"Oh my, there's someone new here, isn't there."
Rei, who had been conversing in Marina's courtyard, turned his gaze toward the source of the voice.
Standing there was exactly the person Rei had expected—Marina.
As always, she was dressed in a party dress that seemed quite unsuitable for everyday wear, a look that was very much Marina.
Seated at the table, Rei gave a light wave in greeting.
"Welcome back. So?"
Marina called out briefly to Anastasia, then took a seat next to Rei.
Rei pulled some cold fruit water from his Misty Ring and handed it to her.
"Mmm... delicious. A drink after work really hits the spot.... So, who's that over there?"
"Anastasia and Fana. They're cooperating with us to investigate the Wisp in the underground space at the Treant Forest."
He gave a brief explanation of the situation.
Once she understood why they had come here to investigate the Wisp, Marina nodded in understanding.
"Well, I do recognize that my Spirit Magic is rather unique. If someone has strong curiosity, it wouldn't be strange for them to take an interest."
"I'm glad to hear you say that. I may not look it, but I'm fairly skilled at Spirit Magic myself. However, Marina's power is so far beyond mine that even comparing us would be presumptuous."
"Oh my, may I take that as a compliment?"
Anastasia nodded as if to say, "Naturally."
"In the first place, ordinary Spirit Magic can't achieve the kind of versatility... no, perhaps I should call it flexibility—that's being used in this house. I'd love to ask how you manage something like this, but I suppose you wouldn't tell me even if I did?"
"That's right. But I will say this much—it's not as though I'm doing anything special."
Anastasia's expression shifted to surprise. "Really?"
She had always held the impression that Marina's Spirit Magic was something similar yet fundamentally different from her own.
So even being told that nothing special was being done, she couldn't simply accept it at face value.
"Then why is your Spirit Magic so extraordinary, Marina?"
"That much comes down to individuality, I suppose. In the end, one's relationship with spirits varies from person to person. Those who are good with spirits find that the spirits happily grant their requests, while those who aren't struggle to get them to listen. That's about the gist of it."
And so, the two Spirit Magic users fell into a discussion about each other's craft.
However, with Anastasia focusing the conversation entirely on her own areas of interest, the shy Fana was at a loss for what to do.
With Anastasia around, she could at least count on her to supply topics of conversation, and talking to others wasn't entirely impossible—but given the current situation, she couldn't expect any of that.
Unable to proactively approach the people around her, Fana had no choice but to sit silently and watch what the others were doing, until...
"Gruu?"
Set, who had wandered over to Fana, let out a cry as if asking, "What's wrong?"
Riding on his back was Ielo, and together they radiated a cuteness so overwhelming that any of the Set Enthusiasts would have been liable to get a nosebleed at the sight.
"How cute."
Though Fana was shy, when faced with Set and Ielo—beings who were not people—she didn't show nearly as much nervousness.
Fana gently reached out her hand and touched Set's head.
Since she lived in Gilm, she naturally knew all about Set.
She had admired his cuteness from afar and had wanted to pet him before.
But for someone with severe shyness like Fana, going anywhere near Set—where large crowds always gathered—had been impossible.
As a result, touching Set for the first time today, Fana formed a happy smile beneath her mask.
...Of course, since she was wearing a mask, no one else could know that.
"Gruu... Grururu!"
"Kyah!"
Set, who had been having his head petted in silence, suddenly tugged on Fana's clothes with his beak.
The action caught Fana off guard, but the tug wasn't forceful enough to worry about her clothes tearing.
"What is it?"
"He probably wants you to play with him. Looks like he's really taken a liking to you."
"Eh..."
Fana had meant to speak to Set, but was startled when a reply came from a completely different direction. She turned her gaze that way.
There, Rei was watching Fana while eating some dried fruit he had apparently pulled from his Misty Ring at some point.
"Umm, so... he likes me?"
Perhaps because they had some prior experience talking, Fana managed to call out to Rei.
Rei nodded.
"Judging by how he's acting, probably. But Set and Ielo are both quite friendly, so it's not that unusual. Anastasia is occupied, so if you don't mind, would you go play with Set and Ielo?"
Fana hesitated at Rei's words and glanced at Set.
Her eyes met Set's round gaze... and before long, unable to resist that look, she nodded and stood up.
"Grurururu!"
"Kyu! Kyukyukyu!"
At Fana's response, not only Set but also Ielo on his back purred happily.
Filled with the cuteness of the two, Fana's steps lightened just a little as she began running around the courtyard.
"Set's been stolen from you."
"If you're going to say that, then Ielo too, right?"
Elena called out to Rei—who had been watching Fana go—with a hint of teasing, and Rei replied in a light tone.
Elena smiled back at his words and brought the tea Ara had brewed to her lips.
"So, did you learn anything about that Wisp, Rei?"
"I'm neither a researcher nor anything of the sort. What exactly are you expecting from me?"
"Hmm. But in your case, Rei, you get caught up in all sorts of things whether you want to or not, don't you?"
Put that way, even Rei found it hard to argue.
