The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature-Chapter 47 : Killer

Morning came.
The sunlight shining through the window was hazy due to the smog, yet my eyes opened on their own.
It was a habit from my days in the factory and the fate of a contractor who couldn't let go of his tension, but today was different.
A tremor like the anticipation of an elementary school student on the day of a picnic woke me up.
I focused my gaze on the corner of my vision.
A system message was blinking, as if announcing a momentous fact.
[Time remaining until the World Tree's growth]
[00:01]
The World Tree's growth was imminent.
The motionless World Tree was wriggling as if it was about to wake up.
How would the growth take place?
There had been no change while it was asleep...
As my curiosity grew, the message I had been waiting for appeared.
[The World Tree awakens!]
A bright light enveloped the sleeping World Tree.
Soon, the World Tree straightened its branches and stretched.
It was an action it had often done before, but this time, a difference was visible at a glance.
The branches were long and had a certain thickness.
The weak sprouts had fallen off, and large true leaves had grown, asserting themselves powerfully.
The types of true leaves were varied.
One was wide like a broadleaf, one was pointed like a conifer, and one was split into several branches, taking on a strange shape.
It was a unique form that was difficult to classify with my knowledge.
But it was the World Tree, the incarnation of Mother Nature.
It might be natural that it was difficult to define it as a single plant.
It wasn't important anyway.
Instead of analyzing it, I spoke to it softly.
"Did you sleep well?"
[The World Tree greets a refreshing morning.]
The World Tree shook its body at my touch and danced happily.
I could feel several changes besides the external ones.
A complete sense of unity, where even the slight feeling of foreignness had disappeared.
I strongly felt that I had become even closer to the World Tree.
To add a joke, it was to the point where I wondered if green juice was flowing in my veins instead of blood.
[The World Tree expresses curiosity about the unfamiliar place.]
"I got a house while you were sleeping."
[The World Tree wants a housewarming party.]
It's its own house, yet it uses the expression 'housewarming party'.
At the World Tree's urging, I introduced it to the various rooms.
Its favorites were the bathtub where one could take a half-bath and the small patch of land that served as an outdoor yard.
The former was because it could play with water, and the latter was probably an expression of its desire to create a vegetable garden.
I left the World Tree, dreaming of a rosy future, and looked at the system message.
[World Tree
Growth Stage: Sapling
※Rooted in infinite possibilities.
※Can awaken numerous abilities as it grows.
Owned Skills (Viewable)]
[The World Tree has grown safely!]
[As the World Tree has grown into a sapling, it has rooted itself in future possibilities!]
[The World Tree has glimpsed the form of a lush Mother Nature in its dreams and has awakened the ability of reproduction!]
I was looking forward to the awakening of a new ability with the growth of the World Tree.
Even the whip stem was a skill I had been using very usefully until now.
My heart pounded at the awakening of the new ability finally announced by the system message, but... what was left in my chest was only puzzlement.
"Reproduction?"
I opened the skill's description to check it in detail.
[Reproduction
─The World Tree is the incarnation of Mother Nature, which holds infinite possibilities.
─The seeds of the World Tree will differentiate into numerous plants until they bear a true demigod.
※Due to lack of experience, the World Tree's reproduction is limited to known plant species.]
"What does that mean?"
I couldn't understand it even after reading it.
A true demigod? Differentiate into numerous plants?
I felt like I had to see this for myself.
"Can we try reproducing right now?"
[The World Tree says it wanted to do just that and tells you to watch.]
What do you mean you wanted to do just that?
I thought as I watched the World Tree straining as if it had to go.
'Reproduction...'
Plants reproduce in two main ways.
Sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction. The former is the creation of seeds through fertilization, and the latter includes cuttings or grafting.
Since the World Tree was a single tree and couldn't be fertilized, it had to be asexual reproduction.
But then, how would it reproduce from my body...
I couldn't readily imagine it.
I looked forward to what new sight the World Tree would show me.
Pop!
Unlike my expectations, the use of the skill was simple and so cute it was adorable.
Something round grew on the branch.
Soon, its shell cracked, and the seed inside bounced out elastically.
"...Are you a hermaphrodite?"
I never imagined it.
I thought it would be asexual reproduction, but it fertilized itself and bore fruit.
It was shocking.
