Aside from Marina, there was another Dark Elf in the office.
Her brown skin and silver hair were the same as Marina's, but her hair was cut to shoulder length—considerably shorter than Marina's.
Her build was also less curvaceous. Slender would be a more fitting description.
Unlike Marina, who unconsciously radiated feminine allure, she gave off a clean, refreshing atmosphere.
Overall, as a Dark Elf, she shared many traits with Marina. Yet viewed as a whole, she somehow looked nothing like her—a peculiar contradiction.
Their clothing likely had something to do with it as well. Marina wore her usual party dress, which exposed her chest and back significantly, while the other Dark Elf wore leather armor like any ordinary adventurer.
"Rei, you came. And the others too."
Marina, who normally exuded intense feminine charm, smiled at Rei with a somewhat exhausted expression today.
Even such a casual gesture oozed femininity—it was something close to instinct for her.
(Well, Elena and Vihera are here today, so I can't imagine she'd try anything careless.)
The Dark Elf woman Marina had called Odoban's eyes sparkled brightly as she watched Rei's group enter the office.
"Wow, amazing. How are there so many beautiful and cute people gathered here? Hey, Marina-sama. Are these the people? ...Hmm? What about that one hiding their face over there?"
Seeing Rei with the hood of his Dragon Robe up, Odoban asked with genuine curiosity.
Marina sighed at Odoban before speaking.
"That child, huh. Not knowing who that is... that's quite something."
Odoban apparently hadn't understood. She wore a puzzled expression as she approached Rei.
"Hey, could you show me your face a little? I'd like to know about the people I might be relying on from now on."
Perhaps it was his height. Odoban seemed to have completely mistaken Rei for a girl.
Seeing Odoban approach him so boldly, Rei sighed just as Marina had done before speaking.
"Marina, you didn't tell her about me?"
"'Ore'!? Huh? Wait, this is a boy!? He's an adventurer, right!?"
Rei's voice was not deep enough to be called that of a grown man. If someone claimed he was simply a woman with a husky voice, there would be those who believed it.
But his speech pattern was unmistakably masculine—impossible to pass off as anything else.
As Odoban stared at him with wide eyes, Rei lowered his hood and spoke.
"Unfortunately, I'm a guy."
"Eeeeh!? No, but with this face and build, a boy... that's, um..."
"Sigh. Calm down, Odoban. What good does it do for you to lose your composure? Ah, Lenora, you can go now. What follows is an important discussion, so please head back downstairs."
Marina, who had been watching Odoban with an exasperated expression, turned to address Lenora, who stood behind Rei's group looking uncertain.
Lenora, who had also been concerned about Kenny after she had burst out of the room earlier, nodded at Marina's words.
"Then I will take my leave, Guild Master. If there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to call for me."
"Yes. ...Oh, it doesn't have to be you, Lenora. Could you have someone bring tea and something to snack on?"
Lenora nodded again, bowed, and headed down the stairs.
That left seven people in the office: Rei's summoned group, Marina who had called them, and Odoban, Marina's acquaintance.
"Sorry for calling you all in so suddenly. For now, have a seat. I'll explain the reason."
Saying that, Marina sat down not on the sofa but in her desk chair.
"You too, over here."
When she told this to Odoban, who had been trying to sit next to Elena and Vihera, the Dark Elf wore a dumbfounded expression but nonetheless made her way to Marina's side.
She didn't stop muttering complaints under her breath, though.
The guest sofas were not large enough to seat many people. There were only two—each big enough for three or four people side by side.
With some effort, Marina and Odoban could have squeezed in as well. But this was Marina's first time meeting anyone in Rei's group besides him in person.
As Guild Master, she had been aware that Rei and his companions had been taking various requests recently, but that was the extent of it.
The discussion they were about to have was not something to be taken lightly—neither for Odoban, who had brought the matter, nor for Marina herself.
That was precisely why she chose to maintain a proper distance for the conversation.
...Though it was also true that sitting on the sofa facing Rei as usual, and consciously or unconsciously attempting to seduce him, would leave a bad impression on Elena and Vihera.
For this matter, Marina genuinely wanted to be as fully prepared as possible.
Once everyone was settled, Marina naturally spoke first.
"Now then, if I beat around the bush, Odoban is liable to cause some unnecessary commotion, so I'll be direct. I called you and your group here, Rei, because there's been a nomination request. Honestly, given the nature of a nomination request, Elena-sama has little direct connection to it, but..."
Even as she said this, Marina's gaze carried the hope that Elena would lend her assistance if possible.
The reason she didn't say so outright was likely due to their respective positions. After all, Elena was not an adventurer.
"I know not what the details are, but I cannot stay in Gilm indefinitely. I must return to my territory by summer."
"Summer... can we make it in time, I wonder?"
Marina asked Odoban beside her, but Odoban immediately shook her head.
"No, no, what are you saying, Marina-sama? If you think about it normally, it wouldn't be strange for this to take years to resolve safely. And you're saying by summer...?"
At the word "years," nearly everyone listening—including Rei—furrowed their brows slightly.
Ara was the most visibly troubled. Knowing that Elena being unable to act with the Noble's Faction for years would cause damage that could not be overlooked, she frowned deeply.
By contrast, Byune showed no change in expression, listening to Marina's words as usual.
