The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

Factory raid—a form of terrorism.

Destroying a perfectly good production facility was a deed worthy of condemnation, even aside from the issue of public safety.

But in the underworld, such requests weren’t rare.

In fact, most legitimate contracts fell into this category.

After all, the jobs given to mercenaries usually revolved around the power struggles between corporations.

And nothing was more effective for toppling a company in a short time than destroying its facilities.

That was why companies hired assassins to crush their rivals, while at the same time plotting their own means of defense.

Thus, such requests were contests of capital.

The one who spent more to prepare was the one who won.

If the target was Delippersy’s factory, which had just secured Centrim’s support, then its defenses would rival those of most major corporations.

“Have you heard anything about Delippersy?”

“You’ve no doubt heard they got backing from Centrim. In fact, that’s what made this matter more troublesome.”

I accepted the glass Cromwell handed me.

As always, the contents were plain water.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s word that Centrim dispatched their security forces.”

“Quadrapple moved?”

“Unfortunately, yes. A bit excessive as a show of favor for a company they’ve only just invested in.”

With overflowing capital, corporations could even afford private armies under the guise of security divisions.

Unlike mercenary bands that guaranteed even skill, these units varied widely in strength depending on their parent corporation.

Centrim’s security firm, Quadrapple, was one of the very best even by industry standards.

‘I’ve fought against corporate security before, even if not Quadrapple. They were never easy opponents.’

Even in the blur of memory, I knew they were not to be taken lightly.

“The deployed force is roughly a platoon in size—more than enough to defend a single factory.”

“You know down to the unit’s scale? You’re well informed.”

“Jack did the legwork.”

“Jack… you mean that idler downstairs?”

“He gets things done when he has to. If only he were that sharp all the time, I’d have no complaints.”

“No one’s perfect.”

“That’s why I keep him around.”

Cromwell shook off his lingering regret and returned to the point.

“I don’t recommend moving alone. Like the last request, you’ll need to work with others.”

“I’d have been offended if you told me to go solo.”

This wasn’t some back-alley errand—it was a corporate sabotage job.

There was no way I could cover it alone.

“Wait a few days, and I’ll have people assembled for you.”

“Proactive, aren’t you?”

“Think of it as an investment in you.”

He was backing me boldly.

‘So they’ve finally put a price on me.’

It was a judgment that I was worth supporting, since I would bring them profit.

After all, a rookie who had already taken down a dark mage had proven his level.

They wanted to keep me under their management rather than risk losing me to another mercenary band or broker.

“It won’t take long. The pay is good enough that interest will come even without me pushing.”

For an environmental group that usually scraped for cash, they were offering a large sum.

Considering how much I had already drained them with my last job, I wondered if they weren’t overextending.

‘That only means it’s that important.’

An eco-group’s request to raid a factory wasn’t hard to understand.

Factories here, in the name of progress, avoided regulations and polluted freely.

But this was Greenwood.

It wouldn’t be something so simple.

‘Could Delippersy’s factory also be tied to spirits?’

After all, I had found their name from the prosthetic taken from Maley.

And Delippersy was suspected of being Centrim’s new lackey, the one that contacted Dalton Sunderland.

Even if it turned out to be nothing, this was a request I couldn’t refuse.

“I’ll come back in a week.”

“Don’t bother. Get yourself a working contact number instead.”

He meant I should activate a cellphone.

If I remembered right, the lore said they were invented in Gellerg City and spread to other places.

Mass adoption was supposed to be some time off, but apparently they were already in use here.

“I recall they were expensive.”

“Are you really going to insist on face-to-face meetings even for minor matters? Frankly, it’s inconvenient.”

And he wasn’t wrong.

Coming from a world where I could video call across the globe, having to meet in person every time was beyond tedious.

“Talk to Jack downstairs. He’ll handle it.”

“He does that kind of thing too?”

“Less trouble than intelligence work. Forged IDs, laundering money—leave the tedious tasks to him.”

“Hm.”

It was the sort of thing you couldn’t avoid in this line of work.

Like seeing the doctor and then going to the pharmacy in the same building.

‘Might as well handle everything while I’m at it.’

Fake IDs, phone contracts, bank accounts—I had plenty on my list.

I couldn’t remain an outsider forever.

If I was to work as a mercenary, I’d need a cover identity.

This city, Gellerg, was where I would put down roots.

“Since I know him, maybe he’ll give me a discount?”

“Not within my authority. Persuade him yourself.”

If I were a woman, maybe. But this face of mine wasn’t going to charm a man.

And I didn’t know any other fixer.

So I gave up and went to Jack to get things done.

Knock knock.

