A few weeks had passed since the uproar surrounding the duel between the Baron Cisne family and the Earl Eliel family had come to an end.
Even as the new year was welcomed in, Gilm remained as cold as ever, with snow continuing to fall.
Perhaps partly because the snow had started falling late, Gilm had accumulated an unprecedented amount of snow this year compared to usual.
All the residents were busy shovelling snow, and some had even hired adventurers to help.
From the adventurers’ perspective, even with the drawback of low rewards, snow shovelling was fairly well received.
Adventurers who were still working at this time of the year were, of course, those who had failed to earn enough funds to get through the winter.
In other words, they were by no means skilled adventurers.
For that very reason, being able to work safely inside the city without having to venture outside Gilm into the snow for subjugation requests or gathering requests made the job quite sought after.
However, there were also those who dared to take on subjugation requests with the aim of hitting the jackpot rather than scraping together small earnings.
「……Or so I thought, at least. What are you doing here?」
Stepping out of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion to see Set, Rei muttered in exasperation at the sight of Milein shovelling snow by the entrance.
Rei had thought his eyes were playing tricks on him for a second, but the person standing before him was without a doubt Milein, leader of the C rank party Scorching Wind.
「Ah, ahaha. Well, you see, I ran a biiiit short on money.」
Perhaps because she was shovelling snow, Milein, who had put on cold weather gear over ordinary clothes instead of her usual leather armour, explained sheepishly.
As up-and-coming figures considered among the most capable of the younger adventurers, Scorching Wind naturally had no shortage of work.
In fact, seeing that her party members Ekril and Sulunin were nowhere in sight made it clear that Milein was the only one who had run out of money.
And Rei immediately understood the cause behind her squandering of funds.
「……Was it Set?」
At Rei’s short question, Milein froze in her tracks.
It was clear that Rei had hit the bullseye.
「Look, I’m glad you give Set food, but what good does it do if it leaves you struggling to get by?」
「B-But it can’t be helped! If I don’t give food to Set, Johanna will!」
「I thought as much.」
In Rei’s eyes, Milein and Johanna were both the same kind of people.
That applied not just to how they doted on Set, but their personalities as well.
For that very reason, they naturally clashed, and out of rivalry with each other, she had likely spent the funds originally meant for getting through the winter all on Set.
While Set felt wonderful, having delicious food to eat every day, it naturally dealt financial damage to both Milein and Johanna.
The result of that was the sight of Milein shovelling snow in front of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion.
「W-What are you looking at? For your information, Johanna had her eyes on shovelling the snow here too, you know. I was the one who managed to win it.」
Whatever she thought Rei’s gaze meant, Milein pressed her case.
There was no need to think about why she had fought over shovelling the snow at the Dusk Wheat Pavilion with Johanna.
The shovelling job was not just for the entrance of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, but the area near the stables as well.
Milein’s desire to be with Set for even a moment longer had certainly gotten through to Rei.
……Though overlooking it would have been more difficult in the first place.
「Well, you’re a full-fledged C rank adventurer, Milein, so I know it’s not my place to say anything, but……don’t cause too much trouble for Sulunin.」
As Rei spoke while recalling the face of Sulunin, a man suited to descriptions such as Milein’s brake, stopper, and external conscience, Milein fell silent with a guilty look.
Seeing her like that, Rei understood that she had likely kept it a secret from Sulunin that she had spent all her funds for the winter.
Even so, with the new year having already passed, the fact that she wasn’t completely doomed at this time of the year could be considered a stroke of good fortune for Milein.
If she could hold out for another two months, or at most three, she would somehow make it to spring.
(Though considering her stubborn rivalry with Johanna, I get the feeling that even if she earns money here, she’ll spend it right away.)
As if sensing what Rei was thinking, Milein thrust her shovel into the snow and spoke with a brilliant smile.
