Rei was surprised by the guards’ words about the new dungeon, but he couldn’t exactly head there to take a look immediately. He entered Gilm after being told that it would be better to get the details directly from Daska.
Of course, Rei wasn’t entering the city alone. He was accompanied by the former guerrilla unit members as well as the people who had come with them to live in Gilm.
As soon as they passed through the gates, Rei’s group started making their way towards the lord’s residence.
The people in Gilm casually called out to Rei and the others as they passed by.
This greatly surprised the former guerrilla unit members.
Naturally, people had called out to Rei in the Bestir Empire too, but most of their attention had been on Set. Rei’s title of Crimson in addition to his past actions were well known by others, so few people actually dared to approach him casually.
「Wow. They’re just casually calling out to Rei.」
「It’s hard to believe. Even we wouldn’t just call out to him like that.」
「Right. Ah, but the way they treat Set is the same.」
They sighed in relief at the familiar sight of a passing adventurer give Set some dried meat from their pocket.
「Even so……did you hear the story from earlier?」
「Story? About what?」
「The dungeon. I’ve heard rumours they can occur naturally, but to actually see one with my own eyes……」
「You haven’t even seen it yet. We just know it’s there.」
「Even so! A dungeon is great news for us. You know why, right?」
The man looked intently at the woman sitting in the driver’s seat of a neighbouring carriage.
The woman sighed before replying.
「I know. A dungeon means we can earn money there, right? Especially since we’re newcomers to Gilm. Rather than fighting over the few requests available in winter, we’d be better off getting monster materials and magic stones from a dungeon.」
「There aren’t many requests in winter, but those who haven’t saved enough to survive the season are desperate for them. ……If we just push our way in, they won’t look kindly on us. It’d be different if there was a surplus of requests.」
「……Wouldn’t those people also go to the dungeon? Well, rank might be an issue, but still.」
As they talked, they eventually reached the lord’s residence.
Glancing at each other, they were surprised by the building that looked more like a fortress than a lord’s residence. Rei lowered the hood of his Dragon Robe to call out to the familiar gatekeeper……but was beaten to it.
The gatekeepers had naturally noticed the group of carriages approaching, and they knew that Rei was leading them.
「Rei, you’ve returned.」
「Yeah, finally. Anyway, I was told at the city gate to head straight to the lord’s residence to meet with Daska?」
One of the gatekeepers glanced at his colleague, who immediately headed inside the residence.
「I heard you’ve been pretty busy. You can tell me about it next time.」
The gatekeeper spoke to Rei like an old friend.
Rei had visited Daska at the lord’s residence countless times, so it was natural for him to get to know the gatekeepers. While some treated their job strictly as work, this particular gatekeeper was happy to chat casually.
「Maybe if you treat Set and me to some food.」
The man looked back at Rei in disgust.
「If I feed you and Set until you’re full, what am I supposed to eat tomorrow?」
「Just get Daska’s chef to make you something.」
「Hey……haah.」
「Don’t praise me so much.」
「How could you possibly think I was praising you just now!?」
The former guerrilla unit members watched their exchange, dumbfounded.
They had almost never seen anyone interact with Rei this casually. Vihera was the first to come to mind, followed by Theorem, Frizione, and Angela.
「So? I heard when I was entering the city that a new dungeon has appeared?」
「Ah……so you’ve already heard. Yeah, it caused a huge uproar when it was first found. The city has only calmed down in the last few days. Captain Ranga helped a lot by heading over there. It also fortunate that the dungeon itself is quite small.」
「……It’s a small one?」
Rei looked down at his hands.
He wasn’t worried about his own size; he was thinking about the dungeon core at the deepest part of the dungeon. He remembered destroying one previously with the Death Scythe.
(I don’t know if a dungeon core counts as a monster, but the Death Scythe has already absorbed one before. Skills like Terrain Manipulation are pretty useful. I don’t know what Set will learn if he absorbs it, but……it’s worth a shot?)
If the dungeon was small, getting the core probably wouldn’t be too hard. Rei smiled slightly at the thought.
「Yeah. It was pretty sudden. Things were tough at first because monsters came pouring out of the entrance. Fortunately, they were weak monsters like Goblins, so there wasn’t any real damage. The entrance was small, so large monsters couldn’t get out.」
「Is that why Ranga is there?」
「Yeah. Since the dungeon appeared so suddenly, his presence helped to calm people down.」
「……Are people allowed to freely enter that dungeon?」
The gatekeeper’s eyes widened slightly.
「Hey, you just got back from the Bestir Empire, and you’re already looking for your next job?」
「I don’t have much to do during winter anyway, and having a dungeon nearby is troublesome for Gilm, right? ……By the way, how close is ‘nearby’?」
「About a few hours’ walk.」
「……It certainly is close.」
The dungeon with the Altar of Inheritance that Rei had explored with Elena was a few days away by carriage. Compared to that, a few hours on foot was practically on their doorstep.
