"Mm... mm...?"
Rei woke from sleep, and at first, he couldn't figure out where he was.
That said, it wasn't particularly unusual lately for him to sleep in a different place every night, so he didn't feel all that confused about his current situation.
He spent about ten minutes thinking it over.
Even then, Rei was still groggy and half-asleep...
"Rei, hey Rei! How long are you going to sleep? It's already morning! We're going to go defeat the Smog Panther, right?"
A voice suddenly echoed inside the Magic Tent.
Hearing it, Rei turned his gaze toward the source.
And there, he saw the figure of a fairy.
At first, his groggy mind wondered if it was a doll, but as he stared at that doll... that fairy, he finally understood where he was and who was standing in front of him.
"Nielson?"
"That's right, it's me! Who did you think I was?"
"Ah... sorry. I just woke up and my head isn't...huh, is that so."
Rei showed a hint of surprise mid-sentence, and Nielson gave him a puzzled look.
Normally, Rei could act immediately upon waking—whether he was active as an adventurer or sleeping somewhere he couldn't let his guard down.
But when he understood that a place was safe to relax in, he'd end up groggy for quite a while, just like now.
The fact that he had fallen into such a state in this Fairy Dwelling meant that, instinctively, he must have recognized it as a place where he could feel safe.
Realizing this, Rei had let out a surprised exclamation.
(So this Fairy Dwelling is a place I can feel safe in, huh. Well, they're a bunch that will demand sweets at every opportunity and play pranks depending on the situation, but they've never gone too far with their pranks... no, if anything, when you consider they're fairies, wouldn't that actually be normal? And the fact that it never came to that... must be thanks to the Chief.)
Even among the fairies, Nielson was competent but prank-loving and intensely curious. Yet even Nielson, upon hearing the Chief's words, hadn't played any pranks on Rei.
That alone showed just how significant a presence the Chief was in this Fairy Dwelling.
Without the Chief's words, fairies like Nielson might have come flooding into the Magic Tent one after another to play pranks.
Not to mention, this Magic Tent was an astonishing thing even for the fairy Nielson.
Its outward appearance was that of an ordinary tent, but inside, one could live more comfortably than in a mediocre inn.
Given the nature of such a Magic Tent, yesterday when Nielson first entered it, she had been excited and screaming nonstop.
...Going so far as to squeeze into strange places, making it quite a hassle to find her.
"Hey, Rei. Don't just stay in there forever. If you're awake, get ready for departure. My preparations are already done, after all."
"Preparations for departure? Ah, I don't really have any preparations to make either, so don't worry about it."
"Huh? What do you mean? Don't humans need to make all sorts of preparations when they go out? That's why I woke you up a little before we were supposed to depart."
"I'm not denying that preparations are normally necessary. It's just that my situation is rather special, you see. You know about it too, right? My Misty Ring can store all sorts of things. The various supplies and baggage I need to live are all stored in my Misty Ring."
The Misty Ring was among the most important of all the Magic Items Rei possessed.
Being so accustomed to it was, honestly speaking, not something to be praised as an adventurer.
After all, Rei's actions were fundamentally predicated on having the Misty Ring.
For example, the Wheat Inn at Dusk, which Rei used as his regular inn in Gilm—even when he was using a room there, he kept only the bare minimum of his belongings in it.
For those working at the inn, it meant they didn't have to worry about breaking a guest's belongings when cleaning, so they could clean with peace of mind.
"Hmm. Then you've got it pretty easy, Rei. The people I know took quite a long time preparing when they traveled, so I thought you'd be the same."
"Compared to other guys... wait, where did you see something like that?"
"Huh? W-well, you know. I went to your house before, remember? That time, that time."
Nielson's flustered words were honestly not very convincing.
That said, as Rei wondered where else she could have... he suddenly arrived at the answer.
(Ah, the guys standing guard at the Birth Tower?)
He didn't know whether the fairies were still playing pranks now, but in the past, fairies had played pranks on the adventurers guarding the Birth Tower.
Naturally, playing pranks required understanding how the other party would feel about it.
If they had been observing the other party's behavior at that time, it wouldn't be strange for them to have seen them preparing when heading somewhere.
That said, since it meant that the fairies, including Nielson, were learning even a little bit more about humans, Rei didn't feel like reproaching them for it again.
"By the way, it's true that people take time to prepare, but... what about you, Nielson? Does it take you a fair amount of time to prepare?"
"No, that's not the case. I move as I am now. In that sense, it's probably similar to you, I suppose."
Rei nodded in understanding at Nielson's words.
It was probably because he couldn't really imagine a fairy carrying things when moving.
That said, in this Fairy Dwelling, the Magic Item called the Fog Sound was active, and they could also create new Magic Items such as the Fog Sound.
That meant the various materials necessary for crafting Magic Items must have been brought from where they previously lived when they came to this Treant Forest.
Thinking about it that way, it wasn't wrong to say that they had a method of carrying things when moving.
As for what specific method they used to do such a thing, unfortunately, Rei couldn't think of one either.
