The day after Anastasia and Fana stayed at Marina's house, Rei set out for the Treant Forest after breakfast, bringing Set, Anastasia, and Fana along.
…Incidentally, the slightly awkward—or perhaps bittersweet—atmosphere between Rei and Elena during breakfast did not go unnoticed by those present, though no one commented on it.
Byune could sense that something was off, but she didn't understand why.
Her feelings regarding romance likely hadn't developed yet.
Those who knew the full circumstances directed knowing glances at Rei and Elena.
Anastasia and Fana didn't grasp the situation at first either, but after spending the meal together, they presumably figured it out.
Anastasia joined the others in casting those knowing looks at Rei and Elena, while Fana, perhaps due to her natural shyness, didn't do anything in particular toward either of them.
"Still, you really go for it, Rei. To think, with a beauty like that…"
"It's great that you're full of curiosity, but make sure you actually do your research too."
Since they were in the City of Gilm, he avoided mentioning the Wisp by name, but Anastasia seemed to understand what he meant. She flashed a confident smile that said to leave it to her.
"Fana's here too, so we should manage somehow."
"I'll do my best."
Anastasia was the type to focus so completely on one thing that she lost all awareness of everything else. Fana had been entrusted with the role of bringing her back to herself—or rather, back to this world.
As a longtime acquaintance, Fana knew full well what kind of personality Anastasia had.
That was precisely why, given the current situation, she steeled herself with the conviction that she had to properly look after Anastasia as her assistant.
…Naturally, she was also intensely curious about the Wisp she had heard so much about from Anastasia.
A creature with the ability to teleport various objects and beings from another world into this one.
When she first heard the story, she couldn't bring herself to believe it—even coming from the Anastasia she so admired.
She had cast a suspicious glance from behind her mask, but Anastasia saw through it effortlessly and gave her a light scolding. Seeing Anastasia react that way was what finally convinced her that such a creature truly existed.
Of course, she wouldn't be truly certain until she laid eyes on it herself.
With all that settled, the party left Gilm in conversation and set out toward the Treant Forest.
…Though they walked rather than riding on Set's back.
Given Set's size, it wouldn't have been impossible for Rei, Anastasia, and Fana to ride together.
They had actually considered doing just that at first, but Fana couldn't endure Set's running speed.
To be precise, it wasn't that her body couldn't handle the pace—it was that Set's running speed was simply too fast, and Fana couldn't endure the terror of it.
For Rei, riding Set as he ran or flew was something he had done countless times. Perhaps because his body had been created by Zephyle and the others, he wasn't sure of the reason himself. But regardless, since it wasn't a problem, he didn't particularly mind.
At any rate, they now walked leisurely toward the Treant Forest as a group of three and one gryphon.
"Taking a leisurely walk like this once in a while isn't bad."
"Gruu?"
At Rei's words, Set tilted his head as if to ask, really?
…Even while tilting his head, he seemed curious about some yellow flowers blooming a short distance away and wandered toward them.
Set didn't appear to particularly agree with Rei's sentiment, but watching him like this, Rei could tell he was definitely enjoying the walk—no, enjoying a stroll.
"I suppose. I don't think it's bad, but I want to get to my research quickly. I brought a decent amount of inspection equipment, after all."
Looking visibly impatient, Anastasia made her feelings clear.
Rei's Misty Ring currently held the various pieces of inspection equipment that Anastasia had brought from her room at the Wheat Inn at Dusk.
That said, Anastasia hadn't come to Gilm for any specific investigation, so most of the equipment she'd brought was simple and portable.
Whatever was lacking was supplemented by equipment Fana had brought from her own home, and that too was naturally stored inside the Misty Ring.
"Don't be like that. Look, we can already see the Treant Forest. You can think things over while looking at it, can't you?"
"Really? Well, it is unusual, I suppose… But come to think of it, the fact that a Wisp was beneath the Treant Forest might mean this forest itself is from another world."
"Ah… it's possible, but I wonder."
At Anastasia's theory, Rei replied with a complicated expression, as if he partly agreed yet wanted to say otherwise.
Having been directly involved in the Treant Forest incident, Rei couldn't dismiss Anastasia's prediction as completely wrong.
"The monsters that appeared in this Treant Forest had normal Magic Stones… Of course, since I heard that monsters in Zozo and his people's world also have Magic Stones, I can't say for certain either way."
Exactly how many worlds that Wisp could summon from was still unknown in detail.
As far as was currently understood, there was the world where Zozo and his people had lived, and the world where the lake existed with monsters that bore no Magic Stones.
Those were the only two worlds confirmed so far, but the possibility that it could summon from other worlds as well couldn't be ruled out. The possibility that the Treant Forest itself had been summoned from such a world was by no means wrong.
"Leave it to me. I'll investigate that thoroughly too. Hmm, thinking about it like this, I'm really glad I came to Gilm. I might even owe that perverted old man some gratitude."
"…Perverted old man?"
Rei raised a question at Anastasia's words.
That said, from her phrasing, he could guess that this perverted old man was the reason she'd come to Gilm, and the explanation made sense to him.
Anastasia was an intellectual beauty.
