When we got to the inn our room was empty.

"Guess she hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Well While we’re waiting you can do those magic things yeah?” Said Ronnie.

“Oh yeah! Thanks Ronnie, I’d completely forgotten about that.”

“Don’t worry about it, just make tomorrow's breakfast extra good.”

“Sure thing.”

I then sit myself down on the bed, lean back on the wall and take out the magic spell book from the backpack and start reading through it.

Ronnie and Lizz went back to Ronnie’s room, Shiona was currently laying on the bed with her wings behind her head next to where I was sitting while Litly and Buddy were playing with each other on the floor.

‘I hope this book has what I’m looking for, it cost a lot of money.’

When I bought the book I still didn’t really have a grasp on the value of money in this world, but now that I’ve travelled around a lot more and been to many different places I’ve become at least slightly more knowledgeable about it, so now I realize that a platinum for a book is a pretty god damn expensive.

‘I mean sure, they did say that the book wasn’t finished, but maybe I can still get lucky and find what I want. Otherwise I’ll just have to either go ask Alexander or go back to the magic research place where I got the book in the first place. They said we’d get a discount by giving back the previous book if they make a new updated one.’

I look through the book in a relatively systematic order by beginning with the elements.

“Hey Shiona, you know a lot about this fantasy stuff yeah?”

“Yeah, how so?”

“Think you could help me figure out what here could become a teleportation spell?”

“Sure, might as well until the dryad gets here.”

Shiona then sits up, moves up next to me and starts perusing the pages which were open.

“... This? Maybe this? And this too... “

“Which ones did you find?”

“Well… I mean, if you try really hard you got probably turn anything into a teleportation spell… But I think it would be easiest with… ehm… Maybe water? A spell that lets you walk into water at one place and out of water somewhere else.”

“Yeah, that could work…”

“But at the same time… Maybe fire as well?”

“Fire?”

“Yeah, fire covers you and then when the fire is gone you’re gone too? And then a fire appears somewhere else and when that fire disappears you’re there?”

“Okay?”

“Or maybe combine them and just have you disappear in a puff of steam? Or maybe earth magic for a puff of smoke and dust?”

“...”

“Or have a thunderbolt strike where you’re standing and where you want to appear?”

“...”

“And shadow-”

“Okay, okay, You seem to have a good lot of ideas, but do you think you could come up with a few more that aren’t as dangerous? Like, if a thunderbolt strikes and the magic fails you’ll die.”

“...”

“So more like the water and dust one please?”

“...”

“Shiona?”

“Oh, sorry, I was thinking about what you said… But can’t we just try the spell on some, I dunno, some fish to see if they survive?”

“I guess, but what if I muck up the spell? I don’t think I could keep using a spell that could backfire so bad if I bugger up. I don’t think my nerves could handle that.”

“But Plush.”

“Shiona.”

“But Plush.”

“Shiona I swear to god.”

“But Plush, you don’t have any nerves.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“... Plush?”

“...”

“... I’m sorry… “

*sigh* “Just don’t do it again please.”

“I won’t. That aside however, I don’t think his book has what we need.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ve looked through it but I can’t find anything that I think would be able to turn any element into an actual teleportation spell, I think we’ll have to go ask that Alexander guy about it tomorrow.”

“Alright, I guess we’ll have to do that then.”

“Well that aside, I have a plan for when the dryad gets here, but I’ll need some help from Cy, think you could let her out?”

“Sure, but what do you need her to do?”

“Well-”

* * * *

-=Dryad POV=-

‘The time has come…’

I take a deep breath and supply air to the large lump of leaves that make up a dryads lung and exhale before entering the inn as I had been told to do.

“Hello?”

“Good evening young madame. Are you here to meet someone?” Responded the old receptionist.

“Yes, I’m here to meet with a bird-kin by the name Ronnie.”

For some reason the man seemed pleased with himself when I said I was here to meet someone, maybe something had happened here earlier?

“In that case the one you’re looking for lives in this room.”

The receptionist then points the a map of the building which was hanging behind him.

