Fortunately, or perhaps exactly as Rei had said, when Anastasia and Fana stepped onto the grounds of Marina's house, the Spirits showed no signs of doing anything unusual.
Rei had assured them it would be fine, but there was always a chance—a very slim one, admittedly—that the Spirits might have judged the visibly suspicious, masked Fana as an enemy and attacked her. Even now, he felt a belated wave of relief.
That the Spirits had favorably assessed Fana—or at the very least deemed her a non-threat—was a genuine relief.
Though he had expected as much, given that she was accompanying him.
At any rate, with Anastasia and Fana in tow, Rei headed toward Marina's courtyard alongside Set.
Thanks to Set's presence, the courtyard essentially served as the living room of Marina's home.
Anastasia, however, questioned Rei's choice of destination—until the next moment, when her eyes went wide with astonishment.
Even from her perspective, an extraordinary number of Spirits had been gathered in that courtyard.
"Th-this is... to maintain Spirit Magic for this long..."
"For now, what matters is that it's comfortable here. Come on, let's go in."
Saying so, Rei pulled Anastasia along while Set nudged Fana forward, and they entered the courtyard together.
The moment they stepped inside, the air turned cool.
Even in spring, a warm day left plenty of heat lingering by evening. Yet the instant they entered the courtyard, that warmth vanished entirely.
All Anastasia could do was marvel at the space—kept cool and perfectly comfortable through Marina's magic.
She had always been fairly confident in her own Spirit Magic. Rei had told her just how skilled Marina was, and the moment she had first laid eyes on the house, she had sensed the depth of the woman's power. But it wasn't until she set foot in this courtyard that she truly understood she had been underestimating Marina all along.
With her own level of skill, creating a courtyard like this would have been utterly impossible.
Just how much power would it take to craft such an environment through Spirit Magic alone?
Harboring that question, Anastasia gazed around the courtyard—until she noticed a table, and seated there, a woman of such striking beauty that she could only be described as breathtakingly gorgeous.
The woman had been reading documents spread across the table, but she likely sensed their presence. She looked up and, upon seeing Rei and Set, broke into a pleased if slightly surprised smile. Then her gaze shifted to Anastasia and Fana, and her expression turned quizzical.
Anastasia was one thing, but the fact that her reaction to a masked woman like Fana remained that muted was likely because Rei's existence had thoroughly—truly thoroughly—acclimated her to the unusual.
"Hm? Is it just Elena? What about Ara?"
"Ah, Ara went to brew tea... looks like she's back."
Elena turned as Ara emerged from the house carrying a teapot. Rei noticed her as well, and Ara in turn realized that the courtyard now held more people than just Elena.
Since she spotted Rei and Set, however, she didn't make much of a fuss.
...Though while Anastasia was one thing, she did cast a dubious glance at the masked Fana.
"Lord Rei, who are they?"
"They're the scholar and her assistant who'll be investigating the Underground Space. Anastasia and Fana. Anastasia is an Elf and skilled in Spirit Magic, so I figured I'd introduce her to Marina."
"...I see."
Ara didn't seem entirely convinced, but she at least dropped her overt suspicion and returned to the house to prepare tea for the rest of the group.
That alone shows how much she's grown, Rei thought, watching Ara's retreating figure.
When they had first met—both Ara and Elena—Ara had seen Rei and Elena captivated by each other's presence, assumed Rei had done something to her, and attacked him on the spot. Compared to that, her composed response now was undeniably a marked improvement.
Then again, unlike their first encounter, Ara was now the commander of Elena's Escort Knight Order, so behaving recklessly was out of the question.
...Though he couldn't help but find it questionable that the commander of a knight order had left her actual unit to a deputy while she herself stayed in Gilm with Elena like this.
"Look, Ara's going to treat us to tea, and we can't just stand here until Marina gets back. So why don't we sit down and take it easy? Fana looks like she's at her limit, too."
At Rei's words, Anastasia glanced over at Fana.
The woman was trembling almost imperceptibly, confronted as she was with unfamiliar faces—one possessing overwhelming beauty, and another, Ara, who had fixed her with a sharp gaze even if only for an instant.
Though the mask hid her face, even Rei, who had only just met her, could tell that without it, she would have been pale as a sheet.
"You're right. At this rate, Fana might actually collapse. Shall we intrude?"
Despite Fana shaking her head slightly in a silent plea that she would rather not go, Anastasia half-dragged her toward the table.
It was generally held that Elves lacked physical strength, but the force Anastasia employed to haul Fana along seemed, from Rei's perspective, to surpass the bounds of what an Elf should be capable of.
Having forcibly seated Fana in a chair, Anastasia plopped down beside her to prevent any escape.
Rei, for his part, took his own seat next to Elena.
Once everyone was settled, Elena offered Anastasia a warm smile.
"Welcome, I suppose I should say."
