The Wind Spirit rampage subsided, and after ten-odd minutes... the man from earlier finally arrived with the Guards.
That said, since the situation had already resolved itself, they were late to arrive.
"Ah... so? Mind if I ask what exactly happened here?"
A Guard addressed Rei.
Even as he asked, the look in his eyes carried a hint of exasperation and blame.
Rei being targeted by someone wasn't all that unusual.
But at the same time, killing the attacker was going too far — that was the meaning behind his gaze.
As if protesting that look, Rei spoke up.
"I'm telling you, I didn't kill that man. He used some method to send the Wind Spirits into a rampage, and as a result, essentially committed suicide."
"...Well, if you say so, I believe you."
The fact that he showed no sign of doubting Rei's words was likely a testament to just how amicably Rei had treated the Guards all this time.
If Rei said so, then it was true — that was their conviction.
Of course, they wouldn't simply take Rei's words at face value; they would have the corpse examined by someone with specialized knowledge.
However, the problem in this case was that the cause of the man's death was a Wind Spirit rampage.
Because of that, the number of people who could investigate the matter was by no means large.
Anastasia, who had been with Rei, was an Elf and a Spirit Magic user.
But the very fact that she had been with Rei meant her testimony couldn't be fully trusted either.
This wasn't because there was anything suspect about Anastasia herself; it was simply that she had been with Rei, and that carried more weight.
That being the case, Marina — who was famous as a Spirit Magic user — would be a candidate, but Marina also had a deep relationship with Rei, and the possibility that she would defend him couldn't be denied either.
"Ah... was there anyone else who uses Spirit Magic? If not, we can't exactly leave the corpse as it is."
The Guard muttered troubledly as he gazed at the corpse.
Being a Guard in Gilm, he didn't vomit or anything of the sort upon seeing a corpse.
Of course, it wasn't as though he had ever wanted to get used to seeing them.
Summer was approaching now, and daytime temperatures were rising.
Naturally, that meant the corpse would begin to deteriorate...
"If you want, I could hold onto it for you, but... you can't do that, right?"
"Unfortunately not."
From the Guard's perspective, storing the corpse in Rei's Misty Ring would prevent it from rotting.
But Rei was simultaneously a victim in this incident and potentially a perpetrator as well.
They couldn't entrust the corpse to someone like him.
"Then I'll leave that part to you, is that fine? If I stay here any longer, it seems like it'll just cause unnecessary problems."
"Understood. But if we want to ask you anything about this matter later, I'll send someone... ah... you're living in the Noble District now, right?"
"Yeah. Various things happened, and I'm staying at Marina's house, so contact me there."
So said Rei, though the original reason he was staying at Marina's house was largely because the Lizardman Zozo had displayed a peculiar loyalty, refusing to leave Rei's side.
That same Zozo was currently at the Birth Tower, so there was no longer any need to stay at Marina's house.
If anything, because of the situation with Zozo, Rei was currently sleeping at the Birth Tower as a guard.
Thinking about it that way, even if they contacted Marina's house, the chances of reaching Rei there were slim.
Of course, Rei had the role of transporting wood from the Treant Forest, so he basically came to Gilm at least once a day, making it possible to get in touch if they tried.
After that, Rei explained the general situation to the Guards and left the scene with Anastasia and the Masked Girl.
"Now then, so this Masked Woman is the assistant you mentioned?"
"Yes. I had heard she was in Gilm, so if nothing came of seeing Daskar, I was planning to go to her house as well... but since the timing worked out, I decided to use her as my assistant."
"...She looks suspicious just from looking at her."
Rei said this while eyeing the mask concealing the woman's face.
Indeed, the Masked Woman, with her eyes, nose, and mouth hidden behind a mask, looked like a suspicious person at a glance.
No, given that she was hiding her face behind a mask in the first place, it wasn't even clear whether she was human.
"Fufufu. I thought you'd say that. But this girl... in Fana's case, she can't have a proper conversation with people unless she's wearing this mask. Even with the mask on, she's still afraid of talking to people."
At those words, Rei recalled the time when Anastasia had been trying to calm the Wind Spirits earlier.
He had wondered if she was struggling because it was taking so long, and when she told him that this was normal, there had indeed been something lacking in force behind her words... or rather, it felt like she was afraid of Rei.
Even so, the fact that she had firmly voiced her own opinion to Rei was likely due to the effect of that mask.
"I see. I understand the situation for now, but can you really trust her?"
"No problem. If Fana tries anything strange... fufu."
A flinch.
Upon hearing Anastasia's words, Fana's movements momentarily stopped.
"So, what are we doing for now?"
"Today? It's a dilemma. I want to meet Marina, but at the same time, I don't want to be too far from the Birth Tower near my research subject... it's truly a dilemma."
Perhaps to emphasize just how torn she was, Anastasia repeated the word "dilemma" twice.
In truth, Rei was also unsure of what to do in this situation, so he couldn't say anything definitive about what they should do.
The adventurers serving as guards at the Birth Tower were mostly skilled.
If anything, he felt that there would be no problem even if he was absent for a single night, but there was always the possibility of something unforeseen happening.
And so, after wavering...
"Yeah, that's right. Let's stay at Marina's house today."
He decided that easily.
