After leaving the lord’s residence, Rei headed to the Baron Cisne residence alongside Set.
When Rei informed Mouet about the necessity of bodyguards, Mouet seemed to recall his conversation with Keep and immediately agreed to hire guards. He undoubtedly needed to protect his son and his maid. Although the Baron Cisne family lacked the money, they still had a certain amount of funds for paying out request rewards.
However, the guards were needed urgently. If they submitted a request to the guild now and waited for it to be posted……it would be too late. Therefore, it was decided that Rei would look for members as a private request outside the guild.
Entrusted with selecting the guards, Rei immediately headed to the guild. Since it was a request handled outside the guild, choosing guards inside the guild was technically rather problematic. However, it was also true that at this time of the year, the place where the largest number of adventurers gathered was the guild……or more accurately, the guild tavern.
Arriving at the guild, Rei parted ways with Set in front of the building as usual before stepped inside. What greeted him inside was a naturally quiet guild, contrasted sharply by the crowded tavern.
Rei glanced towards the counter just in case, but the individuals present did not look highly skilled. No, since they were adventurers in Gilm, they likely possessed abilities above average, but they lacked the level of skill Rei desired. Looking over at the counter, neither Lenora nor Kenny were anywhere to be seen either, which was rare.
Having rarely spoken to the other receptionists, Rei judged there was no point asking about the skills of the adventurers at the guild, so he turned his gaze towards the tavern……and his eyes stopped at a single spot. Standing in his line of sight was a dwarf, drinking in a great mood, and a woman reaching for food on a plate while looking at him with exasperation.
The two were individuals familiar to Rei. They were the two who had acted alongside him during his previous trouble with the Azoth Firm. The male dwarf was Brazos, and the human woman was Freon. They were the members of the C rank party Crushing Warriors.
「I’m in luck. ……No, wait, maybe not.」
Brazos was an extreme lover of alcohol and it was winter right now. Most adventurers would take a long holiday until spring arrived, so an alcohol lover like Brazos would naturally spend his time at the tavern. In other words, finding Brazos at the tavern was a natural outcome.
Heading straight towards the tavern, Rei took a seat at the table where Brazos and Freon were sitting.
「Hmm? Who’s sitting down without……wait, if it isn’t Rei. It’s been quite a long time since we last met.」
Freon spoke with her usual tomboyish tone. Seeing Freon’s reaction, Brazos seemed to notice Rei as well. With a flushed face, he spoke up in a great mood.
「Ah? Rei? ……Oh, it really is Rei. It has been a very long time.」
「Long time no see. Actually, I wanted to ask you two to handle a request for me, but……」
As Rei spoke and turned his gaze towards Brazos, the dwarf immediately shook his head. Rei could tell right away that Brazos wanted to say he shouldn’t be disturbed when he finally had the chance to drink to his heart’s content.
「Since Brazos is a no go……what about you, Freon?」
「Me? Well, I’m certainly free, but……any job you bring us is bound to be a pain, right?」
「I don’t think it’s that bad. I want you to work as bodyguards for four days starting today.」
Freon displayed a look of slight surprise at Rei’s words. She likely hadn’t expected the word bodyguard to come from Rei’s mouth. From her past experience, she had taken it for granted that any requests coming from Rei would be related to subjugation. Then again, since Rei preferred accepting subjugation requests for the sake of collecting magic stones, Freon’s assumption was by no means incorrect.
「Hmm. Bodyguards, huh. Let’s hear the details.」
Rei’s words seemed to have piqued her interest slightly. Freon asked as she placed the dried meat she held back onto the plate on the table. Relieved to have caught her interest, Rei recounted the events of the previous day.
The exact moment she heard that Keep had initiated a duel to forcibly claim Ashie, veins popped on Freon’s forehead. Freon was a woman too. She could easily understand what Keep, a textbook example of a corrupt noble, intended to do once he got his hands on Ashie.
……Meanwhile, several adventurers at a nearby table who had been noisy until a few minutes ago shrank back as if their previous behaviour were a lie upon seeing Freon’s reaction, but she paid no mind to them at all, or perhaps simply ignored them, as she spoke.
