Having finished his talk with Daskar, Rei headed for the Treant Forest.
If Antelme had been behind the incident at the Zolgela Count House, he might have already slipped out of the Noble District.
Then again, there was also the chance he wanted them to think exactly that while he lay low somewhere nearby.
Given those possibilities, caution was the only sensible approach.
That was precisely why Rei wanted a fairy-made Magic Item even more than he had yesterday.
...Though naturally, the one who would actually use it was Marina, as the homeowner. Rei's role was simply to transport the thing.
It was a little dissatisfying, but being able to see a fairy-made Magic Item in person was still a stroke of luck. After all, very few people ever had that opportunity.
"Nnn... nnn...?"
Perhaps sensing they were nearing the Treant Forest, Nielson stirred awake inside the Dragon Robe with a groggy murmur.
"Is your hangover any better?"
"Yeah. Not completely gone, but I can manage."
"If this taught you a lesson, maybe lay off the alcohol from now on."
"True. But it was delicious, you know?"
"Huh?"
"...What?"
"Well, if it didn't actually taste good, people wouldn't ruin their lives over it. So I guess it must be delicious to those who like it, but..."
"What? Are you telling me Rei can't handle his drink?"
"It's not that I can't. I just don't find it delicious."
For Rei, alcohol was far from something he could call tasty. He knew perfectly well that plenty of people enjoyed it, of course. Even so, watching someone drink the stuff so eagerly — to the point of a hangover — when he couldn't see the appeal himself was a little hard to wrap his head around.
"Do fairies have alcohol too?"
"We do, but we can't exactly drink it whenever we want. Only on special occasions. Honey is hard to come by, and a lot of fairies try to eat it before it can be turned into mead."
The mention of honey wine reminded Rei of a TV program he had seen back in Japan. Mead, said to be the oldest alcohol in the world, was apparently something that would make itself — just add water to honey and wait.
Rei had been skeptical about whether alcohol could really come from something so simple, but while the program had gone into the proper scientific reasons, he had only half-listened at the time. In any case, he knew that adding water to honey and letting it sit would eventually produce alcohol, and that was enough for him.
(I see. Well, mead is easy to make casually — not nearly as labor-intensive as wine or other drinks.)
Or so Rei thought, though in truth he had no real idea how wine was actually made. The program that had introduced mead had probably covered that too, but... the only detail Rei remembered was that wine grapes were different from the ones sold in regular supermarkets — they weren't sweet.
No, of course there were many varieties of wine, so there might well be places that used sweet grapes. But at least from what he had seen on TV, that was how it worked.
"Mead, huh... Well, knowing fairies, they'd probably just lick the honey, and lick it, and lick it, and lick it — keep licking until they were completely satisfied, and by the end there wouldn't be any honey left to make alcohol with."
"Ugh..."
Nielson let out a groan at Rei's words. She had probably experienced that exact scenario more times than she cared to count. That was precisely why alcohol was such a rare treat for her.
"Ah, we're almost at the woodcutters' area, so..."
"Guru?"
"Hm? What is it, Set?"
Rei had been about to ask Nielson to keep it down since they were approaching the woodcutters, but Set suddenly let out a curious purr.
Rei eyed Set's behavior with suspicion. Normally, this wouldn't have been worth a second thought. But with the Antelme situation looming, he had to consider worst-case scenarios.
(If it weren't for the Antelme situation, I'd just assume a new monster had wandered into the Treant Forest.)
Rei kept watching Set, but before long the gryphon purred again as if to say it was nothing — probably just his imagination.
"I see. Then... let's keep moving, but stay alert. If Antelme happens to spot us, things could get ugly fast. Let's take a slight detour."
"Guru!"
Set let out a cry as if to say "Understood!" at Rei's words.
"Ehh... I finally feel alive again, and now it's going to take even longer to get back?"
In contrast to Set, it was Nielson who voiced her displeasure. From her perspective, she had just recovered from the misery of a hangover, only to be told they were taking the scenic route back to her own settlement. She needed to get back as quickly as possible to petition the Chief about the Magic Item.
But the moment that thought crossed her mind, her motivation evaporated.
"Ah, right. No complaints here. If anything, we could take it even slower... take the whole day to get back, even."
"That's a bit much, even for you."
Rei let out a sigh of exasperation at Nielson's words. Still, looking at her demeanor — and recalling her exchange with Marina the night before — he could somewhat understand why she would say something like that.
But that didn't mean he could actually go along with it. Daskar had told him to prioritize the fairy matter, but he also had other duties, like transporting the lumber the woodcutters had felled.
(Well, there's the option of prioritizing that work and heading to the fairy settlement later... no, that won't work. If it's going to take time to persuade them about the Magic Item, wasting time beforehand means I might not be able to bring it back today.)
With the Antelme situation hanging over everything, the fairy's Magic Item was an absolute necessity. Failing to obtain it was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.
"Sorry, but that's not happening. ...Ah, keep quiet for now."
Spotting an adventurer on woodcutter escort duty ahead of where Set was heading, Rei relayed the message to Nielson inside the Dragon Robe. Nielson looked slightly miffed, but perhaps remembering that Marina had told her not to cause trouble for Rei, she obediently fell silent.
