"It's around here," Bob said.
The place Bob indicated was about a twenty-minute walk from the Fairy Dwelling—or more precisely, from the area where the fog outside the Fairy Dwelling was generated.
There was nothing particularly special about it. Then again, this wasn't a place the Orcs had established as a base. It was merely where Bob had encountered them in the forest.
In that sense, it was only natural that there was nothing here.
"Whoa, they're pretty close, aren't they? Orcs came all the way out here? Maybe we should inform the Chief about this."
For Nielson, the fact that Orcs had been found not far from her home in the Fairy Dwelling was clearly cause for concern.
Still, while she sensed the danger, she didn't seem particularly desperate.
The Fairy Dwelling was surrounded by fog, and breaking through it was no easy feat.
Unless one was a powerhouse like Rei or Seto, an ordinary Orc couldn't possibly manage it.
There were also wolves within the fog. If an Orc entered, the wolves would attack.
Even if it somehow dealt with them and miraculously broke through the fog, there were multiple fairies inside the Fairy Dwelling.
Fairies were quite weak in terms of physical attacks, but when it came to magic, they were reasonably strong—strong enough that an ordinary Orc would struggle to oppose them.
On top of all that, the Chief was also in the Fairy Dwelling.
The Fairy Dwelling, protected by so many layers of defense, could be called a formidable fortress.
...Though the fairies inside that fortress never thought of such things, simply acting on whatever their curiosity dictated.
"There's no need to inform anyone about the Orcs. They'll be wiped out by us today. ...Seto, ready?"
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Seto purred to indicate he had it handled, then stepped forward a few paces. And then...
"Gururururu!"
He used his Sense of Smell Enhancement skill to track the lingering scent at the location.
Having been strengthened to Level Six, the Sense of Smell Enhancement effortlessly pointed the way they needed to go.
"Gurururu."
Seto purred at Rei, signaling this way.
Rei followed him without hesitation.
"It looks like it's over there. Let's go."
"Huh? You actually figured that out just now?"
For Bob, it was impossible to gauge just how powerful Seto's skill was.
Naturally, being aware that Seto was a gryphon, Bob understood he couldn't fully comprehend his abilities. Even so, he couldn't help but wonder whether they could really reach the Orcs' location based on what had just happened.
"It's fine. It's Seto, after all," Nielson called out to Bob.
Having known Rei and Seto longer than Bob had, she likely understood the current situation better than he did.
Bob, who held a favorable view of fairies, accepted Nielson's words and nodded.
"I understand. I just need to accept it because it's Seto, right? ...In that case, is it fine to accept things with Rei-san simply because he's Rei-san?"
"Hey."
Rei couldn't help but retort, but it was true that many things were accepted simply because it was Rei.
Given that was the case, he had made his objection but decided not to press the matter any further.
"Anyway, we'll be fine leaving it to Seto. Come on, let's go. ...Seto, lead the way."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Seto let out a light cry and headed toward where the Orc scent grew stronger.
The Orcs' scent... their body odor was by no means pleasant.
Even so, the fact that Seto didn't seem particularly bothered was probably because compared to Undead like Zombies, Orc body odor was more tolerable.
As they made their way through the Treant Forest, Rei felt a slight concern.
What would happen if, while walking like this, they encountered someone—not a monster, but adventurers or woodcutters?
Logically speaking, one wouldn't encounter adventurers or woodcutters near a place like the Fairy Dwelling.
Woodcutters only felled trees from the outer edges of the Treant Forest, and adventurers were either escorting those woodcutters or standing guard at the Birth Tower and the lake.
But... in this world, there were always those who wanted to get ahead and earn more than others.
Woodcutters aside, for adventurers, the Treant Forest was a special place in many ways. They might venture deep into the forest searching for something that could fetch a high price.
Naturally, that was behavior outside the scope of an adventurer's duties, but... if a woodcutter got lost and someone came to search for them, or if a woodcutter wandered in while searching for high-quality timber and used that as an excuse, Rei would have trouble dealing with it.
Whether anyone would actually do such a thing, he didn't know.
Regarding matters related to the Treant Forest, Gilm was supposed to be selecting trustworthy adventurers and assigning them requests.
However, people were weak to temptation.
Merchants, researchers, mages, alchemists, nobles.
There were many who harbored an interest in the Treant Forest.
It wasn't guaranteed that such people wouldn't venture deep into the forest targeting something.
...That said, the Treant Forest currently had various animals and monsters.
It wouldn't be strange for high-rank monsters to be among them, meaning it was high-risk, high-reward—and in some cases, the possibility of high-risk, low-reward couldn't be denied either.
(Even if you decided what to obtain in advance, and even if it didn't offer a considerable reward... honestly, I don't think it's worth taking that kind of risk.)
Naturally, if Daskar or the Guild found out about someone acting so selfishly, that adventurer would face a severe penalty.
Depending on the circumstances, it wouldn't be strange for them to become wanted criminals.
Was it really worth going that far? Rei didn't necessarily think so, but that probably depended on the person.
Since this didn't concern him, Rei judged there was no point in thinking too deeply about it and followed Seto, who was searching for the Orcs' location.
"Hey, Rei. What if the Orc settlement is large? Depending on the situation, couldn't they each scatter and escape?"
