「Ah, Rei-san. Could I have a moment?」

One day, where rain clouds covered the sky and it looked like it would rain at any time, Rei was immediately called out to by Lenora at the reception desk as soon as he entered the guild.

Next to her, Kenny waved at him with a smile.

Many adventurers who were looking at the request board frowned when they saw that, but none of them tried to mess with Rei because of it. Rei was already well known in Gilm, but the war made him even more well known under the name Crimson. Information about the war spread quickly as many adventurers above D rank had participated and there were few who still hadn’t heard about it. If there were any, they would have been adventurers who had only come to Gilm after the war ended or newbies. Fortunately, there were no such people in the guild at the time.

「Is it a nominated request?」

It had been about half a month since the Rowlocks army had returned to Gilm. As expected, it had been quite busy after their initial return, but the guild had more or less returned to normal operations. Rei asked if he had been nominated for a request, but both Lenora and Kenny shook their heads with a smile.

「No. Actually, a knight came from the Margrave’s residence and left you a reward for your previous request. I thought I would pass it over to you.」

「……What reward? I thought that Daska-sama was going to give that to me directly.」

When he had returned from the Selemous Plains and split with the group heading towards the Royal Capital, Daska had told Rei that he would personally hand over a magic item as a reward. That was was why Rei had replied as such. However, Lenora bowed her head to apologise.

「Yes, I did hear that. In the guild’s upper management told me the same thing. However, it seems a lot of things have happened in the Royal Capital……I haven’t been told the details, so would you mind hearing about it directly from the Guild Master? She’s waiting for you in her office.」

「Seriously, what is the Guild Master’s intentions, calling Rei-kun into her office.」

Kenny complained as the words ‘Guild Master’ reminded her of the seductive face of the Dark Elf.

However, the next moment, she was hit over the head by Lenora using some rolled up documents as she fell onto the counter.

「Who are you to complain about the Guild Master. At the very least, we receptionists aren’t in a position to complain.」

「But! ……Rei-kun, don’t get caught in the Guild Master’s honey trap. If you like, I’ll treat you to a drink later!」

Kenny raised her chest, emphasising her breasts and almost causing Rei to fall over.

As for the nearby male adventurers who had caught sight of the deep valley in Kenny’s breasts, those with female adventurer companions either had their sides smashed or their faces smacked with spear shafts.

「……That’s enough for now. Whatever you say is pointless anyway.」

Giving a disappointed sigh towards Kenny, Lenora invited Rei behind the counter.

「Well, I’ll take Rei to the Guild Master’s office now, you take care of things here for now.」

「Yes, yes. Why is Lenora in charge of Rei-kun. I could have supported him better and deepened his relationship with the guild. Right?」

Saying that, Kenny went over and hugged Rei’s arm.

The soft bulge on his arm caused Rei to blank out for a moment, but his other arm that wasn’t being hugged was immediately pulled away, leaving Kenny behind.

Naturally, it was Lenora who was pulling his hand as she turned a sharp eye towards Kenny.

「Just because you can use your seductive skills? In any case we are guild staff members. We can’t leave him to a person to plays favourites.」

「Ehh, but that wouldn’t really be playing favourites would it?」

「Yes, yes, if you’re going to talk nonsense, do it when you’re asleep.」

Kenny was a held back but Lenora’s sharp eyes, but she suddenly looked towards Rei with a smile as she thought of somethinig.

「That’s true. In that case, I’ll say that in my sleep when I spend a night with Rei-kun.」

「……You. That’s enough. I don’t have the time to play around with you. Anyhow, I’ll be taking Rei-san to the Guild Master’s office. I’ll leave the reception to you, Kenny.」

Deciding that she wouldn’t be able to solve the problem by staying here, as soon as she said that, Lenora held Rei’s hand as she took him to the back of the guild.

Rei also understood that they wouldn’t get anywhere if they stayed, so he didn’t say anything in particular as he was pulled away by Lenora.

