"Oh, wow."
The words slipped from Rei's mouth the moment he arrived at the Lord's Manor.
The reason was plain to see—even from outside the gates, the plants growing within the manor grounds had clearly undergone a dramatic growth spurt.
It was spring, so naturally, plants would grow.
But for them to have shot up more than two meters overnight was clearly abnormal.
And if it was abnormal, there had to be a reason. Rei had already guessed what that reason was.
"Yeah... well, for starters. This is Lunora and the others' handiwork, right? From their meal?"
When he asked one of the soldiers serving as gatekeeper, the man quietly averted his gaze.
The area in front of the Lord's Manor today was clearly different from usual.
Normally, a crowd of merchants would be lined up to call on Daskar regarding the Expansion Construction. Today, not a single one was in sight.
Moreover, the number of soldier gatekeepers stationed in front of the Main Gate was visibly larger than before.
The reason for this lay in yesterday's incident—that much was obvious.
"Well, I was told to expect you. Go on inside."
At the gatekeeper's word, Rei and his group entered the Lord's Manor.
The first thing to catch their eye was, unsurprisingly, the same vegetation that had been clearly visible even from outside the gates.
It was a scene that might make one doubt whether this was truly the Lord's Manor at all.
"This is incredible," Elena murmured, genuinely impressed.
Ielo, cradled in her arms, let out a cry of surprise at the drastically altered scenery—this despite having visited the manor several times before.
"This is... remarkable," Marina said, her expression a mix of astonishment and admiration.
When she had first heard about the Green Demi-humans from Rei, she had wondered whether forcing plants to grow might place a burden on them.
But seeing the plants directly, she could tell they were under no strain whatsoever. If anything, they were flourishing.
"Anyone would be surprised. ...I was, when I first saw it too."
Rei nodded to Elena and Marina, making it clear he understood their reaction.
In truth, the growth before him was clearly more advanced than what he had witnessed just yesterday. What Lunora and the others had demonstrated then should have only been a few centimeters at most.
In other words, what I saw was treated like a light snack, so the plants only grew a few centimeters? If Lunora and the others ate a full meal and could consistently produce this much growth... then I wouldn't have to worry about the trees in the Treant Forest running out. Though soil nutrients and things like that would still be a concern.
Taking in the scenery as they walked, the group soon arrived at the front of the manor building.
"Guru."
"Kyu?"
Set and Ielo headed off to the courtyard together, without Rei needing to say a word.
It was true they were doing this without any explicit permission from Daskar, but given Daskar's disposition, it was obvious he would see something of this level as no problem at all. In all the countless times Rei had visited the Lord's Manor, he had never once been called out for it.
Thus, opening the manor door with practiced ease—
"Welcome."
—a Maid was waiting for them just beyond, which, in a way, was to be expected.
The Lord's Manor was currently under strict security due to the presence of the teleported Green Demi-humans and Lizardmen.
That meant even Rei's group—which included Marina, an old acquaintance of Daskar's, and Zozo, the highest-ranking among the teleported Lizardmen—could not simply walk freely through the mansion.
"Where is Daskar right now? I'm sure things have been hectic with yesterday's incident, but could you guide us to him?"
"Certainly."
The Maid nodded immediately at Marina's request.
With any ordinary visitor, she would not have responded so readily.
But Marina was a special case in many respects.
She had been coming and going from this Lord's Manor since Daskar was a boy, so when the maids were hired, they were thoroughly educated about her status.
To Daskar, she was something of a quasi-older sister—though he would never admit it himself—and that was precisely why such liberties were permitted.
...Though the fact that she had Zozo with her and already knew the full situation was probably a significant factor as well.
"Right this way."
With those words, the Maid took the lead and set off.
Their destination was not the usual office, but the Grand Hall—the one used for hosting parties.
Inside, alongside Daskar, his subordinates, and escorting knights, were the figures of the Green Demi-humans and Lizardmen.
"Oh, you're here. ...That's quite a crowd again."
"Ara, there are many fascinating aspects to this situation. Besides, as Rei's companions, it's only natural we'd come, wouldn't you say?"
Daskar opened his mouth to retort to Marina, who said this with a smile, but since she knew embarrassing stories from his childhood—dark history, one might call it—he couldn't very well argue back so carelessly.
Besides, leaving the Lizardmen aside, it was true that he genuinely had things he wanted to ask Marina, a Dark Elf, regarding the Green Demi-humans starting with Lunora, given their abilities.
Marina probably came because she heard about their abilities from Rei and got interested, too.
Daskar thought this while turning his gaze toward Zozo.
Zozo, standing behind Rei, glanced at his subordinate Lizardmen. Confirming that none of them were injured, he showed no further interest and remained standing quietly behind Rei.
"Rei, were there any problems on your end between yesterday and today?"
Understanding that this was really about Zozo, Rei nodded immediately.
"No, none at all. Honestly, he's so obedient now I'd almost think he was a different person from when we first met."
"Oh? Does that mean the Lizardmen over there might turn out the same? You won Zozo's obedience by defeating him in combat, right? Which would mean..."
Daskar murmured, glancing over at the Lizardmen, but Rei couldn't exactly encourage fighting.
Whether Zozo had truly submitted because Rei defeated him in battle, or whether Zozo alone possessed such a nature—no, such a personality—was the real question.
And since that much was unclear.
If it was simply Zozo's personality alone, then provoking fights with the Lizardmen to subjugate them would be highly problematic.
