Chapter 128

Chapter 128: The Adult Dryad's Proposal

Construction of the moat outside the fortress wall was currently in full swing.

They were digging a deep, wide moat to prevent monsters like the Behemoth from easily breaching the wall.

As with the fortress wall construction, Hunters who helped with the work received meal coupons.

Many Hunters had currently volunteered and were lending a hand.

And even during the moat work, the Eckard Family dwarves' prowess was exceptional.

BOOM!

A single swing of a pickaxe split the ground apart in clean, blocky chunks.

Then came the follow-up from Maxim, the head of the Eckard Family.

SHRRRRK!

When he struck the ground, the hard earth disintegrated into sand entirely.

Ashley then conjured a powerful tornado with her Hurricane Storm spell, absorbing all the finely broken sand that Maxim had pulverized and blasting it away in one sweep.

'What a spectacle.'

Not just I but the other Hunters were watching in fascination.

"Wow!"

Rin, standing beside me, let out a gasp of admiration at the sight.

Rin had come to the Outpost this morning with me when I left for work.

She visited the Outpost from time to time to tend to the vines at the guild branch.

She also periodically maintained the trees of the tree house lodgings.

Since I had brought her along, she was observing the construction site as a field trip.

"Amazing, right, Rin?"

"Yesh! It is amaaazing. And I want to hewp too!"

"You want to?"

"Yesh! I want to hewp!"

"All right, let's help a little and then head back."

When I gave her permission, Rin broke into a bright smile.

The Hunters nearby watched her and could not help but smile warmly.

Rin then gripped her Magical Wand and, using scraps of wood and timber pieces I pulled out of Acresia for her, raised a 2.5-meter Wooden Golem.

She set the golem to work carrying heavy boulders.

"Wow......, Rin's abilities are no joke."

"That Wooden Golem is moving boulders that would take two people to lift, just like that."

The Hunters watching Rin work were impressed.

But Rin's capabilities did not stop there.

For a boulder wedged deep into the ground that refused to come out, she grew vines beneath it to push the boulder free.

"Our daughter, doing great work."

"Heh......!"

Rin blushed at the praise.

And so our father-daughter pair helped with the moat work.

The current work site was outside the fortress wall.

Meaning it was a location where we could be attacked by monsters.

So, as a precaution, Bell was guarding Rin's side.

Bell could detect the presence of monsters even from very far away.

Then Bell reacted.

"Aroo?"

Bell tilted her head while looking toward the distant forest.

"What is it, Bell? Is there something over there?"

"Aroo."

She nodded as if confirming.

Based on past experience, whenever Bell reacted, there was always something.

I used a telescope to scan the direction of the forest Bell was indicating.

'Nothing there.'

Was whatever it was inside the forest?

Wait......?

There was something.

A figure emerged from behind a tree.

When I confirmed what it was, I was quite shaken.

'An Adult Dryad.......'

It was a Dryad, the same species as Rin.

Not a small Dryad like Rin, but a fully grown adult.

It appeared to be female.

The Dryad was also watching in our direction.

'It is almost as if she is looking at Rin......'

Then she stepped out of the forest and began approaching.

Unease crept into my heart.

"Rin, come behind me and hide."

"Huh? Okay!"

The other Hunters soon noticed the Adult Dryad approaching as well.

"Wait, is that a Dryad, the same species as Rin?"

"Looks like it...... I have never seen an Adult Dryad before. Even from a distance, she is beautiful."

"I doubt anyone has seen one until now."

Indeed, apart from Rin, I had never heard of any Hunter spotting a Dryad on the Fourth Floor of the Rift.

"A Dryad......?"

Rin muttered to herself in a questioning tone from behind my back, then peeked her head out.

She spotted the Adult Dryad.

"......"

Rin's hand tightened on the fabric of my pants.

She seemed quite startled.

After losing her birth mother, this would be the first time she had seen another member of her own species.

"Rin......"

The Dryad stopped about a hundred meters away.

She then clasped her hands neatly together and bowed her head in my direction.

It seemed to be a gesture indicating she had no intention of attacking.

