The old man emerged from the bushes. It was also a familiar figure to Ray... and to others.
　Marina speaks on behalf of the Rays.

"Old man!"

　Yes, it was Marina's grandfather, the elder of the village of Dark Elves in this forest... Optimis, who played the role of village mayor.
　But Ray wonders when he sees such an option.
　Ray was having a conversation with Optis yesterday, and that's why he understood that the voice calling for polo was not Optis' voice.
　It was probably the same with Marina.
　That was natural, as I've known Optimis longer than Ray.
　That's why Marina asks Optis from the bush.

"Old man, your voice is not old man, is it? Whose voice is it?"
"Marina. You've had a hard time with the world tree. Even from a distance, I could understand that the world tree had regained its strength. Well, that's what I said before. Let me introduce you to Earth."

　With Optis' voice, a man emerges from behind.
　He looks a little older than Ray in his late teens.
　He's about a head taller than Ray, and he has a fine... masculine face compared to Ray, who has a feminine face.
　The brown hair that looks as if the earth itself had been turned into hair attracts the eye.
　It'll be easy to move around. He wore a monster leather breastplate.
　Chest pads, not leather armor, are probably for greater mobility.
　It carries a bow and arrow barrel, which is thought to be a magic item, and has a sheath containing a dagger at its waist.
　In general, it was a lightweight device, and it was obvious that the man's fighting style was quick.

"Oh!? Old Optimis, these people..."

　A man called Earth looks at Rey... or, to be exact, looks at Sett beside Rey and takes a moment's breath away.
　But the fact that Seto was not upset at all was probably an indication of the man's mental composure.

"Well, I told you, Marina, the grandson of 儂, and Ray, the son-in-law." This is ground. He's an adventurer who came to investigate the unusual changes in the forest. I met him just in the woods. At first I thought he was an enemy, but when I spoke to him, he was a good fellow."
"Old man..."

　Marina's eyes were taken aback by Optis's favorite cane.
　When Marina confirms the cane is free of blood, she breathes a sigh of relief and then calls out to Earth, who is fascinated by Seto.

"I'm afraid you've taken good care of my grandfather... Did you say Mr. Is that carbuncle your slave?"
"What? Oh, yes. I thought you were gone, but you had someone else play in this place?"
"Roll!"

　At Earth's words, Polo exclaims joyfully.
　For Polo, conversations with monsters such as Seto and Yero must have been so gratifying.
　Seeing Polo like that, Earth bowed to Marina with a smile that she couldn't help.

"My polo seems to have been taken care of..."

　Some of the people around her look surprised to see Earth speak to Marina without showing any hesitation.
　Ray, in particular, could not hide his surprise at Earth's appearance.
　Marina is undoubtedly an eye-catching beauty, and she's not the kind of person who speaks to her so easily.
　No, I might be able to talk to you if I try my best, but I'm still usually nervous.
　But... now, in Ray's eyes, Earth is talking to Marina without a trace of excitement.

(Is there a beautiful woman nearby like Marina, Elena, or Vihela, though it's possible that she's used to it?)

　That's how Ray thought, but when he suddenly sees Earth turn his eyes to him, he has no choice but to interrupt the idea.
　Not only did I look at it, but the next moment I walked towards Ray, which was even more so.

"Well, you're Ray... crimson, aren't you?"
"... oh,"

　When spoken to in a somewhat rough tone compared to when she was talking to Optis and Marina.
　Nevertheless, under the Dragon Robes, we are on guard so that Nevra's eyes can be activated at any time.
　As long as Optis is with him, he's definitely not the enemy, but you can't trust a complete stranger.
　I don't know if he feels that tension or if he's just talking at his own pace, but Earth reaches out to Ray for a handshake.

"I'm Earth. I'm a Rank C adventurer. I'm very happy to have met the rumored crimson."
"This is Ray. A Rank B adventurer with Gillum. And that's set."
"Grunt? Grunt!"

　At Ray's call, Seto approaches Earth with a happy purring.
　Normally, the approach of the Gryphon would be nothing but fear.
　...except for the inhabitants of Gilm because Gilm is too special.

"Huh? What's wrong with you? Here you go."

　Earth, completely unafraid of Seto, reaches over his head and caresses him.

"Glu, glu, glu, glu, glu, glu, glu!"

　Seto rubs his face against Earth and creates a dreamy atmosphere.
　The completely relaxed appearance also surprises Ray.
　Ray has seen many times that Sett is friendly to his partner.
　Originally, Seto is friendly and basically doesn't care about people who love him.
　That being the case, it is not unusual to think of such a scene as this, but... in Ray's eyes there was something very different.
　Even though they are the same friends, they have many feelings of friendship.
　For example, the person who pats his head lightly and the person who gives him food will inevitably place more importance on the latter.
　In that sense, Seto's current attachment to Earth was considerable.
　It's as much as it is against the Mire Dog and Johanna.
　The way he gently rubbed his face against Earth's body, as if it were coming from Earth's body, seems relaxing.

