"I'm sorry. There was a visitor I couldn't refuse," Daskar said, gesturing for Rei and the others to take a seat on the sofa.
Normally, Rei and his companions would meet Daskar in his office. This time, however, was different. The ones meeting with Daskar included not just Rei's group but the fairy Nielson as well.
Daskar naturally knew this, so rather than his office, he had arranged a proper guest reception room.
...In fact, that visitor he couldn't refuse had probably been received in this very room.
"No, please don't worry about it. So..." Rei said, pulling Nielson out from inside his Dragon Robe.
Fortunately, she hadn't been sleeping inside it this time.
...Why was Nielson inside the Dragon Robe to begin with? Because they couldn't afford to let even a maid see the fairy's appearance.
The fairy situation was on par with the Wisp that created holes connecting to other worlds—well, perhaps slightly less significant, but undeniably important. Even among the subordinates and maids who had sworn loyalty to Daskar, the existence of fairies needed to be concealed as much as possible.
For that reason, Nielson had been tucked inside Rei's Dragon Robe during the journey from the guest room to this one.
"Phew..."
Even so, Nielson showed no sign of displeasure at being taken out of the Dragon Robe. To her, the inside of the robe was probably a cool and comfortable place to spend time... even if it was a bit cramped. That was why she hadn't been particularly angry about being stuffed inside during the trip.
"Hey, Nielson. This is Lord Daskar. He's the lord of Gilm—or maybe it's easier to understand if I say he's the owner of the Treant Forest?"
There were actually various nuances to that, but Rei kept it simple so Nielson could understand.
At his words, Nielson regarded Daskar from the palm of Rei's hand... then fluttered her wings and floated up.
"Hmm. So you're... I am Nielson. The Chief entrusted me with this matter."
Nielson observed Daskar with evident interest, showing no sign of tension. She was probably thinking that even if Daskar got angry, she could simply teleport and disappear if anything happened.
And indeed, when it came to teleportation, Rei and the others had no means of stopping Nielson. Well, if killing her rather than capturing her was acceptable, dealing with her before she could teleport wouldn't be difficult. But doing such a thing in the current situation meant there was no telling how the other fairies in the Treant Forest might react.
...Fairies possessed a nature of intense curiosity, caring only about their own amusement and nothing else. There was a possibility they wouldn't particularly care even if a companion died, but there was also a chance they would find revenge entertaining and launch an attack.
Of course, many people were currently gathered in Gilm, and considering those who had been there before, with their combined combat power, there was no way they would lose to fairies. However, that was strictly in the case of fighting fairies head-on.
Fairies never did such things as fight head-on. Given that, it would undoubtedly become guerrilla warfare.
Even in the Treant Forest alone, Adventurers and Woodcutters had already suffered considerable damage. Under such circumstances, if fairies came all the way to Gilm, what kind of chaos would ensue... it didn't bear thinking about. Gilm's Expansion Construction would certainly fail, and Daskar would end up having wasted a completely meaningless amount of money.
(That's exactly why I want to avoid such a troublesome situation. It would help if you could settle the negotiations with Lord Daskar for us.)
For Rei, Gilm was the first city he had come to after arriving in this world... and having used it as his base for several years, he had grown attached to it. For Rei, it was practically his hometown in this world of Elgin.
"Entrusted with this matter, huh... Then I'll ask you straightforwardly as well. Why did the fairies come to the Treant Forest? I was originally planning to have Rei and his group investigate that, but..."
"I'm sorry." Rei bowed his head at Daskar's words.
From Daskar's perspective, he had asked Rei to investigate the fairies, and for some reason, Rei had brought a fairy straight to him as the answer to that request. It was undoubtedly unexpected.
That said, Daskar had no intention of blaming Rei for it. The purpose of the fairies' arrival in the Treant Forest and how many there were—hearing it directly was far more reliable than hearing it secondhand. This wasn't because he couldn't trust Rei, but rather that when information was relayed through others, there was a significant risk that solid information... or the nuances conveyed during the explanation wouldn't properly reach the other party.
That was why Daskar had no intention of blaming Rei for bringing a fairy. If anything, he should praise him.
...The fact that Elena and Ara were present was unexpected, though. But since they were traveling with Rei, that much was inevitable.
"Don't worry about it. Just bringing the fairy here is enough." After telling the bowing Rei this, Daskar turned to Nielson and asked again. "So, why the Treant Forest?"
"Why, you ask... Because it's comfortable? Environmentally, it's a good place for us too."
"...Environment..." Rei murmured softly at Nielson's words.
The Treant Forest was currently a place where various phenomena occurred, a region that could be called a magical anomaly. Even if she said it was comfortable there, Rei couldn't simply accept it.
Of course, for Rei who actively worked in the Treant Forest, he didn't think it was a forest with a particularly bad atmosphere... but that was solely because it was Rei. If an ordinary person learned of the Treant Forest's circumstances, it wouldn't be strange for some to want to stay as far away as possible. After all, depending on the case, the possibility of being sent to another world couldn't be denied.
If it were Rei, he could probably survive normally even in a teleported world... but what about an ordinary Woodcutter or a low-skilled Adventurer? The answer was obvious without needing to think about it.
