In the middle of the meal, Rei suddenly realized something.
"Ah... damn it."
"Rei? What's wrong?"
Perhaps sensing something in Rei's demeanor, an adventurer who had been eating nearby quickly scanned the area.
He was probably worried that some kind of monster had appeared.
Reacting swiftly was the mark of a skilled hand, but what Rei had noticed this time was nothing of the sort.
He had completely forgotten to go pick up Anastasia and Fana.
So much had happened today... truly so much that he had utterly forgotten about the two of them.
"Sorry, I forgot about Anastasia and the others! I'll go pick them up right now. ...Set!"
"Gruu? ...Grururu."
At Rei's words, Set glanced regretfully at the meat he had been eating, but approached Rei anyway—after all, Rei was calling him.
He had probably been so absorbed in his meal that he hadn't been listening.
He turned his gaze toward Rei as if to ask, "What is it?"
Since Rei himself was the one who had forgotten about Anastasia, he didn't scold Set. Instead, he spoke almost apologetically.
"You forgot about Anastasia and Fana too, didn't you? They're still at that place, so we need to go pick them up."
"...Gruu? Grururururu!?"
Told by Rei, Set seemed to realize that he too had forgotten about Anastasia and the others, and let out a startled cry.
It was already growing quite dark around them.
In this season, close to summer, on a clear day rather than a rainy or cloudy one, it being this dark meant it was well past what could properly be called dinnertime.
Set immediately crouched down, prompting Rei to climb onto his back.
Rei leapt on without a moment's hesitation.
"Sorry, but I need to go pick up Anastasia and the others! You guys go ahead and keep eating!"
Before he could even finish speaking, Set broke into a run.
Not his usual light jog, but a speed that truly warranted the term "full sprint."
Riding on Set's back as he tore through the dark forest, Rei thought about how he should smooth things over with Anastasia.
He had packed them lunch, but beyond that, he had only given them light snacks to munch on.
Which meant they had to be hungry by now—and there was no telling what she might demand of him using that as leverage.
Well, I brought some grilled meat with me, so I'll have them make do with that for now.
As that thought crossed his mind, Set wove between the trees at full speed through the pitch-dark forest.
...Technically, it was still somewhat bright outside the forest, but in here, the canopy blocked what little light remained.
During the day, "dappled sunlight through the leaves" would have been the perfect description—a captivating, beautiful sight. But at night, it was a different story entirely.
The trees became a near-complete barrier, not letting through even the faintest sliver of light.
Of course, both Rei and Set had Night Vision, so the darkness wasn't an issue for them.
"Gruu!"
As they approached the heart of the Treant Forest, Set let out a sharp cry.
Rei listened, checking the surroundings for any threats—particularly any lurking monsters.
There were monsters that grew active after nightfall, and in that sense, this whole incident—completely forgetting about Anastasia and Fana—had been a considerable blunder on his part.
Alright. No monster presence. ...Though it's possible they sensed Set and fled.
By and large, most monsters, upon sensing the presence of something above their rank, would flee the area. That was hardly unusual.
The ones that didn't were monsters incapable of even recognizing a superior opponent—like Goblins—or those with an aggressive temperament, or creatures whose pride simply would not allow them to retreat.
There were other reasons a monster might stand its ground, but even so, there was no doubt that more fled than fought.
Right now, the forest was full of such cautious creatures, and the absence of anything hostile was a great relief to Rei.
When they finally reached their destination—the passage leading to the Underground Space—Rei left Set on the surface and descended below.
What exactly was going on down there?
And more importantly, what on earth would Anastasia say to him once he arrived?
He steeled himself and pressed forward, but...
"Well, yeah. I figured as much."
He hadn't figured it at all, but he muttered the words as if to convince himself.
The scene spread out before his eyes was virtually unchanged from when he had left the Underground Space that morning.
Anastasia was still intently studying the Wisp, with Fana tending to her.
Fana wore a mask, so her expression was hard to read, but considering she had been assisting Anastasia until this hour, Rei could only imagine how exhausted she must be.
"Ah... um, well... hey! Anastasia, Fana! I know you probably can't tell what time it is down here, but it's already night."
At Rei's voice, Fana looked up.
Seeing Rei, she seemed startled—or at least, that was what Rei gathered from her bearing and demeanor, given the mask obscuring her face.
In any case, the moment she spotted him, she began urgently shaking Anastasia, breaking the elf's concentration on the Wisp.
"What? I was just about to formulate a hypothesis about the Wisp."
"I know, but..."
As Anastasia made her displeasure known, Fana pointed toward Rei.
Anastasia followed the direction of her finger and finally spotted him.
"Oh, Rei? What's the matter? You're back quite early again."
"It's not early. ...What time do you think it is right now? It's already night. Everyone at the Birth Tower is having dinner."
"...Huh? It's already that late?"
"Afraid so. Honestly, how long were you concentrating for?"
Rei shot Anastasia a look of exasperation.
Under that gaze, Anastasia fidgeted with her long, pointed elven ears as if trying to gloss over the matter.
