Moving away from Emoshion and back to Gilm. Today, as usual, the guild was filled with many adventurers as one of the receptionists gave a sigh.

「Hey, Kenny. You haven’t been into work much recently?」

「I know. After all, without Rei-kun, I’m not as motivated.」

「Rei-san is doing his best in Emoshion. Don’t you know how strong Rei-san is?」

「That’s true, but……it’s a port city, I hope there aren’t any women who try to do anything strange.」

Kenny gave another small sigh as she looked through some documents.

Work kept her busy in the mornings and evenings, so she didn’t have time to think of much else. However, aside from the busy mornings and evenings, the afternoons were quite free and she would start thinking about Rei.

「I’ll tell you now, if you’re not serious about your work, I’ll report it to Rei-san when he gets back.」

「Eh? Hey, why do you have to do that!?」

Kenny panicked at Lenora’s words as she frantically whispered into Lenora’s ears to protest.

However, Lenora just had a small smile on her face as she pretended to not understand what Kenny meant.

「It’s not like it’s a guild secret, I can just mention it while we talk.」

「But, that will cause my image as a capable onee-san……」

「What capable onee-san. If you don’t like that, they you should take your job more seriously. Here. These are the documents of the adventurers who accepted requests today. Please look over them along with these documents here.」

「No way……Lenora’s a devil! Demon! Lenora!」

「……Hey, Kenny. What kind of insult is that? And why are you calling me a devil and demon?」

「Ah, sorry. Well, I’ll try again. Lenora! No tits! Zero female charm!」

「Kenny-!」

Thus, their exchange, which could already be considered a speciality of Gilm’s adventurers guild, was looked on with warm eyes by the few adventurers in front of the request board, those who had come for an early lunch and the other guild staff behind the counter.

 

 

While listening into the conversation occurring on the first floor with her sharp hearing as a Dark Elf, Marina gave a small smile as she placed a report on her desk and called out the person in front of her.

「Most of the nobles who came to Gilm for nefarious purposes have been dealt with. As expected of the Prairie Wolves.」

As Marina gave a beaming smile, Egg, the leader of the Prairie Wolves, averted his eyes slightly.

「That is true, but we only really handled the ones who planned to do something against the law. However, there are others……those that have come to try to persuade Rei to leave normally. We can’t do anything to those.」

An evening dress leaving her chest wide open. Her fascinating valley and brown skin made it hard for even Egg, the leader of the Prairie Wolves, to concentrate. Even though she knew how Egg was feeling, Marina continued to speak.

「There’s nothing I can do about it. However, in that case, none of them will be hostile to Rei, it’s enough to get rid of those who wanted to do things like stealing or taking hostages.」

「……Well, I hope so.」

Marina’s beautiful eyebrows caused Egg’s to feel stuck as he spoke.

「Are you still worried?」

「I’m not saying it’s a cause for concern, but there are a few people with their eyes on Rei who seem to want to break up any negotiations with the others.」

「……Oh, that’s interesting. I don’t think that would be good though if they made Rei angry.」

Marina was surprised at Egg’s words for a moment, but started to smile in interest as she put her hand over her mouth.

However, for Egg, this wasn’t a laughing matter.

「I’d prefer if you could handle them.」

「But, aren’t you the one in charge of this? Are you sure you want me to get involved?」

「I was told Rei listens to what you say?」

「That’s not true. ……Well, I personally don’t mind if he’s interested in me.」

Marina smiled again as she spoke. However, her smile was different from the one she had just a few seconds ago, and it was one that filled with a woman’s charm.

Egg felt the man inside of him writhe for a moment at Marina’s aura, but whether she had realised it herself or not, Marina immediately returned to her usual expression.

……That said, she still held a fascinating beauty that seemed to invite men in.

「Anyhow, if they actually try something, I can’t interfere as a guild master. But if they don’t make any moves, it’s a bit difficult. Can you do your best on that end?」

「I don’t know what we can do. Unlike the guild, we work completely behind the scenes. If we were to get in touch with them, it would only cause more trouble. That’s what they’re after in the first place.」

「……Ah, I see. That’s right. I wonder what Rei would want from them after negotiations break down, they fight him and lose. Well, Rei is collecting a lot of magic items, so maybe he would be interested in that.」

With a wry smile, she recalled the Thorns Spear she had given to Rei as a reward. In addition, there was also the Magic Tent that Daska had given him as a reward for his efforts in the war with the Bestir Empire. Marine didn’t know how many nobles knew about that, but those magic items were all very expensive and the number of people who would want them were as many as the stars.

「Or, would they try to force him to serve them as punishment for hurting the messenger of a noble family?　……If that were to happen, that noble family would probably end up disappearing completely.」

「Hey, hey, don’t scare me. ……No, Rei actually has that power, so I can’t treat that as a joke.」

「That’s true. But if things stay like this, that’s probably going to happen right? So, what are you going to do about it?」

As Marina asked that, Egg nodded with a red face.

「Fine, I get it. I can’t believe I have to do this. Lord Daska told me to cooperate with you until he got back. ……I wonder when Lord Daska will actually come back.」

Egg really wanted Daska to return as soon as possible. That’s why he put his heart into those words as he said them.

The Dark Elf in front of him was definitely capable. However, she appealed too much to his male instinct. Because of that, he ended up heading to a brothel every time after reporting and consulting with Marina.

