"Grimm?"
It was only Marina who tilted her head at the name that slipped from Rei's mouth.
Elena had heard about Grimm before... or rather, when she first met him, she had listened to Rei and Grimm's conversation without losing consciousness like Ara and the others had, so it was only natural.
"Yeah, an acquaintance of mine... to put it simply, a Lich Lord. An Undead, anyway."
"What!?"
Marina let out a gasp of surprise at the words from Rei's mouth.
But that was a natural reaction for an ordinary human—well, Dark Elf.
Even so, the reason Marina didn't immediately take hostile action against Rei was largely because she trusted him as a person... and above all, because she loved him deeply.
"Rei, um... could you explain what that means?"
"Yeah, you're right. I was actually planning to explain this to you earlier, Marina. But you were busy with all sorts of things as the Guild Master, so it got put off."
"...Tell me."
Understanding from Rei's words that Elena and Vihera already knew his secret, Marina prompted him to continue, looking slightly displeased and frustrated.
"Where to start... Yeah, I guess it has to be this. I'm not from this world. To be precise, my soul isn't."
With that, he began revealing everything he had been hiding, starting from how he had lost his life in another world and how Zephyle had gathered up his soul and sent him to this one, then moving on to Beast Magic.
For Marina, who had lived a long time, there were many things that were difficult—or rather, hard—to understand. Nevertheless, she digested Rei's explanation, breaking it down piece by piece, and came to accept it.
About twenty minutes passed... and eventually, Marina nodded in understanding.
"I'm surprised to hear that you're from a world different from this one, but honestly, it makes sense."
"...Yeah?"
"Yes. Given the magic power you possess, there was no way I could think of you as a person from this world."
"Well, human, or rather... no, I am human, but it's closer to an artificial human."
"Does that matter? Your lifespan increased, and your physical abilities improved. There's nothing inconvenient about it. Besides, that magic power was originally yours to begin with, wasn't it?"
If anything, the fact that his lifespan was longer than a normal human's must have been significant for Marina.
Dark Elves and humans naturally had different lifespans.
Marina loved Rei, but if he had been an ordinary human, she would eventually have had to part with him in death.
...Well, even if she were united with Rei, the fact that they would ultimately be separated by death might not change. Still, the fact that she wouldn't have to part with him in less than a hundred years like an ordinary human would greatly ease Marina's mental burden.
Being together with the person she loved forever... that might be impossible, but being able to live together for a longer time than a human was enough.
"Anyway. Grimm is a Necromancer from the era when Zephyle was alive. He just became an Undead and has survived to the present... no, since he became an Undead, saying he 'survived' might not be accurate."
"I see. From the era when Zephyle was alive... if that's the case, then perhaps there are Dark Elves or Elves who have met him directly."
"Oh, come to think of it..."
Given that Dark Elves and Elves lived extremely long lives, that possibility couldn't be denied.
"There are even a few people who have spoken with Zephyle."
"There are?"
Rei asked instinctively, but if someone had lived during the same era as Grimm, it wouldn't be strange for there to be someone who was acquainted with Zephyle.
"It would help if you could look into that later. Especially if there's anyone who knows about Takumu Suzunose, who was in the Zephyle Clan. I'd really appreciate it."
Within Rei, his interest in Zephyle was fairly deep.
But what was even stronger was the existence of Takumu, who, like himself, had come to this world.
(Well, compared to me coming to this world with only my soul, he came here in his physical body, so it's quite rare. Teleportation, reincarnation, possession... there are various ways to come to this world.)
Reincarnation was the case with Vihera's older brother, Kabajid, the First Prince of the Bestia Empire.
In Rei's case, it was a combination of reincarnation and possession.
In contrast, considering that Takumu had been wearing a school uniform, it meant he had been teleported to Elgin with his body intact.
Where did that difference lie? If he could learn more about that... such thoughts were only natural given Rei's position.
(Though, that will all have to wait until Vihera regains consciousness.)
Glancing at Vihera lying in bed, Rei shifted his focus.
"Putting Takumu aside, Grimm has remained an Undead and is still alive today. In other words, he's been living as a mage... or rather, a magic user, since that era. He might know a way to restore Vihera's consciousness."
"That's..."
It wasn't that Rei's words lacked persuasiveness.
However, defeating an Undead was one thing, but seeking advice from one to restore Vihera's consciousness was completely unexpected.
Marina was on the verge of confusion for a moment, but if there was a way to do something about the current situation... the fact that there was a ray of hope was undeniable.
"Can that Undead communicate properly? As in, does he have proper self-restraint?"
Generally, Undead hated the living.
Or they were unable to even make that judgment and could only perceive the living as food.
Alternatively, there were also many who looked down on humans and liked to flaunt themselves as superior beings.
Of course, there were also Undead who retained their rationality from when they were alive, but from an overall perspective, those were exceedingly few.
Even if they appeared the same as they were in life to onlookers, in reality, many had twisted personalities due to becoming Undead.
That was why, even though Rei and Elena knew him, Marina had no choice but to confirm.
"Yeah. You don't need to worry about that. He was apparently originally a mage who admired Zephyle and the members of his clan. And right now, he's favorably disposed toward me, since I inherited Zephyle's Beast Magic."
"...I never knew Set wasn't an ordinary monster. Well, thinking about it normally, there's no way such a friendly monster would be so rare, so honestly, I'm more convinced than surprised."
