After handing the Green People and the Lizardman over to Daskar, Rei immediately headed back to the Treant Forest.
It seemed that those who had just arrived at the Lord's Manor felt reassured after seeing the faces of the Green People and Lizardmen already under Daskar's protection.
That said, while the Green People were one matter, the real problem was the Lizardman.
Ideally, Zozo should have been the one to lead the Lizardmen.
However, Zozo followed Rei, and there was no way he would stay behind at the Lord's Manor to lead them.
That left only the Lizardman that Zozo had defeated.
And that Lizardman was by no means friendly toward the Green People or the residents of Gilm.
As a result, the bound Lizardman was disarmed and locked in the underground cell.
"Hmm. Well, as an outcome, wasn't that for the best?"
An adventurer who had remained at the Treant Forest replied after hearing Rei's explanation.
Rei had been worried about whether any new Green People or Lizardmen would appear in the Treant Forest while they were away, but fortunately, there had been no new teleportations.
Of course, since only Set could sense the signs of teleportation, there was a very real possibility that something had teleported somewhere in the Treant Forest and simply hadn't encountered them yet, just like yesterday.
"You think so? Honestly, I have a feeling that bound Lizardman is going to cause all sorts of trouble going forward. ...He didn't show any sign of submitting even after losing to Zozo."
Zozo followed Rei because Rei had defeated him.
If that was the case, then perhaps that Lizardman would also submit to Zozo — or so Rei had thought, but... unfortunately, there was no sign of that whatsoever.
Whether this was a trait unique to Zozo, or whether they simply didn't mind losing to one of their own kind, or whether there was some other reason entirely, Rei couldn't say for certain.
But the fact remained that the Lizardman was a troublesome existence.
"It would've been best if Zozo could make that guy submit."
At Rei's murmur, Zozo, who had been keeping watch while surveying the surroundings from nearby, turned his gaze toward him.
Rei shook his head to indicate it was nothing, and once again considered the current situation in Gilm.
For now, things were somehow holding together.
But that was strictly "for now."
And the biggest reason things were holding together was, without a doubt, the presence of Rei and Set.
If that was the case, then what would happen if Rei were no longer around?
In terms of sheer strength alone, Gilm had gathered quite a few powerful individuals.
But the reason they had been able to interact amicably with the Green People was simply because it was Rei.
...If asked whether absolutely no one else could have built a friendly relationship with Lunora and his group, the answer would likely be no.
Even so, Rei had actually engaged with Lunora's group in a friendly manner and tamed Zozo, who was likely a High-ranking Species or Rare Species among the Lizardmen, and presumably a fairly high-ranking existence.
If asked whether someone else could do the same, the majority would answer that perhaps they could.
That was precisely why a replacement for Rei wouldn't be found so easily, and if the Green People and Lizardmen continued teleporting in endlessly, Rei wouldn't be able to leave this place.
(As I thought, isn't it impossible for Gilm to handle this matter alone? Setting aside the hostile King's Faction, since we have Elena here, we could ask the Noble's Faction, with whom we're on friendly terms... no, even if that's impossible, at least borrow the aid of the Neutral Faction, the same faction as Lord Daskar.)
Thinking this, Rei stroked the head of Set, who had come over and was rubbing his body against him.
An adventurer who saw this scene up close was once again amazed at Rei's physical ability, which belied his appearance.
Set, whose body length exceeded three meters, was rubbing against him, yet Rei didn't waver in the slightest.
For Rei, the fact that he was used to it was a major reason.
"Grrrrl."
"Come on, I get it. More importantly, has anything strange happened?"
"Gruu!"
"All clear!" — Set cried out in response to Rei's words.
Watching the two of them, the adventurer nodded in admiration.
"No, looking at you two again, you really are amazing."
"You think so? To me, this is just normal."
Rei's words were genuine.
But precisely because of that, the adventurer, understanding this, looked at him with a mixture of admiration and exasperation.
"The fact that you consider this normal is already pretty off, if you ask me. ...Well, whatever. You're doing the job properly, so I've got no complaints on our end."
"I appreciate that."
In Gilm, their numbers had decreased, but there were still those who judged Rei by his appearance alone.
Outside of Gilm — especially in places where people didn't know Rei — that tendency was particularly pronounced.
If Set was with him, such people were fewer — though some still existed — but whenever Rei was alone, he would invariably be looked at with such gazes.
That was why he naturally felt a fondness for someone like the adventurer before him, who said such things. ...He understood that the man was only saying this because he knew Rei for who he was, though.
"Hey, Rei! We've got quite a few felled trees piled up, so come gather them up for us!"
When one of the woodcutters shouted that toward Rei, Rei apologized to the adventurer he had been talking to and left the area.
"Set, just play around here for a bit. If anything teleports in again, just let me know right away."
"Gruu..."
At Rei's words, Set let out a slightly disappointed purr.
Rei wouldn't have minded if Set came along, but the sooner — even if only by a few seconds — they detected something teleporting in, the better.
A mere few seconds could mean the difference between life and death in actual combat. That was just how it was.
"Sorry, Set. Ah... I'll treat you to yaki udon next time."
"Gruu."
Though not entirely satisfied, Set still gave Rei that response in reply.
The yaki udon sold at a stall near the place where they hauled the trees must have suited Set's tastes that much.
Given that the extra step of grilling the noodles alone elevated the flavor several ranks above the normal preparation, that was only natural.
(Yaki udon — didn't it have toppings like bonito flakes, aonori, and such? There was beni shoga too, come to think of it.)
Normally, beni shoga was famous as a garnish for yakisoba.