After returning from the office, I knocked on the door of my own room.

Strange, having to knock on my own door—but I had no choice.

There was a guest inside.

Creak.

The door opened.

Peeking out from the small gap was the kid from District 7—the one I had knocked out.

“You’re awake?”

“…Yes.”

When I entered, the child was sitting on a small bed I had asked the bellboy to cram inside.

The child leaned against the wall, hugging a pillow to cover the body.

The child's wary posture made me smile wryly.

“Sorry for bringing you without explanation. Must’ve been a shock to wake up in a strange place.”

“…Yes. I thought I’d been kidnapped.”

“You didn’t look like you’d wake up soon, so I went to take care of business.”

“I suppose so.”

The tone of the child’s voice sounded resigned, like a victim listening to a criminal’s sweet talk.

“You don’t seem to believe me.”

“In this situation, can I really say I don’t?”

As expected.

I raised my hands, palms open, to show I meant no harm.

“Why would I do such a thing? If that was my intention, I’d have acted back in District 7.”

“That’s… true.”

Finding my reasoning persuasive, the child lowered the pillow.

What it revealed was a pale face, unfit for a slum child.

Clear features, an intelligent look.

Young, yet with a hint of maturity.

“How are you feeling?”

“Yes, I’m not hurt. Maybe because it’s been so long since I slept in a bed—my whole body feels light.”

The child bounced on the bed, springing up and down.

Still wary, but slowly opening up.

But—“so long since I slept in a bed”?

“How have you been living till now?”

“Homeless…”

“What about the money from looting that goblin den?”

“…It was taken.”

The child bit lip and spoke in a muffled voice.

“Someone said they’d help me. I thought they were kind… but then I overheard they planned to sell me, so I ran.”

“I see.”

I had thought the child’s sharp personality would keep itself out of big trouble, but in the end, a kid was still a kid.

As an older one, I offered advice.

“They say leaving home is hardship. It’s all experience.”

“…You were the one who told me to leave home.”

「The World Tree scolds you for your pathetic words.」

A clumsy comfort was worse than none.

I averted my gaze from the child’s glare.

“Anyway, while you were struggling, you spotted me. You weren’t sure whether to ask for help, so you ended up tailing me. Right?”

“Wrong.”

What was wrong?

“I didn’t just stumble upon you. I followed you. So it wasn’t ‘like I was tailing you.’ I was tailing you. It’s true I hesitated about asking for help, though.”

The child confessed calmly.

Openly admitting to the crime.

I was so taken aback I almost scolded the child, but stopped.

The child had already paid the price when I knocked.

“You followed me?”

There was another point I needed to pursue.

“How?”

If the child had been trailing me all the way from District 7, I would have sensed it—just like this time.

However, the child said that it has followed me.

How many citizens lived in this city?

Unless the child had tracked me directly, picking me out among them was a feat difficult even for an expert.

It wasn’t something a slum kid could have pulled off.

“Well…”

The child hesitated for a while before stepping closer and whispering to me.

“To my eyes, people look a little different.”

“…?”

“Like, there’s this flickering light. You were easy to follow because yours was a hazy green, which was unusual.”

Nonsensical words.

But then suddenly, the knowledge I already had clicked together with it.

This was…

“Can you… see people’s mana?”

“I don’t know. Is what I see mana?”

I stared into the child’s pupils.

Within those deep, lake-like eyes, light shimmered faintly.

It was certain. This child had talent.

‘Wait—slum-born, with the talent to see mana with the naked eye? A great mage in the making?’

The pieces combined to point toward one person.

I asked casually, so as not to seem awkward.

“Come to think of it, I don’t even know your name yet. What is it?”

“…You keep prying into my identity. You’re not planning to sell me to a factory, are you?”

“Identity has nothing to do with that. I’d know.”

The child seemed convinced by the sincerity in my words, born of experience.

“Sage Dailoper.”

My eyes widened.

“My parents didn’t name me, so I named myself.”

Sage Dailoper—called the lotus that bloomed from the mud, a future candidate for Tower Master.

And… the back-alley artifact technician I had been searching for.

I had stumbled upon a giant in the most unexpected place.

There was a mage named Sage Dailoper.

At the late age of seventeen, she entered the Mage Tower and made remarkable achievements, rising swiftly.

In talent, she rivaled the Tower Master; in accomplishments, she outstripped not only her peers but veteran mages.

Her greatness lay in the fact that she had started with nothing, behind others, and carved her way up by herself.

Her background in the slums was another reason she drew public attention.

‘That was where her limits lay, though.’

Her lofty talent and feverish pursuit of knowledge couldn’t overcome practical limits.

