The matter of Nielson voicing her complaints came to a close.
She still seemed somewhat dissatisfied, but when the Chief addressed her, that was the end of it. In this regard, a clear hierarchy had been firmly established.
(That's probably largely due to past experiences.)
Looking dejected, Nielson resumed eating the dried fruit she'd been working on earlier.
Wouldn't it be better to give her something sweeter instead of the sour fruit? Rei somewhat thought so, but for now, the discussion about the defilement took priority.
"Regarding the black dust humanoid, Lord Daskar intends to send additional information to the Royal Castle. ...I'm not sure how much they'll actually believe about the defilement, but they'll definitely send someone. At that point, we'll naturally need to discuss the Fairy Dwelling as well, but..."
"That's fine. However, since we can't predict how they'll respond, we'll take appropriate measures on our end should anything happen."
"...I suppose so."
Honestly, Rei couldn't care less what sort of person arrived from the Royal Castle.
If they were reasonable people who understood the situation, the Chief would interact with them normally and take a cooperative stance. But if they were the type to dismiss the defilement information simply because it came from fairies—or worse, to try seizing fairies for themselves—then whatever befell them would be their own doing. Rei would even think they deserved it.
However, that was strictly Rei's own judgment.
For Daskar, as the lord of Gilm, he couldn't afford to brush things aside so easily. And as the Neutral Faction, they would likely have to tread carefully around whoever the King's Faction dispatched.
(Then again, even if someone managed to catch a fairy, they'd just escape using a Fairy Circle.)
As long as fairies possessed their teleportation ability—or teleportation Skill—capturing one would be no simple matter. If there existed some Magic Item that could seal such special Skills and abilities, it might somehow be possible... but even Rei couldn't help thinking that was a stretch.
If such a Magic Item actually existed, Rei would definitely want to get his hands on it, if only as a pretext for helping the fairies.
"If it's someone who would harm the Fairy Dwelling, I think you're free to do as you please. If someone like that shows up, it's guaranteed to cause trouble down the line."
"I appreciate you saying that."
For the Chief, receiving Rei's permission to act freely was something to be grateful for. If Rei had insisted on forbidding her from laying a hand on such individuals, she would have had to make an extremely harsh decision as the Chief. In the worst case, it could have led to a hostile relationship with Rei—a situation where that outcome wouldn't have been surprising at all.
That things hadn't come to that was something the Chief was deeply grateful for.
"That said, when people actually arrive from the Royal Castle... I wonder. I imagine it'll take a fair amount of time."
Rei had no idea how information was specifically transmitted from Gilm to the Royal Castle. But while information could be sent, actually deploying people would inevitably take time.
This was especially true for those with a strong sense of aristocratic privilege, who were highly likely to arrive with a large entourage. And traveling with a large group meant slower movement. In the worst case, they might not reach Gilm until after the snow began to fall.
If that happened, they would naturally have to winter in Gilm. Whether a high-privilege noble would accept that arrangement was another question entirely. Rei guessed they probably wouldn't.
"Whether that's something to welcome or something to lament... I honestly don't know."
For the Chief as well, what sort of people would come from the Royal Castle was apparently a matter of considerable interest. Depending on the situation, they might need to cooperate with those people to deal with the defilement. And if such counterparts turned out to be incompetent nobles, it wouldn't be surprising for them to be quietly disposed of under the guise of fairy pranks.
(Lord Daskar will be the one handling communications, so I'd expect whoever comes to be reasonably competent. Still, maybe it's better not to get my hopes up.)
Expecting too much would only lead to bitter disappointment if the people who arrived turned out to be useless. To avoid that, keeping expectations in check was definitely the wiser course.
"Anyway, regarding the defilement. It's most fortunate that we've confirmed Rei's magic can deal with it. Given that, the next time we need to handle the defilement, I would like to ask Rei to take care of it—would that be acceptable?"
"Yeah, that's fine. The real problem, though... is when the next group connected to the defilement will show up."
"You came today, so won't they come again soon?" Nielson chimed in, pausing between bites of the dried fruit Rei had given her.
It was a reasonable point, and probably correct... Rei could acknowledge that much, but he still couldn't bring himself to simply nod along.
"The ones from before were caught by us in the Treant Forest... or rather, there's no question they died by consuming the defilement. If that's the case, it wouldn't be surprising for the defilement organization to grow suspicious of the Treant Forest. And even before that, they probably already know Bob was in the Treant Forest."
"Right? So wouldn't they..."
"But in this case, the real question is how many people are actually connected to the defilement."
From what Rei had gathered from Bob, he hadn't gotten the impression that the defilement organization was particularly large. However, since the people Bob had seen in that cave weren't necessarily everyone, the possibility of additional members beyond what Bob had witnessed was high.
"That... I can't deny. That said, investigating people connected to the defilement on our end would be difficult in its own right. If we could have extracted information from those attackers, it would be a different story."
"True. I agree."
Rei nodded at the Chief's words. He had believed they could obtain information about the defilement organization from the people they'd captured. But in reality, that wasn't what happened. He never expected that the captured individuals would consume the defilement and die—and not only that, but be reanimated as black dust humanoids.