For Nielson, Marina was apparently someone hard to handle. ...And yet she didn't actually dislike her. If anything, she held a certain fondness for her. That had to do with Marina being the Shrine Maiden of the World Tree — which left Nielson in the peculiar position of being both wary of and drawn to her at the same time.
"Hey. Rei. You're a bit late today."
The adventurer called out with a casual greeting upon seeing him. If it had been a stranger, Rei might have been more guarded, but he had been here countless times already. Naturally, the adventurer knew him well.
(In that sense, the fact that Antelme didn't know me... well, given that personality, if someone said he just has no interest in other people, they'd probably be right.)
Deciding to shelve the Antelme matter for now, Rei continued the conversation.
"Had some business with Lord Daskar. That's why it's this late."
The time was already approaching eleven in the morning — not quite noon, but close. Between waiting for Nielson's hangover to subside, checking on the Zolgela Count House situation, and reporting the Antelme matter to Daskar, the morning had slipped away. In that sense, this whole affair had indeed been full of complications.
"Huh. Well, given your position, Rei, I guess that kind of thing happens. You do more than just haul logs, right?"
"That's right. Personally, I don't really mind the current arrangement, either."
Juggling multiple jobs instead of just one wasn't a bad deal for Rei. Though, of course, that sort of thing varied from person to person.
"That's because it's you. ...Anyway, we've got a fair stack of felled logs ready for you. I'm gonna do another round of patrols."
"Sounds good. Stay sharp. You never know what's lurking in the Treant Forest."
What was on Rei's mind as he said that was the moment earlier when Set had seemed bothered by something. With the Zolgela Count House incident still unresolved, he had to plan for every contingency. Whether Antelme was actually in the area or not, Rei couldn't say for certain. And as an A-Rank adventurer, it wouldn't be surprising if the man had a few tricks up his sleeve.
"I know that. I mean, we're outside Gilm, right? And with the way things are in the Treant Forest, there's no way I can let my guard down."
The adventurer wasn't wrong. Gilm was a frontier, and the lands beyond its walls teemed with monsters. Given that, Rei could certainly understand the logic — as long as the adventurers stayed vigilant, they'd be fine.
"Then I'll leave it to you. That said, a lot of monsters wander into the Treant Forest, so don't get careless."
With that, Rei parted ways with the adventurer. A short distance away, he found the pile of felled logs and stored them into his Misty Ring.
"Alright, that takes care of this for now. Next up is... the fairy settlement. Set, think we can fly straight there today?"
"Guru!"
Set purred as if to say "Leave it to me!"
As long as the fairies didn't pull any of their usual pranks, Rei was confident Set could get them to the settlement without any trouble.
"Then I'm counting on you. ...Well, even if we do get lost, the wolves will probably show up to guide us again, so I'm not too worried about that."
Rei pictured the wolves he had grown so familiar with over the past few days. Not monsters — just ordinary wolves. And yet, they were astonishingly intelligent. Smart enough that it wouldn't have seemed strange for them to guide travelers in exchange for food.
(If those wolves ever became monsters, they'd probably turn into something with incredible intellect. ...Then again, if they got that smart, they'd understand the downsides of making enemies of us, so maybe there'd be nothing to worry about?)
Rei found himself entertaining that thought, along with a quiet hope that if it did happen, life in the Treant Forest might get a little easier for them.
While he mused, Set pressed on through the forest...
"Gururururu!"
Set called out to Rei, announcing their arrival.
"Oh, we're here. The wolves, though... not around."
Rei scanned the surroundings, but there was no sign of the pack. He felt a twinge of disappointment. He wouldn't have minded seeing those clever wolves one more time.
"Can't be helped if they're not here. They have to hunt for their own food, after all. ...Nielson."
"...Nnn... what..."
"Were you asleep again? We've arrived at your settlement. Go get the Magic Item."
"Fine."
Roused by Rei's words, Nielson reluctantly crawled out of the Dragon Robe and fluttered off toward her home.
After seeing her off, Rei dismounted from Set. Set, apparently with nothing better to do while waiting, plopped down on the ground. Fortunately, the earth here was covered in all kinds of grass, so there was no risk of him getting dirty.
...Not that Set seemed to care about such things either way.
Rei, too, finding the grassy ground comfortable enough, sat down and leaned back against Set. Set purred happily at the contact.
Listening to Set's rumbling, Rei thought about what to do once he had the Magic Item in hand.
(I couldn't make it to the Underground Space to see Grimm yesterday, and I want to know how that experiment turned out. Maybe I should stop by there. Then once I hear the results, head back to Gilm to transport the lumber... and figure out what comes next.)
The request Rei had received from Daskar was to resolve the fairy situation. But since that was now in the negotiation phase between Daskar and Nielson, there wasn't much for Rei to do on that front. If he had to name his remaining duty, it would be playing escort for Nielson.
(Which means... searching for Antelme? I'd like to sort that out before anyone else gets hurt, if possible.)
Lost in thought, Rei let the cool forest wind wash over him.