The day after Vihera and Byune arrived in Gilm, Rei was walking through the city with the two of them and Set in tow.
Having only arrived the previous day, the pair naturally had no idea what kinds of shops lay where, so Rei had taken it upon himself to guide them around.
Vihera had been eager to take on subjugation requests at the guild and test herself against the powerful monsters unique to the frontier, but Rei had insisted that she needed a proper tour of the city first—and so he and Set were showing her around.
It was the obvious call. If Vihera and Byune had wandered the streets on their own, there was no question that some man would try to hit on Vihera and spark a commotion.
Better, then, for Rei and Set—two figures that nearly everyone in Gilm recognized—to accompany them. And if Rei and Set happened to be in it for the snacks along the way, well, that was just a bonus.
Just like the day before, plenty of people wanted to fuss over Set during the tour, but things had settled down somewhat since yesterday. The crowds were thinner.
Rei had fully expected Mirene and Yohanna to storm the Twilight Wheat Pavilion—or rather, the stables—by the previous evening, but there had been no sign of either of them.
Finding this odd, Rei decided to gather a little intelligence. Or more accurately, he struck up conversations while buying food from stall owners, just as he was doing now, and managed to piece together some useful information.
"I never expected Yohanna and the others to take a joint request with the Scorching Wind."
He muttered under his breath, the disbelief plain in his voice.
But the more he thought about it, the less strange it seemed.
It was true that Mirene and Yohanna were at each other's throats over Set, but the rest of the Scorching Wind members and the Former Mobile Unit got along well enough.
Viewed in that light, the two groups traveling together was hardly unusual.
(Besides, it's a subjugation mission for a C-Rank Cyclops. The Scorching Wind is a C-Rank party, so they should handle it fine. But if something irregular happens, having the Former Mobile Unit along as backup isn't a bad idea at all.)
According to the stall owners, the Scorching Wind and the Former Mobile Unit—a combined force of roughly ten—had set out yesterday. Judging by that, Rei was confident they could handle a Cyclops. Which meant his concern had shifted from the mission itself to something far more pressing: the sheer intensity Mirene and Yohanna would bring when they returned and saw Set again after two months apart.
Based on past experience, there was a very high chance they would completely lose their minds.
Mirene, at least, had been present when Maruka showed up. Yohanna, on the other hand, hadn't even been there—she'd been caught completely off guard when Rei and Set vanished.
"Guruu?"
As Rei patted Set's head with a sense of impending doom, Set turned its round eyes toward him as if to ask, "What's wrong?"
To Set, both Mirene and Yohanna were people who doted on it. It certainly didn't dislike them.
If anything, since they always brought delicious food, it was quite fond of them—second only to Rei.
"Did something happen?"
Perhaps picking up on something in Rei's demeanor—after all, he'd suddenly started patting Set right after his conversation with the stall owner—Vihera gave him a curious look.
"No, just thinking about how much Set gets spoiled... Oh, by the way, do you know a woman named Yohanna from the Former Mobile Unit? I heard her family runs a large merchant company."
Rei asked out of curiosity, but the response was a shake of her head.
"How many merchant companies do you think are out there? I might know the famous ones, but..."
"I see. Well, they probably know about you, though."
"That's... true, I suppose."
The Former Mobile Unit members hailed from the Bestia Empire and had fought as part of the Third Prince's faction during last year's civil war.
Naturally, they would know Vihera, who had served as a key combatant for the Third Prince's faction. And they must have seen her countless times when she came to visit Rei during the conflict.
Given all that, there was no doubt they would be stunned to see Vihera here in Gilm.
"Nn?"
Byune looked up from the lizardman skewer Vihera had bought for her, gazing at the two of them with a quizzical expression.
Rei and Vihera both shook their heads as if to say it was nothing, and they continued walking through the streets.
Not that Rei knew every corner of Gilm himself, of course. His usual haunts were fairly limited—the area around the guild, food shops, and stores dealing in weapons and equipment.
...The fact that the lord's mansion fell within that range was probably a testament to just how abnormal Rei was.
"That weapon shop over there is one I drop by sometimes to buy spears. They sell weapons that are basically unusable—chipped spearheads, handles on the verge of snapping—at throwaway prices, just a few copper coins. It's a real help for me."
"Selling unusable weapons... isn't that a little questionable?"
Vihera's expression soured slightly at Rei's words, but he shook his head.
"Obviously, you can't use broken weapons in real combat. But for training, or for testing whether a weapon suits you before committing to a real one, they work fine. They break quickly, of course—you get what you pay for."
Hearing that they weren't meant for actual combat, Vihera finally looked convinced.
Though she still had her doubts about training with weapons on the verge of falling apart.
"Oh, and there are also adventurers who've had a string of failed requests and are flat broke. I sometimes see people like that hunting for decent weapons here."
"...Are you serious? Their lives are on the line, you know."
Vihera murmured with an expression of sheer incomprehension, but Byune lightly tugged at her thin clothes and shook her head.
When it came to not having money, Byune had lived that reality for a long time in Exil.
That was likely why she understood—all too well—the adventurer who tried to scrounge up a weapon with whatever meager funds they had.
"Byune..."
"Come on, give Byune a break here. And besides, when I say 'unusable,' I mean unusable for their original purpose. Some of them are in decent enough shape. You can use a broken spear as a short spear, or a chipped claymore as a bludgeon."
