When Rei and Set arrived at the Treant Forest, a large number of woodcutters were already hard at work felling trees.
They should have only missed work yesterday, yet for some reason... yes, for some reason truly beyond understanding, the woodcutters were throwing themselves into felling trees with remarkable vigor.
That said, the Birth Tower was apparently still on their minds.
Between tasks, whenever they took breaks to catch their breath or rehydrate, the woodcutters turned their gazes toward the Birth Tower, visible even from where they stood.
The emotions in their eyes, however, varied. Some regarded the unknown structure with deep curiosity, while others directed glares of irritation at it for suddenly appearing and disrupting their work.
In the midst of all this, Rei and Set arrived.
"Yo. You've only just started for today, but you're all really giving it your all, huh?"
As Rei expressed surprise at the trees already felled and lying on the ground, one of the woodcutters spoke up with visible displeasure.
"Of course we are. Word has it that because we couldn't fell trees yesterday, people ended up fighting over building materials and it turned into a brawl. For a woodcutter, there's nothing worse than that."
At his words, the other woodcutters around nodded in agreement.
Their pride as woodcutters, huh. In this particular case, that's only natural, I suppose.
Their work was what supported Gilm's expansion construction. They might not have felt that so keenly under normal circumstances, but the brawl among the craftsmen must have driven the point home.
Also, while they normally couldn't see the direct results of a woodcutter's work so plainly, here in Gilm the trees from the Treant Forest were magically processed by alchemists and used on a massive scale during the expansion construction. In that sense, the Birth Tower incident was significant enough to change the woodcutters' awareness.
"I see. Keep up the good work. I've been told to fell the trees around that tower too, so the lumber shortage should be resolved before long."
At Rei's words, the woodcutter wore a complicated expression. He knew Rei could fell trees, but as a woodcutter, he couldn't quite accept it so easily.
"For now, I'll be taking the felled trees with me, if that's all right?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Everyone's working hard today, so there'll be a lot of felled trees. So much so that you might not even have time to fell trees yourself, Rei."
There was a hint of sour grapes in the woodcutter's words, but Rei didn't notice. He simply took it as encouragement to work hard since it would be a busy day.
Seeing Rei's oblivious reaction, the woodcutter's expression grew even more complicated. Making a remark born of sour grapes, only for it to go completely unnoticed, left the one who said it feeling quite conflicted.
Rei, however, remained oblivious and began touching the felled trees, storing them into his Misty Ring.
If Rei weren't there, the adventurers would first have to strip the branches, haul the logs to where the carriages were, load them onto the cargo beds, and then transport them. And even the transport itself required constant vigilance around the carriages to ensure the stacked logs didn't shift and fall.
...Of course, maintaining a sense of tension while working wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But Rei performed this arduous task practically humming a tune, leaving the adventurers unsure whether to be envious or exasperated.
"All right, I've gathered up the felled trees for now, so I'm heading to the Birth Tower. Just to be clear—"
"I understand. I won't approach the Birth Tower unless there's urgent business, and if there is, I'll go directly myself."
The knight gave this reply to Rei's words.
Currently, approaching the Birth Tower was fundamentally prohibited unless one had some sort of business there. This applied equally to the woodcutters and the adventurers hired as their escorts and general hands; only the knight was permitted to go to the Birth Tower if something happened.
"Please do. ...That incident happened, after all. If it's someone they recognize, that's one thing, but if a stranger approaches, they might go berserk."
That incident referred to the mercenaries' attack. Daskar's investigation had revealed that the merchant who hired the mercenaries had already fled Gilm, but there was no guarantee something similar wouldn't happen again. That was exactly why only a limited few—such as the knight—were permitted to approach, rather than a large number of people.
The Guild should have briefed them on these circumstances. If the woodcutters or adventurers were to approach the Birth Tower out of mere curiosity, it wouldn't be strange for them to be deemed attackers and attacked without question.
"I know. I won't do anything that stupid, and I won't let anyone else either."
After exchanging a few brief words with the knight, Rei headed toward the Birth Tower with Set. That said, he arrived almost immediately. The Birth Tower had teleported to a location adjacent to the Treant Forest, and given Set's running speed, the distance from where the woodcutters were to the tower was, quite literally, right there.
Before long, the Birth Tower came into view, with adventurers and Lizardmen keeping watch around it. At first they raised their weapons upon noticing an approaching presence, but once they recognized Rei and Set, they lowered them.
"Rei ●●, Set ●●!"
"Yeah, that's right. Rei and Set."
Seeing the Lizardman and the adventurer communicating with each other, Rei felt a small surge of emotion. In reality, he could communicate with Zozo too, but that was strictly through the Stone Tablet—or through gestures. But right before his eyes, they were conversing through normal speech without the tablet.
The people stationed here are mostly the same fixed members, so maybe it's not that surprising when I think about it that way?
Given that they spent so much time together, it wouldn't be strange for them to manage some degree of communication with relative ease.
Thinking this, Rei lightly waved at the adventurer and the Lizardman.
"Any abnormalities?"
"Nothing in particular. ...No animal attacks either."
"No, at least call them mercenaries or monsters, come on."
Rei replied with a hint of exasperation, since the words clearly reminded everyone of the deer meat they'd eaten yesterday.