「Right? That’s why it caused such an uproar in Gilm. Anyway, the location is……」
Just as the gatekeeper was about to continue, his colleague returned.
「Daska-sama will see you, so head on in. Just you, though. We’ve prepared a room inside for the others to go over the rules for immigrating to Gilm.」
Normally, the lord or his subordinates wouldn’t go out of their way to meet new immigrants to the city.
However, these circumstances were far from normal. This was a group from the Bestir Empire, and they were former guerrilla force members who had fought in the civil war with Rei. Daska needed to personally understand the situation.
Sergio looked at Rei, silently asking if it was okay to trust them.
Rei nodded back. Relieved, Sergio and the other former guerrilla force members nodded to the gatekeeper.
(Elena should have already passed on the message that people were coming with me. It should be fine.)
The returning gatekeeper called out to him.
「Rei, you’ll……ah, the maid will guide you. It’s over at the usual office.」
「Understood. ……Well then, see you later.」
Rei called out to Sergio and the others before heading inside. Set started walking towards the stables on his own before Rei could even say anything, proving Rei wasn’t the only one used to going over to the lord’s residence.
「It’s been a while, Rei-sama. I’ll take you straight to Daska-sama.」
「Yeah, please.」
Guided by the familiar maid, Rei entered the lord’s residence.
「Daska-sama, I have brought Rei-sama.」
Even though he had been to the lord’s residence countless times, the luxurious office door still surprised Rei.
The door alone was worth enough to let a commoner live in luxury for several generations.
「Enter.」
The maid opened the door and let Rei in.
Upon entering, Rei saw a massive mountain of documents piled on the desk. A sullen Daska sat among the paperwork, looking deeply displeased.
「Rei, you’re back.」
「……Yeah. But what on earth is all this?」
「Hmph, haven’t you heard? A dungeon suddenly appeared near Gilm.」
「I heard, but……is that why it’s like this?」
Being a noble was tough work, Rei thought casually. Daska let out a large sigh.
「Just so you know, the paperwork for the people you brought is in here too.」
「……Thank you.」
Rei didn’t know what else to say.
Realising he was just taking his stress out on Rei, Daska stood up and scratched his head.
「Bring us something light to eat. Ah, make it a large portion.」
Knowing exactly how much Rei ate, the maid smiled, bowed slightly, and left the office.
Daska told Rei to sit on the reception sofa and took the seat opposite him.
「……Sounds like you had a rough time.」
「Yeah, you could say that. It wasn’t all bad, though.」
「The Immovable Noiz, huh.」
Rei nodded with a complicated expression.
The battle with Noiz had been incredibly beneficial, but he still felt like he had lost……or at least been let lightly.
「Also……there’s the matter with Set.」
「……An A rank monster is surprising enough, let alone a rare species. You did well to tame a monster equivalent to S rank.」
「We’ve been together since I was a kid. It’s less like he’s tamed and more like he’s my brother.」
Daska gave a wry smile.
If you could tame a monster just by growing up with it, there would be a lot more tamed monsters around. He decided there was no point in mentioning that and moved on.
「Then there are those guys you brought.」
「Right. But wouldn’t you consider poaching skilled people from the Bestir Empire a decent result?」
「It’s a problem if they’re still connected to the other side.」
「I don’t think you need to worry about that……」
They absolutely did not want to be hostile to Rei. They’d rather abandon their country than to fight him. Or, they just wanted to be with Set.
Since they had openly said these things, Rei didn’t think they were lying. Rei explained this, but Daska shook his head.
「I might believe you, Rei, but I can’t just blindly trust them. There’s no clear evidence, just your gut feeling. ……In my position, I can’t completely accept that reasoning.」
「I see.」
Rei had to agree with Daska’s reasoning.
It was one thing for Daska to trust them himself, but he needed a solid basis if he had to explain it to anyone else.
「……So, is it going to be dangerous for them?」
「Not dangerous, but they’ll be under surveillance for a while. ……Don’t worry, we won’t make it obvious and they won’t be uncomfortable.」
「Egg?」
「Yeah.」
Rei thought back to the men he had fought near Sabrusta and their leader.
Egg used to lead the Prairie Wolves bandits, but Daska had hire him to handle the darker side of the Rowlocks territory.
The Prairie Wolves were all fairly skilled. If they were running surveillance, they wouldn’t be easily noticed.
(The former guerrilla force members are also skilled though. It wouldn’t be strange if a few of them noticed.)
Recalling a few of their faces, Rei nodded back to Daska. He didn’t think it would be a problem.
「Yeah, I think that’s for the best. Besides……if they try anything, it’s my responsibility for bringing them here. I’ll take care of them if it comes to that. ……Though I doubt it will.」
Daska nodded as Rei smiled confidently.
Since Daska already believed Rei, this was purely a precaution.
「……Now then, setting the immigrants aside, tell me what happened during the civil war.」
They were finally getting to the main topic.
Rei started talking about everything that happened after he parted ways with Daska in the Imperial Capital.