"As a researcher, that much is only to be expected, isn't it? Given the stakes of this situation, honestly, if you can't focus at least this much, you have no business studying the Wisp."
Is that how it works? Rei wondered, but he decided against saying it out loud. He could already tell that Anastasia wouldn't accept the objection.
Besides, having Anastasia research the Wisp was genuinely invaluable to him.
The odds were still vanishingly small—so small that "miracle" would be a more fitting word—but there was a chance, however faint, that it might open a path back to Japan.
"Ah, yeah. Well, I really do appreciate you putting so much effort into the research, Anastasia. So, did you figure anything out today?"
"...Really? You think I'm going to learn something after researching for such a short time?"
Anastasia shot him a withering look, but Rei still found himself wondering if that was truly how it worked.
After all, he had no way of knowing what a researcher's work specifically entailed or how long it typically took to produce results.
Given the stakes of this particular situation, perhaps it would be wise for him to develop at least a basic understanding of such things.
"Didn't you just say something about a hypothesis a moment ago?"
"I did. But even though I said 'hypothesis,' it's really just something I imagined on my own—a hypothesis stacked on top of another hypothesis. That kind of thing. It's nowhere near anything I can share with others yet."
Rei would have loved to press for details, but he judged that lingering here wouldn't get anything more out of Anastasia. And he couldn't leave Set waiting on the surface indefinitely.
"Understood. We'll leave it there for now. Either way, we're heading back to the Birth Tower. Given that you only had the food I brought, you must be hungry, right?"
Even as he said it, Rei considered whether he should leave some provisions in the Underground Space.
If he did, it would be highly preservable food—things like dried meat or hardtack that wouldn't easily spoil.
That way, even if he were delayed again like today, they could at least stave off their hunger.
...Though it would be the sort of meal any common adventurer might have—nothing at all like the lavish spread the adventurers and Lizardmen were currently enjoying at the Birth Tower.
"You're right. Now that you mention it, I am hungry."
Beside Anastasia, Fana nodded firmly in emphatic agreement.
Fana had likely been going hungry as a result of shadowing Anastasia all this time.
...The fact that her stomach hadn't started growling was perhaps a matter of maidenly pride.
Not that stomach rumbling was something a person could control through sheer willpower.
In any case, at Anastasia's admission of hunger, the group made their way out of the Underground Space.
"Wow, it's already pitch black."
Those were the first words out of Anastasia's mouth upon stepping outside.
She was right—the surroundings were enveloped in complete darkness.
Between being underground and staring intently at the Wisp with her consciousness fully narrowed on it, her sense of time must have been entirely numbed.
Gazing around, Anastasia took in her surroundings with an expression of genuine surprise.
"Told you. You concentrate too much, Anastasia. ...Though I can't say I don't understand."
He murmured that last part quietly, recalling how time had flown by in an instant when he used to read books or play games back in Japan.
The activity was different, but the experience of focusing so intensely on one thing that time simply vanished—that, Rei understood firsthand.
"Being underground probably had a lot to do with it. ...But it's also because you were late coming to pick us up, isn't it?"
"...Well, I can't argue with that."
It was true that a great deal had happened today, and as a result, Rei had completely forgotten to come for Anastasia. That was an indisputable fact.
He couldn't exactly dispute her point.
Perhaps sensing that, Rei decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"At this hour, the forest is dangerous. We can't afford to take our time like we did this morning. We're all riding on Set's back and heading straight back to the Birth Tower. Is that clear?"
He was directing this at Fana.
Given her shy, reserved nature, being pressed close against Rei—whom she barely knew—would be uncomfortable for her. And more than that, she had been frightened by Set's running speed before.
But considering how dangerous the Treant Forest was at night, getting back to the Birth Tower as quickly as possible was the only sensible option.
Which meant they needed to move fast.
With Rei and Set present, they could handle almost anything that came at them.
But with Anastasia and Fana—people he was tasked with protecting... or, to put it bluntly, dead weight—in the mix, the possibility of something going wrong in a worst-case scenario was very real.
Weighing all of that, there was no question: they needed to hurry.
"...Understood."
Reluctantly—truly reluctantly—Fana accepted Rei's proposal.
From Fana's perspective, having signed on as Anastasia's assistant, she had readily anticipated that problems would arise.
But to have one occur so suddenly, and of this nature, was unexpected even for her.
"All right. Let's go. Set, it's three of us—can you handle it?"
"Grururururu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred confidently. *No problem!
If it came down to it, Set could run just fine carrying three grown men.
Compared to that, hauling someone as slight as Rei and two women was practically nothing.
...It might not even amount to the weight of a single large man.
Carrying that kind of load was no trouble at all for Set.
...Though asking him to fly under those conditions would have been another matter entirely.
"All right, let's move. Fana, you're in front, then Anastasia behind her, and I'll be behind Anastasia."
Mindful of Fana's shyness, he judged it would be better for Anastasia—rather than himself—to be the one in direct contact with her. Both women nodded, and the arrangement was settled without fuss.
And so, three people and one griffon set off toward the Birth Tower.