As Rei and his party arrived at the lord's manor... no, the moment the gatekeepers saw them approaching, their arrival was immediately announced inside.
They had likely been instructed beforehand that if Rei's party came, they were to be notified as the highest priority—no matter what.
Naturally, Rei, who had been heading toward the lord's manor, could clearly observe the gatekeepers' behavior.
That said, he knew Daskar was worried about Anastasia, so it wasn't particularly surprising.
Upon reaching the gate, Rei's party wasn't stopped by the gatekeepers and was immediately told to enter the manor, but...
"Hey, what should we do about these deer?"
For the gatekeepers, horses could simply be taken to the stables, and Set could be let through to the courtyard as usual.
But since the ones in question were deer... at the very least, the antlers growing from the two deer were far too impressive, and from a size standpoint, it was impossible to fit them into the horse stables.
In that case, the best course of action was to ask Anastasia and Fana, who were riding the two deer, what should be done.
"I suppose. If the stables won't work, take them to the courtyard along with Set."
If this had been when they first encountered Set, the two deer would have absolutely refused to go to the same courtyard as him.
However, perhaps because a fair amount of time had passed since their first encounter with Set, the two deer no longer feared him more than necessary at this point.
...Of course, there was no doubt that they still wanted to be even slightly farther from Set, and even if they were brought to the courtyard, the idea of Set and the two deer playing together was entirely out of the question.
Still, it was a fact that they no longer trembled in terror at Set's presence... or resorted to fleeing to get even a little distance from him depending on the situation.
Furthermore, while these two deer were not monsters but merely ordinary animals, they were highly intelligent.
They could clearly understand Anastasia and Fana's words, so when those two told them to go to the courtyard with Set, they obediently complied.
"Smart, aren't they..."
Seeing the two deer—which were not monsters but ordinary animals—obediently follow Anastasia and the others' instructions, one of the gatekeepers murmured.
If they were monsters, it wouldn't be strange for them to understand human words as well as Set did, but these two deer were just ordinary animals.
...There was no question they were animals, but whether animals from the world where the Centaurs lived could be considered "just ordinary animals" was a slightly ambiguous matter.
In any case, once the matter of the two deer was settled, Rei's party was immediately shown inside the lord's manor.
Fana, who was wearing a mask, drew slight suspicion, but it seemed they concluded there was no particular problem since Rei was with her.
Rei had accepted countless requests from Daskar up to this point.
That track record served as proof that Daskar and his subordinates recognized Rei as a trustworthy individual.
Then, as usual, they were guided by a maid to Daskar's office, where...
"Oh, you're safe..."
Daskar, who had been looking over the pile of documents on his desk, murmured those words upon seeing Anastasia enter the room.
Daskar appeared deeply moved.
(I can't blame him.)
Rei thought as he looked at Daskar.
Anastasia was Daskar's benefactor, someone who had taken care of him when he was a knight in the Royal Capital.
For that benefactor to go missing in another world must have been a tremendous shock.
That was precisely why he had asked Rei, a trustworthy adventurer, to search for her.
However... even so, the world was vast, whether in Elgin or elsewhere.
Daskar hadn't expected her to be found so easily, and Rei himself had been acting as part of a reconnaissance unit to search for the Dragonias headquarters, so he had ended up staying in the other world for a considerably long period.
Daskar trusted Rei's abilities without reservation based on past experience, but even so, with such a long absence, the thought that perhaps he had made the wrong decision must have crossed his mind.
Given those circumstances, for Rei to return with Anastasia and Fana in tow—telling Daskar not to be surprised or overjoyed would have been impossible.
"It seems I caused you quite a bit of worry. But as you can see, I'm safe. ...I shudder to think what would have happened without Rei, though."
In the other world, when Rei had found Anastasia and Fana, they were in the middle of being attacked by Dragonias.
If Rei hadn't been there, it was entirely possible they could have been devoured and killed, and above all, they never could have defeated the intelligent Dragonias like the Queen and the seven-colored Dragonias.
In that sense, Anastasia's words—that she didn't know what would have happened without Rei—were by no means incorrect.
However, it was also an undeniable fact that she secretly thought she could have explored the other world more if Rei hadn't come to pick her up.
But Daskar, unaware that Anastasia was entertaining such thoughts, happily addressed Rei among the group who had entered alongside her.
"I see. It was the right call to entrust this to you after all. This means I'll need to increase your reward."
"Eh? No, I've already received the reward."
Rei told him with a bewildered expression at Daskar's words.
He had been given a leather pouch full of gemstones as funding to search for Anastasia.
He had used some of those gemstones, but the majority were still stored in his Misty Ring.
Selling the gemstones from that pouch alone would be enough for an ordinary household to live comfortably for ten years... in some cases, decades, or perhaps even an entire lifetime without financial hardship.
Having already received such a reward, Rei had no intention of taking anything more.
"Don't be modest. Anastasia is that important a person. ...Though I never imagined she would do something as reckless as throwing herself into an unknown world."
At Daskar's words, Anastasia quietly averted her gaze.
Anastasia likely understood just how much trouble she was causing Daskar.
Of course, even understanding that, being driven by curiosity was perhaps precisely what made her who she was.
"In any case, the work you did this time carries great significance. With Anastasia here, research on the Wisp will also progress. ...Provided she doesn't go plunging into another world again, that is."