「Leave it to me. I’ll make sure Set gets delicious food to eat.」
「No, that’s not the point. ……Well, there’s no use saying any more. By the way, you seem to have spent all your money, Milein, but what happened to Johanna? She was spending quite a lot on Set as well, wasn’t she? Does her wanting to shovel snow here mean she’s run out of money too?」
Milein aside, Johanna had served as Mouet’s bodyguard during the duel commotion a few weeks ago, so she shouldn’t have been that pressed for money. That was what Rei had thought when asking, but the response he got back, for some reason, was a triumphant grin from Milein.
「Heh-heh. Apparently she still has plenty of money to spare, but the people she lives with forbade her from spending any more of her savings. They told her that if she wanted to buy anything more for Set, she’d have to take on requests and earn it.」
「……I have absolutely no idea why you look so pleased about that.」
「Well, neither Johanna nor I can buy presents for Set right now. But I get to stay right by Set’s side like this, so you could practically say I’ve won.」
「Why are you two even turning this into a competition? Just why?」
Muttering in exasperation, Rei still felt a sense of relief at seeing her act no different than usual.
「Well, I’m heading off, so good luck with the shovelling.」
As he said that and took a step towards the stables……the next moment, Milein blew past him at tremendous speed and cut in front of him.
「Hold on a second. The only thing over that way is the stables. Are you going to see Set?」
「Hm? Yeah, I am.」
「Here I am, enduring this snow shovelling while holding back how much I want to see Set, and you can just casually go see him?」
「No, in the first place, you’re shovelling snow because it’s your job. It’s not like I took on a snow shovelling request.」
「That’s that, and this is this.」
As Milein puffed out her chest with absolute confidence, Rei let out a sigh and spoke.
「You’re refreshingly selfish. ……More importantly, are you sure you should be chatting with me?」
As he muttered while catching sight of something entering his field of vision, Milein tilted her head, wondering what he was talking about.
However, the situation did not wait, and a figure returning from the direction of the stables placed a hand on Milein’s shoulder.
「Milein, was it? The snow shovelling isn’t finished yet, so do you have time to fool around? Do I need to report this to the guild?」
「Eek, I’ll get right on it!」
At Lana’s voice, Milein scrambled away from Rei and resumed her snow shovelling.
Watching her, Lana let out a small sigh before bowing her head to Rei.
「Sorry about that, Rei, for taking up your time.」
「Don’t worry about it. Milein and I are acquaintances, so having a short chat is fine.」
「Even so, she accepted a snow shovelling request to be here, so she needs to do her work properly.」
Lana glanced once more at Milein, who was casting a reproachful look at Rei.
Under that stare, Milein threw herself back into shovelling the snow.
「Well, I’ll be going then.」
「Yes, Set was playing in the snow in front of the stables.」
Likely understanding Rei’s destination immediately since he was heading towards the stables, Lana called out to him.
Offering Lana a brief word of thanks, Rei left Milein behind and headed towards the stables.
Milein directed an envious gaze at Rei, but when Lana’s eyes fell on her, she returned to shovelling once again.
「Gururururu~!」
As Rei advanced along the path through the snow that Milein had presumably cleared towards the stables, such a cry reached his ears.
Most residents living in Gilm would immediately recognise who that cry belonged to.
Was that happy cry because he was free to leave the stables?
Naturally, such freedom would never be permitted for an ordinary horse or tamed monster, but between Set’s intelligence and Rei being a valued regular of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, a special exception had been granted.
When Rei arrived in front of the stables, he found Set flopping into the snow to leave behind an imprint of his own shape.
「Guru~? Gurururururu~!」
Noticing Rei’s arrival, Set let out a happy cry.
Seeing Set like that, Rei smiled as he walked over.
「Have you been doing well?」
It might have been a bit exaggerated considering they had seen each other just yesterday, but Rei greeted Set all the same.
Set pushed himself up from the snow and came bounding over to Rei.
Letting out a delighted cry as if celebrating that his beloved Rei had come to see him, he rubbed his face against him.
