While a tragedy was unfolding at the Zolgela Count House, Rei and the others were, naturally, completely unaware of it as they enjoyed a pleasant time in the courtyard of Marina's house.
Though Elena and Ara already knew about Nielson, their curiosity still brimmed over and they were eager to talk to her. Nielson, however, had other ideas—she was riding on Ielo's back, flying through the air and playing with Set.
"Looking at them like that, it's almost like a Dragon Knight," Rei murmured.
"...I see," Elena said, nodding in understanding.
Proper Dragon Knights typically rode a type of Subdragon called a Wyvern, but Nielson was riding Ielo, a Child of the Black Dragon. In that sense, she was doing something far more incredible than any ordinary Dragon Knight. Yet, from what Rei could see, Nielson didn't seem to have the slightest awareness that she was doing anything remarkable.
Then again, Ielo was still a child, so it probably didn't understand any of that either.
Time passed, and once evening fell, the first ones to return were Vihera and Byune.
"Nn! Nnn!"
Byune pointed at Nielson and, looking unusually excited, tugged on Vihera's thin garment.
Seeing Byune's reaction, Vihera looked at Nielson in surprise.
"Oh my... is that Nielson?"
She was surprised, but not nearly as much as Byune—probably because she had already seen a Fairy up close once before. It also helped that she had overheard Rei talking about bringing Nielson when he spoke with Marina. Because of that, she had likely expected a Fairy to visit Marina's house today.
"Yeah. When I asked if she wanted to stay over, she nodded right away. Well, she went to get permission from the Chief first, so 'right away' might be a slight exaggeration."
"Hmm. She seems happy, though."
There was a hint of pity in Vihera's gaze as she said this. She probably understood why Marina had called Nielson over.
That said, if it came up here, Nielson would almost certainly flee. Rei signaled Vihera with his eyes, silently telling her not to bring it up. Since Vihera had also heard the conversation about Fairies yesterday, she understood what Rei meant and returned a nod.
"Nn! Nn!"
But while Rei and Vihera were having that silent exchange, Byune made it abundantly clear with her body language that she wanted to play with the Fairy too. For Byune, complicated matters like that had nothing to do with her.
"Right. I think it'd be fine for Byune to go over there, don't you? If it's Byune, I'm sure the Fairy would be happy to play with her."
"I wonder. I'm sure Nielson would be happy, but she is a Fairy, as you can see. I'm sure it'll probably be fine, but there's a very real possibility she might pull some kind of prank."
"That's..."
Vihera furrowed her brow slightly at Rei's words.
Byune possessed strength that belied her appearance. Even so, whether she could handle Nielson's pranks—pranks from a Fairy that, according to Rei, could sometimes be life-threatening—was a delicate question.
"Nn!"
But Byune, who had been listening to Rei's words, made it clear with her attitude that she would be fine. Normally, Byune rarely changed her expression, but right now she looked plainly desperate. She must have harbored a longing for Fairies as well.
(Her parents apparently died when she was young, so her attachment to the fairy tales they told her might be especially strong.)
Watching Byune's demeanor, Rei hesitated over what to do, then turned his gaze to Vihera, who served as Byune's guardian.
"What do you think? If you don't mind, I think it's fine. But if Byune plays with Nielson and gets hit with a prank that's no laughing matter, we'll need to step in immediately."
Vihera thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. But if something happens, Rei, help out too."
"Yeah, leave that to me. I'll be ready to move the moment anything goes wrong."
"Thank you. Byune, you can go."
"Nn!"
At Vihera's words, Byune immediately bolted toward where Nielson was.
"Byune really is a girl after all."
"Fufu, that she is. Here you go."
Ara smiled and handed Vihera a cup of tea.
"Thank you. Drinking tea out here after work is over... it really is delicious. Especially when Ara makes it."
"I'm glad to hear you say that."
So they chatted, all the while keeping an eye on Byune. At first, Nielson seemed bewildered by her sudden appearance, but she got used to it right away.
As they watched Byune and Nielson, Set and Ielo playing together, and talked amongst themselves about what had happened that day, Nielson—who had been standing on Ielo's back—abruptly stopped moving. Even after she froze, since Nielson could fly under her own power, she didn't fall to the ground when Ielo slipped out from under her feet.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Rei murmured, finding Nielson's behavior suspicious.
The others turned their gazes in the same direction. Nielson remained motionless in the air, but...
"She looks like she's trembling," Elena said.
Rei looked back at Nielson with a skeptical "really?"—but now that it was mentioned, she did indeed seem to be trembling.
"Did something happen?" he asked.
"Who knows? As far as I could tell, nothing in particular happened," Vihera replied.
Rei agreed. From what he had seen, nothing had seemed to happen. So why? What on earth could have caused this?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a voice called out to them.
"I'm back. It looks like the Fairy arrived safely."
Everyone present immediately knew whose voice it was.
"Marina, is the clinic taken care of already?" Rei asked.