She had started learning magic late, and she had no connections inside or outside the Tower.

As far as I knew, she never became Tower Master—only a candidate.

‘Still, her talent was real.’

When I captured her, she had cast magic.

She said it was instinctive.

To internalize an academic discipline that required systematic training purely on instinct—her brilliance needed no further words.

‘Her personality—was it changed later by hardship?’

The Sage I met in District 7 was kind and bright.

But the Sage in the Tower was strict, unsociable, taciturn, and reclusive.

‘We weren’t on good terms at the Tower.’

She often caused me trouble by pointing out the inefficiency of my research to the higher-ups.

In truth, despite her public renown, she wasn’t highly regarded within the mage community.

Compared to how favorably I thought of her now, it was night and day.

Was she really the same person?

But thinking about it, some changes were already there.

‘She speaks less and is more guarded.’

It made sense.

There was no future in the slums, but neither was the outside world full of hope.

I, too, had once been a factory slave, sold off—and would have died there if I hadn’t escaped.

After a few such experiences, innocence could only wear away.

「The World Tree greets her warmly.」

“…What is this?”

“The World Tree. A plant that lives with me in my body.”

The child was aghast.

“…That makes sense?”

“And werewolves or vampires do?”

“That’s different. So are you saying you turn into a tree when the full moon rises?”

Dozens of nonhuman races lived in the city.

To me it was all fantasy, but to the locals, it was a different concept.

“If it grows bigger, maybe I will turn into a tree.”

Sharp observation, actually.

What would happen to my body if the World Tree became a sacred tree?

“…Hello.”

Perhaps taking my words as a joke, Sage ignored me and clasped the tendril the World Tree extended.

Her sparkling eyes showed more curiosity than caution.

Naturally, the World Tree was delighted.

「The World Tree squirms, saying it tickles.」

The tree swayed under her touch.

Seeing it, Sage smiled faintly and wiggled her fingers.

Watching their harmony stirred a strange feeling in me.

The Sage I remembered would have scorned it as disgusting and brushed it aside.

‘Maybe it’s for the best we met again at this time.’

If we had met later, after more hardship, I might have seen the prickly side I remembered.

Though somewhat changed, this was still within bounds.

She still had the purity of youth.

“For now.”

I made my decision.

“Stay with me for a while.”

This wasn’t an encounter to just advise and part ways.

The future great mage Sage was a bond I was meant to take in.

And if I could prevent her eventual fall, so much the better.

“Really?”

Her face was half joy, half wariness.

No wonder—having nearly been sold into slavery, she couldn’t rejoice freely.

“In return, I’d like you to help me with some tasks.”

This wasn’t meaningless goodwill but a deal.

At that, Sage finally relaxed.

“What should I do?”

“Read this.”

Sage turned over the small book I pulled from my pocket.

“What is it?”

“An introductory text on magic theory.”

I had bought it at the market on the way.

A genius who had instinctively manifested magic—just this would expand the range of abilities she could handle.

“And once you’ve read it all… your task will be…”

I pulled a magazine from a box in the corner.

“To inscribe magic into this.”

There were only a few days left until I recruited allies for the job.

With Sage’s talent, I could expect results.

She would find assurance, and I would enhance my lacking secondary weapons.

A stratagem that killed two birds with one stone.

‘The team is ready. Come.’

That was the message from Cromwell five days later.

I told Sage to review what she had learned and headed for the office.

‘This time, there won’t just be one or two companions.’

Disabling a factory’s defenses—

What was needed was overwhelming firepower.

Chances were high that a mage would be among us.

If not, then at least heavy firearms and explosives.

Busy, high-priced mages rarely joined such jobs.

Lailla, who had joined for a Brotherhood request, was an exception.

So I expected many participants.

‘Hopefully, this time they’re competent.’

The thought of another ragtag bunch like last time made my skin crawl.

This was a corporation backed by a megacorp.

I couldn’t possibly clean up after it alone again.

With irresponsible fools, failure was inevitable.

‘It’d be best if a mercenary band took the job.’

Having worked with worthless types, I now appreciated mercenaries’ competence.

I regretted not suggesting the Drexier Mercenary Band.

I knew some members, and Cromwell had even vouched for their good reputation—it would’ve been the best choice.

‘But that’s past.’

The team was already gathered.

I would simply have to make the best of it.

At last, I arrived at the office’s first floor.

“Wow!”

The cheer rang out in a familiar voice as soon as I opened the door.

“Guess we’re fated, huh? Never thought we’d meet again like this.”

The first floor, often used as a meeting place for mercenaries.

And at its center, waving at me, was Hella—along with her crew, all staring straight at me.

(End of Chapter)