Rei surmised that Bob's location was being tracked by their attackers through something caused by his defilement.
But if that were the case, there was still more to consider.
"So, what exactly is this defilement anyway...?"
What is defilement?
When asked this, the Chief hesitated over how to answer.
The Chief knew what defilement was. However, it was something semi-intuitive, making it difficult to explain in words exactly what sort of thing it was.
When asked what defilement was, the Chief pondered for a good few minutes before somehow managing to speak.
"Umm... it's something like evil magical power, I suppose."
Rei had been about to say that was hardly an explanation, but looking at the Chief's demeanor, she wasn't being casual or joking. She genuinely couldn't put it into words, and that was the only way she could describe it.
"Evil magical power, huh. ...But if that's the case, setting me aside, it wouldn't be strange for Seto to have noticed it."
Rei didn't possess the ability to sense magical power, but Seto did — and not just a marginal ability, but an exceptionally acute one.
Given that, it was only natural for Rei to wonder whether Seto should have been able to sense this defilement.
But to Rei's question, the Chief shook her head.
"Merely having the ability to sense magical power is not enough to detect defilement."
"Is that so? Then you're saying something beyond sensing magical power is required. And you possess that, Chief."
"That would be correct."
The Chief nodded readily to Rei's question.
If her words were true, then those who could sense defilement would be extremely few in number. The ability to sense magical power itself was already uncommon — so few people had it that the word "precious" would be fitting. Among those, how many would also possess the ability to sense defilement?
...Though more fundamentally, Rei didn't even have the ability to sense magical power himself.
(But it's a bit surprising that Seto doesn't have that ability either. Well, I suppose if Seto could sense defilement, he wouldn't have interacted with Bob so normally — he would have sensed the defilement and been on guard.)
So Rei thought, but in reality, even if Seto had detected Bob's defilement, it wasn't as though Bob was controlling it himself. Because of that, there was no doubt that being wary of Bob wouldn't have served much purpose.
"I understand about the defilement. I can somewhat understand the reason behind it too."
The incident in the suspicious cave that Bob had witnessed. Rei suspected that was likely the cause.
That said, this was merely Rei's own assumption, and he didn't know whether it was actually true. If it were fact, then he would need to hear a detailed explanation from Bob himself.
(Hmm? No, I don't really need to hear the detailed circumstances, do I? It's not like Bob asked me to do something about this situation. In that case, I don't necessarily need to resolve this matter myself. ...Still, despite everything, I actually quite like Bob.)
It wasn't that he had some special reason for liking Bob. Even so, the fact that he liked him was probably due to his personality. Besides, seeing the man travel from village to village and town to town as a hunter rather than an adventurer — it would be unreasonable to tell someone not to take an interest.
"So, about the person carrying this defilement... his name is Bob. Is there anything that can be done about his situation?"
"When you say 'do something'... well, let me think. It's not impossible. However, appropriate preparation would be necessary. There are various items needed as well. If you can prepare those, then we can handle it on our end. What do you think?"
In other words, Rei would have to manage the various preparations himself.
"Other than that, a large amount of magical power is also required, but if Rei-san is here, that shouldn't be a problem."
"My magical power? ...Well, something like magical power is no problem at all."
Normally, magical power held tremendous significance for a mage. In particular, how to conserve the magical power needed to cast spells was an essential skill for mages with little to spare. But in Rei's case, he possessed an enormous amount of magical power to begin with, so conserving it was something he didn't need to consider at all.
When it came to conserving magical power, Rei was probably still immature. However, in this case, that had worked to his advantage in a way. If something was to be done about Bob's defilement, what was needed was magical power. Being skilled at managing it wouldn't be particularly meaningful here.
(Filthy... so that's what defilement means. If Bob heard that, he'd probably have some complicated feelings about it.)
Thinking that for a moment, Rei continued his conversation with the Chief.
"For now, you can use my magical power for that part, so that leaves the items needed. What exactly do you need?"
"Given the person who came to the Fairy Dwelling... Bob, was it? Considering the defilement he carries, a magic stone from a reasonably strong monster will be necessary. There are other things to prepare as well, but since he's an acquaintance of Rei-san, I will handle those myself."
"Are you sure? I got the impression earlier that I was supposed to prepare everything."
"I don't mind. Given the current situation, I thought it would be better to do so."
Exactly what reason led the Chief to think that way was, unfortunately, something Rei didn't know either. However, considering their current situation, he judged that it wouldn't be a problem. Rather, it meant he didn't have to prepare various items himself, so it was fine.
"Understood. So I only need to provide the magic stone and the magical power, right?"
After confirming the Chief's nod, Rei asked again.
"So specifically, what rank of monster's magic stone do I need? I killed quite a few monsters during the Smog Panther business, so I can hand those over."
"Oh, lizards?"
The first to react to Rei's words was Nielson. Since she had been accompanying Rei during this whole affair, she fully understood what kinds of monsters he had killed. Given that, when thinking of monsters Rei had killed in large numbers, the first thing that came to mind was lizards.
"That's right. There were quite a few lizards. Also, the two-headed rhinos. I have some magic stones to spare from those too."
He had used one normal species magic stone each for Death Scythe and Seto, and had also used the magic stone from what was likely the boss — a High-ranking Species or Rare Species individual. As a result, he still had several normal species magic stones to spare, of that he was certain.
