Once Nielson's punishment finally ended, Rei asked the Chief again.
"So, what have you been doing with Nielson up until now? Given that it's only been a day since yesterday, I'm guessing it's probably something related to the defilement."
"That's right. It concerns the defilement we sealed yesterday. We did seal it, but ideally, we would eliminate something like defilement as quickly as possible."
"Well... I suppose so."
Rei didn't know much about the defilement in detail. Only that it was a kind of evil magical power. But given the name "defilement," there was no doubt that it should be disposed of as quickly as possible.
(In that case, they were trying to dispose of the sealed defilement... attempting something like purification, and that's when Nielson made her mistake.)
With that understanding, the reason the Chief had been punishing Nielson made sense. Though according to what Rei had heard from the other fairies, the punishment Nielson received wasn't all that intense. From Rei's perspective, being hurtled in every direction through the air while unable to move seemed like a fairly harsh punishment.
(If that's the case, what kind of even more incredible punishments exist beyond that one... honestly, I'm a little curious. But then again, I have absolutely no desire to actually ask the Chief about it. And of course, I don't want to experience it myself either.)
The Chief treated Rei with polite courtesy, but that didn't mean she would follow his lead on everything. If he were to take an overbearing attitude, she would naturally refuse... and depending on the situation, she might resist with everything she had.
"Is something the matter?"
With a smile, the Chief asked Rei, who had been staring at her.
What exactly was behind those words? Rei honestly wanted to ask about that smile, but in the current situation, doing so might make him learn things he didn't want to know. That was a frightening thought in its own right.
So he shook his head in response to the Chief's words.
"No, I was just thinking about something. More importantly, is Nielson going to be all right soon?"
Nielson, who had been punished by the Chief, naturally wasn't full of energy just because she had been released from it. She was completely groggy. It was understandable—recalling the punishment the Chief had administered, Rei could accept Nielson's current state.
That said, considering what Nielson had done, Rei had no intention of defending her. It would have been problematic to say so out loud, so he kept it to himself.
"Yes, she'll be fine. There are no particular problems. She'll be back to full energy in no time."
Really? Rei wanted to retort. But the Chief seemed to genuinely believe that. If anything, she seemed to think Nielson might recover a little too quickly.
Rei struggled to hold back a retort and decided it would be better to change the subject.
"May I ask what's happening with the defilement? You mentioned that Nielson made some kind of mistake."
Without touching on that matter, he asked about something that had been bothering him more.
"Yes. The defilement itself wasn't all that concentrated, so while it will take some time, we can annihilate it."
"Annihilate... r-right. Annihilate."
He had been sure she would use a word like "purification," so the word "annihilate" coming from the Chief's mouth was somewhat unexpected. That said, whether it was purification or annihilation, the defilement would be gone either way, so perhaps there was no need to worry too much about it.
"Yes, we will annihilate it. During the preparations for that, Nielson made a mistake..."
"Ugh..."
Nielson, who received the Chief's gaze, fell silent. She probably fully understood that she had indeed made a mistake. She understood that, and she also fully understood that annihilating the defilement—an evil presence to the Fairy Dwelling—was absolutely necessary.
That was why Nielson had accepted the Chief's punishment without resistance. ...Of course, the difference in power between the Chief and Nielson was substantial. Even if Nielson had tried to run away to escape the punishment, the Chief would never have allowed it.
"I see. ...By the way, and I really mean just by the way, is it possible to use defilement to create Magic Items?"
"...Huh?"
What in the world was this person talking about? Had he possibly lost his mind? That was what her muttered "Huh?" seemed to convey. Rei, met with the Chief's gaze as if she were looking at something utterly unbelievable, understood the answer from that alone.
"I see. So defilement can't be used as a material for Magic Items."
"Well... I suppose so. Honestly, I've never thought about it that way, so I can't say for certain. But I would never attempt such a thing. It's far too dangerous."
Hearing the Chief's earnest words, Rei accepted that given her personality, of course that would be her response. But at the same time, he thought that the alchemists in Gilm would probably consider whether it could be used as a material.
(Though the result would likely be some kind of defilement-induced runaway or contamination. And then massive collateral damage to the surroundings.)
That was Rei's prediction—or perhaps better called a delusion—but even so, he felt it was probably not far off the mark.
"I see. Well, as long as you can do something about the defilement, there's no problem. I was going to say that if you're really at a loss for what to do with it, you could just hand me the flower-shaped jewel with the sealed defilement."
"To you, Rei-san? What would you do with it?"
"My Misty Ring doesn't flow with time inside it when items are stored. In that sense, it's convenient for sealing. Though ultimately, a seal is still just a seal. If it can be erased, that would unquestionably be the best option."
A seal was ultimately just a seal. For example, if the Misty Ring were destroyed, depending on the circumstances, the defilement sealed within the flower-shaped jewel might be released. Of course, since the Misty Ring was not something that would break easily, such a concern might be excessive worrying.
