The place Rei, Vihera, Pamidor, Asimov, and Byune — five in all — had come to was a tavern tucked away in a corner of Gilm.
It was already evening. Adventurers and townsfolk who had finished their day's work were nursing their fatigue with drinks and food.
The five of them settled at a table in the back of the tavern.
As for why Byune, who had nothing to do with the matter at hand, was with them — it was simply because the only people she knew were Rei and Vihera. She had chosen to tag along rather than stay behind with strangers.
Rei and Vihera both understood Byune's skills as a thief, and they figured there was a chance they might need her help before this was over. Better to bring her along and explain everything at once than to brief her separately later.
There was also the fact that the Cyclops subjugation hadn't been a job they'd accepted through the Guild, nor had they gone as reinforcements under any formal request — so there was no need to report there.
...Though for Mirene and Yohanna, who stood outside the tavern gazing at Set with the most regretful longing imaginable as he waited for his ordered food, it may well have been a tragedy.
"Is this little girl really that skilled a thief? She doesn't look much older than Kumito."
While waiting for their drinks and food to arrive — and unable to discuss anything too sensitive in the meantime — they passed the time with light chatter. The comment from Pamidor came after Vihera had given him a brief rundown of Byune.
"Mm."
Being underestimated because of her age was something Byune was long accustomed to. She simply murmured a single word without any hint of anger.
...Rei had plenty of experience being judged by his age and appearance too, but even compared to him, this was a remarkably mature response.
"Do you know a place called Exil?"
"Ah, I know that one. It's a Labyrinth City. Good materials come out of there, so the level of Alchemy is high too."
Asimov answered Vihera's question without missing a beat.
Pamidor, being a skilled Blacksmith himself, was also familiar with Labyrinth Cities.
"It's one of the Labyrinth Cities in this country. What about it?"
"Until she met me, this girl was soloing the Dungeon in that Labyrinth City. Though eventually we partied up to clear it together."
"......This kid?"
Pamidor cast a skeptical glance at Byune, but given her appearance, it was hardly an unreasonable reaction. A child of about ten, soloing a Dungeon.
Vihera, however, nodded without hesitation.
"Yes, of course. I can vouch for her skills."
"......Vouching for her skills is fine and all, but who are you? Seeing as you're with Rei, you've clearly got some kind of complicated background."
"Hey, wait a second. Why does being seen with me automatically mean someone's got a complicated background?"
Rei's protest carried genuine indignation, but Pamidor just gave him an exasperated look, as if stating the obvious.
"You're with her. That means she's got a complicated background. Simple as that."
"You really just said that? You doubled down completely, didn't you?"
He fired back, but given that Vihera was indeed a person with a complicated background, his words carried almost no weight.
Rei was about to argue further when the waitress appeared, performing what could only be called a feat of dexterity — carrying multiple cups in her hands while balancing several plates of food along her wrists and arms. He fell silent.
"Here you go, thanks for waiting. Two ales, one wine, two fruit waters. Plus stir-fried Orc meat, Jarm stew, and a few other things."
Rei's eyes were drawn to the food as it was set on the table — particularly the Jarm stew.
Jarm was the second monster Rei had encountered after arriving in Elgin. It resembled a flying squirrel. The dish was prepared by plucking the fur, removing the internal organs, and prepping the meat for easy eating. The whole thing was parboiled in plenty of hot water, then stewed with vegetables in a sauce. By removing the bones during prep, the entire creature could be eaten whole.
"Enjoy your meal."
The waitress smiled at Rei, who had already reached for the Jarm stew, and moved on.
They kept up their idle chatter for a few more minutes. Once Vihera confirmed that no one around them was paying attention to their conversation, she spoke.
The reason no one in the tavern was paying them any mind despite Vihera's presence was likely because nearly everyone here was either a Gilm resident or someone well-acquainted with the town — and they had already noticed the Gryphon outside and connected it to Rei.
...It also didn't hurt that Pamidor, with his fearsome face that looked like a Bandits' ringleader, was sitting right there.
Even if someone found Vihera intriguing, no one in this tavern was reckless enough to hassle a group that included those two. If anyone had tried, the others would have stopped them.
"......Well then, shall we get to the main topic?"
"Hold on. Before that, tell me why you're involved in this conversation at all. When Asimov told Rei about the hammer, we decided it'd be best to talk wherever you were."
In the direction of Pamidor's gaze, Asimov — the very subject of the conversation — was reaching for another skewer.
"Come to think of it, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Vihera, former Second Imperial Princess of the Bestia Empire. Pleased to meet you."
"......"
At Vihera's casual, smiling declaration, Pamidor silently turned to Rei. Rei gave him a nod.
"The world really is something else, huh..."
"Well, that's how it is. You understand now why I said we should bring Vihera in on this, right? ......Anyway. Asimov."
"Nom... phwaaah. Ale and skewers — why do they go so perfectly together? Hmm? Oh, you mean about that hammer being made by a Bestia Empire Alchemist?"
"That's right. First things first — how can you be so certain it was made by a Bestia Empire Alchemist?"
"That's simple. Alchemy varies from person to person, but the influence of what you've studied always shows through to some degree. And since the Bestia Empire's Alchemy has developed so rapidly in recent years, those characteristics stand out even more prominently. If you compared a Magic Item made by an Ozos Alchemist with one made by a Bestia Alchemist, anyone could tell the difference."
