The day after receiving the request from Daskar, Rei, Vihera, Byune, and Set did not immediately head outside Gilm in search of the Alchemist. Instead, they waited near the gate for Mirene and the others.
The reason was the Cyclops corpses stored inside Rei's Misty Ring.
There were seven of them.
Most were Cyclops that Vihera had killed, but among them were also the corpses of Cyclops that Mirene and her party had defeated.
In truth, Byune had contributed significantly to killing those Cyclops as well, but Byune had waived any claim to them.
Granted, considering the number of Cyclops that Vihera—Byune's guardian—had killed herself, it was hardly an unusual arrangement.
"But are you sure? I mean, it helps me out, but..."
While waiting for Mirene and the others to arrive, Rei called out to Vihera beside him.
It was already past nine in the morning, and the number of people leaving Gilm had dwindled considerably compared to the busiest hour of the day.
Even so, given Gilm's location, the volume of people heading out at this hour was by no means small, and many were captivated by Vihera, whose appearance could be mistaken for that of a dancer or a prostitute.
Some men were so utterly transfixed by her that their lovers or female companions were stepping on their feet.
Despite being subjected to such gazes, Vihera showed no particular concern, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, and nodded to Rei.
"Yes, I don't mind. Set did help defeat that Cyclops, after all, and it's just the Magic Stone from that one, not all the materials, right? I'm not exactly strapped for money."
One Magic Stone is no problem at all, Vihera added.
"Thanks."
"It's fine. More importantly, is one Magic Stone enough? I could share Magic Stones from the other Cyclops if you'd like."
"No, one is plenty. Besides..."
"Besides?"
For Magic Stone absorption, either he or Set had to have participated in combat.
Rei, who had been about to say exactly that, fell silent.
He had just remembered that he hadn't told Vihera about Beast Magic yet.
If Vihera is going to keep partying with me like this, maybe it's about time I told her. ...Elena said something similar recently.
Rei recalled the words Elena had spoken through the Paired Orbs a few days ago, but that thought was wiped completely from his mind the very next moment.
"Set-chan, Set-chan, Set-chaaan! It's been a day. Are you hungry?"
That voice rang out, and simultaneously, Mirene threw her arms around Set in an embrace.
"Sorry, our Mirene is..."
Saying that, Surnin bowed his head, his face already showing a look of resignation.
Beside Surnin, Ekril spotted Rei and hastily bowed her head along with Surnin before speaking up.
"Um, thank you for saving me yesterday. If things had stayed as they were, I'm sure I would have died. I actually wanted to thank you yesterday, but..."
As Ekril trailed off, Rei recalled the events of the previous day.
Upon hearing that an Alchemist from the Bestia Empire was involved in the incident, he had run into Mirene and the others just as they returned, and immediately pulled Vihera away with him.
It had been such swift action that there was no opening for Ekril to even attempt to speak to him, and in the end, she had been unable to convey her gratitude.
Because of that, after returning from the lord's mansion yesterday, she had been about to leave a message at the Guild before eating... only to find that Mirene had already done so before her.
But that was only natural. In the first place, having accepted the Cyclops subjugation request, they needed to submit subjugation proof parts or Magic Stones to prove completion.
However, with the Cyclops corpses inside Rei's Misty Ring, the request was not yet officially complete.
That said, word had already reached the Guild that Rei had gone as reinforcements and completed the subjugation, and with roughly a week remaining until the request's deadline, Mirene and the others were not in any desperate hurry.
"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't want to see an acquaintance die, either. I'm glad you're safe."
"...Thank you."
At Rei's words, Ekril bowed her head once more.
Then, as if timing it perfectly, another voice rang out in the vicinity.
"Set-chan, have you been doing okay?"
While the content was nearly identical to what had just been said, the voice belonged to an entirely different person.
"Ugh, Mirene."
"Hehe. You were faster yesterday, but today I got here first."
"Grrr..."
Right in front of Yohanna, who had been about to hug Set, Mirene clung to him in a showy display.
"Guruuu"
Set let out a somewhat troubled cry at the attention from Mirene and Yohanna.
"Come on, knock it off. Set's getting uncomfortable, too. Besides, we don't have time to waste here today. You're the ones who said you'd help strip materials from the Cyclops, remember?"
At Rei's words, everyone present nodded seriously.
Among them were those who had fled separately before Rei joined them yesterday, their presence confirming that everyone had safely arrived in Gilm.
A few had minor injuries, but seeing that no one was seriously wounded, Rei let out a breath of relief.
Well, I trained them, so while Cyclops are one thing, it's only natural they wouldn't get hurt by monsters they ran into while fleeing.
Rei muttered internally, mixing a hint of embarrassment into his relieved expression.
"Rei-san? What's wrong?"
Perhaps finding Rei's demeanor puzzling, Deetz spoke up.
"No, it's nothing. Anyway, we're heading out soon. You all should finish your request as early as possible, too."
Everyone nodded at Rei's words, and the entire group headed for the gate.
Moving in a group this large—especially one that included conspicuous members like Rei, Set, and Vihera—naturally drew attention.
In particular, the busiest morning hours had passed and things had settled down somewhat, making them stand out all the more.
"Rei-kun, this group... don't tell me it's about yesterday's incident? Or perhaps..."
Ranga asked whether something had happened regarding the Cyclops, but Rei shook his head as if to say it was nothing concerning.
"The Cyclops matter is already taken care of. I was thinking of stripping materials from the Cyclops. They're that big and there are so many of them, so it would take too long with just one or two people."
