Leaving the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, the three of them, Rei, Rent, and Set, made their way towards the main gate.
Rei had wanted to drop by the guild to ask how the Gamelion dismantling was progressing, but since Rent said he already had an agreement to meet in front of the main gate, he couldn’t be too unreasonable.
Well, if it was truly important, Rei would have headed to the guild anyway.
But in this case, he had mostly just wanted to check in, so there was no need to force a trip to the guild.
That was why Rei decided to follow Rent and head towards the main gate, but……
「Hm? What’s wrong? We’re going to the main gate, right?」
Rei asked as he held a skewer in his hand and Rent nodded back with an expression between surprise and exasperation.
「We are, but……to think something like this would happen just from walking through the city. Well, I had heard about it, but seeing it in person is a different matter……」
Rent looked over at Set, who was happily eating dried meat as he walked.
Rent’s appearance was quite different from when they had met in the dining room of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion.
In the dining room, he had only been carrying a long sword with him, but now, he was fully equipped with armour.
After leaving the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, he had gone back to the inn he was staying at to properly prepare his equipment.
Standard leather armour made from monster hide, and winter gear to ward off the cold.
What was slightly unusual was the metal shield slung across his back.
Rent must have noticed Rei’s curious gaze as he spoke up.
「What is it? It’s not like shields are that rare, right?」
「No, it is rare to me. Among the adventurers I’ve met so far, there haven’t been that many who use a shield.」
Of course, the time Rei had spent as an adventurer couldn’t exactly be called long.
……That said, it had already been nearly two years, so it couldn’t exactly be called short either.
Even so, during those two or so year, Rei had been caught up in many incidents, and among them, there hadn’t been that many adventurers carrying shields.
Naturally, it was more common to see a shield compared to adventurers equipped with full plate armour, but the issue of weight was still quite significant.
Having extra weight meant that they couldn’t carry back as many materials harvested from monsters, like magic stones, proof of subjugation parts, meat, ores, plants, and various other things.
Rei’s thoughts must have shown in his look. Rent dexterously shrugged his shoulders despite having the shield on his back, .
「I understand what you want to say, Rei, but considering the peace of mind during combat, it is worth it. Besides, our enemy this time is a Gamelion, and their attack power is high, isn’t it?」
「I won’t deny that.」
Aside from the sharp fangs in its mouth, the blade like ears, and the tail that could be whipped around like a lash, the very body of a Gamelion, which was around three meters long, could be considered a lethal weapon in itself.
Furthermore, their bodies were filled with muscle and they had a ferocious nature.
When facing such a Monster, it certainly wasn’t strange that some would prefer protective gear like a shield.
「That’s why. I was a more defense oriented vanguard in my party anyway.」
「……Come to think of it, you said you were going on a Gamelion hunt, but from what I just heard, you aren’t actually a solo adventurer, are you?」
「Hm? Ah, of course not. Or rather, a solo C rank adventurer is quite rare. Though it’s a different story for someone as highly skilled as you.」
Speaking enviously to Rei, who was a solo B rank adventurer, let alone C rank, Rent steered the conversation back on topic.
「Well, my party has already finished our winter preparations. So, each of us can spend our time however we like.」
「And you chose to go Gamelion hunting in this cold. For a woman, no less.」
「Ugh, w-what does it matter!? I’m properly paying you for this, aren’t I?」
Rent spoke while stroking his stubble, perhaps to evade the topic.
Rei thought about teasing Rent a bit more, but since the main gate was already in view, he dropped the subject for now.
Perhaps because they were past the busiest time of the morning, there weren’t many people around.
The number of people coming in and out of Gilm naturally decreased at this time of year anyway, but because of that, the few people gathered near the main gate stood out.
「You’re meeting inside the gate, not outside?」
「Kind of, they should have already finished the procedures to leave. It’s just that it’s much easier to avoid the cold wind near the gate than stepping outside. That’s all. ……Actually, did you not know about basic adventurer wisdom such as that……」
Have you not learned or done that before?
Rent was about to say that, but stopped mid sentence.
It might be a different story if Rei were part of a party, but Rei basically operated solo.
In other words, aside from meeting up for a request, Rei had little experience meeting up with other adventurers for anything.
……In reality, the actual reason was that Rei didn’t care about the cold thanks to the Dragon Robe, but there was no way Rent could have known that.
「Hm? Hey, Rent. You did tell them I was coming, right? So, leaving the carriage aside, why do they have a handcart prepared?」
Seeing a carriage and a handcart near the gathered group, Rei asked curiously.
It was true that if they managed to hunt a Gamelion, transporting it normally would be impossible.
Item boxes aside, even the item bags and pouches that circulated the market cost a considerable amount, meaning they weren’t something adventurers could easily obtain.
Also, loading a Gamelion into the body of a carriage would leave it reeking of blood.
Given all that, the simplest method was indeed to transport it by handcart……
But since they had decided to invite him, wasn’t preparing a handcart unnecessary?
At Rei’s question, Rent scratched his head, looking embarrassed.
「Well, honestly, inviting you was completely my own decision.」
「……I see. In other words, you were too focused on scoring points with Johanna.」
「……」
At Rei’s words, Rent quietly averted his gaze.
That alone made it feel foolish to pursue the matter any further, but Rei felt he needed to say at least this much.
「I definitely think it is a good idea in terms of giving them a surprise. However……that won’t necessarily lead things in a positive direction, you know?」
「Hm? What do you mean?」
「I told you in the dining room, didn’t I? ……Well, you’ll see.」
Rent didn’t quite understand what Rei meant as he asked, but as if to say ‘seeing is believing’, Rei directed his gaze forward……towards the members of the former guerrilla force who aspired to be adventurers, although not all of them were here.
