Using the same method he had used to draw out Rorolunora's name, Rei succeeded in getting the Lizardman's name.
"Zozo, huh. Short name."
Rei muttered this under his breath upon hearing it, and Gyuramer, who had been watching the exchange beside him, nodded.
"True. However, names can vary considerably depending on the race, so I wouldn't advise making comments like that. Besides, if short names are the issue, the same could be said for you, Rei."
"Ah... well, when you put it that way, I suppose so. Anyway, what do we do from here? Given that Zozo is clearly showing through his attitude that he'll follow me, I don't think getting to Gilm will be all that difficult."
Since Zozo, who led the Lizardmen, was following Rei, and the other Lizardmen were in awe of the power Rei had displayed by defeating Zozo in a single blow, none of them would dare rebel.
That said, that obedience applied strictly to Rei as an individual. If asked whether they would also follow the instructions of other people from Gilm—for instance, Gyuramer, who was in charge of negotiations—Rei couldn't honestly nod in agreement.
"Hmm. I still think it would be better to have you come along with us."
If Zozo only obeyed Rei's orders, then Rei should come along with Zozo, and Zozo could order his subordinate Lizardmen to follow suit.
Gyuramer made that suggestion, but Rei couldn't simply agree to it.
"I understand what you're saying, Gyuramer, but we can't just leave this place unattended. Considering that Rorolunora and Zozo's groups each teleported here in two separate waves, there's no guarantee that someone else won't come through as well."
"That's..."
Whatever he wanted to say died in his throat, the painful truth of Rei's words leaving Gyuramer at a loss.
After all, if it had only been Rorolunora's group, that would have been one thing. But if a combative existence like Zozo teleported in, it was unclear whether the adventurers here could handle them.
No—even with Rorolunora's group, the other adventurers had only refrained from attacking because Rei was present. Without him, there was no guaranteeing that the adventurers, wary of the teleported arrivals, wouldn't have struck first.
Considering those circumstances, it was certain that someone with a certain level of skill needed to remain here.
Gyuramer understood this as well, which was likely why he couldn't argue back.
After thinking for a few seconds, Gyuramer turned his gaze toward the knights.
They had come as his escort, and their skill was exceptional. They possessed enough ability that even when fighting multiple opponents among the adventurers present—excluding Rei—they would likely prevail. At the very least, they seemed to have that level of competence.
However, the knight, understanding full well what Gyuramer was trying to ask, shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but we were dispatched here strictly as escorts for Gyuramer and the negotiation team. As such, we cannot remain here on our own judgment."
"Is there no way I could persuade you to reconsider? Whether the Lizardmen will move quietly or not depends on all of you."
There was also the option of leaving Zozo and the other Lizardmen here and taking only Rorolunora's group.
But considering that teleportation had already occurred twice, there was no guarantee it wouldn't happen again. And if a Lizardman like Zozo came through, things would undoubtedly go badly.
"In that case... should we summon a High-Rank Adventurer? Someone like Vihera might gladly come."
Since Vihera relished battles against strong opponents, Rei predicted that if he told her combative beings might teleport in, she would jump at the chance.
"I see. Then, may I ask you to handle that? For now, if I stay here, the knights would also..."
Gyuramer began, but when his gaze fell on Zozo, he stopped mid-sentence.
What Zozo was thinking, Gyuramer couldn't tell.
But the Lizardman was unmistakably following Rei. If Rei announced he was riding Set to Gilm, Zozo would undoubtedly insist on coming along—words or not.
And if that happened, it would certainly cause a commotion in Gilm.
Above all, if Zozo came along, he would need to cling to Set's legs during transport, and there was the question of whether Set would even tolerate that.
Noticing this as well, Rei glanced back and forth between Set and Zozo before approaching the Lizardman.
"I'm heading back to Gilm... where I live. I need you to wait here, Zozo."
He told him this, but naturally, the words didn't get through.
Even so, Rei used gestures to indicate that he should stay put.
At first, Zozo seemed not to understand what Rei was saying. But after Rei pointed at the ground repeatedly, Zozo knelt on the spot.
"...No, I didn't tell you to kneel."
Feeling the difficulty of communication on a deeply personal level, Rei had Zozo stand up once more, then pointed at the ground again.
Seeing Rei's gesture, Zozo tried to kneel once more, but Rei stopped him and simply pointed at the ground.
After repeating the same action several times, Zozo finally seemed to grasp what Rei was trying to say and stood in place, waiting.
Confirming this, Rei pointed at himself and Set in turn, then pointed in the direction of Gilm, and finally pointed at his own location once more.
He gestured to show that he and Set were heading toward the place he had pointed to—Gilm—but would return here. Fortunately, this time Zozo seemed to understand Rei's intent early and nodded deeply.
"Alright, looks like that worked somehow. I already knew this, but gestures really are something."
"The fact that it's getting through at all is what's strange," one of the knights said, watching Zozo and Rei with open puzzlement.
That said, since they shared no common language, Rei himself couldn't be entirely certain whether his true intent was actually getting through. It would only become clear once he actually rode Set and departed—whether Zozo would remain in place or take some other action.
"For now, I think it'll be fine, so I'm going to bring Vihera back with me. I'll also request the Guild to send over a few additional skilled adventurers."
