Having heard about the fairies' dwelling, Rei initially wondered whether he had actually arrived at his intended destination as he gazed at the scene spreading out before him.
It was only natural. What lay at the end of Rei's gaze was the Treant Forest itself.
If there had been small houses for fairies to live in, he could have recognized this as their dwelling. But what spread out before him was truly just an ordinary forest landscape.
At the very least, it was completely different from what Rei had imagined a fairy settlement would look like. What he had pictured was a scene of flowers blooming in profusion, a spring of water, and numerous fairies fluttering about such a place.
The scene Rei had imagined existed nowhere in his line of sight.
"Is this the fairies' dwelling? ...Nielson, you're not tricking me, are you?"
Rei asked Nielson as if to make sure, but Nielson wore an expression of surprise, as if she had been caught off guard by the question.
"Eh? Why would I trick you?"
"Like with pranks."
When it was thrown back at him without a moment's hesitation, even Nielson couldn't think of a retort. After all, it was an undeniable fact that fairies loved pranks and had been causing trouble for those working in the Treant Forest because of them.
Thinking of that, Nielson couldn't expect anything she said here to be readily believed.
"Fufufufu, it's only natural that you would think so."
Though it likely wasn't meant to cover for Nielson, those words suddenly reached Rei's ears along with a laugh from somewhere.
"Who's there? ...No, given the situation, for someone to interject into our conversation like this... the Fairy Chief? Or rather, the Chief?"
It was a spur-of-the-moment reaction, but Rei still managed to correct himself. Under normal circumstances, Nielson would have been well within reason to laugh at Rei's flustered behavior. But upon hearing the voice, Nielson stopped moving and fell silent. She had likely judged that she couldn't do something so rude as to interrupt the owner of the voice.
Nielson's demeanor itself served to tell Rei who the voice belonged to.
And then, from a nearby tree branch, a single fairy appeared.
Compared to Nielson, who was about the size of a palm, this fairy was roughly three times larger. She was clearly of higher rank than Nielson, and Rei could easily guess that the one before him was the Chief.
The Chief descended to right in front of Rei and spoke with a smile.
"There's no need to force yourself to use polite speech. You are our benefactor who protected our home."
"Is that so? I mean, is it? But... Antelme came to this Treant Forest probably because of Gilm... a nearby city where I had a conflict with him. Thinking about that, being thanked is a bit..."
Even as he said that, Rei's speech had already returned to his usual manner. As expected, unaccustomed polite language was difficult to use. If the other party were Daskar, he would have been used to speaking politely, but that wasn't the case here.
"I'm not concerned about that matter. It just so happened that this time it was that person... Antelme, was it? With someone like that around, it's possible someone else could have attacked us instead. At that time, we might not have known whether someone like Rei would have been there."
The Chief's words were strange to Rei—simultaneously convincing and unconvincing.
In truth, if someone other than Antelme had tried to attack the fairy settlement for whatever reason, the Chief would have immediately contacted Nielson to request combat power in that situation. Whether the attacker was Antelme or not should have been irrelevant.
If put that way, Rei could accept it, but it was still obvious that Antelme had come to the Treant Forest because of his trouble with Rei. Considering that, he couldn't simply nod along to the Chief's words.
"Of course, if Nielson had asked me, I would have intended to defeat anyone who tried to attack this place. But... even so, the fact that this incident happened because of me is undeniable."
"That may be so, but I don't mind. It's not as though you intentionally caused trouble with that person to get them to attack us, right?"
"Well, that's..."
Rei had never imagined that Antelme would come to the Treant Forest and try to burn down the fairy settlement.
"Then it's fine. We were saved by you. That alone is enough for now."
As the Chief declared this, Rei tried to say something more, but upon seeing her face, he stopped himself. He understood that if the Chief was insisting on expressing her gratitude, continuing to argue against it would only embarrass her.
What he said instead was something different.
"I've met a Fairy Chief before, but the impression I get is quite different."
"Oh, you've met someone other than me?"
What came out of Rei's mouth must have been unexpected for the Chief as well. She showed a surprised expression.
(Huh? Hadn't I told Nielson about meeting other fairies and their Chief on the Seremuse Plain? Well, given Nielson's personality, it's entirely possible she simply forgot.)
Nielson possessed enough ability to be entrusted with negotiations with Daskar by the Chief. Rei knew that too, but even so, after spending several days with Nielson, he had also noticed that she had a slightly scatterbrained side.
"Yeah, a little while ago on the Seremuse Plain."
"The Seremuse Plain... ah, I see."
From the place name, she must have been able to guess who he was talking about. The Chief showed a knowing expression.
(Being fellow fairies. Could they be acquaintances? Well, it's certainly plausible enough.)
Originally, fairies were an extremely rare race. For that reason, it wouldn't be strange for chiefs to know each other simply by virtue of both being fairies.
"It must have been quite difficult, wasn't it?"
"...I can't deny that."
What "difficult" referred to was obvious. He had come into contact with fairies who had treated Undead as toys and played pranks with them. Considering that, there was no way he could claim it wasn't difficult.