Rei could see that those who had already noticed him wore expressions of surprise……and not only that, one figure came running towards them.
「Set-chan, it’s been so long!」
Shouting with a face full of joy as she ran over, the woman……Johanna, rushed over to Set and immediately began stroking him all over.
That behavior was something Rei had seen before in another person.
(Preventing her from meeting Milein……is probably impossible isn’t it?)
The face of someone who would react similarly to Johanna crossed Rei’s mind and he hoped it wouldn’t turn into a weird conflict……even though he knew that was wishful thinking.
「That’s enough for now. More importantly, have you guys already moved out of the lord’s residence?」
Being spoken to, Johanna finally seemed to notice Rei. She hurriedly bowed her head towards him.
……Though the fact that she was still stroking Set while doing so revealed her true focus.
「Captain Rei……wait, Rei-san. Why are you here?」
「I had hoped you would have noticed the moment you saw Set was here.」
As Rei sighed, the other former guerrilla force members also gathered around him.
「Rei-san, you seem as energetic as ever.」
「Idiot……it’s Rei-san, you know? With his power, any illness would just be blown away.」
「I’m not sure about that, but strangely, if I think that it’s Rei-san doing it, I would kind of just accept it.」
Rei spoke to the three of them, or rather the four of them including Johanna.
「It’s been a while……although that might be an exaggeration. It hasn’t been that long since we parted ways. So, are things going for you all right now?」
「Ah, yes. Through Daska-sama’s connections, we decided to rent a large house and a number of us plan to live there together. For now, those of us who have finished moving and are free are going out on a Gamelion hunt.」
At those words, Rei recalled the time he took charge of their luggage in the Imperial Capital of the Bestir Empire……and when he returned the luggage stored in the Misty Ring when Daska called him in to explain the dungeon situation.
「Johanna had a considerable amount of luggage, though……are you telling me you already finished unpacking all of it?」
「……Well, for some reason, there was someone helping out.」
The adventurers briefly directed their gazes towards Rent, who was desperately looking for a chance to talk to Johanna.
Understanding exactly what had happened from that alone, Rei decided to say no more out of pity.
(Moving Johanna’s luggage……that’s nothing short of heavy labor. It really is a classic case of weakness born from love.)
Taking a quick glance at Rent, Rei once again called out to the group in front of him.
「Well, setting that aside. Since you guys just arrived in Gilm, I thought I’d lend you a hand for a bit. Rent also asked me to help out, which is why I’m here.」
「……Eh? Rei-san is going to help us? Wait? Is it going to snow?」
「It wouldn’t be strange for it to snow at any time now. If you’re going to use an expression like that, you should say ‘Is it going to rain spears?’.」
「More like rain fire, since it’s Rei-san……」
Seeing them making a fuss about Rei’s decision to help them out, Rei smiled from under his hood as he replied.
「If you want, I can make it really rain fire or spears for you, you know? I’m good at both, so I’ll make it rain as much as you desire.」
They must have sensed that Rei was being serious as the three of them frantically shook their heads.
「N-No way. We don’t want that at all. Right?」
「Of course. Yeah, absolutely not.」
「Yeah, yeah, we don’t want anything like that.」
Seeing the three men frantically spit out those words, Johanna, who had been entirely captivated by Set, tilted her head.
「Huh, what’s wrong?」
Seeing it as a way out, the three shook their heads, saying it was nothing.
「Rei-san said he’s going to help us with our work. You’re happy about that too, right, Johanna?」
「Eh? Of course I’m happy about it, but……are you sure?」
Johanna asked while stroking Set’s body, and Rei nodded, indicating he didn’t mind.
「Despite everything, you guys still aren’t used to the area around Gilm, right? Since you have Rent, you’ll probably manage for the most part, but……let’s see. Consider this a parting gift from the guy who led the guerrilla force. Fortunately, catching a Gamelion shouldn’t be that difficult right now……probably.」
「Ah, speaking of which, I heard about it. That you cleared the dungeon the other day, Rei-san. Thanks to that, we can hunt Gamelions now, right?」
Rei nodded at the question asked by one of the men.
「I say dungeon, but it was just a newly formed, shallow one. More importantly, if we’re going, let’s get going. Just so you know, I’m only going to help you find a Gamelion. Bringing it down is your job.」
Hearing Rei state that he wasn’t going to fight, all four of them, including Johanna, nodded without showing any dissatisfaction.
Rent had inwardly hoped Rei would help fight, but since his target, Johanna, accepted it without issue, he couldn’t speak out against it now.
(Besides, if Rei fought, he’d steal all the spotlight. I’d rather have Johanna see me in action.)
Rent was also an adventurer from Gilm.
He understood from the bottom of his heart just how much power the petite person in front of him possessed, completely contradicting his appearance.
It was easy to imagine that if Rei fought a Gamelion, he would dominate it completely.
In fact, Rei had achieved an overwhelming victory against nearly fifty Gamelions when clearing the dungeon, and above all, to the members of the former guerrilla force, he had performed remarkably during the Bestir Empire’s civil war.
「It seems you guys rented a handcart, but what do you want to do with it? I can carry the monster corpses, including the Gamelion, in my item box if you want.」
Hearing that, no one argued for bringing the handcart with them, which would only be a hindrance during travel. Ultimately, they just returned the handcart to where they had rented it from.
「Alright, let’s go then. If we leave now, we should be back by evening. Oh, just so we’re clear, my cooperation only lasts until we return to Gilm. Don’t expect me to help with the Gamelion dismantling. I’m not that great at it to begin with.」
「Come to think of it, that’s true. Then leave that part to us. We’ll be counting on you to bring us to the Gamelions, Rei-san.」
And so, Rei, Set, Rent, Johanna, and her three companions, a total of six people and one animal, began their trip to hunt down a Gamelion.