"I see. Then, could you bring out those magic stones first?"
"Ah... hold on a moment. Before we get into the defilement discussion, I'd like to talk about the Smog Panther magic stones first, if that's alright?"
Originally, Rei had encountered Bob while on his way back to the Fairy Dwelling after obtaining Smog Panther magic stones. Given that, he wanted to finish that matter first.
(Besides... there's also the dissection problem.)
For Rei, that was actually a very significant issue, despite how casually he thought about it.
"The Smog Panther ones? That's fine. From the looks of it, you successfully obtained the Smog Panther magic stones?"
"That's right! Chief, did you perhaps do something to me? Smog Panthers kept appearing in whatever direction I pointed for some reason. And not just once, but multiple times."
To Nielson's words, however, the Chief shook her head.
"No, I didn't do anything in particular. But... perhaps a new power awakened within Nielson?"
"Eh? Is that really true!? I knew it! I was thinking that might be the case."
It wasn't the Chief's doing, but rather her own power that had awakened. Hearing that, Nielson was delighted, and the Chief — for some reason — wasn't angry but instead looked at her with a gentle gaze.
She must have realized that Rei had noticed her expression. The Chief gave him a slightly flustered look, signaling with her eyes.
(Ah, I figured as much.)
That was Rei's thought upon seeing the Chief's signal. Considering the current situation, it was easy enough to understand that the Chief had done something.
"Nielson, I need to speak with Rei-san. Why don't you go to everyone else and tell them about the forest where the Smog Panthers were? They were all worried about you, you know?"
"Were they? Well, I can't exactly disobey the Chief's orders. Understood. I'll do that."
Saying that, Nielson flew away from in front of Rei and the Chief in a cheerful mood.
Watching Nielson go, Rei waited until her figure was no longer visible before asking the Chief.
"So the power Nielson awakened really was because you did something?"
"Yes, that's right. Though to be precise, it's slightly different. What I did was merely provide a trigger. If Nielson hadn't possessed dormant power, then even with a trigger, her power wouldn't have awakened."
"I see. In other words, Nielson had that power within her, so it awakened. ...So, may I ask what kind of power it is?"
"Eh? You're asking me that? If anything, wouldn't Rei-san, who saw it firsthand, know better?"
Rei had asked with a serious expression, but to that, the Chief shook her head with a troubled look.
"Between Smog Panthers appearing wherever she casually pointed, and emitting light to force the Smog Panther Commander Individual to materialize... I can't quite grasp the exact nature of her power."
"I see... I understand. It seems Nielson had considerable latent talent."
Hearing the details of Nielson's awakened power from Rei, the Chief looked convinced.
"I already knew that Nielson had considerable talent. That's precisely why I entrusted her with the role of envoy to Gilm, and sent her with Rei-san to gather the Smog Panther magic stones. However... even so, this was somewhat unexpected."
"Unexpected, huh. But it was unexpected in a good way, right? Then it shouldn't be that much of a problem, should it?"
"That's true. I won't deny that. However, given Nielson's personality, I'm worried she might get carried away."
"Ah, yeah. I see. I can certainly agree with that."
Anyone who knew even a little about Nielson's personality would understand what the Chief meant. In fact, by now Nielson was probably gleefully explaining to the other fairies just how much she had contributed to finding the Smog Panthers.
"With more growth, Nielson will eventually settle down, I believe."
"Settle down... will she?"
The Chief murmured in a heartfelt tone, but Rei couldn't honestly agree with her words. He simply couldn't imagine Nielson ever becoming a calm, composed person.
However, hearing Rei's response, the Chief smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I believe she will. I am proof of that. I may have this personality now, but before I became Chief... or more precisely, before my own power awakened, I had the same personality as Nielson. ...No, though I say so myself, I think I was even worse than Nielson."
"You, Chief?"
From Rei's perspective, the Chief's appearance was only about a size larger than the other fairies, but her personality was quite different. Specifically, the description of a refined, mature woman would be fitting. The idea that such a Chief had once had the same personality as Nielson was very hard to believe.
"You may find it hard to believe, but it's the truth. Well, there may be some exceptions, but you can just remember that fairies are generally that kind of being. So Nielson will eventually settle down as time passes."
Since the Chief who governed this Fairy Dwelling stated it so definitively, Rei had no choice but to accept that that was simply how things were. Besides, he had known Nielson for a reasonable amount of time, but unlike Elena and the others, it wasn't as though he would be spending all his time with her from here on out. Given that, he judged there was no real need to worry too much about Nielson's personality one way or the other.
"Leaving fairy matters to the fairies... anyway, you said I need a powerful monster's — what you'd call a high-rank monster's — magic stone, right? I have the corpses of several monsters I killed in the Smog Panther forest. Can we work something out with the magic stones from those corpses?"
"I can't say without actually seeing the magic stones. As for the Smog Panther magic stones... no, shall we start with these first?"
Rei had thought that the Chief, being who she was, would be quite knowledgeable about the monsters that appeared in the Smog Panther forest. But from her demeanor, that apparently wasn't the case.
In that case, Rei retrieved the lizard and two-headed rhino corpses from the Misty Ring.