Time rewound. After Rei took off on Set from the courtyard of Marina's house, Marina immediately sprang into action.
"Everyone's here, right?"
At those words from Marina, Elena and the others appeared as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
If Rei had simply been woken by Nielson, something like this — everyone getting up — probably wouldn't have happened.
But when Rei mounted Set and flew out of the courtyard, there was no way anyone inside the house wouldn't notice such a commotion.
The aura, almost akin to Fighting Spirit, that had emanated from Rei.
There was no one in this house who wouldn't wake from that.
Even Byune, who was normally never particularly strong at night and thus went to sleep relatively early, was awake.
It was obvious that Rei's demeanor was far from normal.
"Mm. So? What exactly happened?"
The one who spoke on behalf of the group was Elena.
Judging from the current situation, she had likely concluded that anything could have happened — even a monster horde attacking Gilm wouldn't be surprising — and her bearing seemed to say she was ready to handle whatever came, whenever it came.
Vihera, for her part, was wondering whether perhaps a powerful enemy — the kind that would make Rei rush out in a panic — had shown up, and was looking forward to a battle with a strong foe.
"First of all. The problem didn't occur here, but in the Treant Forest. There's nothing wrong with Gilm itself."
At those words, Elena showed relief, while Vihera looked disappointed.
Watching the two extremes of their reactions, Marina continued.
"Apparently something happened at the fairy settlement in the Treant Forest. Most likely, they were discovered by poachers or something."
"Shouldn't very few people know about the fairies?"
"That's true. But it's not like they sneaked into the Treant Forest trying to find fairies. Daskar has prohibited unauthorized approach to the Treant Forest for certain reasons. Given that, anyone — no matter who — could predict that there's something there. ...And actually, there is quite a lot there, after all."
Indeed, the current Treant Forest held the Birth Tower, the lake, the Underground Space connected to another world, and the fairies — numerous things that absolutely could not be made public.
It could safely be called a convergence of troubles in one place.
Given that it was such a location, it wouldn't be strange for someone to sneak in thinking there might be some treasure hidden there.
Since they hadn't heard the details, they couldn't know the specifics.
But even so, the fact that Rei had been so desperate meant that something significant must have definitely occurred.
...Nielson had told Rei that someone was searching for the fairy settlement, but unfortunately, Marina had arrived at Rei's room right after that, and hadn't heard the explanation.
"In any case, given the high likelihood that something happened in the Treant Forest... and probably related to the fairies, sending Rei there quickly was the natural course of action. But it's also a fact that doing so without authorization would result in punishment. ...So, I'm heading to the Lord's Manor now. What about the rest of you?"
When Marina asked, the first to say she was going was Vihera.
Since they didn't understand the situation, there might be a powerful enemy in the Treant Forest.
If so, she had decided she wanted to obtain that information as quickly as possible to increase — even slightly — her chances of fighting a strong foe.
"I'm going. ...Byune, stay and sleep."
"...nn..."
Normally, Byune would want to go wherever Vihera went, but having been woken from sleep, she was still assailed by intense drowsiness.
Given a little more time, the sleepiness might subside somewhat, but right now drowsiness was overwhelmingly dominant.
Moreover, even if the drowsiness did subside, that would only be her own perception — achieving the same level of ability as during the day would be difficult.
Byune seemed to understand this as well, and obediently complied with Vihera's words.
"I see. Vihera's going. What about you, Elena, and Ara?"
"Unfortunately, since I am here as the representative of the Noble's Faction, I cannot go along. If this matter becomes known later, it might cause trouble for Lord Daskar."
Elena said so with visible regret.
Since this concerned the man she loved, Elena would have gone herself if she could.
But under the current circumstances, barging into the Lord's Manor would be a particularly meaningless act.
Additionally, there was another reason Elena had decided to stay at Marina's house.
"Besides, what was his name — Antelme? The possibility of that man attacking here hasn't been eliminated, has it? If so, someone needs to stay behind and be prepared for emergencies."
In reality, Antelme was the one searching for the fairies in the Treant Forest, but since Elena and the others had no way of knowing those circumstances, they couldn't help but consider the possibility of Antelme attacking here.
After all, he was the kind of opponent who had massacred everyone at the Zolgela Count House mansion.
As long as such a person was still at large, someone absolutely had to stay and protect Marina's house, where the very Set that Antelme coveted resided.
That was why Elena told Marina she would stay here under the current circumstances.
"You're right. I'm glad to have someone protecting this place. Then, I'll leave it to you. ...Vihera, let's go."
"Yes. Well then, I wonder what on earth has happened."
Marina and Vihera swiftly prepared themselves and left the house.
"...So, what business do you have at this hour of the night?"
A guest room in the Lord's Manor.
There, Daskar was meeting with the two of them — Marina and Vihera.
Naturally, showing up at the Lord's Manor in the middle of the night and demanding to see Daskar wasn't something easily accepted.
Under normal circumstances, they could have been detained as suspicious individuals... but the gatekeeper on duty knew that Marina was the Former Guild Master, and had also heard from a senior colleague that Marina had known Daskar since childhood and they were longtime acquaintances.
