The Druid Who Devoured the Great Nature

I swallowed hard, then forced myself to stop.

If I wasn’t careful, the seed hidden in my mouth might go down.

“Take off the robe. Do I really have to spell out every damn thing for you?”

The overseer standing in front of me twitched his brows, his irritation plain.

So, he wasn’t going to let me off easily.

I obediently followed his order and revealed my face.

“God, every time I look at this bastard, it makes me sick.”

The moment my bare face was shown, curses rained down.

Even the other workers winced and quickly turned their eyes away.

“You—yeah, you strip yourself. I don’t want to lay a hand on you, you’re too disgusting.”

For once, this face I despised turned out to be a blessing.

All he did was make me pat my pockets and shake out my clothes before moving on halfheartedly.

“Check the bed too—ah, screw it. No way a freak like you would’ve had the guts to pull something off.”

He waved dismissively.

It looked like he had planned to search my bed, but in the end, his revulsion got the better of him.

“What the hell is this mess?”

Even when he found a bit of the cracked shell I hadn’t managed to clean up, he didn’t press.

‘Good.’

Everything was unfolding as I’d hoped, and I quietly rejoiced.

It looked like the inspection would pass without incident.

Twitch!

“Mmff!”

“…What was that?”

A slip of a groan escaped me just as he was leaving the room. His steps halted.

I quickly shook my head side to side.

But suspicion gleamed sharp in his gaze.

I was just as baffled.

‘Why is it moving in my mouth?’

A clear vibration tickled the underside of my tongue.

Startled, I had accidentally let out a sound.

I tried to act calm, but the damage was done.

The overseer turned back toward me.

“…Why does your face look even worse than usual today?”

He muttered as though struck by sudden thought.

“Not swollen from a beating either… strange.”

My heart dropped as his frown deepened.

“And come to think of it, you haven’t spoken a word, have you?”

‘Damn it.’

He could’ve just walked away, but instead he had to fixate.

“Hey, does this guy usually act like a mute?”

“He’s not mute, sir. Just… doesn’t talk much…”

“Hm.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t look like he was letting it go.

I pressed the seed flat against my cheek and forced my tongue to move.

“M-mnot like that.”

“….”

The broken, muffled speech only fueled his suspicion.

For the first time, he looked me square in the face.

“Open your mouth.”

“….”

“Playing deaf now? Open it before I make you.”

I couldn’t.

If I did, I’d be exposed for sure.

“You think you’re special ‘cause I don’t beat you like the others?”

He clenched his fist.

“I’ll count to three. Open.”

My lips went dry.

My heart pounded like a drum.

“Three.”

‘What do I do?’

Run?

No—futile. With this body, I couldn’t escape him.

Obey and open?

That was impossible too. The seed would be revealed.

I was trapped, no way forward or back.

My mind went blank.

“Two. One.”

He reached for me without hesitation and then—

Gulp!

“Khakk!”

The vibrating seed defied my will and slid down my throat.

“Son of a bitch! What the hell are you doing?!”

My sudden cough sprayed spit straight at him.

But that wasn’t what mattered.

I was as horrified as he was.

I tried to spit it out, but the heavy presence had already passed deep into my gut.

“You dumb bastard, making me waste time when you had nothing in your mouth!”

“Guhh!”

He pried open my mouth, found nothing, and slapped me hard.

For the first time since I’d arrived here, I felt a blow.

Pain rang through my skull as I crumpled to the floor.

“Grkkkh!”

“What the—what’s wrong with him?!”

The change came instantly.

Strength drained from my body.

My limbs convulsed, no longer under my control.

Foam spilled from my lips, and even the overseer stammered in alarm.

“Hhhff! Hhhhk!”

A pain like knives carving my heart.

Cold sweat poured down, soaking my body as my vision spun.

‘What is this—?!’

I was just as panicked.

Was my body really so frail that one hit to the head could cause seizures?

But there was no time to ponder.

It felt as though fire blazed under my skin.

My whole body burned like it had been cast into a desert, and thirst gnawed at me.

It was as if something had taken root inside me, drinking all my moisture.

The thirst only worsened, the pain growing unbearable.

“Hey! Someone do something about him!”

“Uh—what?”

“Damn it, don’t just stand there! Handle it yourselves!”

The overseer washed his hands of it, barking as he stormed out.

“W-what do we do?”

“Hold him down, his arms and legs! …No, I can’t even get close.”

The workers, after some hesitation, tried to restrain me.

But even with several grabbing hold, my jerking limbs showed no sign of stopping.

“Ahh, hot!”

“What kind of heat is this…?”

They quickly recoiled, faces pale.

The heat radiating from my body was so intense even I could feel it.

“Should’ve known something was off.”

“Yeah. They say when someone starts acting strange, it’s ‘cause they’re about to die. He laughed like a lunatic before—guess this is it.”

They reached their conclusion swiftly.

“Do we tell the overseer?”

“Are you crazy? He said deal with it. What would it change, anyway? Like they’d give us medicine.”

“Damn it, now we’ll be stuck dragging out a corpse in the middle of the night.”

“No kidding.”

No one worried about me.

Instead, they grumbled, annoyed at the thought of having to drag out a corpse in the middle of the night.

That was how hellish this factory was.

Death was just another part of daily life here.

