When Rei finished his business with Asimov and Pamidor and left the house, what he saw was something he had expected to a certain extent..
A crowd of people, ranging from small children to adults and the elderly, were surrounding Set, who was still lying on the ground.
Even though it was Asimov’s residence and people usually had no reason to come this way, they had gathered around as if that didn’t matter at all.
「This is truly unexpected.」
While Asimov, who had been unaware of Set’s existence before today, muttered in astonishment. Pamidor and Rei just smiled without seeming to care.
For them, it wasn’t particularly rare for people to gather wherever Set was.
Especially since Rei and Set had been away from Gilm for a while, there were many who wanted to play with Set after their return.
Things had finally started to settle down recently, but not completely. If Set was there, it was only natural for people to gather just to see him.
「Well, it just means you should pay a little more attention to what’s going on outside. In the first place, if you had known about Set sooner, you might have been able to get your hands on Griffon materials a bit earlier, right?」
「……Ugh.」
Rei stepped forward as the two exchanged words……before turning back to speak again.
「Anyway, I’m counting on you regarding the magic sword. Let me know when you have some prospect of finishing it. I’m usually at the Dusk Wheat Pavilion. As for the dungeon core, you can try using it if you think it’ll work, but……make sure you don’t use it for anything other than on the magic sword.」
His final words were directed at Asimov, not Pamidor.
He understood that Asimov was passionate about alchemy, but because of that, he felt there was a risk Asimov might do whatever he wanted if it would satisfy his thirst for knowledge.
In fact, it seemed Rei had hit the mark. Asimov looked shocked for a moment before nodding reluctantly.
「Yeah, I understand. I’ll contact you when I figure something out. That’s good enough, right?」
「Yes. ……Pamidor, I’m counting on you too.」
「Leave it to me. I’ll keep a close eye on him so he doesn’t do anything stupid.」
Pamidor immediately understood the meaning behind Rei’s words.
Asimov directed a slightly dissatisfied look back at Rei.
If Rei hadn’t made sure to emphasize the point here, Asimov probably would have tried doing something anyway.
That was what Rei thought as he observed Asimov, but at the same time, he also felt that it was precisely because he was a person like this that he could become a highly skilled alchemist.
「Alright, I’ll leave it in your hands then.」
Leaving those final words, Rei walked towards the crowd gathered around Set.
「Alright, alright, please step aside. Set and I have to get going now, so please save playing with him for another time.」
At Rei’s words, the people gathered there made way, knowing that it couldn’t be helped.
Normally, there would be some people who would want to keep playing with Set.
However, they knew that holding up Rei would only make Set sad, so they quietly stepped aside.
Of course, there were always those who prioritised their own feelings, but fortunately, it seemed none of those people were present in the current crowd.
「Gururu~!」
Let’s play again next time! Set seemed to say with an energetic cry as he stood up, walked over to Rei, and rubbed his face against him.
Rei patted Set back, and they left the area.
Watching Set go, the people who saw them off had somewhat satisfied expressions, despite looking disappointed.
「Wow……to think people could be so friendly with an A rank monster. Unbelievable.」
Asimov, who had been watching from a short distance away, muttered with deep feeling.
According to Asimov’s common sense, the sight of people interacting so closely with a high rank monster like a Griffon was completely unbelievable.
Of course, Asimov’s common sense was a little different than most peoples’, but it would still be the same for anyone with general common sense.
That said, Gilm’s common sense was also a little different to general common sense.
「The fact that you haven’t been outside at all is a very big problem in various ways. Even I, who haven’t been in Gilm that long, knew about Rei and Set. For you, who’s lived here longer, not to know……that’s a bit of a problem.」
「……I can’t deny that.」
Asimov’s dissatisfied reply likely stemmed from the thought that if he had known about Set sooner, he could have obtained various Griffon materials earlier.
Asimov eventually spoke up while still looking dissatisfied.
「Even so……I was lucky to be able to meet Rei and Set thanks to you, Pamidor. I might have spent years without ever realising there was a Griffon living nearby.」
「Oh, yeah, you can be as grateful as you want. ……Well, jokes aside. Since Rei entrusted me with this job, my pride as a craftsman won’t let me hand over something half-baked.」
「Yeah, you’re right. Even as an alchemist, I’ve managed to obtain the ultimate material: a dungeon core. And if I can get my hands Griffon materials too, other alchemists would surely gnash their teeth in jealousy if they heard about it.」
「……Come to think of it, it’s strange. There are plenty of other alchemists in Gilm besides you. Why haven’t any of them tried to contact Rei until now?」
「Who knows. From my perspective, I can’t understand what those guys are thinking, not contacting him when he has such superb materials.」
Asimov casually dismissed the question, but there had been alchemists in Gilm who had tried to contact Rei about the matter before.
The issue was……Rei spent a lot of time taking on requests, so he wasn’t really in Gilm that often.
And as time passed and they failed to get in contact with Rei, the number of people who liked Set grew, creating an environment where they couldn’t just casually ask for Set’s materials. Furthermore, the Azoth Firm had caused a massive uproar by trying to take Set, putting them at odds with Rei.
To make matters worse, the fact that an alchemist had cooperated with the Azoth Firm spread among Gilm’s alchemists, making it incredibly difficult for any alchemist to even attempt to contact Rei.
As time passed, an unspoken rule formed that alchemists should refrain from contacting Rei.
Rei’s ruthless personality towards those who antagonized him likely played a large part in this as well.
Now, among Gilm’s alchemists, initiating contact with Rei was practically considered taboo, though it would be a different story if he contacted them first.
It was somewhat ironic that Asimov, who knew absolutely nothing about these circumstances, was the first alchemist in Gilm to make contact with Rei.