The image of Set, who was affectionate and clingy toward not only Rei but many others, crossed Marina's mind.
Monsters tamed by a Tamer often didn't warm up to anyone other than their master.
Compared to those, Set's friendliness toward those around him was unbelievably high.
But if Set wasn't tamed but rather a monster created by Rei, it wasn't impossible to understand.
(But still, does that mean Rei is actually the friendly type? Looking at him from the outside, he really doesn't seem that way at all.)
To Marina, Rei was by no means skilled at socializing.
He was the type who preferred narrow but deep relationships over broad but shallow ones.
In fact, she believed he had quite deep relationships with herself, Elena, Vihera, and others, and he had built good relationships with a small number of adventurers, starting with Elk.
(Well, I prefer it that way, personally.)
Rei's facial features were originally well-proportioned.
However, rather than masculine, it would be better to describe them as having a more feminine quality. If Rei's personality had been more personable, he would have been liked by many... and there would have been far more rivals in love than there were now.
"So, how do you contact this Grimm person... no, he's not a person, is he. How do you contact that Undead? The situation is stable for now, but you should do something about it as soon as possible, you know?"
"Yeah. But don't worry about making contact. ...I'll use this."
What he took out of his Misty Ring was a Paired Orb.
"Unbelievable... you had something like that?"
"Yeah. I've used it to make contact before, so there shouldn't be any problem reaching him."
"Hmm. Then, can we watch too?"
"Yes, I'd like to see as well."
Both Marina and Elena said so in unison, turning their gazes toward Rei.
Rei hesitated for a moment, but judging that if they were acting alongside him, they might eventually encounter Grimm anyway, he nodded.
"Alright. Then I'd like to call out to Grimm right now... is that okay with you?"
Seeing the two nod at those words, Rei channeled magic power into the Paired Orb.
Since Elena was accustomed to using Paired Orbs and Marina had a similar communication Magic Item, that alone didn't particularly surprise them. However...
"Hm? Is that you, Rei?"
When a skull's head... a skull wearing a crown, was projected in the Paired Orb, both Elena and Marina froze in astonishment.
This was Marina's first time coming into contact with a being like Grimm, and Elena hadn't had a leisurely face-to-face meeting with him before either.
Because of that, their eyes widened greatly at the image of Grimm reflected in the crystal before them.
"Yeah, sorry. I contacted you because there's something I wanted to ask."
"I don't mind. Fortunately, I've reached a stopping point in my experiments as well. ...But, more importantly than that."
Grimm paused and brought his face closer to the Paired Orb.
It was probably so that he could see Rei and the others' side more clearly, but at the same time, it meant Rei and the others got an up-close look at Grimm's face... his skull.
In terms of being a skull, it was no different from a Skeleton.
But actually seeing it with their own eyes, even if someone told them it was the same skull, they couldn't possibly believe it.
Even as a skull, the sheer presence of his rank was different, and that was clearly understood even through the Paired Orb.
"It would be better if others didn't know about your dealings with me. That's what I thought, but... is this all right?"
Looking at Elena and Marina, Grimm spoke to Rei as if to confirm rather than voicing any particular complaint, which must have meant that the two met Grimm's approval.
"Yeah. These two have been with me for a long time. There's no problem there. I've also explained everything about me."
"Oh? If it's about Rei... does that include the other world and Lord Zephyle?"
Rei nodded at Grimm's question.
Seeing Rei like that, Grimm let an amused laugh echo around him.
For a moment, Rei wondered where such a laugh was coming from given that Grimm was a skull, but if he were to point that out, it was already strange that he could produce a voice without vocal cords in the first place.
Deciding there was no point in worrying about such things, Rei waited for Grimm's laughter to subside before opening his mouth.
"I know it's right after contacting you for the first time in a while, but there's something I want to ask."
"Hm? A while? To me, it feels like just the other day."
For Grimm, who had lived through countless ages, a period of a few years was probably like a few days in Rei's sense of time.
"For me, it's been plenty long enough. ...Anyway, can we get to the main topic soon?"
"Umu, I don't mind."
At Rei's words, Grimm nodded without seeming particularly bothered.
For Grimm, talking with Rei was a stimulus in his long-lived existence.
If it were an ordinary human, it would be a different story, but Rei was the man Zephyle had acknowledged.
That alone made Grimm's strong interest, curiosity, and fondness toward Rei exceptionally high.
"Anbris... do you know of it?"
"No, I don't. What sort of thing is that?"
At the matter-of-fact response, Rei felt both surprise and, simultaneously, a sense of resignation.
It was an existence that had only appeared once, three hundred years ago, just by being known.
If so, it was only natural that Grimm, who lived his life avoiding the public eye, wouldn't know of it.
"It's an entity created by a magic anomaly. I'd like to call it a monster, but since it has no Magic Stone, it probably can't accurately be called a monster."
"...Oh? Could it be something that causes specific monsters to evolve?"
"You know of it!?"
Rei let out a cry of astonishment at the words that came from Grimm's mouth before the very tongue that had said he didn't know had even dried.
At Rei's reaction, Grimm let out an amused laugh... and eventually nodded.
"Umu. As far as I know, that entity was not called by the name Anbris. ...Though, it was an exceedingly rare existence even back then. The name I know it by... it was called Jarda."
Before Rei and the others, who held their breath at finally obtaining a clear clue regarding Anbris, Grimm began to speak.