Those weapons would normally fetch a small sum if melted down for scrap.
But the shop owner was offering them to destitute adventurers as a form of charity, taking a slight loss in the process.
There were those who argued that if he truly cared, he should at least provide cheap but functional weapons. But it was a small shop to begin with—he simply couldn't afford to cut his margins that far.
In that sense, Rei—buying up broken spears at slightly marked-up prices—was actually one of the shop's better customers.
...Of course, since Rei bought so many spears, there was also the issue of weapons becoming harder to come by for adventurers who actually used them.
"Well, the people who come here are either locals who grew up and just became adventurers, or people who arrived in Gilm with a stronger party. Apparently there are even some daredevils who head straight here right after registering, fresh out of the gate."
For adventurers in the Kingdom of Mireana, the frontier city of Gilm was the promised land.
There was no shortage of those who dreamed of visiting it at least once, of making a name for themselves there—much like the Royal Capital or the Labyrinth City.
Naturally, that aspiration burned brightest among those who had just become adventurers.
But while most recognized their own shortcomings and chose the steady path of building up their skills and rank, there were always a few who recklessly set out for Gilm before they were ready.
Most of them lost their lives along the way—to monsters, bandits, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But a handful, through sheer luck or providence, actually made it.
Those who did arrive invariably found that they had exhausted every last drop of fortune getting there. Lacking the skill to take on meaningful work, they scraped by on the simplest requests available within the city—barely earning enough to survive.
And it was those people who came to the very weapon shop Rei and his companions were looking at now.
"See, someone like that guy over there."
Rei's gaze, following his explanation, landed on a man who looked a few years older than him.
The man—likely a recent arrival this spring—wore what could only be described as the remnants of leather armor, and carried no weapon at all.
After watching the man disappear into the shop, Rei spoke again.
"Well, even so, if someone truly has the drive and the talent, they can claw their way up from a situation like that. ...Anyway, let's keep moving."
With that, he set off down the street.
They made their way through the city, snacking as they went. Rei showed them the library, bookstores, cheap and tasty eateries, stalls with excellent skewers, shops and stalls known for their sandwiches, and places with good soup.
"Wait. Hold on a second. There's been a suspicious number of food-related stops, don't you think? And every time we pass one of those shops or stalls, you buy something. I'm already stuffed."
"Really? ...How about you?"
"Guruu."
Set purred, as if to say it could still eat more.
Rei knew his own stomach still had plenty of room, so he shot Vihera a glance that said they were doing just fine.
But the look Vihera shot back was one of pure exasperation.
"How are you two fine after eating that much? What kind of bodies do you even have? ...That's the real shocker here for us. Right?"
Vihera turned to Byune, who was walking beside her.
She figured that Byune, being smaller than her, must surely be full by now. But...
"Nn?"
For some reason, Byune—smaller than Vihera—showed not the slightest sign of discomfort as she savored a wild bird skewer she'd gotten as a bonus from the stall owner just moments before.
"...Byune?"
"Nn?"
The reply was the same small voice as a few seconds ago.
But there was none of the expression Vihera had expected—no look of being overstuffed, no sign that she couldn't eat another bite.
"Was Byune always this big an eater?"
Vihera wondered aloud, but Rei chimed in as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Children grow by eating well, sleeping well, and playing hard. Isn't it fine for her to eat as much as she wants?"
"What you're saying isn't wrong, but there's a limit to everything. Byune, are you really okay? Don't come complaining to me later if your stomach hurts."
"Nn!"
Since Byune was fundamentally expressionless, perhaps she simply wasn't showing it.
With that thought, Vihera pressed her—but all that came back was the same tiny voice as always.
Vihera had known Byune for a fair amount of time. Even though the girl appeared blank-faced at first glance, Vihera could read her subtle shifts in expression. And from what she could see, Byune didn't look like she was pushing herself at all.
She had no choice but to conclude that, genuinely, Byune still had room to spare.
"Before, she only ate an amount proportionate to her body... I wonder what changed. She's not sick or anything, is she?"
Vihera muttered with concern, but Byune—the one being worried about—looked perfectly fine.
Satisfied that it wasn't an illness, Vihera let out a sigh—still not entirely convinced—and patted Byune on the head.
"Eating is fine, but don't eat so much that you gain weight, okay? You're a girl, so you have to stay pretty. And more importantly, a thief with sluggish movements is no laughing matter."
"...Nn."
At Vihera's words, Byune nodded, albeit reluctantly.
Apparently satisfied with that, Vihera turned to Rei.
"So, where to next?"
"We've come this far. Why don't we swing by the guild again, like yesterday?"
"Why? You're not planning to take a request, are you?"
"Depends on what's available. But honestly, it's more of a face reveal. You stand out, Vihera."
Given that she was dressed in a way that made her look like a prostitute or a dancer, that was stating the obvious.
In fact, even now, the people sneaking glances at Vihera were nodding vigorously in their hearts.
"Hmm. Well, if you say so... alright, let's go."
With that, rather than waiting for Rei to lead, she took the front—as if she were the one guiding him.
Having been there just yesterday, she apparently already had the route memorized.
And indeed, without the slightest hesitation, Vihera led them straight to the guild.
There, after parting ways with Set and stepping through the entrance...
"Five Cyclops! We need reinforcements, now!"
That voice rang out across the hall.