He had blown away the Worm's boss — an Elder Worm — using a newly developed fire magic.
Afterward, he encountered Leonard Gascoigne, chairman of the Council of Sages, and received a scolding full of cryptic remarks.
Gascoigne gave Rest a final warning before teleporting away… and Rest returned to the campsite with a giant question mark still lodged in his head.
When he got back, everyone who should have been fast asleep was on their feet, and the atmosphere was in an uproar.
Torches had been lit all over, casting the area in bright light, and the soldiers from House Lavender — the ones who had been standing watch — were running around in every direction.
"Ah, Rest! Where have you been!?"
The moment Rest touched down from the sky, Yuri's eyes narrowed to slits and she shouted at him.
"Where did you go off to!? I was worried sick!"
"Sorry… But more importantly, what happened over here?"
"What happened…? Didn't you see it? There was a massive explosion over there!"
Yuri pointed toward the marshland.
That was, naturally, the direction in which Rest had fought the Elder Worm.
"I woke up because of sounds like something thrashing about, and on top of that, there was a huge explosion visible even from here! You were gone, and I was really worried!"
"Ah… my bad."
He had gotten distracted by everything going on, but after that fierce a battle, it was no surprise the noise had carried this far.
And on top of it all, it had been the Ignition God's massive explosion.
There was no way anyone could have slept through that.
"I just… couldn't fall back asleep, so I went out to fight."
"Fight… Don't tell me?"
"Yeah…"
Rest nodded heavily.
He had been on a high from the Worm meat feast, but once he sobered up, he realized he had done something pretty reckless.
"That explosion was me… I used it to blow up the Worm's boss."
"Rest… What is wrong with you!"
Yuri grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him back and forth.
"Why didn't you invite me!? If you were going off to fight, I would have come along!"
"Oh… so that's what you're mad about?"
"Of course! If I can't fight alongside you, what was the point of following you here!?"
He found himself on the receiving end of an unexpected lecture.
Considering Yuri's personality, though, it made sense.
This was no lecture about environmental damage or common-sense concerns.
"Seriously! If you leave me out again, I won't forgive you. Absolutely not!"
"Ah… fine, fine. I'm reflecting on it. I really am…"
Ultimately, the whole thing had been caused by Yuri's cooking in the first place, so he wasn't entirely convinced he deserved to be the only one getting chewed out — but either way, arguing with an angry woman never helped.
The wisest course was simply to apologize sincerely.
As he weathered Yuri's barking — like a large dog upset about not being taken on a walk — Rest turned his attention to the others.
Ostley was not present.
He appeared to have gone to issue orders to the watching soldiers and was handling the perimeter security.
"……"
Urla was watching Rest from a short distance away.
Her attendant Earlie stood beside her.
"I'm sorry for waking you two up as well."
"……"
He offered the apology, but Urla kept gazing up at him intently.
Her eyes, like amethyst crystals, revealed nothing of what she was thinking as they remained fixed on Rest.
"Um…?"
"So it really is you after all…"
"Hmm?"
"Such beautiful mana…"
"……?"
What was she talking about?
Urla's tone was dreamy and unfocused, as though she were wandering through a vision.
In the sense of not really listening to what anyone said, she reminded him of that youthful-looking sage.
Her incomprehensible behavior left Rest with nothing to do but tilt his head in confusion.