Deer as big as Set, like yesterday's... they can't be that common... they can't be, right?
If this were an ordinary place, Rei could confidently say there weren't any. But this was the frontier. Even ordinary animals taking forms and sizes that would normally be unimaginable wasn't out of the question. And ultimately, such creatures becoming monsters was, given the nature of the frontier, only to be expected.
If my guess is correct, did Set defeat an animal before it could turn into a monster?
If so, that would make it a job well done for Set.
"Set, good work."
"Gruu?"
Unable to understand why he was suddenly being praised, Set turned his gaze toward Rei on his back. Finding Set adorable as it looked at him with round eyes, Rei stroked his neck.
Set didn't understand why he was being praised or why he was being petted, but being stroked by Rei still made him happy, and he purred in high spirits.
As Rei moved along while petting Set, he eventually arrived at what could be called the main camp for protecting the Birth Tower. Naturally, this camp had been set up with the tower at its center.
Gaga was already there—having left Marina's house by carriage ahead of Rei—and was sparring with his subordinate Lizardmen.
'Lord Rei.'
Spotting Rei, Zozo came straight toward him and bowed. Behind Zozo were the Lizardman children, delighted that Set had arrived. What they were hoping for was obvious, considering what had happened yesterday.
"Set, these little ones want to ride you. What do you say?"
"Gururu? Gruu, Gurururu."
In response to Rei's words, Set let out a cry indicating he didn't mind. The Lizardman children couldn't understand Set's words, of course. And yet... even so, they apparently grasped the general meaning from his cry alone. Letting out cheers of joy, they ran toward Set and closed the distance.
'Is this all right?'
"Set said he doesn't mind, so it's fine," Rei replied to the text Zozo had written on the Stone Tablet.
"So, I heard there weren't any problems, but are there any messages to pass on?"
'Nothing in particular. ...Ultimately, no monsters, animals, fellow Lizardmen, or Green People teleported in last night.'
"I see. Monsters and animals aside, it wouldn't be strange for Lizardmen or Green People to teleport in. ...I guess teleporting the entire Birth Tower used up too much energy or something?"
'I cannot say for certain, but that possibility seems quite real. ...After all, they teleported something of this size.'
"If that's the case, there might not be any disturbances for a while. ...As far as teleportation goes, anyway."
Teleportation aside, the possibility of someone attacking like the mercenaries did was very real. They were making preparations so they could respond if attacked, but that wasn't a perfect solution either.
Thinking this, he looked around and spotted the Lizardman children who hadn't been able to ride Set playing near the tower.
"For the children, even though this is a place they know nothing about, they don't seem to mind it much."
'That may be true. Children adapt to new places quickly. And considering that in their original world they wouldn't have been able to leave the Birth Tower whenever they wanted... the children might actually be the happiest to have come to this world.'
Zozo's murmured reflection was poignant enough that even Rei wondered if something had happened in his past. But unsure whether he should ask, Rei said nothing more on the subject and brought up something else instead.
"If you're going to be sleeping here, it might be better to just build simple housing around the Birth Tower. Having everyone sleep inside the tower would be cramped, and you'd need a place to stand by during night watches outside, wouldn't you?"
It was unknown how long the Lizardmen would remain in this world. Also, while there had been no teleportations last night, there was no telling whether more would occur from today onward, bringing new Lizardmen. To avoid scrambling to prepare buildings when that happened, it would be better to construct a few structures—not quite a village, but enough to live somewhat comfortably.
'Yes, I suppose. That may be for the best, but... I will consult with Brother Gaga first.'
"Please do. I have some things to take care of here today myself."
At Zozo's questioning glance, Rei explained that he would be felling the trees in the area adjacent to the Birth Tower.
Hearing that lumber from the Treant Forest was running short in Gilm, a complicated expression appeared on Zozo's face. Partly because he could imagine their teleportation was the cause, and more importantly because he understood the Birth Tower incident was a significant factor.
'I understand. We have no objections on our end. Building structures will require space, and considering that those with ill intent toward the Birth Tower might use the trees as cover when approaching, I would actually go so far as to request it.'
For Zozo as well, the trees of the Treant Forest had apparently been a nuisance. They could serve as a windbreak or a shield if someone attacked, but he must have judged the dangers to outweigh the benefits.
"Glad to hear you say that. It helps us out too."
Saying so, Rei immediately took out Death Scythe and approached a tree growing near the Birth Tower.
What he needed to be careful of here was the direction the tree would fall when felled. When working with the woodcutters, he could simply watch the falling direction and dash out of the way, but the Birth Tower stood here, and naturally, it couldn't be moved. That was why he needed to pay close attention to where he dropped the trees.
Not this way—toward the Treant Forest would be best. In that case, I should cut from the forest side.
Making that judgment, he positioned himself on the Treant Forest side rather than the Birth Tower side and swung Death Scythe into the tree trunk.
Not being a professional woodcutter, fully controlling which way a felled tree would fall was difficult. He figured that if a tree fell toward the Birth Tower, he could just use Death Scythe to knock it toward the Treant Forest side, but whether it was luck or simply Rei's skill, the felled tree toppled toward the Treant Forest as intended.
Confirming this, Rei moved on to felling the next tree.