「Ah, the Gamelion meat last night was delicious.」

「Gurururu~!」

Set nodded in agreement at Rei’s words.

It was the day after clearing the dungeon and Rei was walking through the city around mid-morning.

In his hands were skewers, dried meat, sandwiches, and other things he had bought or been given at various food stalls. That said he wasn’t out to do food shopping.

……Until just earlier, people wanting to play with Set had gathered around them as usual.

However, since he had business to attend to today, Rei had to cut their playtime short and was now walking through the city with Set.

Still, he did let Set spend some time playing with the children, mostly because Set loved playing with them.

The adults, naturally, showed understanding at Rei’s words and contented themselves with giving Set just a light pat.

As for his business today, Rei wasn’t heading towards the guild.

He wanted to know how the Gamelions were being handled, but since it had only been a day, he knew full well that the dismantling and material harvesting wouldn’t have progressed much yet.

Of course, he could have gone to the guild to see if there were any interesting requests or to check exactly how far along the Gamelion dismantling had gone, but he only planned to do that if he had nothing else to do.

Because of that, he made his way through the city with Set.

Eventually, the library came into view……but he made a turn before reaching it, heading towards the back alleys.

Because it was now winter, most of the people walking the streets wore warm looking clothes.

But, as they went into the back alleys, the quality of the clothes people were wearing began to drop.

Rei and Set walked past these people, drawing attention as they went.

However, the two of them were already used to being the center of attention, so they didn’t care too much.

Soon, a familiar shop appeared in Rei’s line of sight.

It was Pamidor’s shop.

In front of the shop, a small child was swinging something around.

When the child saw Rei and Set……or rather, when he saw Set, he broke into a happy smile and ran towards them.

「It’s Set, Set! Hey, hey, can we play? Are you busy right now?」

The words he fired off one after another conveyed a genuine feeling of happiness at seeing Set, which Rei clearly felt.

「Gurururu~」

「Kumito, it’s been a while.」

「Yeah, it’s been a while! You haven’t been around lately, where did you go?」

His innocent smile as he spoke to Rei made it hard to believe he shared the blood of his biological father, Pamidor.

In fact, few people seeing Kumito for the first time would ever guess he was the son of Pamidor, who looked nothing short of a brutal bandit.

Actually, there had even been an incident in the past where a passerby saw Pamidor and Kumito walking together and mistook it for a kidnapping, calling the guards.

Every time Rei saw Kumito, he found himself tilting his head at the mysteries of genetics.

(Come to think of it, I still haven’t met Kumito’s mother.)

Since she had married Pamidor, Rei guessed that she had to be quite a strong willed person on the inside. At the same time, since she had given birth to such a cute child like Kumito, Rei was also sure she was beautiful on the outside.

While thinking that he’d like to meet her someday, Rei called out to Kumito.

「So, Kumito. Is Pamidor inside the shop?」

「Ah, yeah. He said something about final adjustments for a job he got asked to do a little while ago.」

「I see. Well, I have to talk with Pamidor about something, so could you play with Set for a bit?」

「Yeah! Leave it to me! Here, Set. Let’s play?」

「Guru~」

Set gave a happy cry at Kumito’s words.

He rubbed his face against Kumito and laughter echoed around them.

(Kids really are energetic. ……I hope he doesn’t catch a cold, though.)

Glancing at Kumito, who was dressed fairly warmly, Rei opened the door to the shop.

「Pamidor, are you here?」

Rei called out, but there was no reply.

However, he had sensed a presence inside the shop…… Tilting his head in confusion, Rei stepped inside. The first thing he saw was Pamidor staring intently at a dagger with a serious expression.

Strangely, seeing his ferocious face right now didn’t evoke a sense of fear.

Rather, it was the face of a man taking his work seriously.

(I probably shouldn’t interrupt him right now.)

Seeing Pamidor like that, Rei leaned against the wall after entering the shop.

「……」

The air inside the shop was filled with tension.

That was how serious Pamidor was taking his working.

A few minutes passed……

「Well, I guess this is good enough.」

Finally satisfied, Pamidor sheathed the dagger he was holding.

Watching him finish, Rei finally spoke.

「Are you done?」

「Yeah. ……Hm? Whoa! Rei!? When did you get here!」

「So you really didn’t notice me. Well, I suppose it’s only natural since you were so focused. I haven’t been here that long. Only a few minutes at most.」

While giving a small smile at Pamidor’s reaction, Rei directed his gaze to the dagger Pamidor was holding.

「What’s with that dagger?」

「Hm? Ah, it’s a job I was asked to do. Apparently, they got ambushed by a Gamelion and parried its fang with this dagger on reflex. Thanks to that, they survived, but the blade chipped in the middle. So, they asked me to repair it.」

「I’d think it would have been better to just buy a new one in that case.」

Since the blade had chipped in the middle, repairing it would have costed a considerable amount.

If it was the work of a highly skilled blacksmith like Pamidor, it would only be more expensive, rarely cheaper.

Rei voiced his thoughts, and Pamidor let out a deep sigh.

「Normally, that would be the correct choice. But this is a weapon that saved their life, you know? Attachment……might not be the right way to put it,, but it’s only natural to have a strong emotional connection to it, right?」

「Is that how it works?」

「If the Death Scythe you use chipped, would you want to use a replacement weapon?」

Rei quickly understood the meaning behind Pamidor’s words.

The Death Scythe was a magic item created through the Magic Beast Art, and it was true he had a strong emotional attachment to it, knowing it was born from his own magic power.

If some sort of defect occurred with the Death Scythe, and someone asked if he could use a replacement weapon……the answer would be no.

