A few weeks had passed since I came to this world, and finally, a person came to visit my oasis.
I thought my first visitor would be a vagrant or a wondering vagabond, but that wasn't the case. Clad in black cloth and boasting a large hunk of sword on his back, he's undoubtedly a warrior. He's not human either.
"My name is Anhur Ragna, I'm the chief of the lion man tribe South from here," with one knee on the floor, he politely introduced himself.
"My name is Rhea. As you can see, I'm a Dryad, and the owner of this place."
Rhea was the name the goddess had given me.
"Tell me, what did you come here for?" I started.
Seeing how much respect the large lion man was showing, I decided to show a bit of haughtiness in my response. I can tell that he's strong. He could probably kill me with a single swing of his sword. Even still, I cannot show any weakness or give a sign I would easily submit.
After all, this is a negotiation.
"Please, help my people. They are starving," the lion man Ragna practically begged.
"I can give you fruits and edible plants, but what would you give in return?"
"All we can offer is our large bodies. We'll grant you protection from bandits and the desert monsters. Might I be frank, your two golems are fragile and slow, they wouldn't be enough to serve as your guards."
I pouted. I'm aware my golems are weak, but I'm still proud of them. They're my own creation.
Putting that aside, Ragna's offer is appealing.
Even better than to ensure they wouldn't be a threat to me, they're offering my protection.
"There are monsters in the desert?" as I have yet to see any, I decided to ask.
"Yes, carnivorous death worms and other large insects. There are plenty. But they are no match for us."
A shiver ran down my spine.
That sounds scary...
"But if there's plenty of those, why are you still struggling to feed yourselves?"
Surely, they can just eat the meat of the monsters they defeat.
"Their meats are poisonous or inedible. They also carry diseases and parasites. We cannot use them to survive."
"I-I see."
This world really is horrible.
Pitying the large but emaciated lion, I decided I would help them a little. But before I can nod and accept his deal, he interrupted...
"If our protection is not enough, you can take our bodies as well. I heard that Dryads take pleasure in taking the vitality of men. As long as you do not drain us to death, we'll gladly offer ourselves to you."
"You don't mean!"
"I'm unaware if we can perform the act of mating with a Dryad, but we did it with humans in the past."
"No!" I instantly shut him down.
If what that goddess said was true, then I can get pregnant by any of the races in this world, that includes the lion men. Apparently, she had given me a part of herself, which allows me to carry life from all she had created. I'm essentially an extension of her, a god, in this world. I'm entirely different from the already rare population of Dryad. I do not take life, I in fact create it.
"W-Why not?" Ragna worriedly ask.
"I'll accept your offer of protection, but I don't need your bodies."
With that, I produced all kinds of fruits in front of Ragna to give to him. I also created a net of vines he could use to carry all of them. Seeing them appear out of nowhere, Ragna's eyes bulged out of their sockets and his snout gaped open.
"S-So many! I can't believe it!" his deep voice jumped a pitch higher as he screamed.