(It’s no wonder most of my salary has ended up there. But, if I send one of my subordinates to report instead, there will be a lot of them who will try to do something crazy……)

His men had worked for him for many years. He didn’t want any of them attack the guild master, not in a violent sense, but a sexual sense. Because of that, he had to go all out and report in person.

「He’s very busy in the Royal Capital. Well, he’s also a noble……and there are various things he needs to do as the leader of the Neutral faction. Back to the nobles though.」

「I’ll do as much as I can.」

Marina spoke with a smile as she nodded at Egg.

「Please do so as soon as you can. I just got a call from the guild master in Emoshion that Rei killed the Lemrace yesterday.」

「……Already? I had heard that the Lemrace seemed to be quite intelligent and that no one had actually seen it in person.」

Was he impressed or shocked? Marina just smiled as Egg replied with a sigh.

「You are completely right. According to what the guild reported, he used a disposable magic item to forcibly move it out of the water……it’s the first time I’ve heard of such a magic item in my life. I wonder where he really got such a thing. I’ll have to make him tell me when he gets back.」

Although she said that with a grimace, there seemed to be a shadow of a smile on her face. Egg, who was about to become distracted, shook his head slightly.

「So, when is he coming back specifically.」

「Because he used such a magic item, they can’t confirm that it was the Lemrace he really killed.」

「……Well, I guess that’s true. Normally, you wouldn’t even believe that there would be such a magic item that could forcibly move a monster.」

「Right? Because of that, he’ll be staying in the city for 10 days. If the Lemrace doesn’t appear again, they will accept that it was the Lemrace he killed.」

「At least 10 days. No, we should have half a month to spare if we consider that he still needs to collect the bounty before returning.」

Muttering to himself, he quickly thought about how to take actions to eliminated the dangerous people.

In a few minutes, he summarised all his thoughts and gave a small nod.

「Half a month should be fine. Of course, you’ll be able to help out to some extent, if you don’t mind?」

「Yes, there are no problems. But……」

「I know. I’ll be careful to avoid being exposed.」

「That’s good. If you know, then it’s fine. Then, please.」

「It’s time for me to leave. Thinking about it, I really don’t have the time to relax.」

Saying that to Marina, who was still sitting at her office desk with a thin smile, Egg left the room.

Seeing him leave, Marina called up some people to cooperate with Egg.

 

 

Like that, the dangerous people in Gilm gradually disappeared from the city.

Some were buried in the darkness while others hastily returned to where they came from, believing the falsified reports that were sent from where they came. Others were arrested by adventurers and the guards when nobles who had discriminatory attitudes against commoners acted violently. There were many reasons, but the nobles who encroached upon the city lessened day by day.

As for Rei, who had no idea his home city was the site of a struggle in the dark between nobles, he went to the smithy to collect the harpoon he had requested the day before. And, of course, he had a large number of dishes and seafood in his hands.

「Gurururu~」

「Hm? Is that grilled squid over there? Look.」

Rei passed a salted grilled skewer over to Set, who gave a covetous cry as he walked alongside Rei.

The grilled squid was a large one about 30cm in length, but Set placed it in his mouth and ate it with a single bite.

(Squid, squid……octopus? Now that I think about it, I’ve eaten a lot of squid since I’ve come to Emoshion, but I haven’t eaten any octopus. Do they not like how it looks? There are even places on Earth where it is called the devil fish and isn’t eaten.

Thinking to himself, Rei bit into his own grilled squid skewer.

(But, takoyaki……I can’t remember the ingredients for it. Was it made from flour, octopus and soup stock? If it’s okonomiyaki, I can put eggs and other things into it. Oh, but I don’t have any red ginger? There are vegetables similar to leeks and there aren’t any issues with eggs, so it should be fine. Can I make tenkasu with flour, water and oil? But aonori, katsuboshi and the sauces……no, there has to be a way with the sauce if I try hard enough……I guess that’s it? Well, I’ll try to find some octopus later.)

Rei reached a decision as thought about other flour dishes like okonomiyaki and takoyaki.

Then, after finishing his grilled squid, he arrived at his destination, the smithy.

「Set.」

「Gururu~」

Without Rei needing to say anymore, Set gave a cry as he was handed two pieces of dried fish. Seeing Set move a short distance away, Rei entered the smithy.

「Oh, you’re here.」

Rei nodded in response to the Dwarf owner, who called out to Rei as he came out from the forging area the moment Rei entered the smithy.

「Am I a bit early?」

「No, you’re not. It’s ready. Here, take it.」

There were two barrels at the end of the Dwarf’s line of sight. On top of them was a spear about a meter in length with a sturdy string tied to the shaft. The spear tip was barbed to prevent it from being pulled back out easily after hitting its target.

「The string was made from a powdered magic metal called Earth Crystal, so it’s very strong. However, it’s quite heavy due to the Earth Crystal. ……If you could swing that large scythe you called the Death Scythe yesterday though, it shouldn’t be a problem. Try holding it first.」

Picking up the spear, as the Dwarf prompted, Rei felt that it was quite heavy, weighing about 5kg. However, for Rei, it could only be considered to have some weight, so he could use it without any issues.

「……I thought it would be fine, but I didn’t think you could hold it so easily. Well, that’s good. Also, those barrels over there are filled with the stuff you want, scrap ores, blade fragments, and other stuff. There’s also bits of Flame Crystal in there.」

「This is really more than I expected. You really are one of the best blacksmiths in Emoshion.」

「Hah, that’s enough compliments.」

At the Dwarf’s response, Rei paid him a bit more for the items before leaving the smithy.

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