Rei walked through the Underground Space in the heart of the Treant Forest.
Pretending to check his surroundings, he waited until he was certain Anastasia was absorbed in her research, then moved to a spot out of everyone's line of sight before speaking.
"Grimm, can you hear me?"
['I hear you.']
The moment Rei called out, Grimm's voice resonated beside his ear.
It seemed Grimm was already aware that Rei had entered the Underground Space and had simply been waiting to be addressed.
"Good. So, straight to the point — how did the Dragonias corpse turn out?" Rei asked without hesitation.
The fairy situation was important, but whether the Dragonias corpse could serve as Magic Item material was equally significant for him.
After all, a massive number of Dragonias corpses were currently sitting inside his Misty Ring. If they turned out to be useless as material, he'd need to figure out how to dispose of them. That said, since storing them in the Misty Ring didn't actually get in his way, it wasn't an immediate problem. Even so, the thought of useless corpses cluttering his Misty Ring didn't sit well with him.
['Hmm. To give you the conclusion first... it was half a success, I suppose.']
"Half?"
If Grimm had said it was completely useless, or that it was in perfect condition for use as material, Rei would have accepted either answer. But "half" — he couldn't grasp what that meant in practical terms. The only reason he didn't raise his voice to ask was the need to stay hidden from Anastasia.
"Half — what does that mean exactly?"
['Exactly as it sounds. From what I can see of the corpse, roughly half is usable as material. The rest has degraded the same way it would in this world.']
"And why does that happen, specifically?"
['There are several possibilities, but the most likely is that the Dragonias corpse was left near the hole connecting to this world.']
"...I see. So it's an issue with the air here, something along those lines?"
['That is purely conjecture, mind you. To investigate further, we'd need to run more thorough experiments — specifically, by placing corpses at gradually increasing distances from the hole that links the two worlds.']
Rei considered this for a moment, then nodded.
"Understood. Run that experiment. Right now, making the Dragonias corpses usable is the top priority. If only half can be used as material when placed near the hole, then it's better to test multiple times and accept some loss."
Doing so would ultimately yield more usable material from the Dragonias. At least, that was Rei's reasoning — though something else was nagging at him at the same time.
"If your theory is right, Grimm, then... is it safe that we've been breathing the air of the other world? I mean, we did spend a considerable amount of time over there, so I'd like to think we're fine, but..."
['I can't say anything definitive on that. However... Rei, your body was created by Lord Zephyle and his associates, was it not? I doubt you need to worry on that front.']
"I hope so. Though... Vihera has the Unbris situation to think about. Anastasia is an Elf — wait, does being an Elf even matter? And Fana, too..."
Rei went back and forth on the matter, but ultimately decided that since no one had shown any ill effects so far, there was no point treating it as a problem. Worrying about it would only be bad for his mental state.
"For now, how many Dragonias corpses do you need? If you're running experiments, you'll probably need a certain number."
['Hmm. Let's see... five... no, give me ten, so I can get a more accurate measure.']
"Ten, huh. Can I bring them out here? If I went over to the other world, they'd be spotted right away."
With Grimm's assistance, Rei could travel to the other world without much difficulty. But it was faster to simply produce the corpses here and let Grimm use Teleportation Magic or some other method to move them.
['Hm, I have no objections. Very well, go ahead.']
With Grimm's agreement, Rei began extracting Dragonias corpses from his Misty Ring. Each one vanished from the ground the instant it appeared.
Dragonias were enormous creatures, standing over three meters tall. Given the wide variation between individuals, specimens approaching four meters weren't uncommon. Bodies of that massive size emerged from the Misty Ring one after another, only to disappear just as quickly.
The sight was undeniably bizarre. Still, given the circumstances, it was extremely convenient for Rei. If the corpses couldn't be teleported, anyone who happened upon his location would have every reason to question why he was pulling out this many bodies. Not having to worry about that was a relief in itself.
"Is this much enough for now?"
['Hm. I'll have the experiment results for you by tomorrow... or the day after at the latest.']
"Please do. So, based on the usable material you have so far, does it look feasible to create a Magic Item that stabilizes the inter-world connection?"
['I can't say just yet. That will require careful verification step by step. I can't very well afford to build something careless, can I?']
"Well... now that you put it that way..."
It was a Magic Item designed to anchor the spatial passage between two worlds. Given the gravity of creating such a device, it had to be done with the utmost seriousness and care. Rei wanted it completed as quickly as possible, but a shoddy product was out of the question.
...Though truth be told, the real reason Rei was pushing for the Magic Item's completion was that he felt guilty about keeping Grimm tied up here indefinitely.
"Then take your time, but make sure it's done right."
['Hm.']
Grimm nodded at Rei's words. Sensing that the old undead was about to dive straight into his Magic Item research, Rei spoke up before he could.
"Hold on a second. There's one more thing I want to ask."