And it appeared she wished to talk.

'Could this be because of Rin......?'

I hoped that was not the only reason.

"Rin, stay here with Bell. I am going to talk to that Dryad and come back."

"Okay......!"

"Bell, if anything happens, protect Rin."

"Aroo!"

Bell had now grown beyond a large dog, reaching the size of an Alaskan wolf.

Entrusting Rin to the dependable Bell, I approached with both hands raised to shoulder height, palms out, to show I had no hostile intent.

I stopped about five meters from the Adult Dryad.

I examined her.

She stood roughly around 170 centimeters.

Her body was covered in clothing made of leaves and vines.

Like Rin, she had small twig-like horns on her forehead, and blue flowers bloomed on either side of her head.

Her long emerald hair reached down to her thighs, with the tips of her hair transitioning into leaves.

'She truly looks like a forest fairy.'

An extraordinarily beautiful and ethereal figure.

This was what our Rin would look like when she grew up.

The Dryad opened her mouth.

The language was likely Ancient Language.

"Dryad. Child. Protecting?"

She was probably referring to Rin.

"Yes, that is correct. I am her guardian."

"Dryad. Child. Bring here."

"What is the purpose?"

"Dryad. Lives in. Nature. Dryad child. Take. Protect."

This was what my uneasy feeling had been about.

My heart sank at her words.

'She wants to take Rin......?'

She intended to take my daughter. That could not happen.

"The Dryad child named Rin was found by my wife after losing her mother. My wife brought her home and cared for her, and both my wife and I have taken her as our own child."

"Other species. Growing up. Dryad. Unhappy."

She seemed to be saying that a young Dryad growing up among another species would be unhappy.

On this point, I could push back with certainty.

"That is not the case. Rin is living very happily with me and my family."

There was not a shred of falsehood in Rin's happy smiles.

Up until about a year ago, she would occasionally cry out in her sleep in the Ancient Language, calling for her Dryad birth mother in anguish.

But after she had begun to see Ria and me as her parents about a year ago, those sleep-talking episodes had stopped entirely.

Since then, she had been living a happy daily life.

"Unhappy. Hard."

"Rin is neither unhappy nor struggling. I assure you, she is living more happily than any other growing Dryad."

The Dryad was taken aback by the conviction in my words.

"Really. True?"

"Yes."

The Dryad fell silent.

Then she spoke.

"Watch. From nearby."

"You want to watch from our side?"

"Dryad. Child. Precious. Our. Species. Few."

She seemed to be saying that because the Dryad species was so few in number, the existence of a child was incredibly precious.

And so she intended to watch from nearby.

'This is sudden.'

For the time being, I sensed absolutely no hostility from this Dryad toward me.

Just as Ria had said, they were a non-aggressive species.

Moreover, the fact that she had approached this close to the Outpost to make contact despite the risk of being attacked by Hunters, and was willing to put her life on the line to watch over Rin from nearby, spoke to an unwavering will to protect the child.

Much like communal animals that raise their young collectively, her drive to protect a young Dryad seemed powerful.

Then a wave of anxiety hit me again.

'What if Rin decides to follow this Dryad and leave our family?'

I had sometimes thought about the possibility that Rin might become independent someday.

The Dryad species was said to be one that originally lived in harmony with nature.

Ria and I had always said that if such a day came, we would let Rin go with a smile.

Of course, that was a conversation about after Rin had fully grown.

I had not the slightest intention of letting Rin leave while she was still at the level of a five-year-old.

She would be raised with love in Ria's and my arms until she was fully grown.

'......I want to refuse the Dryad's proposal right now, but I should let Rin choose for herself.'

Ria and I believed in Rin.

We also believed in the strong bond of our family.

That was why we could accept the Dryad's proposal.

"You are welcome to watch. But let us leave the choice to Rin."

"Of course. Difficult decision. Thank you."

She understood it was a difficult decision.

I beckoned toward Bell and Rin.

Bell had Rin on her back.

It seemed she had been on standby, ready to flee at a moment's notice.

Bell approached, carrying Rin.

