"Mm... mmm...?"
Bob opened his eyes with a groan.
He had no idea what he'd been doing. Perhaps trying to confirm his bearings, he glanced around unconsciously.
A short distance away, he spotted Rei leaning against Seto, who was sprawled out on the ground, reading a book.
Naturally, Rei had already noticed Bob stir, and he could feel the man's gaze on him.
He finished rereading the entry on harpies in the Monster Encyclopedia, snapped the book shut, stored it in his Misty Ring, and called over to Bob.
"Looks like you're awake. ...I should ask just in case—you are Bob, right?"
Bob had been afflicted by a defilement.
Since Rei had witnessed it firsthand as it left Bob's body, there was a chance Bob's consciousness had been manipulated during the whole ordeal.
That was what prompted the question, but...
"What are you talking about, Rei-san? I'm definitely Bob. Why would you even ask that?"
"I just wondered whether the person talking to me before you passed out really was Bob. So in that sense, I'm relieved to know it was actually you."
Ah, I see.
Bob understood the intent behind Rei's question and his expression cleared with realization.
"To be honest, I don't feel much different from when I had the defilement. ...I'll ask just to be sure, though—it's really gone, right?"
"Apparently so. That said, I don't understand the finer details of how defilement works, so I can't say for certain. But going by the Chief's demeanor, it seems there were no complications. ...Still, are you sure there's absolutely no difference from before?"
Rei didn't truly understand what defilement was as an entity.
But given the Chief's explanation that it was a form of corrupt magical power, and the black fog he'd seen pour out of Bob's body, it was only natural to suspect it had been adversely affecting him.
"That's the thing. It's completely baffling. ...Oh, but now that you mention it, there is one thing. Just for an instant... just a brief moment before I blacked out, I feel like I caught a glimpse of what looked like the inside of some carriage."
"The inside... of a carriage?"
That was something Rei couldn't make sense of at all.
In reality, Bob had seen what the vision-linked man among his pursuers was seeing. But expecting Rei to piece that together would have been unreasonable.
Originally, Bob's vision had been linked to the man's.
Until the defilement left Bob, the man had been observing Bob's sight one-sidedly.
But given that the link went both ways, it wasn't impossible for the reverse to happen.
That said, Rei had no knowledge whatsoever that such a link had ever existed.
So even hearing about the carriage interior, Rei had no way to explain it.
Even so, since Bob had seen it while the defilement was being expelled from his body, Rei could at least guess it might be some kind of clue related to the defilement.
"Do you remember anything else about that carriage scene? Any distinctive details?"
"No."
For Bob, his vision had simply shifted to a carriage interior without warning.
...Well, if that had been the only thing happening, he probably could have taken in more of the scene.
But the process of the defilement leaving his body came with intense pressure, pain, nausea—an onslaught of negative sensations.
Given that a foreign entity was being purged from his body, it was perhaps only natural to feel that way.
Amid all that agony, being expected to perfectly remember a scene that had flashed into his vision was asking the impossible.
If anything, the fact that he'd managed to identify it as a carriage at all was a testament to the observational skills he'd honed as a hunter.
"A carriage... a carriage, huh. Why a carriage? If it were somewhere connected to the defilement, I'd expect something more fitting—like the cave where you supposedly first came into contact with it. That I could understand."
"True. I'd accept that too. ...But in the end, it wasn't that kind of place."
Bob voiced his own puzzlement over why he'd seen such a thing.
If it had been somewhere he recognized, he probably could have made peace with it.
But it wasn't. It was a completely unfamiliar place.
"For now, you might not have an answer, but given enough time, the reason might become clear. It's best not to overthink it at this point."
"Is... that so?"
Bob was generally optimistic by nature, but the defilement incident had clearly left its mark on him.
In truth, up until the moment the defilement left his body, he'd been taking things in stride.
Even knowing a corrupt magical power was afflicting him, there hadn't been any visible physical changes, so he hadn't felt particularly threatened.
He'd had some minor misgivings about not being able to enter the Fairy Dwelling, but even that was supposed to be resolved by the Chief within two days.
...Of course, if he'd been told it would take twenty days instead of two, he probably wouldn't have been so cavalier about it.
In that regard, the Chief's competence had saved him, but it had also led him to underestimate the situation.
And so today, he'd entered the Fairy Dwelling, been led to a plaza teeming with fairies, and watched as the Chief's music drew the defilement out of his body. It was only through that agony that Bob finally, truly grasped how serious his situation had been.
Though by the time he understood the gravity of it, the problem had already been solved.
"About the defilement—like I said before, I'm actually quite interested in it myself."
What Rei was really interested in wasn't the defilement per se, but rather the Magic Item the men who'd attacked Bob over it likely possessed.
In truth, at this point Rei didn't have definitive proof that the men who'd ambushed their camp had used a Magic Item.
