「Excuse me, Daska-sama. I’ve brought Keo-sama.」

As Rei and Daska were discussing replenishment, there was a knock and a voice from the door.

The voice was familiar to Rei. It was the maid who had guided him to this room.

「Come in.」

The door opened after Daska’s reply and a maid with a large tray in her hands entered the office.

Even though she was holding various tableware for drinking tea and sandwiches prepared as a light snack in one hand, as expected of a professional maid, she could still bow in a smooth manner.

And, following her was a young man.

Even though he was a young man, he was still about 10 years older than Rei and gave off the impression that he was in his late 20’s. His blonde, close to yellow, hair extended to his shoulders.

「Daska-sama, you called for me?」

「Mm. You’ve only heard about him before and this is your first time meeting. This is Rei. He has an item box and can be regarded as the key to this supply plan. Rei, this is Keo Nigs. He is the one in charge of this supply plan.」

In response to Daska’s words, the man called Keo turned to look at Rei with wide eyes.

Similarly, Rei turned to look at Keo.

However, the meaning of their two looks were completely different.

Keo held great interest in Rei and had wanted to meet with him for a long time. Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to do so.

Rei noted that Keo had a last name, which meant that he was a noble who served under Daska.

(No, Daska is an important figure in the Neutral faction. Of course it would be natural for him to have a few nobles as his subordinates.)

As Rei was thinking to himself, Keo suddenly approached Rei with a shining expression.

「Hey, hey, you must be Rei-kun from the stories. No, nice to meet you. Daska-sama introduced me, but I’m Keo Nigs. I’m in charge of the supply line for the knights that serve under Daska-sama. I’ll be in your care.」

Saying that, Keo held his hand out to Rei.

Even Rei, who hadn’t thought that Keo would be so friendly, almost shook his hand in reflex.

「I’m Rei.」

「Yes, yes. You’re exactly the person I heard about, I’ll be leaving it to you then. Since you’re here, I can assume that you will be helping with the supplies, right?」

Rei nodded under the slight pressure from Keo’s shining expression.

「Ah. I had originally planned to participate in the war. I was then called here, so it looks like I will be cooperating with you in this matter.」

「No, that’s a great help. If it wasn’t for you, it would have been difficult to carefully select supplies and limit the amount in order to minimise the impact on movement as much as possible. But, it’s a great relief if you have an item box. So, what is the capacity of your item box? Are there any restrictions on what you can put in? Or, do you need to use magic when you use it?」

Though he was taken aback at Keo’s vigorous enquiries, Rei answered his questions.

「I don’t know what its capacity is. I’ve never been able to fill it before. There are also restrictions on how many items I can take out at once. For example, if 20 long swords were stored separately, I would have to take out each sword one at a time. However, if 20 swords were put into a container and the container was stored, I can take out the container and everything in it at once. It doesn’t need magic power to use, but the item box only responds to my magic power, so its use is limited to me.」

「……I see. It would be more convenient to put everything inside a container to take out all at once. Also, it’s a bit inconvenient that no one aside from Rei-kun can use it, but it might also be helpful to not worry about anyone else using the item box that contains all the supplies. ……However, if all the supplies are in the item box, then conversely, if they killed Rei-kun or stole the item box, it would be a large and immediate loss in military strength. What can you do about that?」

Keo asked Rei with a sharp look, in the same light tone he had previously.

Keo was proud of his work and wanted to know if there were any loop holes.

Rei answered Keo’s question without hesitation because he knew what Keo wanted from his eyes.

「First of all, I think it would be difficult to kill me. I’m not being proud, but I have the same fighting skills as a rank A adventurer. I also have a Griffon, Set, always beside me. Lastly, anyone who tries to steal it from me will probably receive a baptism of fire.」

Rei told him as he recalled the magic that he had applied to the Misty Ring.

However, he suddenly turned to look at Keo when he suddenly remembered something.

「Speaking of which, as I said, I have a tamed Griffon called Set. He’s my partner, my best friend and my family.」

「Ah, I’ve heard. He looks pretty cute and seems to be famous around the city.」

「That’s right. In this city……」

「……I see.」

Keo nodded at Rei’s words. He knew what Rei wanted to say.

As was the case in Abuero, whether they were an adventurer, a civilian, a soldier or a knight, few could withstand a rank A monster like a Griffon. In that sense, the residents of Gilm, who could accept Set, were part of a unique city due to its location on the frontier. And even in Gilm, there were some people who were scared of Set, even though Rei had put a Necklace of Subservient Monster on Set since they first arrived.

In other words, if a Griffon appeared in a location where people from all over the kingdom gathered due to the war……it wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of commotion there would be.

「That is certainly true. So how about announcing in advance that some of the forces dispatched from Gilm by Daska-sama will be followed by a Griffon? Then, even some people make a fuss about it, I think the ones in charge can suppress them.」

In the middle of Keo’s words, Daska turned to look at him and thought for a few seconds. Eventually, Daska nodded.