The Dryad looked surprised at the sight of Bell approaching.

"Strong. Tamed beast. Offspring."

"That is right. She is Fenrir's offspring. Her name is Bell, and she is also part of my family."

"......"

The Dryad looked at me with an expression that seemed to say she found me absurd.

She seemed bewildered that I called the offspring of a powerful Divine Beast a family member.

When Bell came up beside me and stopped, Rin dismounted from Bell's back and hid behind me.

The Dryad lowered her posture, reached out a hand toward Rin, and smiled gently.

"......Papa."

Rin was flustered and called out to me.

"It is all right, Rin. She just wants to watch and see how you, a fellow Dryad, are doing."

"Is that so......?"

Rin timidly stepped out and took the Dryad's hand.

The Dryad smiled warmly and gently embraced Rin.

"Lost. Mother. Must have been. Hard. Little one."

Hearing those words, Rin's eyes widened, and moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes.

Ria and I did not know Rin's exact age.

So we had estimated her age at three.

We had set the day we first met her as Rin's birthday and counted from there.

By that standard, she was currently five.

Rin was young, but it seemed she still carried memories of the Dryad mother who had died protecting her.

Rin pulled away from the Dryad's embrace and spoke.

"I am okay. Papa and Mama are here, so it is not hard."

The Dryad looked surprised at Rin's words.

"Little one. Not. Ancient Language."

"It is not Ancient Language, it is Korean!"

Korean, she meant.

Rin also had a Sigil of Wisdom bracelet on her wrist, which made communication possible.

The Dryad asked in bewilderment.

"......Little one. Ancient Language. Forgotten?"

"I know a wittle!"

Rin answered in the Ancient Language, and the Dryad let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed she had been worried that Rin had lost her linguistic identity as a Dryad.

Rin was learning the Ancient Language little by little from Ruina.

Ruina had said that understanding the Ancient Language would help improve Rin's Dryad abilities.

'So, what now?'

The Dryad had said she wanted to watch over Rin, which effectively meant she would be following us.

That meant I had to decide whether to bring her to the Outpost and show her Rin from time to time, or to bring her to the Rift house.

The latter seemed like the better option.

If I wanted to show her Rin genuinely being happy, it would be best to let her see the daily life at the Rift house where the whole family was together.

I explained this to the Dryad and asked if she truly intended to come along.

"Two eyes. Will watch. Going."

She would come.

I headed toward the forest where the Dryad had come from, avoiding the watching Hunters' gazes.

There, I opened a Gate portal leading to the Rift house.

"Bell, wet us go see our Yeona!"

"Aroo!"

Bell and Rin were the first to step excitedly through the portal toward the Rift house.

Seeing that, the hesitant Dryad also stepped through the portal.
***
"An Adult Dryad......!"

Ria was astonished at the sight of the Dryad who had come through the portal.

I explained the situation to Ria.

Eriksson looked back and forth between Rin and the Adult Dryad in disbelief.

"Whoa, this little squirt is going to grow up into a beauty like that?"

Rin placed her hands on her hips and puffed up with pride.

"Win is going to get weally tall someday!"

"Heh! Well, who knows? Maybe you will still be a shortcake even when you grow up."

"Uuuu!"

Rin pouted and puffed out her cheeks.

Everyone burst into laughter at the sight.

Then, as if she had never been upset, Rin scampered over to Yeona, who was in Ruina's arms, and began chattering excitedly.

"......"

The Dryad watched the scene carefully.

Then she turned her head and surveyed the surroundings.

A picturesque house, the Applecherry orchard, and the vegetable garden.

And in the outer forest, the Arcana Mana Herb growing lush and green.

The Dryad's jaw dropped at the sight.

I spoke to the speechless Dryad.

"The house is more nature-friendly and pleasant than expected, is it not?"

"......Indeed."

I then used Acresia's absorption skill to pluck an A-Rank fruit from a distant Applecherry tree and offered it to the Adult Dryad.

"Try one. This is a fruit that Rin grew herself."

"Very well."

The Dryad took a bite and her eyes went wide.

"Delicious."