Thanks to that, they avoided being judged suspicious, arrested, and thrown into a cell.
...Even so, it took a considerable amount of time before they could actually meet with Daskar.
"Right. I didn't come to see Daskar in the middle of the night for no reason, either. Let me be frank. I don't know whether you've received any reports, but I had Rei fly out from my house's garden on Set, out of Gilm."
Even being told that, Daskar didn't appear particularly surprised.
He thought for a moment as if weighing Marina's words, then turned his gaze to Vihera sitting beside her.
Setting aside the content of Marina's story, he was probably wondering why Vihera had come along for such a conversation.
Of course, for Daskar — who knew Vihera's true identity, though that expression wasn't quite accurate — there was no need to go out of his way to ask about it.
What he said instead was something else entirely.
"I see. I had heard that something flew from inside Gilm heading outward... So it was Set."
"My, so a report had already come in after all."
Marina feigned surprise with her words, but her expression said it was only natural for such a report to have arrived.
In truth, today many people were moving about outside even at night, in the effort to search for Antelme.
With so many people out and about, it wouldn't be strange for someone to have noticed Set flying through the sky.
"Yes. I was woken for that matter."
"So it wasn't us who woke you. That's a relief, then."
"...And? Why did you do such a thing? You should know full well that such a thing isn't permitted, Marina."
Even as he said that, Daskar showed no sign of blaming Marina.
Rather, since Marina of all people had authorized it, he likely thought there must have been a reason she had to do so.
Given that they had known each other since childhood, Daskar also knew Marina's character.
He couldn't imagine that she would let Rei ride Set and fly out — not through the gates, but over the city walls — in the middle of the night for no reason at all.
Marina nodded at Daskar's words and explained the circumstances that had led her to have Rei do such a thing.
"Apparently, there's been some kind of trouble in the Treant Forest. Related to Nielson and the fairies."
"...What?"
At Marina's words, Daskar responded in a low voice.
For Daskar, the fairies — Nielson chief among them — held significant meaning.
They were potentially the kind of presence that could become a major attraction for Gilm after the Expansion Construction was completed.
Even setting that aside, there was the possibility of obtaining fairy-made Magic Items.
Considering those reasons, while the fairies' pranks were certainly troublesome, there was no doubt that they were a race worth protecting.
"Who would do such a thing? ...Or rather, how did Nielson know about it?"
"A Magic Item, apparently."
Hearing that, Daskar could accept it honestly.
The effects of fairy-made Magic Items were remarkably high.
It was precisely because he knew that, that Daskar was trying to obtain them regularly and sell them in Gilm.
"I see. ...Understood. I'll approve this matter as a special exception. If the fairies were in danger, I can only be grateful to Rei for going to help them."
"I knew you'd say that, Daskar."
At Marina's words, Vihera, who had been listening beside her, suddenly spoke up, apparently intrigued.
"What if you had said you were going to punish Rei?"
"Let's see. For starters, about the potion tear incident—"
"Don't say it! Don't say it! Don't say any more than that!"
Daskar said immediately, forcefully cutting off Marina's words mid-sentence.
His attitude made clear that he absolutely would not let her finish.
Such an attitude, of course, only drew Vihera's interest further... but Daskar, seemingly oblivious to Vihera's reaction, addressed Marina.
"That matter was supposed to be absolutely never spoken of, wasn't it? So why would you try to say it so casually?"
"Oh, it's not like I'd say it casually. It's because it concerns Rei, of course."
She was essentially saying that was how important Rei's existence was... but for Daskar, that was not an acceptable justification.
"Don't say anything about that. Absolutely don't."
If Rei had been present, he would have recalled something from Japan and thought, Is this a cursed seal?
That was how blatant Daskar's words were.
(That's exactly why it's impossible to tell me not to be interested. ...Well, I suppose I'll leave teasing Daskar at that for now. I need to redirect Vihera's interest elsewhere, after all.)
Truthfully, Marina thought it would be entertaining to exchange a few more words with Daskar, but right now, dealing with the Treant Forest situation took priority... and resolving the question of why Vihera had come along with her needed to come first.
"So, regarding the all-important Treant Forest matter... has any relevant information come in? If information about Rei and Set came in that quickly, there should be all sorts of information coming in about the Treant Forest situation too, right?"
Daskar, relieved that the topic of his dark history seemed to have been dropped for now, shook his head at Marina's words.
"Don't ask for the impossible. In the first place, the only reason the Set situation was spotted was because the Guards and my men were out searching for Antelme. The Treant Forest... during the day, perhaps, but obtaining information there in this situation, at this hour, is difficult."
Going outside Gilm at night in the Frontier was already quite dangerous.
Those capable of doing so were naturally few in number.
...Even among Adventurers, not many wanted to go outside Gilm at night.
After all, precisely because it was the Frontier, there was no telling what kind of monsters might attack.
Depending on the circumstances, it was a place where even an A-Rank Monster could appear without warning — that was the Frontier.
"However... if someone is causing such an uproar under these circumstances, there is one person who comes to mind. If I'm right about that... it would be troublesome. Truly troublesome."
"Antelme... huh."
At Marina's words, Daskar silently nodded.