After returning to Gilm, Rei walked along while snacking on food from a street stall—but as he went, he suddenly realized the situation he was in was dangerous.
He was currently heading to the site where alchemists performed magical processing on felled lumber. If he brought Nielson to such a place, she would undoubtedly take an interest.
And once she took an interest, there was a real chance she would leap right out of his Dragon Robe.
If that happened, the alchemists would naturally notice Nielson's existence, and the whole incident with the fairy would become known throughout Gilm.
For Rei, if things reached that point, there would be nothing he could do about it.
What should I do? There's no option to skip delivering the lumber... Ah, I don't actually need to be present for Lord Daskar and Nielson's discussion, do I?
Rei puzzled over it for a moment before quickly arriving at a solution.
At the end of the day, despite being an alias holder, he was still just an adventurer.
He had no obligation to participate in the negotiations between Daskar and Nielson.
When it came to something like bringing Nielson from the Treant Forest, it made sense that Rei's cooperation would be needed since he knew the circumstances—but that didn't mean he had to sit through the talks themselves.
"Hey, Rei. What's wrong? Something smells delicious and toasty is drifting this way."
"...Don't push your luck. If Elena and the others were here, we could manage to hide you, but with just me and Set, I can't guarantee we'd be able to keep you concealed in a pinch."
At Rei's words, Nielson fell quiet.
If it had been any day before yesterday, she would have undoubtedly told him to figure something out, even in this situation.
The fact that she had changed her tune so suddenly was surely because of the incident with Antelme the previous night.
Nielson hadn't witnessed Antelme threatening the other fairies firsthand, but she had seen the aftermath—the wolf pack that had been on friendly terms with the fairies, completely wiped out.
It was precisely because she only knew part of the story that her fear ran even deeper.
Leaving the silent Nielson be, Rei followed the savory aroma drifting from nearby and bought several skewers from a food stall.
However, rather than eating them on the spot, he stored them directly in his Misty Ring.
"Well, let's go see Lord Daskar before these skewers get cold."
Since he had stored them fresh off the grill in his Misty Ring, they wouldn't actually go cold.
Even so, Rei said this because he wanted to make the point that if they went to the lord's manor, he'd be able to let Nielson have some of those skewers too.
"Gruu."
"Right. I was thinking skewers for Set too... but come to think of it, if we go to the lord's manor, you can get all sorts of food from the cook there, can't you?"
"Grururu, gruru."
Set purred in protest at Rei's words.
It was true that if they went to the lord's manor, Set could receive food from the cook.
Given that the cook was employed at the lord's manor, their skill was unquestionably high.
They could probably make food far more delicious than the skewers Rei had bought—beyond any comparison.
But for Set, no matter how delicious the food was, eating it alone wasn't as good as eating together with Rei.
If asked to choose between eating delicious food all by himself or eating food that was somewhat less tasty but still reasonably good alongside Rei, Set would choose the latter without a moment's hesitation.
Noticing Set's demeanor, Rei apologized and gave him a pat on the head.
"Right. Then let's save our skewers for when we get back to Marina's house and eat them there."
"Gruu!"
Set purred happily at Rei's words.
For Set, the prospect of getting to eat skewers together with Rei was clearly a joyous one.
...And yet, having secured this promise, Set still had no intention of passing up the food it would be served in the lord's manor courtyard.
"Ehh... then I guess I should do the same."
"Huh? You're coming to Marina's house too, Nielson?"
As far as Rei was concerned, given that it was only the day after yesterday's events, he had assumed that once negotiations with Daskar were finished, Nielson would return to her dwelling in the Treant Forest.
But judging by what Nielson had just said, it sounded like she was declaring she would come along with him.
"Of course."
"...It's Marina's house, you know."
"O-of course."
As expected, perhaps because she found Marina intimidating, Nielson hesitated slightly but still firmly insisted she would come to Marina's house.
Rei couldn't help but wonder why she was so determined about it, but for Nielson, the place called Gilm was endlessly fascinating.
Given that, missing out on the chance to explore it to her heart's content was simply not an option.
She had already walked around Gilm a few times, but while it was called a town, it originally had enough sprawl to be called a quasi-city.
There was no way she could see everything in a place like that in just a handful of visits.
"Besides, the Chief told me to observe how people live, so this isn't just for my own enjoyment anymore—it's a proper mission."
"...I see."
Put that way, Rei couldn't argue back.
He had his doubts about whether she had actually received such an order from the Chief, but since Rei couldn't meet the fairy Chief in person, he had no choice but to take Nielson at her word.
Besides, there was also the possibility that the incident with Antelme had made her feel something different about humans than she had before.
"Fine. If that's what you want, I don't mind. But you tell Marina directly that you're staying over again today."
"Ugh... um, couldn't you say it for me?"
As expected, Marina was apparently someone Nielson had a hard time dealing with.
Even so, the fact that she still wanted to stay at the house spoke volumes about how much she wanted to explore Gilm.
"Oh, right. Then why don't you stay at the lord's manor instead of Marina's house? Wouldn't that make things easier when you negotiate with Lord Daskar too?"
"Hmm, but if I do that, Daskar would be the only one who knows about me, so wouldn't I not be able to walk around freely?"
