For the time being, it was decided that Daskar would contact the Royal Castle about the defilement and investigate the matter on his own end as well.
"Sorry about this. I really would have liked you to stay a bit longer..."
Rei shook his head at Daskar's words.
"I know how busy you are, Lord Daskar, so please don't worry about it. You must have gone to considerable lengths to make time to meet with me and Nielson."
Many people sought an audience with Daskar, and even setting that aside, he had a significant amount of paperwork to handle. Under those circumstances, even though Rei had come with the matter of the defilement—something that urgently needed to be reported—Daskar had still carved out time to meet with them like this. Rei was grateful for that; there was no reason for him to feel dissatisfied.
Nielson, flying right beside Rei, didn't seem particularly unhappy either, since she had been able to eat food bought from a stall. ...Or perhaps she had been hoping that some kind of dish would be served at the lord's manor.
"I see. Then come visit again if anything comes up."
Parting with those words from Daskar, Rei left the room.
Naturally, Nielson slipped back inside Rei's Dragon Robe as he did so. She was likely feeling relieved, having fulfilled the role the Chief had assigned her.
As Rei exited the room, the maid guided him back toward the manor's exit, but...
"Wait a moment."
That voice suddenly reached his ears. At first, Rei didn't realize the words were directed at him. However, since the maid had stopped in her tracks, Rei—who was being guided by her—had to stop as well.
When he turned his gaze toward the source of the voice, he found what appeared to be a noble standing there.
(Rare to see this kind of noble around. ...Well, maybe it's not actually that rare?)
Gilm was governed by Daskar, but due to his personality and the fact that it was a frontier region, it was unpopular among nobles—especially the type now standing before Rei. Precisely because it was a frontier, one could earn substantial profits depending on one's actions, but to a prideful noble, going out to a place like the frontier was not a pleasant prospect.
...That said, it wasn't as though there were zero nobles of that sort in Gilm. In fact, Rei had encountered a fair number of them here thus far. Thinking about it that way, the current situation wasn't all that unnatural.
"May I ask what your business is, Viscount Sargail?"
Before Rei could open his mouth, the maid posed that question to the noble—to the man called Viscount Sargail.
(Huh, so he's a viscount himself. ...Well, viscount is a low rank among the nobility, so it wouldn't be strange for one to be here in Gilm in person.)
Viscount Sargail, addressed by the maid, directed his gaze toward Rei.
"I can sense strange mana coming from that person. Is he not troubled by some problem?"
What came from Viscount Sargail's mouth were words of genuine concern—completely unexpected for Rei, who had assumed he would be harassed.
(Surprising. This kind of noble usually comes to pick a fight with me. ...Well, at least it saves me the hassle. But still, strange mana?)
Hearing that, the only thing Rei could think of was Nielson, who was sleeping inside his Dragon Robe.
From Viscount Sargail's words, Rei could tell that the man likely possessed some kind of ability to sense mana. That said, he didn't know exactly what method was used.
The most common ability was being able to see mana with one's eyes, but there were also those who could hear the sound of mana, sense it by smell, or detect it through touch. In rarer cases, some could even taste mana by licking some part of a person.
...Judging by Viscount Sargail's demeanor, Rei concluded that it probably wasn't taste-based.
Incidentally, as a countermeasure against those who could sense mana, Rei himself was equipped with a Magic Item called the Ring of the New Moon. It obfuscated the wearer's mana, causing others to misidentify it as being on the level of an ordinary mage. In that sense, it was impossible for Viscount Sargail to have sensed Rei's true mana.
Of course, Rei's mana was enormous. He understood from past experience exactly what happened when someone with a mana-sensing ability carelessly felt it. They lost control of their bladders, screamed in hysteria, or worse. Some had even fainted the instant they sensed Rei's mana.
To avoid such situations—and above all, to prevent anyone from identifying him as Rei based on his sheer mana volume alone—he had obtained the Ring of the New Moon.
"Um... there is no problem. Lord Daskar is already aware of this person."
For the maid, deflecting the question without mentioning Rei's name was the best she could manage. If she revealed Rei's name here, who knew what would happen. A while ago, it would have only piqued curiosity about a high-rank adventurer who held an alias. But now, there was the matter of the Crystal Dragon. Since the maid worked at the lord's manor, she naturally knew about that situation, so she couldn't carelessly let Rei's name slip here.
That said, while the maid knew of Rei's circumstances, she knew nothing about Nielson hiding inside the Dragon Robe. Given that, she felt a slight doubt about the mention of "strange mana"... but since she also knew perfectly well that Rei was a mage, she concluded that was probably the cause.
"Lord Daskar is? Hm, then I have no objections. I was only slightly curious. Well then, I shall take my leave."
Saying so with a faint smile, Viscount Sargail departed from before Rei and the maid. The maid let out a breath of relief at his retreating figure. If Rei's identity had been discovered, things would have undoubtedly become very troublesome.
"Sounds like he wasn't a bad noble."
"Yes, Viscount Sargail is not a bad person. He often helps us when we're struggling."
Rei had fully expected to be harassed by a noble on the spot and forced into a hassle, but he quickly dismissed the thought.
(He's a noble who came to visit Lord Daskar. Then he should obviously know that Lord Daskar dislikes that sort of noble. So he wouldn't go out of his way to act like that inside the lord's manor.)