At Rei's words, Ranga let out a breath of relief.
Regarding the Alchemist situation, as captain of the Guard Force, Ranga had of course been informed by Daskar.
From Ranga's position, a malicious Alchemist was nothing but trouble.
But since they didn't even know the person's face, they couldn't exactly subject every visitor coming to Gilm to strict interrogation.
In that sense, the guards currently under the most tension were those handling entry and exit procedures into the city.
Furthermore, due to Daskar's request to keep the matter under wraps, it was difficult to delegate the task to subordinates.
Yet none of this showed on Ranga's face; even from Rei's perspective, he looked no different from his usual self.
"I see. Well then, be careful. Especially when dismantling multiple monsters as large as Cyclops, there's always the possibility that other monsters will be drawn in by the scent of blood."
After that brief exchange, they waited for everyone to complete their procedures and stepped outside Gilm through the gate.
"Alright, we're heading to the forest you went to yesterday. But it's not deep in the forest, and it's quite close to here, so don't worry."
The reason it had taken them so long to return yesterday was because they had gone deep into the forest. The place Rei was heading to was not that far from Gilm.
Members of the Former Mobile Unit like Yohanna and Deetz had only just arrived in Gilm, and perhaps Rei's mention of going to the forest reminded them of yesterday, as they momentarily wore displeased expressions.
However, upon hearing that they were going somewhere nearby, they let out sighs of relief.
Compared to those Former Mobile Unit members, Mirene and the others, who had lived in Gilm for a long time, immediately understood which location he was referring to.
And so the group set off toward the forest, drawing the attention of those around them.
Rei tried scanning the crowd with his eyes, searching among the onlookers for the Alchemist who had caused the Cyclops incident, but malicious gazes were numerous.
Given Rei's actions, it was not strange for him to be the target of ill will, but in this case, jealous stares were particularly abundant.
Probably... no, it's definitely Vihera's fault.
Rei sighed beneath his hood while glancing at Vihera walking beside him.
Today, as always, she was clad in thin garments that could aptly be described as provocative, showing off her figure as if flaunting it. Walking beside such a Vihera, Rei naturally drew jealous stares from men.
Concluding that finding the Alchemist even if they were present would be impossible, Rei quickly stopped worrying about the stares and focused his attention on heading to the forest.
Warm sunlight filtered down between the trees, and the sound of a nearby river, the lush green foliage, and the gentle breeze all signaled that it was spring.
The overwhelming scent of greenery and the air—one that couldn't be experienced inside Gilm—filled the surroundings.
...Of course, for Mirene, Yohanna, and the others who had been in the mountains the day before yesterday and yesterday, smelling the scent of spring again was nothing particularly special.
Mountain vegetables... it'd be nice if there were some tara shoots, bonna, or aiko. Especially since I have flour and oil, so I could probably make tempura.
Rei had lived in the mountains back in Japan.
Naturally, mountain vegetables—blessings of the mountain—were a delicacy at this time of year, and tempura made from tara shoots, sometimes called the queen of mountain vegetables, was one of Rei's favorites.
Oh, but didn't tempura batter have something besides flour in it? If you just mix flour with cold water for the batter, it doesn't turn into tempura, right? And I don't have tentsuyu either. ...Well, I have salt for seasoning, so it should be fine.
Just recalling the taste of tara shoot tempura made Rei feel like his stomach was already growling.
I have udon, so maybe tempura udon? ...If possible, soba would be better to pair with tempura, but I've never seen soba in this world. Buckwheat... yeah, I've never seen it in shops either.
While he was thinking, they eventually arrived at the river, but since he'd been thinking about tempura, his stomach was already making its demands known.
But having just arrived at the river, there was no way he could suggest a break.
Suppressing the feeling of a growing appetite, he took out two Cyclops.
One was the Cyclops that Mirene and her party had defeated on their own, and the other was the Cyclops that Set had attacked from behind.
"Alright, split up and start dismantling. As I told you beforehand, I'll store the dismantled materials in my Item Box and carry them, so there's no need to worry."
Following Rei's instructions, everyone split into two groups and immediately began dismantling the Cyclops.
Two Cyclops, each nearly four meters tall, lying on the ground took up a considerable amount of space.
"Seeing them again like this, they really are big, aren't they."
Mirene, who had been forcibly pulled away from Set by Surnin now that dismantling had begun, muttered as if pulling herself together.
Nearby, the Former Mobile Unit members were similarly pulling Yohanna away from Set as the Cyclops dismantling got underway.
"...Set, sorry, but I need you to keep watch around us like usual."
Judging that this would only take longer otherwise, Rei asked Set to stand guard.
This was nothing special, though.
Whenever Rei did something outside Gilm, Set would typically use its sharp five senses to keep watch on the surroundings.
"Guruu!"
So Set let out a short cry in response to Rei's words and disappeared into the nearby bushes.
It likely understood that its presence would get in the way of the Cyclops dismantling.
"Aaah... Set-chan..."
"Come on, Yohanna. Hurry up. The faster you finish stripping the materials, the more time you'll have to play with Set."
At a teammate's voice, the light that had vanished from Yohanna's eyes for a few seconds was revived.
"Alright, there's no time to be standing around here! Let's finish dismantling these Cyclops right now!"
She shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, then took her dismantling knife in hand and walked toward the Cyclops corpse on the ground.
Seeing this, the others smiled wryly at Yohanna's typical behavior and began dismantling the Cyclops as well.
Mirene and her party, Rei, Vihera, and Byune also approached the Cyclops corpses, as if pulled along by Yohanna's momentum.