Maids from the Lord's Manor carried in a massive quantity of sandwiches.
An amount that made one wonder if there was enough for thirty, forty, or even fifty people.
What could truly be called a mountain of sandwiches now spread before Rei's eyes.
Normally, eating at a training ground was far from ideal. There was no telling when dust and dirt from the grounds might settle onto the food.
However, with Marina present, that was another matter entirely.
Thanks to her Spirit Magic, dust and all other such irritants could not enter the space where they were eating.
If anything, the unfortunate ones in this case were the knights still training on the grounds.
After all, their lord Daskar was eating in a spot not far from where they were drilling.
Beyond that, Rei, Elena, Marina... and Daskar's subordinate civil officials were all eating together.
(Ah, is this... kind of like a sports day back in elementary school?)
As he ate his sandwich, Rei found himself thinking along those lines.
At an elementary school sports day, students' families would gather on the school grounds to eat together. When lunch break came, Rei recalled that even simple stalls selling ice cream and shaped candy would pop up.
Savoring a sandwich of lightly boiled mountain vegetables with a refreshing sauce and steamed chicken, Rei's thoughts drifted in that direction.
"Listen while you eat. So, regarding the Birth Tower—there's no danger, correct?"
Daskar asked Rei while savoring a sandwich of his own.
Daskar had eaten a light meal earlier, but since the sandwiches were bite-sized, they were just right for picking at.
"Yes. The only ones in the Birth Tower were children, the Female Lizardman acting as their caretaker, and the eggs."
"I see. Then it seems safe to assume there's no problem."
"No problem...? They may not be a threat, but problems might arise, you know."
"What?"
Eating a sandwich of vegetables and stir-fried Orc meat, Marina made the remark with a hint of teasing.
That said, her eyes held no trace of joking. Rather, they carried the look of someone who genuinely thought it might become a problem.
Had Marina's words been the only sign, Daskar would have told her to cut the jokes. But when Elena, Ara... and even Rei showed agreement with her words, he could not dismiss it as mere jest.
"What do you mean?"
"Let's see. Simply put... creatures are quite adorable when they're just born, right? That's what I mean."
"I don't want to hear it, but I must, so I'll ask most reluctantly—truly reluctantly—are Lizardman children cute?"
"Correct. If someone who knows nothing sees those Lizardman children, many would want to keep them for themselves... even though once they grow up, they might become huge like Zozo, or in some cases like Gaga."
Hearing Marina's words, Rei suddenly recalled a TV program he had watched in Japan.
Turtle scooping was a fairly common stall at Japanese festivals. It was a game of scooping up small turtles called midori-game, no bigger than the palm of one's hand. Those turtles were adorable when small, but grew to nearly thirty centimeters in length.
Their proper name was the Mississippi red-eared slider, and at least from what Rei had seen on TV, the grown turtles were not green.
Adorable when small, but fierce-looking when grown.
Exactly like the Lizardmen.
Of course, most creatures were cute as children. Rei vaguely remembered hearing somewhere that this was a strategic survival instinct—creatures had evolved to be adorable during their helpless infancy to ensure they lived to adulthood.
"Someone might try to steal the Lizardman children, huh."
"Or someone might try to steal the eggs, too."
At Marina's words, Daskar's expression grew even more troubled.
Naturally. Gaga, Zozo, and Lizardmen trained as warriors could defend themselves.
But children, their Female Lizardman caretaker, let alone eggs that hadn't even hatched yet—it would be difficult for them to resist a greedy attacker.
If these were ordinary Lizardmen with no backing, Daskar would not have been troubled this much.
However, the Lizardmen in the Birth Tower belonged to the Gran Dragonia Empire—a nation of roughly the same scale as the Kingdom of Mireana.
If this had been a few days ago, when only small numbers of Green People or Lizardmen were teleporting in, he might have had the option to cut his losses. But now the Birth Tower itself had teleported over.
If a section of the castle like the Birth Tower had teleported, then it was possible the castle itself... or even the Imperial Capital where the castle stood might teleport in.
If that happened, and it became known that the Lizardman children and eggs in the Birth Tower had been stolen... it could become the trigger for war.
After all, the emperor of the Gran Dragonia Empire had been persecuting the Green People, including Lunora's group, for no meaningful reason—at least, none that Zozo or Gaga had been informed of.
Considering that danger, the activities of malicious individuals who might come to the Birth Tower absolutely had to be prevented.
"I understand the situation, but we don't have enough manpower."
Gilm had already been stretched to its limits with just the Expansion Construction, and now Lizardmen and Green People had started teleporting in.
Initially, the guards for the woodcutters felling trees in the Treant Forest were mostly not particularly strong adventurers. Then Lizardmen began teleporting in, raising the probability of combat, and skilled adventurers were hired as guards.
Even that situation had pushed available personnel near their limits. Adding the need to dispatch guards for the Birth Tower on top of that meant the human resources in Gilm simply weren't enough.
...Yes, the human resources in Gilm.
(Reports should have been submitted, so even if people come from the Royal Capital... no, but there's no telling how many will come. In that case, after all...)
Daskar turned his gaze to Gaga, who was happily devouring sandwiches.
