"……He’s gone. Phew."
Marina let out a deep sigh as she watched Rei leave the Guild Master's office.
To an observer, Marina appeared to maintain her usual composure in Rei's presence. However, as a skilled mage even among the naturally gifted Dark Elves, her ability to sense magic power was exceptional. Consequently, being in the presence of the immense magic power Rei harbored within his body always left her feeling tense.
Still, Marina had lived for a very long time, and hiding such feelings was not particularly difficult. More importantly, after several interactions with Rei, she had come to understand his personality, so the tension was far from unbearable.
"Besides…… heheh."
The way he reacted every time she teased him slightly made him seem like nothing more than an innocent boy, creating a sharp contrast with the immense magic power hidden within him. That imbalance helped alleviate the pressure Marina felt.
"In any case, Rei is heading toward Emocion just as I planned. Now, I just need to perform a Grand Sweep of the City of Gilm while he’s gone."
Muttering to herself, Marina pulled an envelope from her desk. The letter had been delivered from the Royal Capital via a bird summoned beast about two days ago. The sender was Daskar Larkus, the Lord of the City of Gilm.
"Good grief. The war is barely over, and they're already starting their factional infighting…… the King's Faction is certainly carefree."
She muttered listlessly and chanted a short spell. The envelope in her hand instantly burst into flames, turning to ash in seconds without leaving so much as a faint burn on her fingers.
"Well, since Emocion is a port city, there should be plenty of things to catch Rei's interest. More importantly, since it's a monster that stays in the water, it will likely take some effort to defeat. Even accounting for travel time, I'd say he'll be gone for at least half a month. If it drags on, perhaps a full month. That should be plenty of time to handle the request from Margrave Larkus."
Marina recalled the contents of the letter that was now ash.
Several nobles from the mainstream of the King's Faction had learned of Rei's prowess and were sending agents to Gilm to maneuver behind the scenes, hoping to pull him into their own factions. Naturally, Daskar would not be pleased even with a normal recruitment attempt, but the problem this time lay with the specific individuals who had been dispatched. They were the type who handled a noble's dirty work—people who would achieve their goals by any means necessary, even resorting to coercion or threats.
Perhaps they looked down on Rei as a mere adventurer, or perhaps they assumed he wouldn't dare defy a noble. Anyone who had participated in the war would understand the fate that had befallen the noble Lunojis, but it seemed impossible to make nobles who hadn't been on the battlefield understand that. Their resulting behavior was nothing short of reckless.
On Marina’s part, she was acting both on the request from Lord Daskar and her own desire as a Guild Master not to lose a talented adventurer to another branch. Furthermore, she simply didn't want to see someone she was fond of subjected to such unpleasantness. At the moment, that fondness was more of a friendship than a romantic attraction, but affection was affection nonetheless.
For these reasons, she had decided to have Rei—the catalyst for the commotion—leave Gilm for a while so she could take action in his absence.
As for the reason for his departure, fortunately, the matter in Port City Emocion was legitimate, just as she had told Rei. The damage the Kingdom of Mireana was suffering would be immense if the monster lurking offshore wasn't dealt with, so Marina's explanation wasn't entirely a lie.
"Anyway, I'll have to cooperate with the Knight Order to deal with this first. Also, the Prairie Wolves? I believe there was a bandit gang by that name…… I wonder how he brought them into the fold?"
Tilting her head in thought, Marina began to devise a plan based on her long years of experience to deal with those who would bring unnecessary trouble to this frontier city.
"Oh, Rei-kun. Are you finished with the Guild Master?"
As Rei returned to the 1F from Marina's office, he was greeted by Kenny.
Her voice sounded less curious and more worried that he might have been overwhelmed by Marina's charms, but Rei gave a small nod, seemingly oblivious to her concern.
"Yeah. I've decided to go to another city for a bit."
"……Eh?"
The words were clearly unexpected. But that was only natural; Rei had been called to the office to receive a magic item. Why that would lead to him suddenly leaving for another city was beyond the comprehension of Kenny or even Lenora, who was listening nearby.
"Wait! Rei-kun, are you leaving this city!?"
Kenny screamed as she came to her senses, her voice echoing throughout the guild. Even though it was nearly noon, her voice reached the few adventurers who remained in the hall.
"Hey, did you hear that just now……?"
"Rei's going to another city? But as an adventurer, there aren't many places better than this, right?"
"Hmm, maybe a Labyrinth City?"
"Ah, a dungeon, huh. ……But there's a dungeon near here, isn't there? The one that hasn't been conquered yet."
"But that dungeon isn't very big yet. Maybe he wants to dive into a larger one?"
There weren't many adventurers in Gilm who were personally close to Rei, but he was currently the most talked-about adventurer due to the fame he had gained during the war. While it was a bit early to call him the Face of Gilm, his reputation had spread from the soldiers on the front lines to the entire Kingdom of Mireana, and even throughout the Bestia Empire. In fact, his name had likely spread even further within the Empire, given the direct damage he had caused them.
A stir arose at the news that Rei would be leaving Gilm, but he quickly shook his head to deny the rumors.
"It's not that I'm never coming back. It seems a monster is going on a rampage off the coast of the Port City Emocion and sinking ships. I'm just going there to subjugate it."
Hearing this, both Lenora and Kenny looked visibly relieved.