“I see. Thank you very much sir.”

“No worries young madame.”

I bow to the receptionist before walking up the stairs next to him and finding my way to the room they’re staying in.

However inside my head a tempest was raging.

‘Those tree cutting, soft skinned, bark less, power hungry, destruction thirsty… They destroy all that is necessary to survive yet claim it’s for the sake of their survival!? They’re lust for strength and destruction has but ruined their own lives, withered away in the wind and returned back to the soil from which they came, the very soil they trying to delude themselves into thinking they aren’t destroying! How dare such creatures do this to me!? Us dryads is the only reason harvests in this world are as plentiful as they are, the only reason these selfish creatures aren’t attacked by even more monsters than they already are, we’re the only reason the demons are taking as long to free themselves as they are! If it weren’t for us I’m certain the human races would’ve been replaced by demons long ago! Though I’m certain it would’ve been an improvement compared to this! I’ve heard the way they talk, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds” is it? Ha! I’ll turn your own words right back to you!’

While most of my mind was busy taking out my anger mentally in order to keep myself from taking out my anger physically and wrecking the whole inn what little sane parts were left of me kept looking for the right door while also keeping my thoughts inside my head and making sure they don’t show up on my face.

Finally finding the right door I calmly knock on it three times.

*SLAM SLAM SLAM*

Calmly indeed, I must commend myself for keeping my feelings under check, though for some reason I now notice a number of cracks and dents on the wooden door.

‘Have people tried breaking into this room? Ha! Serves them just right!’

Then with a creak so loud that it must bring shame to the tree this door used to be every time it was opened the door gently swung on its hinges.

“Ugh, do you have to be so loud…?” Sounded the voice of the doll.

‘Oh come on, now they have delicate ears too!? All these creatures just get worse as time goes on!’

“Apologies.”

“Nevermind, just come in already.” Said the doll as it opened the door and went back inside.

I followed the doll into the room and saw it sit down on a bed as it started reading a book.

“You’re here.” Said the accursed bird. “Guess that means I really hit it right on the money huh? I wasn’t actually certain you were going to come but I guess eating mean really is that bad for you guys.”

“...”

‘Wait, she wasn’t certain!? I could’ve just ignored them and nothing would’ve happened!?’

“Well? Have a seat.”

The bird was sitting on a chair in front of a small table, on the other side of the table there was another chair, on that chair there was a small ornate cloth, likely there to make it easier to clean.

I sat down on the chair.

‘Well, at least they don’t know what tribe I’m from, that could give me the time I need to convince the others back home that outsiders can’t be trusted. Hell, they should have no reason to even know that dryads live in tribes!’

“So…”

“...” I wait for the accursed bird to state her demands, so as to at least make them believe that I’m going to go along with their demands.

“...What tribe are you from?”

“!”

‘No, keep it together! So what if they know we live in tribes!? I’ll just lie!’

“I hail from the North.”

“South is it?”

“!”

“Well then, is it southwest or southeast? The south is very big you know?”

‘Okay, okay, so they were prepared for me lying, then I’ll just mix in both lies and truths! There’s no way they’ll be able to tell what’s true and what isn’t!’

“Yes, south I mean. Our tribe lives in the southernmost point of eastern Endom. We live at the top of the mountains next to the sea, far from any human settlements and surrounded by lush plants as far as the eye can see.”

“And the name of the tribe?”

“We’re called the Barls”

“I see.”

“...”

“Southernmost point of eastern Endom, amidst the arid desert canyons, far from any other races but also far from any green plants. Interesting. I’ll have to go visit these Eks sometime.”

“!”

“Now then, I won’t ask for much for us to keep your secret, however my husband here is a great cook so the only things I’m asking for is ingredients.”

“Cook? Ingredients?”

Honestly I was baffled, I was prepared to try and barter down a lot of different demands, however cooking ingredients definitely weren’t one of them.

“Yeah, things like fruits, vegetable, maybe any animals that stray too close.”

Then suddenly from behind me-

“!” *sniff sniff*

From behind me came a smell at least ten times more wonderful than anything I’d ever smelled at Biff’s beef.

