I was surprised by their reaction but it did make sense. Fey respected power. And that is what I offered. It was not even that uncommon considering elemental knights. Archfey granted their loyal subjects certain powers.

  I looked at Lilith, who watched the whole thing with interest. Demon society was also about strength, but without the sharing. Demon lords did not simply empower their underlings and I had a feeling there was a lot less trust in general. Lilith was quite progressive for a demon lord.

  After the dryads agreed to serve we spent another day at their grove. They did have fruit trees. Cherries and apples. The cherry trees reminded me of the Japanese ones, who were not grown for their fruit. But magical trees were different anyway. Now that the dryads were on our side they happily talked about their trees. They could use magic to change their fruit, to some extent. They could also absorb certain powers through their roots.

  Essentially a tree would change depending on its diet. But it was a slow process. Dryads needed to be in areas with a lot of magic to grow powerful. But that also meant monsters, decreasing the chance of survival. Their stationary nature was a big handicap. They could not flee from danger. And they needed help to relocate.

  Dryads had the potential to become powerful, but rarely without help. They needed someone to provide them with a good spot to grow. Then they needed protection while they were young and weak. Izanami took full advantage of that. Her territory was full of dryads which she nurtured, and in turn they provided great defenses.

  My storm abilities were not the most helpful. I could summon rain, I suppose. If I wanted my dryads to be strong I had to find other ways to feed them. Like monsters. Like the corpse of a demon lord. But what else could I do? Was there a ritual to draw magic into the soil? What would power it?

  My thoughts brought me to the bond I shared with Lucy and the maid knights. Shani had opened a connection to the plane of wind which fed power into the bond network. Could something similar be done to the soil? Or could I just make every dryad into a maid knight?

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “Ash, how does a grove work?” I asked. I could feel a certain connection between the dryads.

  “A grove is a network that connects several dryad trees. We are connected physically, through a root network and share a magical bond. I form the centre of this grove, being the oldest dryad here. The connection allows us to move further from our own tree and we can share nutrients.” Ash explained.

  “I wonder how this grove would work with the maid knight bond…” I mused.

  “Maid knight?” Ash asked.

  “Our maid knights are our elemental knights. Lily is our… grandmaster? She is the original maid knight and their leader. Adhira is also a maid knight.” I explained.

  Ash considered that. “If you place our grove next to your home we could serve as maids and knights. Would you be willing to include dryads? Our stationary nature limits what we can do.”

  “Has nobody tried to make an entire grove into elemental knights?” I wondered.

  “I do not know, my lady. I am old but my knowledge is limited.” Ash replied.

  Well, she was at a remote place and unable to travel. I should have asked Izanami more about that.

  “I think I would like to try to connect your grove to the maid knights. Is there a way to preserve the grove during travel? We will have to uproot all your trees.” I asked.

  “Maybe. You would need a very large place to store all the connected trees…” Ash replied.

  I grinned. “Oh, I do have a large storage space.”

  “When do you want to move us? Sadly we have no knowledge of Beira.” Ash replied.

  “Ah. That is a good question. It depends on what we find in the frozen wastes. I know the ritual to prepare your trees for transport. So we might be able to collect you on our way back. Or we might have to go elsewhere.” Beira was really becoming annoying. I finally had plans in this world. Build up my county. Turn Iron Rock into a centre of magic. Build a train…

  But she needed to be stopped. The runes were simply too much of a threat.

  “We are patient, my lady.” Ash said. “Our grove is looking forward to the new home you're promising and the power it will bring.”

  So far I had not actually given them anything. I had promised them the corpse of a demon lord but I wanted to make sure they could get the most out of it. Ideally I wanted them transported to my lands first. But I could try to turn them into maid knights. The bond could even help during transport to keep the grove together. Maybe it was time for a maid knight ritual.