"So that's why this Lizardman is here."
Having heard the situation from Rei, Marina directed her gaze toward Zozo standing in her yard with an exasperated expression.
Normally, Rei wouldn't have wanted to bring Zozo here in the first place.
Given that Zozo was clearly the one leading the Lizardmen who had teleported in, Rei had wanted him to stay behind and manage the others.
But no matter how much Rei used gestures to tell him to remain at the Lord's Manor and lead the other Lizardmen, Zozo refused to comply.
Since Zozo had been following Rei's orders up until then, he made it clear through his attitude just how important it was for him to remain at Rei's side.
In the end, the one who caved first wasn't Rei... but Daskar.
On the condition that Rei order—no, command—Zozo to ensure that the Lizardmen remaining at the Lord's Manor absolutely would not riot, Daskar permitted Zozo to accompany Rei.
Now Zozo wore a tamed monster collar around his neck, much like Set's, making him both officially and in practice Rei's tamed monster.
And since Zozo had become Rei's tamed monster, it naturally meant that if Zozo caused any problems, Rei would be the one held responsible.
Rei wanted Zozo to avoid causing trouble as much as possible.
That said, compared to their first meeting, Zozo's attitude had undergone a complete transformation.
The contempt Zozo had initially shown toward Rei was nowhere to be found anymore.
"Ah... so where are Elena and Ara?"
Judging that Marina would only have more to say if the conversation continued, Rei tried to change the subject.
Currently, the only ones in Marina's yard were Rei, Marina, Byune, Set, and Zozo.
Vihera was probably heading back to Gilm right about now, swapping places with the reinforcements who had gone to the Treant Forest, so the only ones whose whereabouts were unknown were Elena, Ara, and Ielo—two people and one creature.
Marina naturally understood what Rei was thinking when he brought that up, but she had no intention of pressing him further, so she went along with the topic.
"It seems Elena and Ara suddenly had an interview scheduled with some Noble Faction nobles."
"Suddenly? That would mean..."
"Probably."
When Rei said that while looking at Zozo, Marina nodded in agreement.
Zozo, receiving their gazes, remained perfectly still and showed no sign of taking any action.
"Where did the information leak from?"
"Information leaks from everywhere. But the most likely sources would be the woodcutters or adventurers."
The woodcutters and adventurers had seen Lunora and Zozo's groups teleport into the Treant Forest with their own eyes.
And the woodcutters had finished work early and returned to Gilm.
Naturally, if those woodcutters drank at taverns and similar establishments, they would talk about the beings who had teleported in.
Noble Faction nobles... no, even King's Faction nobles or Neutral Faction nobles other than Daskar had many people gathering intelligence in Gilm.
For those engaged in information gathering, hearing reports from such woodcutters and adventurers was a matter of course.
And having obtained the information, they would have understood what had happened and brought it to Elena... that was probably how it went, Rei reasoned.
"Well, I don't think Lord Daskar will try to handle this matter on his own, so that's fine."
If things stayed as they were, it would be one thing, but if someone else teleported in going forward, handling the situation with Gilm alone would be difficult.
In that case, Daskar would naturally reach out to the other factions as well.
And the first ones he would approach would be the Noble Faction, with whom they had a cooperative relationship, so it wasn't unreasonable for him to consider it acceptable for the Noble Faction to know some of the details.
"You're right. Still... the Lizardmen aside, those Green Demi-humans, huh."
At Marina's murmuring, Rei gave her a look as if asking whether she might know something.
Byune, perhaps concerned about where Vihera was, also turned her gaze toward Marina while eating a small bite-sized sandwich—a pre-dinner snack.
As always, Rei couldn't read Byune's expression, but the fact that she was looking in that direction meant he could at least guess she was probably worried about Vihera.
"I see. Based on your experience as an adventurer, do you have any knowledge about them?"
Marina had been an adventurer before becoming the Guild Master.
And given her lifespan as a Dark Elf, she had been one for a considerably long time.
That was why Rei asked, thinking she might have some knowledge about the Green Demi-humans, but Marina shook her head.
"No, unfortunately I don't know anything about that."
"I see. There's the Lizardman matter too, so I thought maybe... Hm? What is it, Zozo?"
He suspected they were beings from another world, but the fact that Lizardmen existed meant the Green Demi-humans might exist in this world as well.
Rei's expectation proved wrong, and when he noticed Zozo shifting, he turned his gaze that way—only to find Zozo frozen in astonishment.
It was as if time itself had stopped, or someone had pressed a pause button. Puzzled by Zozo's state, Rei followed his gaze.
At the end of Zozo's gaze was Ielo, flying through the air straight toward its friend, Set.
The moment Zozo saw Ielo's figure, he had stopped moving completely.
"Um, Zozo?"
Perhaps noticing Rei's bewildered question, Zozo looked at Rei, then at Ielo, then back at Rei, then at Ielo again, repeatedly turning his head back and forth.
To Rei, it was puzzling that Zozo—who had stayed at his side ever since kneeling before him—would show this level of agitation.
"Is there something about Ielo?"
"Kyu?"
Ielo had been flying toward Set, but perhaps noticing its own name from Rei's mouth, it changed course and headed for Rei instead.
The sight of it flying earnestly with its small body gave viewers a sense of cuteness distinct from Set's appeal.
With Ielo drawing near, Zozo snapped to rigid attention.