There were undoubtedly nobles who couldn't think that far ahead and believed anything they did would be forgiven, but fortunately, the Viscount Sargail he had just met didn't seem to be one of them. Of course, it was still possible that such polite behavior was confined to the lord's manor and he was tyrannical elsewhere, but that possibility couldn't be entirely dismissed.
"Either way, if I stay here, I might run into someone else, so I should leave quickly."
"I believe that would be best."
The maid likely understood that it would be problematic for others to discover Rei's presence. She nodded readily at his words.
Together with the maid, Rei exited the lord's manor. Offering a brief word of thanks to the maid who bowed to see him off, Rei passed through the gate to the outside.
"Is your business concluded?"
"Yeah. Things might get a lot busier, but do your best."
When Rei answered the gatekeeper's question, both gatekeepers simultaneously pulled faces of displeasure. They were already busy enough as it was, and the thought of things getting even busier was something they would have preferred to avoid.
That said, once the matter of the defilement was reported to the Royal Castle, nobles would undoubtedly be dispatched from there. And naturally, the question of where the information about the defilement had come from would also come to light, making it highly likely that people interested in the Fairy Dwelling would come flooding in.
After all, fairies were believed to exist only in legends. If it became known that there was a Fairy Dwelling where such fairies lived, researchers, mages, alchemists... and many others would undoubtedly come. That said, whether such people would actually be able to reach the Fairy Dwelling was another matter—Rei didn't think it would be that easy.
If all sorts of people like that descended on Gilm, the matter would naturally become known to others as well, and large numbers of people would arrive from places other than the Royal Castle too. And if they were to operate in Gilm, they would need to talk things through with Daskar.
The lord's manor gatekeepers becoming busier was a near-certain future. Right now, only merchants and relatively low-ranking nobles were waiting near the gate, but if famous scholars, mages, alchemists, and high-ranking nobles started arriving, the gatekeepers' mental fatigue would undoubtedly increase as well.
The gatekeepers weren't aware of the full circumstances, but Rei had come to the lord's manor without an appointment and had needed to discuss something with Lord Daskar. Knowing that, the gatekeepers would have understood that Rei's words were by no means an exaggeration.
After briefly exchanging words with the gatekeeper who was already wearing an expression of exhaustion despite it still being early, Rei headed toward the town.
...During that time, he was subjected to various stares from the many people who had been waiting in front of the gate, but Rei showed no sign of concern.
"Hey, what do you think? That guy... it's the same one from earlier, right?"
"Yeah, no doubt. Among the sort of people who go into the lord's manor, one wearing such an ordinary-looking robe... and acting alone, at that. It has to be him."
The people who had been near the gate before Rei entered the lord's manor exchanged words among themselves.
Since Rei had the hood of his Dragon Robe up, they couldn't confirm his face. However, thanks to the Dragon Robe's concealment effect making it appear as an ordinary, commonplace robe, it wasn't difficult to judge that the Rei they saw now was the same person who had entered the lord's manor earlier.
At first, they had thought he would be turned away by the gatekeepers, but for some reason he had gone inside without issue, and now, about two hours later, here he was coming back out.
It was only natural that they were curious about who Rei was. What's more, most of the people here were merchants or servants of nobles. There were various others as well, but the majority fell into one of those two categories. Being such people, they naturally understood the importance of information.
One among them, thinking Rei might have something of interest, made a move. Approaching Rei, who had left the lord's manor and was heading toward the town, he called out.
"Excuse me, could I have a moment?"
"Sorry, I'm in a hurry."
Normally, Rei wouldn't have minded having a brief conversation with someone who approached him. But right now, he couldn't afford to let anyone know he was Rei. If his identity became known, people seeking Crystal Dragon materials would swarm him. Naturally, Rei wanted to avoid that situation. That was why he chose not to engage in conversation, but...
"Don't be like that. Just hearing a little of what you have to say would be fine. Please."
Perhaps he sensed something from Rei's demeanor. The man who had called out persisted. However, Rei couldn't afford to humor him. Part of the reason was that if he started talking here, many others would also come forward wanting to hear what he had to say, but the biggest reason was, after all, that he didn't want his identity discovered.
Judging that the man wouldn't give up even if he refused further, Rei turned his back on him and tried to walk away. Naturally, the people waiting in front of the lord's manor gate watched with great interest to see how this exchange would unfold—and whether it would benefit them.
"Please wait!"
The man called out once more to Rei, who had turned his back to him... and reached out his hand. Deciding that Rei would leave at this rate, he tried to grab his shoulder, but...
"You're the one who needs to wait."
Before Rei could do anything, a different voice reached the man's ears. And someone's hand landed on the shoulder of the man who had been trying to grab Rei's, stopping him in his tracks.
"What do you think you're—!"
Don't interfere with me while I'm trying to talk to him. The man was about to say as much, but when he realized that the one who had stopped him was a gatekeeper of the lord's manor, he fell silent.
If the man had been a noble, he might have been able to tell the gatekeeper not to be so rude. ...Of course, the gatekeeper wouldn't be reprimanded by Daskar for that.
At any rate, the man apparently judged that pressing further would be unwise, and he quietly backed down.