"Hmm, I see. So fairies have such habits..."
Having heard Rei's explanation, Daskar nodded in understanding.
With their business at the Fairy Dwelling concluded, Rei and his party had returned to Gilm and come to the Lord's Manor.
Since they had met the Fairy Chief at the dwelling, they had decided it would be best to report everything here.
Daskar was presumably quite busy with various matters at the moment, but upon Rei's arrival, he had made time immediately.
This likely meant he understood just what kind of information Rei typically brought.
Most of what Rei had delivered in the past had been important.
And since this time it was a report that he had entered the Fairy Dwelling and met the Chief in person, it was safe to say Daskar's judgment had been correct.
"Hey now, I told you about the Chief too, didn't I?"
It was Nielson who broke in with a note of dissatisfaction, pausing mid-bite of her baked sweets during Rei and Daskar's exchange.
Since Daskar was negotiating with Nielson, he had naturally heard about the Chief from her as well.
He didn't think everything Nielson said was a lie, but relying on her alone would create a bias in the information.
That was why he had listened to Rei's account too... but what Rei provided turned out to be little different from what Nielson had already told him.
Given that, the information Nielson had supplied was certainly not wrong.
...Even understanding that, however, her dissatisfaction remained.
"Just in case. Besides, Nielson is a fairy and Rei is a human. Given that your races differ, isn't it natural to expect the information you each pick up to differ as well?"
"That's..."
Nielson, entrusted with negotiations alongside Daskar, was quick on the uptake.
She understood full well what Daskar was getting at.
Seeing her resume her assault on the baked sweets with a slightly sulky expression, Daskar turned to Rei with a serious look — one far more earnest than when he had been discussing the Chief — and spoke.
"Right, the matter of the fairies is settled for now. Well, in truth it isn't fully resolved yet, but there is something more pressing at the moment."
"Something more pressing?"
Rei, who had assumed the fairy situation was the most important matter at hand, questioned this.
He wondered whether there had been some breakthrough in the research on the Underground Space's Wisp — or the hole leading to another world — which was tied to the fairy issue. But the words that left Daskar's mouth were something else entirely.
"Yes, something pressing. The matter of Rei's A-Rank promotion exam is rather important, wouldn't you say?"
"...Ah, now that you mention it."
Daskar shot an exasperated glance at Rei, who looked as though the matter had completely slipped his mind.
"You..."
Daskar muttered under his breath. But for Rei, who collected Magic Items as a hobby, the prospect of receiving the Fog Sound — even if it lay a little ahead in the future — had crowded out everything else.
If asked which mattered more to him, becoming an A-Rank adventurer or obtaining the Magic Item known as the Fog Sound, the answer would be the latter without hesitation.
That was precisely why he had forgotten all about it.
"My apologies. It's just that the Fog Sound's performance was that impressive."
"From what I've heard, it certainly sounds that way. Even with you and Set present, you'd still get lost without a fairy, correct? But even after obtaining the Fog Sound, will it not be the case that it's useless without a fairy present?"
At Daskar's question, Nielson looked up from her baked sweets once more.
"The Fog Sound can be configured in various ways when first used. Reconfiguration is impossible afterward, so it's a one-time thing."
"Sounds rather inconvenient again."
Rei wanted the Fog Sound, but Nielson's explanation made it sound quite cumbersome to use.
She didn't deny it, nodding without hesitation.
"That's right. Even so, the Fog Sound's performance is high, which is why it takes time to craft. Besides... considering worst-case scenarios, setting it up that way provides peace of mind."
"In other words, you're accounting for the possibility of someone stealing the Fog Sound?"
"Exactly. Otherwise, the worst could happen. For instance, the Fog Sound might be stolen. And depending on the enemy's strength, there's even a chance we could be wiped out."
Watching Nielson's demeanor, Rei couldn't help but wonder if something like that had actually happened before.
Of course, he had no way of knowing whether it had involved Nielson and her group specifically.
Still, judging by her bearing, it wouldn't be surprising if it had.
However, sensing that pressing the subject would be unwise, Rei steered the conversation back.
"So, about the promotion exam..."
"Hm? Ah, right. First, there is no issue with the recommendations from multiple lords. I won't say immediately, but within ten days, someone carrying the recommendation letters should arrive in Gilm."
"...That's remarkably fast."
Rei, who traveled on Set's back, was one thing, but for others, reaching Gilm that quickly was no simple feat.
In other words, Daskar had used methods that were far from ordinary.
(The Paired Orbs? ...No, that's not it. He probably asked a Tamer or a Summoning Magic user to have birds carry the letters.)
The Paired Orbs were extremely precious Magic Items, but precisely because Daskar governed the frontier town of Gilm, it wouldn't be unusual for him to possess one for emergencies.
On the frontier, monster stampedes could occur, and under certain circumstances, completely unknown and vicious monsters might appear.
