The first to return was Marina, contrary to Rei's expectations.
He had expected Vihera and Byune, who were on patrol in the city, to arrive first, since Marina was busy with her work at the clinic.
That said, Vihera and Byune didn't lag far behind Marina, so in hindsight, it might not have been anything to worry too much about.
"Well then... let's have dinner. Elena helped with tonight's meal, so it turned out delicious."
At Marina's words, Elena looked slightly embarrassed.
In reality, Elena had been doing the prep work when Marina got back, and from that point on the two of them had cooked together — that was the accurate version of events.
Because of that, among the meat, vegetables, fish, and other ingredients used in the dishes, some were uneven in size while others were oddly shaped.
Even so, no one present seemed to have any complaints about it.
And so the meal began... and each person reported on the day's events.
Among those reports, what surprised everyone the most was, naturally, Rei's group's account.
"You already found a fairy!?"
A cry of astonishment escaped Vihera's mouth.
The others were just as surprised, naturally.
...Even Byune, whose expression rarely changed, was visibly shocked — so seeing her reaction made it easy to grasp just how astonished they all were.
That said, they had received the request from Daskar yesterday and already captured one by the very next day.
Thinking about it that way, it was only natural that even Byune was surprised.
"Yeah. Though dealing with the fairy was quite a handful... right?"
"Umu. If I described her as a prank-loving but adorable creature, it would sound favorable... but."
Elena's words were by no means wrong.
In truth, the fairy's appearance was quite adorable, and being prone to pranks was also accurate.
However, adorableness aside, the pranks were by no means cute.
Dropping a monster's corpse from overhead, or casting a barrier to trap them inside — there were many that were no laughing matter.
(Ah, come to think of it, I still haven't done the Magic Stone yet. I guess I'll try it after dinner. ...Though I have a feeling I won't learn any skill at all.)
With Beast Magic, higher-rank monster Magic Stones were fundamentally more likely to grant new skills or cause existing skills to level up.
That was why he didn't think a D-Rank monster like the Daar Wolf's Magic Stone could possibly grant him a skill.
(If I actually managed to learn a skill from this, that would be interesting in its own way, though.)
Surprise.
Rei recalled that word, but precisely because of that, he felt the likelihood was low.
"Rei? What is it? Um... was there a dish that wasn't to your liking?"
Elena asked Rei, not with her usual dignified expression, but with a timid, hesitant demeanor.
She had cut the vegetables in the soup Rei was eating, so she was probably worried.
"No, every dish is delicious."
"I see."
It was a brief statement, but those words meant a great deal to Elena.
After all, the man she loved had told her that the food she cooked was delicious.
"Um, so then... about the fairy. For now, it's been decided that negotiations will take place between Lord Daskar and the fairy. Lord Daskar apparently wants to bring the fairy into his fold. ...I can't say I don't understand his reasoning."
Fairies had low productivity, but they could create powerful Magic Items.
In addition, they possessed abilities such as using fairy rings to teleport.
And with their palm-sized bodies, they were quite convenient for exploiting gaps in an opponent's guard.
...Of course, if it became known that someone was keeping a fairy, it would undoubtedly cause an uproar.
Above all, if the fairy's existence were made public, it wouldn't be strange for a summons to arrive from the Royal Capital.
(Thinking about it like that, it really is a delicate matter. ...No, it's been an issue since the Wisp incident.)
Thinking about it normally, there was the lake, the Lizardmen, the Birth Tower — all teleported from another world — and above all, the hole that directly connected to another world.
If the Royal Capital learned of any of those, it wouldn't be strange for a summons to be issued.
"A fairy, huh... I'd like to meet one too if possible. Maybe I should go with you tomorrow, Rei?"
Whether it had to do with being the Shrine Maiden of the World Tree, or simply stemmed from intellectual curiosity, Marina showed great interest in the fairy.
Rei thought that if she was that interested, it might be fine to bring Marina to the Treant Forest tomorrow, but if he did, problems would arise at the clinic.
Especially right now, in the height of summer — many people got irritable from the heat and got into fights, made mistakes during work and injured themselves, or suffered heatstroke.
To deal with such patients, Marina's presence was essential.
Well, it wasn't as if things would completely fall apart without her, but the clinic would definitely become even busier than it already was.
Knowing that, Rei couldn't tell Marina to take time off from the clinic.
(That said, bringing a fairy here is... something I'd like to avoid if possible.)
If Marina simply wanted to see a fairy, bringing one to this house wasn't an impossible option.
But if he did such a thing, how much damage would they suffer from pranks?
It would undoubtedly be far greater than Rei anticipated.
Precisely because he understood that, he couldn't even consider something like bringing one here.
(Or rather, wouldn't the spirits refuse to let it in, judging it as malicious?)
Spirits versus a fairy.
Rei felt a slight desire to witness that battle, but sensed it would become troublesome if he said it out loud, so he decided to let it go for now. He had intended to let it go, but...
"Hey, Rei. If possible, could you bring a fairy here tomorrow?"
"...Huh?"
At Marina's words, Rei froze for a few seconds.
He hadn't expected her to say such a thing at all.
And it wasn't just Rei — Elena and Ara, who had met the fairy directly today, felt the same way.
Strictly speaking, Vihera had also "met" the fairy, but in her case the fairy had fled the instant she saw it, so she was now questioning the three's reactions.