But when they made yaki udon at Rei's home, beni shoga was served as a garnish.
Then again... Rei puzzled over how to procure those ingredients as he walked through the Treant Forest with Zozo following him.
(Bonito flakes — those use bonito, right? From what I saw on TV back in Japan, they were boiling and drying bonito... At any rate, I could probably manage this by just trying it out. ...Though I'd likely waste a lot of bonito in the process. Oh, but before that — does bonito even exist in this world? ...Well, if there's no bonito, I could make it from another fish, maybe?)
In reality, making bonito flakes also required steps like introducing mold, but Rei had absolutely no understanding of such things.
Even so, the fact that he vaguely remembered the general process was probably good enough.
At the very least, all he knew about aonori was that since it was called "nori," it was probably a type of seaweed.
(Beni shoga — could I just cut ginger into thin strips and pickle it in vinegar? No, wait, since it's called beni shoga, the vinegar was red, right? Does that mean it's some special kind of vinegar?)
As Rei walked along thinking about such things, Zozo gave him a puzzled look.
He probably couldn't tell what Rei was thinking.
Then again, it likely never occurred to him that Rei was thinking about bonito flakes, aonori, and beni shoga.
"This way, Rei! Sorry, but could you give us a hand? We botched the felling!"
Rei snapped back to reality at the words of the woodcutter calling him, and understood why he had been summoned so urgently.
The tree that had been felled was leaning against another tree nearby.
In this situation, there was no telling when the leaning tree might lose its balance and fall.
Considering that, it was only natural to want the tree dealt with quickly for safety's sake.
"You botched it, huh."
At Rei's words, the woodcutter nodded with a bitter expression.
This woodcutter was one of those whom Rei had brought from another village.
Precisely because his skills as a woodcutter were high, he had come all the way to Gilm for work, so he clearly had feelings about this... a failed felling, so to speak.
That said, for the woodcutters, they weren't felling trees in a place they were familiar with, so it was understandable that they hadn't fully adapted yet.
According to what Rei had heard from the woodcutters, the trees growing in this Treant Forest had characteristics quite different from ordinary trees.
In that sense, the fact that Rei could effortlessly cut through trees from the Treant Forest — or any tree for that matter — using Death Scythe probably meant Rei himself was the unusual one in various ways.
"Sorry. Please lay this tree on the ground safely so there are no issues for the surroundings. Once you do that, we'll handle processing the branches and such on our end."
Following the woodcutter's instructions, Rei stored the felled tree in his Misty Ring, then took it out again in a manner that laid it flat on the ground.
For Rei, he could have simply pushed or kicked the tree down to the ground without bothering to store it in his Misty Ring.
However, with woodcutters and adventurer escorts in the vicinity, he judged it better not to do anything like that, just in case.
The adventurers and woodcutters immediately set to work on the tree now laid on the ground, stripping off its branches.
Rei and Zozo watched the scene.
It wasn't that they were finding the branch-stripping work tedious and doing nothing — rather, they were staying on guard against monsters attacking, and above all, against the possibility of Green People or Lizardmen teleporting in.
The woodcutters and adventurers were apparently somewhat accustomed to stripping branches, so the work itself was finished without taking much time.
"Rei, we're done, so the tree... What's wrong? Hey, don't tell me..."
When the woodcutter called out to Rei, Rei initially listened obediently, but suddenly turned his gaze toward the depths of the forest.
The woodcutter followed Rei's gaze, thinking "could it be," and the adventurers immediately moved to positions to protect the woodcutters.
"Don't worry."
But the words that came from Rei's mouth were those.
What was there to not worry about in this situation?
The woodcutter thought so, but the meaning of Rei's words became clear the next moment.
"BU MOOOOH!"
Letting out a cry that was almost like a war cry, a boar suddenly came charging out from the depths of the Treant Forest.
Rei felt relieved at the sight of the boar.
Of course, that wasn't to say a boar was an opponent to be taken lightly.
For those who worked in the forest, like woodcutters and hunters, a boar was a creature they would rather not encounter if possible.
Moreover, the boar that had appeared this time was a fairly large one, standing over one meter tall at the shoulder.
On top of that, sharp tusks grew from the boar's mouth, possessing a sharpness that couldn't compare to the rusty daggers that your average goblin might carry.
If an amateur encountered this boar, it wouldn't be strange for them to suffer a fatal injury.
There was no doubt that this boar posed that level of danger.
"Rei, ●●, ●●●●."
As Rei was about to take out a spear from his Misty Ring — not the Twilight Spear, but a disposable one that wouldn't matter if it broke — Zozo stepped out in front of him.
As always, Rei couldn't understand what he was saying. But even so, seeing Zozo draw his longsword from its sheath and take a stance, it was easy to imagine what he wanted to do.
"Got it. It's yours."
Zozo couldn't understand Rei's words either, but perhaps he grasped the general nuance, because he stepped forward with evident pleasure.
Seeing Zozo step forward, the boar charged straight ahead, intent on sinking its tusks into him — increasing its speed even beyond how fast it had been running before.
Rei had encountered boars in the mountains a few times while in Japan, but the boar now in Rei's line of sight was clearly larger than any he had seen before.
What's more, its physical capabilities were also superior to what Rei knew, and if this were Japan, it would have been enough to warrant calling hunters for a mountain hunt.
But Zozo, longsword in hand, stepped out in front of Rei without the slightest sign of fear... and charged toward the boar.
Zozo's running speed was clearly greater than before.
Closing the distance with the boar, Zozo slashed with his longsword as they passed each other... and before long, the boar tumbled along the ground at full speed, only stopping when it crashed into a tree.