In truth, in the several years since coming to this world called Elgin, if asked just how many troubles he'd been dragged into, the only answer he could give was that it would be too tedious to count.
The troubles ranged from simple things like being attacked by bandits to major ones like the war between the Kingdom of Mireana and the Bestia Empire.
From large to small, he had been caught up in countless incidents.
Given those circumstances, it wasn't as though he couldn't understand what Elena was getting at.
"Ah... well, regarding this particular matter, I haven't really been caught up in anything special. Though if you count the whole situation with Zozo and the Lizardmen, the Green People, and the lake, then I suppose I have been caught up in things."
Elena smiled at Rei's words.
From her perspective, that was certainly enough to call it being caught up in turmoil.
Though, by that standard, Elena herself had been dragged into all manner of incidents since she started traveling with Rei.
"Let's set that aside for now. So, let me ask just to be sure—you're staying here tonight, correct? Not that I'm one to talk, being a freeloader myself."
Elena asked, trying to hide her expectation and joy but failing completely.
When speaking with other nobles, Elena kept her emotions carefully masked, but when the person she was talking to was Rei, things were naturally different.
Rei nodded.
"That's right. Judging by how absorbed Anastasia is, there's no way we can go back to the Birth Tower now."
Between Anastasia and Marina, a discussion about Spirit Magic was still going strong.
The content was heavy on technical terminology, and Rei—who couldn't use Spirit Magic—couldn't follow it. But seeing the two of them so deeply engaged in what could be called a discussion... or perhaps an argument, it clearly seemed fulfilling for them.
Is this what a debate feels like? Looking at these two, there doesn't seem to be any problem, so I guess it's fine.
Rei observed the pair, then turned his gaze back to Elena.
"Well, they're like that."
"It certainly seems so."
Elena nodded in understanding.
In the current situation, trying to drag Anastasia away could risk provoking an attack from Marina.
That was how absorbed the two of them were—discussion, debate, there were many words to describe their current state, but that was the level of intensity they were caught up in.
"In that case, tonight's dinner will be a little more lavish," Ara announced happily, having overheard Rei and Elena's conversation.
For Ara, Elena's happiness was also her own joy.
...Also, there was the slight additional reason that when Rei was around, she could eat better food than usual.
"Lavish, huh. We do have fish caught from the lake, but... do you think we could use it?"
"Absolutely not."
Ara answered instantly, without even pausing to think.
As someone entrusted with Elena's protection, letting Elena eat something as suspicious as fish from another world was absolutely out of the question.
"You've already eaten it, haven't you?" Elena, seeing Ara's reaction, asked Rei.
Given it was an unknown ingredient, she naturally assumed Rei had eaten it—her words were less a question than a confirmation.
Rei nodded as if this too were only natural.
"Yeah. It was delicious. With that lake around, it seems like we'll have more opportunities to eat fish in Gilm than before."
"...So he says."
"Even so, no. Lord Rei, you are clearly not normal. I could never accept the idea of trusting your safe consumption and letting her eat it based on that."
At Ara's firm declaration, Elena showed a slightly displeased expression.
Even so, she understood that Ara was saying this for her sake, so she didn't directly express her dissatisfaction.
"As for the fish, researchers other than Anastasia should be investigating it thoroughly, so it wouldn't be too late to wait for their results. Oh, come to think of it, it turns out the monsters in the lake don't have magic stones after all. We've defeated several species, but no magic stones have turned up so far."
"That is... quite a headache for the adventurers."
Elena, while not so much in the past, now had a strong understanding of adventurers.
Naturally, this was knowledge she had gained because the man she loved was an adventurer.
Whether he knew it or not, Rei nodded at Elena's words.
"Right. The highest-selling monster material is always the magic stone. Without that, even if the number of lake monsters increases, fewer adventurers might bother hunting them."
"However, it's a lake from another world, isn't it? In that case, wouldn't there be many besides researchers, alchemists, and pharmacists who would want the monster materials?"
"Hopefully. Though, whether to publicly announce that the lake is from another world is also a question, and—!"
Mid-sentence, Rei caught a small stone that came flying toward him.
"You're late, Vihera. Byune too."
"That's right. If Rei was here, I'm reflecting on the fact that we should have resolved that foolish brawl more quickly."
Vihera entered the courtyard looking as though she regretted something, and sat down in the chair next to Rei.
She had probably just finished work. A faint scent mixing Vihera's sweat and body odor—not unpleasant in the slightest—slightly stimulated Rei's nose.
"Rei? What is it?"
"No, it's nothing. So, was there a reason you were late getting back?"
"Yes. Several Dwarves had disputes over their work methods, and it escalated into a brawl."
Hearing the word "brawl," Elena spoke up before Rei could even open his mouth.
"Wouldn't a brawl be exactly to Vihera's taste?"
"That's right. I won't deny that. But if I'd known Rei was visiting, I would have prioritized coming here. So? Who are they?"
Looking at Anastasia, who was deep in debate with Marina over Spirit Magic, and Fana, who was somehow now playing with Set, Ielo, and Byune together, Vihera asked Rei.