"Is it here? Really? From what I can see, it doesn't look like there's anything special here."
The following morning after staying at Marina's house, Rei's party had arrived at the central part of the Treant Forest.
Daskar had been reluctant to inform Elena and Vihera about the Wisp matter, but when Marina whispered something into his ear, he let out a sigh as if resigning himself to something, then nodded and gave his permission.
Rei had no way of knowing exactly what Marina had said to Daskar, but having a general idea of what it might be, he could only hope that Daskar would be able to work in peace.
"It just shows how incredible Marina's Spirit Magic is."
Saying that, Rei looked around the area just in case.
Regarding the underground space where the Wisp was located, hardly anyone knew about it yet.
However, on the way here, they had encountered woodcutters and the adventurers serving as their guards and assistants.
He didn't think it was likely, but there was a possibility that the woodcutters or adventurers might take interest in their actions and follow them.
He surveyed the area to confirm whether anyone like that was present, but his eyes found nothing.
Looking at Set, who showed no signs of being on alert, Rei judged that there was likely no one else nearby besides themselves and called out to Marina.
"Marina, please."
"Okay."
Marina nodded at Rei's words and quickly called out to the Earth Spirit.
The earth shifted, revealing the spot that had been concealing the underground passage leading to the space below.
Rei and his companions knew that Marina was a skilled—indeed, first-rate—Spirit Mage, so they were not particularly surprised to see it.
After all, traveling with Marina meant experiencing this sort of thing firsthand whether they wanted to or not.
"Well then, let's go. I'll provide the light, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Set, can you wait here like yesterday?"
"Kyu!"
The one who responded to Rei's words was not Set, but Ielo, perched on top of Set's head.
It was a cry that seemed to say it would stay above ground and remain with Set.
Since Ielo was so highly curious, Rei had assumed it would head underground with them, so this was unexpected.
Even so, he could somewhat understand why Ielo had chosen to stay behind.
Simply put, it must have felt sorry for Set being left alone.
Moreover, since Ielo loved flying, moving through an underground passage—where it couldn't fly freely whenever it wanted—would understandably cause it stress.
"Got it. Then Ielo, wait here together with Set."
"Kyu!"
At Rei's words, Ielo cried out briefly, and Set purred happily at Ielo's consideration.
"So that's... I heard about it in stories, but it really is quite large, isn't it?"
After making their way through the underground passage and arriving at the space where the Wisp rested, Vihera murmured thoughtfully as she gazed at it.
The others seeing it for the first time—Elena, Ara, and Byune—also wore expressions of surprise as they beheld the giant Wisp before them.
If it were merely a giant monster, they normally wouldn't have been this startled.
This was, after all, because the Wisp possessed the ability to teleport things from other worlds that it inspired such astonishment.
The Rare Species Wisp that existed at the end of their gaze was just that rare of a being.
"Come to think of it, even with this many people here, nothing happens in the end. Of course, that's the better outcome, though."
Looking at the Wisp, Rei muttered.
When Rei and Grimm had come, and then when Rei and Marina had visited, the Wisp had shown no response worthy of note.
And today, even with new members in tow, the Wisp did not react.
"As expected, this Wisp doesn't have an ego, like Rei said, does it?"
Marina must have heard him. She responded while checking whether there were any changes in the underground space.
"No ego, huh. That makes it even rarer among Rare Species."
Even under the umbrella term of Rare Species, there were various types.
Among Rare Species Goblins, for example, some individuals had claws that grew long and sharp like daggers, while others used Body Strengthening through magic.
Rare Species, by their very nature, shared the same name but possessed completely different abilities.
Of course, there were also Rare Species that happened to acquire the same abilities.
That was precisely why this Wisp was such an extremely valuable existence.
It had no ego, and yet it possessed the ability to teleport things from other worlds.
If things went well, that could become a significant... an enormously profitable asset.
"Yeah. Because it has no ego, it doesn't attack even when we approach it like this, and I think once researchers are found, they'll be able to study it properly. ...Then again, I don't think it'll be that simple."
"Can I try touching it a little?"
At Rei's words, for whatever reason, Vihera asked whether she could touch the Wisp.
What would happen if she touched it?
Rei was somewhat curious about that himself, but at the same time, there was the fact that they had no idea what might happen if she did.
"Shouldn't you not do that? We still barely understand anything about this Wisp right now."
"Hmm, but if we stimulate it, won't it give us some kind of response?"
"No, it's because we don't know what that response would be that I'm saying you shouldn't."
If Vihera touched it, it wouldn't be strange for something to be teleported from another world.
...Though, knowing Vihera, she might actually be hoping for exactly that.
"Just a little bit, is that no good?"
Saying please, Vihera turned a pleading gaze toward Rei.
If a beauty of Vihera's caliber directed such a look at them, most men would simply nod and agree.
However, fortunately—it was unclear whether "fortunately" was the right word in this case—Rei had known Vihera for a long time.
Being somewhat accustomed to receiving such looks from her, he immediately shook his head.
"No."
"Jeez."
At Rei's absolute refusal to let her touch the Wisp, Vihera gave up, though she looked slightly sulky.