"......Anyone? The Guild staff didn't notice anything when I had it appraised."
Rei asked, genuinely curious, but Asimov immediately shook his head.
"Correction. Not anyone — any Alchemist of sufficient skill could tell."
"That's not 'anyone' anymore. What exactly are you using as your baseline?"
Rei sighed at Asimov's self-referential standard and steered the conversation back.
"So that hammer displayed characteristics specific to Bestia Empire Alchemy?"
"Yeah. If you're interested, I could explain those characteristics — or go into more detail about Alchemy in general. But you probably don't care, do you?"
"It's not that I'm not interested, but... yes. We don't have time for that right now."
Asimov was momentarily cowed by Vihera's words. Her gaze had sharpened noticeably since the topic of a Bestia Empire Alchemist's involvement had come up.
Asimov was the type who considered Alchemy to be everything and couldn't care less about anyone's status or position. But there was apparently something in Vihera's stare that got to even him.
"And you're absolutely certain about this, right? It wouldn't be funny if this blew up and you later said, 'Actually, the Bestia Empire had nothing to do with it.'"
"That much is certain. If you asked other Alchemists, they'd probably say the same. ......But what I'm saying is strictly this: the item was made by someone who studied Alchemy in the Bestia Empire. Whether that Alchemist still belongs to the Bestia Empire right now — I can't say that with confidence."
"Ah, I see. Even if someone learned Alchemy in the Bestia Empire, they don't necessarily still serve the empire."
At Rei's words, Vihera let out a faint breath of relief.
She had fled the Bestia Empire, but she hadn't lost her affection for her homeland. Especially with Mercureo — who doted on her — positioned to become the next emperor, those feelings ran deep.
But the words that slipped from Pamidor's mouth delivered a cruel blow.
"But that hammer was made recently. Less than a year ago, for sure... no, it might not even be more than a month or two old."
Coming from a man introduced as a skilled Blacksmith, Pamidor's words landed heavy on Vihera's heart.
"......I see. In that case, things could take a rather unpleasant turn."
Rei nodded in agreement and spoke up.
"When I heard the hammer was made by a Bestia Empire Alchemist, the first thing that came to mind was Rhodos — someone I fought during the civil war. Come to think of it, there are a lot of similarities. Granting powerful Regeneration Ability, stealing consciousness..."
"In other words, an Alchemist who served my brother has come here? As for why... I don't even need to ask, do I?"
"Probably not. Not to brag, but my exploits during that civil war were pretty damn conspicuous."
"......Civil war? You mean the one that happened in the Bestia Empire last year? But you fled the country, didn't you? How were you involved in the civil war?"
Word of last year's civil war had apparently reached Pamidor's ears as well. His fierce face went wide with surprise.
"Well, a lot happened. The thing is, during the civil war, the First Prince had an Alchemist in his service. Given how everything connects, I think that same Alchemist is probably involved here. What do you think?"
Rei put the question to Asimov, but the man only wore a troubled expression.
"You're asking the wrong person. There's no doubt the hammer was made by an Alchemist from the Bestia Empire. But whether it's someone from the First Prince's faction? There's no way I could know that."
"......Fair enough."
Rei couldn't argue with that, delivered as it was between swigs of ale.
Even if it was clearly the work of a Bestia Empire Alchemist, not all of them had fought for the First Prince's faction during the civil war. There was a chance that an Alchemist who hadn't participated in the civil war had come to the Kingdom of Mireana for some other reason... but Rei immediately shook his head.
"No way. A Bestia Empire Alchemist just happens to show up near Gilm, just happens to make a Magic Item that only something as large as a Cyclops could use, and a red Cyclops just happens to get its hands on it? How many coincidences would have to stack up for that?"
They say three coincidences make an inevitability, but Rei couldn't shake the feeling that this had been deliberately orchestrated.
"This is bad."
The murmur came from Vihera. The word "bad" clearly referred not to the food but to the situation at hand. At least from Rei's perspective, nothing on the table tasted bad — quite the opposite, in fact. It was a common tavern, so "good" didn't mean exquisite cuisine, but nothing here deserved to be called bad.
"The Alchemist?"
Rei asked just to be sure. Vihera nodded while bringing a forkful of steamed vegetables with tree nut dressing to her mouth.
"Yes. You know this too, Rei, but as a result of last year's civil war, Mercureo's relationship with the Kingdom of Mireana's Noble's Faction and Neutral Faction is currently good. ......Well, it could all change at my father's whim, but for whatever reason, he's letting Mercureo have his way for now. But if this incident truly involves a Bestia Empire Alchemist..."
Vihera let the sentence trail off, but for those listening, what came next wasn't hard to predict.
A longtime enemy carrying out what could only be interpreted as a malicious act against a nation with which they currently maintained friendly relations. The result would undoubtedly strain the relationship between the Kingdom of Mireana and the Bestia Empire.
"I should probably go talk to Daskar about this. ......Even if it's only been a day."
Murmuring, Vihera rose from her chair.
"Rei?"
She turned to find Rei standing as well, and gave him a questioning look.
"Mm."
Following Rei's lead, Byune stood up too.
"Well, Vihera's done a lot for me. Besides, more combat power is always better, right?"
"Mm."
Byune nodded in agreement with Rei's reasoning.
Vihera was surprised for a moment, but a smile quickly spread across her lips.
"Fool."
She said it with her mouth, but her joy was plain to see.