Though Rei had encountered the adventurers, he was startled by how suddenly they drew their weapons on him.
This Treant Forest was different from before — from when it had suddenly appeared — and now had a reasonable population of animals and monsters.
Because of that, the adventurers hired to escort the woodcutters were, unlike when the Expansion Construction first began, fairly capable hands.
For adventurers of that caliber, it went without saying that they had no need to react so aggressively — drawing weapons just because someone suddenly appeared.
If they were beginners who had just become adventurers, it might have been understandable, but for proven, capable adventurers recognized by the Guild, it was a crude response.
"I'd like to say it's been a while... but why are you all so on edge? Did some powerful monster show up?"
"No, it's not that... probably."
"Probably?"
Rei wondered why they were being so vague, but the adventurers didn't seem to be joking around — they were telling him this with serious expressions.
Seeing how the adventurers looked, Rei naturally began to wonder what had happened in this Treant Forest.
...That said, considering the fairy they had encountered right after exiting the Underground Space, he could more or less guess.
Still, if it was just the one fairy Rei had seen, it shouldn't have been able to pull off pranks on such a large scale.
That was exactly why he hoped it was something else.
With that thought, he spoke up.
"So? What exactly happened? The fact that you're using a word like 'probably' means there are things you don't understand... strange things happening, right?"
"That's exactly it!"
One of the adventurers said this in a panicked tone in response to Rei's words.
And it wasn't just one person — the other adventurers seemed to share the same sentiment, directing intense gazes at Rei.
"At first, there were a lot of things like... things we'd left in one place suddenly being somewhere else, stuff that made us think, 'Maybe we just imagined it?' but..."
At that adventurer's words, the others nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, yeah, that's how it was, but... before we knew it, things got way worse. Like, the longsword that was in someone's scabbard would end up being someone else's longsword."
Normally, it was unthinkable for someone to sheathe their own longsword in another person's scabbard.
Given that, Rei could easily imagine that it was the work of fairies.
...That was, well.
A longsword, being one's own weapon, was essentially a companion-like existence that one entrusted their life to.
For it to become someone else's weapon in a life-or-death battle would be extremely dire.
"There were other things too, but... there were also cases where we suddenly realized we were in a completely different place."
"Yeah, like Zeroles. That one surprised us. He just vanished before we noticed."
Listening to them talk, Rei understood that they had suffered fairly significant damage.
(This is definitely the fairies' doing. What a troublesome mess they've made.)
It was hard enough for them to transport felled logs without Rei around, but adding what appeared to be fairy pranks on top of that made it no laughing matter for the workers.
Among the pranks Rei heard about, there were cases where logs they were trying to load somehow slipped and couldn't be loaded onto the carriage, and because of that, many workers had logs fall on their feet and suffered broken bones.
It had been the same with the pranks on the Seremuse Plain — fairy pranks were often no laughing matter for those on the receiving end.
From the fairies' perspective, their pranks were probably innocent, but the damage they caused was significant.
"Anyway, I understand the situation. There's no doubt things have been tough."
"They really have... Since you're here, could you take some logs with you? We have today's batch, but there's quite a buildup from before too."
"Got it."
For Rei, transporting felled logs wasn't particularly difficult.
If so, carrying the logs when heading to Gilm was merely an afterthought for him.
Rei called out to the adventurers as they parted ways.
"For now, I understand that something's off with the Treant Forest right now, so be careful out there."
As Rei said that, Vihera gave him a questioning look.
The meaning behind that gaze was: Are you sure it's okay not to tell them about the fairies?
However, Rei judged that whether or not to simply come out and tell them about the fairies was a delicate matter.
After all, these were fairies.
Even in Elgin, while they did exist, there were virtually no confirmed sightings — that was the kind of existence they were.
In fact, unless one had the kind of luck needed to encounter an A-Rank Monster or an S-Rank Monster, actually seeing a fairy with one's own eyes would be impossible.
And such a fairy — at least one — was in this Treant Forest.
...No, considering the frequency and scale of the pranks he had heard about from the adventurers, it was hard to believe there was only the one fairy they had seen.
There could easily be many more... dozens, or possibly even over a hundred.
Thinking about it that way, it was indeed true that informing the adventurers of the fairies' presence could lead to various problems.
(Still, it was the same with the Dragonias, but is there really no way to deal with being tormented by sheer numbers?)
If there was only one fairy, there wouldn't be much need for that level of caution.
But the problem was that he had no idea how many fairies there were.
(...Fairies. Do you count them as one person, two people, or one creature, two creatures? ...Considering they're causing harm to people, counting them as "creatures" feels sufficient. Though, then again, even humans have bandits and the like who harm others.)
Whether to classify fairies as humans... no, as demi-humans or as monsters.
Rei understood that deciding that was not his responsibility, but even so, as he proceeded through the Treant Forest, he thought about fairies... and eventually, they arrived at where the woodcutters were.
"Hey, Rei! You're back!"
One of the woodcutters, the first to notice Rei, called out happily.
It was only natural. For the woodcutters, felling trees was one thing, but transporting them to Gilm was difficult, and now they were even being pranked by fairies.
If so, Rei's return — which would solve all of that at once — was something to be genuinely happy about.
The adventurers Rei had just met had also been happy about his return.
