"I want you to introduce me to your master."
Rei understood why Daskar had said that.
If this had been like previous incidents, he might have been able to let things slide, in a manner of speaking.
Even during the Cobolt affair that spanned from last year into this one—when the Eyeball generating them had been dragged into this world—it could have been handled as a matter concerning only Gilm. That was why Daskar had never forced a meeting with Rei's master, the one who had carried it out.
Of course, he had wanted to meet them if possible, and had tried asking whether a meeting could be arranged, just as he had this time.
But even so, he had never felt that he absolutely, definitively had to meet them.
This incident, however, was different.
Teleportation from another world—and leaving aside the lake, it had even teleported a prince from a nation on par with the Kingdom of Mireana.
What was more, the King's Faction had sensed this and even made contact through a member of the Royal Family.
Under those circumstances, there was no way it could be dismissed as an affair concerning only Gilm.
That was why there was a need to meet Rei's master, who was deeply involved in this incident... no, who had obtained decisive clues regarding the teleportation from another world, but...
"Unfortunately, my master has already departed. Even his arrival at the Treant Forest yesterday was apparently a coincidence."
Since he could not let Grimm meet Daskar, that was the only thing Rei could say.
After all, Grimm was an Undead.
No matter how rational a being he was, Rei could not introduce him to Daskar.
If Daskar learned about Grimm, then at worst, Rei and his companions could be driven out of Gilm.
And not simply driven out—there was a very real possibility they would be designated as bounty targets.
As far as Rei was concerned, he could live normally in a place other than Gilm, but even so, he had grown close to quite a few people there for one reason or another.
He could not bear the thought of becoming unable to see them—or worse, causing trouble for them simply because they had been close to him.
"When I asked last time, you said something similar. But is that the truth? Both last time and this time, hasn't your master shown up at times that are just a little too convenient for you?"
"In other words, you think I have some means of contacting my master?"
"That's right."
Rei had expected Daskar to deflect while still confirming it, but what actually came from Daskar's mouth was a straightforward admission of Rei's words.
"That's surprising. I didn't think you'd honestly admit to that."
"Is it? But there's no point in beating around the bush with you, is there? If so, it's certain that asking directly from the start is better. ...So, how about it?"
Daskar directed a serious gaze at Rei—one that seemed to look at an enemy rather than an ally.
But while meeting that gaze head-on, Rei shook his head before speaking.
"Unfortunately, my master's visit to Gilm was purely coincidental."
"Hoh. Are you seriously saying that? Let me warn you—if you try lying to me, things will become troublesome later on."
"I understand. But as long as that is the truth, I have no choice but to say so."
Daskar stared at Rei's face—into his eyes—to discern the truth of his words.
Since they were in Daskar's office, Rei had lowered his Dragon Robe's hood.
Because of that, Daskar could clearly see his face.
......
Time passed with neither of them saying a word, simply staring at each other.
Several tens of seconds, several minutes... and when it seemed like nearly ten minutes had passed, Daskar finally opened his mouth.
"I see. Understood. However... the next time your master comes, I want you to inform me immediately."
Phew.
Judging from Daskar's demeanor that the matter regarding Grimm had been successfully concealed, Rei nodded, though with a hint of lingering unease.
"Understood. I'll let you know when my master comes next time. However, my master doesn't enjoy meeting people, so even if I tell him, I doubt he'll agree to meet. In fact, if I force him to meet someone, he might stop coming to Gilm altogether."
"...Even so, at least try telling him."
Rei nodded readily at Daskar's repeated words.
Whether he would actually tell Grimm about this was entirely up to Rei's own judgment.
And at present, Rei had no intention of telling Grimm.
Well, he might bring it up lightly as a topic of conversation, but he had absolutely no intention of seriously urging Grimm to meet with Daskar.
(Should I just use illusions or something? If it's Grimm, he could probably pull that off easily enough.)
From Rei's perspective, Grimm left the strong impression that he could do anything—truly anything.
Given that was the case, it wouldn't be strange if he could easily disguise himself as a human using illusions.
For that matter, it wouldn't be strange if he could temporarily transform into a human rather than merely using illusions.
"In any case, that settles the matter of your master. Now, about the Wisp in the Treant Forest. ...It would be dangerous to make careless contact. I'll ask just to be sure, but the passage leading to the space where that Wisp resides is the single one your master created, correct?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"In that case, we should block the entrance to that passage... no, but monsters and ferocious animals do appear in the Treant Forest, don't they?"
"That's right. However, as far as I can tell, there haven't been any particularly powerful beings there so far."
"...So far, you say."
Daskar covered his face with a sigh.
Yes—that was only so far.
Since the Treant Forest existed on the frontier, it was naturally possible for high-rank monsters to wander in.
If anything, the fact that nothing like that had happened so far was probably just luck.
Under those circumstances, posting guards or gatekeepers near the passage created at the center of the Treant Forest would be difficult.
Above all, if the abilities of the Wisp that Daskar had heard about were real—and since Rei had brought this information to him, he judged that they were undoubtedly real—then he could not place careless people near that passage.
If he made the mistake of assigning someone careless or overly curious to guard the passage, that person might meddle with the Wisp, and as a result, something beyond a joke could be teleported in.