"I see. Then I'll get ready to head out, so wait outside for me. You can play with Seto if you want."
"Really? Hmm, well, if you say so, then I suppose I will."
Surprisingly, Nielson obediently listened to Rei's words and left the Magic Tent.
Honestly, Rei found it unexpected.
Given the current situation, he hadn't thought Nielson would obediently follow his words.
(Maybe the Chief's words from yesterday are still having an effect. Or perhaps... the Chief told her something again this morning.)
Thinking such things, he quickly finished getting ready and exited the Magic Tent.
There, around the pond, the two wolf pups he had also seen yesterday were moving about along with Nielson.
What exactly they were doing, Rei couldn't tell.
However, from the look of it, they didn't seem to be playing any pranks; they just appeared to be running around playing, and Seto was watching from a distance, ready to jump in and help if anything happened.
After watching their activities, Rei stored the Magic Tent in his Misty Ring.
It was probably because the Magic Tent suddenly disappeared.
Nielson and the wolf pups, who had been running around near Seto, stopped in their tracks with surprised expressions.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. First, what should we do? Shall we have breakfast?"
"Huh? Ah, um... no. If we eat something here, the other kids will come and it'll take time before we can depart, so I think it's better to have breakfast after we leave here."
Following Nielson's words, Rei decided to leave the Fairy Dwelling together with Seto.
The two wolf pups seemed to want to play more, but when Seto purred to tell them no, they obediently gave up. Nielson, on the other hand, looked a little reluctant, as if she wouldn't have minded playing a bit more.
That said, she had no way of going against the Chief's words to stay and play here, so she left the Fairy Dwelling along with Rei and Seto.
Naturally, they were invited by other fairies along the way to play together, but Rei politely declined all of them.
Upon leaving the Fairy Dwelling, they passed through the fog created by the Fog Sound's effect and emerged into the Treant Forest.
...In reality, since the Fairy Dwelling was also part of the Treant Forest, the expression "emerging into the Treant Forest" wasn't quite appropriate.
"Awoo."
When they entered the Treant Forest, there was a pack of wolves as expected.
Unlike yesterday, the difference was that they did not surround Rei or Seto—whether because Nielson was with them or because they remembered yesterday's incident.
On the contrary, they displayed an attitude as if toward their superiors.
(Actually, between Seto and wolves, Seto is overwhelmingly the superior, so in that sense, these wolves' behavior isn't wrong.)
Rei thought this as he stroked the head of a wolf that was purring and rubbing its face against him.
After playing with the wolves for a few minutes, Rei eventually climbed onto Seto's back.
"What will you do, Nielson?"
"Huh? What do you mean... by 'what will I do'?"
"Whether you'll ride on Seto with me, or just fly separately."
"Obviously I'll ride on Seto with you! I can fly, but I can't do something ridiculous like flying at Seto's speed!"
Seeing Nielson loudly proclaiming that her flying speed was not fast, Rei was a little unsure of what to say in this case.
Should he tell her not to deny her own lack of ability so forcefully, or should he say something like "that's not true"?
He felt a little puzzled, but in the end, he decided not to say anything more about it.
"Got it. Then come over here."
"Okay."
Following Rei's words, Nielson landed on Rei's shoulder as he sat on Seto's back.
"Alright, no problems then. Let's go. Seto, take us up."
"Grrrooar!"
Hearing Rei's words, Seto took a few running steps and then soared into the sky, beating his large wings.
The wolves on the ground watched Seto's figure with what seemed like envy, but Seto did not notice.
Several of the wolves on the ground were unable to forget what they had just seen, and in the future when they became monsters, they would become wolves with wings... but that was something no one present knew at this moment.
Leaving aside various matters on the ground, Seto reached the sky above the Treant Forest in no time.
"So, about where the Smog Panther is... exactly where is it? The Chief said east of this Treant Forest. Should I just head east for now?"
"Please do that. If we deviate from the direction, I'll tell you. Though, considering Seto's speed, I don't think it will take that long to get to where the Smog Panther is, so there's a possibility I might make a mistake."
Was that really okay?
Rei felt the urge to retort, but for now, he asked Seto to move according to Nielson's directions.
"Seto, head east."
"Grr!"
At Rei's words, Seto beat his wings and headed east.
"Still, it really is a good thing that you're a fairy, Nielson."
A few minutes after they started flying.
Even in just those few minutes, Seto flying through the sky had covered a distance that those traveling on the ground couldn't even compare to.
It was business as usual for Rei, but Nielson, who could also fly, had been surprised by Seto's speed, and Rei's words brought her back to herself.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"When it comes to having anyone other than me ride on Seto's back, he can only carry children. He can carry things like bears in his feet and fly with them, though. So if you weren't a fairy and were about the same size as a normal person, Seto wouldn't have been able to carry you and fly."
"...In that case, what would happen?"
"There's something called the Seto Cage. Seto would grab that cage and fly, or you'd hold onto Seto's feet directly, something like that."
"...I'm glad I'm a fairy..."
Hearing Rei's words, Nielson murmured with deep feeling.