"We need some arboreal monster’s sap or nectar to fix this issue."

"The sap or nectar?"

"Arboreal monsters are more resilient than normal plants. This resistance can be used to fight diseases."

"I’m strooong."

Said proudly Treant.

"Can you give me some?"

Treant nodded.

"We can provide the sick wheat with that resistance. It would be like using medicine for plants."

"Then do it right away, I beg you!"

As John realized the solution was in front of him, he urged the presents to hurry.

"Do you think it’s that simple?! Taking sap from a plant is like taking blood from a human!
Who knows what might happen to Treant if we take enough for the whole field!"

She snapped at the farmer.
If they took that quant.i.ty, Treant would have dried for sure.
Obviously, if they had to repeat the operation on Dryad, she would have met the same fate given her size.

"I-I’m sorry…"

"You should have paid more attention! Do you understand that if you cared properly for the wheat, you wouldn"t have to deal with any of this?! It’s your fault if the wheat is this sick, because you thought only about money and neglected to take care of it! Furthermore, the nearby fields will also get infected!"

"Yes… I’m sorry…"

John cringed at the beautiful maiden’s earful.
Seeing him, she kept talking.

"Anyhow, at least this part of the field grew well. It means that you looked after it with love."

"Eh?"

John was bewildered by Dryad"s sudden praise.

"Plants are quite delicate and unmoving living beings. Humans have to take care of them to be able to eat.

"Y-Yes…"

"The wheat in this field is still glad despite its sickness, because you looked after it properly."

Raiz didn’t understand what Dryad had in mind, but he trusted her and kept silent.

"That’s why I want to help it feel better. Be grateful!"

"T-Thank you!"

She’s just a tsundere.

"We need some large buckets filled with water and just as many ladle-like items before taking Treant’s sap."

"Okay!"

The farmer immediately went to get what requested with a happy grin on his face.
It"s not certain if that was caused by the wheat’s imminent recovery alone or because of some other reason.

"Hey, what will happen to Treant if you take too much?"

In the end, they still hadn’t discussed about the danger that Treant was going to go through, so Raiz asked.

"We won’t take much, so he will be fine. But we need to dilute his sap into water, otherwise we’ll kill the wheat."

She grinned.

"Into water? Why is that?"

"It"s because we’re talking about an arboreal monster’s fluid, so it might be even better this way.
Otherwise it might be too strong for normal plants."

"Oh, I see. That"s why you asked for water."

If a medicine is too strong, it ends up having the same effects of poison.
In that case, diluting the substance would be the best solution.

"I had to make that farmer reflect a little. He needs to understand that choosing the easiest way without thinking might cause serious consequences, since he"ll be the one that takes care of this field from now on."

It seems like she was being harsh on purpose to help John realize that.
It wasn’t his entirely fault, but she had to encourage him to be more careful.

"This illness isn’t something born around here either. According to the information I have, it’s from the South."

Top-rank arboreal monsters can share information with their peers despite distance.
The reason is unknown, but monster researchers theorized that this ability was developed due to the plant’s inability to speak.

"The South? Was the merchant returning from there?"

"Who knows. Maybe some sick wheat ended up in his stock someway."

They both tried to figure out how that could have happened.

"I brought some buckets and ladles!"

John carried a large two-wheeled wagon with the necessary items, and put them on the ground as he painted heavily.

"Master, start taking Treant’s sap, please."

Raiz pulled out a dagger from his belt, and stood in front of Treant.

"I’m sorry Treant, but I’m going to take some of your sap."

"It"s fiiine."

Treant lowered his branches, and Raiz cut one of them. After a few moments, sap started to drip from it.

"Treant, can you let the sap drip in this bucket?"

"Leave it to meee."

Treant slowly approached it by moving his roots.

"Oh… my…"

John’s mind went blank again seeing a tree that huge moving.
Treant put the tip of the cut branch in the bucket.

"Go fill another bucket, please. It’s enough for this one."

After she counted to ten, Dryad pointed him to move on the next.

"Okaaay."

The operation was repeated for each container.

"This is enough. After we blend the sap with the water, we will water the wheat with it, and the treatment will be completed."

"R-Really?! T-Thank you so much!"

Given how simple it was to fix the issue, John screamed happily.

"Now, let’s water them right away, shall we?"

Without waiting further, from Dryad’s floral skirt protruded enough vines to lift each one of the buckets.

"What the?!"

Noticing that Dryad really was a monster, John screamed.

"I’ll start now."

Dryad’s vines sprinkled the nearby fields one after the other.
In the blink of an eye, the withered wheat started to return alive again.

"…"

Witnessing that otherworldly scene, John looked at Dryad in shock.

Seeing something impossible for humans really is frightening…

That thought made Raiz feel lonely.
After that Dryad finished watering wheat, she withdrew her vines.

"The treatment is completed, but the disease might infect the nearby plants again. If you see the same symptoms somewhere, call us as soon as you can. Watch carefully the field so that it won’t fall sick again. Promise me you will."

