Seeing the body vanish at his touch, Rei muttered, "Seriously?" in genuine astonishment.
He had thought it might be possible. He had hoped it would be, yes—but even so, the fact that it actually worked was entirely unexpected.
"Whoaaaa! W-wait, that's amazing, Rei!"
The cry of astonishment came from Nielson, who had been using plant magic to restrain the bodies.
For her part, Nielson had hoped it would work but probably never expected it to succeed.
That was precisely why she was so genuinely surprised at the result.
The Chief, who had been observing from beside Nielson, wore an equally frank expression of surprise.
She had wanted Rei's proposal to succeed, but even she never thought it would actually work.
After all, even Rei, who had tried it as a long shot, was caught off guard.
"For now, let me store the rest too."
Checking the Misty Ring and judging there were no problems for the time being, Rei proceeded to store the other nine bodies one after another.
(Then again, storing defilement in the Misty Ring... it wouldn't break or anything, right?)
No matter how incredible the Misty Ring was, it was still a type of Magic Item.
And defilement, according to the Chief, was corrupt mana.
Corrupt mana—defilement—existing inside a mana-driven Magic Item.
Depending on the circumstances, it wouldn't be strange for some kind of malfunction to occur.
If that happened, Rei's options going forward would be severely restricted.
He had many advantages as an adventurer, but among them the Misty Ring was an especially critical factor.
Vast quantities of food, weapons, Magic Items, gemstones, and other valuables—all of it currently stored in the Misty Ring. Transporting everything by carriage would unquestionably require over a hundred wagons, so great was the volume inside.
Additionally, Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear, which Rei used in combat, would be quite cumbersome to carry openly outside of battle.
In that sense, rather than calling the Misty Ring a major factor in Rei's activities, perhaps calling it the single greatest factor would be more accurate.
Though the high mobility from traveling on Seto also carried tremendous significance, so labeling the Misty Ring alone as the greatest factor might be slightly off.
"Hey, Chief."
"Hm? Yes? What is it?"
Having stored all the bodies that had been transforming into something akin to Undead through the power of defilement, Rei returned to where the Chief and Nielson stood and called out to her.
Brought back to herself by Rei's words, the Chief directed a questioning gaze at him.
"I've stored all the bodies, but given that I stored them along with the Magic Items, could there be any negative effects on the Misty Ring? Defilement is corrupt mana, right?"
"That... I believe it should be fine. The one using the Misty Ring is Lord Rei, so whether it could harm Lord Rei's own mana..."
Rei could understand where her words were leading.
"You mean my large mana can block the influence of defilement?"
"As far as I know, that would be the case. I have told Lord Rei several times, but defilement is corrupt mana. Even if it is corrupt, it is still mana—so in the face of Lord Rei's vast reserves, it amounts to nothing."
"Which means... I'm the natural enemy of defilement?"
"There is that aspect, yes. However, in the case of these people, the quantity of defilement itself is small, so they would be no match for Lord Rei."
Rei pondered the Chief's words for a moment, then opened his mouth while staring at his own hand.
"In other words, it's not the ones I stored, but something else—the source of the defilement? Against something like that, even with my mana, it would be dangerous?"
"That possibility exists. Honestly, I have lived for a fairly long time, but I have never seen a being with such tremendous mana as Lord Rei. In that sense, perhaps it might be effective even against the source of the defilement."
"The source of the defilement, huh. Thinking about it normally, the cave Bob said he saw would be the suspicious one."
Or perhaps other locations were suspicious too, but unfortunately, that was the only place that came to mind at the moment.
Then again, even if the source of the defilement was in that cave, exactly where it was located was something he wouldn't know without asking Bob.
But taking Bob along to where the cave was would inevitably result in Bob being targeted.
(Wait. Targeted? Is that really true?)
Rei didn't know the real reason Bob was being targeted.
However, the likelihood was high that it was because Bob had witnessed the defilement.
If so, then since the defilement was already known to Rei, the Chief, Daskar, and others—and given that Daskar had contacted the Royal Castle about it—there was no longer any point in the defilement's associates killing Bob.
Of course, since Bob was undeniably the reason Rei and the others had learned about the defilement in the first place, the possibility that they might target Bob to settle accounts or make an example couldn't be entirely dismissed.
"Lord Rei? What is wrong? Could there be a problem with the Misty Ring?"
Perhaps worried about Rei deep in thought, the Chief directed a concerned gaze at him, as if asking whether he was truly all right.
Nielson, who usually found amusement in all sorts of things, was also watching Rei with the same worried expression as the Chief.
Rei shook his head at the two of them, indicating it was nothing.
"No, there's no problem with the Misty Ring. I was just thinking that to do something about the defilement, we might need to go to the cave that caused Bob to be targeted—but the only one who knows the exact location is Bob. And taking him to a place like that would definitely get him targeted again."
"I see. If you were to head to such a place, that would mean you need someone other than Bob to serve as a guide."
"Yeah. But Bob's the only one who knows exactly where it is, so I was wondering what to do about that."
Rei was slightly directionally challenged.
It wasn't just Rei—Seto also had a tendency to get lost.