If they had managed to extract information then, they could have attacked other defilement-connected individuals based on what they learned, pulled more information from them, and repeated the cycle until they potentially reached the organization's central figures, or at least their close associates. Whether it would really go that smoothly was something they wouldn't know unless they tried. There was also the possibility that the trail would go cold the moment they began pursuing it.
Given that possibility, tracking down the defilement organization so easily was unlikely... but still, with so few clues to work with, they needed to somehow gather whatever information they could.
"But if extracting information from them is impossible, wouldn't obtaining defilement-related intelligence be difficult as well?"
"No, now that we know their methods, we'll have countermeasures ready the next time we encounter them. Think about it—when we first knocked them unconscious, they didn't consume the defilement in that state, right? So the first step is to knock them out. After that, we use a gag or something similar to prevent them from swallowing anything. Since the defilement is most likely hidden in their back teeth, we just need to remove it from there."
Rei wasn't dexterous enough for that kind of delicate work. If he had to deal with the defilement in someone's back teeth, he'd have to resort to something bordering on torture—forcibly yanking the tooth out with a tool.
Crushing the tooth was also an option, but doing so would likely result in the defilement being swallowed along with the fragments. To prevent that, pulling it out by force was necessary.
Alternatively, if they had someone with nimble fingers, they might be able to carefully remove only the defilement without needing to extract the tooth at all.
"The defilement people are truly troublesome. Though from their perspective, they probably want absolutely nothing to do with encountering Rei."
"As Nielson says, there's no doubt they want to avoid contact with me. I, on the other hand, very much want to meet them. You could say our positions are diametrically opposed."
"So they want to find Bob but avoid Rei at all costs. As long as he's in the Fairy Dwelling, I'd say reaching Bob would be quite difficult, though."
Nielson's confidence apparently stemmed from the fog surrounding the Fairy Dwelling—and the wolves that moved within it, as if blending into the mist.
And Rei, too, could understand her position when he considered the fog and the wolves. He could understand it, but...
(The fog and the wolves don't actually have much to do with Nielson, though. Well, actually—was Nielson involved in the negotiations with the wolves?)
Rei pondered this.
But Nielson apparently didn't see herself that way, as she finally finished the last of the sour dried fruit and came over to Rei's side.
"Rei, give me something sweet."
The previous fruit had been sour, so the next should be sweet—or so Nielson demanded. Rei produced several sweet fresh fruits from his Misty Ring and handed them over, passing some to the Chief at the same time.
"Consider this my thanks for all the trouble caused by the defilement situation. Though honestly, I feel like this alone isn't enough."
"No, it's plenty. Besides, regarding the defilement incident, it's not as though Rei was the one who did anything."
It was Rei who had brought Bob—who carried the defilement—into the Fairy Dwelling. Strictly speaking, it had taken the form of Rei agreeing to Nielson's request. Because of that, the Chief's claim that Rei hadn't done anything to cause the defilement incident wasn't something he could accept. Not that he was trying to claim all of it was his doing, either.
"If Rei hadn't brought Bob to the Fairy Dwelling, I likely would never have noticed the defilement. ...Of course, even if I hadn't noticed, it's possible another Fairy Dwelling chief would have. And there's a strong possibility that someone other than a fairy would have detected it as well."
"In other words, the reason you were able to notice the defilement so early was..."
"Thanks to me!" Nielson declared boastfully, pausing between bites of fruit.
Since her claim wasn't exactly wrong, Rei didn't argue. But there was no mistaking the meaningful glance the Chief directed at Nielson.
"That's right. But... the Fairy Dwelling is, by its nature, a place that should be kept secret. If Bob hadn't been the kind of person he is—if he'd been someone driven by desire—I shudder to think what might have happened."
At the Chief's words, Nielson, who had been beaming with pride, went rigid.
"A-about that... I already received my punishment!"
"Yes, unfortunately... truly unfortunately, the punishment has already concluded. But given how things stand, I can't help feeling it wasn't quite enough."
"A-ahahaha! That's not true at all! I'm reflecting on my actions, really!"
The punishment from the Chief must have been truly terrifying. Nielson protested in a frantic rush.
Watching the exchange, Rei found himself torn over which side to support. Should he side with the Chief to keep Nielson from doing anything reckless? Or should he help Nielson earn the Chief's forgiveness?
While he wavered, the conversation reached its own natural conclusion.
"Going forward, make sure to think carefully about the consequences before you act."
"I understand. I won't do anything reckless again."
The Chief's words carried the weight of an admonition, but how much trust Nielson's compliant reply actually warranted was anyone's guess. Even Rei, who had been watching the exchange unfold, couldn't say for certain.
The Chief stared at Nielson for several seconds... before eventually looking away.
Whether she believed Nielson had genuinely taken the words to heart, or whether she'd simply given up, deciding that pressing further would serve no purpose—the Chief's true feelings remained unclear. But that Nielson, now freed from the pressure, was positively gleeful was beyond doubt.