Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

60  Conflict as old as time itself

"Meet Leinei, the divine dryad of the celestial forest."

Hearing the introduction, I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to react. Dryad? And a divine one at that? Was she one of those gods that Madam mentioned daring not to step into forbidden lands lightly? And what was even the difference between divine and celestial?

"This is Fay, my child, and this is Peter, her mate," Madam turned towards the two of us and introduced us, pointing her hand at the girl first and only then at me. "Fay, Peter, meet Leinei."

Now that I could see the dryad… I could hardly pull my eyes away. She was, just like Fay and Madam, a perfect example of what a beauty is. Her body had perfect shapes, although slightly leaner than Madam. She wore no clothes, using only some flowers and twigs to hide her private parts from everyone's view. Yet, as I looked a bit closer… I realized that it was all but a simple illusion. Or rather, while the shape of her body was real… she didn't have a single ounce of flesh on her frame. As a dryad, the kin of the forest should, her body fully consisted of wood and other plant matter. In that sense, she still was beautiful… just not in the sense of what a sane human could ever crave. I breathed out, gave Fay's hand a gentle squeeze, and then bowed down. "Hello, I'm Peter," I spoke out while lowering my head. "It's an honor to meet you."

Even though I knew close to nothing about this woman, Madam wouldn't be all that formal and low-key respectful if this was someone I could afford to offend. And again, what was with that divine title Madam oh-so-lightly served?

"I know you might be confused, but she's… pretty much like me and Fay," Madam muttered, her confidence suddenly shaken as she averted her eyes… in shame?

I already knew there were other celestial beasts in this forest. Given how little Madam moved around from her spot, it would be stupid to expect this entire, massive forest to be her territory and hers alone. But still… if this dryad was just another celestial beast, why not introduce her as such?

"You didn't tell him?" Noticing my reaction and Madam's awkwardness, Leinei pointed her finger at the mature fox and spoke in an accusatory tone.

"I wanted to!" Madam quickly replied… only to avert her eyes again under the scrutinous gaze of her fellow being. "I… There just never was the right time…" she added, clearly not sure how exactly she was supposed to speak to absolve herself of the apparent wrongdoing. 'She didn't tell me about what exactly?' I thought, growing suspicious not on the basis of Leinei's words but Madam's reaction to them. "Boy, listen," Leinei paid little to no mind to Madam, turning to address me directly. "We…" she started, only to hesitate and then shake her pretty head, causing the long weeds that served as her hair to shake in the air. "The celestial beasts control only about half of the celestial forest. The other half is the domain of the divine beasts."

Leinei sighed deeply before locking her arms on her chest and sending another angry gaze at Madam. "And as you might guess, where there are two different groups, conflict arises."

The dryad spoke those words with her eyes glued to Madam's embarrassed face. Only when she finally had enough of giving her colleague a silent lecture did Leinei turn her eyes back to me. "Our conflict tuned down ever since humans started to invide our forest. A foreign enemy uniting old rivals, as a human, you should be aware of this concept," she spoke…

While listening to her words, I would have to be deaf not to notice the hint of disgust that filled the dryad's voice when she mentioned my race. "We had… No, even though it's stalled now, we have a war on our own. A war that the mother of your mate told you nothing about."

'Oh, so that's the axis of her anger,' I finally figured out the one thing that puzzled me. 'So she considers it unfair to drag me into this without letting me know the full picture? Or maybe she's angry that Madam got the jump on currying favor with me?'

Then, a much more devastating theory appeared in my heart. 'For whatever reason they might need the help of a human, was Fay the price Madam was willing to pay to employ my support?'

Faced with such a possibility, I couldn't stop my face from turning still and my expression from growing cold. I was used to being used by others to the point I could hardly even mind it. But if Madam dared to sell off Fay just for that stupid reason…!

"I'm all ears, then," I spoke out, having enough of Leinei just saying whatever she wanted. I wasn't going to obstinately stand on Madam's side just because either. The only side I was fully and permanently on, was Fay's. And from how she now hid behind my back and gripped the hand that I held her fingers with… She might've known less about what was going on than me!

The dryad didn't seem to mind my question. And soon, this guess of mine proved correct when she ignored Madam's angry look and started to speak. "This forest is divided between divine and celestial protectors. And while divine beasts are great animals granted will and powers directly by the divine, the celestial beast…."

"How about you stop rubbing your alleged superiority in my face?" Madam flared up, having enough of the dryad's sense of superiority oozing out of every word she spoke. Noticing the anger of her mother, Fay moved even further behind my back, filling my heart with a strange sense of warmth. 'Just why does it feel so damn great to have her rely on me to protect her?' I thought, smiling at my thoughts while prickling my ears not to let a single word of Madam or Leinei go to waste. Raising my eyes, I saw that Madam now turned to me. "According to their legends, they are direct servants of the divine, created by its thought and wish. On the other hand, we, celestial beasts, are merely a faulty product, an imperfect creation that came before the perfected one."

I raised my eyes, instantly putting Leinei's words under the question of this new perspective. After all, how could anyone ever consider Fay a faulty product? And what was the point of listening to the madman who started their theory with such a ridiculous assumption?

"We come directly from the divine. Meanwhile, you guys, are a genius hybrid of great beasts and great darkness," the dryad spoke before opening her arms to the side and shaking her shoulders. "It's not up to me to decide which is better and which is worse, assuming there is even a point in comparing ourselves like that."

The dryad shook her shoulders again before turning her eyes away from Madam and back to my face. "We are different, but that doesn't mean we need to be enemies. It's only because most of our breathrens do have aggression in their blood that the situation turned as ugly as it is."

  That… I could also believe it. There were more than enough examples of a situation like this arising in the history of earth for me not to consider it as an extremely probable result of the situation Leinei painted before my eyes. 'But doesn't that also mean, they are essentially the same as me? Just like all the other humans from earth, and possibly, from this world?'

"Yeah, I've heard your pacifist story a thousand times over," Madam gave me no time to think, responding to Leinei's words with a shrug of her shoulders. "This belief of yours is the only reason why I even allow you to reside in my domain!" 'And so, the plot thickens,' I thought, somewhat amused by the back-and-forth between the two. "Anyway," Leinei rolled her eyes, ignoring Madam's remark and focusing on my face again. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

This time, though, I could sense the same disgust that I'd noticed before now take root in the dryad's eyes. "It's not the conflict as old as time itself that brought you here," she stated the obvious. And how could it, given how I learned about it only now? "So speak, human," the disgust in the dryad's voice now grew even stronger. "What brings you here?" Daily 3/3 Bonus 2/3

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