However, there were exceptions to everything. Given that, it was definitely better not to think too optimistically.
"You're right. Your proposal is appreciated, Rei-san, but I do believe that annihilating the defilement is better than sealing it."
At the Chief's firm declaration, neither Rei, nor Seto, nor even the punished Nielson raised any objection.
"Then let's put the defilement matter aside. I'm not sure if this is related to the defilement or not, but there's something I should mention—something I wanted to ask about."
"Yes? What is it? If it's something I would know, I don't mind."
"Something you would know... actually, I think it's probably something only you would know. Yesterday, when the defilement came out of Bob's body, you remember? When he seemed to be suffering from your music."
"Yes, that happened. And?"
"At that time... to be precise, when Nielson released her light, Bob said he saw a scene from a completely different place than where he currently was."
"Eh? Was that thanks to my power!?"
Nielson showed delight at Rei's words, but considering that Bob had seen a scene from an entirely different place because of Nielson's light, normally speaking, that wasn't something to be happy about. Of course, limited to this particular case, it was undeniably not a bad thing in the sense that they might gain some kind of clue about the defilement.
"Who knows. Considering the timing, I think there's a high chance Nielson's light was related. ...So, what do you think about that?"
"Somewhere other than himself, you say... According to what I heard, Bob's encounter with the defilement took place in some cave before, correct? In that case, did he see a scene from that cave?"
"No, that's not it. It was apparently a scene that looked like the interior of a carriage."
"...Huh? A carriage? Why?"
Hearing Rei's words, the Chief, unable to grasp the meaning, let those words slip out. That said, Rei had no intention of pressing her on it. He had felt the same way when he first heard it from Bob.
"I don't know. I don't know, but it was definitely a place like a carriage. Like I said, given the timing—Nielson's light struck the defilement—I think it's related to the defilement, but can you think of anything?"
"Even if you say that..."
The Chief was bewildered by Rei's question. If, as she had mentioned earlier, it had been the cave Bob had visited previously, she might have been able to accept it. But it wasn't such a cave—it was a carriage. What exactly could lead to that?
The Chief wondered about this and then recalled the various things she had heard from Nielson about Bob's journey. Among those stories was the fact that Bob had been attacked by enemies despite not being tailed or followed in any way. That meant the enemies were somehow aware of Bob's location.
And the scene Bob had seen—the interior of a carriage.
"Perhaps... this is truly just a perhaps, but could it be that the enemies targeting Bob were somehow peering into his field of vision?"
The Chief had said "some method," but considering what Bob had seen at that moment, it didn't take much thought to figure out what that method was. In other words, they might have been peering into Bob's field of vision through the power of the defilement.
"There's a possibility... you say?"
At the Chief's words, Rei thought about it for a moment and concluded that there was indeed a possibility. Bob had been attacked by enemies despite not being tailed. And considering the existence of the defilement, it wouldn't be strange if, as the Chief suggested, someone could peer into Bob's field of vision through some method.
In reality, Rei didn't know exactly what kind of existence the defilement was. But precisely because he didn't know, it wouldn't be strange for it to have uses he couldn't even imagine.
"Yes. It's only a possibility. But if that's the case, it means the ones targeting Bob are using the defilement through some method or another. ...How reckless of them."
The last words were murmured quietly, but they were still loud enough for Rei and Nielson to hear. And because they were whispered, it was enough to convey that the Chief genuinely felt that way.
(Judging by this, the defilement must be quite something. Well, considering what happened with Bob yesterday, I could hardly think of it as an ordinary presence.)
The black mist that had emerged from Bob's body had seemed like a very troublesome opponent, just as the Chief had described it as evil magical power. What exactly it was remained unknown. Unknown as it was, he could still fully understand that it was troublesome. Since they were using such defilement, it was no wonder the Chief called them reckless.
"Chief, is using the defilement really that dangerous?"
"It is dangerous. ...Of course, I don't know how they are using the defilement. It's possible they've discovered a way to mitigate the danger and are using it because of that... but I wonder."
The Chief's words carried a hopeful wish that, if possible, that would be the case. However, even as she thought that, there was also a strong tone of resignation that such a thing was likely impossible.
"By the way, if the people targeting Bob fail to control the defilement... I'm not sure if 'control' is the right word, but in any case, if they fail to handle it, what happens?"
Understanding that it probably wouldn't be anything good, Rei asked the Chief. But the response he received was something unexpected even to him.
"It depends on the amount of defilement they're handling, but in the worst case, this country... no, the entire continent might be destroyed."
"Seriously..."
The words that came from the Chief's mouth were completely unexpected to Rei. If it had been something on the level of the forest where the cave Bob had seen was located being destroyed, Rei could have accepted it. Or even if he was told that a nearby village or town might be destroyed by the defilement, he still could have accepted it. And, while certainly undesirable, even if told that a country would be destroyed... he might have somehow been able to accept it.
But being told that an entire continent would be destroyed was, even for Rei, something genuinely unbelievable.