"Gurururu..."
After wrapping up his conversation with Anastasia—no, more accurately, his conversation with Grimm—Rei rode Set through the Treant Forest.
Along the way, Set suddenly let out a mournful cry. The fairies' dwelling was drawing near, which meant they were approaching the site of yesterday's battle with Antelme.
Of course, Set wasn't crying because he was sad about the fight itself. He was grieving the wolf pack that Antelme had slaughtered.
Even Anastasia's deer wouldn't approach Set on their own, afraid of him.
But the leader of the wolf pack employed at the fairy dwelling—"hired" was the more accurate term—was different.
Even facing Set... even terrified inwardly, the wolf had refused to flee.
Because it had been that kind of creature, its death at Antelme's hands clearly weighed on Set.
Rei understood from Set's demeanor that it was feeling regret and sorrow, and gently stroked the back of its neck.
(Antelme will never appear on the public stage again. He learned about the fairies, so there's no doubt he'll be quietly eliminated. ...Personally, I can't say I have no feelings about the fact that he'll probably just get a clean execution.)
At the Zolgela Count House mansion, Antelme had killed everyone—even unrelated maids and butlers—and then wiped out the wolves as well.
He had also killed ordinary citizens who were no threat to him at all. Rei wouldn't be surprised if more victims simply hadn't surfaced yet.
Because he was that kind of man, Rei couldn't honestly feel satisfied if it ended with a simple execution.
(I get that they can't carelessly keep him alive now that he knows about the fairies. But no, thinking about a guy like that is a waste of time.)
The moment he erased Antelme from his mind, he arrived at the very spot where yesterday's battle had taken place—an ironic coincidence, to say the least.
"Come to think of it, there wasn't a single prank."
Rei found it odd that he'd made it all the way here without being harassed by anything.
Normally, he would have expected the fairies to pull all sorts of pranks on him.
Yet today of all days, even without Nielson—a fellow fairy—accompanying him, there hadn't been a single prank worth mentioning.
"Is it because of what happened yesterday?"
Their home had nearly been burned to the ground by Antelme, a truly vicious enemy.
Under those circumstances, it wasn't unreasonable that the fairies wouldn't feel like casually pulling pranks.
"Well, calling Nielson should sort that out. ...Actually, looks like I won't need to."
Rei muttered that at the sight of a familiar fairy darting toward him from deep within the forest.
"Rei, you're late!"
Nielson barreled straight into him without so much as slowing down, body-checking him as she shouted in complaint.
From her perspective, since Rei was supposed to come pick her up today, she had expected him far earlier.
But it was already past noon.
Hardly the time she had been hoping for.
"You can say that, but taking care of you isn't the only thing I have to do. Besides, one thing led to another last night and I ended up going to bed late. It's not strange I'd wake up late, is it?"
"That's true, but..."
When confronted with the excuse of last night's incident, Nielson couldn't argue back.
After all, the reason Rei had come here last night was precisely because of her request.
And if Rei hadn't heeded that request, the fairy dwelling would have been torched by Antelme, or countless fairies would have been killed.
Killed for use as material in his Magic Items, no less.
On top of that, he probably would have stripped them of every Magic Item they owned.
Nielson wasn't worried about the fairies being captured.
Since they could teleport using Fairy Rings, escaping even if captured wouldn't be all that difficult.
"Considering all that, don't you think being a little late is forgivable?"
"Muu... I guess it can't be helped."
In the end, that was all Nielson could say in response.
In truth, part of the reason he was late was because he had stopped to see Anastasia first. But being spared from having to explain that was a stroke of luck for Rei.
"So, what's the plan? Are we heading to Gilm? Going to see Lord Daskar? Or just wandering around town? Though I'll warn you, Gilm isn't the most comfortable place to be right now."
"Right. We'll go see Daskar first. There's a lot we need to discuss about yesterday. ...Oh, that's right. Rei."
"What is it, all of a sudden?"
Nielson, mid-conversation, suddenly called out to him as if she had just remembered something.
Unable to tell what that tone implied, Rei answered with slight caution—figuring it was Nielson, after all.
Whether she noticed his wariness or not, Nielson pressed on without dimming her cheerfulness.
"The Chief wanted me to tell you he's grateful for what you did yesterday. As thanks, he says he'll give you one of our Magic Items."
"...Really?"
Those words were both a surprise and extremely welcome news for Rei.
Originally, Rei had gotten involved in the fairy situation proactively partly because he had reported it to Daskar and been asked to handle it.
But at the same time, the possibility of receiving a fairy-made Magic Item had also factored into his motivation.
In fact, he had already intended to claim a fairy-made Magic Item from Daskar as his reward for the whole affair.