Well, Lizardmen are lizardmen, and Ielo is a Black Dragon. Given that they're similar kinds of beings, there might be something to it... though Ielo is clearly treated as the superior.
Ielo landed safely on Rei's outstretched palm and let out a "Kyu?" while looking at Zozo.
It was probably curious because there was someone unfamiliar nearby.
Receiving that look from Ielo, Zozo knelt down once again, just as he had done in the Treant Forest.
And the one he knelt before was not Rei... but Ielo, perched on Rei's palm. Of that there was no doubt.
"...What exactly is going on here?"
At that exact moment, Elena and Ara entered the courtyard.
For the two of them, the sight of a Lizardman kneeling before Rei and Ielo spread out before their eyes—so it wouldn't be strange for them to find it peculiar.
A Lizardman inside Gilm was clearly unusual. It was unusual, but... seeing the tamed monster collar around its neck, there was no mistaking it was a tamed monster.
And with Rei present, a Lizardman being tamed was hardly surprising.
Of course, Elena knew that Rei wasn't actually a Tamer, but even so, the fact that she dismissed the sight simply because it was Rei spoke volumes about how he was perceived.
"It's related to the matter Elena heard about. ...Have you not been told about Zozo?"
"Umu."
"To put it simply, this Lizardman also teleported in, and when I defeated it, it started following me. It wouldn't listen when I told it not to come along, so it ended up here. Then the moment it saw Ielo, for some reason it suddenly acted like this."
It was a brief explanation, but for Elena and Ara, who were accustomed to Rei's antics, that was enough to be convinced.
"I see. ...Zozo, was it? That Lizardman, from what I can tell, doesn't seem like an ordinary Lizardman... hm?"
Zozo, who had been kneeling before Ielo, raised his face at the conversation between Rei and Elena, and the moment he saw Elena, he knelt again—no, he knelt even more deeply than he had toward Ielo.
So deeply that it seemed as if he might press his face into the ground.
"...Rei?"
"Well, I expected as much."
In response to Elena's questioning look, Rei replied curtly.
If his guess was correct, Lizardmen... or perhaps only Zozo's race, harbored a deep reverence toward dragons.
That was why Zozo showed respect toward Ielo, a Child of the Black Dragon, and knelt this deeply before Elena, who had inherited an Ancient Dragon's magic stone.
"Zozo's race probably regards dragons as equals to gods."
With that single statement, Elena understood what Rei was trying to say.
"I see. But... quite frankly, this seems a bit much."
"I won't deny it."
Elena understood that she was regarded with respect by many due to her alias, the Princess General.
But even so, receiving something this intense—something akin to a desperate, life-or-death prayer—had only happened a handful of times.
Though the fact that even within that handful, she knew someone who treated her with the same worshipful attitude as Zozo did was itself a special case.
In any case, for Zozo, who held such deep reverence for dragons, Elena—who had inherited the magic stone of an Ancient Dragon, the pinnacle of dragonkind—must have seemed like a god itself.
Could Zozo actually be a Dragonewt rather than a High-ranking Species or Rare Species of Lizardman? Then again, maybe Dragonewts are simply the High-ranking Species of Lizardmen.
In Rei's mind, a Dragonewt was a being even closer to dragons than a Lizardman. ...Naturally, this was based on knowledge from anime and manga he had seen in Japan.
If Zozo was indeed a Dragonewt, then his current attitude toward Ielo and Elena made perfect sense.
"You won't deny it... For now, could you tell him to stand? Like this, we can't even have a conversation."
"That said, given Zozo's current state, I don't think he'd listen even if I said something to him."
With Zozo displaying an attitude as if he had beheld a god, Rei couldn't imagine him listening to anything he said.
Elena hesitated over what to do.
Still, since they couldn't just leave him like that, she eventually addressed Zozo directly.
"Stand."
Whether or not he heard those words, Zozo raised his head... but since he couldn't understand what Elena was saying, he didn't know what was expected of him and lowered his head once more.
"Rei."
Elena looked at him with a troubled expression.
Finding something refreshing in Elena's demeanor, Rei moved beside Zozo and tapped the kneeling Lizardman on the shoulder.
Zozo startled at the sudden tap on his shoulder.
He had been so tense about Elena's presence that he apparently hadn't noticed Rei approaching at all.
Rei used gestures to signal Zozo to stand.
Eventually, Zozo seemed to understand what was being asked.
He looked at Rei, then at Elena, and then carefully rose to his feet.
Seeing Zozo finally stop kneeling before her, Elena nodded with satisfaction.
"Umu. Paying respect to the Ancient Dragon's magic stone within me is fine, but there is no need to direct it at my person. In the first place, you are Rei's tamed monster, are you not? ...Ah, but you cannot understand our words, can you."
Elena said that to Zozo, then looked at Rei with a troubled expression, but Rei shook his head at her gaze.
She wanted him to translate what she had just said.
That was probably what Elena was hoping for, but while it might be manageable for something simple, translating those words through gestures seemed impossible to Rei.
"For now, Zozo has stopped kneeling, so let's leave it at that. To communicate more precisely, we'll need to wait until Zozo learns the language..."
Rei's words trailed off at the end because he was worried about when—or whether—Zozo would ever learn their language.
Since Zozo had defined his own position as something akin to Rei's servant or vassal, Rei worried that he might not have the time to study the local language like the Green Demi-humans or the other Lizardmen.
If that happened, they would end up communicating through gestures indefinitely.
That was something Rei honestly wanted to avoid if at all possible.