"I suppose so. I'm glad to be welcomed. Though I never expected the Princess General to be in Gilm. Daskar never mentioned it."
"Hmm, now that you mention it, I believe there was an excellent researcher named Anastasia in the Royal Capital. To find such a person here in Gilm is a surprise indeed."
"Oh, but this is our first meeting, isn't it?"
"Your name is well known. I've heard of your work on several occasions."
Listening to their exchange, Rei realized that Anastasia was someone of genuine renown.
Until now, he had assumed she was simply someone Daskar owed a favor to. But while she was clearly famous, she wasn't the kind of celebrity whose face everyone recognized—more likely, she was known only within certain circles.
"I'm honored you know my name."
"Indeed. Your thesis on Goblin High-ranking and Rare Species, presented at the academic conference, was excellent."
"...You read a rather unpopular thesis. Normally, I'd expect someone to look through something else."
"Heh, a thesis on Goblins? That's actually pretty interesting."
Rei cut into their conversation. It was no mere flattery—it was an indisputable fact.
Goblins were the most familiar threat one could name. They appeared anywhere, multiplied before you knew it, and carried off women and children.
For anyone of sufficient skill, they were no problem at all. But precisely because of that, for those who lacked that level of skill, their sheer numbers made them the worst possible menace.
A thesis on the High-ranking and Rare Species of such creatures was, at the very least, genuinely fascinating to Rei.
"Daskar should have had it sent over to the library. Go read it later if you're interested."
Anastasia delivered this bluntly, but the slight softening of her expression suggested she was pleased that someone had shown interest in her work.
The conversation continued from there, but the introverted Fana sat restlessly, glancing around at her surroundings.
As far as Fana was concerned, Anastasia—an acquaintance and fellow researcher—was one thing, but sitting at the same table as someone like Elena, a figure whose name was known even in neighboring countries, was overwhelming and, in a sense, nothing short of terrifying.
While Fana sat in her flustered state, Ara returned and placed a cup of tea in front of her, prompting Fana to turn toward the knight with a start.
...Had she only shifted her gaze, the mask would have made it impossible to tell.
"Here you go. I'm not sure whether you can drink with that mask on, though."
After addressing Fana, Ara placed tea before Rei and Anastasia as well, then swapped out Elena's cup, which had gone cold. Finally, she prepared tea at the remaining empty seat—her own—and sat down.
"So, have you learned anything about that Wisp?"
"No, we still understand almost nothing. But I'll be bringing Fana along as my assistant, so we should see some progress."
Anastasia glanced at Fana as she spoke. Elena followed her gaze, but Fana remained motionless, still clutching her teacup.
"Um, is she all right? For that matter, why is she wearing that mask?"
"Yes, her ability as a researcher is high, but she has an extremely shy and introverted personality. It's only by using that mask that she can manage to speak with people at all. ...Her ability as a researcher is high, though."
The way Anastasia repeated the point made it clear she considered it of vital importance. Elena, at a loss for words, eventually spoke up somewhat hesitantly.
"Can someone with such an introverted personality really manage as a researcher?"
"It would be difficult. That's precisely why, despite her ability, she never stood out in Gilm. But as my assistant, there's no problem."
At Anastasia's words, Fana shifted in her seat as if embarrassed.
...Whether it was truly embarrassment or something else, even Rei couldn't say.
"I see. ...Tell me your honest assessment. What do you think that Wisp actually is?"
"If you ask me what it is, I'm a bit at a loss. I can only say that it's a Rare Species."
"Then, because it's a Rare Species of Wisp, does it possess the ability to teleport things from another world? Or does being a Rare Species mean that any monster could potentially have the same ability as that Wisp?"
"That, I don't know. Not without investigating the Wisp more thoroughly. And that's exactly where the problem lies—we can't push the Wisp too hard."
"...Well, if something happened to that Wisp, it would definitely become a serious problem."
Rei agreed with Anastasia immediately.
Currently, the Wisp was the only known entity capable of teleporting things from another world. If they carelessly harmed it—or, worst case, killed it—Daskar would never be able to accept that.
Of course, Daskar owed Anastasia a debt of gratitude, and since he had asked her to research the Wisp, Rei felt confident that as long as she didn't deliberately do something to kill it, she wouldn't be handled roughly.
"That's right. Which means we have to find a way to investigate it without causing any harm... but naturally, that slows our progress. So, this is strictly my personal conjecture—would you still like to hear it?"
"Yes."
Elena nodded without hesitation, and the others waited in agreement for Anastasia to continue.
Even Fana seemed to be looking forward to what she was about to say.
"I don't think it became a Rare Species because it was a Wisp. I believe that even if it had been another monster, it would have become such a Rare Species through an astonishingly low probability—something akin to a miracle."
"...Akin to a miracle, huh. Well, if it weren't a probability like that, it wouldn't be strange for a Rare Species with the same ability to have appeared before now."
Rei murmured his agreement, and the others nodded in unison.