(Wait, hold on. If I get a Magic Item from the Chief here, and then separately receive another one from Lord Daskar later... does that mean I could end up with two fairy Magic Items?)
That would undoubtedly be a major gain.
He had wanted fairy-made Magic Items to begin with. Getting two of them would be more than enough reward for defeating Antelme.
...Though even with that reward, it wasn't as if he could forget about the wolves so quickly.
"I'm glad to hear it. So, what kind of Magic Item will I get? It'd help if you could tell me."
"Sorry, but I can't. They haven't decided which one to give yet."
"...Does that mean I get to choose?"
If so, that would be fantastic.
But Nielson shook her head.
"The Chief will pick the Magic Item for you. ...You'll probably need to meet with the Chief before long, so be ready for that."
"Is that right? ...Well, alright."
His slight disappointment at Nielson's words stemmed from not being able to choose the item himself.
Rei had no idea what kind of person the Chief was.
The real question was whether the Chief would select something Rei actually wanted.
If it were Daskar, knowing Rei's preferences, he would undoubtedly pick something practical for combat.
In this situation, even a fairy-made Magic Item would be of little use—and would just gather dust in his Misty Ring—if it couldn't be used in real combat.
In that sense, Rei couldn't feel entirely at ease.
"What's with you? You look unhappy."
"Not unhappy. I'd say 'anxious' is more accurate, given the circumstances."
Nielson frowned in puzzlement at his words.
At the end of the day, Rei and Nielson hadn't known each other very long.
Given that, she couldn't fully grasp how particular Rei was about Magic Items.
Of course, she probably understood from their conversations that he had a strong interest in them.
"Anyway, meeting the Chief isn't happening today, right? In that case, I'd like to head to Gilm soon. That work for you?"
"Yes, that's fine. Or rather, I was the one waiting because you were late. Don't you think asking me that here is a bit backwards?"
"Is it? ...Well, if you say so."
As if glossing over the fact that he had detoured to the Underground Space to see Grimm, Rei deflected... and then, as an afterthought, recalled something.
"There wasn't a single prank from the fairies on my way here today. Why is that? Not that I'm complaining, of course."
"Ah, that? They're that grateful to you for yesterday."
"So the lack of pranks is their way of showing gratitude?"
"You could put it that way."
"Then can I expect to come here without being pranked from now on?"
"Who knows?"
"Who knows? ...Aren't they going to stop pranking?"
"I didn't say that much. Today... and maybe for a few days, should be fine. But fairies are capricious. It wouldn't be surprising at all if they forgot about today and went right back to pranking."
Ufufu, ahaha.
As if to underscore Nielson's words, laughter echoed through the forest all around them.
To Rei, it sounded like they were agreeing with her.
In other words, they'd hold off on pranks today... or for a few days at most. Once that window passed, they'd go right back to targeting him.
(Thick-skinned lot. Yesterday they were inches from being burned alive, and the moment it's over, they're back to business as usual.)
Normally, nearly having your home burned down would be enough to leave a trauma.
And yet, the fairies seemed to Rei to be treating yesterday as yesterday—simply moving on.
Fairies had their own individual personalities, so it wasn't as though every single one felt that way.
The ones who didn't were probably staying deep inside the dwelling, lying low rather than stepping outside.
"At any rate, if you're going to pull pranks, at least cut out the lethal ones. Otherwise, I'll have to call Marina."
Bikun!
At the name Marina, not only Nielson but every other fairy who had been filling the surroundings with laughter moments before visibly flinched.
(Nielson's reaction I understand, but what's with the others? ...Did she tell them about her? The Shrine Maiden of the World Tree really is an enigmatic existence.)
At the very least, this should ensure no one would pull any aggressive pranks on others.
Making that judgment, Rei set out for Gilm with Nielson.
Nielson immediately slipped inside Rei's Dragon Robe.
Thanks to the robe, Rei didn't feel the heat—but Nielson had no such special ability.
That was no doubt why she had crawled inside to escape the midsummer swelter.
"Phew... cool... this feels wonderful."
From within the Dragon Robe, Nielson let out a voice brimming with genuine delight.
Rei had his own thoughts about her behavior, but...
"So, if there are no issues, I'd like to get moving to Gilm. Any objections?"
"None. Let's hurry. ...Though, thinking about yesterday, today's talk with Daskar is bound to be busy."
"I won't deny that."
For Daskar, the Antelme affair was bound to be a major headache.
The Zolgela Count House situation aside, the man had actually tried to burn down the fairy dwelling.
That being the case, Daskar would have a hard time taking a hard line in negotiations with Nielson.
"Then let's go. Today's shaping up to be a good day."
From inside the Dragon Robe, Nielson said that with a beaming smile.