The ones who came rushing into the yard Elena and the others had borrowed were a handful of Dark Elves.
However, these Dark Elves stood only about as tall as Byune, and were clearly children.
"Big Sis Marina! It's terrible! Lugdus and the others haven't come back!"
"I told them not to go! But Lugdus and the others said they'd be fine..."
"Please, Big Sis Marina. Help Lugdus and the others!"
Each of them was shouting over the others, making it impossible to grasp the situation right away.
But even so, Rei could understand that several children had gone somewhere and hadn't returned.
Watching these Dark Elf children, a question suddenly occurred to Rei.
(Marina left this settlement nearly a hundred years ago, didn't she? If so, why are these kids so attached to her? Even a hundred years ago, they wouldn't have been born yet... right?)
Given the Dark Elf lifespan, it was certainly possible they had already been born.
Rei reasoned through it this way, but in truth, Marina had simply met them earlier that day while investigating the World Tree within the settlement.
Even among Dark Elf children, there were brats and those known as gaki taisho — the leaders among kids — and such troublemakers had tried to mess with Marina, who was regarded as an important figure in the settlement. Naturally, Marina wasn't about to let that slide, and the gaki taisho ended up thoroughly put in their place.
"Then Lugdus and the others said they'd prove what they could do, and left the settlement to go into the forest!"
"Ngh..."
At those words, Marina's face tensed.
Naturally. Under normal circumstances, there were almost no monsters between the Barrier of Lost Ways and the Protective Barrier, and it was reasonably safe to let children outside the settlement.
But right now, because the World Tree had been restored just the day before, countless monsters were now trapped between the Barrier of Lost Ways and the Protective Barrier.
There was also a strong possibility that Goblins had gotten in among them.
What would happen if several Dark Elf children with barely any combat skills wandered into a place like that... it wasn't hard to imagine.
"Tch!"
Marina looked up at the sky.
The sun was already sinking toward the horizon, and night would fall before long.
And once darkness set in, the monsters would grow even more active. Even for Dark Elves, the children wouldn't stand a chance.
Marina hesitated for only a moment before turning to Rei and the others.
"Rei, Elena, Vihera, Ara, Byune, As. ...Won't you lend me your strength?"
Strictly speaking, Rei and the others had been hired to treat the World Tree and resolve the forest's abnormalities.
They had absolutely no obligation to rescue Dark Elf children, and no one would have blamed them for declining.
But even so, this was Marina's homeland, and if she was in trouble, it was only natural to want to help.
For As, the reasoning was even simpler.
As someone striving to become a hero, he couldn't bring himself to abandon children in danger. More than that, As himself had been a gaki taisho back in the village where he grew up.
Because of that, abandoning a fellow gaki taisho who had gone into the forest was simply out of the question. He understood exactly how Lugdus must have felt.
The first to speak was Rei.
"Understood. I don't mind."
At Rei's words, everyone else agreed to head into the forest as well.
"...Thank you. Then let's go. Hey, you kids. Have you told the other adults about this?"
At Marina's question, the children all shook their heads in unison.
Perhaps they feared being scolded, or maybe the impression Marina had left on them earlier that day was simply that strong.
In any case, once Marina learned that the other adults still didn't know, she addressed the children directly.
"Listen to me. Go straight to Grandfather — to the Elder — right now and tell him exactly what you just told me. He'll mobilize the others right away."
"But..."
One of the children spoke up timidly.
"If they find out... we'll get in trouble..."
"Now that things have gone this far, there's no hiding it no matter what you do. In that case, isn't it better to tell them now and search for Lugdus and the others before it's too late? Getting scolded is what happens when you do something wrong — it can't be helped. ...Or are you going to abandon your friends who are still out there, just because you don't want to get in trouble?"
Marina asked the question with a smile that might have passed for joking — if not for the fact that her eyes weren't smiling at all. The children shook their heads vigorously.
They had absolutely no intention of abandoning Lugdus, their leader.
True, he was a gaki taisho who caused all sorts of problems like this, but he also had a caring nature and was well-liked by the younger children — that much was certain.
Seeing their reaction, Marina's expression shifted from the unsmiling look of moments ago to a full, genuine smile.
"Good. Then go. We're heading into the forest to search for Lugdus and the others too."
"Y-yeah! Got it!"
With that, the children bolted from the spot.
Watching them go, Marina turned back to the group.
"Then I'm counting on all of you. I need to get ready myself — let's meet at the settlement entrance."
At Marina's words, everyone sprang into action.
Those staying at Elena's borrowed house headed there, Marina went to her own home, and As set off for Rei's borrowed house with Poro.
Among them all, only Rei stayed where he was, doing nothing in particular.
Thanks to the Misty Ring, preparation was essentially unnecessary for him.
Of course, things like restocking consumables still mattered, but fortunately, there was nothing he was short on at the moment.
With that settled, Rei headed straight for the settlement entrance.
"Gurururu."
Beside him, Set purred.
(Actually, "filled with determination" would be a more accurate way to describe that sound.)
It had been the same back in Gilm — at heart, Set was a softie when it came to children.
Not unconditionally, of course. It would give a light swat to anyone who pulled a prank on it, but all things considered, there was no denying that it went easy on kids.
