A voice calling for Rei echoed through the surroundings, but none of them—not Rei, nor Elena, nor Vihera—made any move to respond.
While the voice sounded urgent, it didn't carry any sense of imminent danger.
An everyday sort of urgency... that would be the most accurate way to describe it.
Rei turned his gaze toward the person shouting his name and drawing the attention of everyone walking along the main street.
Standing there was someone very familiar to him... the guild receptionist, Lenora.
"Gruu?"
Set, walking near Rei, tilted its head upon seeing Lenora.
Ielo, riding on its back, mimicked the gesture and tilted its head as well.
Among the onlookers watching Rei's group, a few inwardly swooned over the adorable sight of the two creatures.
Several Set admirers widened their eyes at Ielo, the unfamiliar creature perched on Set's back.
First a gryphon, and now a dragon as a familiar!?
...Strictly speaking, Ielo wasn't Rei's familiar but Elena's, but expecting the passersby to grasp that distinction would have been asking too much.
"Haa, haa, haa... I- I searched everywhere for you, Rei-san. You weren't at the guild, and you weren't at the Wheat Inn either..."
"I was out taking care of some business, but... why did you go out of your way to find us, Lenora?"
Even as he asked, Rei recalled that something similar had happened before. That time, Lenora had shown up at the inn, escorted him to the guild, and he'd ended up being sent to a town stricken by Magic Fever.
But the tone of her voice calling his name now lacked the desperate edge it had carried back then.
Even so, he decided to ask just in case.
"Could it be Magic Fever again?"
"Ah..."
The one who let out that sound—half in understanding, half in pained recollection—was Ara. She was probably remembering the Magic Fever incident too.
"It isn't Magic Fever. However, the Guild Master requests that you come to the guild urgently."
"Marina? ...I've got a bad feeling about this."
At the mention of yet another woman's name from Rei's mouth, Elena and Vihera each reacted—ever so slightly. Their reactions were so subtle, though, that almost no one noticed, Rei included.
...Only Ara, who had served Elena for years, caught it.
"I don't know the reason she's calling for you. But given that it's the Guild Master, I'm sure she has one."
Rei couldn't argue with that. He'd spoken with Marina plenty of times before, and she wasn't the type to summon someone without cause.
"Well, it's only natural there'd be a reason. ...Sorry, I'm going to head over for a bit."
"Alright. I don't know why the Guild Master called for you, but be careful."
"We'll head back to the—"
Elena was about to say "inn" when Lenora cut in, looking apologetic yet resolute.
"I'm sorry, but I've been instructed to bring everyone who's with Rei-san as well, if possible... Would you all come along?"
That caught Elena, Vihera, and the rest off guard. They turned to Lenora with surprised expressions.
"If it were only Lord Rei, that would be one thing, but Lady Elena and Lady Vihera as well? What in the world could the Guild Master want?"
"Who knows. Unfortunately, I don't know either. But if she's dispatching a receptionist to fetch us, there must be a significant reason."
Elena responded to Ara, and her lips curved into a faint smile.
"Hm?"
"That's right. She said everyone here, so Byune is probably included too, right?"
"Am I going too?" Byune asked tersely, and Vihera smiled the same way Elena had.
(What in the world is going on? If it were just me, that'd be one thing, but summoning everyone here...)
Unable to make sense of Marina's intent, Rei puzzled over it. He, Vihera, and Byune were at least adventurers, so there might be some reason to call them—but Elena and Ara weren't even adventurers.
As if sensing his confusion, Elena brushed back her golden hair and spoke.
"Don't worry. I've been wanting to meet Gilm's Guild Master myself. In that sense, I welcome this."
"Really? ...Sorry about this."
"No, there's no need for you to apologize. Either way, standing around here won't accomplish anything. Let's head to the guild at once."
Since Rei's group had stopped to talk in the middle of the main street, they naturally drew plenty of attention. Some of the people who usually played with Set wanted nothing more than to go over and do so now—but they refrained, understanding that the group was in the middle of a serious conversation.
"You're right, staying here will only draw more attention... Let's go."
Vihera agreed with Elena, and Rei had no reason to object, so the group set off for the guild.
As always, they parted ways with Set at the entrance and stepped inside... and the instant they did, a scream echoed through the building.
"...Rei, did you do something?"
Once the scream faded, Elena asked Rei point-blank, apparently suspecting he was the cause. Naturally, Rei had no idea what she was talking about and denied it.
"Hey, don't blame everything on me."
"Then what was that scream about?"
"You're asking me?"
He shot the words back at Elena and swept his gaze across the guild interior. Since it was daytime, there were few adventurers in either the guild hall or the adjoining tavern. But precisely because it was so quiet, no one had missed the scream, and many had turned their eyes toward its source—the second floor.
"...Ah, Rei-san, everyone. This way, please."
The scream had caught Lenora off guard too. She froze for just a moment before collecting herself and guiding Rei and the others behind the counter.
Normally, Kenny would have called out the instant she spotted Rei, but she was nowhere to be seen at the counter.
"Where's Kenny?"
"Umm... well..."