If Anastasia wasn't entrusted with anything in particular, and it was simply that she wanted to meet Marina, whose Spirit Magic prowess was high, Rei would have gone to stay at the Birth Tower today.
Alternatively, he could have brought Anastasia to Marina's house, introduced her to Marina, and then headed to guard the Birth Tower himself.
But right now, Anastasia was the person entrusted with the Wisp research.
Since she had been entrusted with the Wisp research — which could be called the most important matter for Daskar and for Rei as well — giving her some preferential treatment was only natural.
"Oh my, is that okay? Then I won't hold back. Fana's coming too, right?"
"Eh? Me too? But, um..."
Perhaps not expecting to be brought to Marina's house herself, Fana showed signs of bewilderment.
However, Anastasia grabbed Fana's hand, brought her face close as if instructing her, and spoke.
"You'll come, won't you?"
It looked less like she was persuading her and more like she was threatening her, but given that it was Anastasia and Fana, Rei couldn't carelessly interject.
If told that this was their normal, he had no choice but to accept it.
Anyway, for those reasons, Rei, Anastasia, and Fana would be staying at Marina's house today.
(That means I need to contact the Birth Tower... In that case, I'd go to the Lord's Manor and take a carriage... no, there's no guarantee a carriage would run at this hour. In that case, it's better to go directly to the Birth Tower once and tell them I'm staying at Marina's house today.)
Having made that judgment, Rei told Anastasia and Fana that he was going to the Birth Tower to explain the situation, and left the area with Set.
"Hmm, honestly it's harder to do guard duty without Set, but I can't ask for the impossible."
The adventurer tasked with guarding the Birth Tower muttered with a slightly troubled expression.
When it came to guarding this place, Set's sharp five senses were naturally a tremendous asset.
Without Set, they couldn't guard the area with their usual composure.
That said, for an adventurer, that was normal.
Rei, who always acted alongside Set, was an exception; other adventurers normally didn't have a companion like Set when standing watch.
"Anyway, I'll be back here tomorrow, so I'm counting on you... Zozo."
Zozo, who had been giving some kind of instructions to his comrades at a short distance away, noticed Rei calling his name and approached.
"Lord Rei, what is it?"
"Sorry, but I'm staying at Marina's house today, not here. Take care of things on this end."
When he told him that, Zozo showed unmistakable disappointment for anyone to see.
To Zozo, Rei was the person to whom he devoted his loyalty at the risk of his life.
Because of that, knowing that his lord Rei was in a different place from himself inevitably made him feel down.
Still, perhaps because a certain amount of time had passed since he began following Rei, he no longer believed that he must always be by Rei's side no matter what.
This was likely influenced by the existence of Gaga, Zozo's brother, as well.
"Understood... By the way, Brother Gaga said he wanted to have a mock battle with you, Lord Rei. He said he'll win this time for sure."
"Ah... yeah. Sorry, but that'll have to wait. I'm busy with various things right now and don't have the time for that. But tell him that if he wants to do a mock battle during morning training, I'll accept."
At Rei's words, Zozo bowed.
Leaving Zozo behind, Rei called Set, who had been playing with the Lizardman Children, and headed back to Gilm.
"Th-this is... how on earth..."
From Anastasia's mouth came a voice that, while tinged with admiration, was clearly one of dismay.
Rei and Set, having returned from the Birth Tower, arrived at Marina's house in the Noble District along with Anastasia and Fana, who had been waiting.
Those were the words Anastasia uttered upon arriving in front of the main gate of Marina's house.
Rei couldn't understand the meaning of those words, but he could more or less guess.
Marina's house was kept in a comfortable state through Spirit Magic, and was also protected by Spirit Magic for security purposes.
In a manner of speaking, she was using Spirit Magic far too excessively.
Judging from Anastasia's demeanor, even Rei could easily surmise that she was thinking something along those lines.
Of course, since Fana was wearing a mask, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
"Hey, Rei. I'll ask just in case, but... is it really okay for me to enter when the owner of this mansion isn't here? Looking at the Spirit Magic placed on this house, it seems like there would be a huge problem if someone entered without permission."
"That part is fine. When I started living in this house, Marina told me there wouldn't be any issues with that."
If, when Marina was absent, someone living in this house brought a guest and the Spirits didn't permit it, that would be problematic.
That was why the Spirits had been made to tolerate that sort of ambiguity.
"Really? I'll trust you, okay? A house protected by this many Spirits probably has stronger defenses than your average fortress."
Being a Spirit Magic user who could see the Spirits, Anastasia could likely understand the robust defensive power of Marina's house.
Watching her reaction, Rei spoke up.
"Come on, let's go inside already. We can't stay like this forever. Or are you going to wait right here until Marina comes back? ...Well, depending on how things go, it wouldn't be surprising if she came back around now."
It was nearing evening.
Those who finished early would have already completed their work, and naturally, Marina's work at the clinic would also be ending.
...In reality, there were people every night who finished work, went to a tavern to drink Alcohol, got bold, picked fights, and got injured.
Since those weren't work-related injuries, Marina basically didn't provide Treatment for them.
They either bought potions out of pocket to treat themselves, or endured the pain while working.
"You're right... we can't wait here forever. Then... here I go."
Taking a deep breath as if psyching herself up... eventually, Anastasia set foot onto the grounds of Marina's house.