Gaga possessed extraordinary strength even among Lizardmen. No—being able to fight Rei on roughly even terms meant he clearly possessed top-class strength not just in all of Gilm... but in this entire world.
With such a being, and the Lizardman troops under Gaga's command, guarding the Birth Tower, those with ill intent would not dare attempt anything foolish.
(That said, as long as Zozo, who can interpret, never leaves Rei's side, we'd have to rely on Lizardmen who have learned at least some words and letters, wouldn't we?)
Among the Lizardmen, a few had begun learning this world's language and writing, albeit only slightly. They couldn't communicate reliably yet, but it was far better than dealing with Lizardmen with whom they couldn't communicate at all.
(If we could use the Green People, I wouldn't have to worry about this... but sending even one Green Person, let alone several, in among the Lizardmen is dangerous.)
They didn't fully understand what kind of ecology Lizardmen had. Moreover, Zozo, Gaga, and the others were Lizardmen from another world.
Because of that, if a few Green People were made to work alongside them, the possibility of them being attacked again was by no means zero.
Above all, the Green People might bring enormous profit to Gilm in the future. As such, sacrificing Green People here was unacceptable for the lord of Gilm.
"Daskar? What's wrong?"
At Marina's words, Daskar realized he had been deep in thought.
Given the current situation, that was hardly surprising. Moreover, Daskar was sleep-deprived and his concentration was lower than usual... yet the fact that his mind still worked above average was surely a testament to his ability to serve as Gilm's lord.
"No, it's nothing. I was just thinking that we need to protect the Birth Tower somehow. Since we're short on personnel, we have to bring them from somewhere else. So, I considered using the Lizardmen, but... being unable to communicate with them is difficult."
"That's... true. Rei, can't we get Zozo to cooperate?"
'I have no intention of leaving Lord Rei's side. Since I serve him, this is only natural.'
Zozo responded to Marina's words, but a rebuttal came from Elena.
"I understand what you're saying, but isn't fulfilling the wishes of the one you serve also a retainer's duty? At the very least, Ara acts to carry out my wishes."
"Lady Elena..."
At Elena's words, Ara murmured, her cheeks flushing red—whether from happiness at being praised.
Ara held deep loyalty toward Elena. So deep that if Elena commanded it, she would charge unhesitatingly into certain death.
"Alright, alright, it's nice that Ara's moved. But putting that aside, what do you think of Elena's words, Zozo?"
At Marina's words, Zozo hesitated briefly before speaking.
'No matter what is said, I will only persist in my loyalty.'
Hearing those words, Rei thought that while he appreciated Zozo's devotion, he wished he could be a bit more flexible.
Honestly, Zozo's presence was in many ways a hindrance to Rei's movements.
For example, if it were just Rei and Set, they could fly through the sky and travel between the Treant Forest and Gilm in a matter of minutes. But when Set flew, he normally only allowed Rei on his back. A child might be a different story, but carrying Zozo was extremely difficult.
Even so, Zozo insisted on not being separated from Rei. As a result, Set ended up running on the ground instead of flying, with both Rei and Zozo on his back... though he was still faster than a galloping horse.
"Rei."
At Zozo's words, Marina called Rei's name shortly.
You handle this.
That was what her expression made abundantly clear.
"Ah—Zozo. I'd also like to ask you to protect your people if possible. They may not be your direct children, but they're the children and eggs of your clan, right? Then you definitely need to protect them."
Seeing that Zozo appeared slightly shocked by his words, Rei continued.
"I'm glad you follow me, and I understand the loyalty you hold. But rather than devoting yourself solely to that, I want you to direct that loyalty—kindness, you could call it—toward your people as well."
'But, that is...'
With not only Marina but also Rei—the person he had sworn loyalty to—telling him to guard the Birth Tower rather than stay by his side, Zozo showed visible confusion.
"Like Marina said, I believe loyalty doesn't necessarily mean you must always stay beside that person."
'Lord Rei...'
Zozo murmured quietly, looking toward Rei.
For Zozo, he surely hadn't expected Rei to reject his position.
In truth, for Rei as well, having Zozo with the Stone Tablet was better in terms of communicating with the Lizardmen.
However, when it came to guarding the Birth Tower, it was an undeniable fact that having someone who could communicate reliably was better than risking some strange commotion caused by a communication failure.
But Rei couldn't possibly stay stationed as a guard at the Birth Tower indefinitely.
Considering that, having Zozo guard the Birth Tower while facilitating communication between the Lizardmen and the adventurers was not the best, but a better-than-nothing option... though Rei also thought that maybe this actually was the best option.
(Given how things have turned out, I'm glad I registered Zozo as the Stone Tablet's user. If I had registered myself instead of Zozo, at worst I would have had to stay at the Birth Tower... or else station Green People there while bracing for them to be attacked.)
Having Rei at the Birth Tower would have been ideal, but in current Gilm, Rei's—more precisely, Set's—mobility and Rei's Misty Ring were absolutely indispensable.
Since the Green People ran the risk of being attacked, Daskar would want to avoid such a measure if at all possible. They were people who would likely bring great profit to Gilm in the future.
"Zozo, please. For the sake of protecting your clan, won't you somehow take up the guard post at the Birth Tower?"
At Rei's words, Zozo fell silent for several minutes before nodding.