What drifted through the air was an aroma that stimulated the appetite.
A little past noon, Rei and his party had exited the Treant Forest and were eating lunch.
Normally, adventurers mid-job would be eating dried meat or hard-baked bread.
...However, that was strictly the case for long-term assignments.
In a situation like this one—close to their base city and traveling by carriage—there was a fair amount of leeway when it came to meals.
In fact, the members of the Crimson Lotus Wings were eating an array of dishes, starting with freshly made stew that Rei had pulled from his Misty Ring, while the carriage drivers entrusted with the vehicles were also eating proper food like sandwiches and fruit.
Even so, between sandwiches that had been made that morning and had some time pass since, and the freshly cooked dishes Rei pulled out of his Misty Ring, the latter inevitably won out.
Several of the drivers were casting envious glances at the food Rei's party was eating.
And eventually, they couldn't hold back any longer.
One of the drivers approached Rei and opened his mouth.
"Um, Rei. If it's all right with you... could you sell me a few of those delicious-looking skewers?"
"Yeah, sure."
"...Eh? You will?"
The driver, who had asked despite expecting to be turned down, was slightly surprised.
He never thought he would be allowed to buy them so easily.
But to Rei, skewers were something he could buy in any quantity in Gilm.
If he kept them in his Misty Ring, he could eat piping hot skewers whenever he wanted.
That was why Rei casually handed the skewers over to the male driver.
"Mnh!"
When her portion diminished slightly, Byune let out a dissatisfied sound, but the moment Rei produced fresh skewers from his Misty Ring, she immediately nodded in satisfaction and returned to her meal.
"Umm... sorry about this. How much?"
"Nah, don't worry about money. I've made plenty of profit one way or another."
The compensation Rei would receive for this Treant Forest incident would likely come in the form of Flame Ore.
Even Rei couldn't predict just how much that would be.
That was how significant a role Rei—or more accurately, the Crimson Lotus Wings, including Rei and Set—had fulfilled.
The reward was undoubtedly going to be substantial.
Additionally, he had sold the magic-stone-less Treant corpses to the Guild, so that would certainly amount to a fair sum as well.
Considering all of that, treating someone to skewers was no great expense.
Rather than begrudging a minor cost, it was better to maintain good relations with the drivers.
Especially since they were all Guild staff members—in that sense too, Rei had no problem springing for skewers.
"You guys come over too. You can each have two or three."
When Rei called out to them, the drivers approached his group, wearing smiles that showed just how plainly pleased they were.
"Take as many as you want. ...Ah, you guys too."
The ones Rei casually called out to were the adventurers staying behind as escorts for the carriages and drivers.
They were an investigation team that had come to the Treant Forest, but they couldn't very well have everyone go into the forest and leave the carriages and drivers unattended.
Even though no monsters appeared in the Treant Forest during the day, that was merely an empirical rule.
And since the Treant Forest itself was an irregular existence, it wouldn't be strange for monsters to appear at any time.
Also, while no monsters emerged from the Treant Forest, they appeared normally everywhere else.
There was no guarantee that such monsters wouldn't attack the carriages left here, and there was a very real, if low, possibility of bandits showing up as well.
Considering those possibilities, escorts for the carriages and drivers were naturally necessary... and among this group, there were those hired specifically as carriage escorts.
Naturally, the pay was less compared to those who went to investigate the Treant Forest, but the likelihood of monsters appearing was low, and given that actual combat was unlikely, it was favorable treatment where they essentially received pay for doing nothing.
In fact, among the adventurers who had entered the Treant Forest as part of the investigation team, many had actually hoped to serve as escorts instead.
Such escorts happily reached for the skewers at Rei's words.
Though they weren't drinking any alcohol, it turned into a lively lunch... and as a few hours passed, members of the investigation team began gradually returning from the Treant Forest.
Those people saw Rei's group, who were having what could be called a banquet without alcohol outside the forest, and voiced their complaints... but when Rei handed them cold fruit water, the complaints immediately ceased.
Incidentally, this chilled fruit water was not something Rei had pulled from his Misty Ring.
It was fruit water loaded on the carriages that Marina had chilled by calling upon water spirits with her Spirit Magic.
It wasn't so cold as to cause a headache from ice, but it was at least as cold as river water.
Even under the spring sunlight, for those who had returned from walking around inside the forest, there was no greater feast.
When they drank the fruit water from the cups handed to them, their dissatisfied expressions gave way to surprise at the coldness with the first sip, then a confirming sip with the second, and finally they gulped down the rest with the third before asking for another cup.
And what followed was the smiles of Marina and Vihera—supremely beautiful women.
No one could remain unsatisfied with that.
...Of course, there were still many who harbored some lingering dissatisfaction, and some who wished to get closer to Marina and Vihera if possible.
But they naturally knew that those two were Rei's party members, so they couldn't do anything careless.
By the time evening approached, the entire investigation team that had entered the forest had returned.
"Unexpected, if I had to say."
"Oh? Is that so? No monsters appear during the day, and there are no beasts either. Thinking of it that way, it's not strange for everyone to return safely as long as they don't get lost, is it?"
Whether she had heard Rei's muttered words about everyone returning, Marina spoke to him.
