Rei had known that Marina's skill with Spirit Magic was exceptionally high, but the fact that it had fooled even Anastasia's eyes came as a slight surprise. Anastasia seemed somewhat displeased by it, but either way, they were now making their way through the underground passage toward the Underground Space where the Wisp resided.
"Hey, Rei. Are you going to tell me what's here already?"
Anastasia generated a light sphere with Spirit Magic to illuminate their path as she walked, shooting Rei a dissatisfied glance.
From her perspective, she'd been told there was a fascinating research subject and had been following Rei into the depths, so it was only natural she'd want to know what awaited them by now.
"Hold on. Just a bit more... there, see it?"
Rei pointed toward the end of the underground passage.
Pleased that they'd finally arrived at the Underground Space, he urged Anastasia forward.
"Light? ...I figured there had to be something here."
She hadn't thought they'd just walk through an endless underground passage, but even so, she was relieved to see it end.
"Yeah. Welcome to the Wisp's Underground Space, I suppose."
Rei called back to Anastasia, who was still standing in the passage.
"A Wisp...?"
Anastasia frowned with suspicion.
She naturally knew about Wisps.
And that was precisely why the word gave her pause.
A Wisp was by no means a high-rank monster.
But considering all the effort being put into this, there had to be some deeper meaning. Making that judgment, she stepped from the passage into the Underground Space—and her eyes flew wide open at the sight before her.
The Underground Space itself was only moderately large.
But the real issue was the Wisp that occupied it.
It was utterly different in appearance from any Wisp Anastasia had ever known.
"A Wisp...?"
The words that slipped from her mouth were identical to those from a few seconds prior.
But the emotion behind them was the exact opposite.
Anastasia stared in silence at the enormous Wisp—so massive that an ordinary Wisp couldn't even compare.
...No, it would be more accurate to say her eyes, and indeed her entire consciousness, had been completely stolen by it.
(If that Wisp were ordinary, Anastasia would've been attacked the moment she walked in.)
Keeping one eye on Anastasia, Rei took the opportunity to scan the surroundings—especially the ground.
(Huh?)
Surprisingly, there was nothing there.
He'd been convinced Grimm had left something behind—something like the emerald sealing a Wind Spirit.
If that had been the case, he would've needed to hide it before Anastasia found it.
But that concern proved entirely unnecessary.
Well, it was possible Grimm had hidden it somewhere even Rei couldn't find, but that was fine by him.
As long as Anastasia didn't find it, that was enough.
Given the space was fairly wide and littered with stones and rocks of various sizes, hiding something fist-sized wouldn't have been difficult.
Perhaps Grimm had remembered what happened when Rei came with Elena and the others, and had taken precautions to avoid a repeat. Or maybe it had simply worked out that way by coincidence.
Rei couldn't tell which, but either way, he was just relieved that nothing of the sort was lying around the Wisp.
"Hey, Rei."
As Rei looked around, relieved that nothing was out of place, Anastasia suddenly spoke without taking her eyes off the Wisp.
"What is it?"
"This fascinating research subject you mentioned—it's this Wisp, isn't it?"
"That's right."
"This Wisp is probably a Rare Species, right? Generally, Rare Species possess Special Abilities the base race doesn't have. Like how Set uses all those different Skills."
"Ah... yeah, that's right."
His brief hesitation stemmed from the fact that Set wasn't actually a purebred gryphon—he'd been created by Rei through Beast Magic.
That was why Set could freely wield so many Skills.
Not that he could tell Anastasia any of that.
Fortunately, Anastasia was too captivated by the Wisp to notice his reaction as she pressed on.
"And? If this Wisp is a Rare Species, what kind of Special Ability does it have? Daskar went out of his way to ask me to investigate, so it's not just a bigger-than-average Wisp, is it?"
"Correct. Though it feels strange for me to say this after dragging you all the way out here, once you hear this, there's no going back. You'll have to take this case. Are you sure you want to hear it?"
"Of course I do."
Anastasia answered Rei's precautionary question without a trace of hesitation.
Though he'd only known her for a short time, even Rei could tell she was dead serious.
"Understood. Simply put, this Wisp can teleport things and people from other worlds to this one."
"...What?"
For the first time, Anastasia tore her gaze from the Wisp and turned toward Rei.
That was how incomprehensible his statement had been.
"What did you just say? I think I misheard, so say that again."
She swept her hair back, turning her characteristically pointed elven ear toward Rei to make sure she wouldn't miss a word this time.
But what came from his mouth was the same unbelievable statement.
"I'm saying this Wisp has the ability to teleport various beings from other worlds to this one. Didn't you hear any rumors in Gilm? Like someone having tamed a Lizardman?"
"I didn't. I went straight to see Daskar the moment I arrived."