「Right, you have a point, Pamidor. ……Still, a Gamelion?」

Partly to change the subject, Rei asked about the Gamelion.

Given the dungeon incident from the day before, it was a fact that he was quite curious about it.

Pamidor nodded at Rei’s words and spoke.

「Yeah. Word was that Gamelions were hard to find this year, but that doesn’t mean there are absolutely none. It seems highly skilled or lucky adventurers have managed to hunt some. The Gamelion meat being sold right now was apparently brought in by those guys.」

「Ah, I guess so. ……Well, I think Gamelion meat availability will increase and get cheaper soon, so you don’t need to worry too much about it.」

「Hm? What do you mean by that? Did Gamelions start appearing again?」

Pamidor couldn’t let Rei’s words slip by as he asked.

Pamidor had come to Gilm just last year, so he had only eaten Gamelion meat last autumn.

But, just eating Gamelion meat once was enough to make him a captive to its taste.

That was why he absolutely wanted to know what Rei meant when he said those words.

「Well, I can only say ‘probably’ and ‘maybe,’ but it’s still quite likely.」

「……What are you hiding? I haven’t known you that long, but even I can tell you’re hiding something.」

「A lot of things happened. You know how it is, right?」

「I see. ……Understood. But a decent amount of Gamelion meat will start circulating, right?」

「Yeah, probably.」

「Then that’s fine. I’ll believe you. ……So, why did you come here today? As you can see, I’m not exactly drowning in free time.」

Rei looked momentarily taken aback by Pamidor, who was asked while checking the handle of the dagger.

Eventually, Rei responded with a bit of exasperation.

「You said you’d go to an alchemist’s place regarding the magic sword I brought you, right? I came for that……did you forget?」

「Hm? Ah, right, there was that. My bad.」

Rei’s words must have finally jogged his memory. He placed the dagger on the desk and immediately headed towards the back of the shop.

「Wait a bit. I’ll get ready right now.」

That was all he said.

「Being enthusiastic about work is good, but I think concentrating too much is a problem. Actually, it’s probably because of that concentration that he became such a highly skilled blacksmith. ……Although his face is still incredibly brutal no matter how you look at it.」

「Shut up. I was born with this face. Not like I can help it.」

Pamidor emerged from the back of the shop, grumbling while wearing winter clothes for going out.

In his hand was the magic sword Rei had left with him yesterday. More accurately, since it was broken midway through the blade, it was better described as the remnants of a magic sword.

「Alright, let’s go. That guy is quite moody, you see. If he’s in a good mood, he’ll handle it right away, but if he’s not, it’s going to take time.」

Although he was complaining verbally, there was a sense of respect in Pamidor’s tone.

Seeing Pamidor like that allowed Rei to imagine that the alchemist they were talking about wasn’t a bad person.

「If you say that, Pamidor, he must not be a bad guy.」

However, the moment he heard Rei’s words, Pamidor snorted indignantly.

「Hah? What are you saying? When did I say he wasn’t a bad guy? What gave you the wrong idea?」

「Then I guess we’ll have to go to this alchemist to see for myself. Lead the way.」

「Right, there’s no point standing around here forever. Come on, let’s go. Ah, I’ll give this back to you for now. We’ll need to take it out when we get there, but you can keep it in your item box until then.」

Rei stored the remnants of the magic sword handed to him by Pamidor in the Misty Ring and left the shop with him.

As they stepped outside, they saw Set lying down and Kumito petting him.

「Wow, Set is so warm. So fluffy.」

「Gururu~」

Seeing Kumito petting him and Set being petted, both of them looking so happy, Rei hesitated to interrupt for a moment, but knowing they couldn’t stay like this forever, he spoke up.

「Kumito, sorry, but Set and I have to go out with Pamidor for a bit. Can we play again next time?」

「Eh? ……Ah, okay.」

Kumito looked slightly disappointed as Set nodded at Rei’s words and stood up.

「Gurururururu~」

Let’s play again next time? Set seemed to say as he rubbed his face against Kumito.

Kumito seemed to understand. His disappointed expression was replaced with a smile as he nodded energetically.

Seeing Kumito like this, Rei remembered the first time he had met him.

(Kumito was being bullied back then, but is he not being bullied anymore? Well, considering they went through such a terrifying experience, if they were still trying to bully Kumito after that, it would be impressive in its own way.)

Since they had threatened Kumito to make him bring them Pamidor’s weapons, it was more accurate to call it extortion rather than bullying.

For a moment, Rei thought about asking Kumito or Pamidor about it, but quickly decided against it.

He judged that if Kumito was still being bothered, he wouldn’t have been able to show such a bright smile.

「Okay, Dad. I’ll be inside the shop.」

「Yeah. There are a lot of dangerous things in the back, so don’t touch anything carelessly.」

「Okaaaay. See you later, Set. You too, Rei!」

Kumito waved broadly as he went inside the shop before Rei and Pamidor left the area.

Not wanting to be left behind, Set followed after Rei.

The two people and one animal proceeded through the city while talking.

「So, what kind of guy is this alchemist? You said he was moody.」

「Let’s see……as far as I know, he’s highly skilled. But that moody part is quite the drawback. Depending on his mood at the time, his skill in compounding and other things can fluctuate. ……Of course, he still possesses a certain level of skill, regardless of his mood.」

「His level of skill changes depending on his mood? ……That sounds kind of sketchy.」

「Don’t say that. It’s true he has some issues in that regard, but fundamentally his skills are still good.」

When hearing the words alchemist or alchemy, Rei’s mind inevitably went to the Bestir Empire.

Because of that, it was true he didn’t have a very good impression of alchemists, but maybe it wasn’t good to worry too much about it from the start.

Thinking like that, Rei followed alongside Pamidor.

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