This was likely because she understood that no matter how much she begged Rei, he would absolutely not budge.
Perhaps taking pity on Vihera's state, Marina stroked Vihera's reddish-purple hair as if to calm her.
"Come now, settle down. This Wisp is quite a dangerous existence. Depending on how it's used, it could have a detrimental effect on this very world. There's no way we could just do as we please with such a Wisp, is there?"
Marina's words were actually dealing significant damage to Rei as well.
In truth, if possible, Rei had wanted to use this Wisp for his own selfish desires.
He had wanted to use the Wisp's power and, if he was lucky, visit Japan.
...The fact that he thought of "visiting" Japan rather than "returning" to it was likely proof that Rei now considered this world his home.
"Just a little. Just a little bit, but... is it no good?"
Vihera pleaded, but Marina firmly refused to permit it.
Carelessly provoking it and ending up in a situation they couldn't handle would be no laughing matter.
"No."
"Tch."
At Marina's absolute refusal, Vihera muttered with a slightly sulky expression.
However, Vihera likely understood that there was nothing she could do about the current situation.
Deciding that she wouldn't meddle with the Wisp any further for now, she surveyed the interior of the cavern.
Elena, Ara, Byune, and the others were also carefully examining their surroundings.
In truth, since this was quite a mysterious space, they likely found it fascinating.
Aside from the underground passage Grimm had created, there was no way out from here.
That being the case, the question remained: how did one enter this space?
For that matter, how did the Wisp itself get here?
That was a doubt that everyone who came to this space surely felt.
"Looking at it like this, there's nothing else in this space besides the Wisp, is there?"
Vihera, who had been looking around the space, muttered curiously.
Rei actually wanted to tell Vihera that somewhere here connected to Grimm's research lab, but since there were people present who didn't know about Grimm, he couldn't say it.
He would report it when Ara and Byune weren't around, he supposed.
Thinking so, Rei decided not to mention it for now and instead looked around at the surroundings.
From what I can see, there really is nothing here. ...If there were something besides the Wisp, things might have gotten a bit more interesting.
If what occupied the underground space were something other than the Wisp... or if there existed something that could be called the Wisp's child, there would definitely be more to investigate. Thinking that, he turned his gaze to the members who had come along.
"Hmm. Ara... do you think the fact that such a place came into being is because of the frontier?"
"I believe so. Personally, I would not want such an underground space to exist near Anesis."
"I agree with you on that. However, among the Noble's Faction, there are many who hold a strong interest in beings that teleport from other worlds. For such people, if a space like this were to appear beneath Anesis, they would likely welcome it with open arms."
At Elena's words, Ara made a displeased... a genuinely disgusted expression.
For Ara, having such a space appear near where she lived was not an appealing prospect.
As for this underground space, the fact that it was located in the central part of the Treant Forest and not directly beneath Gilm was significant.
So thought Ara, but then she recalled the incident with the Eyeball, where a massive underground space had also existed.
Considering that such a space had existed, perhaps it was not so strange for anything to exist in a place like the frontier.
"Nn..."
Some distance away from where Elena and Ara were talking, Byune was searching for anything interesting while checking her surroundings.
However, doing so didn't yield anything of interest to Byune, and ultimately it only looked as if she were picking up stones.
It looked as if she were picking up stones, but...
"Nn!"
Suddenly, Byune's surprised voice echoed through the underground space.
Since Byune rarely raised her voice, everyone in the underground space approached her, wondering what had happened.
"What's wrong? Did you find something interesting?"
"Nn!"
At Vihera's voice, Byune showed them what she was holding.
"...Huh. Well, that's rare, isn't it?"
Looking at what Byune was holding, Vihera muttered with a hint of surprise.
Indeed, what Byune held was undeniably something that would surprise even Vihera.
It was a green gemstone.
Moreover, it was a gemstone about the size of Byune's fist.
Yes, not a raw stone but a gemstone.
There are polished crystal spheres made by grinding quartz into a round shape, but what Byune held was a spherical green gemstone.
"An emerald...?"
For Rei, who was not well-versed in gemstones, the first thing that came to mind when he heard "green gemstone" was an emerald.
In fact, emeralds were generally green, though emeralds in colors other than green—such as blue, red, and pink—also existed... but unfortunately, Rei did not know that much.
However, fortunately, Vihera nodded at Rei's words.
"That's right. It's definitely an emerald. ...However, I don't think this is an ordinary emerald..."
Looking at the emerald that Byune had handed her, Vihera said with a troubled expression.
Having been a former princess, Vihera had experience seeing a wide variety of gemstones.
Additionally, when she had dived into dungeons with Byune, she had found gemstones on several occasions.
As such, Vihera's eye for judging gemstones was reliable, but even to Vihera's eyes, this emerald did not seem like an ordinary gemstone at all.
It possessed a certain intensity that was apparent at a glance.
"Marina, what do you think?"
Vihera tried to pass the emerald she was holding to Marina.
Marina had lived a long life as a Dark Elf.
Because of that, Vihera thought Marina might have some insight upon seeing this emerald, but...
"Vihera, place that emerald on the ground. Gently."
With a stern expression, Marina looked at the emerald Vihera held and spoke in a serious tone.