Knowing that, Rei wore a somewhat troubled expression.
"Couldn't you just bring someone along as Bob's escort?"
Nielson's suggestion was something Rei could agree with to a point.
However, considering the current situation, there was no telling where opponents like the defilement's associates might appear from.
Even with an escort, bringing Bob to such a place felt like a bad idea.
(Once the escort golem is completed... no, that won't work, will it.)
The golem Rei had ordered in Egginis was certainly an escort golem.
But based on what Rei had heard of its capabilities, it was designed to protect someone who needed guarding during combat—not the kind that would provide escort during ordinary travel.
Considering that sort of practicality, hiring a regular escort would be better than relying on a golem.
(But if they're going to be working with me, some random person won't cut it.)
Not only would they need the strength to protect Bob properly, but Rei also had many aspects that differed from an ordinary adventurer.
Given that, someone who wouldn't be surprised by every little thing Rei did—specifically, someone who already knew him—would definitely be the better choice.
(The best option would be Elena, Marina, Vihera, Ara, or Byune. But since Elena and Ara came to Gilm as representatives of the Noble Faction, taking them along would be difficult.)
Rei was well aware that numerous people requested audiences with Elena.
He had witnessed that situation firsthand many times, so naturally.
Under such circumstances, taking Elena along to the cave where defilement had been found would be quite difficult.
(Which leaves Marina? No, in a sense Marina would be even worse than Elena.)
The treatment Marina provided through her Spirit Magic was of tremendous importance to the expansion construction currently underway in Gilm.
Given that, if Rei pulled Marina away, the possibility that someone with injuries survivable if Marina were present might die simply because she wasn't could not be dismissed.
(That leaves Vihera and Byune. Whether the enemy is a formidable foe... I'm not sure, but they're probably strong, right? The Chief did say worst case the continent could be destroyed. If so, Vihera would gladly come along. Byune... well, if Vihera comes, she'll come too. If that happens, I could leave Bob's escort to Byune.)
Fortunately, Vihera was not someone absolutely essential to the expansion construction.
She was involved to some extent with Treant Forest-related matters—the Wisp situation, the Lizardmen, the lake, and so on—so it wasn't as though she had no work at all, but...
"I'm thinking of bringing Vihera and Byune—my party members—along to the cave Bob knows about. What do you think?"
"If Lord Rei thinks it will be fine, I believe there is no problem."
"If Rei thinks it's okay, shouldn't it be fine?"
The Chief and Nielson both sounded tentatively agreeable, and Rei accepted that as good enough.
"For now, even though I just got back, heading to Gilm again would be... no, should I ask Elena to use the Paired Orb to communicate instead?"
What would happen when he showed up in Gilm given his current situation.
Considering that, he judged it better to use the Paired Orb rather than going himself.
Having just returned from Gilm to the Treant Forest, going back again was a hassle.
...Though thinking about Seto's travel speed, it wasn't much of a hassle at all.
(Then again, the bodies being transformed by defilement is something that should be seen directly with one's own eyes. But in that case, I'd need to take the bodies out of the Misty Ring.)
For Rei, since he had stored them in the Misty Ring for sealing purposes, he would prefer not to take the bodies back out.
If the bodies were removed, there was no telling what kind of influence the defilement might have.
Fortunately, the entity called defilement had caused no apparent problems when Rei touched it.
However, that was likely because it was Rei.
As the Chief had said, the possibility that Rei's tremendous mana was eliminating the influence of defilement was entirely plausible.
"What will you do, Lord Rei?"
"...I should go back to Gilm after all. Even if I don't have anyone directly touch those bodies that were about to transform, it would be better to actually show them to Lord Daskar."
After thinking it over extensively, that was the conclusion Rei reached.
Showing the bodies through the Paired Orb would undeniably be less persuasive than seeing them in person.
Also, when communicating with Daskar through the Paired Orb, the location on their end would be the Fairy Dwelling.
That meant producing the bodies inside the Fairy Dwelling—and the Chief, who was averse to defilement entering it, would surely never tolerate that. That was another reason.
(I stored the bodies in the Misty Ring mid-transformation, which means taking them out would cause the transformation to resume. If that happened, the defilement could cause tremendous damage to the Fairy Dwelling. It seemed like there was some margin of time, though.)
After the defilement's associates died and their bodies began to transform, Rei had enough leeway to hold a conversation with the Chief.
Even so, the bodies' transformation had not completed.
In other words, the transformation of bodies by defilement took a considerable amount of time.
Whether those who had taken their own lives understood that particular circumstance, Rei did not know.
At any rate, given that such a thing would happen, they could not release the bodies in the Fairy Dwelling.
Even when returning to Gilm to show the bodies to Daskar, he would need to be careful about that.
If Daskar wanted to observe the bodies at length and they were left out, there was no telling how they might change under the influence of defilement.
(Thinking about it that way, maybe I should properly confirm once exactly what kind of transformation defilement causes.)
It would be better to test it beforehand so that the worst case didn't happen when it truly mattered.
Thinking such thoughts, Rei stroked the Misty Ring on his right hand.