['Mm? What is it?']
Had it been anyone else, Grimm wouldn't have taken kindly to the interruption — right as he was about to begin his research, no less. He might even have become outright displeased, and lashing out wouldn't have been out of the question. But since it was Rei — someone he regarded as a grandson — Grimm simply asked what was wrong, without a trace of irritation.
"Actually, right now above us... a fairly large number of fairies have gathered in the Treant Forest. Do you know anything about that?"
['Fairies? Hmm, so that's been happening.']
The reason Grimm was unaware of the situation was likely because his base was connected directly to this Underground Space.
"Yeah. Because of that, I'm currently caught up in this whole fairy situation... Do you know anything about fairies, Grimm?"
['If you're asking whether I know of them or not, I do... but I'm not particularly well-versed. Fairies are sensitive to my presence.']
"...Sensitive? To Undead?"
['Hm.']
Grimm confirmed it, but Rei — who had once been caught in a fairy prank involving Undead on the Seremuse Plain — found that claim hard to swallow.
"Is that true? I've seen fairies using Undead for their pranks before."
['Would those not have been low-rank monster Undead?']
"Well, that's..."
It was true enough. The Undead Rei had encountered on the Seremuse Plain were Skeletons. Compared to them, Grimm fell under the same broad category of Undead, but his existential rank was on an entirely different level. It was like lumping Goblins and Cyclops together simply because they were both monsters.
Hm? But isn't an Ogre closer to a Goblin than a Cyclops is? ...Well, either way, the point stands that both are a far cry from a Goblin in rank.
He entertained the fleeting thought for a moment, then dismissed it as irrelevant to the current situation.
"Alright then, just tell me what you do know about fairies."
['Let's see. Fairies fundamentally live in groups of a certain size.']
"So I've heard. Before coming here today, I went near a fairy settlement, and there were quite a few of them. They'd probably have attacked us if we'd tried to get any closer."
['I couldn't say about that, but... a fairy group is led by a Chief, and the Chief's personality significantly shapes the group's character.']
"Is that how it works?"
This was information Rei was hearing for the first time. After all, the only fairy Chief he'd ever encountered was the one on the Seremuse Plain. He had no way of knowing other Chiefs, so comparing them was out of the question.
['Hm. At least, as far as I know. That said, it's only a possibility... but I can't deny that there might be fairies who wouldn't mind an Undead such as myself.']
Grimm hedged with "perhaps," but his tone strongly implied that he doubted such a fairy existed.
"For now, that information helps. I asked around quite a bit, but almost no one knew anything about fairies. The ones who did only had fairy tales and the like. I might have found something at the library, but... I haven't had the time."
It was true — Rei had met a fairy for the first time yesterday, been assigned the fairy matter by Daskar that same day, and then encountered another fairy today. There was no way he'd had time to go to a library and research.
The Guild might have had more detailed information, but asking to see it would naturally raise suspicions about why he was suddenly looking into such a thing. If Marina had still been the Guild Master, he might have been able to talk his way through it.
...But even then, there was no guarantee the Guild would have had any useful information on fairies, which was another reason he'd held back.
"Let's see, what else?"
['You may already know this, as it's a well-known tale, but fairies can teleport.']
"Ah, I know that one. Saw it with my own eyes."
['Hmm... What else. There are many among them who are extremely curious and prone to acting on impulse the moment an idea strikes them.']
"I can sort of see that. There are some who are relatively thoughtful, but... yeah."
Thoughtful. Nielson, who had handled negotiations with Daskar on behalf of the Chief, was apparently considered the thoughtful type. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been entrusted with that role. But from Rei's perspective, calling Nielson thoughtful was a stretch. Which meant that within the fairy group residing in the Treant Forest, Nielson was on the more level-headed end of the spectrum.
That alone spoke volumes about the unique nature of fairies.
['One more thing... let's see. They are undoubtedly a race that excels at magic.']
"Ah, I know that too. Seen it firsthand. Besides, given their size, if they couldn't at least use magic, they'd just get hunted down one-sidedly any time something attacked them."
Nielson, the fairy he was most familiar with, was about the size of his palm. She was in no way built for physical combat.
If she could throw a decent punch at that size, that'd be pretty unsettling.
Setting aside his own circumstances, Rei found the logic sound. If they were talking about someone whose strength belied their appearance, Rei himself wasn't particularly tall here in Elgin — and yet his physical prowess had long since surpassed the realm of ordinary humans.
Had Nielson overheard this conversation between Rei and Grimm, she would have undoubtedly shouted, "Look who's talking!" ...Though in reality, Nielson didn't fully grasp just how extraordinary Rei's physical abilities were, so she wouldn't have had anything to say on the matter.
After that, Rei and Grimm continued discussing fairies for a while longer, but everything Grimm shared turned out to be things Rei already knew.