At those words from Daskar, Anastasia averted her gaze once more.
Watching the two of them, Rei thought for a moment about what exactly he should choose for his reward.
(The first choice would definitely be a Magic Item, wouldn't it? I've already received quite a good one from Lord Daskar, like the Magic Tent.)
That said, knowing just how valuable a Magic Item was, Rei couldn't bring himself to ask for something on the level of a Magic Tent for this one job alone.
(In that case, a spear-type Magic Item? But with the Twilight Spear, I can't use an ordinary spear. If that's the case, then something else...)
As he was thinking it over, Rei suddenly thought of one thing.
Something fairly valuable that he himself could not easily obtain.
Also, something that would boost the power of Fire Whirlwind, one of his trump cards, when he used it.
"Could I receive Flame Ore? Ideally, a substantial amount."
Yes, what Rei had thought of was Flame Ore.
When embedding Flame Ore into Fire Whirlwind, its power increased to a viciously formidable level.
In the battle against the Dragonias Queen, he had obtained glass with sealed Fire Spirit power as spoils of war.
Recalling that... and imagining fire attacks from it, Rei had decided that was what he wanted.
Upon hearing "Flame Ore," Daskar's expression showed a hint of surprise.
He had been prepared to offer most items to Rei, but the name "Flame Ore" coming up here was apparently unexpected for Daskar.
Additionally, Flame Ore was a type of Magic Metal, and without a doubt, a quite rare one.
After considering this... Daskar eventually nodded and spoke.
"Very well. Then, three barrels... no, five should do?"
Daskar was surprised when Rei asked for Flame Ore, but this time it was Rei's turn to be surprised.
He never expected to receive as much as five barrels' worth of Flame Ore.
"That's... well, I'm certainly grateful, but is that really all right?"
Previously, when he had accepted a Harpy subjugation request and fought alongside other adventurers, Rei had succeeded in creating Flame Ore by chance.
But judging from what he had heard at that time, he never imagined he could receive that much Flame Ore himself.
In response to Rei's doubt, Daskar smiled and nodded.
"It's fine. Actually, while you were away, an adventurer discovered a Flame Ore vein. I purchased it from them, so I have a fair surplus of Flame Ore."
"Something like that happened? ...Well, considering Gilm's location, I suppose it wouldn't be strange for something like that to happen."
Gilm existed in the sole frontier of the Kingdom of Mireana.
And in a place like the frontier, it was not strange for anything to happen.
In that sense, one could say Gilm held tremendous potential.
(It's obvious, of course, but even while I was in the other world... no, even while I was helping with the Expansion Construction, other adventurers were still active. Finding a Flame Ore vein isn't that surprising. Besides, thanks to that, I'm getting five barrels of Flame Ore.)
From Rei's perspective, the fact that the adventurer who found the Flame Ore vein had sold it to Daskar rather than monopolizing it was extremely welcome news.
"Indeed. I've served as the lord of Gilm all this time, but this land sometimes grants unexpected gifts. ...That said, those unexpected gifts aren't always things that work to our advantage."
Rei nodded in agreement with Daskar's words.
Since coming to this world and beginning to operate in Gilm, Rei had been caught up in all sorts of trouble.
Considering that, he immediately understood what Daskar was trying to say.
"You're right about that. ...Oh, speaking of which, it seems there's been another new 'gift' in the Treant Forest."
"...A gift?"
At the word "gift," Daskar wore a subtle expression.
Seeing his reaction, Rei concluded that Daskar didn't know about the fairies.
In fact, the woodcutters and adventurers they had met in the Treant Forest had also understood that something strange was happening to them, but they hadn't thought it was the work of fairies.
Rei's group had only realized it because they had simply seen a fairy with their own eyes.
"Do you remember the fairy that I, Theoreme, and Elk—the three of us—encountered on the Seremuse Plain during the Fighting Tournament in the Bestia Empire?"
"I remember that, but... wait, the fact that you're bringing this up here means..."
Even without Rei finishing his sentence, Daskar must have understood what he was getting at.
He spoke with an expression of surprise.
"Fairies... in the Treant Forest?"
"Yes. We encountered one by chance just as we were exiting the underground space where the Wisp is. Though it wasn't a group we found—just a single one, to be precise."
Rei, who still didn't know the proper counter word for fairies, used "one" for the time being.
Daskar didn't seem particularly inclined to comment on Rei's choice of words.
That was how much of an impact the appearance of fairies in the Treant Forest had on Daskar.
"Recently, I had been hearing talk about inexplicable failures occurring among those working in the Treant Forest, but..."
"Probably the fairies' doing, I'd say. From what I gathered when we spoke with adventurers and woodcutters on our way out of the Treant Forest, that was the impression I got."
Things like the contents of a longsword's scabbard being swapped... were something that should be inconceivable for an adventurer.
Could one say it was absolutely impossible? While the possibility of such a thing happening could never be entirely denied, it was still absurd under normal circumstances.
"I see. ...You said it was only one fairy that you saw, but how many do you think are there specifically?"
"Even if you ask me, this is only my second time seeing a fairy since the Seremuse Plain. It's not like I'm particularly knowledgeable about them, but..."
"Even so. Just your intuition is fine. How many fairies do you think there are?"
Faced with Daskar's question, Rei thought for a moment before speaking.
"I have no evidence—it's truly just my intuition, but... I believe there's a considerable number."
That was what he told him.