Because it was a frontier, High-Rank Adventurers gathered there in numbers, so most threats could be handled somehow.
Yet precisely because it was a frontier, even with those High-Rank Adventurers and Alias Holders present, there was no guarantee that an unmanageable monster wouldn't surface.
When Gilm alone could no longer cope, it wouldn't be strange for there to be a Paired Orb for contacting the Royal Capital... or some other means of communication.
"Don't concern yourself with that. As a lord, I have various resources at my disposal."
In the end, Daskar didn't reveal how he had gathered the recommendation letters, simply telling Rei not to worry — or more precisely, not to pry any further.
Rei was mildly curious, but he couldn't very well press the issue here, so he let it drop.
"Understood. So if the recommendations are coming, when will the promotion exam take place?"
"The specific date and time will be decided by the Guild. But I've asked Guild Master Worker to schedule it as soon as possible, so it shouldn't be too far off."
"Not too far off... In that case, I don't know how long the exam itself will take, but helping with the Expansion Construction, the fairy matter, the Underground Space matter... there are various things that will become problematic. Is that alright with you?"
"If you ask whether it's alright or not, it's not. But considering the current situation, making you A-Rank first is an undeniable fact."
Stated that firmly by Daskar, Rei felt a faint flush of embarrassment.
Daskar's words were a testament to just how highly he recognized Rei's worth.
However, Nielson cut into their exchange.
"Hold on a minute. From what I'm hearing, what happens to our business?"
For Nielson, this was somewhat desperate.
After all, right now it fell to Rei to make the trip to the Fairy Dwelling in the Treant Forest.
If Rei was going to take a promotion exam, what was she supposed to do?
She wasn't simply worried about herself — it also affected the negotiations between her people and Daskar.
"Let's see. In that case... I think we'd leave it to Vihera or someone like her."
Rei considered his companions and offered that suggestion.
Elena and Ara, while companions, had their own duties as the Noble's Faction's Princess General and her escort.
That left Marina, Vihera, and Byune. Marina had the job of treating those injured in the Expansion Construction, and her presence or absence could affect the construction's progress, so she couldn't be spared.
Byune, given her taciturn nature and the fact that she was the weakest among Rei's party, was difficult to send outside Gilm alone.
That left only Vihera — who possessed considerable strength among Rei's group and whose patrol duties were not so critical to the Expansion Construction.
"Vihera, huh... But is there anywhere for me to hide?"
"...Now that you mention it, that's true."
Nielson muttered with a doubtful air.
What Vihera wore was thin, sheer clothing.
Given that it resembled what a Dancer or Prostitutes might wear, there naturally didn't seem to be many places to conceal oneself.
"In that case, should we have Vihera and Byune act together and entrust Nielson to them? If she's with Vihera, Byune shouldn't have much trouble operating either."
In the end, those two were the best Rei could come up with.
Hiding inside Vihera's clothes would be difficult, but inside Byune's would pose no problem.
If so, there was no reason not to use them.
Of course, that assumed Vihera and Byune agreed; if they refused, he couldn't force them.
However, Rei was confident that those two — particularly Vihera — would not turn down a trip to the Fairy Dwelling in the Treant Forest.
Currently, a wide variety of monsters and animals had wandered into the forest.
Given that, Vihera would never pass up the chance to fight such opponents.
"That's fine on our end. ...Just make sure she doesn't go on too flashy a rampage."
Daskar's earnest murmur likely stemmed from the fact that rumors about Vihera had reached even him.
Given Vihera's appearance and her constant pursuit of strong opponents to fight, it was not uncommon for her to cause trouble with those unaware of her circumstances.
And since she also patrolled the town, brawls were an everyday occurrence in that regard as well.
Moreover, Daskar knew that Vihera was a former princess of the Bestia Empire.
In that sense, it was only natural for him to be cautious about her getting into any strange situations.
"I'll mention it, but I can't guarantee Vihera will listen."
Even if Rei told her not to go on a flashy rampage, he couldn't imagine Vihera complying completely.
If her rampaging caused significant harm to Rei himself, she would exercise some restraint.
But the errand he was asking of her this time wouldn't bring about any major harm to him.
Monsters in the Treant Forest being cut down by Vihera's rampages would actually benefit the Woodcutters and Adventurers working there.
Though Vihera herself probably wasn't thinking along those lines at all.
"For now, then... I should prepare assuming the exam will start sometime soon. I don't know exactly what form it will take, though."
"I don't know either. You'd likely get more detailed information by asking Marina. Though I can't say whether Marina would actually share it."
Daskar's words made sense to Rei.
As the Former Guild Master, Marina would certainly know what the A-Rank promotion exam entailed.
But he didn't think she would tell him.
Doing so would amount to cheating, after all.
For Marina, it was only natural to want Rei — the man she loved — to pass the exam on his own merit.
And Rei likewise intended to pass on his own strength, so he had no argument with Daskar's words.