Which meant that the thought of children wandering into a forest — one likely swarming with Goblins — and not coming back must have weighed heavily on Set's mind.
As Rei and Set made their way toward the settlement entrance, Rei's gaze drifted to the wooden fence encircling the settlement.
This settlement was protected by the World Tree's Protective Barrier, and as a result, there were no walls like the ones in Gilm.
The wooden fence was purely symbolic — which was exactly why Lugdus and his band of gaki taisho had been able to slip outside so easily.
(Under normal circumstances — when the World Tree was healthy — it wouldn't have been a problem.)
Right now, however, the World Tree's issues had turned the forest into a dangerous place.
The adults had surely warned the children about that much, but children sometimes took delight in doing exactly what adults told them not to.
And for a gaki taisho, that tendency was probably even stronger.
"Even so... that doesn't mean it's okay to just let children die."
"Guruu!"
In Rei's mind, even though the ones in question were children, they were also Dark Elves — meaning the possibility that they were actually older than him hadn't been entirely ruled out.
But regardless of their true age, they looked like children, so treating them as such was only natural.
That line of thinking might have been something close to a defensive instinct — the same kind that kept him from dwelling on Marina's actual age.
In any case, Rei and Set reached the meeting point.
There, Rei was surprised to find that a number of Dark Elves had already gathered.
If they had simply been standing around, it wouldn't have been particularly surprising. He would have assumed there was some reason for it, and if someone had said they were about to throw a banquet, he might even have believed it.
But the Dark Elves gathered here nearly all carried bows in their hands. They didn't look like people about to celebrate anything.
(Then again, the World Tree hasn't fully recovered, so they wouldn't be holding a banquet. There were plenty of people who were shaken by the whole ordeal.)
So why were there so many Dark Elves here? Rei's question was answered the moment he caught what they were saying.
"Listen, if you spot any Goblins, check immediately whether Lugdus and the others are nearby."
"But if it were a girl, maybe. A boy, though? And a child at that. You think Goblins would find a Dark Elf like that and just leave him alone?"
"Even so. It's not impossible."
"...I hope they're alive..."
Their worried conversations were all about Lugdus and the other children.
In other words, they had gathered to search for Lugdus and his group — just like Rei.
(That was fast.)
Marina should have left her house at almost the same time Rei did.
Yet by the time Rei arrived, a large number of Dark Elves were already assembled.
"...Hm? Are you here to help too?"
One of the Dark Elves noticed Rei and called out to him.
With no reason to hide anything, Rei nodded.
"Yeah. Marina asked me to. ...More importantly, I only just heard about this myself, but everyone gathered here awfully fast."
"A child from the settlement is missing. Of course people are going to show up."
The Dark Elf speaking with Rei looked to be about twenty in appearance.
With a quiver on his back and a bow in hand, he was the very picture of what Rei imagined a Dark Elf to be.
"Would you say your people are especially devoted to each other?"
"Is that so? I'd say it's pretty normal. ...Well, having someone like you pitch in is a relief for us, I'll admit."
This Dark Elf man had heard from an acquaintance who could sense magical power just how immense Rei's mana was, and he broke into a pleased smile upon hearing that Rei was willing to help.
What lingered in his expression wasn't fear or terror toward Rei.
The fact that they were heading into the forest to save Dark Elf children surely had something to do with that.
It also mattered greatly that this man himself lacked the ability to sense magical power.
In fact, several of those who had felt Rei's mana at the training ground quickly averted their gazes the moment they looked his way.
Granted, what they felt wasn't fear so much as awe — both amounted to being wary of him, but the absence of any malice was surely thanks to his achievement of having treated the World Tree.
"Gururu."
"Whoa!"
Whether from loneliness at being left out of the conversation, Set purred and popped its head into view.
The Dark Elf man startled at Set's sudden appearance, but compared to the reaction of someone entirely unfamiliar with the griffon, his surprise was noticeably mild.
"...You don't seem very startled."
"Of course not. You're the one who treated the World Tree. It's easy enough to figure out that anything traveling with you wouldn't just go on a mindless rampage."
Even as the man said this, many of the other Dark Elves were clearly keeping their distance from Set.
One look made it obvious that not all of them were as accepting of the griffon as he was.
"Hey, let go! Let go of me!"
"I said wait! It's almost dark — what are you going to do going into the forest by yourself?! It's better for everyone to move together than for each person to go off on their own!"
Hearing the commotion, Rei turned to look.
Several people were restraining a single Dark Elf who was trying to make for the forest.
Looking more closely, there were others in the same situation — trying to head into the trees and being held back.
"Who's that?"
"...That's Lugdus's older brother. The others are family of the kids who went into the forest with Lugdus."
I see, Rei nodded.
If your own relatives were out in that forest — the stretch between the Barrier of Lost Ways and the Protective Barrier — it was only natural to be that frantic.
"But if everyone just does whatever they want, it'll only waste time finding Lugdus and the others. They know that, and still... they're that desperate."
Just as Rei was about to nod in agreement with the man's words, a voice rang out.
"Everyone, pay attention. I'm about to assign the search area for each group. Search according to your assignment. As you know, there are many monsters in the forest right now — absolutely no solo action."
Marina's voice echoed across the gathering.