The Forest Druid

The first idea that popped into Tarte's head was that some glowing insect—a firefly, basically—was trailing behind her skull as if to make fun of her. They were inside a Tower built on a fantasy world, after all. Maybe the bug's light was just a little extra intense.

But no matter how far she stretched her hand behind her head, her fingers closed on nothing. Only a gentle warmth.

It might have sounded like a ridiculous conclusion, but in another sense it was only natural. Who would ever imagine that a light would suddenly start pouring out from behind their own head?

"Is this light coming from behind my head?"

A person couldn't exactly inspect the back of their own skull. So Tarte asked the Druid standing in front of her.

"This is something I've only ever seen in books."

Seen what in books, exactly?

Fortunately, she didn't seem to be dragging it out just to mess with Tarte. A surprisingly kind explanation followed.

The Druid had barely finished speaking when a system message appeared before Tarte's eyes.

The message was invisible to the Druid, a resident of this world. Tarte, however, was not the only one who saw it.

Tarte's face went scarlet at the chat window scrolling furiously past.

"You feeling all right? Your face is awfully red."

"I ran too hard. I must have overheated."

The Demon summoned this Tower. Why would it even have a function like this?

Tarte doubted it for a moment. A Demon's Tower ought to be stained with conflict and slaughter. Making people kill each other—wasn't that what made a Tower worthy of a Demon?

A moment later, she revised the thought.

Maybe that thing just likes whatever's entertaining.

The literature describing demons was endless, and the demons in those accounts wore every attitude imaginable. There were demons who existed solely to torment humanity, to break it, to annihilate it. And then there were demons who made bets with humans, who played tricks on them, who even took lessons from gods and got scolded for it.

Then another thought occurred to her.

But can I turn this light off? It's going to make me stand out way too much.

Finding an on/off toggle on the skill Hero's Light, Tarte switched the conspicuous halo off.

"Oh. The light went out."

"I turned it off."

"You already figured out how to handle the power? Yeah, you're no ordinary human."

The Forest Druid had mistaken Tarte for someone extraordinary. But was it even a mistake? She had, in fact, made a choice that wasn't ordinary.

"You're the Forest Druid, yes? We came into this forest looking for you."

With the sudden halo situation wrapped up, Tarte decided to get on with the quest.

"To purify the fallen god."

Though saying we was a stretch, considering she'd lost every last one of her companions.

"If an ordinary human had shown up, I'd have just told them to get lost."

The Druid looked Tarte straight in the eyes.

"When a Hero comes calling, I've got no choice but to give you a serious answer."

Tarte found herself a little preoccupied with the Druid's outfit. Hearing "Forest Druid," she'd pictured a sage draped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in robes. She had not expected a beautiful girl in a dress of leaves. Combined with that hostility toward outsiders, the image of a native village girl—or an elf—came unbidden. She was starting to wonder if those long ears were just magically hidden.

"Ow!"

The Druid kicked Tarte in the shin. Tarte yelped.

"Why did you kick me!?"

"I said we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were going to have a serious conversation, and you started thinking about something else. Something incredibly rude, too."

Does this woman read minds?

Tarte decided the Druid in front of her was a little frightening, and this time she resolved to actually listen.

"Purifying the fallen god of the forest is going to be brutally hard. Hard enough that killing it will start to look like the easy way out. You still prepared for that?"

"I am. Of course I am."

Team A had picked the kill route first and, in effect, dumped the purification job on her. But Tarte liked that option. Kill the thing and you'd probably walk past the truth of the incident without ever knowing it. Purify it, and you might learn the world's secrets. In game terms, it was the true ending route.

"Then first you'll need to gather the Forest Sacred Relics. The Deer God's, the Wolf God's, and the Bear God's."

"Those three aren't all corrupted, I hope?"

"Only the Deer God has fallen."

"Then is there no way to just borrow the Wolf God and Bear God's power and wrap this up quickly?"

"If that were easy, I'd have done it already."

Confirming that the cheese route was closed, Tarte organized her thoughts.

"Do you know where the relics are?"

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do. But to get your hands on them, you'll have to pass the gods' trials."

"Would you come with me that far?"

"I'll pin the locations on your minimap."

"Tch."

Recruiting the Druid as an excellent guide and escort had failed.

"Then what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I run into the Deer God again on the way? I only survived last time because of your help."

"I'll teach you an acceleration spell."

The magic the Druid had used to get her away from the Deer God—the one that boosted a person's speed.

Finally. An actual buff.

Falling into the Tower had been a catastrophe. When she'd nearly been stomped to death by the Deer God, all she'd felt was how unfair it was. But gaining a new ability, becoming something stronger—that still felt good.

Guess a guy's still a guy.

It was a thought that didn't match her appearance in the slightest.

"Feel the wind spirits. Free little lives that are everywhere, and can go anywhere."

The Druid reached out, took Tarte's hand, and began pouring some unidentifiable energy into her. Tarte felt a cool, clean sensation. Yes—it was exactly like brushing her teeth with mint toothpaste. Except she was smearing the toothpaste all over her body, not just her teeth.

Is this right!?

Around the time that thought hit her, Tarte had learned a new skill.

The acceleration spell she'd learned from the Forest Druid. Tarte started to get a little hung up on the lore.

If I'm a Priest, shouldn't I be getting skills through faith? This is starting to feel like I'm turning into some shady shaman.

Then again, Tarte didn't even know which god she was supposed to believe in. She'd thrown her scripture earlier to pull the Deer God's aggro, and used it up.

Sorry, unknown god, whoever you are. Please don't show up all corrupted like the Deer God.

She offered a prayer of repentance. After that, Tarte decided to go find her companions.

"Where would my companions be by now?"

"How would I know that?"

"You're pretty useless for a Forest Druid."

"You wanna die?"

"Ah— I said that out loud."

The Druid glared. Tarte looked away. It was a rare and precious sight.

"I was joking. I'm truly grateful. Let's see each other again after I've gathered the Forest Sacred Relics."

She needed to let them know she was alive, and she needed to stop her party members from wandering the forest and running into the Deer God a second time. Tarte picked up her pace. And then she asked the chat window one more time.

"So do you know where our party members are?"

Every piece of important information since the beginning had refused to show itself, appearing only as:

That was almost certainly the work of the Demon who had summoned them to this Tower. This chat was a chat window and nothing more; it wasn't supposed to interfere with the game. But how about this much? Just finding her party members? You could do that much with a phone. Not that she had a smartphone on her at the moment.

For the first time since arriving in the Tower, Tarte watched the chat window actually be useful. The people watching the broadcast felt a peculiar swell of pride at finally being able to help their Saintess. She still wasn't a Saintess—just a Priest—but still.

"Could you pass along a message? Have everyone gather as best they can toward the river that runs behind the place marked as the Druid's Dwelling on the minimap."

Using the chat window as a messenger, Tarte managed to reunite with her companions.

"A lot happened. I'm so tired."

Her companions, in the meantime, seemed to have gone through incidents of their own.