[The World Tree vehemently denies it.]
[The World Tree scolds you for being rude.]
"Ouch."
It pulls out a stem and actually hits me.
Now that it's grown, it even hits me.
The stem had gotten thicker, so even with controlled strength, it hurt quite a bit.
[The World Tree scatters spores.]
"So you can do asexual reproduction too."
Then how should I explain this?
...I couldn't think of a perfect explanation.
As far as I knew, there were no creatures that reproduced like this.
I decided to just think of it as the World Tree.
"But this in itself is meaningless."
If you pick up a seed, it's human nature to plant it.
But there was no place to plant a seed in this house.
There was plenty of soil outside, but since it was a land abandoned by spirits, it wouldn't grow properly...
"Ah."
I was worrying about something unnecessary.
"They were here, the spirits."
I looked at the World Tree.
To be precise, I stared at the two tenants living inside it, the spirits.
***
"Alright, time to work."
I clapped my hands and encouraged the unemployed to work.
One spirit recovered from District 7 and one spirit recovered from Quadraple's Cole Khemisi.
At my urging, the two spirits floated into the air and then stopped.
It was as if they were asking me what I was doing.
"I provided a house, so you have to pay rent. If you have a conscience, work obediently."
The spirits moved limply, as if all their vitality had been drained.
They were so quick when they were playing around, but look at them trying to slack off when I tell them to work.
I didn't let them off this time either.
When I urged them with the heart of a ruthless dictator, the spirits reluctantly worked.
Ssssk!
The spirits dug into the empty land of the mansion.
They soon emitted a brilliant light, just like when they were freed from their cocoons.
[The spirit has purified the player's personal land.]
The barren soil, which had been lifeless, turned into fertile land, and the withered weeds vigorously nodded their heads.
'As expected, I can also purify the land with the World Tree's spirits.'
Since it was a temporary measure, the efficiency wasn't great, but it could sufficiently cover a small area like this.
I was finally able to grow a vegetable garden in my house in this city.
This was the reason why I had enthusiastically urged the spirits.
[This land is designated as the World Tree's vegetable garden.]
[Crops can be grown in the World Tree's vegetable garden.]
[The growth rate and size of the crops increase.]
[Crops are affected by the placed structures.]
[Special crops can be harvested at a certain probability.]
[If good growing conditions are maintained, crops not currently in the World Tree's knowledge will grow.]
"…?"
As soon as the spirits finished their work, system messages poured down like a waterfall.
'Is it recognized as my domain, like a blacksmith's or a mage's workshop?'
Depending on the profession, there were cases where one had their own domain and gained advantages in that space.
It was called a workshop, their home ground.
According to the description, the World Tree's vegetable garden seemed to be a type of that.
I didn't particularly aim for it.
I had gained an unexpected benefit.
"If I plant a seed here..."
I buried the seed I received from the World Tree in the ground.
The growth of a plant takes a long time.
This was the same even if the World Tree's vegetable garden increased the growth rate of the crops.
There were also many things to pay attention to in order to grow them properly, such as controlling the amount of sunlight, providing water, and preventing pests and diseases.
It would take more than a day to get a result, but... in this case, it was different.
[The spirit promotes the growth of the seed.]
The spirits gathered in one place and released mana.
The raw mana created a miracle.
As if fast-forwarding a video, the stem and roots grew rapidly, and soon the plant was fully grown.
[A raspberry has grown in the World Tree's vegetable garden.]
I reached out, picked the fruit, and put it in my mouth.
The flesh burst, and the refreshing juice wet my tongue.
It was a real raspberry.
It was on a different level from the one I bought at the market and threw away because it was astringent.
"...Killer."
How long had it been since I had tasted fresh fruit?
It was a taste that made my eyes pop open.
My surprise was brief, and I asked in a heated voice.
"Raspberry isn't the only kind you can reproduce, is it?"
[The World Tree explains the types of plants it can reproduce.]
The types of plants that could be reproduced were not many, but not few either.
[※Due to lack of experience, the World Tree's reproduction is limited to known plant species.]
This was the description in the reproduction skill.
Since it knew little, all I had to do was let it experience more.
In its current state, there were few ways to utilize it in terms of ability, but for now, this was enough.
"Let's plant something to eat first."