With that, Rei walked over to Set.
Set, who could sense the signs of teleportation but couldn't detect specifically how many people—or what kind of beings—were coming through, seemed somewhat downcast.
"Gruu."
"Don't worry about it. Given those circumstances, it's no surprise you couldn't detect them."
He left unsaid the fact that they were arrivals from another world, and stroked Set comfortingly.
His actions seemed to provide sufficient encouragement. After Rei stroked him for about a minute, Set purred as if his earlier dejection had been nothing but a lie.
"Gururururu!"
"Glad it felt good. I need to head to Gilm now—will you fly me?"
"Gruu!"
In response to Rei's request, Set purred as if to say leave it to me and crouched low to make mounting easier.
Smiling at how quickly Set's mood shifted, Rei climbed onto his back and took to the sky toward Gilm.
Watching Rei and Set depart with visible astonishment was Rorolunora.
He felt gratitude toward Rei for using potions on him and shielding him from the Lizardman's attack. But entirely separate from that gratitude, he was simply stunned by the sight of Set carrying Rei into the air.
Whether it was Set's very existence that shocked him or the fact that Set carried Rei—that much was unclear to the others as well.
Zozo, too, stared intently at the retreating figures of Rei and Set soaring away.
From Zozo's perspective, he was staying behind only because Rei had told him to wait. Had there been no such order, he would have wanted to follow Rei wherever he went.
But Rei's orders took absolute priority over his own desires, leaving Zozo no choice but to remain and wait.
(Now, what should I do? If Rei were here, I could at least approach Zozo somewhat casually.)
From what Gyuramer could observe, Zozo obeyed Rei and Rei alone, with no intention whatsoever of following anyone else.
The only reason he hadn't attacked Gyuramer or Rorolunora's group was likely because Rei had forbidden him from doing so.
Without Rei present, it wouldn't be surprising if Zozo immediately set upon the others. He possessed the sort of intimidating presence that made such a thought entirely plausible.
Of course, the knights escorting Gyuramer would never allow such reckless behavior. Even so, regarding this particular situation, there was an undeniable element of uncertainty.
If it were only Zozo, there were the escort knights, and though perhaps somewhat lacking in combat power, the adventurers were present as well.
But if Zozo were to issue orders to the other Lizardmen, protecting everyone would undoubtedly become extremely difficult.
That was precisely why Gyuramer refrained from addressing Zozo directly and instead turned to speak with Rorolunora.
...Naturally, however, Gyuramer shared no language with Rorolunora either, so their exchange would rely entirely on gestures.
Given his personality, Rorolunora had no intention of attacking Gyuramer.
They somehow managed to communicate through gestures, while Zozo stood apart from the two of them at a distance. The adventurers and knights kept watch, ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble. The Lizardmen other than Zozo stayed quietly huddled together in one spot, awaiting orders. That was the scene that settled over the clearing.
"Hey, Rei! Is it safe for you to come back!?"
Seeing Rei land in front of Gilm's Main Gate, one of the Guards shouted almost reflexively.
News of the Abnormality at the Treant Forest had naturally reached the Guards as well... and more importantly, they had witnessed with their own eyes Dorain's frantic arrival, riding hard enough to nearly kill his horse. It was only natural for them to think the worst.
Most of the people who had been in line at that time had already completed their paperwork and entered Gilm, but a few still remained, watching Rei's state with deep curiosity.
"Yeah, I think it's fine for now. I'll need to head back there soon, though."
With that, Rei and Set quickly completed the entry procedures and slipped through the gate.
The Guards and some of those familiar with the situation wanted to hear more from Rei, but seeing how he looked, they apparently judged that this wasn't the time for conversation. None of them tried to approach him.
Of course, for those who weren't particularly close to Rei, there was also the simple hesitation of not knowing whether it was even appropriate to ask him about what was happening.
Leaving such people behind, Rei passed through the gate and headed straight for the Guild.
He had no idea how much information about the incident had reached them, but since he was about to drag Vihera away from her duties, he needed to have her temporarily suspend her town patrol requests.
(Though, if the information hasn't reached them, what reason do I give? I can't exactly just start talking about Rorolunora and Zozo's group on my own.)
What had happened at the Treant Forest was undeniably a major event in every sense of the word.
As such, Rei wrestled with whether he should tell the Guild—even if it were Lenora, his assigned receptionist, or Kenny, Lenora's close friend.
If these were people who had simply teleported from somewhere within Elgin through ordinary teleportation, it wouldn't have been such a problem. But Rei was convinced that Rorolunora and Zozo's group were beings that had come from another world entirely.
(Another world... don't tell me this has something to do with that Eyeball? No, a fair amount of time has passed since that battle. It's probably unrelated.)
That creature had endlessly produced—or perhaps continuously summoned—Cobolts, and its main body was a massive Eyeball with countless tentacles and an optic nerve tail. An extremely troublesome and profoundly eerie existence.
Considering that it had also entered and exited through spatial rifts, it too could be called a being from another world.
(No, wait. Maybe Grimm, who obtained that Eyeball's corpse, conducted some kind of strange experiment and... no. No way. Yeah. Probably not. Definitely not. ...It would be nice if not.)
Thinking such thoughts, Rei parted ways with Set and stepped through the Guild doors.