Given someone of her looks, it wouldn't be strange for men to want to get closer using their status, wealth, or various other means—or to put it bluntly, to want to bed her.
Though in contrast to her beauty, her chest was a state that could fittingly be called a vast plain.
Even so, there were likely plenty of men who wouldn't care about that if it meant being with a beauty like Anastasia.
"Something happened in the Royal Capital. Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to come across such a wonderful research subject, so I suppose things work out in mysterious ways."
As they walked and talked, the party finally arrived at the Treant Forest.
Just like the day before, they avoided the woodcutters and adventurers and made their way toward the center…
"Wow."
As the entrance to the Underground Space was revealed, a gasp of astonishment escaped Fana's lips.
For Fana, she had never expected to see a sight like this.
For Rei, it was a scene he had already grown accustomed to.
For Anastasia, she had grown somewhat familiar with it, but still found herself amazed by the skill behind Marina's Spirit Magic.
Her conversation with Marina yesterday had made her realize various things.
It was a genuine eye-opening experience.
At the very least, Anastasia herself had concrete proof that her own Spirit Magic technique had improved.
"We're going inside, right? Is it really safe?"
"Gurururu"
"Eep!"
The one who answered Fana's question was, for some reason, neither Rei nor Anastasia but Set.
…Due to the narrowness of the entrance and the passage, Set had never actually been down to the Underground Space.
Even so, he let out a cry as if to say it was fine since Rei had gone inside countless times before.
Unfortunately, Fana couldn't understand what Set's cry meant.
Rather, she was frightened and let out a small scream.
At Fana's reaction, Anastasia spoke with a touch of exasperation.
"Come on, let's go. We're going to be busy with all sorts of things today. We can't afford to waste time dawdling here."
"Eep! I-I understand. I understand, so please don't pull me."
Taking Fana by the hand, Anastasia disappeared into the underground passage.
Watching this, Set let out a disappointed purr—partly because Fana had been frightened of him, but more than anything because he was the only one who had to stay behind.
Rei stroked Set as if to encourage him, then followed into the passage.
"Wow, wow, wow, wow."
When Rei arrived at the Underground Space, Fana was muttering the word over and over like a broken record as she paced back and forth across the space. …Though Rei had never listened to a record, broken or otherwise, so he wasn't entirely sure what that meant.
"It looks like she's quite taken with it."
"Ah."
Fana, who had been running around gleefully, snapped back to herself at Rei's words.
She suddenly realized exactly what she had been doing.
"Umm, well… yes. It's my first time seeing a place like this, and my first time seeing a Wisp like that, too."
Fana spoke in a shy, embarrassed voice.
Rei could guess that her face was probably flushed red, but with her mask on, he couldn't confirm it.
"So, Anastasia is… no, there's no need to ask."
Directing his gaze toward the Wisp, he found Anastasia intently observing it.
Even for Rei, who didn't know Anastasia all that well, it was immediately obvious how deeply focused she was.
But then a question occurred to him.
She had already been observing the Wisp intently yesterday. Was there any point in watching it again?
From what Rei could see, the Wisp didn't appear any different from yesterday.
Despite that, Anastasia was staring at it so fixedly—so intensely that it wouldn't have been surprising if her gaze had bored holes right through it.
"Fana, shouldn't you call out to Anastasia soon?"
"No, at that level she's still fine. I'll call her back to this world after a bit more time has passed."
"Is that so?"
Rei found that very hard to believe.
But Fana, who knew Anastasia well, had said so, and he had no choice but to accept her word.
Looking at Fana, her mask made her expression impossible to read.
Since Fana was more knowledgeable about Anastasia, leaving it to her rather than having Rei interject was clearly the right call.
(Then I'll just check the surroundings a bit… it's increased.)
What had increased was the presence of magical power that only Rei could sense.
Since Anastasia was coming, he'd had Grimm make his experiments undetectable—but somehow, Rei was still able to find them.
And the number of those detectable magical sources had definitely grown compared to when he'd visited yesterday.
(Whoa… Grimm, seizing the opportunity… I just hope they don't get found.)
Given the sheer number of magical sources on the ground, he was genuinely anxious about whether Anastasia or Fana might stumble upon them.
The Magic Items and gemstones Grimm had placed were merely made invisible—they still physically existed in those spots.
If that were the case, then should someone accidentally touch something by chance, the presence of an object there would be discovered, invisible or not.
If Fana realized something was there, she would naturally inform Anastasia.
And if Anastasia found out, she would just as naturally pick it up or do something similar.
(Should I tell Grimm it's dangerous? No, in the first place, Grimm would have obviously anticipated that much…)
Or perhaps Grimm was placing them on the assumption that Anastasia and Fana would notice the various objects scattered on the ground.
That thought suddenly crossed Rei's mind.
That said, as long as he didn't understand the purpose behind it, Rei couldn't know whether his guess—or rather, his idle speculation—was correct.
"Anastasia-san, Anastasia-san."
While Rei was still thinking about Grimm, it seemed Anastasia's concentration had reached its limit, at least from Fana's perspective.
The sight of Fana calling out to bring her back to herself entered Rei's field of vision.