"Yeah. Normally I'd think so... but hmm, is it just my imagination?"
"I wonder. I couldn't really say. But if you think about it normally, that's probably how it is, isn't it?"
"But whatever kind of monster is in this forest... no, or maybe it's not even a monster, I don't know, but either way, they should know we're here, right? Then I don't think they'd just quietly let us investigate."
Being investigated meant there was a possibility their secrets would be revealed.
In reality, almost nothing was understood yet, but precisely because of that, the entities residing in this forest wouldn't want their secrets known.
The unknown was something that inspired fear in others by its very nature.
(Seeing the true form of a ghost is just a withered miscanthus... or so the saying goes, but as the ones doing the investigating, I'd prefer it be withered miscanthus rather than some unfathomable thing lurking in this forest.)
Thinking of an analogy that wouldn't be understood in Elgin, Rei turned his gaze toward the investigation team members who were transitioning from lunch to preparing dinner.
During the daytime investigation, no one had ended up discovering anything in particular.
It had been expected from the start, but still, there were surely those who felt various things about it.
Many had worn disappointed expressions when they came out of the forest—especially the researchers—but now everyone was working together to prepare dinner.
It probably served as a nice change of pace, too.
Though they were near the forest, some adventurers had started ordinary campfires and were cooking there.
Among them were some simmering nuts and wild herbs—likely gathered from the Treant Forest—into a stew.
"Hey, don't tell me you picked that from the Treant Forest? You were told it's dangerous, so you should stop, weren't you?"
"It's fine. I know a fair bit about plants myself. What I picked isn't something that only grows in this Treant Forest."
"...Even so, I still think you should stop. Besides, we packed plenty of food in the carriages, right? Then there's no need to take unnecessary risks."
"It looked delicious."
Such exchanges could be heard, but the other adventurers didn't seem particularly bothered and were enjoying their meals and conversations.
However, since they had to tackle the nighttime forest investigation ahead—which was in a sense the main event of this whole undertaking—no one was doing anything like drinking alcohol.
That was only natural for an adventurer.
"We can eat the food Rei has, right? Then if we offer something from our side, maybe we could get some freshly made dishes in return, don't you think?"
"Hmm... I get that, but look at how many people there are. Wouldn't Rei run out of food?"
"Oh, you didn't know? Word is that inside Rei's Item Box, there's enough food for thousands of people to eat for years."
"No way."
Hearing the words drifting over as he walked, Rei retorted with a look that said he hadn't meant to let it slip.
It was true that a massive amount of food was stored in his Misty Ring.
But even so, it didn't hold enough food for thousands of people for years, as he had just heard.
Even factoring in monster meat that hadn't yet been touched as a food source, there was nowhere near that much.
Especially with Rei, Set, and Byune gathered together—all of whom ate more than a normal adult—it was questionable how long it would even last.
"Ugh, Rei!? W-wait, were you listening!?"
The female adventurer who had been talking with the man was startled by Rei's presence and asked.
"Yeah. I just happened to be passing by. ...Just so you know, I don't have that much food."
"R-right. Yeah, I thought so too... I just heard a rumor."
The female adventurer hurriedly tried to brush it off, but Rei wasn't actually angry.
He shook his head to say not to worry about it, then spoke.
"More importantly, it's going to get busy once night falls. You might not even get a decent chance to rest, so you should take it easy now while you can."
"...Eh? But from what I heard, the only things that come out are Treants, right? Then..."
"Well, what we fought were Treants and... the vine monsters, but there's no guarantee that's all, is there? There's a real possibility that there are many other monsters as well."
If they had only encountered Treants, Rei could have nodded along with the female adventurer's words.
But... the fact was that Rei's party had seen a vine monster in addition to Treants.
"This vine, see."
Keeping quiet while having information and then getting attacked as a result would leave a bad taste in his mouth.
Making that judgment, Rei pulled out the vine he had harvested at Marina's request from his Misty Ring.
Seeing a vine suddenly appear before her eyes, the female adventurer's eyes went wide without a sound.
The male adventurer who had been talking with the female adventurer until moments ago did the same, staring fixedly at the vine in Rei's hand from a slight distance.
Its thickness wasn't much to speak of.
But perhaps due to its length and the preconception of an attacking vine, it somehow seemed snake-like.
"This thing... attacks?"
To the female adventurer, who asked in a timid manner, Rei gave a nod.
By that point, not just the adventurers who had been talking with Rei, but many other adventurers had gathered around, focusing on the vine Rei held.
Naturally. They could confirm with their own eyes a being that might be a monster they would potentially have to fight.
"Rei, would you mind letting me touch it?"
One of the adventurers nearby called out.
Following that, others approached Rei one after another, asking to touch the vine.
There normally weren't that many people who would proactively try to talk to Rei, but with their lives on the line, it was a different story.
Such adventurers were by no means people Rei should shun.
Rather, they were a welcome presence.
That was why he complied with their requests and handed the vine over.
"Yeah, but this is going to be submitted to the Guild, so don't damage it."
He didn't forget to say that.
Thus a peaceful time passed... and eventually the sun sank completely, and the surroundings were enveloped in darkness.
...Yes, the night—the true main event of this trip—had arrived.