Marina gazed at the New Moon Ring for a while, before eventually handing it back to Rei.
「No good. I’m fairly confident in my ability to appraise magic items, but just looking at it like this, it doesn’t seem like anything particularly amazing. It must have a concealment effect not just for magic power, but for the magic item itself. An even better one than your Dragon Robe, Rei.」
「If it’s that powerful of a magic item, I guess I got lucky.」
Rei nodded in satisfaction at Marina’s words and slipped the New Moon Ring back onto his finger.
As the conversation about the ring settled down, Marina crossed her legs, showing off her voluptuous thighs again, as she spoke.
「About the dungeon, the fact that you wanted information means you’re planning to clear it?」
「Hm? Yeah, of course.」
「Can I ask why? You know what kind of place that dungeon is, right? It doesn’t have many floors, and both the entrance and the inside are narrow. The monsters that appear are weak. On top of that, the materials, magic stones, and proof of subjugation parts from those monsters are all cheap. It’s definitely not a dungeon a high rank adventurer like you should be challenging.」
「You might be right. But I just have a feeling I should go. Besides, having a dungeon near Gilm is troublesome in various ways, isn’t it? Well, it would be a different story if the city was planning to operate as a Labyrinth City……」
「That’s impossible.」
Marina immediately shot down the idea.
It was only natural. Even just building Gilm required the full might of the Mireana Kingdom, consuming massive resources before it was finally completed. The dungeon wasn’t that far from Gilm, so it would certainly be easier than building Gilm from scratch. Even so, if they were seriously going to build a Labyrinth City, Gilm couldn’t possibly do it alone.
Rei understood this perfectly well, so he continued without trying to argue against her.
「Well, anyway, that’s how it is. I’ve been away from Gilm for a while, so it’s also a way to get back into the swing of things.」
「……I suppose that’s fine. Most of the monsters that appear are Goblins and Kobolds. If they’re a bit stronger, Orcs. And maybe Ogres.」
「Wouldn’t Ogres bring in a decent amount of money?」
「Normally, yes. But like I said earlier, the inside of the dungeon is quite narrow. If you encountered an Ogre in there……you understand, right?」
Rei thought about Marina’s words for a moment and nodded.
「Normally, you’d dodge their wide swings and counterattack, but there simply isn’t any space to dodge.」
「Exactly. And to top it off, even if you go through all that trouble to defeat one, the materials and magic stones are of terrible quality.」
「Wow……」
He had heard as much from Daska, but hearing the details again made him completely understand why no one wanted to challenge it.
「So, are you still going to challenge it even knowing all that?」
「Yeah.」
Rei nodded immediately to Marina, who had asked just to be sure.
Perhaps not expecting such an immediate reply, Marina’s eyes widened for a moment……but the next second, she gave a captivating smile.
「I see. If you’re that determined, I have nothing more to say. Do your best clearing the dungeon. As the Guild Master, I won’t show any favouritism, but……I’m expecting good things from you.」
「I want to get it sorted out before the end of the year, so I’d appreciate it if you looked forward to it.」
「Fufu, then I’ll look forward to your report. Thank you for telling me so much today.」
「Hm? Are we done? I thought you’d ask me more about what happened in the Bestir Empire.」
「It’s fine. A lot of the information would be troublesome if I heard it, right? Besides, even if I did need information, hearing it directly from you would cause various issues. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I’ll get my information from elsewhere.」
With those final words, Rei left the office.
Watching Rei leave, Marina returned to her desk and began looking through her paperwork again.
「……Why is he so fixated on that dungeon?」
She murmured softly while signing a document.
It was true that what Rei said wasn’t that strange, even if it left a few lingering questions.
But even so……it was also true that she couldn’t help but feel somewhat doubtful.
「Could there be some secret to the dungeon? If so, normally you’d think the dungeon core would be involved. Or maybe a rare species has appeared there…… No good. Thinking about it won’t give me any answers. There’s no point in overthinking it now.」
She gave a small shake of her head, Marina deciding it was more important to finish her work as Guild Master first as she focused on the documents in front of her.
「Rei, Rei, Rei! Did the Guild Master do anything weird to you?」
As Rei came down the stairs, Kenny, who had finally finished being scolded, hurriedly ran up to him.
A vein bulged slightly on the forehead of the guild staff member who had just been lecturing her, but for the lovestruck Kenny, confirming whether Rei had been seduced by a homewrecker was far more important.
「Hm? Ah, I just got some information about the dungeon and heard about what happened in Gilm while I was gone from the Guild Master.」
「Really, truly?」
「Of course.」
Since nothing had actually happened, Rei replied without any hesitation.
Kenny stared intently at his face for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief, finally calming down.
「I see, thank goodn—Ouch!」
Standing right behind Kenny was Lenora, just like before.
In her hand was something resembling a ruler, like one that would be used when when filling out various documents.
After smacking Kenny on the head with it, Lenora spoke with a somewhat intimidating aura.
「Kenny. Shouting slander against the Guild Master right in the middle of the guild……you’re certainly acting brave today. Let’s have a little chat.」
「Wait, why, Lenora! I was just about to invite Rei out for a meal to celebrate his return……」
「Listen to me, Kenny. Both you and I are still on the clock. Do you understand that?」
Lenora grabbed Kenny by the collar of her uniform and forcefully dragged her away, causing the one being dragged to panic.
「W-Wait, hold on! Lenora, they’re going to spill out! My breasts are going to spill out! My breasts are big, unlike yours!」
True to her words, her twin peaks were bulging out of her collar as she was being dragged, and it wouldn’t have been strange if everything was fully exposed at any second.
The uniform Kenny wore had an open chest area, unlike Lenora’s.
