"Fufu, I never expected even Daskar to come see us off."
Marina wore an amused smile as she turned her gaze toward the person standing before her.
It was Daskar, just as Marina's words indicated.
However, he had not brought any subordinates with him—a clear sign that he was here not as the lord seeing them off, but as Daskar the individual.
Of course, as the lord of Gilm, guards were naturally positioned a short distance away, ready to rush over at a moment's notice should anything happen.
Having served as a knight in the Royal Capital in his youth, Daskar had every confidence in his own abilities. He still trained every day between his duties as lord, and describing his body as being like solid rock was entirely fitting. ...It was also true that he worked off the stress accumulated from those duties through his training.
"...If it were just Marina, that'd be one thing. But with Lady Elena and Lady Vihera leaving Gilm together, of course I'd come. Honestly, you've gone and done something troublesome."
His gaze grew slightly resentful—likely because if Elena were to suffer any injury during this mission, the responsibility would fall on Daskar as well.
Daskar himself had no direct involvement in the affair, but the fact remained that the Guild Master of the territory he governed had drawn Elena into it.
"Oh my, don't be so angry. You'd be in trouble too if our forest disappeared, wouldn't you, Daskar?"
"That's... true, but."
Though clearly dissatisfied, Daskar reluctantly conceded the point.
Marina was a Dark Elf of considerable power even among her own kind, and with that came strong influence.
Thanks to her, Gilm was able to maintain trade with the Dark Elves, albeit on a modest scale.
In that sense, the illness afflicting the World Tree in Marina's forest was not entirely someone else's problem for Daskar either.
"Rest assured. With this much fighting power assembled, there's no way Lady Elena could come to harm."
Those words were an undeniable fact.
It was a group brimming with combat ability—Rei, Elena, Vihera, and Marina—and Odoban and Ara were formidable fighters in their own right. In terms of raw combat power, Set was a factor as well.
Additionally, while Byune had the lowest combat ability in the party, her thief skills were well above a certain standard.
"...Well, that's true enough. Still, Marina—you're about to go on a journey. What's with that outfit?"
Daskar muttered in exasperation, his gaze settling on Marina... or more precisely, on the clothing that clung to her alluring figure.
What she wore was less revealing than the party dress Marina always wore at the Guild, but it was still unmistakably a type of party dress—and it certainly didn't look like attire suited for travel.
"Oh my, I would think you know what kind of clothing I wear when I'm out adventuring, Daskar."
At those words, Daskar nodded as if giving up.
Indeed, the stories Daskar had heard from his father in the past described attire that, while somewhat different from what she currently wore, was still a party dress.
"Well then, we can't afford to linger here too long. We'll be going."
"...Take care."
With that, Marina opened the door of a nearby carriage and stepped inside.
The interior was so spacious it was hard to believe it was a carriage at all, furnished with everything needed to make the journey comfortable.
It was Elena's carriage—a magic item with capabilities similar to Rei's Magic Tent.
No—since Elena's father, Duke Kerebel, had poured a fortune into having an alchemist create it, it would be more accurate to say it boasted performance superior to a Magic Tent.
The carriage itself was fitting for Elena, equipped with several special abilities.
The horses pulling it were naturally not ordinary animals, but ones that had undergone rigorous training since they were young.
Seated on the driver's platform handling those horses was Ara.
Confirming that Marina had boarded, Ara urged the horses forward.
Normally, Elena would have brought her usual servant to serve as the driver, but since they were meeting Rei, it was better to keep the group as small as possible.
And walking alongside the carriage was Set.
Ordinary horses would have been terrified of Set, but the horses pulling this carriage showed not the slightest sign of fear.
Given Set's fundamentally gentle nature, their calm demeanor was immensely pleasing to it.
...However, as one might expect from horses that had undergone strict training, they showed absolutely no interest even when Set tried to invite them to play.
Riding on Set's back was Ielo.
As always, the two exchanged cries of "Kyu-kyu" and "Guruu-guruu" as they traveled down the road—interactions that, to any onlooker, made it impossible to tell whether they truly understood each other.
And yet their intentions were clearly getting through to one another, which Ara found mysterious as she watched their exchanges from the driver's seat.
First-rate horses that anyone could recognize at a glance pulled the carriage. Gryphon Seto walked alongside it. And on its back rode the baby dragon Ielo.
There was no way such a sight wouldn't stand out, and it drew countless stares from those leaving Gilm and those trying to enter.
(Well, if we follow the directions we were given, we'll diverge from the main road partway through, so I don't think we need to worry about prying eyes.)
From the driver's seat, Ara also understood that among the gazes directed at the carriage—and at them—there were some laced with malice.
She suspected they might be associates of bandits or the like, but since bandits fundamentally didn't operate in the vicinity of Gilm, there was no need to worry about it now.
In the first place, even if bandits did appear, the group had enough fighting power to clash with an entire army—no, to annihilate one outright. There was no problem whatsoever.
If anything, when it came to ordinary bandits, Ara alone with her magic item, the Power Axe, could handle them effortlessly.
"The Dark Elf forest, huh. I hope this turns out to be a good experience for Lady Elena."
She murmured, her thoughts turning to her mistress inside the carriage.
As for Elena, who was the subject of such thoughts, she was offering bread baked with nuts kneaded into the dough—found inside the carriage—to Byune.
"Is it tasty?"
"Mm!"
At Elena's words, Byune nodded while stuffing her cheeks full of bread, chewing away.
