Rei averted his gaze from the text displayed on Zozo's stone tablet.
The urge to avoid reading what was written there must have been that strong.
That said, he couldn't keep looking away forever. With a hesitant—truly hesitant—air, Rei spoke in a voice meant for the three others present: Elena, Marina, and Vihera.
And, though Zozo likely hadn't noticed, also for Grimm, who was watching the scene through the Paired Orbs concealed among the room's ornaments.
"Gran Dragonia Empire. Does anyone recognize the name of this country?"
Rei was already half-convinced that Zozo had come from another world, but he asked anyway. The three women shook their heads as expected.
Rei quietly glanced toward the Paired Orbs. Grimm was shaking his head too.
"Zozo, have you ever heard of country or city names like the Kingdom of Mireana, the Bestia Empire, or Gilm?"
Rei's words appeared on the stone tablet. Zozo studied the text, seemingly trying to recall something... then eventually shook his head.
'No, unfortunately I do not recognize any of them. I have heard the name Gilm because I was taught it during my time here, but I had never heard of it before coming to this place.'
"...Figured as much."
Zozo's words were enough to confirm Rei's hypothesis—that they had teleported from another world.
Of course, the possibility that they had come from another continent hadn't been entirely eliminated yet.
"Still... I figured it was a country, but that's quite a grandiose name," Vihera remarked.
Given that she had been born and raised in the Bestia Empire, the Gran Dragonia Empire—another nation under an imperial system—had naturally piqued her interest.
Her words, however, weren't particularly welcome to Rei.
When it came to Zozo's background, honestly, he didn't want to think about it right now.
He knew this was something he couldn't avoid in this matter.
He knew that, but the position of Thirteenth Prince was still not an amusing prospect for Rei.
(The one saving grace is that he's the thirteenth prince, I suppose. If he'd been the First Prince or something, things might have gotten seriously out of hand. But as the Thirteenth Prince, it's honestly questionable whether he'd even be treated as a member of the Imperial Family.)
It was a silver lining.
Even so, the reason he couldn't be completely at ease was because Zozo was a Lizardman.
It was entirely possible that in Zozo's country—the Gran Dragonia Empire—even the thirteenth prince could wield considerable influence.
"...Hmm? Wait a minute. Could it be that the Lizardman Zozo defeated the other day was actually someone important?"
That figure had spoken to Zozo from a clearly superior position.
If so, then he likely held a rank above a certain level.
At Rei's words, Zozo spoke.
'That person is my brother. The Eleventh Prince, Zaza.'
"Why would two members of the Imperial Family be leading Lizardmen to attack the Green People? I'll ask just in case, but is there a war or something of the sort between Lunora's group and your Gran Dragonia Empire?"
Now that they could finally communicate, Rei asked why Zozo's group had been attacking Lunora's group.
...Two members of the Imperial Family had come to Gilm, and not only that, he had gone so far as to tie one of them up and transport him by carriage.
(Well, if we're talking about being tied up, Zozo counts too. Though Zozo quickly obeyed me and had his ropes removed.)
Thinking about it, he had actually tied up both Zozo and Zaza—two members of the Gran Dragonia Empire's Imperial Family who had come to this world.
Zozo obeyed him, so there probably wasn't an issue there, but Zaza had clearly harbored hostility toward him.
If so, it could even become a diplomatic issue.
(Though that's assuming the Gran Dragonia Empire exists in this world.)
Rei was already convinced they were beings from another world, but that didn't mean he could make it public.
If he did, the question would be how he knew...
"Ah, right."
Rei's gaze flicked to the Paired Orbs for a moment.
During the winter incident, when Grimm had helped with the subjugation of the Eyeball, Rei had explained it away by claiming Grimm was his master.
If so, he could simply say he'd heard about this matter from his master as well, and that would settle it.
For starters, even regarding where Zozo had obtained the stone tablet, saying he borrowed it from his master would sidestep any trouble.
"Right. I'll have my master work hard again this time."
"...Master?"
Noticing Rei's mutter, Vihera prompted him, and he explained the idea to the rest of the group.
Zozo had questions about the name Grimm that appeared on the stone tablet and various other circumstances he didn't understand, but since Rei wasn't offering explanations, he kept silent.
"Yeah. Using my master's backstory is the best way to account for the stone tablet Zozo has and the fact that Zozo's group came from another world. With the Eyeball too, I had him do something like forcibly teleporting it through a spatial rift."
I see, the room seemed to say.
Those who heard Rei's explanation—everyone except Zozo—nodded in understanding. But Elena immediately spoke up.
"The stone tablet is one thing, but another world... what about that? Given that there's no clear basis or evidence at this point, it's just your feeling, isn't it, Rei? Since it's you saying it, I'm willing to believe you. But from an objective standpoint, there's still not enough proof."
"True, I understand what Elena's saying. In that case, instead of declaring outright that they came from another world, how about just hinting at the possibility?"
Rei couldn't say he had no reservations about Marina's suggestion.
But if someone demanded proof that Zozo's group had come from another world, the truth was that it remained nothing more than Rei's instinct.
...The fact that Zozo's group didn't know the Kingdom of Mireana or the Bestia Empire could also be explained by saying they came from another continent. And that couldn't be denied.
"Yeah, you're right... That would be better."
