The place Rei arrived at, guided by the wolf, was exactly where he had expected.
The familiar location was the same place Rei had visited yesterday with Elena and the others — in other words, near the fairy settlement.
He didn't know exactly how far it was from here to the actual settlement, but thinking back to when he had left his luggage here yesterday, he could at least estimate that it probably wasn't too far.
"Gau."
Hearing a bark that sounded more wolf-like than dog-like — different from the cries it had made on the way here — Rei pulled a chunk of boar meat from his Misty Ring, just as he had yesterday.
He tossed the chunk to the wolf as a guide's fee. It was large enough to fill the bellies of several wolves.
Whether the wolf had guided him because it wanted the meat was unclear, but the fact that he hadn't been subjected to any fairy pranks while traveling with it was extremely fortunate for Rei.
Whether that was thanks to the wolf or simply a coincidence, it had definitely helped him, so giving the wolf meat as a token of gratitude was no problem at all.
"Wan!"
The wolf let out a bark of gratitude, then picked up the meat in its mouth and left.
Whether it would eat the boar meat alone or share it with its companions, Rei had no way of knowing.
Even so, he decided that if the wolf guided him again and protected him from fairy pranks the next time he came here, offering meat as payment would be fine.
"Nielson, are you there? Nielson!"
Rei called out after dismounting from Set's back, but Nielson showed no sign of appearing.
He tried calling for several minutes, but she still didn't show up.
Rei wanted her to come out as quickly as possible.
"Maybe she can't hear me?"
"Guru... Gurururururu?"
Hearing Rei's words, Set purred as if asking whether they should head deeper.
Rei hesitated slightly at Set's suggestion.
Since Nielson wasn't coming out, it was only natural to want to venture deeper into the forest.
But they were currently in the middle of negotiations with the fairies.
Not just about the pranks, but to firmly decide whether they would continue living in the Treant Forest.
Under those circumstances, was it really okay to go beyond the point where Nielson had brought him yesterday without permission?
(Besides... there's probably a presence out there.)
Nielson wasn't showing herself, but Rei had a strange sensation — as if there were fairy presences nearby, and yet also as if there weren't.
Normally, Rei could sense an opponent's presence much more clearly. The fact that he couldn't meant the fairies were likely concealing things with some kind of magic or skill.
(Or maybe they're using a barrier to make their presence harder to detect?)
Thinking back to the barrier from yesterday, it wouldn't be surprising if they were capable of such a thing.
As for why such a barrier had been put up in the first place — it was, of course, probably not unrelated to Rei having come here yesterday.
"Nielson, if you don't come out, I'm charging in! Are you okay with that?!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!"
In response to Rei's second shout, that voice suddenly rang out from deeper within the Treant Forest, and Nielson appeared.
Rei was about to complain about how long she had taken, but...
"Are you okay?"
What came out of his mouth instead of a complaint was a word of genuine concern.
It was only natural. Looking at her, Nielson was completely exhausted.
Even though it was still mid-morning, she gave the impression of someone who had pulled an all-nighter the day before.
"I'm fine, but... well, I'm a bit tired."
"You really are tired, huh. So what happened?"
Seeing Nielson so utterly spent, Rei couldn't bring himself to complain.
He did, however, wonder why she was this worn out.
"Yesterday, I went shopping for various things, right? Those were really popular with everyone. It turned into a fight over them.... I didn't expect them to dodge my punch and hit me back."
"...I see."
That was all Rei could say in response.
His understanding had been that fairies were a race that excelled at magic.
But from the sound of it, Nielson could handle hand-to-hand combat as well.
...Though he couldn't picture that at all.
He imagined small beings like fairies fighting with their bare bodies and immediately shook his head.
Even if he tried to imagine such a scene, he felt like he'd only come up with something completely off the mark from reality.
"That's right. But I did manage to secure the baked sweets, so there's no problem. I'm thinking of buying various things again today, but..."
Perhaps because much of what she had bought yesterday had been taken from her, Nielson's passion for shopping was burning bright.
Rei felt slightly overwhelmed by her enthusiasm.
He was well aware that women took a long time shopping.
To be precise, when he was in Japan, anime, manga, novels, and various other media frequently used that as a trope, so he only thought he knew about it — and that was likely the stronger factor.
Elena and the others who were currently with him basically didn't go shopping.
Even when they did, they generally didn't shop for long stretches of time the way Rei imagined.
Also, regarding Nielson's shopping trip yesterday, Elena had been with him and they were half in a date-like mood, which might have been why it hadn't bothered him so much.
In that sense, the fact that today there was no one else — though Set was here — and he alone would have to accompany Nielson's shopping was perhaps somewhat unappealing to him.
"Shopping is fine, but before that, I have a request... or rather, a proposal."
"A request? What is it? You took care of me with various things yesterday, so I'll listen to most things."
Rei was slightly surprised by Nielson's words.
He hadn't expected her to feel that he had taken care of her.
"Really?"
"Yes. Of course, if it's impossible, I'll say so.... Is it something impossible?"
