While eating, Ray suddenly realizes.

"Oh, my God,"
"Ray? What's wrong?"

　An adventurer who dined nearby quickly looks around, wondering if he felt anything about Ray.
　Perhaps they thought that some kind of monster might have appeared.
　It was a sign of his ability to act quickly, but that's not the case with Ray this time around.
　It was because I completely forgot to pick up both Anastasia and Fana.
　There were so many things today... so many things happened that I completely because there were so many things happened.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about the Anastasia! I'll pick you up right away. ... Set!"
"Grull? ...Grull.

　After seeing Ray's words, Seto glanced regretfully at the meat he was eating, but he still approached Ray because he was calling him.
　He was probably too busy eating to listen to Ray.
　give Ray a look at what's going on
　Ray also forgot about Anastasia, so he doesn't blame Seto and instead speaks apologetically.

"You forgot Anastasia and Fana. They're still there, so I have to pick them up."
"... Guru? Guru! Guru!"

　When Ray tells her to do so, Seto exclaims in a flurry, perhaps realizing that he had forgotten about the Anastasia.
　It's already quite dark around.
　In this season near summer, it's not raining or cloudy, it's a sunny day, so it's time to call it dinner time.
　Seto immediately crouches down and urges Ray to ride on his back.
　Ray also leaps on the back of Seto soon.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to pick up the Anastasia! You just eat whatever you want!"

　Before she finishes, Seto starts running.
　Instead of running lightly as usual, the term "full speed" is appropriate.
　On her back, Ray wonders how to mislead Anastasia.
　I gave them lunch, but other than that, I only gave them snacks that they could eat lightly.
　Then, of course, he must be hungry now, and I don't know what he'll ask of Ray for.

(For the time being, I brought you some grilled meat, and I'll ask you to bear it.)

　Thinking like that on Seto's back, Seto, who is running at full speed, twists through the trees in the dark forest.
　. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
　In the daytime, the expression "sun leaking from trees" is appropriate, and the scenery is so beautiful that you can't help but look at it at night.
　It can be called a complete blockade, without even a little light.
　But Ray and Sett have night vision, so it's not too dark to see anything.

"Gruly!"

　As we approach the center of the Trent forest, Seto shrieks sharply.
　Ray also listens to Seto's call to see if there are any problems around him... especially if there are any monsters.
　There are monsters who move briskly at night, and in that sense this incident... it was quite a blunder to completely forget about Anastasia and Fana.

(Okay, there's no sign of a monster... ...maybe he ran away after sensing Sett's sign.)

　Basically, it's not unusual for many monsters to escape from the scene, given the presence of a higher-ranking monster.
　Those who don't run away are monsters like goblins who don't even know that their opponents are superior, who have a fighting disposition, or who are proud to never run away.
　There are many other monsters that don't run away for a variety of reasons, but there's no doubt that there are still more monsters that run away.
　There are only such monsters now, and it was a great help to Ray that there were no attacking monsters.
　And when he comes to his destination... to a passage leading to the underground space, Ray leaves Seto on the ground and heads for the underground space.
　What's going on in the underground space?
　That's what Annastasia will say when they arrive in the underground space.
　That's what I was thinking, but...

"Well, yes. I expected this."

　He may not have thought so at all, but he mutters as if he were telling himself.
　This is because the scene that was spreading before Ray was no different from when he left the underground space in the morning.
　Anastasia, who is looking into Whisp, and Fanna,
　Fana wears a mask, so it's hard to say for sure, but if she's been taking care of Anastasia until this time, Ray can still predict that she'll be quite tired.

"Ah... well... hey, Anastasia, Fana, you might not know the time because you're here, but it's already night."

　Fanah looks up at Ray's words.
　And when I saw Ray, he looked surprised... ...as he was wearing a mask, I just expected from the atmosphere and manner.
　At any rate, when Ray finds him, he swings Anastasia in a flurry and releases his focus on Whisp.

"What? I could have made a hypothesis about Whisp."
"No, but..."

　Fana points to Rey at Anastasia, who looks discontented.
　Fana looks like that, and Anastasia follows her fingertips... and finds Ray.

"Oh, Ray? What's the matter? You're back quite early again."
"Not early in the first place. ... When do you think it's time? It's night now, and we're all having dinner in the Tower of Birth."
"...what? Is that the time?"
"Don't do that. How far did you concentrate?"

　Ray turns a dumbfounded look at Anastasia.
　At Ray's gaze, Anastasia moves her elf's long ears to mislead something.

"As a researcher, that's natural, isn't it? If you can't concentrate this much, you don't deserve to study this whisk."

