The Gauche guild was, naturally, a building Rei was seeing for the first time.
Even so, the fact that it felt somewhat nostalgic was probably because Rei was simply accustomed to places called guilds.
However, since it wasn't the guild he knew, there were plenty of differences.
The creatures in the spaces for carriages and Tamed Monsters were giant lizard-like monsters and camels, and the guild walls were coated with a special paint to withstand sand and intense sunlight.
Its size was also considerably smaller than the Gilm guild.
...Though that was only natural. Comparing a guild located in a remote region — the only one of its kind within the major power that was the Kingdom of Mireana — to a guild in the vassal state of Solrein, and one in a city that, while prosperous, wasn't even the capital, was a mistake to begin with.
"Set, I'll leave it to you like usual."
"Guruuu."
At Rei's words, Set gave a short cry and headed toward the waiting space.
Seeing Set, the lizards and camels froze up so completely they couldn't even make a sound.
Set looked slightly lonely, but he probably understood that crying out here would only frighten them more. He lay down right where he was.
The desert sunlight was beating down as vigorously as ever, and the temperature was far from suitable for a nap, yet Set showed no sign of minding it at all.
As a Gryphon — an A-Rank monster — this level of heat was likely within the margin of error where Set could stay comfortable.
And naturally, if a Gryphon lay down sleeping so boldly, it would draw the attention of everyone around — but at present, no one was thinking of approaching it.
"Rei, let's go."
Having parted from Set, Rei was called by Zarust and entered the guild.
Those who watched this scene were left with a strong impression of Rei — the person who had a Gryphon as a Tamed Monster and doted on it like a dog or cat.
"Huh, so there really is a tavern attached."
The first thing Rei said upon entering the guild was exactly that.
Every guild he had seen so far had an attached tavern. That was why he wasn't particularly surprised to see one in the Gauche guild as well.
"Hm? Ah. It gets used for all sorts of things — after finishing requests, meals, meetings, and so on. The food is reasonably priced and reasonably tasty."
"Then after we're done showing our faces at the guild, want to drop by right away?"
"It'd be nice if you had the time, but you have a meeting with Augusto after this, don't you?"
At Zarust's words, Rei nodded in understanding as if just remembering that was the case.
Recalling that he would be eating the cooking of Augusto's wife — whom Augusto boasted about — Rei smiled wryly. But at the sight of Rei and Zarust, the adventurers inside the guild and those eating and drinking in the tavern all wore expressions of astonishment.
That was only natural. Zarust was a reasonably famous adventurer here in Gauche.
And here was someone as small-built as Rei conversing with that Zarust as an equal.
"H-hey. That kid... is it a kid? Well, whatever — why's he talking to Zarust-san as an equal?"
"Could he be someone connected to Augusto-san? You know, Zarust-san took an urgent escort request for Augusto-san's caravan, right?"
"Is that... possible?"
"No, but even so, would the Zarust we know let someone talk to him like that?"
"...Tch, that bastard Zarust's really fallen. Getting ordered around by a brat like that."
If they had seen the scene before Rei entered the guild — the sight of him interacting with Set — not as many people would have harbored such thoughts.
In that sense, it was both a misfortune and, in the sense that they were spared from witnessing a scene beyond their imagination, a fortune.
(That should have established the perception that Rei is someone close to me. ...There seem to be a few who have their eyes on Rei with unsavory intentions, though.)
Zarust listened carefully to the surrounding chatter and judged that he had largely achieved his objective.
It had been impressed upon them that anyone who messed with Rei would unquestionably be making an enemy of Zarust.
Of course, there were still those who, just as Zarust had anticipated, intended to pick a fight with Rei anyway... but Zarust had no intention of doing anything about those.
If someone knew everything and still chose to mess with Rei, that was their own doing.
"Alright then, Rei. I'm going to report the completion of the request... what about you?"
"I'd like to recruit adventurers who can dismantle the Sand Serpent."
"Ah, don't worry about that."
At Rei's words, Zarust stated this flatly and continued.
"If it's dismantling the Sand Serpent, we'll take care of it. You saved our lives. Let us repay at least that much of a debt."
Zarust mentioning that their lives had been saved caused the surroundings to buzz once more.
However... at those words from Zarust, a single man rose from his seat in the tavern with a smirk and approached.
"Heh heh heh. Hey now, Zarust-san. Aren't you exaggerating a bit too much? There's no way someone like that could take down a Sand Serpent, right?"
The grinning man had dismissed Zarust's words as a lie from the start.
He stood over two meters tall, his body encased in a suit of muscle.
His most distinctive feature was his completely hairless head. Etched onto the shaved scalp in place of hair was a tattoo.
A scimitar in its sheath hung at his waist — the very picture of a typical power fighter.
"Gorkas, huh. I don't recall saying anything false. If you want to know about that, just ask your master — you'll understand."
The word "master" must have rubbed the man called Gorkas the wrong way. With veins bulging across his tattoo, he opened his mouth.
"Oy, Zarust. Whose pet dog am I supposed to be? Keep running your mouth like that and I'll snap that arm of yours."
Gorkas glared as he spoke; an ordinary person would have immediately apologized.
But Zarust, faced with Gorkas, simply scoffed through his nose.
"Hmph, all bark and no bite. Do you think I don't know you're employed by the Elema Trading Company?"
"I'm an adventurer. What's wrong with being hired?"
"Nothing wrong with it at all. I just think you ought to start using your own head a little. You think I don't know about the Tira Tree incident?"
"I'm telling you that's what's funny!"