"I imagine so. ...Anyway, that matter can wait for now. Since this place was protected by Rei, it's only natural to express our gratitude. So, I've prepared a Magic Item that Rei would likely want."
Are you sure about this?
Rei was about to ask once more, but recalling their earlier exchange, he decided not to voice it.
"Understood. ...So, what kind of Magic Item are you going to give me?"
Since collecting Magic Items was originally his hobby, Rei had no intention of refusing one that they were going to such lengths to give him.
"I would have loved to let Rei choose freely, but due to circumstances on our end, we can't do that."
"Yeah. The performance of fairy-made Magic Items is higher than human-made ones, but in terms of productivity, human Magic Items are overwhelmingly superior. That's what you mean, right?"
He already knew about that, so it wasn't anything particularly concerning. The name "Magic Item" was the same, but the process of creating them was vastly different between humans and fairies—considering that, Rei could fully accept it.
"That's right. Besides, living the way we do, there are essential Magic Items we need as well."
"Like the fog one, huh."
Rei was aware that the fairies' pranks, in a sense, also functioned as a defensive barrier for this place. But at the same time, to deal with opponents who broke through those pranks, it was a fact that something like a fog-generating Magic Item would be necessary.
As far as Rei was concerned, that fog-generating Magic Item was something he fairly wanted. If he could generate fog freely, there would be all sorts of uses for it. When facing a swarm of monsters, or even if he were to fight an army alone when opposing a nation, it would undoubtedly be extremely useful.
(Thinking of it that way, I really want a fog-generating Magic Item. ...But judging from the Chief's demeanor, it seems she can't hand that one over.)
Rei felt disappointed, but he harbored the question of whether there might be multiple fog-generating Magic Items and asked.
"About that fog-generating Magic Item... you wouldn't happen to have a spare, would you?"
"Um, were you listening to me? I said that we would choose the Magic Item to give Rei, didn't I?"
Despite having said that she would choose the Magic Item herself, for Rei to name the very item he wanted must have been completely unexpected for the Chief. As she asked in surprise, Rei opened his mouth with an "I thought so" feeling.
"I know that, but I figured... just maybe, really maybe, you might have included the Magic Item I want among the candidates you selected."
"...Pfft, ahahahaha!"
The Chief was speechless at Rei's brazen demand, but once she came to her senses, she let out a loud laugh as if finding it genuinely amusing.
Surprised by the Chief's reaction were both Rei and, even more so, Nielson. For Nielson, seeing the Chief laugh so openly was completely unexpected.
"So it's a no after all?"
As the Chief's laughter began to subside, Rei asked once more, thinking that even if his request couldn't be granted, that was just how it would be.
But to such a Rei, the Chief spoke with a smile.
"Very well. As Rei wishes, I shall give you the Magic Item that generates fog."
"Chief!?"
Even for Nielson, who had been listening along with Rei, that must have been an unexpected answer. She shouted in a panic.
It was only natural. The Magic Item that generated fog to protect their dwelling was an absolutely indispensable item for the fairies. Of course, there were other Magic Items for emergencies, but even so, the fog held extremely significant meaning. After all, most intruders never reached the fairy settlement thanks to the power of that fog-generating Magic Item.
Not just Nielson, but the other fairies would likely not simply obey the Chief's words.
As if to calm Nielson down, the Chief spoke.
"I never said I would give you the Magic Item currently in use. One of the spares for the one we're using will be completed soon, right? I intend to give that one."
"...One of the spares?"
If it were a spare, she could simply say "a spare." But considering the expression "one of the spares," it suggested there were several other spares in existence.
"Oh my."
Perhaps noticing her own slip of the tongue, the Chief covered her mouth. That the gesture seemed exaggerated was likely not just Rei's imagination. She had clearly done it intending for Rei to see.
(Well, I don't think there's any particular reason for letting me know that. If anything, maybe it's to show that there are multiple fog-generating Magic Items, so I don't need to worry about it?)
To Rei, who harbored such doubts, the Chief only smiled.
What the Chief was thinking, Rei couldn't tell. He couldn't tell, but if she was going to give him a fog-generating Magic Item, he had no intention of refusing.
"Reason aside, if you're going to give me a fog-generating Magic Item, that's more than I could ask for. But when you said it'll be done soon, that means I can't receive it today, right?"
"Yes. The Fog Sound will take a little longer to complete."
"Fog Sound? Is that the name of the Magic Item?"
"Yes. Though please don't ask about the origin of the name. We don't even know who came up with it anymore. In that sense, it would be more accurate to say it naturally came to be called that."
"Is that how it works? Well, I've heard that fairy-made Magic Items take a considerable amount of time to create, so it wouldn't be strange for that to happen. So, about when will I be able to receive this Fog Sound?"
"I can't say exactly when. Still, I think it will be completed before too long."
Rei felt slightly dissatisfied with the Chief's words, but he understood that precisely because it was a fairy-made Magic Item, that was how things would be.