The day after the troublesome commotion ended, Rei and his party showed up at the Guild, avoiding the busiest time of the morning. Lenora spoke up as if she had been waiting for them.
"Rei-san, rather than transporting cut timber today, could I ask you to join the other adventurers in investigating the Treant Forest?"
Rei had more or less expected those words.
No, to be precise, Marina had told him as much during breakfast that morning.
...It wasn't as if he didn't have questions about why Marina, who supposedly owned a house in the Noble District, was eating breakfast at the Wheat Inn at dusk.
The cause was undoubtedly yesterday's incident.
Given that, it would be a lie to say Rei wasn't curious.
After all, a Magic Stone—something that absolutely had to exist in any monster—simply wasn't there.
How such a thing could come into existence was a mystery, which was exactly why this matter weighed so heavily on his mind.
That was why, upon hearing Lenora's words, Rei nodded without any particular hesitation.
"Understood. Have you heard about yesterday's incident?"
"Yes. I am Rei-san's—more precisely, the Crimson Lotus Wings' receptionist in charge."
"If you don't want to, I keep telling you I'll take over anytime. Honestly."
Kenny, who had been watching Lenora talk with Rei alone, cut in, wanting to join the conversation.
However, it was actually Kenny, not Lenora, who had brought the emergency Nomination Request to Rei the previous night.
Given that, it wasn't strange for her to interject like this. Of course, perhaps because the regular hours had already passed by the time Rei returned to the Guild last night, Kenny hadn't been there.
"Hey now, it's not like I hate it. More importantly, how about the paperwork?"
"I already finished it. Here."
In response to Lenora's words, Kenny handed over the documents she had been processing.
From her appearance, Kenny looked like she was just playing around, but when it came to work, she could do it properly if she set her mind to it.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to work as a Guild receptionist, given the strict hiring standards.
Of course, the fact that it took her a long time to actually set her mind to it was also true.
Lenora took the documents from Kenny and quickly skimmed through them to check for any omissions or errors.
Once she confirmed the paperwork was perfect, she spoke with a disappointed expression.
"It's perfect."
"...Why do you sound disappointed? This is where you're supposed to praise me, you know?"
At this rate, they would start arguing if left alone.
Anyone who knew Lenora and Kenny's personalities would naturally think so.
"Alright, that's enough."
That was exactly why Marina interjected.
"Stop arguing and get back to the topic, alright?"
"Marina-sama..."
"Urk!"
Lenora and Kenny both stopped in their tracks the moment Marina's name was called.
Naturally. Lenora deeply respected Marina, and while Kenny also respected her, she was even more intimidated by her.
Scolded by Marina, Lenora spoke up again.
"In any case, the investigation team is currently preparing to head for the Treant Forest. We would like Rei-san and your party to cooperate with them as well."
"They haven't departed yet?"
Rei was slightly surprised.
It was still morning, but the busiest time of day for the Guild had already passed. In other words, it wouldn't have been strange if the adventurers who had accepted the request to investigate the Treant Forest had already departed.
No, considering the distance to the Treant Forest, it wouldn't have been strange if they had already begun the investigation.
"Yes. Since this investigation was decided on so suddenly, the preparations are taking a little time. They are currently loading luggage onto the carriages."
"If I'd come to the Guild late, would I have been left behind?"
Rei and his party generally came to the Guild around this time. But since they didn't have a specific appointment, it wasn't uncommon for them to arrive thirty minutes or an hour late. Let alone that, there was even a possibility that they wouldn't come to the Guild at all for some reason.
What would they have done then?
Lenora smiled at Rei's questioning gaze.
"I expected that Rei-san would generally come around this time. Besides, even if you were late or didn't show up, Kenny is here at the Guild."
Being a cat Beastman, Kenny's physical abilities were high. Of course, that wasn't to say she could fight on even footing with trained adventurers, but when it came to running, she was undeniably far superior to Lenora.
Kenny, who received the glance, wavered between wondering if she was being praised or simply used conveniently—but ultimately, since they were in front of Rei, she smiled and spoke up.
"That's right. If you need someone to look for Rei-kun, leave it to me."
"...I'd prefer it if you worked that hard on things other than Rei-san's affairs, too."
Lenora sighed.
She had known Kenny for a reasonable amount of time, but she still wasn't used to this aspect of her. Of course, that was part of Kenny's personality, and along with her figure that appealed to men, it was one of the reasons adventurers held favorable feelings toward her.
It was inevitable that the adventurers who held favorable feelings toward Kenny were almost all men. Conversely, Lenora, who always did her work thoroughly, was popular among female adventurers.
"Anyway, leave your banter there. Byune looks bored, too."
Byune, toward whom Marina's gaze shifted, had been looking toward the bar, but turned to face Marina at those words.
Rather than being bored, it was more accurate to say her attention had been stolen by the smell of food drifting from the bar. In the bar, perhaps having decided today was a day off, several adventurers were eating a slightly late breakfast.
...Some hardened individuals were even still continuing their drinking party from the night before.
The smell of alcohol was mixed in with the scent of food drifting over—but whether fortunately or not, it seemed Byune's appetite was being stimulated even in such a situation.
"Mm."
Byune uttered a single word toward Marina, but what it meant was obvious from the fact that she turned her gaze back toward the bar.