「I see, so that’s why you became the proxy for the duel, Rei. ……Even so, wagering half of an earl family’s assets, what on earth is that man thinking? Is he an idiot? No matter how much he thinks it’s a guaranteed victory, there are no absolute certainties in a fight. Well, I suppose it’s only natural for a fool who can’t get a woman without relying on his authority.」
「Undoubtedly. Well, putting that aside, the other side is bound to figure out what kind of person I am before long. Once that happens, they’ll realise that defeating me in a duel is practically impossible. Which means the next thing they’ll try to do is……」
「To call off the duel itself, huh.」
「Exactly. For example, by having everyone carrying the blood of the Baron Cisne family die out.」
Having heard that much, Freon likely understood exactly who the targets of the bodyguard job were. With a ferocious smile appearing on her face, she nodded back.
「Sounds good. Arrogant nobles always make me want to punch them. It’s a shame I can’t punch the noble himself, but being able to beat up his lackeys is more than I could ask for. ……Hey, Brazos. You heard everything. You’re coming too.」
「Hold on. Why do I have to be dragged along? Weren’t we just talking about you handling this yourself!?」
Brazos shouted in protest, holding his cup of ale. However, his words were somehow weaker than usual, likely because he was overwhelmed by Freon’s intense aura.
In the first place, Freon loved to keep active. For someone like her, winter, a time of the year when there was next to nothing to do but train, was incredibly stressful. Even while drinking at the tavern like this, her desire to move her body remained strong. Under such circumstances, what Rei spoke about was a textbook example of a corrupt noble trying to steal a woman by relying on his authority. There was no way Freon wouldn’t be fired up by this.
「As for the exact reward, please head to the Baron Cisne residence and ask. Outside of the advance payment, I expect it will likely be paid out of the assets the other side will surrender as the price of losing the duel. However, just the two of you won’t be enough people. I’ll drop by another place I have in mind next to gather more people. ……Do you know where Baron Cisne’s house is?」
「Yeah, no problem. One way or another, we have had plenty of opportunities to show our faces in the noble district too. I roughly know where it is, and if worst comes to worst, we can just ask the adventurers guarding the noble district. As for making up the numbers, I have a few people in mind myself, so I’ll reach out to them.」
「I see. Then I leave it to you.」
Stating that, Rei stood up from his seat and headed outside. After seeing Rei leave, Freon forcefully dragged Brazos away, who was clinging to the table, determined to keep drinking no matter what, and headed back to their inn to prepare their equipment.
Leaving the guild, Rei headed towards his destination alongside Set by following the route Johanna had told him about previously. After walking for about thirty minutes from the guild. Amidst the falling snow, a house that would be better described as a mansion came into view. There was also a stable in the garden, and nearby, several carriages were covered in sheets, with snow accumulating on top of them.
「……Is it fine to leave them outside?」
Rei muttered as he looked at the carriages, but he immediately understood. Even if there was a shed, it wouldn’t be large enough to store all the carriages inside. Indeed, even for a house spacious enough to be called a mansion, it was obvious there was no shed large enough to store the carriages of everyone living here. Even so, the fact that all the horses were inside the stable meant the stable must have been quite large.
「Gururu~?」
Set looked around the mansion at Rei’s murmuring, and the exact moment he spotted the stable, he turned his round eyes towards Rei. The horses that had pulled the carriages used by the former guerrilla force and their associates had grown quite accustomed to Set during their journey. Initially, they were terrified at the mere sight of Set approaching, but by the time they arrived in Gilm, they showed no signs of panic at all, even when he walked right beside them. Because of that, the horses were now likely good friends with Set.
Understanding what Set was hoping for, Rei nodded and lightly patted Set’s back. Watching Set head towards the stable, Rei lightly knocked on the front door of the mansion. A few seconds passed. Eventually, along with the sound of someone running, the door opened.