As Set seemed to ask if they could play together, Rei stroked him in return with a smile.
「Sure. Let’s play together. ……Still, the question is how. With you, Set, we can’t really have a snowball fight or anything like that.」
「Guru~……」
Directing round, innocent eyes that seemed to ask if it really wasn’t allowed, Set looked like nothing more than a house pet……no, a pampered dog, if one judged him solely by the current scene.
(A snow hut……might be a bit difficult. In that case, a snowman?)
Thinking for a moment and deciding that rolling a snowman might be something Set could do as well, Rei formed a snowball and set it down in front of him.
「Listen, Set. You roll this snowball to make it bigger. Keep it round, alright?」
「Guru~?」
Set did not understand what Rei wanted him to do, but because Rei said so, he rolled the snowball anyway.
Then, perhaps finding it fascinating that the snowball grew larger as he rolled it, he deftly manipulated his forelegs to push it along, gradually increasing its size.
Even though Milein had cleared a path through the snow to the stables, that was strictly limited to the path itself.
In other words, a thick layer of snow remained piled up beyond the path.
It was in such a spot that Set had been taking what could be called a Set print rather than a fish print.
He continued rolling the snowball while thoroughly enjoying the fresh snow……and before long, the snowball grew to roughly 1m in diameter.
Not to be outdone by Set, Rei rolled his own snowball, building up its size.
Even so, the reason his was smaller than Set’s was partly because Set was overly enthusiastic, but above all because Set was making the body while Rei was making the head.
The finished snowballs turned out just as Rei had planned, with Set’s being about a size larger.
(Come to think of it, does Elgin have a culture of making snowmen? Well, if it doesn’t, that’s fine too. It wouldn’t be surprising if something like this caught on.)
Looking around, he searched for tree branches.
Fortunately, a few trees grew out back, and he was able to find some branches that had fallen to the ground, half-buried in the snow.
For Rei, who had planned to pull out firewood meant for camping during requests from the Misty Ring in the worst case, it could be considered a stroke of good luck.
「Guru~?」
To Set, who looked at him as if asking what the branches were for, Rei placed the mass of snow he had crafted atop the one Set had made.
He then snapped the branches to suitable lengths and embedded them into the face.
「Properly speaking, it would look more authentic with a bucket and a mikan, but……」
Putting aside a bucket, there were fruits inside the Misty Ring that could serve as substitutes for a mikan, but Rei had no intention of wasting food.
He thrust other branches directly into the body section to create arms.
「Here, that finishes the snowman.」
「Gururururu~!」
Letting out a delighted cry, Set dashed around the snowman.
「I know it’s a bit odd to say when I made it myself, but I didn’t expect you to be this thrilled.」
「Guru~」
Seeing Set so delighted brought a smile to Rei’s lips as well.
Whatever it might be, having someone be so happy upon seeing something you made was a gratifying feeling.
(If he’s this happy, should I build a snow hut as well?)
He pondered that as the snow lightly drifted down.
However, for a snow hut large enough to accommodate Set, it would have to be quite massive.
Considering the labour required, putting aside physical stamina, the mental exhaustion would be considerable.
If he were to build one in earnest, he would need to bring Milein and Johanna along.
(Those two would gladly pitch in if I told them it was for Set. ……Still, speaking of snow huts, we don’t have mochi. If only there were glutinous rice, I could make mochi.)
Being from the countryside, Rei’s family back in Japan had a proper a mortar and pestle.
Having pounded mochi with them before, Rei naturally knew how to make it.
However, glutinous rice, the raw ingredient, did not exist in Gilm.
(I’ve never seen it in shops either.)
While thinking along those lines, he suddenly noticed a commotion brewing over by the entrance of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion.
Wondering why people were gathering, just as he was about to head over there with Set, a loud voice rang out from the entrance.
「Is Rei here? I have come to see you!」
Yes, a voice that sounded somewhat familiar.