If her collar was forcibly pulled in that situation, it was only natural they would be on the verge of spilling out.
……For the record, Lenora’s uniform covered everything from her neck to her chest. Whether that was due to a complex about the size of her breasts was completely uncertain.
While a few people had tried to ask about it in the past, a hero is only a hero because they accomplish the impossible, and very few ever reach that point.
After all, most meet their end at the hands of the Demon King.
「Rei.」
「Wh-What is it?」
Lenora loosened her grip on Kenny for a moment to call out to Rei.
Rei let out a slightly surprised voice and Lenora tilted her head curiously before getting to the main point.
「Everyone from Scorching Wind is waiting for you in the tavern. Milein was looking for you.」
「……Ah, I see.」
「Wait, Lenora! I said don’t pull! Rei, Rei!」
「Now, now, Kenny, you have a scolding waiting for you, so don’t make this any harder than it has to be.」
Rei watched Kenny get dragged away like that before being ushered out from behind the counter by a guild staff member.
(Lenora is terrifying when she’s angry. I should make sure not to make her mad.)
Rei firmly resolved himself.
「Sorry, did I keep you waiting?」
After the incident with Lenora and Kenny ended, Rei headed to the tavern attached to the guild.
「No, we’re fine. We were just getting hungry anyway. ……Are you going to eat, Rei?」
「Yeah, I guess I’ll grab something too.」
Sulunin, who was drinking a hearty soup at the table, answered with a smile. The person sitting next to him, reaching for a sandwich, nodded in agreement.
「Well, it doubles as our lunch, after all.」
The girl, who looked slightly older than Rei, was Ekril, the final member of the C rank party Scorching Wind, alongside Milein and Sulunin.
「I wanted to play with Set-chan more……」
Mileine, who had been forcibly dragged away from playing with Set by Sulunin when they arrived at the guild, grumbled in dissatisfaction while eating a skewer.
Watching the three of them, Rei sat down at the table and looked at the menu……
「Huh.」
He let out a mild sound of surprise.
The reason was that there was udon on the menu.
Before Rei left for the Bestir Empire, udon had already become quite widespread in Gilm…… in fact, it had even become available in neighbouring cities like Abuero and Sabrusta, but the guild tavern still hadn’t served it back then.
Perhaps noticing Rei’s reaction, Milein peeked at the menu and spoke as if she understood.
「Ah, the udon. Apparently, a lot of people like to eat it at the end of the night after drinking. Word is it’s selling pretty well.」
Hearing that, Rei remembered how drunk people in Japan often wanted to eat ramen after a night of drinking.
(Is it something like that? Since I don’t drink, I can only guess.)
With that in mind, he was also curious about what kind of udon a tavern would serve compared to a standard diner, so he ordered it.
What arrived was udon served in a light, refreshing broth.
The toppings were mainly vegetables, with stewed meat sitting on top of the noodles as if acting as a substitute for bbq pork in ramen.
(Well, since they don’t know what ramen is, it’s probably just a coincidence.)
When he slurped the udon, it had the light taste it appeared to have, yet the chunks of stewed meat added a rich, heavy flavour to it.
For a short while, the sound of slurping udon echoed around the table.
Incidentally, slurping udon while eating was not considered bad manners here, because when Rei taught The Satisfied Stomach how to make udon, he had told them that slurping noisily was the proper etiquette.
Slurping up the noodles, eating the toppings, and drinking the broth, Rei finished his meal. Seeing him pause for a moment, Sulunin, who had been waiting for a chance to speak, spoke up.
「So, about removing the Seeds of Contract today……」
「Yeah. Milein already had hers removed. You heard, right?」
「Yes. But like I had thought yesterday, why this all of a sudden?」
「Milein?」
Rei shot her a look, silently asking if she hadn’t explained the reason to them yet. Milein spoke up.
「It’s about Set-chan. It’s better if you explain it, Rei. I didn’t think it was my place to just talk about it.」
「Fair enough.」
Rei easily accepted Milein’s reasoning and explained how Set’s skills had been widely seen in the Bestir Empire.
Sulunin and Ekril were surprised by this, but they agreed that it couldn’t be helped under the circumstances.
However, even after hearing the situation, Sulunin hesitated.
The Seed of Contract certainly bound his words and actions, but it also had the effect of increasing his fire resistance and the power of his fire magic.
He had heard from Mileine that the fire-related blessings would remain, but he harboured doubts about whether such powerful effects could be granted so simply.
Or that there might be some sort of trap or catch.
Seeing Sulunin’s doubts, Rei shook his head, telling him not to worry.
「There aren’t any side effects or anything like that. That is, as long as the Seed of Contract has been inside your body interacting with your magic power for a certain period of time, and you have an affinity for it. Well, it’s possible the effect will drop slightly, of course, but that’s better than not being able to talk about Set, right?」
Hearing those words, the first to speak wasn’t Sulunin……but rather, Ekril.
「Then, please remove mine.」
「Ekril, are you sure about deciding so easily?」
「Yes. In the first place, rather than having a magic placed on me where I’ll die if I say the wrong thing, safety comes first, even if the fire effects weaken a bit. Besides, unlike you, Sulunin, I don’t use fire magic. In that sense, I’ll only miss the fire resistance a little.」
Sulunin agonised over Ekril’s words.
The boost to his fire magic power had been incredibly useful for him.
The possibility of that power dropping, even slightly, was something he wanted to avoid if possible.
Especially since Sulunin was already at an age where he could be called middle-aged, even with training, he practically had no room left to grow his abilities.
Even so……after struggling with the decision for a while, Sulunin accepted Rei’s offer and decided to have his Seed of Contract removed along with Ekril’s.