This is the collective field that takes care of the town's food situation?

　In front of Lasse and his friends was a field of wheat that stretched out in full view.

Why do humans pack their plants like this?　You should have planted it so that it can spend more time stretching.

　A dryad with no concept of agriculture nods its head.

'I wonder why...'

　Trent also looked at the wheat field curiously.

'Hey!　You guys are the do-it-yourselfers!

　As Lasse and his friends were looking out over the wheat field, they heard a voice calling out to them.
　They turned to see a naive young man running toward them.

"Hi, I'm Lasse from Monsters Delivery.

Oh, hi. My name is John. I'm the guy who manages the fields around here.

"Nice to meet you, John.

　Lasse holds out his hand and John also holds out his hand and shakes it.

"John is fine, Mr. Lasse.

This one's good with Lasse. And this is the dryad I brought in to help on this case, and Trent.

My name is Dryad. It's nice to meet you.

　Picking up a skirt of petals, the dryad smiles at John as she greets him like a noblewoman.

"Oh, uh, hi, Mr. Dryad. You can call me John!

　Smiled by the dryad, who has an uncanny good looks, John's face turns bright red and he introduces himself again.
　It's a deft move that lives up to the name of the maiden of the forest who bewitches men.

"I'm Trent-ooh!

　Trent greets you with a rustling of branches.

"Whoa, whoa!　...... Ah, so this is the monster you're talking about.

　John was surprised to see Trent, but he wasn't so much disgusted by him as he was by the dryad's good looks, rather than his surprise at seeing the monster.
　This is largely due to the fact that Trent looks like an ordinary tree.

What about the client, by the way?

　Lasse remembers that it was supposed to be an old man who asked for a job.

Well, it was my old man who offered the job, but he went into town to get a horse doctor to fix his back pain. So I took over.

　John explains what happened and tells me that he is a substitute.

Yeah, but I know Hatake, too. This way. Oh, dryad, watch your step, please.

"Well, that's very sweet of you, John.

"Oh, no!　Not so much.

　John was delirious with her, perhaps still not realizing that the dryad is a demon.

　.

The fields around here are very well cared for.

　The dryad talks to John happily as he watches the fields along the way.
　She's a plant monster, so she's happy when they're healthy.

No, no, it's mostly Dad's work. But lately he's had a bad back, so I've been taking care of the fields for him.

　With a not-so-humble humility, John responds to the dryad.
　Her attention is on the plants, not on John, who is in charge, but it was not so wild of Lise to say that.

"Well, is that so?　But it's quite a feat to be entrusted with so many fields,

Oh, really?　Well, it's nice to hear it from a beautiful person like you!

John was excited, but then he suddenly slumped down and let out a sigh.

What's wrong with you?

No, that's the kind of field my father entrusted to me, and I didn't expect to contract a disease I've never seen before in my life.

　John was depressed that he had been entrusted with the management of the field and now he was in trouble. Then, after a short walk, John stopped.

"This field. This field here is the only wheat that's wilted strangely. The rest of the fields are fine, but I don't know what's causing it.

　Lasse looked at the wheat beside him, and sure enough, John was right: the wheat was wilted.
　The wheat in the surrounding fields is not so bad, but only this field is wilted.

How is it?　Do you understand?

I don't know. Dryad, Trent, do you know what it is?

　When Lasse approached them, the dryad was staring at the wheat with a difficult look on his face.

"Dryad?

　The dryads not only went to the field in question, but also to see the surrounding fields.
　When he had checked all the neighboring fields, he came back to Lasse and his friends.

"How do you feel about that?

　The dryad shook its head slowly.

Yes, the reason these oats are wilting is because they are sick.

Sick?

Yes, and if it continues like this, the rest of the fields will too. You look fine, but you already have the same disease.

I knew I was sick. ...... But I've never been sick before with these symptoms.



　John lets out a sigh, "I knew it when I heard that Oats was sick.

So, what's going to happen to the barley?

　Is there a problem with the edible part of the stalk just wilting, or is there a need to treat it in a hurry? Lasse looks to the dryads for answers.

"If it's like this, all the wheat will die.

"Oh, no!　If all the fields around here are wiped out, we'll lose a lot of money!

"Barley says he's in pain, too.

　Trent says the words on behalf of the barley. As plant demons, Trent and his friends can understand how plants feel.

Yes, she says she suffered when a stranger came in.

"I don't know who ...... is!

　At the dryad's words, John raises his voice.

"Any idea what that means?

　John nods at the sound of Lasse's voice.

Yes, not long ago a traveling merchant came to me with some wheat to sell. He asked me to sell some of his old wheat, as he needed it badly. He offered me a good price, so I gave him some of my stock and sold it.

Maybe that's how they got the disease in the field.

　When the dryads guess the source of the disease, John gets a hard-on.

Oh no, I wish I hadn't sold my wheat then!　But it's an ironclad rule of business to sell when you can. ......　

　That's what Lise thought she deserved, but she's an adult, so she kept it to herself.

Anyway, is there a way to cure the disease?

"There is one thing: ......

"Do you have one!　If you have, fix it now!　If the wheat fields are wiped out, the town's stockpile will be gone for the winter!　If that happens, it's a liability issue!　The field is not only mine, there are also wheat fields managed by other people!

　John looks at Lasse and the others with a cursory glance.

"Dryad, if you have a way, would you do it?

"I'm so excited about ......

　The dryad hears a request from Lasse and yells his approval.

Normally, when a plant gets sick, humans will mow and burn all the surrounding plants to prevent them from spreading the disease to other plants. But unlike human diseases, there is no medicine to cure plant diseases.

　The dryad furrows its brow in a bad mood.

"Can't you fix it with recovery magic?

"Yes, that's it!　Let's ask the unicorn to magically fix it!

　Good idea, John cheered, but the dryad denied it, shaking his head.

That's no good. The unicorn's recovery magic works only on one person. But there are hundreds of thousands of wheat in the field. There are hundreds and thousands of wheat in the field. At worst, one healed oat can be passed on from another.

　This is because unlike attack magic, which can attack a range, recovery magic, with a few exceptions, is only effective on individuals.

'But there's a way to do it!

　John looks at the dryad, clinging to a sliver of hope.

"Yes, I have. I was just about to explain that to you.

　The dryad looks at him in dismay, and John blushes at being distraught in front of her.

The only way to cure the wheat sickness is to give them an alternative to medicine.

What do you mean by "alternative"?

　The dryad pauses for a breath and then announces its alternative name.

It's the nectar or sap of the plant monster.