...In fact, there would probably be many who would find it difficult to win against not just Dragonias but even Centaurs.
(Well, Centaurs aside, most of the Dragonias were driven by the instinct of hunger, and they had no means of attacking enemies in the sky above. Thinking about it that way, fairies who could fly freely as a racial trait probably wouldn't have any problems even if they went to the Centaurs' world.)
Of course, among the Dragonias there were those who possessed long-range attack methods like Breath, as well as those who could walk through the air or teleport, so flying in the sky was not necessarily safe. Though those Dragonias with such special abilities had been annihilated by Rei, Vihera, and Set along with the Queen.
However, in the case of Centaurs, many of them didn't appreciate jokes, and since they had attack methods like bows and magic against enemies in the air, caution was necessary when playing pranks on Centaurs.
"I understand the environment is good. However, as I believe you've already heard from Rei, the trees of the Treant Forest are extremely important to Gilm, which is currently conducting the Expansion Construction. We wish to fell the trees of the Treant Forest, but... what do you think of that?"
"Hmm, a certain amount is fine, but if that spreads, it'll be a problem. Besides, humans are greedy, so they'd probably just casually cut down trees outside of the designated areas too."
"That's..." Being human himself, and moreover serving as the lord of Gilm, Daskar knew human greed well and couldn't deny Nielson's words.
Fortunately, the only ones currently felling trees were the Woodcutters, and their numbers were by no means large. For Daskar, his honest feeling was that he wanted to increase the number of Woodcutters, but unfortunately, he hadn't been able to do so yet.
He had been trying to somehow gather Woodcutters from surrounding—no, even from quite distant villages, towns, and cities, but everywhere, Woodcutters were valued to a certain degree. Given that, the number of Woodcutters that could be dispatched was limited.
Of course, the Woodcutters in this case were not just any Woodcutters, but Woodcutters with appropriate skills. Those who had just become Woodcutters lured by money... or rather, amateurs who claimed to be Woodcutters for the sake of that money, were out of the question.
"So, for us—what was it called, the Treant Forest? We can't have you felling the trees of that forest. Besides... there are people here who can accelerate plant growth, right? Then there's no need to come all the way into the depths of the forest. You could just fell the trees on the outer edge."
The words that came from Nielson's mouth were a valid point.
The logging currently being done by the Woodcutters was advancing toward the center of the forest while maintaining a certain width. Considering those circumstances, they could just fell the outer edges of the Treant Forest.
The Treant Forest was vast, so felling trees in a circuit around the outer edge alone would yield a considerable amount of timber. And the felled areas could have the Green People accelerate the regrowth... by the time they circled back around, there was a very real possibility the trees would have returned to normal.
That said, that was merely theory. It might not go so smoothly, and above all, Daskar wanted the Woodcutters to have nothing to do with the lake, even if the Birth Tower was another matter.
"Even if you say that, we have our own plans for felling trees accordingly. As such, we can't simply change our plans so easily on our end."
"Then what? Are you going to make enemies of us?" Nielson said provocatively. She was probably confident that in a battle within the forest, they had the advantage.
"...At worst, I'll burn it."
At Rei's quiet murmur, Nielson's body stiffened with a start.
The trees of the Treant Forest were extremely valuable for conducting the Expansion Construction. But even so, having fairies hostile to Gilm present there was undeniably a highly troublesome existence. In that case, it would be better to just burn the entire Treant Forest.
What's more, Rei specialized in Wide Area Annihilation Magic. His spells, including Fire Whirlwind, had more than enough power to burn the Treant Forest. Using those would naturally mean the trees of the Treant Forest could no longer be used as construction materials, but.
"R... right. We should compromise a little with each other. Yes, I was actually thinking I wanted to do that too."
Perhaps sensing the seriousness in Rei's words, Nielson's demeanor shifted completely from her earlier provocative attitude, stating that they should compromise with each other.
Daskar directed a complicated expression toward Rei. Should he praise him, or should he scold him? That was the delicate part.
That said, since the negotiation had ultimately progressed in a positive direction, Daskar showed no sign of expressing any further dissatisfaction.
"Having you say that helps us as well. So... the first thing I want to ask is how many fairies there are. Depending on that number, it changes how much latitude we have when making our accommodations."
"Hmm, numbers... numbers, huh..."
When asked about their numbers, Nielson showed a slightly hesitant demeanor.
Normally, when asked how many of them there were, she wouldn't hesitate. But... this was a negotiation. If she honestly answered the number Daskar asked about, it would clearly establish the difference in combat power between both sides.
Nielson was probably reluctant to do that. However, if she refused to reveal their numbers here, the negotiation itself wouldn't progress. ...No, there would be no problem in overstating the numbers to some extent, but that was only for the current discussion, and in the future, the numbers could become an issue.
If so, there was no option of not stating it here.
"I don't know the exact number, but about five hundred."
"...Five hundred, huh..."
A voice of surprise slipped from Daskar's mouth.
He hadn't known specifically how many there were, but... five hundred was apparently unexpected.
...For Rei, he was more surprised that she had counted them in "people" rather than "head."
However, considering the meaning of conducting a negotiation, it was only natural to count them in "people," the way one counts humans and demi-humans, rather than "head," the way one counts monsters.