「Yes, yes, who is it……wait, if I remember correctly, you’re Rei?」
The person who peeked out from the door was a face familiar to Rei. However, she was not a member of the former guerrilla force, but rather a relative of theirs.
「I dropped by because I have some business……how many members of the former guerrilla force are here right now?」
「Eh? Um, almost everyone is here. Hold on a moment, please. Sergio! Rei is here!」
The woman’s voice echoed through the mansion. As he listened to her voice, Rei looked at her appearance. She appeared to be in her late teens, making her older than Rei. As could be seen from her attitude towards Rei, she possessed a remarkably bright personality. Among the associates of the former guerrilla force, there were many who harboured awe towards Rei. Compared to those individuals, her attitude could be described as highly friendly.
……Then again, considering the numerous things Rei had done, that was actually a normal reaction.
「Well, it must be freezing outside, so please come inside for now.」
「Yeah, thanks. ……Even so, you’ve hired a remarkably spacious mansion.」
Brushing off the snow, Rei stepped inside the mansion and conversed with the woman. Just as Rei stated, it was a mansion that was quite visibly spacious. It was big enough that it wouldn’t be strange for it to be located in the noble district. However, it was by no means a new building, and it appeared to be considerably old even from Rei’s perspective.
「That’s true. Apparently, it’s the result of Johanna’s negotiation skills and the power of money.」
「……Is Johanna not around? She hasn’t come out even though I……or more accurately, Set have come over.」
「Yes. She left fully equipped, stating she was heading out to battle her natural enemy.」
The person who crossed Rei’s mind upon hearing those words was naturally Milein. The Milein inside Rei’s mind was also fully equipped, no less than Johanna.
(I just hope it doesn’t turn into a bloodbath……)
Imagining the moment Milein’s long sword and Johanna’s spear clashed, Rei silently prayed for their safety as Sergio appeared from the back of the mansion.
「Rei, why are you here? Well, you are more than welcome to visit, though.」
「I have a small request. How many people are available right now?」
「Right now? Well, as you can see, it’s snowing, and many guys have nothing to do, so I can gather a decent number of people.」
「I see. In that case, would you like to try working as bodyguards?」
「Bodyguards……? Don’t tell me it’s for you, Rei?」
Sergio spoke, completely unable to hide his feelings that it was impossible. He couldn’t believe Rei would ever need bodyguards, and if Rei truly did need them, it wasn’t something people of their ability could handle anyway. Understanding what he was thinking from his expression, Rei shook his head.
「It’s not a bodyguard job for me. It’s to guard a noble I know.」
「A noble you know? Is your presence alone not enough, Rei?」
「Who knows? I could probably manage if I tried, but I want to focus entirely on the duel.」
「……A duel? You, Rei?」
Hearing about the situation for the first time, Sergio could only look on in pure confusion at the turn of events.
「To challenge you to a duel, Rei…… they’re nothing short of a hero.」
「Well, even if they are a hero, it’s only in the sense of reckless bravery.」
The person who cut into the conversation was Dietz, another former guerrilla force member whose face was familiar to Rei.
「Long time no see, Rei. It seems you’ve been dragged into trouble as soon as you returned to Gilm.」
「Well, I have my own reasons. More importantly, it’s exactly as I just explained. Would you mind accepting the bodyguard request? I don’t think you will need to be concerned about the reward.」
「……Well, once you step up to a duel, Rei, the victory is basically guaranteed anyway. Understood. I doubt I can get everyone, but I’ll try talking to the members currently here. Would it be fine if we only go with whoever wants to participate?」
No matter how much he owed a debt of gratitude to Rei, he couldn’t force his comrades into it. Rei nodded back at Sergio’s words. He had thought to hire the former guerrilla force members for this bodyguard job precisely because they were trustworthy, but they weren’t an absolute necessity. Since Freon, whom he had spoken to first, had mentioned she would reach out to people she knew as well, he judged that they wouldn’t run terribly short on people.
「Then I’ll go speak to them right away. ……What about you, Dietz?」
「Me? Of course I’m participating. You said there would be a proper reward after all.」
Dietz spoke with a smile on his face.