"Not really. Simply put, after I finish talking with Lord Daskar today, I want you to come to where I live."
"Eh? Your place? That sounds interesting."
Normally, being asked to come to a strange man's house would be enough to raise suspicion.
But perhaps because the other party was the fairy Nielson, she didn't seem to mind that much.
...Granted, considering Nielson's size, it was unlikely anyone would harbor strange intentions.
"Is that okay? Oh, by the way, the place I live is a comrade's house, so there are several other people there besides me."
Perhaps she thought he lived alone. Wondering this, Rei mentioned it, and sure enough, Nielson showed a moment of hesitation.
But the words that came out of her mouth the next moment were different from what Rei had expected.
"Eh? There are people besides you? In that case, do I have to stay inside that... Dragon Robe, was it? Of yours again? Well, it's comfortable, so it's not that bad."
Rei was slightly unsure how to respond... but eventually shook his head to indicate there was no problem.
"All of my comrades know about fairies, so there's no need to go out of your way to hide. Besides, the house — or rather, the grounds — are adjusted with Spirit Magic to be comfortable, so you won't need to stay inside the Dragon Robe either."
"Eh? Really? A Spirit Mage, that's rare.... Well, if that's the case, I have no problem. Besides, you're going out of your way to invite me, so I can expect a feast, right?"
"The homeowner, Marina, told me to bring you, so I don't think you need to worry about that. I have plenty of dishes on hand, too."
The food stored in the Misty Ring had decreased considerably due to the otherworld incident.
But there was still plenty of room, and he had a fairly large stock of dishes that would satisfy Nielson.
Hearing Rei's words, Nielson smiled happily.
Looking at her, Rei... suddenly thought of mapo tofu for some reason.
(Huh? Why am I thinking of mapo tofu when I look at Nielson?)
It wasn't as if Nielson was colored white or red or anything that would bring mapo tofu to mind.
So why had he thought of it? He pondered this and concluded that the words "delicious food" had probably just reminded him of it offhand.
(Mapo tofu is a dish I like, if you ask me whether I like it or not... but it's not like I love it from the bottom of my heart.)
Even so, thinking about it made him want to eat it.
...That said, Rei didn't know how to make mapo tofu.
At most, when he was in Japan, he had bought mapo tofu sauce and tofu to make it for lunch during summer break or something.
Even then, the tofu he bought was somehow silken instead of firm, and since he had stirred it roughly while cooking, it ended up more like mapo soup than mapo tofu.
Still, since the sauce was store-bought, it had tasted good.
If Rei were told to make it from scratch — from the tofu to the various seasonings used in mapo tofu — he definitely couldn't do it.
For starters, he didn't even know how to make tofu.
When he had seen it on TV in Japan, his memory was extremely vague — something about crushing soybeans into soy milk and then solidifying it through some means.
If he was then told to figure out the seasonings, he would be completely at a loss.
At most, his understanding was that since mapo tofu was spicy, it probably used chili peppers.
"Rei? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing.... By the way, do you know a dish called mapo tofu, Nielson?"
"Eh? What's that? I don't know it. Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious, but spicy."
"What, then I don't want it."
The moment she heard it was spicy, Nielson casually changed her mind.
But considering her personality, Rei judged that wasn't particularly unusual, so he didn't press the matter further.
"Anyway, you're ready on your end, right? I think we'll be staying in Gilm today, so I doubt we'll be coming back to the Treant Forest."
"...Wait here. I'll be right back. I really will be right back."
Saying that, Nielson hurried deeper into the forest.
Rei had been about to say something, but by then she was already out of sight.
"...Fast."
Nielson's flying speed was far faster than Rei had expected.
Whether that was because she possessed the kind of ability that got her chosen as a negotiator, and thus could move at such speed, or because she thought she had to hurry or she wouldn't be able to stay in Gilm — Rei didn't know.
But he waited there with Set.
"Set, Nielson was... fast."
"Guru? Gurururu!"
Set asserted that he could fly faster.
In reality, that was by no means incorrect — Set was faster than Nielson.
"I know. If it's you, Set, you can fly even faster."
Whether he was satisfied by Rei's assertion, Set purred happily.
Rei waited for Nielson while patting him...
"Thanks for waiting!"
In less than ten minutes, Nielson returned.
"That was really fast. I thought it would take a bit more time."
"I told you the negotiations were left to my discretion.... I just have to report to the chief."
That last remark was probably something Nielson had intended for Rei not to hear, but Rei's body, created by Zephyle, possessed sharp senses — not as keen as Set's, but still impressive.
Thanks to that hearing, Rei had caught Nielson's words clearly.
(The chief. The one who came out and scolded the fairies on the Seremuse Plain was the chief, too. Well, since they live together as a single group, it's natural to have a chief.... But for free-spirited fairies to obediently follow their orders, someone would have to be quite capable to become chief.)
Precisely because he knew the fairy temperament, Rei found himself understanding it that way.
...Though to be fair, the only fairy chief Rei knew of was the one, so that inevitably became his standard.
"I see. Then let's head to Gilm right away."
With that, Rei left the area together with Nielson.