the terrarium is terrifying no matter what. It’s probably because of Seedling again. We will not meet again. I am just apologizing because you seem so offended by him. It would be nice if he did for himself, but he will probably make another mistake if he tried.”
“I’ve thought about it a lot before, but isn’t he behaving that way because you guys are being protective of him?”
“Of course, he is. We all think so…”
Kalmia sighed loudly.
“Honestly, we can’t help ourselves because of the dryad that have raised us since childhood. Since he was the first main of our owner, his way of thinking has been engraved into us. Seedling was really young back then, but even if he is grown up now, our mindset has not changed. You’re right. Our behavior is only making him worse. I guess this is the first task to resolve for Seedling to join the druid society normally.”
There’s another dryad? Who is the first main if it’s not Belladonna? It seems like it’s not one of the dryads I see right now. I guess that party seems to stick to one main dryad and never changes it.