Finding the silence boring, Nielson asked Rei this.
Since Nielson also lived in the Fairy Dwelling, she had likely seen Orcs not just in the Treant Forest but in other places as well.
That was why she understood to some extent how troublesome Orcs could be.
Orcs were reasonably intelligent.
If they judged that the attacker was someone they could absolutely never defeat, it wouldn't be strange for each of them to scatter and flee in whatever direction they pleased.
Not retreating in an orderly fashion, but each one running wherever it wanted.
At first glance, it seemed pathetic... but they likely understood from past experience that doing so actually gave them a higher chance of survival than retreating in an orderly, military-like fashion.
In fact, for Rei and Seto, that was the most annoying thing that could happen.
If the enemy was a powerful individual—like an Orc High-ranking Species or a Rare Species—they just needed to fight in a way that prevented it from escaping.
After all, if Rei and Seto fought an Orc High-ranking Species or a Rare Species, they would almost never lose.
But if the Orcs saw Seto and immediately bolted, Rei and Seto would have no choice but to chase and attack them individually.
Both Rei and Seto had the ability to kill an Orc in a single strike, but it was still a fact that even a moment's time was required when making an attack.
And while they were killing one Orc, the others would flee.
Naturally, that would mean the Orcs would each act individually, and there was a very real possibility they could be attacked by other monsters in the Treant Forest.
"That said, honestly, I don't think it'll come to that. Probably... and this is just a guess, but I think the group of Orcs Bob saw is quite small. It could even be just a few of them."
"What makes you think that?"
For Nielson, Orcs were likely associated with large groups.
All the more so since Orcs had high reproductive rates.
"It's based on the current state of the Treant Forest. The monsters and animals here are still fighting over territory. In a place like that, I can't imagine Orcs suddenly forming a large group."
"Even if they didn't form a large group inside the forest, they could have come to this forest as a large group, couldn't they?"
"I can't say that's impossible... but the probability is quite low."
The Birth Tower, the Otherworld Lake, the Treant Forest, and other spaces connected to another world.
The Treant Forest had many things that couldn't be made public.
Given that, naturally, soldiers, knights, and adventurers were stationed as lookouts to prevent anyone from entering the Treant Forest without authorization.
For that reason, while a few monsters might slip by, if a large group of Orcs large enough to be recognized at a glance tried to enter the Treant Forest, it would naturally be noticed immediately.
When Rei explained this, Nielson looked slightly puzzled.
"But when we came to this forest, we weren't detected, were we?"
"That's... whether the Chief used some kind of Fairy Magic, or whether flying through the air made us harder to spot, or whether there was some other reason. I'm not really sure about that part, but 'because they're fairies' seems like a satisfying enough explanation."
At the phrase "because they're fairies," Nielson showed a strangely delighted expression.
She probably felt happy that he was praising their abilities.
"Gruu!"
Rei had been advancing while talking, but he suddenly stopped at Seto's cry.
Following the gaze of the stationary Seto, Rei also succeeded in spotting the Orcs in the forest.
There were about ten of them.
Rei couldn't be certain whether that was all of them, but he judged that this was likely nearly all, and even if there were others, it would only be a few.
(Just as I thought, about this many.)
Rei was pleased that his prediction had been correct.
For an ordinary adventurer, ten Orcs would be a bit much to tackle alone.
However, for a skilled fighter like Rei, defeating ten or so Orcs wasn't particularly difficult.
Moreover, Rei wasn't the only one here—his partner Seto was present, Nielson who excelled at support magic was present, and Bob who could attack from range with a bow was present.
...Though Bob didn't seem particularly enthusiastic.
Bob, who understood his own abilities, had no desire to fight Orcs.
If they were boars or deer, he would have gladly loosed arrows.
Or if it were a single Orc, Bob might have felt he could manage somehow.
But there were ten opponents.
That was far beyond what Bob could handle.
"What do we do? Should we fall back for now?"
Huh? Rei couldn't understand what Bob was saying at first.
From Rei's perspective, he had no idea why the option to retreat would come up in this situation.
And from Bob's perspective, he had no idea why Rei would question the option to retreat in this situation.
Neither fully understood the other's capabilities, which was likely what led to the current situation.
"I have no intention of retreating. Ten or twenty Orcs are nothing to worry about for me or Seto. But... right. I forgot that you're a hunter. That was my mistake."
If Bob were an adventurer, he would have been able to take Rei's words at face value.
But Bob wasn't an adventurer. He was a hunter.
Given that, it was understandable that he couldn't comprehend Rei's actions here.
"So, Bob, hide at a distance. That should make you feel safe, right?"
"Are you seriously planning to fight? There's that many of them!"
"That few isn't a problem. ...Anyway, you'll understand if you just watch, so don't worry."
At Rei's words, Bob wore a worried expression.
If Bob had the ability to gauge an opponent's strength, he would have been able to trust that Rei's words were true.
But unfortunately, Bob had no such ability.
As a result, he was hesitating over whether to believe Rei's words when...
"Bob, don't worry. If anything happens, I'll protect Rei and the others."
When Nielson said that, Bob was convinced.
Rei was slightly miffed—why wouldn't Bob believe his own words but accept Nielson's?