Especially since the Lizardmen most likely belonged to some nation, if anything went wrong, the fallout would only be that much greater.
Naturally, Daskar arrived at the same conclusion just as Rei had, and quickly shook his head.
"Better not, then."
"I'd advise against it."
"Ah, Lady Elena. I apologize for the late greeting."
"No, I understand you have your hands full, so please don't worry. Still... this is truly splendid..."
Elena's gaze was directed toward Lunora and the others.
Even for Elena, the fact that even their skin was green was extremely rare.
"Ah. That, is it. ...Did you see the plants near the gate?"
"Yes, they seemed to have grown far beyond anything I'm familiar with."
"When I asked Lunora and the others how much they could manage, it turned out that in one day—no, since they arrived at the mansion yesterday, so really about half a day or so—they produced what you see now. A happy miscalculation."
"Half a day..."
Elena was surprised by the mention of half a day, but in reality, that period included Lunora's group's sleeping time, so the actual duration was even shorter.
Rei, listening nearby, was more astonished that they had managed to convey such complex intent through gestures alone.
Having experienced firsthand how difficult gesture-based communication was, he fully appreciated the challenge.
Simple communication was not all that difficult, but once the exchange became complex, the difficulty of conveying meaning through gestures alone rose exponentially.
Lord Daskar, having experienced that firsthand, must have realized that teaching Lunora's group words and writing is absolutely essential. The same goes for the Lizardmen.
With that thought, Rei addressed Daskar.
"It's impressive that you managed to get something that complex across to Lunora and the others."
"Glad you understand."
Daskar murmured with a heartfelt expression.
Seeing that, one could easily imagine just how arduous that exchange must have been.
Though, admittedly, it wasn't necessarily Daskar himself who had communicated with Lunora's group through gestures.
In fact, considering that someone in Daskar's position as lord couldn't afford to have his time consumed by such things, it was far more likely he had left the task to his subordinates.
"At any rate, it's good that Lunora's group's abilities have been clearly established."
"Indeed. It was a great deal of work, but it was worth it."
Daskar murmured earnestly.
Seeing his demeanor, Rei guessed that he was simply pleased to have found a path forward regarding the Treant Forest situation.
That said, it was unknown how frequently Lunora's group would need to eat, and bringing them all the way to the Treant Forest for every meal would certainly be burdensome.
In that case, having Lunora's group live in the Treant Forest would be the best option, but... the Treant Forest is a bit of a problem. If it were up until yesterday, it would have been fine.
Considering that they had teleported in while under attack by Lizardmen, and that more of Zozo's comrades might transfer in as well, settling Lunora's group in the Treant Forest would be difficult.
There was even a worst-case scenario where Lunora's group was carelessly allowed to live in the Treant Forest, only for Lizardmen to teleport in before anyone noticed, resulting in everyone being killed.
"Well, regardless of what we do, the first thing we need is a means of communication."
"...You're right."
Daskar nodded with a heartfelt expression at Rei's words.
That was how difficult it must have been to communicate with Lunora's group from yesterday through today.
Then again, thinking about Lunora, who had picked up Rei's name so quickly, it didn't seem like it would take them all that long to learn the language.
"By the way, did the Lizardmen cause any problems? Zozo ended up coming with me, after all."
"No problems. Zozo, was it? Thanks to that Lizardman firmly instructing them beforehand, they didn't cause any particular issues and stayed quiet."
"I see. That's good, then."
While conversing with Daskar, Rei glanced back at Zozo standing behind him.
Zozo, receiving the look, showed a brief flicker of unease in his eyes—perhaps unsure why such a gaze was directed at him—but it vanished just as quickly.
He couldn't show a disgraceful appearance before Rei. That must have been it.
"Zozo, if you have anything to say to the Lizardmen, you can go over and talk to them."
As he spoke, Rei gestured toward where the Lizardmen were gathered.
Perhaps reading what Rei meant from his demeanor, Zozo hesitated for a moment.
But if it was a matter of his master—Rei—showing consideration for him, he gave a bow and then set off walking toward the Lizardmen.
"He follows your instructions quite obediently."
Daskar murmured, clearly impressed.
The hint of envy in his voice was probably not just Rei's imagination.
That said, from Rei's perspective, Daskar already had many fiercely loyal subordinates, so he found himself wondering whether Daskar really needed to be that envious.
Though I guess not every single one of them is like that.
If anything, having a large number of people with the same level of devotion as Zozo would feel extremely unnatural.
Not that this meant there were traitors among Daskar's subordinates.
He couldn't say for certain that there weren't, but judging by how the subordinates treated Daskar, it was safe to say that even if such individuals existed, there wouldn't be many.
"Now then, Rei. About today's matter—"
Before Rei could say anything further about Zozo, Daskar changed the subject.
Feeling somewhat saved by the interruption, Rei nodded.
"You mean the Treant Forest situation. What about the woodcutter escorts?"
"I contacted the Guild and had them gather a certain number of skilled adventurers. ...Ideally, I'd want to deploy knights and soldiers in force, but making such a show of things right now would be politically problematic for various reasons."
"Ara, but... the woodcutters and adventurers who witnessed yesterday's incident are probably getting drunk at taverns and telling all sorts of tales as we speak. It won't be long before rumors start spreading, you know?"
At Marina's words, Daskar's expression twisted into one of visible displeasure.