　That's what Ray wondered a little bit, but he thought Anastasia would definitely not be convinced if he said it here.
　It's also very helpful for Ray that Anastasia actually studies Whisp.
　The possibility is still very small... that's a good chance to call it a miracle, but maybe we can go to Japan.

"Oh, yes. Well, it's helpful for me that Anastasia is working hard on her research. So, did you know what it is today?"
"... you know. There's no way you can do anything just by studying it for such a short time."

　Ray could be looked at dumbfoundedly, but I wonder if that's what it is.
　It's because Ray doesn't know exactly what kind of research a researcher does... and how long it will take him to produce results.
　Considering this incident, it might be better to understand it to some extent.

"Didn't the hypothesis say anything?"
"Well, yes, but hypotheses are hypotheses, but they're really just imaginative, and they're like stacking hypotheses on top of hypotheses... really? Not really, but they're not something that we can talk about yet."Ray wanted to hear that too, but I thought Anastasia wouldn't say anything even if she persisted here, and decided that she couldn't keep Sett waiting on the ground forever.

"All right. Let's stop here for now, I'll go back to the Tower of Birth. You're hungry, aren't you?"

　As he says so, Ray wonders if he should keep food in this basement.
　Of course, it's hard to rot, and it's highly preservative food like dried meat and baked bread.
　Then, if you're late like today, you can still disguise your hunger.
　though it was a meal similar to that of the adventurers in the neighborhood, and it was very much the tower of their birth, and certainly not as luxurious as the adventurers and lizards now eat.

"Well, now that you mention it, I'm hungry, too."

　Yes, next door to what Anastasia said, Fana nodded strongly in agreement with the words.
　For Fana, the influence of dating Anastasia must have made her feel hungry.
　Is it the will of a maiden to keep her belly quiet?
　Although in reality the sound of the belly is not something you can manage on your own initiative.
　At any rate, the Ray's words of Anastasia's hunger left the basement.





"Oh, it's not dark anymore,"

　That's the first thing Anastasia muttered outside.
　In fact, as Anastasia says, the surroundings are completely dark.
　Being underground, and being fully focused on Whisp, Anastasia's sense of time was probably completely paralyzed.
　Looking around, Anastasia looks completely unexpected.

"Right? Anastasia is too focused. ... Well, I don't know."

　At the end of the sentence, Ray muttered because he remembered that time had gone by so quickly when he was in Japan reading books and playing games.
　It was different from what he was doing, but Ray also remembered that time flew by because he was so focused on one thing.

"It's important that you were in the basement. ... But isn't it because Ray was late to pick you up?"
"...well, I don't deny that either."

　In fact, Ray is certain to have forgotten to pick up Anastasia today, as a result.
　Then I can't argue with Anastasia's words.
　That's why Ray decides to turn the subject a little off.

"At this time, there are many dangers in the woods, so you can't move slowly as you did when you came here in the morning. We'll all ride on Seto's back and hurry back to the Tower of Birth, OK?"

　It was against Fana that I got that confirmation.
　Since she was shy and shy, she probably didn't want to get close to Ray, and most of all, she was afraid of Seto's speed.
　But, given the horror of the Trent Forest at night, it is certain that we should return to the Tower of Birth as soon as possible.
　If so, we still needed to move here as quickly as possible.
　As long as Ray and Sett are present, they can deal with it if they are not too close.
　But there was an object of escort -- Anastasia and Phana -- that could have happened, as you say, with a stumbling block.
　Given the circumstances around it, we still need to hurry here.

"... All right,"

　Though grudging, really grudging, Fanah agrees to Ray's words.
　For Fana, it was easy to predict that some problems would arise since she was an assistant to Anastasia.
　But it was unexpected for Fana to have a problem like this all of course.

"All right. Shall we go? Set, three of us. Are you all right?"
"Gul-l-r-r-r-r-r-r!"

　At Ray's words, Seto shouts, "It's all right!"
　With Seto, three adult males can ride without any problems.
　With that in mind, it's nothing like carrying a small Ray and two women.
　...and in some cases it may be less than the weight of a large man.
　There's no problem for Seto to put such an opponent on his back.
　...but I'm sure it would be quite difficult if I were told to fly in that situation.

"All right, then I'll go. Well, Fana is in front of you, Anastasia is behind you, and I'm behind you."

　Thinking of the shy Phana, it was a suggestion that it would be better for her to contact Anastasia, not herself, but when they nodded to her, the story was easily settled... the three of them made their way to the Tower of Birth.