"Now that you mention it, that's probably true. Well, it's not impossible that Lord Daskar might go look around Gilm, though."
Rei said that, but there was no way the current Daskar—who devoted nearly every waking moment to work, work, work, and more work—had any leisure to go sightseeing around Gilm.
If Nielson went out into the town as she pleased under those circumstances, someone other than Daskar would have to accompany her.
Which meant more people would learn about the fairy.
"No good. Besides, if I stayed at Daskar's place, I wouldn't be able to get inside your Dragon Robe, right?"
After thinking it over for a moment, Nielson stated that flatly.
Inside the lord's manor, Magic Items could keep things cool and comfortable.
In that sense, there wasn't much difference between Marina's house and the lord's manor when it came to comfort as a living space.
When going out, however, it was a different story.
Whether or not she could freely use Rei's Dragon Robe made a significant difference.
"I see... Then that works too. Anyway, let's go see Lord Daskar first."
With that, Rei set off toward the lord's manor where Daskar was, accompanied by Set and Nielson.
"Rei, yesterday was quite the ordeal."
In the office within the lord's manor, Daskar paused his work and said as much.
Despite yesterday's events, Daskar showed no signs of fatigue or sleepiness.
In Rei's case, he had stayed up late and overslept considerably, so at least he wasn't suffering from a lack of sleep.
But that was only possible because it was Rei.
For Daskar, who served as lord, pulling something like oversleeping was simply out of the question.
If he did such a thing, a mountain of work would pile up unprocessed.
In other words, Daskar had undoubtedly woken up at his usual time.
Then again, considering what time Marina got back, is it possible he pulled an all-nighter?
Even if he had, he was certainly energetic.
That was what Rei thought, though he himself had no problem pulling an all-nighter during a request if the need arose.
Even so, he wouldn't choose to stay up all night if he could help it.
Going without sleep didn't offer many benefits to the person doing it. If anything, the drawbacks were overwhelmingly greater.
Despite that, the fact that Daskar was pulling an all-nighter was most likely because he had no other choice.
...The biggest reason being the need to resolve the chain of problems that had started with the conflict between Rei and Antelme.
"Yes, it was... But wasn't it rough on you too yesterday, Lord Daskar?"
"I can't deny that. That said, if I believe it's for the sake of Gilm, it's not really that tough."
Daskar didn't sound like he was putting on a brave front.
It seemed like he genuinely felt that way from the bottom of his heart.
In other words, that was how deeply he loved this place called Gilm.
"Gilm needs you, Lord Daskar, so please don't overdo it... Though I know it's not very convincing coming from me."
This incident with Antelme was just one example, but one way or another, Rei had brought all sorts of problems to Gilm.
The vast majority were unavoidable, and it wasn't as though Rei was to blame... but still, the fact that he had brought problems was undeniable.
That said, there were also more than a few cases where those very problems had turned into significant benefits for Gilm.
Perhaps because Daskar understood that as well, he said nothing particular on the matter.
After chatting a little, Rei spoke up.
"Lord Daskar, I'm going to go deliver the felled lumber to the alchemists, so could you handle the negotiations with Nielson in the meantime?"
"Hm? I don't mind, but... if you had stopped by there before coming here, wouldn't you have avoided the extra trip?"
"If the alchemists spotted Nielson, it would cause trouble."
When Rei put it that way, Daskar nodded in understanding.
Naturally, Daskar was well aware of just how curious the alchemists could be.
At the same time, he also knew full well that Rei's concern wasn't only that the alchemists might take an interest in Nielson, but that Nielson might take an interest in the alchemists.
He didn't say that part aloud, because doing so would risk Nielson insisting on going along.
"Understood. Then I'll handle the negotiations with Nielson now. In the meantime, you can go take care of that, Rei."
"Thank you... Ah, please eat these during your negotiations or whenever."
Saying that, Rei produced the skewers he had bought from a food stall on the way there, along with a plate, and set them down on it.
Eating skewers while negotiating was a bit questionable, but since they were fresh off the grill, it was only natural to want them eaten before they went cold.
Daskar looked slightly puzzled by Rei's behavior but offered his thanks for the gesture all the same.
"Sorry about this."
"Not at all. You must be tired too, Lord Daskar, so hang in there and have some skewers."
In reality, Rei was involved in much of what was making Daskar tired, but whether he didn't notice that or was simply choosing to let it slide, nothing showed on his face.
Daskar, for his part, had no intention of blaming Rei for the various events that had transpired.
The series of incidents that began with the summoning of the Lizardmen and the Green People—Rei's involvement was an undeniable fact, but "involved" was all it was. It wasn't as though the disturbances had occurred because Rei had actually done something to cause them.
If that was the case, Daskar had no intention of laying blame at Rei's feet.
That said... he couldn't just let Rei walk out of the office like this.
He hadn't known when Rei would show up, but now that he was here, Daskar needed to tell him what he and Marina had decided together.
He thought perhaps Marina had already spoken to Rei about it, but judging by Rei's demeanor, that didn't appear to be the case.
Since this matter was special in more ways than one, Daskar concluded that as the lord of Gilm, it was something he had to say...
"Rei, I want you to take the A-Rank adventurer promotion exam."
So he told him.