After going up the stairs behind the counter, arriving at the Guild Master’s office and knocking at the door, Lenora finally realised that she was still holding onto Rei’s hand. Lenora let go with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

「Ah, sorry. I shouldn’t have kept arguing with Kenny. Well, um……Guild Master, I’ve brought Rei-san.」

「Come in.」

As as she knocked and called out, there was an answer from inside. Opening the door, they saw a person with brown skin, silver hair and pointed ears. Marina Ariansa. The Guild Master of the Adventurers’ Guild in the Mireana Kingdom’s frontier city of Gilm.

She was wearing a slightly more mature outfit than when Rei had met with her before, but the part dress that showed off her chest was still the same as before. If Elena’s beauty was gorgeous and dignified, Marina’s gave off more of a charming and sensual feeling.

「Oh, Rei. You’ve come. The war must have been hard. Thanks to you though, most of this city’s talented adventurers have survived.」

「I just did my job. I also had a lot of personal feelings about the Bestir Empire.」

Despite Rei’s blunt tone, Marina still gave a dazzling smile.

「Lenora, thanks for your hard work. You can go back down now. Please stop Kenny before she tries to do anything strange.」

「……I’m not Kenny’s babysitter.」

Although she had a slightly discontented expression at Marina’s words, Lenora could predict what would happen if they left Kenny alone to her own devices. With a small sigh, she gave a bow towards Marina and Rei before leaving the office.

Aftter seeing her leave and making sure the door was closed, Marina led Rei to a sofa beside her office desk.

「Please, take a seat.」

An ordinary man would have been charmed by her as Marina looked at Rei, but Rei simply shook his head slightly as he spoke.

「I just came to collect the magic item as my reward. I don’t have to stay for long, do I?」

「Even if that was your plan Rei, there’s some things I have to tell you. Take a seat.」

「……」

At Marina’s words, Rei reluctantly took a seat.

Rei didn’t hate Marina. However, he felt uncomfortable having to deal with her.

Of course, Rei wasn’t a stranger to dealing with people of the other sex. He had found Elena attractive and had even kissed her. However, for Rei, who wasn’t completely used to handling those relationships, Marina’s sensuality was, in a sense, excessive. If he wasn’t careful, he might end up reaching out without realising it.

Maybe she was aware of Rei’s thoughts. Although she probably would have felt Rei’s magic power, Marina was unconcerned as she spoke up with a glossy smile.

「Now then, you heard from Lenora why I called you here today, right?」

「Ah. She said that you’re holding Daska-sama’s magic item on his behalf.」

「Yes. Originally, he had planned to give it directly to you……」

「He hasn’t come back from the Royal Capital yet though.」

「That’s right. According to his message, the factions are making their own moves in the Royal Capital after the war. I’m afraid he can’t move easily for now because of that.」

Hearing that, Rei nodded.

For Rei, Daska was someone who protected him from the other nobles, and even if he did not necessarily respect Daska’s character, he did still owe him favours. If Daska had told him to go and interact with the nobles in the Royal Capital, Rei would have refused because he would only have caused meaningless confusion or do something that would put Daska at a disadvantage. But if Daska just put him up for a nominated request, that would be a different matter.

Looking at Rei, Marina reached out to mass of somethinig that was sitting next to her desk and cast a spell as she lifted it with one hand.

「……」

Rei’s eyes widened involuntarily at the sight. However, seeing that Rei was watching her, Marina just laughed mischievously as she spoke.

「To set the record straight, I’m not some kind of monster. This is the power of spirit magic. Watch.」

As she snapped her fingers, a 10cm tall tornado appeared on her fingertips.

「I asked the spirits of the wind to help me. ……Now, let me go back to what I’m keeping for Margrave Rowlocks.」

「……This piece of cloth? I heard that was supposed to get a valueable magic item.」

Rei looked at the lump of cloth on the ground suspiciously, but Marina just smiled as she replied.