"I-I will!"

John, who was standing close to Dryad until now, took a few steps back without thinking.

"…"

His reaction made her face cloud a little.

"Great, we’re done here. Let’s go back home."

Judging that there wasn’t anything left to say, Raiz closed the matter.
Dryad nodded and faced John again trying to not scare him before following the tamer.

"Have a nice day. May we meet again if something similar arises."

John nodded repeatedly.
When Raiz and his two monsters started to walk away, the farmer voiced.

"E-Excuse me!"

They all stopped.

"What?"

John tried to say something… but couldn’t.
He sighed deeply and then tried again.

"T-Thank you very much!"

He finally managed to thank them.

"I wouldn’t have been able to fix this alone! It’s all thanks to you!"

He directed those words to Dryad and Treant.
Maybe he was a little clumsy, but John was honestly grateful.

"…You’re welcome."

"Don’t mention iiit."

Both Dryad and Treant answered to his feelings.
In that moment, their feelings connected for sure, overcoming the differences between them.

"A-And if I end up harming the wheat again…"

Continued John.

"I’d like you to whip me, Dryad!"

"Eh?"

With a puzzled expression, Dryad wondered if she heard that correctly.

"Your vines! Just thinking about being whipped savagely by them I can’t… take it…!"

With an ecstatic expression, John looked at Dryad’s vines.
It looked like he was one of those kinds of perverts.

"W-What on earth are you saying?!"

"Oh yes, that face! Thanks for showing me your angry expression before too!"

"M-Master! Treant! Tell his something, for Mother Nature’s sake!"

"Everyone should express their love freely."

"Do your beeest."

Seems like they weren’t on the same wavelength there.

Maybe it’s possible to live together, after all…

By looking at John clinging at Dryad’s skirt in a burst of pa.s.sion and being whipped fiercely, Raiz thought that monsters and humans could understand each other, after all.

"A traveling merchant, huh…"

Whispered Raiz on the way home.

"What are you thinking about?"

Enquired Dryad with a tired expression after what just happened with John.

"Whaaat?"

Asked Treant too.

"I was just thinking… the merchant said that even old wheat was fine and was willing to pay above the market price for it."

Replied Raiz with the same expression.

"What’s wrong with that?"

Both the monsters looked at Raiz puzzled.

"Nothing, but maybe he didn’t simply want to buy it. That might have been a cover to infect this city’s fields."

"Do you mean that someone wanted to contaminate the wheat?!"

Dryad opened her eyes wide disconcerted.
She couldn’t believe that there might be someone who wanted to harm innocent plants like that.

"Keep quiet! It’s just a conjecture. Only another hypothesis behind that man’s behavior."

He admonished her.
Raiz, who took part in the war, thought that the man’s actions were strange.
He learned to be suspicious of everyone in order to stay alive.
He smiled wryly, realizing he was thinking that of a merchant who didn’t do anything.

"I didn’t expect that."

"I also didn’t think you would be that surprised."

"Are there people that baaad?"

Even Treant looked really angry.

"Guys, It’s just a supposition."

"I seeeeee."

Raiz smiled bitterly at Treant’s short answer.
Treants live longer than humans, and are usually carefree and quiet.

Thinking that similar cases might increase, Raiz wondered if his comrades were going to be fine.

"Listen, Dryad."

"What is that, Master?"

"Can you get infected by diseases? Before, you said that your body is strong and it’s hard for you to get sick, but it’s not impossible, right?"

Given his worry, he couldn’t avoid asking her about it.

"Indeed. There’s barely any disease that can infect us, but we can contract some too."

"I see."

Raiz was dejected hearing that.

"Still, before we would contract a deadly disease, all of the other affected plants in the world would be already dead."

She giggled at Raiz’s worries.

"It’s useless thinking about that."

"T-That’s great to hear. I was thinking to prepare some sort of counter-plan for that scenario."

If there weren’t medicines for plants, there weren’t any for Alraune or any other arboreal monster either.
Raiz was afraid that an unknown sickness might have taken its loved comrades from him.

"Right! To prevent an unexpected situation, we should research a way to create some effective medicine for arboreal monsters like Alraune!"

Said Raiz coming up with a nice idea.

"Oh my, that’s wonderful! As expected from my Master!"

Dryad rejoiced at those kind words.

"Maybe it would be better to ask treants if we can take some of their sap for research."

"Including medical plants after that would be even better."

"We would have a lot to deal with."

Thinking about something, he smiled bitterly again.

"By the way…"

"Yes?"

"We used Treant’s sap as a medicine this time, but you mentioned that nectar can also be used, right? Do you have it?"

"…Yes, I do have it."

Raiz wondered why her cheeks reddened.

"How do you produce it? You don’t make flowers, right?"

Thinking about his question, Dryad leaned coquettishly against him.

"If that’s it, I’ll let you find it out whenever you want."

She whispered into his hear charmingly.

"…When the time comes, I’ll count on you."

Raiz felt like it would have been better to stay in the dark about that.