But he considered it more probable than magic or a Skill.
"I'm not sure if I should just be happy to hear you say that...?"
"That's up to you. Anyway, the defilement situation is handled. You can enter the Fairy Dwelling without any issues now. ...Though you'll need to sort out a tent and somewhere to sleep."
During the last camp, Rei had let Bob use his Magic Tent.
But circumstances were drastically different now.
Given that, Rei had no intention of lending it again.
...For that matter, he wasn't planning to travel with Bob indefinitely.
He intended to spend a little more time here, then either return to Gilm or head back to Egginis to check on the aftermath of the Necro Golem incident.
Bob's curiosity was piqued, so he might have wanted to tag along if given the chance.
But as far as Rei was concerned, he deserved a thank-you just for bringing the man this far.
"A tent? Looking around here, I don't think I really need one. It seems more comfortable than that foggy spot."
"That's... well, I suppose you might be right."
They'd camped for two days in the foggy area near the Fairy Dwelling.
With all that fog, it was by no means a comfortable place.
Mornings would be especially rough.
In midsummer it might have been tolerable, but the season was already autumn.
Days were reasonably warm, even hot at times, but once morning or night rolled around, the temperature dropped considerably.
And fog rolled through it all.
It had to feel bitterly cold by feel alone.
It was precisely because Bob was a seasoned hunter accustomed to outdoor camping that two days in the fog hadn't posed much of a problem for him.
But stretch that to five days, ten days, and it wouldn't be surprising if his health took a hit.
"Besides, the fairies don't seem to use tents either."
"Fairies sleep inside trees to begin with. You should know that from watching Nielson, right?"
From Rei's perspective, sleeping inside a tree was an incredibly enviable ability.
Not sleeping in a hollow, but actually entering the tree itself.
What that felt like, unfortunately, Rei had no way of knowing.
But being able to sleep just by slipping into a tree without having to bother setting up a Magic Tent—that was enviable.
Granted, the Magic Tent was already assembled inside his Misty Ring, so using it only required taking it out.
In that sense, it was undoubtedly far more convenient than hauling around an ordinary tent and pitching it every time you camped. But still.
"That is enviable, isn't it? It'd be nice if I could sleep inside a tree like that."
"Don't be ridiculous. ...Well, I suppose a fairy Magic Item might be able to pull something like that off."
He said that, but privately, Rei figured it would probably be difficult.
When he'd asked the Chief to craft a Dismantling Magic Magic Item, she'd told him it could take over a century.
(Oh, but maybe that's different? In the case of Dismantling Magic, it took that long because only the Chief could use it. But sleeping inside trees is a standard ability all fairies possess, so maybe it'd be easier to turn into a Magic Item than Dismantling Magic?)
Whether sleeping inside a tree was classified as a Skill or something else entirely, Rei couldn't say.
But given the situation, he figured it was probably something akin to a Skill.
...Though whether it could actually be made into a Magic Item was another question entirely.
"Is that how it works? ...Well, I've heard fairy Magic Items are quite expensive, so I doubt I'd be able to get my hands on something like that easily."
Bob said as much without a trace of disappointment on his face.
He was probably let down inwardly, but he wasn't about to let it show.
"Anyway, as long as you're fine, that's what matters. Just know I can't stay with you forever. I've got plenty of my own things to deal with."
"You're an alias-holding high-rank adventurer and all, so I can somewhat understand. I've already received so much help from you. I won't ask for anything more."
Bob's words carried no exaggeration—they came straight from the heart.
If he hadn't crossed paths with Rei during that camp, his attackers would have killed him.
Or even if he'd managed to fight them off, had he parted ways with Rei right then and there, he would have been killed when they came again—never even knowing a defilement had been lurking inside him.
The only reason he was alive right now was because Rei and Nielson had brought him to the Fairy Dwelling.
...Though in truth, today was his first time actually stepping inside it.
The moment he entered, he'd been led to a plaza packed with fairies, where the Chief had drawn the defilement out of his body with her music.
He was grateful for that—profoundly, genuinely grateful.
But still... that deeply unpleasant sensation of the defilement leaving his body.
Had he known it would feel like that, he probably would've hesitated before agreeing to the purge.
That said, if asked whether he could have tolerated living with the defilement inside him, the answer would have been no.
"Is that so? Then... well, you're free to do as you like from here on. The fairies have taken a liking to you, so there shouldn't be any problem with you staying in the Fairy Dwelling. But step outside, and you might be targeted again."
In reality, dealing with the defilement had already severed the vision link with the man among Bob's pursuers.
...More than severed—the linked man had suffered damage so severe he'd wept tears of blood from his eyes.
In that sense, his pursuers had already lost their means of tracking Bob, and the Leader had already decided to return to Headquarters. But Rei, knowing none of this, simply advised Bob not to leave the Fairy Dwelling.