In the end, Rei couldn't object to the opinion and nodded frankly.
"If we just hint at the possibility, it should be fine, don't you think? If it comes down to it, we can just say 'that's what I said at the time.' Besides, Daskar wouldn't dismiss what Rei says that readily."
That was Marina's opinion, born from having known Daskar since he was a child.
Of course, Marina also knew things that could be called Daskar's dark history, so if it came down to it, she still had the last resort of using that leverage.
"I see. Well then, we'll inform Lord Daskar about this matter tomorrow... and move on to the next problem. The one and only, biggest problem."
Cutting off there, Rei turned his gaze back to Zozo and spoke.
"I think I asked earlier, but why were you guys attacking Lunora's group?"
It was something he absolutely needed to ask, given what lay ahead.
As far as Rei had seen, Zozo's group had been attacking Lunora's group without exception.
Since Rei needed them to get along with Lunora's group going forward, he couldn't just leave the matter alone.
Daskar in particular had high expectations for the Green People and their ability to grow plants—more so than for Zozo's group of Lizardmen.
If Zozo's group were to attack Lunora's group again going forward, it was obvious whose side Daskar would take.
As the lord of Gilm, Daskar naturally had to support whichever side benefited Gilm.
'It was by order of His Majesty the Emperor. The green ones'—'
"Hold on."
Rei cut off Zozo as he tried to explain.
Meeting Zozo's questioning gaze, Rei asked about something that had caught his attention.
"What race are Lunora's group? We've been calling them Green People here based on their color."
'Green People, is it. I see... As for their race, I do not particularly know. They have been called the green ones for as long as anyone can remember.'
"The green ones... so it's not much different from Green People. What race do Lunora's group call themselves?"
'Nothing in particular. Ourselves, us, we, our group... they use various terms, but there seems to be no fixed name.'
"That's rather... unexpected."
At Zozo's words, Rei muttered with genuine surprise.
He had always assumed there would naturally be a word to describe one's own people—something like a race name.
'That too is likely one of the reasons those people are disliked by His Majesty the Emperor.'
"Is that how it works?"
To Rei, not having a word to describe themselves was honestly questionable.
But the real question was whether an emperor would really go so far as to persecute an entire people just for that.
(Well, since he's a Lizardman emperor, it wouldn't be strange for his fundamental way of thinking to differ from a human's.)
In fact, Zozo was quite peculiar even from Rei's perspective. ...Well, obeying whoever defeated you might not be all that rare, but the words displayed on the stone tablet clearly felt off.
(Is the stone tablet's effect maybe bugged out a bit?)
He had thought the same thing when he first had Zozo use the stone tablet, but the way Zozo spoke kept nagging at him.
The speech that Rei knew—or rather, thought he knew—was nothing like this polite manner.
If this way of speaking was accurate, it would mean Zozo had approached him with this kind of language even when they first met, and that made no sense at all.
(Well, I can think about that later.)
Setting the thought aside, he asked Zozo again.
"Then I'll ask Lunora's group tomorrow, but is it a problem for us to call them Green People?"
'Yes. I do not believe that would be a problem.'
Seeing how readily he answered, it didn't look like he was lying at all.
If so, Rei judged that calling Lunora's group Green People was indeed not a problem.
"Got it. So we'll go with Green People for now... Do you know that the Green People possess the ability to grow plants?"
'Yes, I know. Thanks to that ability, the Green People have been used in various convenient ways.'
"Figured."
Growing plants—and not forcibly through magic or Magic Items, but according to Marina the Dark Elf, growing them healthily and vigorously.
Just from his own imagination, Rei could think of countless ways the Green People could be useful and profitable.
Of course, that raised the question of why the emperor of the Gran Dragonia Empire had gone so far as to persecute Lunora's group.
(I can ask Lunora's group about that tomorrow.)
With that decided, Rei moved on to the next topic.
"Still, why would someone of princely rank be leading a small force to attack Lunora's group? And a prince other than Zozo, no less."
He asked casually, but it was actually a fairly important question for Rei.
He suspected that even though they called themselves the Gran Dragonia Empire, their scale might not be that large—that they might not have much in the way of usable combat power.
No, rather, precisely because they were a small nation, it wasn't impossible that they had adopted such a grandiose name as a semi-bluff to avoid being underestimated by outsiders.
However, Rei's expectation—in a way, a hopeful observation—was betrayed the next moment.
'I do not understand what His Majesty the Emperor is thinking either. However, the reason I participated in the battle is because one who holds the Right of Succession to the Throne must be a strong warrior.'
"...I see."
Hearing that explanation, Rei looked at Vihera.
Vihera's father—the emperor of the Bestia Empire—also had the kind of personality that believed one must be strong to be qualified for the throne. He had semi-deliberately tolerated civil war breaking out, even encouraging it.
From what Zozo was saying, the emperor of the Gran Dragonia Empire was probably similar.
Well, the Bestia Empire didn't require direct martial prowess from its succession candidates, but the Gran Dragonia Empire—as was evident from Zozo—demanded direct strength. That was where they differed.
After that, Rei continued gathering various information from Zozo, occasionally calming Grimm, who kept showing keen interest, and the night wore on.
It should be noted that the reason for the teleportation itself was something even Zozo didn't understand—which was quite a miscalculation for Rei.