"So that's the situation. It looks like you won't be able to enter the Fairy Dwelling for up to two days. What will you do?"
After witnessing the Chief use her dissection magic, Rei was initially astonished by the sight of monster corpses being automatically dismantled—as if by countless invisible hands. While he found himself wanting to learn the magic, he had no choice but to give up, knowing it would be impossible for someone specialized in the fire attribute.
Having accepted that, Rei's next step was to meet Bob, who was waiting in the outer reaches of the Fairy Dwelling—an area shrouded in thick fog.
The Chief had told him that dealing with Bob's defilement would take up to two days, so Rei had come to pass on the news.
And to ask what Bob intended to do during that time.
"More importantly, why can't I enter the Fairy Dwelling?"
"Come to think of it, I hadn't explained that part either."
Realizing he hadn't briefed Bob on the matter of the defilement since he'd only heard it from the Chief, Rei proceeded to explain.
"Basically, you apparently have something called defilement... an ill magical power. They can't let you into the Fairy Dwelling until that's dealt with."
"Defilement...? Why would I have something like that?"
For Bob, being told he possessed an ill magical power called defilement wasn't something he could simply accept.
Bob was a hunter, not a mage. He had absolutely nothing to do with anything involving magical power.
"Could it be that I actually have some hidden talent or something like that?"
"What kind of talent would that be? Even if I had that kind of talent, I definitely wouldn't be happy about it."
If it were just ordinary magical power, or perhaps a talent for weapons like longswords, spears, or bows, it wouldn't be strange to be pleased.
...Well, Bob was a skilled hunter, so he might actually have talent with a bow. But regardless, a talent like that was one thing. A talent for defiled magical power was something he had no desire for whatsoever.
"Even so... then why do I have this defilement?"
"If you don't know, there's no way I would know either. ...But I can make a guess. You mentioned before that you saw a suspicious group in a cave, right?"
Hearing that, Bob seemed to immediately realize what he meant. A surprised expression appeared on his face, and he opened his mouth.
"Don't tell me the people from that time forced the defilement onto me!?"
"That's just a possibility. But from what I heard from you, that's the only incident that fits. Or rather, it's possible you contracted the defilement somewhere else that I don't know about."
Bob fell into thought at Rei's words, but eventually shook his head.
"The only possibility I can think of is still the cave incident. However, it's also possible I came into contact with the defilement in a place I don't know about."
"If that's the only thing you can think of, then for now, we'll assume the cave incident is the reason. ...I wish we had captured at least one of the guys who attacked us last night."
There had been a few who were injured and unable to move from Seto's attacks. However, when they checked, all of those people had vanished.
If they had captured even a few, there was no doubt they would have been able to obtain at least some information.
(No, or maybe they took the ones who couldn't move because they wanted to avoid exactly that. I don't know what this defilement actually is... I understand it's a bad magical power, but not knowing specifically how it connects to things is a real problem. They didn't want us to know about it either, huh?)
If that were the only concern, they could have simply killed the ones who couldn't move instead of taking them along. The fact that they didn't do that meant...
(Maybe they don't have the numbers to casually discard people like that? In other words, the number of people involved with this defilement is probably not that large.)
Of course, even if the number was small, there was no telling exactly how many there were. It was possible that the ones who attacked them were everyone, or there could be hundreds in total. In the end, until they actually defeated enemies and obtained information, they wouldn't know the specific number.
"Anyway, that's the situation... The question is what Bob will do for those two days. Though the options aren't that many."
"What exactly are the options?"
"Either camp out here, or get a room at a town called Abuelo, which is nearby."
The reason Rei chose Abuelo, the closest town to Gilm, rather than Gilm itself as Bob's resting place was, in a way, a compromise. Specifically, if he returned to Gilm, the Crystal Dragon incident would cause many people to come see him, which would be a hassle. As a countermeasure, he chose Abuelo, the closest town to Gilm.
Naturally, the Crystal Dragon incident was known in Abuelo as well, so Rei would not go all the way there with Bob. The plan would be to drop Bob off via the Seto Cage at a location not too far from Abuelo, off the main road.
"Isn't the closest town from here Gilm?"
"Yeah. There's no doubt Gilm is the closest. But right now, Gilm is in the middle of expansion construction, so there are a lot of people. Considering the distance from the forest where you encountered them, it's highly unlikely that anyone targeting you is among them... but still, having too many people around is not ideal."
It was precisely because Seto could fly that Rei and his group had been able to travel from where they met Bob to here at considerable speed. If they had traveled on the ground, even on horseback, it was highly unlikely they could have caught up to Rei's group so easily. Reaching Gilm, let alone Abuelo... no, even Sablusta, which was one step further from the frontier than Abuelo, in a day or two would be impossible.
However, it was also a fact that this couldn't be called absolutely safe. Specifically, while it would be nearly impossible for the attackers to catch up to Rei's group, there was no denying the possibility that accomplices of the attackers were already in Gilm and could communicate—perhaps not through Paired Orbs, but through some other means.