Though their feelings for Rei differed, the fact remained that they both felt a great deal of affection for him.
However, Lenora quickly showed her professional side as a receptionist. Upon hearing Rei's explanation, she recalled the details of the situation.
"You mean the matter in Emocion? I believe that wasn't formatted as a standard request, but rather an event where the person who defeats the monster takes the entire reward…… a sort of winner-takes-all bounty."
"So it seems."
Rei nodded, confirming her information. It appeared to be the first time Kenny had heard of it, as she turned to Lenora with a surprised expression.
"If it's attacking ships, the port must be halfway blockaded, right? Why are they being so leisurely about it? Shouldn't they just put out a subjugation request and gather volunteers?"
"Even if you ask me, it's not like I issued the request…… though, based on what I've heard, it's quite complicated."
"Complicated?"
"Yes. There are all sorts of vested interests involved. The Adventurer's Guild in Emocion has its pride to consider, so they want to defeat it themselves. However, the Lord of Emocion has higher expectations for high-rank adventurers from other guilds than for his own local guild, which has failed several times. Naturally, the Emocion Guild isn't happy about it, but they have to comply since the Lord requested outside help…… it's something like that."
"……It certainly sounds like there's a lot of drama. But is it really okay for Rei-kun to go there? He might get caught up in some strange interpersonal conflict."
Kenny looked at him with concern, but Rei had no intention of backing down.
"I might be able to obtain a magic stone from a rare monster, after all."
"……Honestly, I don't see the appeal of a hobby like collecting magic stones……"
Even for Kenny, who held romantic feelings for Rei, his hobby of collecting magic stones was incomprehensible.
That wasn't to say she understood his other hobby—collecting magic items—either.
While a fair number of people enjoyed collecting magic items, their sheer cost usually limited the hobby to nobles, wealthy merchants, or high-rank adventurers. A hobby that expensive was simply beyond Kenny's understanding.
Of course, as a receptionist, she knew exactly how much money Rei was earning, so she didn't think it was strange for him to have such a hobby, but that didn't mean she had to agree with it.
"Well, whether it's magic stones or magic items, everyone has their own hobbies. I know it's not my place to say anything."
"I'd appreciate it if you left it at that. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm heading to Emocion."
Realizing it was pointless to try to stop him, Lenora pulled on the hem of Kenny's uniform and shook her head slightly before speaking to Rei once more.
"So, Rei-san, when do you plan to depart?"
"I can't exactly leave today…… so tomorrow morning."
"I see. ……Rei-san, this will be your first time facing a sea monster, so please be very careful. If it's sunk several ships, it's likely a commensurately massive opponent."
"Yeah. I have Set with me, so if things get dangerous, we can escape immediately. ……Anyway, thanks for the concern."
Just as Rei said that, Kenny suddenly spoke up.
"Come to think of it, I've been working non-stop lately. Don't you think I should get a bit of a consolidated vacation?"
Kenny muttered suggestively, her eyes fixed on Lenora. It was obvious what she was implying. Her eyes were certainly doing the talking.
However, Lenora responded by rolling up the documents she was holding and bringing them down on the back of Kenny's head. A sharp thwack echoed through the hall.
"Ow! Hey, what was that for!?"
"Don't 'what was that for' me! I know we've been busy, but that's the same for every single guild employee!"
Lenora yelled at Kenny, who was clutching her head in protest.
It was true that the guild had been extremely busy lately due to the aftermath of the war. But since everyone was in the same boat, Kenny trying to take a vacation just to follow Rei caused Lenora's patience to snap.
"Ugh…… but what if Rei-kun gets caught by some strange woman in Emocion? Aren't you worried, Lenora?"
As Kenny tried to argue her case, Lenora's response was another swift strike with the documents.
"Gyah!"
Though it was only a hit with rolled-up papers, the force behind it was as if Lenora's very spirit had inhabited the blow, driving Kenny face-down onto the counter.
『……』
The scene was so shocking that the guild staff, the adventurers, and Rei were all left staring at Lenora.
Feeling their gazes, Lenora covered her mouth with her hand and put on a smile to brush it off.
"Oh dear, I've shown you something unsightly. My apologies."
She dismissed the atmosphere with a forced, elegant air and sat back in her seat with strained composure.
After a few seconds of silence, the stir eventually returned to the guild. Most people decided it was best to pretend they hadn't seen anything.
Amidst the noise, Rei also decided to ignore the slumped Kenny and looked back at Lenora.
"Well, I should be going soon. I have to get ready for tomorrow."
"Eh? Ah, yes. I understand. Sea monsters are completely different from anything you've fought before, Rei-san, so please be careful."
"Yeah, no problem. I'll be back soon……"
He stopped mid-sentence.
(That's right. There are probably many monsters unique to the sea. It wouldn't be bad to spend a month or so over there collecting magic stones.)
"Rei-san?"
"No, since I'm going to the coast anyway, I thought I might take a bit of a break while I'm at it."
"Tropical sea…… sandy beaches…… liberation…… other women…… the enemy……"
"Be quiet."
The documents were brought down once again on the back of the head of Kenny, who had started to sit up while muttering.
"Guh…… even if you defeat me, a second and third of me will eventually appear. Be sure to……"
"That's enough out of you!"
The Strike of the Holy Sword to slay the Demon King. For a moment, that was exactly how Rei saw the documents being brought down on Kenny's head.