"Calm down. ...That reminds me, you were always bad at sensing mana. But even so, you should be able to sense Elena-sama's mana. Try putting in a little effort."
At Marina's words delivered with a sigh, Odoban wore a dubious expression and turned her gaze toward Elena. They hadn't exchanged introductions yet, but from Marina's tone, the person in question was likely Elena.
For Odoban, a Dark Elf who had lived for over three hundred years, the most beautiful woman she had ever known was Marina.
But the woman called Elena was a beauty equal to—if not surpassing—Marina. And what was even more astonishing was that there was another woman present at the same level of beauty as both Elena and Marina.
(The other two also have above-average features... when you think about it, this Rei child must be something incredible. But then again, Marina-sama addressed her with an honorific—does that mean she's someone important?)
Because she had lived in a Dark Elf-only forest, Odoban and her people were astonishingly ignorant of world affairs.
They did have some merchants they traded with on a small scale, but since Dark Elves generally had little interest in the outside world, they rarely even asked those merchants about conditions beyond the forest.
On her journey from the forest to Gilm alone, Odoban had already caused no shortage of incidents.
...Whether she was aware of that herself was another matter.
For that reason, she naturally did not know of Elena, the Princess General—one of the Alias Holders of the Kingdom of Mireana.
If asked to name someone she knew of, she would have named Sardat, one of only three S-Rank adventurers in the world.
Though that was largely because Sardat was of the Elf-kin, which resonated with Dark Elves.
In any case, Odoban, who was poor at sensing mana, focused her consciousness on Elena.
She liked looking at cute or beautiful women, but she set that aside for now.
Even Odoban, who usually joked around, knew that what she carried on her shoulders was enormous—the very future of her clan hung in the balance.
That was why she, one of the most skilled and fastest members of her clan, had come to seek Marina's help.
Concentrating her awareness, she sensed the mana of Elena before her very eyes...
"Eek!?"
A startled cry escaped her lips.
Naturally so. The mana Odoban had just sensed was far beyond what any human being could possess.
Even Elves and Dark Elves, who were said to possess more mana than humans—or even High Elves, their high-ranking species—would not match the sheer volume of mana Elena currently radiated.
Odoban was convinced: Elena possessed the greatest mana among Rei's group.
At the same time, with this much mana, what Marina had said might come true—that this matter could be resolved in a short time.
...For Odoban, who was unaware of the Ring of the New Moon on Rei's finger—a ring that concealed the wearer's mana—this conclusion was only natural.
She tentatively checked the mana of the others as well, but regrettably, everyone other than Elena was either average for a human or possessed almost no mana at all, leaving her feeling somewhat disappointed.
"How about it? Did you understand what I was trying to say?"
At Marina's words from her desk chair, Odoban hastily nodded.
"I never doubted what Marina-sama was saying, but being able to confirm it directly has given me conviction. With this beautiful woman here, resolving this matter certainly shouldn't be difficult."
"I suppose so."
Marina offered an ambiguous smile at Odoban's words and glanced at Rei for just a moment.
...That action, which looked as though she were sending a seductive glance with moist eyes, stirred something in Elena and Vihera. But Rei, completely oblivious to such a clash of feminine interests, simply watched the exchange between the two Dark Elves.
"Then I'll go finish my preparations, so let's depart as soon as possible. Even if we have some leeway, it's better to arrive at the forest sooner rather than later."
As Odoban looked ready to bolt from the office at any moment, Marina sighed in exasperation.
"Calm down. It will take me a day or two to prepare for departure as well, and above all, you still haven't properly explained the situation to Rei and the others, have you?"
At Marina's words, Odoban finally seemed to realize this. She hurried back to Marina's side.
Through this series of exchanges, Rei's group had more or less grasped Odoban's personality.
Setting aside her earnestness about fulfilling her mission, that earnestness sometimes spun its wheels without gaining traction.
Also, considering the way she looked at Elena and Vihera, it wasn't difficult to guess that those were her inclinations.
Though that guess was partially right and slightly off.
There was no mistaking that Odoban liked beautiful or cute people—but that was regardless of gender.
...In other words, Rei was also one of her targets of interest.
"I'm sorry, Marina-sama. I just..."
"I understand how you feel, but what's the point of rushing and making mistakes?"
"...Right. So, when exactly would departure be?"
"That's why I'm telling you to calm down. In the first place, you haven't even explained to Rei and the others what this nomination request entails yet, have you?"
Just as she said that, a knock came at the office door.
"Excuse me, Guild Master. I've brought the tea."
"Come in."
At Marina's words, a receptionist entered carrying a tray with tea for everyone along with light snacks such as dried fruits and sandwiches.
It wasn't someone close to Rei like Lenora or Kenny, but a receptionist he had seen a few times before.
The woman's eyes went wide at the sight of the people gathered in the room—particularly at the extraordinary beauties like Elena, Vihera, and Marina all in one place.
As a receptionist, she had seen Rei's group heading toward Marina's office, but seeing the three of them together up close carried an incredible sense of incongruity.
Still, she managed not to show too much agitation as she left the office.
After seeing the receptionist off, Rei turned his gaze back to Marina and asked.
"So, it seems like the conversation's been moving along on your end. What exactly do you want us to do?"
"...My and Odoban's homeland—the Dark Elf forest. The World Tree there has fallen ill. I would like to ask you to treat its illness and resolve the various problems that have arisen as a result."
That was what she told them.