"Yes, yes. You just ate, didn't you? Lunch will come later."
Vihera, who had been quietly listening, told Byune this upon seeing her state.
At Vihera's words, Byune drooped slightly. Her expression didn't change, but there was no doubt she was disappointed.
Once the conversation settled, Rei spoke up.
"Alright then, today it's the Treant Forest investigation. Is everyone ready?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Same."
"Mm."
Marina and the others each replied. Byune, who had been left behind yesterday, was now nodding firmly as well.
(Ah... well, yeah. It's an investigation today, so there's no problem with Byune acting together with us. In the end, the monsters that showed up were just Treants and things of that level.)
Treants that lacked Magic Stones—an unthinkable trait for monsters—but their strength itself was nothing noteworthy. To the extent that Rei thought Byune, as she was now, could defeat them without any particular issue.
Thinking that, Rei noticed Byune looking his way.
You're not going to leave me behind today, right? Directed that look carrying such intent, Rei smiled slightly and spoke.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm bringing you along. Though, considering how many times I've been to the Treant Forest so far, I don't think we'll figure anything out immediately during today's investigation."
"Mm!"
At Rei's words, Byune's expression didn't change—but still, she replied with slightly more force in her voice than usual.
"Oh, Rei. You guys are coming too? Then I can rest easy."
When Rei and his party headed to the staging area where the investigation team was preparing, several carriages were ready there, with luggage in the process of being loaded onto each one.
One of the people working—Luno—smiled happily upon seeing Rei and his party arrive. Beside Luno, Thresha was bowing her head toward Rei and his group.
There was a decent number of other escort adventurers as well, and they wore welcoming expressions upon seeing Rei and his party. Since most of them had gone to the Treant Forest yesterday as escorts for the woodcutters, the fact that there was no one who would underestimate Rei or try to pick a fight with him meant less trouble for Rei, which he was grateful for.
Of course, among them were some who, having seen Rei yesterday, directed jealous glances at him for traveling with beauties like Marina and Vihera, whose looks alone could steal one's eyes.
...Some had their eyes stolen by Byune instead, and such individuals were marked by Rei to ensure they wouldn't do anything strange.
"Given yesterday's incident... Have you heard about it?"
"Of course. To begin with, without that, no one would have even considered conducting an investigation. In that sense, you did good work."
Luno's gaze carried a hint of pity.
But that was natural. If it were Luno, being suddenly called out while relaxing or drinking after finishing today's work and told to go to the Treant Forest wouldn't be something he could accept.
Though the fact that he was drinking meant he probably wouldn't have been given a request in the first place.
"Yeah. It was really rough in a lot of ways. On top of that, we even encountered monsters without Magic Stones."
"I heard about that, but is it true? I simply can't believe that there are monsters without Magic Stones."
Luno wasn't the only one who thought so. The surrounding men, who were loading luggage onto carriages or checking their weapon equipment, also directed their attention toward Luno and Rei's conversation.
Monsters always possessed Magic Stones. Because that perception existed, they probably couldn't fully believe in the existence of monsters without them. If Rei hadn't brought a Treant corpse as evidence, it was uncertain whether even Worker would have believed him.
That was exactly why it was only natural for Luno to confirm it with Rei like this.
Understanding that he was drawing attention, Rei nodded.
"Yeah, there's no mistake. I personally examined the Treants' bodies, and I also brought undissected Treants to the Guild. Well, if the Guild had found Magic Stones in the Treants they examined, then the possibility that I was mistaken could have been considered..."
Rei said this, but he was already certain that it wasn't his mistake. And that was precisely why this Treant Forest investigation was taking place.
"Yeah. In this case, I'm not sure whether to say unfortunately or fortunately..."
If monsters without Magic Stones were made public, it would become a huge uproar. When that happened, Rei's name would naturally become widely known as the first discoverer of such a monster.
There were already many who knew of Rei, Bearer of the Crimson Moniker, but as the discoverer of monsters without Magic Stones, even researchers who normally had no interest in adventurers or worldly affairs in general would learn of Rei's existence.
However, selling one's name also attracted trouble. If researchers who were solely interested in their own work learned of Rei, friction would certainly arise.
Understanding that, Luno spoke ambiguously.
"Well, if it comes to that, there are ways to deal with it. Like hiding out somewhere for a while, for instance."
Those were words made possible by the existence of Set, who could fly through the sky. In fact, Rei had ridden Set and evacuated from Gilm several times before.
However... that was strictly a story for Rei and Set alone.
"My, Rei. In that case, what do you plan to do with us? We can grab onto Set's legs to travel, but we can't manage for long. We are delicate women, after all."
"...Delicate?"
Rei muttered reflexively at the words that came from Marina's mouth.
At least in Rei's mind, neither a Dark Elf who wielded Spirit Magic freely and could fight countless enemies, nor a being who grew aroused from battling powerful foes, could be called delicate maidens.
Of course, perhaps understanding that saying so directly would cause all sorts of problems, he averted his gaze as if fleeing from the stares of Marina and Vihera, who were looking fixedly at him.
"The preparations are complete! We're heading to the Treant Forest!"
At the voice of an adventurer participating in the investigation, Rei seized the opportunity and started walking in that direction.
Leaving behind two beautiful women wearing alluring smiles, and one girl who remained expressionless as ever.