I turned around and saw-

*chomp chomp*

-and saw the doll, still sitting on the bed, eating something.

“?”

The doll looked at me with a confused expression.

“Tha-that- what is that…!?” I say, my voice shaking with every syllable.

“This?”

In the doll’s hand was a food which a had never seen before

It was brown.

It was beige.

It was both red and green.

“This is a hamburger, want one?”

“...”

“Well, do you?”

“...”

Despite wanting to yell yes with all my might I could not, for if I opened my mouth all the drool which had accumulated would pour out like a waterfall.

“Actually that’s a good idea Plush, let’s take a food break.” Said the bird, elevating her status from accursed bird to just bird.

“Alright, here you guys go.”

The doll then takes out two more hamburgers from his backpack and hands them to us, one to me and one to the bird.

However-

“What, you don’t actually want it?” Asked the bird with a worried look on her face.

-I was still unable to fix my problem.

‘I want to eat it but… If I open my mouth… ! Wait! No! No no!’

While I was in the middle of thinking about my dilemma roots suddenly started growing and reaching out of my mouth and wrapping around the burger one by one.

‘No! N-’

You see a dryad’s body is very different from other creatures, not just on the outside but also on the inside.

Much the same as how our lungs are internal bundles of leaves that contracts and expands in order to pull in air our stomachs were different from the normal sack of acid as well.

As I just said, normal creatures have sacks of acid as stomachs, dryads on the other hands have a writhing mass of roots which grab onto anything that falls down a dryads throat and drains it completely, whatever’s left has to be thrown back out however since there’s so little left it usually only happens once a month, even for the gluttonous me.

But sadly, just like most creatures, dryads don’t have full control over their bodies.

Just like a human is unable to suddenly have their stomach stop digesting food a dryad can’t keep their stomachs from hungering, and sometimes when you try to ignore it for too long the stomach decides to get the food itself.

That was what was happening right now.

With panic in my eyes I tried to keep my mouth shut, however despite my best efforts I simply couldn’t win over my own stomach and after only a few seconds my mouth was burst open by a torrent of roots that streamed forwards and grabbed the hamburger.

When my mouth was opened a loud splash resounded through the room as all the saliva that had built up was released onto the floor, and as soon as one of the roots touched the hamburger even more saliva drooled down as I felt like I just tasted the pinnacle of heaven until the entire hamburger was covered and started being absorbed.

Only then did my internal roots go back inside me and calm down.

“Haa… Haa… “

I gasped for air as my body was slowly recovering from the incident.

“This… How could… could something be this good!?”

“...” x2

Both the bird and the doll looked at me without eating, it would have been weirder if they could eat after seeing what just happened.

“I’ve never had anything this good before! How could you make meat taste this good...this good despite soiling it with bread and plants!?” I shouted at the doll.

“... It’s precisely because of the bread and the vegetables that it tastes this good you know? Combining different things is what makes it taste better, all the ingredients help each other out I guess.”

“!”

The doll surely hadn’t meant anything deep or profound by that statement, however to me, to someone who thought they had tasted the best the world had to offer only to be proven wrong so quickly it had a big influence.

Biff’s beef took a long time to prepare their food, they had the ingredients and the chefs which stood at the pinnacle of the mortal world and yet-

‘And yet this doll was able to triumph in a such a short time just by having the ingredients working together…’

“What would happen if people could do this as well?” I whispered to myself, low enough for no one else to hear me.

At that moment I swore to myself to follow these two and help them out throughout their journey as much as I could.

For a sensible dible fee of course.

*knock knock* Sounded someone from the door.

“Quiet do’n innere would’ja!?” Shouted a more than likely drunk man from the hall.

The door creaked open and the man entered-

“Kee’in’ us awake all ni-”

-only to see me, still in my human disguise, gasping on the floor in a puddle of my own bodily fluids.

“Sorry ‘bou’ tha’.” Said the man as he walked back out with a reddening face and closed the door.

“NOOOOOOO!!!!” I screamed, though all too late.