「You haven’t seen this before? Then, touch it first and let your magic power flow into it like how you would use a magic item. Then you will see how valueable it is.」

For a moment, Rei looked at Marina and at the lump of cloth on the floor before realising she wasn’t joking. With a small sigh, he gently reached out to the lump of cloth and poured magic power into it. The next moment……

「Woah-!」

Rei let out a surprised voice when he saw the lump of cloth that had been lying on the floor suddenly turn into a tent the moment he poured magic power into it.

「Fufu-, you look surprised. But, it’s still too early to be surprised you know? Why don’t you go inside the tent?」

「……It’s true that I was surprised that it would instantly unfold into a tent when I poured magic power into it, but even then, it can only fit three people inside at best……what?」

Following Marina’s words, Rei pushed his head into the entrance of the tent. From the outside, it was a brown tent, matching the floor colour, about 2m in size. But after sticking his head inside, what Rei saw was a room about 10 tatami mats in size (~16m^2).

Yes, it wasn’t a tent, but a room.

「-!?」

Pulling his head out of the tent, Rei looked around. They were definitely inside Marina’s, the Guild Master’s, office

「……」

When Rei stuck his head inside the tent again, it was still 10 tatami wide. There was a sofa, a guest room like table and sofa as well as a bed.

「This is……」

It wasn’t the first time he had seen a magic item that had surprised him. In the war that had just taken place at the Selemous Plains, he had seen similar tents several times. For example, Daska or Elena’s tents. Both were tents that were several or tens more times larger than the tent before Rei right now. But they still functioned the same way in how they looked outside and inside.

「You look surprised. Even though it looks like this, it’s quite an expensive magic item. It was created on the assumption that it would be used outside the city, the frontier to be exact, so it has various convenient functions.」

「……Convenient functions?」

「Yes. When you look at it right now, its colour is brown to match the colour of the floor. But if you used it inside a forest, it would turn green. Simply put, the colour automatically changes to blend into the surroundings. It also has the ability to keep monsters below D rank away……don’t put too much faith in that though. If you plan to use this on the frontier, it’s not unusual for monster C rank or higher to appear.」

Those weren’t words that one would say with a smile, but what Marina said was true.

It wasn’t unusual for monsters C rank or higher to appear outside the city because of their location on the frontier.

「Also, I will warn you in advance, but this type of tent with spatial magic is quite valuable. ……Well, it goes without saying for you and Set, but if you use it in front of someone who doesn’t know about your strength, they might try to attack you and steal it from you. As for everything else……」

Marina closed her eyes as if remembering something. Her simple gestures were full of sensuality, but fortunately, Rei was distracted by the tent in front of him and didn’t pay any attention to her.

「Ah, right. This tent has a light function, but no water.」

「……Water?」

「Yes. You didn’t see a kitchen, did you?」

「Come to think of it, that’s true.」

Rei popped his head back inside the tent.

As was said, there was no kitchen inside the tent.

(The tent that Elena used had a kitchen though.)

「Well, this is an older tent, so it can’t be helped. Still this kind of tent doesn’t hurt for an adventurer to have.」

「That is true.」

Naturally, sleeping in a bed was much different from sleeping out in the open. There was also no need to panic at sudden changes in the weather. This tent was something that was very nice for Rei.

(And if it’s water, I have the Dagger of Flowing Water, so I shouldn’t have any problems.)

Rei thought to himself as he recalled the magic item inside the Misty Ring.

「I am very thankful for this tent. I will have to thank Daska-sama when he comes back.」

「That’s right. Tents made with spatial magic aren’t as rare as item boxes, like the one you have. However, they are still rare. Margrave Rowlocks has been surprisingly generous. ……Well, I guess that just shows how much you did.」

「I guess it was worth it.」

Saying that, he touched the tent and stored it into the Misty Ring.

As she watched Rei, Marina sat down on the sofa and crossed her legs before speaking.

「So, Rei. Do you have any plans to travel to the Port City Emoshion for a bit?」

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