「That’s fine. I’ll let the important people know. ……But, Rei. That’s not the only problem, is it?」

Rei nodded in agreement at Daska, who’s eyes seemed to see through everything.

「Yes. If they know that Set is quietly following me, there’s no fear of confusion. However, on the contrary, I wonder if some people who think I will obey their orders will try to do something bad. ……Whether they’ll do that or not, who knows.」

「Probably. The main issue are those outside of our faction. It’s fine for me to control the Neutrals, but there are many nobles who don’t see the same as the others. Duke Kerebel, the central figure in the Nobles faction won’t be a problem, because he places greater emphasis on strength than status, but the people who make up the rest of the Nobles faction may be a problem. The Royalists as well.」

「……I see.」

Listening to Rei and Daska, Keo understood what they were worried about.

A Griffon, a rank A monster. If they could kill a monster of that rank, they would be able to make incredible profits with just the magic stone and materials from the body.

In fact, they couldn’t deny the possibility of that happening because of what Bolton from Azoth Firm had tried previously.

(Well, Bolton should have paid for his stupid behaviour by now.)

Rei thought to himself, remembering the magic he had cast on Bolton, which was not an exaggeration to call torture.

「Regardless, if you use my name, some if not all problems should be suppressed. ……Although not all necessarily due to my faction power. If someone tries to do anything funny……I don’t care, beat them up.」

「……Eh?」

Rei was surprised at Daska’s unexpected words.

Daska, the person who held the position of Margrave Rowlocks, had told Rei to use his name to stop any unwanted meddling. But of course, even with Daska’s influence, there were certain people who he couldn’t do anything to. Even so, Rei did not expect Daska to just tell him to beat them up.

「Is that okay? If that happens, you would end up building grudges with the other nobles. If it were just me, I could do whatever I wanted, but if Daska-sama got involved……」

In response to Rei’s words, Daska snorted with a fearless smile on his lips.

The only issue was that when Daska smiled, his usually stern face looked like that of a bandit leader to Rei.

「The Mireana Kingdom must unite to face the Bestir Empire, those who prioritise satisfying their own desires will only be an obstacle in war. They will ruin the greater strategy for their own achievements. So, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for the Mireana Kingdom to remove them from the frontline to begin with. ……Ah, I’ll say this first though, please refrain from killing anyone.」

「……I understand. If Daska-sama says so, I won’t worry about it. I’ll use my power to its fullest in the war with the Bestir Empire.」

If someone from a more influential faction tried to do something to him, he could do whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t kill them. Rei replied to Daska with a smile.

But if Daska’s smile was like that of a bandit, Rei’s was closer to a carnivore who had found its prey.

「Um, should I stay here?」

Keo, who seemed to have been forgotten about, returned Rei and Daska to their senses.

「Ahem, that’s right. First of all, the item box.」

「Ah, continuing on from before. ……Then, Rei-kun. If there’s anything else that would be useful to know about the item box, I would like to know.」

「Even if you ask me……」

Saying that, Rei brought a cup of tea to his mouth. As he reached out his hand to a sandwich that was on the table, a thought struck him.

「Keo, I would like to ask a question, what are the meals like when moving with the army?」

「It’s basically dried meat or cheese with baked bread.」

「I guessed so. When I was working as an adventurer, the other adventurers said the same. So when I took out food that I had stored in my item box, they were all surprised by it.」

They could tell what Rei meant by the words he said. Keo’s eyes went wide and Daska also looked astonished.

「I see, meals!」

「Certainly, the food distributed by the military prioritised reducing space needed over nutrition and taste. Because of that, most food is either dried meat or baked bread, but……if we used an item box.」

Rei nodded at Daska, who’s eyes were filled with high expectations.

「Yes. Naturally, eating good food will increase morale.」

「Probably. At the very least, it will be significantly different in terms of morale than eating military rations. Warm delicious soup or stew, fluffy and soft baked bread, all without worrying about the need to preserve them. And if Rei carried a barrel of liquor that we usually wouldn’t take to such places……」

「I’ll go……I’ll leave at once, Daska-sama!」

Keo, who was listening to Rei and Daska, shouted with a shining expression.

「If that’s the case, I will ask the cooks and bakers to prepare the food immediately. As expected, it’s meals made in this city, so we can only prepare it for those who are dispatched from here……if I consider the morale of the soldiers, if we could prepare meals for the whole army……」

「Keo, that’s impossible. It’s not possible to prepare meals for the entire army that will take part in the war from this city alone.」

In the end, Rei accepted the nominated request and signed a contract as a mercenary and supplies office.

An ordinary mercenary would be paid one silver coin per day, while Rei was promised the significantly larger sum of five silver coins per day.

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