What Rei and Ielo saw as they emerged from the building was Set and... two carriages.
Stepping down from those carriages were faces Rei recognized well.
Elena, Marina, Ara, Zozo, and the knights.
Gaga's absence was likely a deliberate choice—they couldn't very well bring the Third Prince of the Gran Dragonia Empire to a place where no one knew what was happening.
Given Gaga's personality as Rei understood it, it wouldn't have been surprising for him to insist on coming along in a situation like this.
"When I heard someone was here... So Elena and the others came too."
"Umu. Tonight's matter is clearly different from everything before."
Elena murmured in response to Rei's words, gazing at the remnants of the castle—though calling them "remnants" was perhaps a slight exaggeration.
The building standing before them was clearly not something one could call ordinary.
Until now, the teleportations had mostly brought Lizardmen and Green People, but this time an entire building had come through.
This was by no means a normal situation.
...Though considering that Set had let out such a loud cry, it wasn't entirely surprising that something of this scale had happened.
"You're right. Honestly, I never expected a building to teleport here."
Marina looked at the building... and then at Zozo.
Zozo stood in a daze, staring at the building as if the voices of those conversing around him couldn't reach him at all.
It was night, not day. The building was illuminated not by sunlight but by moonlight, yet Zozo continued to stare at it unwaveringly.
Seeing his demeanor, it was only natural to think that this building had come from the world Zozo inhabited—that it was part of the castle of the Gran Dragonia Empire.
However, while previous teleportations had brought beings from the forest where the Green People lived, this time it was the Gran Dragonia Empire's castle that had teleported.
Furthermore, even when Lizardmen and Green People had previously teleported to the Treant Forest, it had only been living creatures; the surrounding vegetation and similar matter had never come along.
Despite that, this time alone, a building—albeit only a portion of the castle—had teleported in its entirety.
The phenomenon of teleportation itself was the same, but the implications were vastly different.
"Zozo, I believe this building is part of your country's castle... Am I wrong?"
Zozo, who had been staring fixedly at the building, finally seemed to return to his senses at Rei's voice.
After a moment's hesitation, he nodded and spoke.
『Yes, this is without a doubt a part of the castle in the capital of the Gran Dragonia Empire. Specifically, it is the Birth Tower.』
"Birth Tower?"
『We are born from eggs. The Birth Tower is a place where the eggs of those connected to the castle are enshrined and awaited to hatch, and simultaneously it serves as a place to educate the children who are born.』
"Ah... I see. So it really was that kind of place. When I searched inside this building, I found a room with eggs, children, and a woman who appeared to be their caretaker."
『Is... that so. Um... were there any problems?』
"No particular problems. They were a bit frightened, but the moment they saw Ielo, they dropped to their knees."
『That... would be expected, yes.』
Zozo could honestly understand the feelings of those who had knelt.
At the same time, he felt relieved from the bottom of his heart that the Lizardmen had not acted aggressively toward Rei, and he felt genuine gratitude toward Ielo, who was now playing with Set.
"Still, I only found one room. I haven't checked the rest of the building yet."
『I see. In that case, may I look around to reassure those who are feeling anxious?』
"Yeah, go ahead."
Honestly, Rei would have liked to ask all sorts of questions about this building—the Birth Tower.
But if there were other Lizardman women inside like the one he had just encountered, calming them down took priority.
Moreover, Zozo was the only one here who could accomplish that.
So his judgment was that it would be better to save the detailed questions for later.
At Rei's words, Zozo gave an elegant bow and entered the building.
"Was that the right call?"
"Well, if the Lizardman women watching over the children are anxious, resolving that will make things easier down the line."
Marina nodded in understanding at Rei's reply.
"You're right. I think that's for the best... It was a slightly unexpected answer from you, though."
"I understand well enough how Marina usually sees me. We might need to sit down and have a proper talk about that later."
At Rei's words, Marina quietly averted her gaze.
Watching what could easily be mistaken for a lovers' quarrel from a short distance away, the knights wore complicated expressions.
Roused from sleep and dragged out to the Treant Forest in the middle of the night, only to witness a lovers' quarrel.
Of course, they were surprised to see an unfamiliar building standing as if it had always been there beside the Treant Forest... but even so, they felt like grabbing Rei and demanding to know why he was having a lovers' quarrel under these circumstances.
And with a beauty like Marina, no less, who radiated the allure of a strong, capable woman.
It was only natural that they couldn't help wondering what on earth they had been brought here for.
"Lady Elena, now that this building has teleported here, do you think it's possible that whatever is connected to it on the other side might teleport here as well?"
As if the group's antics had nothing to do with them—though Elena had been eyeing Marina with a hint of envy—Ara and Elena were gazing at the building before them.
"Umu. Until now, only living beings have teleported here, but this time part of a castle came through. Considering that, there's no guarantee this will be the only time a building teleports... No, rather, this may be just the beginning, and from now on even larger structures could teleport here."
"That's... something I would rather not think about, if possible."
This time, the building had teleported to a spot adjacent to the Treant Forest, so there hadn't been any major problems.
But if the castle connected to this building were to teleport here... or worse, if not just the castle but the Imperial Capital itself were to appear, the very thought was terrifying.
