"Grrrrrrrrr!"
That night, a roar suddenly echoed through Marina's house—and possibly reached the neighboring estates as well.
Naturally, hearing such a sound, Rei immediately sat up.
He was normally slow to wake, but Set's cry was clearly anything but ordinary. Perhaps because he sensed this half-instinctively, Rei didn't groggily fumble around like usual.
Practically still in his sleepwear, he threw on his Dragon Robe, slipped into his Sleipnir boots, and hurried out to the courtyard.
When he arrived, he found Zozo and Gaga already awake and scanning their surroundings.
Considering the earsplitting cry Set had just let out, it was only natural they'd wake. After all, Set had been sleeping in the same courtyard as them.
The women, including Elena, hadn't appeared yet—likely because they at least needed a moment to make themselves presentable.
At any rate, nothing seemed amiss in the courtyard itself. Rei had assumed some kind of monster was attacking Gilm, but that didn't appear to be the case.
"Set? What happened?"
Rei called out to him, but Set—who would normally let out a happy cry the moment he heard Rei's voice—remained rooted in place, staring fixedly at a single point. Even to Rei, his behavior was clearly abnormal.
"Set?"
Rei tried again, but Set still didn't budge, his gaze locked on the same spot.
"Rei, what was that cry about!?"
Marina burst out, and the rest of the group appeared at almost the same moment. They were all freshly roused, but each carried weapons—ready to respond to anything at a moment's notice. It was the hallmark of true warriors.
"I don't know. But judging by Set's state, something serious definitely happened."
Marina followed his gaze and, for the first time, noticed that Set had frozen in place, staring at a single point in the courtyard.
"Seems like you're right."
Set adored Rei more than anything. Yet with Rei standing right there, he showed zero reaction. To anyone who knew Set's usual behavior, it was enough to make them wonder if a natural disaster was imminent.
"So, what exactly is in the direction he's looking?"
Elena's question set Rei thinking. There were a few spots with food stalls that Set favored, but surely he wouldn't let out a cry like that in the dead of night over something happening at a stall. For that matter, how would he even know from all the way in Marina's courtyard?
Whatever the case, Rei understood one thing: whatever had set Set off wasn't trivial.
"Zozo, did you notice anything before Set cried out?"
'No, nothing in particular,' Zozo wrote on the Stone Tablet.
As a precaution, Rei had Zozo translate the question for Gaga as well, but unfortunately, Gaga hadn't noticed anything either.
"If neither of you caught anything, then what on earth..."
Then it hit him. Something similar had happened recently, hadn't it? Something Rei couldn't sense at all, but Set alone had detected—and the results had proven Set right.
Beyond that, there was the direction Set was facing. There was nothing in that direction within Gilm itself. But if you looked past the city, Rei realized what lay beyond.
After all, it was a place he'd been visiting every single day lately.
"The Treant Forest."
His voice was quiet, but no one present missed it—though Gaga looked puzzled.
"Wait. Does that mean what Set is sensing is... a teleportation precursor?"
During their nightly dinner reports, Rei had already explained that Set could sense the precursors of Lizardmen and Green People teleporting in. That was why Marina, connecting Set's behavior with his fixed stare toward the Treant Forest, realized he was likely sensing another precursor. However...
"I think that's probably it, but..."
Rei couldn't say for certain. In the past, teleportations had occurred at the Treant Forest while Rei was in Gilm, and Set hadn't been able to sense the precursors then. Which meant he had no idea why Set could detect one this time.
And precisely because he didn't understand...
"I guess the only option is to go check it out."
He muttered the words aloud. Standing here theorizing wouldn't accomplish anything. Actually going to the Treant Forest and seeing for himself would be far faster.
"But how? The Main Gate is closed at this hour, isn't it? Which means..."
Vihera, who'd caught his muttering, looked upward.
Normally, a barrier would be deployed overhead. Well, to be precise, while it wasn't as formidable as before, Daskar had been pulling strings since spring to have it reinstated. But it was nowhere near as powerful as it used to be. Someone of Set's caliber could punch through it without fail.
Breaking through would get them outside overwhelmingly faster than waiting for the Main Gate to open. Naturally, though, doing so would cause problems by tomorrow.
"Go, Rei."
Marina, following Vihera's gaze, gave the order flatly.
"But... is that really okay? There'll be fallout."
"The current problem takes priority over future ones. I can't say for certain whether it's a teleportation, but judging by Set's behavior, something major has definitely happened. In that case, you need to go check immediately. I'll handle Daskar."
She wasn't joking. Everyone present could see she was completely serious.
Rei, too, knew that getting to the Treant Forest even slightly sooner was the right call. After a few seconds of thought, he nodded.
"Understood. I'll leave the report to Lord Daskar in your hands. ...Set!"