At Rei's question, Lenora trailed off vaguely and glanced upward—toward the second floor, where the Guild Master's office was located.
Reading the implication, Rei didn't press further and followed Lenora's lead behind the counter.
One or two people slipping behind the counter might go unnoticed, but five at once was bound to draw stares—especially when two of those five were Elena and Vihera, whose beauty turned heads wherever they went. And Rei himself was no less recognizable.
Ara and Byune were there too, but the sheer presence of those three made it all but impossible to focus on anyone else.
Not that Ara or Byune enjoyed the spotlight, so neither minded being overlooked. If anything, Ara was growing irritated by the rude stares directed at Elena.
"H-Hey. What's with that group of beauties? And if Rei's with them, does that mean they're all his women?"
"Idiot, no way. Don't you know? That blonde beauty is the Princess General."
"Huh? What? The Princess General!? What's someone that important doing in Gilm? I mean, the Princess General is basically the symbol of the Noble's Faction, right?"
"Right. ...Have you been away from Gilm lately?"
"Well, yeah, I just got back yesterday from a guard job. What about it?"
"Ah, that explains it. A while back there was a huge commotion in Gilm. That was..."
"Because the Princess General came to Gilm?"
"Probably. Anyway, long story short, it seems like the Princess General and Rei are connected in all sorts of ways."
"...So I thought that woman over there was a prostitute or something, but I guess not? Then again, a prostitute wouldn't wear gauntlets and greaves, would she?"
The man's gaze was fixed on Vihera, whose beauty rivaled even Elena's.
But the one who'd been doing the talking cast a look tinged with pity toward his companion.
"I'm telling you, you'd better not try anything with her."
"Hm? Because she's with Rei?"
"That too. But more importantly, it's her personality. She's been in Gilm for a while now, and plenty of guys have been drawn in by her looks and tried something. ...But she's still at Rei's side. You understand why?"
"Because she's associated with Rei."
"More precisely, because she's incredibly strong herself. Strong enough to handle a C-Rank Adventurer with one hand."
"...No way..."
The man muttered that, perhaps because he himself was a C-Rank Adventurer.
But the other man shook his head mercilessly.
"Well, all we can do is admire her from afar like this. ...Besides, just looking at her is plenty of eye candy, right?"
At those words, the stunned man turned his gaze back to Vihera. A prominently large chest, a shapely lower body, yet a waist so slender it looked like it might snap if embraced. That figure was wrapped in thin, semi-transparent fabric—extremely revealing and alluring. Her appearance could honestly be called a feast for the eyes.
"...Yeah, you're right..."
It was the only response the man could manage.
Vihera was well aware of the stares directed at her, but she was long accustomed to them and didn't particularly mind. She wore clothing designed to attract men—and women, for that matter—so she considered such attention only natural.
Of course, if someone stared too brazenly or actually tried to lay a hand on her, that would be an entirely different matter.
"So, the Guild Master has business with us... Rei, any predictions?"
As they walked through the counter area, Vihera asked, and Rei shook his head.
"Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind. But if she's calling for me, there must be something in it for her side too."
Elena nodded and added, "That goes without saying. If there were no issue at all, the Guild Master wouldn't summon a single adventurer."
Everyone nodded in agreement as they continued through the counter area and reached the stairs at the back.
They climbed to the second floor and arrived in front of the Guild Master's office. Just as Lenora raised her hand to knock, the door was thrown open violently.
"I don't have that kind of taste, I'm telling you!"
The one who burst through the door screaming was Kenny, the cat beastman and a familiar face to Rei.
Within Rei's group, the only one who hadn't previously known Kenny was Ara—but even Ara had crossed paths with her several times during recent guild visits. Their personalities, however, were far from compatible. Kenny's lighthearted nature clashed with Ara's earnest disposition, and one could confidently say they got along poorly.
Ara's dislike of Kenny stemmed not only from that incompatibility but also from the fact that Kenny flirted with Rei. So when Ara realized it was Kenny coming through the door, she braced herself, half-expecting Kenny to try something with Rei...
"Waaah! Rei-kun, don't look at me like this! I don't have that kind of taste!"
The moment she spotted Rei, Kenny cried out those words and—true to her cat beastman nature—darted swiftly between Rei's group and bolted down the stairs.
"...What in the world happened?"
Kenny usually carried herself with the composure of someone older. Why had she been so flustered?
While Rei was still wondering, Lenora, who had been staring blankly after Kenny, snapped back to herself and knocked on the open door.
"Guild Master, I've brought Rei-san and the others."
"Oh, is that so. Please, have them come in. ...Listen, Odoban. Don't do anything weird."
"I-I know. It was just a joke. ...Eighty percent serious, though."
"What part of that is half joking?"
Recognizing the exasperated voice as Marina's, Rei and the others entered the office—surprised to hear Marina, who was usually as composed as they come, sounding so uncharacteristically fed up.
As they stepped inside, the figures within came into view.
One was Marina, the Dark Elf Guild Master, radiating feminine allure as intensely as ever.
And the other was...
"A Dark Elf?"
Yes—the person in the office was a Dark Elf woman, different from Marina.