(Well, when it comes to communication, I think being in Abuelo would be dangerous too, not just Gilm. But still, this is a matter of comparison.)
If asked which place had more people and was more important, Gilm or Abuelo, most would answer Gilm. That was why, if asked whether those involved with the defilement were more likely to be in Gilm or Abuelo, Rei would confidently say Gilm.
"So, what will you do? If you prioritize your safety, camp here. It's only about two days, but if you don't like camping and want a comfortable stay, then Abuelo would be better."
"...That's a tough decision."
At Rei's words, Bob showed an extremely troubled expression. He looked as if he had absolutely no idea what he should do.
As Bob was agonizing over the decision, a single fairy suddenly appeared from the fog.
"Oh, it's Rei. What are you doing in a place like this?"
The fairy, who appeared to be about the same size as Nielson, called out curiously upon seeing Rei in the fog... and then, noticing Bob beside Rei, grew intrigued.
"Who is this? Who's this person? Oh, come to think of it, Nielson mentioned she brought someone other than Rei with her. Is this the person?"
The fairy, thoroughly intrigued, flew around Bob while asking Rei.
(Like Nielson, it seems she can't sense this defilement of Bob's, just as the Chief said. Well, even Seto and I can't sense it, so I suppose that's only natural.)
Rei became convinced that the Chief's words were true. Then again, even Nielson, whom the Chief favored, hadn't sensed any defilement when looking at Bob. Thinking about it that way, Rei could accept that detecting Bob's defilement would be difficult.
"Rei-san, I'll stay here."
Bob suddenly said as much. Rei was surprised by those words. Until just moments ago, Bob had been struggling over whether to camp here or spend the time at an inn in Abuelo, so it was only natural that Rei would be startled when Bob suddenly declared he would stay.
However, why Bob suddenly said that was immediately understandable just by looking at his face. It was obvious that his eyes were captivated by the fairy flying around him.
Bob had originally harbored a strong interest in fairies. Perhaps because they shared a similar curiosity, he had managed to build a reasonably friendly relationship with Nielson. However... the conversation about eating fairies when they first met Nielson had an effect, and while Bob had managed to become friendly with her, she had kept him at a bit of a distance.
For someone like Bob, having a fairy approach him without hesitation like this was likely an extremely welcome thing. So much so that he didn't mind camping out here for about two days.
"Are you sure? Well, if that's what you want, then it's fine with me."
"Yes. If I stay here, I'll have the chance to interact with fairies. ...Right?"
"Eh? Hmm, I guess so. I could call a few over for you. But even then, I can't guarantee they'll come."
Fairies, for better or worse, were intensely curious beings—hedonists, one might say, who only cared about what was interesting in the moment. Because of that, if the fairies of the Fairy Dwelling took an interest in Bob, they might come to see him or even play with him. However, if they didn't find Bob interesting... then they probably wouldn't bother coming to see him.
(Then again, will the Chief allow it? Bob has defilement, and that's the very reason he's barred from entering the Fairy Dwelling. Yet fairies are coming into contact with him... well, thinking about how Nielson was interacting with him, it's probably fine.)
In that case, couldn't they just let Bob into the Fairy Dwelling? Rei couldn't help but think so, but from the Chief's demeanor, it was absolutely unacceptable. If so, then the current situation was undoubtedly the best course of action.
(Then again, from the Chief's reaction, it seemed like she was barely tolerating Bob being here.)
For the Chief, who could sense the defilement, she probably didn't want Bob near the Fairy Dwelling under normal circumstances. However, the fact that she was able to tolerate it to some extent was undoubtedly because Rei was the one who had brought him.
"I don't know if any fairies will come, but you're okay with waiting here regardless?"
"Yes. For meals... this is a forest, so I think I can manage by hunting game."
"You're a skilled hunter, after all. That said, the Treant Forest currently has many animals and monsters. Some are high-rank monsters that you wouldn't be able to handle, so be careful."
The Treant Forest hadn't been around for that long yet. Still, several years had passed, but the territories of the animals and monsters weren't firmly established. Just when it seemed things had settled down to some extent, new animals or monsters would arrive and cause trouble. Because of that, those knowledgeable about the forest predicted that it would undoubtedly take a considerable amount of time before the forest truly settled down.
In such a place, a skilled hunter like Bob would have no shortage of prey. However, there was no doubt that the Treant Forest was part of the frontier. Given that, it wouldn't be strange for high-rank monsters that only inhabited the frontier to be among them.
Rei was thinking about what Bob would do if he encountered such an opponent.
"If you run into a monster you can't handle, come back here. The Fairy Dwelling's fog should protect you. ...Though if that results in the wolves getting harmed, things could get troublesome."
The wolves were entrusted with defending the Fairy Dwelling. If Bob led a monster he couldn't handle to such a place, there was a very real possibility of a battle breaking out between the wolves and the monster. Of course, it was also possible that the monster would dislike the fog around the Fairy Dwelling and stop chasing Bob.
"What will you do? Are you still going to camp here?"
To Rei's question, Bob nodded firmly.