"Grru!"
At Rei's call, Set—still frozen in place, staring toward the Treant Forest—finally turned to look at him. Seeing this, Ielo, who had been hovering nearby, let out a relieved cry.
It was only then that Rei noticed Ielo at Set's side. Ielo was Set's closest companion, but even years after its birth, it remained small unlike Set. Because of that, it had been hidden in Set's shadow when Rei came to the courtyard, and preoccupied with worry over Set, he hadn't spotted it.
"Sorry, Ielo. Set and I are heading out for a bit."
"Kyu..."
Ielo's cry carried a clear plea to come along.
"Rei, would you bring Ielo with you? Its defense alone is exceptional. It can handle most dangers."
"...Are you sure? I honestly have no idea what we're walking into."
"I don't mind. Besides... the destination is the Treant Forest, correct? If so, having Ielo along could prove quite useful."
Elena glanced at Zozo and Gaga as she spoke. Rei already knew that Gaga—though not to the same degree as Zozo—held reverent feelings toward Ielo and Elena. If something had happened at the Treant Forest, there was a fifty-fifty chance it involved Lizardmen, which meant Ielo's presence could genuinely help.
Rei thought for a few seconds, then nodded.
'Lord Rei, let me come as well.'
"No. We're flying, so I can't bring you. Sorry, Zozo, but stay here."
For Zozo, accompanying his lord was a matter of course. But Rei shot him down without a second thought.
If they were running along the ground on Set's back, he could have brought Zozo. But this time, Set would be flying—which meant bringing Zozo required either the Set Basket or having him cling to Set's legs mid-flight.
It had only been a few days since they'd met Zozo, but Rei already trusted him. At the very least, he didn't believe Zozo was the type to feign loyalty while secretly plotting betrayal. Given that, putting him in the Set Basket wouldn't be a problem, but with no way of knowing what was happening at the Treant Forest, there was no time to deploy it leisurely.
Besides, if they used the Set Basket, it wouldn't be strange for nearly everyone present—everyone except Marina, who was going to speak with Daskar—to insist on coming along. If battle awaited them, Rei might have considered that option. But this was reconnaissance.
That was why he intended to go alone.
The Set Basket was undeniably convenient for mass transport, but deploying and stowing it took time—boarding and disembarking included. Even if objectively it wasn't that slow, there was always the possibility of delays. And with Set's behavior making it almost certain something dangerous was unfolding, there was no time for leisure.
Looking at the visibly deflated Zozo, Rei pressed on.
"Wait here for us. Be ready to respond immediately if anything happens."
In a way, it was a pretext to leave Zozo behind. But since they couldn't determine what had happened from Set's behavior alone, having someone to guard this place was an undeniable necessity.
Zozo judged that pressing the issue would only burden Rei, and quietly obeyed.
"Set, we're busting out of Gilm. We might hit the barrier—just smash right through it."
"Grru!"
"Ielo, don't let go of me."
"Kyu!"
Confirming that both Set and Ielo had acknowledged his words, Rei swung himself onto Set's back.
"Take care of Ielo."
At Elena's brief instruction, Rei nodded and lightly tapped the back of Set's neck.
Recognizing the departure signal, Set took a few running steps across the courtyard and spread his wings.
Marina's courtyard was climate-controlled by Spirit Magic, so Rei half-expected some kind of resistance when launching from it. Fortunately, he felt nothing of the sort.
Set soared through the courtyard, climbed toward the sky above Gilm, and on the way, punched through the barrier with a light—truly faint—sensation.
Riding on Set's back, Rei felt a momentary flicker of resistance and briefly wondered if that was the barrier. But since nothing else impeded them and they emerged into open sky, he concluded that the faint sensation had indeed been the barrier.
Once out in the night air, he found he could clearly make out the moon. In Marina's courtyard, the surrounding lights had dimmed its presence. But here, suspended in the night sky, the moon demanded attention.
Not that the moon mattered right now. What mattered was confirming what had happened at the Treant Forest.
There was a chance that what Set had sensed wasn't actually about the Treant Forest. But despite that uncertainty, Rei held a firm conviction that it was. Set wouldn't cry out like that without reason—he believed that with absolute certainty.
"Set, let's go. The Treant Forest."
"Grrrru!"
"Ielo, don't fall."
"Kyu!"
Set and Ielo each cried out in response.
They set course for the Treant Forest. Rei kept a firm grip on Ielo to make sure it didn't tumble off Set's back, his mind racing with worry over what awaited them.
Given the sheer volume of Set's cry, it was impossible to believe nothing had happened. The only logical conclusion was that something extraordinary had occurred—and Set had sensed it.
After several minutes of flight, the Treant Forest came into view. Beside it, Rei spotted what appeared to be the wreckage of a massive structure.