If she hadn't even stopped by a tavern or eatery, Rei had no choice but to accept that.
"So from what you're saying, it teleported Lizardmen here?"
Anastasia looked slightly deflated.
Since it involved teleportation from another world, she'd probably expected something far more exotic.
But Lizardmen?
That made her question why it even counted as otherworldly.
"I'll have you know, these are Lizardmen from another world, so they're quite different from the ones here. For one thing, they have their own distinct culture. And from what I've heard, they've built a nation on par with the Kingdom of Mireana—one that's existed for quite some time."
Anastasia's expression shifted back to surprise.
"You're kidding, right?"
Lizardmen building a nation—and one comparable to the Kingdom of Mireana—was apparently beyond belief.
"It's true. I've heard it from multiple Lizardmen, and there's even evidence."
The evidence was, of course, the Birth Tower that had teleported right next to the Treant Forest.
Though if someone wanted to stretch it, they could claim the Lizardmen were simply using a tower built by someone else.
"People? Not 'heads'?"
"Ah, that. Normally monsters are counted as 'heads,' but since they're beings that founded a nation, using 'heads' could cause problems later. So for now, we count Zozo... and the other Lizardmen who came from another world... as one person, two persons, and so on."
"I see. If what you're saying is correct, then they certainly aren't ordinary Lizardmen."
"Right. And regarding the teleportation from other worlds—it seems this Wisp can teleport things not just from one other world, but from multiple worlds."
"What makes you think that?"
"Because one of the things this Wisp teleported was something even the Lizardmen had never seen before."
"Maybe it was simply something those particular Lizardmen didn't know about?"
"No. The monsters in the Lizardmen's world also have Magic Stones, but the monsters in that lake don't."
Anastasia froze.
"A lake? Don't tell me—a lake was what got teleported?"
"Ah..."
Rei instinctively clapped a hand over his mouth.
He'd figured that even if he mentioned a lake, she wouldn't believe him, so he'd planned to start with just the Lizardmen—but he'd let it slip.
Still, having said this much, he couldn't bluff his way out. He nodded honestly.
"That's right. A massive lake—roughly the same size as Gilm—teleported next to the Treant Forest. You were probably too excited about the Treant Forest and riding Set to notice, but right next to the forest, the Birth Tower—the capital tower of the Lizardman nation—was teleported in, and right beside that tower, the lake appeared."
With that, Rei explained everything he knew about the Lizardmen, the Green People, and the lake.
Anastasia had already heard the general outline, but she took strong interest in the Green People, whose meals could make plants grow. Though even that curiosity ultimately paled beside what she felt for the Wisp and its ability to teleport beings from other worlds.
"I see. So that's why Daskar was looking for someone to research this Wisp."
"Exactly. Given its nature, he couldn't entrust it to anyone untrustworthy."
"Of course not. If someone could research this Wisp, there's a chance they could figure out how to freely travel between this world and others. I can understand why you couldn't hand the investigation to just anyone."
Rei nodded. Anastasia had seen right through to his concern.
"That's it. If someone hostile to Lord Daskar found out about this, it would be a serious problem."
He agreed with her while keeping to himself the thought that it might even lead to a way back to Japan.
Since Anastasia had no idea where Rei had come from, she couldn't have imagined he was thinking anything of the sort.
"Understood. I'll do it."
As if the answer had never been in doubt, Anastasia gave Rei her answer.
From her perspective, she was being asked to investigate the fascinating phenomenon of other worlds. Declining was never an option.
"That's a huge help."
"Don't mention it. It benefits me and it benefits Daskar, right? As someone who looked after him when he was a boy, refusing isn't even on the table."
Hearing those words, Rei reflected once more on how Anastasia and Marina held remarkably similar positions—and yet, despite that similarity, Daskar's feelings toward them were complete opposites.
(Is it the difference between caring for Lord Daskar when he was a child versus when he was old enough to head to the Royal Capital to train as a knight?)
Recalling Daskar's demeanor, Rei mulled over the question. But for now, he'd gotten Anastasia to accept the investigation. Saying anything more would be pushing his luck.
One careless word could step on a landmine and lead to the worst possible outcome.
"I really appreciate it. Lord Daskar struggled for a while over who to choose for this investigation. He kept saying he needed someone he could truly trust."
"And I happened to show up in Gilm right around then. I had some free time and thought I'd drop by to see if anything interesting was happening. Looks like that paid off. The problem now is how to actually conduct the research. I'm staying at the Wheat Inn at Dusk on Daskar's recommendation, but..."
"Ah, right."
For Rei, who could travel on Set, the commute was trivial. But for someone on foot, getting from Gilm to the center of the Treant Forest would take considerable time.
Listening to Anastasia voice her concerns, Rei found himself wrestling with the same problem.