Gorkas reached out for Zarust's collar, but before his hand could reach it, his wrist stopped moving.
...That's right. Stopped by Rei's hand.
"Wha!?"
The one surprised by this was, naturally, Gorkas.
His wrist, grabbed by Rei, wouldn't budge even a fraction — as if it had been fixed in space itself.
This, despite the fact that Rei was a full head shorter than him... perhaps even two heads shorter.
As if unable to comprehend what was happening, Gorkas looked back and forth between his own wrist and Rei's face.
"Hey, what's Gorkas doing?"
"Who knows? ...Don't tell me he got his hand grabbed by that Rei guy and can't move?"
"Ha, no way. That guy's always going on about how he doesn't lose to anyone in raw strength, not even high-rank adventurers. If he can't move just because some kid grabbed his wrist, that'd be pathetic."
At the whispers around him, the veins on Gorkas's head bulged even more prominently.
That was an indication of just how much force Gorkas was exerting... but Rei, on the receiving end of that strength, while his face was hidden beneath his hood, clearly hadn't budged an inch — apparent to anyone watching.
At the end of the day, the reason he was regarded with a degree of respect in this guild was because he possessed strength that rivaled even high-rank adventurers.
If he lost to someone this small-built in a contest of raw power, he would definitely be looked down on starting tomorrow.
Absolutely unable to tolerate that, Gorkas clenched his free hand into a fist and swung it toward Rei's hooded face — but the instant he tried, a violent shock ran through his entire body, followed by an intense wave of pain.
"Gwaaah! Kuh, damn it! What the hell did you do!?"
Noticing that he was somehow lying on the guild floor, he pushed himself upright despite groaning from the pain.
"You don't even understand what happened? What, are you just all brawn and nothing else?"
Those were the words that came from Rei's mouth.
"What!? You little shit!"
His irritation on full display, he stood up and once again raised his fist toward Rei — but—
"Stop right there. You seriously don't understand what happened? You got thrown by Rei."
At Zarust's words, Gorkas stared at Rei in disbelief.
The moment Gorkas showed signs of trying to strike, Rei had grabbed his wrist and slammed him to the floor.
It was a throw executed with no technique whatsoever — pure physical ability — and that was precisely why there was no way Gorkas wouldn't have noticed it being done.
To pull off something like that required the ability to overwhelm one's opponent.
And Rei had just demonstrated that, right in front of everyone.
Already, the surrounding adventurers... and even the guild staff were looking at Rei with very different eyes than when he first walked in.
(Different from the plan, I suppose... but in the end, it was probably the best outcome.)
Looking at Gorkas, who still hadn't grasped the situation — or more accurately, didn't want to grasp it — Zarust called out to Rei.
"Rei, why don't you show your Guild Card at the reception? There's no obligation to, but doing so will keep you from getting dragged into unnecessary trouble."
"...Got it."
Looking somewhat displeased, Rei glanced at Gorkas and headed toward the counter.
It was nearing evening, but there weren't many adventurers lined up there.
(No, comparing it to Gilm is the mistake, though.)
And the adventurers lined up before the counter silently made way as Rei approached.
Normally, there would be no need for them to do so, but having witnessed what just happened, they must have felt they couldn't afford not to.
He was met with gazes of awe from those around him, but to Rei, these were looks he had experienced countless times before.
Without paying them any particular mind, he made his way to the guild counter.
In this case, the unfortunate one was the Receptionist at the counter Rei approached.
Someone she had never seen before was walking straight toward her. And not just anyone — someone who had effortlessly handled Gorkas, a man notorious as a violent brute.
Even so, as a guild employee, she didn't let her emotions show on her face. In fact, she even smiled as she spoke to Rei.
"Welcome to the Gauche Adventurer's Guild. I overheard your conversation with Zarust-san earlier — I understand you'll be showing me your Guild Card?"
The smile she directed at Rei was an attractive one befitting the flower of the guild.
A woman in her twenties, with a sensual, alluring smile.
Combined with her tanned skin, it was without a doubt a smile that would captivate anyone around her.
However, the one miscalculation for the Receptionist was that Rei, upon whom that smile was directed, appeared to feel nothing at all.
But that was understandable. Rei had met Marina many times — a person who was the very embodiment of feminine allure — or, more accurately, a Dark Elf, but still.
Compared to Marina, the Receptionist before him was clearly inferior in terms of womanly charm.
"This is my Guild Card."
So told, the Receptionist — slightly displeased that her trademark smile had elicited no reaction from Rei — took the card.
She looked it over... and her movements stopped.
The Receptionist, frozen for about thirty seconds, drew the gazes of the surrounding adventurers who had been watching the proceedings, wondering what had happened... but in the current situation, none of them had the courage to call out to her.
Eventually, the Receptionist resumed moving and, looking at Rei's hooded face, opened her mouth with evident trepidation.
"If you wouldn't mind, um... could you lower your hood?"
At the Receptionist's words, unable to hide her nervousness, Rei silently lowered his hood.
What appeared from beneath was a face best described as feminine.
Those around who saw Rei's face each reacted in their own way.
Many were surprised, but some — perhaps those with a preference for younger individuals — were captivated by Rei's face.
Still, the fact that none responded with mockery was undoubtedly because they had witnessed the incident with Gorkas firsthand.
And the Receptionist, upon seeing Rei's face, took a small breath.
As someone employed by the guild, she apparently knew Rei's face. After a few seconds of silence, she slowly opened her mouth.
"Alias Holder... Crimson, Rei."