He himself was completely oblivious to the fact, but perhaps that was a blessing in disguise.
Though, this information would undoubtedly spread among Gilm’s alchemists sooner or later, so he could be considered unlucky in the sense that other alchemists would eventually come knocking to ask him about the situation.
Lenora spotted Rei and smiled the moment he parted ways with Set at the guild entrance and walked in.
At the same time, a knight who was beside Lenora noticed her gaze, turned towards Rei, and also smiled.
Rei wondered why a knight was in the guild, but before he could voice his question, the knight rushed over to him.
「Rei-dono, perfect timing. I was looking for you and had no idea where you had gone.」
Rei tilted his head at the words of the knight, who appeared to be in his thirties.
He wasn’t someone Rei didn’t recognise.
He was one of the knights serving Daska and had also accompanied them as a guard when they headed to the Bestir Empire, so he was a familiar face to Rei.
Even so, he wondered why such a knight was looking for him.
(Is it because I cleared the dungeon? No, but Ranga should have sent a report about that, and I even came back the same day and handed over the preliminary report first……)
So there shouldn’t be anything I’m needed for, right?
That was what Rei thought, but his assumption was far too naive.
Even if it was a newly formed dungeon, if he had cleared it in a matter of hours, it was only natural that Daska would want to hear the details from him in person.
Even if he had already reported it to the guild and the report had been passed on, that fact remained unchanged.
「Daska-sama would like to speak to you about the dungeon.」
The knight spoke somewhat apologetically.
He was in his mid-thirties, making him overwhelmingly older than Rei.
The aura he carried was also powerful, befitting a knight.
Even so, the reason he spoke politely to Rei was likely because he knew Rei’s true strength.
Of course, it would be a different story if Rei were the type to act arrogant because of his strength, but at the very least, Rei had never taken such an attitude towards Daska.
On the contrary, he had a track record of completing various requests for Gilm, the Rowlocks territory, and above all, Daska himself.
Given all that, it was only natural for the knight to treat someone like Rei with respect.
Unaware of the knight’s thoughts, Rei tilted his head at his words.
……A certain cat Beastkin was cheering inwardly at his reaction, but she managed to successfully hide it.
「I thought Ranga had already sent a detailed report regarding the dungeon?」
「Yes. Ranga-dono’s report did arrive. However, Daska-sama still wishes to hear the story directly from the person involved.」
Rei thought for a moment at the knight’s words.
He had come to the guild to find out how far along the Gamelion dismantling was coming along, but now it had turned into something completely unrelated.
However, seeing Rei’s hesitation, Lenora, who had been talking with the knight earlier, interjected.
「Rei, the guild would also prefer it if you could report directly to Daska-sama……」
「Hmm……yeah, okay. But before that, can I ask how the Gamelions are going?」
Lenora must have guessed from that question why Rei had come to the guild. She bowed her head with an apologetic expression.
「I’m sorry, we’ve gathered people to dismantle the Gamelions, but since it’s only been a day, we’re still working through them……」
「I see.」
「Normally we should have progressed a bit further by now, but……well……」
Rei shook his head, telling Lenora not to worry as she stumbled over her words.
「It’s fine, it’s not like I want to eat all the Gamelion meat right away. Besides, I asked knowing that there aren’t many active adventurers at this time of year.」
「No, there is that, but……」
「Hm? Is there something else?」
「Yes, well. Actually……」
「You see, didn’t you mention yesterday that Gamelions might start appearing again from now on? A lot of the people who heard that headed out to try hunt them again. Well, if you think about it, it’s more profitable to hunt one themselves rather than dismantling them for someone else, right? Well, those people who couldn’t go because of rank restrictions are handling the dismantling.」
The one who said that was Kenny, who had been aiming for a chance to break into the conversation from beside to Lenora.
「Hey, Kenny!」
「What, it’s not like there’s any point in hiding it, right? Besides, Rei doesn’t seem to mind either.」
Lenora let out a small sigh at Kenny words, who spoke while looking towards Rei.
「That might be true, but……still, after we accepted the job, don’t you think it’s a bit shameless to proudly announce that we haven’t finished yet?」
「Oh my, do you really think Rei would care about something so small? The only thing small here is a certain someone’s chest……actually, never mind, so how about you lower that clenched fist?」
Kenny had been trying to tease Lenora as usual, but she must have sensed a clear threat from Lenora’s clenched fist as her words trailed off.
「Oh? Is that so? Since you started, why don’t you finish what you were saying? Come on, Kenny? What is small, and where?」
She was probably furious from being constantly teased. Only her mouth formed a curved smile, while her eyes weren’t smiling at all.
Kenny, receiving such a glare from Lenora, realised the danger she was in and forced a smile as she spoke.
「Ah, ahahahaha. Look, I didn’t say anything, okay? Anyway, you should lower that fist, Lenora. Please?」
While speaking to Lenora, Kenny turned her gaze towards the knight and Rei, but……
「……Then, um, Rei-dono. Could you come with me?」
「Yeah, I can. That would probably be for the best. Let’s get going then.」
Rei readily nodded at the knight’s words, as the man quietly averted his gaze.
Having established a mutual understanding, the two turned to leave.
「Ah, wait, Rei!? Don’t abandon me! ……Ouch!」
With tears in her eyes from the fist brought down on her head, Kenny looked towards Lenora.
Lenora dropped her smile and let out a sigh as she spoke.
「Listen, stop saying stupid things. More importantly, Kenny, you go help with the Gamelion dismantling too.」
「Eh? Wait, why me?」
「……Are you going or not?」
「Yes, understood!」
Kenny’s scream echoed through the guild, as if she were being crushed by an incomprehensible aura of intimidation.