The Treant Forest could be annihilated, which would be a devastating blow to Gilm.
That said, that was ultimately damage from Gilm's perspective.
It wasn't that Elena and Ara had no attachment to Gilm, but as members of the Noble's Faction, they also had to consider matters from that angle.
The possibility of another nation's capital materializing within their own borders was an event of enormous magnitude.
"Umu. I must inform my father about this matter urgently. Even if nothing else teleports, it would be better to have him warned about this."
"I agree. For the Noble's Faction to act as well, there would be various preparations to make."
Currently, the Noble's Faction maintained friendly relations with the Neutral Faction.
However, that friendly relationship existed only at the upper levels.
In fact, among the lower-ranking members of the Noble's Faction, there were those who had deemed cooperating with the Neutral Faction unacceptable and had even interfered with the Expansion Construction.
Though thanks to that incident, Elena had been able to come to Gilm where Rei was, so in a sense she was grateful for it.
Even so, she had no desire for leniency in the judgment of those who had orchestrated it.
As they were conversing, Rei and Marina approached, their lovers' quarrel apparently having run its course.
"I never expected not just Marina but Elena to come too. I was sure Vihera would be the one to show up."
"Vihera needs to look after Byune as well... Though considering how Set was acting, she might have wanted to come."
"Ah, I see."
Rei nodded at Elena's words.
Vihera loved battle, but she was also Byune's guardian.
Since Byune fundamentally had difficulty communicating with others, the role that could essentially be called Vihera's translation was indispensable.
In that sense, Rei understood why Vihera had stayed behind at Marina's house.
"Though even if Vihera had come, she would have just ended up bored, so I think staying behind was the right call."
Rei, Elena, and Ara all nodded in agreement at Marina's words.
A building teleporting in was certainly significant, but inside were only Lizardman children, eggs, and their caretakers.
In that sense, Vihera's instincts had been sharp.
"You're right. Even if Vihera had come, she would have been surprised by the building teleporting, but in the end she would have just gotten bored."
Everyone nodded at Rei's words, affirming Marina's statement from seconds ago... and right at that moment, Zozo emerged from the building.
However, it wasn't just Zozo who appeared.
Behind him were several adult female Lizardmen, and beyond them, several Lizardman children as well.
Among the children, some were looking around with keen interest while others were rubbing their sleepy eyes.
"Well then... so it really wasn't just the one room I found."
The building called the Birth Tower had a fair amount of floor space and height.
Considering that, Rei had suspected there was more than just the one room he'd found... but the number of people inside had apparently exceeded even his expectations.
"Is that right? Still... they're cute when they're small."
Marina said this in response to Rei's words as she watched the Lizardman children.
As a general rule, regardless of the creature, young ones tended to be cute.
In that sense, Lizardmen were probably no different.
"Hmm. As Marina says, looking at them like this, Lizardman children are indeed cute."
Elena nodded in agreement with Marina's words, and beside her, Ara was also watching the Lizardman children.
The knights likewise turned their gazes toward Zozo as he emerged from the building.
"Zozo, is everyone who came out with you everyone who was left inside?"
『No, that is not the case. There were some who absolutely refused to leave because they needed to watch over the eggs.』
Hearing about egg care, Rei recalled that the incubation machine his father in Japan used for chicken eggs had a device called an egg turner—literally turning the eggs—and wondered if that might be what they meant.
But Rei had no way of knowing whether Lizardman eggs required egg turning.
To begin with, even among egg-laying creatures, sea turtles—which would presumably be closer to Lizardmen—came ashore on beaches, dug holes, laid their eggs, and buried them under sand.
If they did something like that, there was naturally no way to perform any egg-turning procedure, so considering those circumstances, it was questionable whether Lizardman eggs needed egg turning at all.
If that was the case, then what exactly did the Lizardman women do to care for the remaining eggs?
Rei found this somewhat... no, quite fascinating, but right now, sorting out the building situation took priority over that.
"I see. That's fine, then. But the question is... what do we do about them? Take them to Gilm?"
Even as he asked, Rei felt that would be difficult.
It was a problem for the receiving side, and simultaneously a problem for the side being received.
For Daskar, having already taken in Gaga's numerous subordinates meant he was currently stretched to his limits.
Having curiosity-driven children who might run around as they pleased inside the Lord's Manor would be dangerous for both parties.
『No, considering the care of the eggs and children, I think it would be best to leave them here as they are. The Birth Tower is a comfortable living environment for Lizardmen.』
"Even so, this isn't the Gran Dragonia Empire—it's the Treant Forest. Is it really comfortable to live in? I'd imagine the environment is quite different."
Rei asked, but beyond the environmental concerns, it was easy to guess that some were simply afraid of going to Gilm, an unfamiliar place.
『As expected, they said they prefer a place they're accustomed to.』
"...I understand that, but this is the Treant Forest on the frontier. When night falls, you never know what kind of monsters might appear. If you come to Gilm, you'd be safe in town, but..."
『I said that as well, but when they insisted they couldn't just leave the eggs...』
At Rei's words, Zozo replied thus... and so it was decided that the knights would guard the building for the night.