"Umm... Marina, I'll ask just to be sure... are you serious?"
Please let it be a joke.
Rei asked with that wish in his heart, but Marina nodded casually.
"Yes, I'm serious."
"...Are you in your right mind?"
"Excuse me, why are you asking if I'm in my right mind?"
"Because I really wasn't sure whether you were sane or not. If you bring a fairy to this house, I have no idea what kind of chaos it'll cause."
Ielo, for one, would likely be seen as an ideal prank target by the fairy.
No, not just Ielo — it could become a problem for the entire house... and depending on the situation, it could cause trouble for the other noble houses nearby.
Because he understood that, Rei was absolutely opposed to bringing a fairy to this house under the current circumstances.
But... to Rei's words, Marina opened her mouth with a strangely confident look.
"Leave that part to me, I'll manage something. Besides... it could potentially work in our favor for the negotiations, you know? If you'd like, I could get permission from Daskar."
"Please don't."
Marina had known Daskar since he was a child and was privy to things that could be called his dark history.
Of course, even if Marina simply wanted to bring a fairy to her house out of selfishness, Daskar wouldn't permit it, even if it meant his dark history would be exposed.
However, if bringing the fairy would give them an advantage in negotiations, then Daskar wouldn't need to stop Marina.
On the contrary, it would be nothing but good — his dark history wouldn't be exposed, and negotiations with the fairy would proceed favorably.
...The problem was that they would need to borrow Marina's power for that, but if it benefited Gilm, Daskar would likely consider it within acceptable bounds.
In exchange, it was highly likely to deal no small amount of damage to Daskar's stomach.
Rei himself had been dumping all sorts of problems on Daskar, and he had the distinct feeling it was already damaging the man's stomach. That was why he had tried to stop Marina.
"Then, will you bring a fairy?"
"...I'll ask Lord Daskar tomorrow, for now."
There was no stopping Marina from meeting the fairy.
Having judged that, Rei decided he would at least try to keep Marina away from Daskar.
...It was Rei's best effort at consideration, but whether Daskar would appreciate it was questionable.
After all, the plan was to borrow Marina's power to wrap up negotiations with the fairy.
"Oh, then we'll get to see a fairy tomorrow. We only caught a glimpse yesterday, so I'm looking forward to it. Byune, you're interested in fairies too, right?"
"Nn."
Eating a stew of organ meat and beans — a dish more suited to drinkers than children — Byune nodded at Vihera's words.
Given that Byune secretly liked cute things, she had probably taken an interest in the fairy.
...In truth, the fairy was adorable in appearance alone.
It was only its inner nature and actions that failed to match that appearance.
(That said, I caused Byune a lot of trouble with the other world business. In that sense too, if Byune wants to meet the fairy, granting that wish would be nice.)
He had brought Vihera to the other world... no, to be precise, Vihera had gone to the other world of her own judgment, but that was beside the point.
During Vihera's absence, Byune — who struggled with interacting with strangers — had undeniably had a hard time.
And it wasn't for just a day or two, but for quite a considerable length of time.
Thinking about that, it was only natural for Rei to feel he should compensate Byune at least a little.
"Understood. Then I'll make arrangements accordingly tomorrow. ...But only if Lord Daskar gives permission."
Originally, Rei wanted to add the condition that the fairy — the negotiation liaison, Nielson — would have to agree to visit Marina's house, but considering Nielson's personality, he could predict she would agree without hesitation.
"Nn!"
He could tell that Byune, not just Vihera, was happy.
Byune had probably wanted to see a fairy too, having listened to Rei and the others' conversation.
"How was your day, Vihera? It was your first request in a while, so you must have been pretty exhausted, right?"
"Yeah. It feels like there are more fights and disturbances than before. ...I guess this is because of the heat too, huh."
The outfit Vihera wore as she said that was so light and thin that it was nearly transparent, making her look very cool.
When someone dressed like that complained about the heat, it would only sound like a boast to anyone listening.
Of course, the grounds of Marina's house were kept at a comfortable temperature through Spirit Magic.
Considering that the majority of people in Gilm were enduring sweltering nights, Rei and the others living at Marina's house were extremely enviable... no, jealousy-inducing.
That said, there were actually quite a few people in Gilm who were comfortably spending these tropical nights.
For example, high-end inns like the Wheat Inn at Dusk where Magic Items were lavishly used, the mansions in this Noble District, the homes of those who ran large merchant guilds... and so on.
Naturally, the Lord's Manor where Daskar lived was among them.
...In the Lord's Manor's case, part of the reason was to let Daskar and the others there live comfortably, but more importantly, envoys from other nobles sometimes visited, and they couldn't be made to suffer from the heat.
"The heat, huh... It'd be nice if we could just make all of Gilm comfortable with Magic Items."
"That's unreasonable."
At Rei's words, Vihera dismissed the idea flatly.
In truth, if something like that could be done, it would be an enormous benefit to Gilm, without a doubt.
But that was strictly an "if."
If they were to create such a Magic Item, first there was the question of who would make it... and above all, how they would procure the Magic Stones and magical power needed to operate it.
As for magical power, Rei's own mana would be more than enough... but Rei wouldn't be in Gilm forever.
Given that, creating the kind of Magic Item Rei described was simply impossible.