However, the woodcutters were the ones actually felling the trees, so their joy was likely even stronger.
"Yeah, I ran into the adventurers over there and heard what's going on. Sounds like things have been pretty rough... Anyway, I'll take all the logs you couldn't transport, so keep up the good work felling trees."
How long Rei would continue to be involved with this Treant Forest, he didn't know either.
But once the Expansion Construction in Gilm was finished, he probably wouldn't be involved with it for a while... at least, that was the case for the woodcutters and the adventurers who assisted and escorted them.
In Rei's case, there was the matter of the Lizardmen living by the lake and its surroundings, so he would inevitably need to be involved.
(Come to think of it, are the Lizardmen also being pranked by the fairies?)
That thought suddenly crossed his mind.
The Birth Tower where the Lizardmen lived was located just outside the Treant Forest — strictly speaking, it was outside the forest, not inside it.
Given that, Rei couldn't be sure whether they were also suffering from fairy pranks.
Of course, the very assumption that fairy pranks were only happening inside the Treant Forest was nothing more than Rei's own guess.
"Alright then, we're counting on you for the logs!"
While Rei was thinking about the Lizardmen, one of the woodcutters said that and then happily headed off to fell trees with his adventurer escort.
With the worry of transporting felled logs off their shoulders, the woodcutter's motivation had clearly been reignited.
"You're such a pushover."
The one who said that to Rei wasn't Vihera... but Anastasia.
"Am I? Either way, once I go back to helping with the Expansion Construction, transporting the felled logs becomes my job. If that's the case, there's no problem with me carrying logs now... Besides, I use the Misty Ring, so it's easy. It's a piece of cake... well, before lunch, technically."
They had eaten breakfast at Zai's settlement and then returned to Elgin.
It was still a bit early for lunch, which was exactly why Rei's statement about it being "before lunch" was by no means inaccurate.
"Before lunch... well, that's fine. Let's hurry to Gilm. We need to decide what to do about the fairies. If fairies are in the Treant Forest, then logging on the same large scale as before could be dangerous."
"Is it? The trees in this Treant Forest are expected to regrow quickly thanks to the Green People. I don't think there's that much need to worry... Besides, there's also the question of whether fairies even care about nature and things like that. If they were elves, sure."
If they were elves, they loved nature, so it wouldn't be strange for them to live in the forest, but fairies were different from elves... or so Rei thought.
That was just what Rei thought, though — in reality, it might be different.
"But, fairies?"
For Anastasia, with her abundant curiosity toward the unknown, that one word alone was enough to resolve everything.
Unfortunately for Rei, the fairy matter was significant — in a different sense from Anastasia — but the trees growing in the Treant Forest were essential materials for Gilm's Expansion Construction.
Given that, even if some kind of response to the fairies was necessary, halting the logging was not an option.
"Gilm's Expansion Construction needs the Treant Forest's wood. In the current situation, we can't exactly halt the Expansion Construction, can we?"
"That's..."
At Rei's words, Anastasia wanted to object but found herself unable to say anything.
In fact, the Expansion Construction currently underway in Gilm had entered its second year and was planned to continue for several more.
Whether such an Expansion Construction could be stopped — even Anastasia, who prioritized curiosity above all else, could understand that well enough.
It was true that Daskar felt a deep sense of obligation toward Anastasia, but that didn't mean he would abandon his position as lord of Gilm to grant her request.
Daskar had enough experience as a lord to handle such matters naturally — that was only natural.
Furthermore, the idea of simply not using the Treant Forest's wood was also something Daskar could not accept.
One of the major reasons Daskar had decided on the Expansion Construction was the wood that could be felled in this Treant Forest.
Alternatively, if the Treant Forest's wood were ordinary, then in the worst case, it might have been possible to purchase construction materials from the merchants.
Many merchants had already gathered in Gilm, hoping to profit from the Expansion Construction... or to purchase various goods in Gilm, the only city on the frontier.
If they asked those merchants, it would cost an enormous sum, but purchasing wood as construction material would be possible.
In fact, among the merchants, there were already many who brought and sold construction materials such as bricks in Gilm.
If so, while it would exceed the initial budget, purchasing wood was not impossible.
But... that was only if the wood felled in the Treant Forest were ordinary wood.
The wood currently felled in the Treant Forest was processed by the alchemists in Gilm, who had successfully imbued it with strong resistance to magic.
Additionally, in terms of durability as a construction material, it had been reinforced to a degree that was incomparable to ordinary wood.
Of course, it wasn't impossible to apply the same processing to ordinary wood.
But... even so, it still wouldn't match the result achieved with the Treant Forest's wood.
The Treant Forest's wood possessed various special properties, and those properties played a significant role when the alchemists processed it.
"So for those reasons, I don't think Lord Daskar has the option of not using the Treant Forest's wood as construction material."
At Rei's conclusive words, Anastasia wore a dissatisfied expression, but she didn't voice it aloud.
That was because Rei's words carried that much persuasive power.
(Well, with the Green People's cooperation, there might be an option to selectively log only a certain range of trees... but it's probably better not to mention that now. It'd be troublesome if she went off the rails over it.)
With that thought, Rei began to act, storing the massive pile of felled logs that had come into view into his Misty Ring.