(A squirrel, basically.)
Seated on the sofa inside the carriage, Rei looked at Byune and thought.
Indeed, seeing Byune's current appearance, most people would be reminded of a squirrel.
"So, it takes about ten days to reach the Dark Elf forest from here by normal carriage. How long would it take with yours, Elena?"
Meeting Rei's gaze, Marina thought for a moment before speaking.
"I can't say exactly since I don't know how fast this carriage can go, but it's clearly faster than a normal one. Shaving off a few days is a given."
Marina answered, casting her gaze outside.
Indeed, her words were by no means wrong.
This carriage, as a magic item, was so high-performance that it couldn't even be compared to an ordinary one—and naturally, that performance included the ability to increase the carriage's speed.
Combined with first-rate horses pulling it, there was no way it wouldn't be fast.
"Then let's aim for about a week. To the Dark Elf forest... hm?"
Muttering that far, Rei suddenly turned his gaze out the carriage window, as if only just realizing something.
Outside was Set, with Ielo on its back.
Watching Set's demeanor closely, Rei turned to address Marina once more.
"If it's just a matter of pouring mana into the World Tree, then instead of spending days traveling by carriage, couldn't I just ride Set and head there alone?"
No matter how fast this carriage was as a magic item compared to a normal one, it was still ultimately a speed achieved by running along the ground.
Compared to Set, which could fly freely through the sky, it was undeniably slow.
If that was the case, Rei's suggestion—that rather than taking such a large group to the Dark Elf forest, he and Set could simply go ahead and pour mana into the World Tree—was by no means wrong. However...
"Unfortunately, a barrier has been placed over the forest. Without me or Odoban, you can't get inside. ...Well, Rei, you might be able to break through the barrier by force, but doing so would destroy it. I'd very much like to avoid that."
"Ah... yeah, I see."
At Marina's words, Rei imagined himself getting caught on the barrier, unleashing his mana at full power, and forcing his way through—dealing fatal damage to the barrier in the process.
That was no idle fantasy; with Rei and Set, it was entirely plausible.
Since the barrier was powered by the World Tree's mana, breaking through by force would mean directly damaging the World Tree itself.
They were traveling to the forest where Marina's tribe lived in order to treat the World Tree. Dealing damage to it would defeat the entire purpose.
If anything, considering the sheer volume of Rei's mana, it was by no means possible to deny that it could become a fatal blow.
(No, it's not that it "couldn't be denied"—it would definitely become a fatal blow.)
Listening to the exchange between Marina and Rei, Odoban turned her gaze toward Rei.
Awe was evident in her eyes, though she herself was completely unaware of it.
Odoban recalled the mana she had felt from Rei the day before.
The instant he removed his ring, even Odoban—whose ability to sense mana was by no means particularly high—had been overwhelmed by that magnitude of power.
If such mana collided head-on with the World Tree's barrier, it was easy to imagine it becoming a fatal blow, even if the World Tree weren't currently weakened.
(Scary... yes, this is what fear feels like. I marvel at how Marina-sama and the others can interact with Rei with such calm expressions.)
Perhaps sensing the gaze upon her, Rei glanced toward Odoban—and she immediately averted her eyes.
Rei considered calling out to her, but judged that speaking to her now would only widen the distance between them. Instead, he reached for the tea on the table in front of the sofa and brought it to his lips.
It was tea that Elena had brewed for him. While not quite at Ara's level, it was plenty delicious.
...Or perhaps it was delicious because Elena had brewed it.
"Um, how is it? I've been learning various things from Ara, but I still can't brew it quite as well as she can."
Elena asked so timidly that one might wonder where her usual confident demeanor had gone.
To her, Rei smiled and spoke.
Since they were inside the carriage, he had lowered his hood, so the smile he wore was clearly visible to Elena.
"I think it's plenty delicious. For something brewed by an amateur, isn't it top-tier? I'd say it's even better than the one you made for me last time."
"I see!"
Her timid expression transformed in an instant, and a full smile spread across Elena's face.
Elena held the position of a duke's daughter. She had almost no experience brewing tea herself.
She had treated Rei to tea before, but at that time, her technique had been even more clumsy than it was now.
In that sense, being able to properly brew tea for Rei at this moment was a stroke of good fortune for Elena.
"A duke's daughter brewing tea sounds like it could go wrong in all sorts of ways, but... it really is delicious."
"Yes, the tea Lady Elena brewed is wonderful. I'd almost want to have my own staff learn from her."
"Mm."
Vihera, Marina, and Byune each praised Elena's tea, and Odoban agreed as well, albeit quietly.
Under normal circumstances, she would have leapt at the chance to praise Elena—but simply having Rei nearby was enough to throw Odoban off her usual stride.
Odoban loved beautiful women and girls, but if asked whether she wanted to stake her life on that conviction, the answer was a firm no.
"Still, we'll be able to enjoy some leisurely time like this for a while. Hey, Rei—why don't we have a slow conversation while we have the chance?"
Marina, still seated on the sofa, cast a sidelong glance at Rei. Elena and Vihera, who had been smiling until seconds ago, each reacted in her own way.
Elena briefly showed a flicker of displeasure before quickly smoothing her expression. Vihera, in contrast, floated an amused smile and turned her gaze toward Marina.
Rei, completely oblivious to either reaction, thought for a moment before speaking.
"A slow conversation, huh? What do you want to talk about?"
When Rei would finally notice the secret battle being waged among the women... that, no one knew.