"Yes. There weren't that many injured today, so it was easy."
"That's good. Let's hope it means the Expansion Construction is going smoothly."
"I suppose. But even if things go smoothly for a day or two, it won't change much. So, is that Fairy Nielson?"
"Yeah. Brought her just like you asked."
"I see. It looks like she's noticed my presence, so I'll go talk to her for a bit."
"...She noticed?"
Rei didn't understand what Marina meant. Well, he understood the words themselves, but he couldn't fathom how she had reached that conclusion. He followed Marina as she walked toward Nielson.
Elena, Vihera, and Ara naturally followed.
As Marina approached, the Fairy turned around with stiff, awkward movements—and the moment she saw Marina's face, she cried out.
"The World Tree's aura!?"
Rei and the others immediately grasped the meaning of those words. After all, among everyone present, only one person had any connection to the World Tree. And for Nielson to say such a thing the instant that person appeared, it went without saying who had arrived and caused her to freeze.
(Or rather, do Fairies have some kind of connection to the World Tree? Well, it does fit the image, I suppose.)
It was merely an image in Rei's mind, but he could easily accept the idea that Fairies and the World Tree were connected.
Marina continued walking toward Nielson.
"A-awawawawawa."
Nielson must have sensed Marina's presence closing in. She panicked, but once things had reached this point, fleeing was out of the question. She must have come to the same conclusion, because she eventually watched Marina approach with a look of grim resolve.
While Nielson tensed up, a smile played across Marina's lips.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Marina. Could you tell me your name?"
"Nielson."
"I see. Thank you for coming to visit my home today."
The instant Marina said that, Nielson's gaze snapped toward Rei. Since she was standing before Marina, she couldn't speak aloud—but the look in her eyes practically screamed, "You betrayed me!"
Rei quietly averted his gaze. The gesture itself was essentially an admission that he had known about this from the start.
I'll get you back for this later, Nielson thought. But the moment she did, the pressure radiating from Marina standing before her grew even stronger.
"!?"
Nielson gasped at the sheer force—no, the pressure—but as expected of someone chosen as a negotiator, she didn't simply crumble beneath Marina's overwhelming presence. She somehow managed to open her mouth.
"Bearing the World Tree's power in your body... that would make you the Shrine Maiden of the World Tree, correct?"
"That's right. I don't mind if you think of me that way. Now then, about the matter regarding the Fairies... I'm not going to tell you not to play pranks. But I don't want you pulling any that could cost someone their life. Also, Rei and his group have a great deal to accomplish, so none of that directed at them either. How about it?"
Faced with Marina's proposal—or rather, what was effectively an ultimatum—Nielson hesitated over how to respond. If this concerned only herself, she would have readily complied. Unfortunately, Marina's demands extended not just to Nielson but to all the Fairies in the Treant Forest. She couldn't just carelessly agree to that.
What would happen if she gave a nonchalant answer here and then it ended up being broken? Fairies were fickle creatures. Even if she made a promise, returned to the Treant Forest, and relayed it to the other Fairies, there was no telling whether they would actually listen. And if she made a promise here only for it to be broken, what then?
The World Tree held deep significance for Fairies. And Marina was its Shrine Maiden. In that case, it would without a doubt become a deeply troublesome situation. Under these circumstances, there was no way she could simply nod along to Marina's proposal.
"Um... I can't make that judgment on my own. If it's something this significant, I'd need to consult the Chief first."
She explained that she couldn't resolve this on her own authority.
Marina felt somewhat dissatisfied with Nielson's response, but she judged that pressing the matter further now would be pointless given what Nielson had just said.
"I see. Then when you return to the Treant Forest tomorrow, talk to your Chief. And let me make this clear—if that's not acceptable, we'll respond accordingly. Keep that in mind. I've heard you have Teleportation abilities, but don't think for a moment that will let you escape."
Marina delivered those words with a soft "fufu" and a smile, but that smile carried even more force than before.
"Y-Yes, understood..."
As proof of just how intimidating Marina was, Nielson responded with the deferential speech one would use toward a superior.
Marina silently held Nielson with her gaze. The silence only heightened the tension in the air, until at last Marina spoke again.
"Alright then, I'm counting on you. Though if they won't listen, I'll probably end up going to the Treant Forest directly. Be prepared for that."
Wasn't that basically a threat?
Rei and the others, watching the exchange between Marina and Nielson, all thought the exact same thing. But there was no one who could say so out loud—not when the pressure directed at Nielson might just swing their way if they did.
...And frankly, Rei felt that fear was entirely justified.
"Now then, I'll leave Nielson to Marina. Why don't the rest of us start on dinner a little early? We always rely on Marina, so it's only right we handle it ourselves once in a while."
Saying that, Rei pulled out his Magic Item oven. This oven was a remarkably important tool—just about anything baked in it came out tasting better.
Seeing Rei spring into action, the others followed suit. Only Nielson cast a desperate, pleading look their way, but Rei pretended not to notice.