They say you can't enjoy the scenery on an empty stomach.
Just as I longed for the green of plants, I was also hungry for fruits and vegetables.
***
"Take it."
When I arrived at the office, I placed the item on the table before greeting him.
Cromwell, with a monocle I didn't know when he had bought, twitched his facial muscles.
"What is this?"
"It's a gift. Open it."
"...It's not a bomb, is it?"
"I still have a lot to get out of you, so why would I dig my own grave?"
Can't I even give a gift?
Cromwell unwrapped the package with a still unconvinced expression.
"Hmm."
And his suspicion reversed 180 degrees the moment he unwrapped it.
Cromwell's exclamation came from deep within his chest.
He picked up a raspberry and ate it, then smacked his lips in satisfaction.
"This is good stuff. You must have spent a pretty penny."
"I had a hard time getting it."
"The money you made this time must have been big. Well, you can afford this kind of luxury."
I didn't correct Cromwell's misunderstanding.
In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't entirely wrong.
Thanks to the money I spent to get a house, I was able to create a vegetable garden, and I had a hard time waiting for the World Tree to grow.
'There's no good in blabbering about my abilities.'
Even if it seems simple, it's a special ability in this world.
It was better to hide it, as it could lead to unnecessary commotion.
"I'll eat it well. By the way, did you find a good house?"
"Thanks to you. He was a relatively conscientious broker."
"That's a relief. Then you can work passionately again."
Cromwell handed me a bundle of documents.
"I've selected some requests this time. As you wished, I've selected requests from large corporations, but..."
I lightly skimmed through the request forms.
Private requests. As mentioned before, their movements were active, so even though I had only gathered requests from large corporations, there were many of them.
"Among them, one is an exception."
Cromwell skillfully pulled one out from between the request forms I had picked up and spread it on the table.
"It's a nominated request, made specifically for you."
"A nominated request?"
For well-known contractors, there were cases where the client directly chose them to handle the job.
This was classified as a nominated request.
As it was a rare occurrence, it was a level higher than a private request.
For me, who had just started taking on difficult requests, it was a leap of several steps.
"I don't know how they came to make a nominated request for you. It could be a trap."
Such things happened occasionally.
A trap request made solely to screw someone over, under the pretext of nipping a bud in the bud, a grudge, etc.
It was the broker's job to filter these out.
"However, it's unlikely to be a trap with a name like this."
Cromwell pointed to a part of the request form with his finger.
"It's a request from the Mage Tower. It's not a large corporation, but its prestige is comparable."
The requesting organization was the Mage Tower.
"I've already confirmed its authenticity, so you can rest assured. It's a real request from the Mage Tower."
I could guess how a nominated request had come to me.
'The Mage Tower knows I'm working as a contractor.'
The proud mages of the Mage Tower, whose pride pierced the sky, did not easily make requests.
However, when they did make a request, they guaranteed a corresponding reward and special treatment.
We did not commission the request because we couldn't solve it with the Mage Tower's capabilities alone, but we made a rational judgment to entrust a suitable request to a suitable talent and give a suitable reward... It was an unconvincing excuse.
"A request from the Mage Tower is so attractive that as soon as it's posted, all the brokers in the city will fight over it. For this request, I would recommend this one in most cases. I don't doubt your skills, but honestly, I'm surprised why they nominated you."
Cromwell unusually strongly recommended it.
He even stealthily took the request forms in my hand, as if he had already excluded the other options.
That's how attractive the Mage Tower's request was.
'There's no reason to refuse.'
Just as important as digging into Centrim's internal affairs was my friendship with the Mage Tower.
They owed me, and they would probably value me highly, so even the highest level of treatment was guaranteed.
"Will you accept it?"
"You've already made up your mind, so what should I say if you ask me to decide?"
"A wise choice."
Cromwell grinned.
As expected of a broker, he's thick-skinned.
"The client asked for your address. They said they wanted to meet and talk in person."
"Isn't it a rule to prohibit private meetings between the client and the contractor?"
"The fact that it's a rule means it's possible through the back door."
"Just like the criminal industry."
They don't follow promises or norms.
I chided him and said.
"Tell them. I'll be waiting, so tell them to come."
It turned out well.
Since they're coming anyway, I should ask them to pass on my new address to Sage.
(End of Chapter)