No, if it was just a possibility, there was even the possibility that Gilm itself could be teleported to another world.
Thinking about it that way, it was an undeniable fact that he could not leave this to careless individuals.
"Mmm..."
Daskar held his head, wondering what to do.
Feeling that since he had brought this trouble to Daskar, he should help out at least a little, Rei opened his mouth.
"Lord Daskar, shall I seal that passage with my Earth Magic for the time being?"
"Seal it?"
Daskar turned his gaze toward Rei, thinking it might be of some help.
Rei nodded to him.
"Yes. I believe you already know from the winter incident that I can use Earth Magic."
"I do. I know you built a wall with Earth Magic in the expansion area so that Cobolts couldn't easily get in. In other words, you plan to do something similar this time?"
"If I were to seal it with a conspicuous earth wall, it would actually attract attention. To prevent that, I think it would be better to hide the passage—like putting a lid over it."
"...I see."
It wasn't that Daskar hadn't considered something similar.
But doing such a thing naturally meant someone who could use earth magic would need to be brought to the location.
At the very least, that mage would need to be told what kind of place it was.
Once that happened, there was no guarantee that the mage wouldn't become interested in what lay beyond the underground passage.
After all, it was a location at the center of the Treant Forest.
If someone had even a bit of curiosity, being told to seal an underground passage there and then being asked not to take interest would be difficult.
He obviously couldn't go so far as to kill the mage after sealing the passage.
Mages were scarce to begin with.
Under those circumstances, if Rei—who already knew the situation—would seal the passage for him, then Daskar couldn't ask for anything better.
After pondering for a while, Daskar nodded with a somewhat reluctant expression.
"Understood. Then I'll leave it to you, Rei."
If possible, Daskar had wanted to keep Rei from getting any further involved in this matter.
But considering the current situation, he had no choice but to go along with Rei's proposal.
Not noticing Daskar's demeanor, Rei nodded.
"Yes. ...However, does sealing the underground passage mean we won't interfere with the Wisp? According to my master, if we could figure out how to skillfully control the Wisp, we might be able to teleport something from another world whenever we want... that's what he said."
As far as Rei was concerned, he wanted—if it was truly possible—to return to Japan.
If they could freely control the Wisp, then maybe—just maybe—there was a very slim chance he could return.
That was why he wanted Daskar to research that Wisp, if at all possible.
Of course, even without Daskar doing anything, Grimm would likely advance the research on his own, so the role of the people Daskar provided would merely be backup.
Between researchers of unknown skill and ability, and Grimm—who had existed for a long time and had helped Rei countless times—the one Rei trusted was, without question, Grimm.
That said, it was also true that Grimm was conducting various other research alongside this, so he could not devote himself solely to studying the Wisp.
(It would be nice if Grimm and the researchers could cooperate on the research... but that's probably impossible, isn't it?)
Undead were despised to that extent.
If anything, Elena and the others who had accepted Grimm so readily were the abnormal ones.
"Hmm... I understand what you're saying, and if it succeeds, there would be profits as well. But honestly, I don't have enough manpower."
Even Daskar understood that the Wisp, which could teleport things from another world, was useful. ...He understood it all too well.
Even if he were to research it, he couldn't entrust it to someone careless.
What's more, in Gilm right now, numerous projects were progressing simultaneously.
The expansion construction, the cultivation of spices by the Green People, the research on the Land Ship... and many other smaller undertakings as well.
Since nearly all of them were important research, he couldn't just casually assign someone to the next project.
"For now, it's still impossible. Once we have some manpower to spare, we might be able to turn our attention to that as well, but..."
"In that case, it will continue to teleport things freely as it does now for a while. Is that acceptable?"
"It consumed a fair amount of magical power during the lake incident, didn't it? Then shouldn't there be some leeway? ...Well, I don't know exactly how fast its magical power recovers."
That, Rei didn't know either.
After all, it had done something as outrageous as teleporting a lake—one roughly as vast as Gilm itself—so the magical power consumed must have been tremendous.
And yet, despite that, it had gone so far as to teleport Lizardmen again just days after teleporting the lake.
How the Wisp managed its magical power was something Rei couldn't comprehend, so he couldn't say for certain.
"That's the thing. It's a Wisp... and a Rare Species or High-ranking Species at that, so it can't be thought of as ordinary."
"...In that case, the only person I can mobilize in the current situation is... Marina."
"Huh?"
The name that came from Daskar's mouth was completely unexpected.
To Rei, his strong impression of Marina was that of a Spirit Mage.
The fact that Daskar had mentioned Marina—someone he struggled to deal with—was also one of the reasons for his surprise.
"Um, Lord Daskar. When you say Marina, do you mean the Marina I know?"
"Yes. The Former Guild Master and spiteful... whoa!"
"Lord Daskar?"
Rei uttered a questioning voice at Daskar's sudden exclamation.
In response, Daskar shook his head, indicating it was nothing.
"Don't mind it. My back just got a little cold."
"No, telling me not to mind that is..."
"At any rate, the Marina I'm talking about is indeed the one you know. Marina has lived a long life as a Dark Elf, so while she's not a specialist, she can handle most things to some degree."
Hearing Daskar's words, Rei learned yet another new side of Marina.