(What? Are you using any special magic items or are you just a constitution?)

　While wondering, Ray's gaze suddenly turns to the monsters... other than Polo and Seto.
　But there was nothing in particular about him, and he went back under Elena and was patted silently.
　The appearance seems to be quite different from that of Seto, who is attached to Earth.

"How is it? Is it here? Is it comfortable here? See?"In Ray's eyes, Earth was stroking Seto with a smile.
　Looking at the way he plays, I can't believe Earth is using some magic item to fool Sett...
　When Marina sees Ray doing something unusual, she calls out to Earth.

"Maybe it's about time? We're close to the village of Dark Elves. You said you came here to investigate the unusual situation in the forest. Can you tell me more about it? Of course, since your grandfather showed you around, I don't think you have anything to blame. ... oh, yes, yes. You forgot to introduce yourself."

　After a pause, Marina opens her mouth with a small smile.

"My name is Marina," Marina Ariantha The old man there... the granddaughter of the elder in the village of Dark Elves in this forest."
"What? Elder!"

　Earth turns aghast at Optis, perhaps he hadn't heard about it.
　Marina concluded that Optis and Earth had never met before.

"Yes, old man, and by the way, I am the guildmaster of guilds, the adventurer of guilds."
"What!"

　Marina's words were probably unexpected. Earth stopped his caressing hand completely and looked at those around him.

"Well, then, are there any other people who are important.
"Well, that's Elena Kerebel. --when I say General Hime, do you know?"

　Earth, who turned his eyes to Elena, was so surprised that he could no longer speak.
　Earth, who was so handsome that you could call him Seiko, had a friendly face as far as his eyes were wide open in surprise.

(She's funny, isn't she? Earth... Come to think of it, Earth was the name of an adventurer who captured some dungeon about five years ago. Yes, I've heard of him as a Tamer, and I'm sure I'll see him carrying a rare kind of carbuncle called Polo

　Talking to Earth, I recall that it was the name I had heard at a guildmaster's meeting before.

"Well, then... is that beautiful woman also a celebrity?"

　Elena and Marina were able to look straight back at Earth, but only Vihela couldn't look straight ahead.
　The reason for this is, of course, the light clothing worn by Vihela.
　A thin garment with a transparent view on the other side is not something adventurers wear, though not very much.
　It was the sort of thing worn by prostitutes and dancers, and on top of that, Vihela was one of the most beautiful people Earth had ever seen.
　Earth had too little experience with women to face up to such a beautiful woman.

(I didn't know there was anyone prettier than Liv.)

　The image of a woman in a close relationship, who is more than a friend but less than a lover, is rather too much.
　Suddenly, Liv's usual expression remains unchanged... and Earth shakes his head in a hurry to ward off bad thoughts, as he feels like he's still close to her.
　It would be easy for Marina to see through Earth's behavior. open one's mouth after a small smile

"Well, I can't say exactly that, but I'm sure he's an important person."
"...and others?"
"Well, I don't know," It may or may not be so. ...well, let alone that. You said you came here to investigate the unusual occurrence of the forest, but who asked you to do so? I'm afraid you're basically not supposed to touch the woods around here."
"It's a request from a cross merchant,"
"...I see, you're a dealer in cloth." I've roughly figured out who you mean. That would make sense."

　Cross is a village not far from this forest.
　Marina was convinced to hear that the village was a merchant because the village of Dark Elf was doing business with a small but cross merchant.
　The lord who ruled the cloth probably wanted to do business with the Dark Elf on a larger scale if possible, but the Dark Elf was trying to avoid human interaction as much as possible.
　That's why the transaction was so thin.
　The lord who ruled the cloth in the past tried to attack the settlement of Dark Elf, but was severely damaged by the counterattack and eventually fell, and since the family line of the present lord came after that, the present lord did not try to force himself.
　That's why we give the cloth a lot of protection, but we don't do anything like coercion.
　Part of this was the dispatch of Earth.

(To be exact, I'll pay you a reward instead.)

　Marina predicts so.
　Some people in the village of Cross trade with the Dark Elves, but they're still scantily.
　If such villagers were asked if they could afford to hire a Rank C adventurer, they would have to turn their heads.
　In other words, there was a high possibility that some percentage of the remuneration for a request to be investigated for abnormalities in this forest...or the full amount came from the lord.

"And when I was looking through the woods, the polo guy suddenly started running... and I was chasing him when I met old Optimis."
"You've been safe,"

　That's what I told you, Ray, who suddenly launched a battle against Optis yesterday.
　However, he bends his head as if he doesn't understand what Earth is saying.
　Ray turns to Optis when he decides that he probably didn't fight against Earth.
　Looking at Ray's eyes, Optis gently diverts her gaze.
　Ray looked fixedly at the option, but he kept looking away.

"Well... you two should be there." Let's go back to the village. I've found an old man. --can you come to Earth, too?"
"What? Oh, yes. I don't mind... well, can I leave them alone?"
"That's all right. It's just a joke."

　Marina then let out a sigh and looked toward the village.