“He’s not going to make it. Don’t wait—get rid of him now…”

“Well, maybe it’s for the best…”

“Where’s the incinerator again…”

Though my eyes were open, I couldn’t see a thing.

The noisy chatter of the workers grew distant.

At some point, my convulsing limbs went still.

But I couldn’t move a finger.

Even the stabbing pain in my heart dulled away, until I couldn’t even scream.

My consciousness dimmed, and darkness swallowed my vision.

“Damn it, what a stench.”

The man covered his mouth with a sleeve as he cursed.

“If they’re just going to pile up trash like this, it’s a dump, not an incinerator.”

Half an hour’s walk behind the factory, the incinerator overflowed with all manner of waste, reeking unbearably.

Flies buzzed, maggots writhed with every step.

And among the garbage lay rotting corpses.

The workers carrying Allen’s body groaned as they trudged forward.

“Should we drop him here? Or go in further?”

“Here’s fine. It’s bad enough we’re stuck doing this at night, why bother going deeper?”

“But the overseer said to throw him where he can’t be seen.”

“Like I care. If they wanted it hidden, they should’ve carried him themselves. Ptooh!”

The hawk-nosed worker spat, his voice thick with resentment.

“My arms are killing me. How’s this scrawny bastard so heavy?”

“Didn’t they say corpses get heavier after death?”

“This isn’t my first time, idiot. But this one’s too much. Let’s just dump him quick.”

He tossed Allen into a heap of trash, rubbing his sore arm.

“Whew, felt like hauling a block of steel.”

“His skin was weirdly tough too.”

“Exactly. What if he died from some skin disease?”

“No way.”

Still, the worker rubbed his hands anxiously against his clothes, then glanced down at Allen with a troubled look.

“In a way, this is a blessing for him.”

“What do you mean?”

“With a face like that, what joy could life hold? Just imagining if I looked like that is horrifying.”

“Your face isn’t exactly—”

“Wanna shut it?”

He snickered and turned away.

“Come on, let’s go. We won’t get any rest tomorrow just because we did this.”

“…Wait.”

“What now?”

“Look at his arm. His arm!”

“What are you—holy shit!”

They stared at Allen’s arm in shock.

His skin was splitting, cracks spreading like parched earth.

“He… he really had a disease?!”

“Shit! I knew it! Run before it spreads!”

The two bolted in panic.

Crkkk!

Silence fell over the incinerator.

The cracks in Allen’s skin widened.

Through the night, the fissures spread across his body, and from the first split sprouted tiny, downy shoots.

“……”

By morning, amid the strange transformation—Allen’s eyelids trembled.

“Urgh…”

Consciousness slowly surfaced.

I blinked awake, clearing the haze from my mind.

The memories of collapsing came rushing back.

‘That makes twice now I’ve fainted.’

A sigh escaped me.

How many times could someone pass out without alcohol?

A strange experience, indeed.

First things first—I needed to assess the situation.

I shifted my gaze slowly around.

“This is…”

It didn’t take long to realize.

“The incinerator?”

As filthy as a pigsty, but it wasn’t the cramped dormitory of the factory.

Piles of trash and dirt surrounded me, with a soot-caked chimney towering above.

The stench of rotting filth wrinkled my face instinctively.

‘They must’ve thought I was dead.’

Since corpses were burned here, it made sense I’d been dumped.

‘Well, considering I’d been convulsing like a fireball…’

Even I was surprised I was still alive.

Without medicine, survival was a miracle.

‘It might actually be better this way.’

After all, the incinerator was my escape route.

Who would imagine a corpse waking up?

It was the perfect chance to slip away.

‘The seed…’

I touched my stomach through my clothes.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but it was surely digested by now.

‘A pity, but I’ll have to give it up.’

Losing such a rare seed this way stung.

But if it increased my odds of escape, it was a worthy trade.

‘Now, if I can just get out, it’ll be perfect.’

I carefully moved my limbs—

And soon felt something strange.

“…?”

I felt… refreshed.

Not a single ache remained.

Not the heart-searing pain, not even the everyday muscle soreness from hard labor.

‘After all that agony, I should’ve been broken somewhere.’

Instead, I was healthier than ever.

I’d collapsed after swallowing the seed—and now this?

The transformation was beyond bizarre.

“…Huh?”

As I examined myself, I froze.

“What the hell…”

My skin.

The scars and burns from endless toil were gone.

The filth, the disfigurement—all wiped clean, leaving smooth, pale skin.

It wasn’t an illusion.

Even after rubbing my eyes, the sight remained.

“How… is this possible…”

But that wasn’t the most shocking part.

My gaze fixed on one arm.

Rustle…

Where there should’ve been fine hair, a tiny sprout was growing.

“…Is that a leaf?”

I touched it carefully.

Soft, tender beneath my fingertips, like a newly sprouted cotyledon—yet shining with vitality.

“Ahh!”

When I tried to pluck it, pain shot through me.

So sharp my eyes watered.

I immediately pulled my hand back.

“…It really is growing from me.”

I couldn’t deny it when even pain confirmed it.

By then, I wasn’t just shocked—I was dumbfounded.

“What the hell is happening…”

I swallowed a seed, blacked out—

And now plants were sprouting from my body.

(End of Chapter)