The day after the farewell party... Rei stood before the main gate of Gauche.
Augusto and Cathy were there to see him off.
Augusto had actually wanted to bring Günter along too, but unfortunately Günter served as the gatekeeper for Augusto's mansion. If there had been others to cover the post, it would have been a different story—but right now, Günter was the only gatekeeper they had.
Because of that, the formal farewell had already taken place back when Rei left the mansion.
...Not that Günter had said anything particularly clever. He'd simply told Rei, "Come again," and left it at that.
In his place—or rather, not exactly in his place—someone unexpected had shown up at the main gate.
"You're leaving? That's awfully sudden. I still wanted to discuss various things with you, like the matter with that village."
The one saying this to Rei was Zarust.
If you were to wonder why Zarust, who was supposed to be at the People of the Hundred Faces' village, was here at all... it was purely by coincidence.
Originally, Zarust had been working alongside Narcus and Rei to eliminate the assassins targeting Augusto and Daridora. After securing the People of the Hundred Faces' headquarters village, he had stayed behind partly to keep watch over it.
However, among those Rei had transported via the Sand Ship were a fair number of adventurers, so there was no longer any need for Zarust—who had come with no preparations—to remain stationed at the village.
Of course, even without preparation, Zarust and Narcus were skilled adventurers in their own right. They didn't even need to camp outdoors; the village had houses, and since people had been living there until recently, supplies were available too. Given such conditions, getting by was hardly difficult. They could have settled right in and stayed, if they'd wanted to.
But... just because they could live there didn't mean they should.
For one thing, no matter how livable the village was, it was only natural to want to use your own familiar belongings. And using clothes that belonged to who-knows-whom might be acceptable in desperate circumstances—but if returning to Gauche meant having your own wardrobe back, it was better to wait.
And so, when part of the investigation team set out by carriage to bring their gathered information back to Gauche, Zarust hitched a ride with them.
Naturally, he wasn't just a passenger. Even if it was a short trip, they were still crossing the desert, so he also served as an escort in case monsters or Sand Bandits appeared.
He had just returned and was about to go through the procedures to enter Gauche when... Rei and Set, along with Augusto and Cathy, emerged from the main gate right at that moment.
Naturally, Zarust was surprised to hear that Rei was leaving Gauche today. Now he was half-scolding Rei—not quite that far, perhaps, but still making his dissatisfaction clear.
"Well, me coming to Gauche in the first place was kind of on a whim. It's not like I had some particular reason for being here."
Strictly speaking, there was the matter of getting away from the persistent merchants over the Twilight Spear affair, but Rei had no intention of mentioning that. He wanted to keep it as though he had come to Gauche on a whim, without any particular reason.
"Then couldn't you stay a little longer? Honestly, I owe you a lot. I'd at least want you to stay until I can pay you back."
"I've got various errands to attend to back home. I can't just stay in Gauche forever. Besides..."
"Besides?"
"...If possible, I'd rather be in Gilm during this season."
Being in the desert in summer—even with the Dragon Robe keeping him from feeling the heat at all—the mere imagery alone was enough to conjure a thoroughly miserable impression.
Perhaps slightly exasperated by Rei's words, Zarust let out a small sigh.
To Zarust, who was born and raised in Gauche... as well as to Augusto and Cathy, the desert was simply something that was always there. It wasn't completely unchanging, of course. It didn't have distinct seasons the way Gilm did, but over the course of a year things like temperature and scenery did shift, at least to some degree.
"Besides...?"
"Besides?" Zarust prompted again as Rei trailed off, but Rei shook his head as if it were nothing.
(Having obtained a decent amount of Magic Stones was a welcome outcome for me. Well, there are probably other desert-specific monsters out there too... but I can just hunt those whenever I visit Gauche again.)
Rei had absolutely no intention of living in Gauche, but he wasn't averse to visiting occasionally for fun. Especially since Gauche's characteristic spices and ingredients became considerably more expensive when purchased in other cities.
(Direct from the source... no, in this case I'm coming to the source myself to buy directly, so that's different.)
Rei's mind drifted to memories of his time in Japan.
Hatahata—a winter delicacy. It was expensive when bought at the supermarket, but purchasing directly from fishermen for less than half that price was not uncommon.
(Well, preparing hatahata sushi was a lot of work, though.)
Helping his parents prepare hatahata sushi was an annual tradition for Rei. Of course, it wasn't nigiri sushi but rather a type of izushi—a fermented rice dish—and the prepared sushi would be stored in the freezer to be eaten year-round.
Naturally, Rei loved eating hatahata sushi.
(...Hm? Why am I thinking about hatahata?)
Noticing that his thoughts had wandered in a direction completely unrelated to Gauche, Rei shook his head slightly... then realized the cause. He had suddenly developed a craving for hatahata.
But first of all, he didn't even know whether hatahata existed in this world. And even if it did, hatahata was a deep-sea fish—not something Rei and Set could easily catch.
(No, wait—Set can fly while carrying a bear. If that's the case, then maybe with a net, perhaps...?)
Zarust let out a somewhat exasperated sigh at Rei, who was clearly lost in thought.
"Rei, thinking is fine and all, but it's a problem when you suddenly get absorbed in your own thoughts in the middle of a conversation with me."
"Hm? Ah, sorry. I just got a craving for fish."
"...Fish, huh."
Gauche did sell fish caught from the oasis, but the quantity was naturally limited, making them extremely rare—and therefore expensive. It was at a level where even an adventurer of Zarust's standing could afford them only by stretching a little.
"In the first place, being able to eat fresh fish in the desert is impressive in its own right."
"I'm well aware."
From there, for some reason, the four of them—Rei, Zarust, Cathy who enjoyed cooking, and Augusto who loved eating good food—ended up having a lively discussion about fish dishes for several minutes.
"Oh, so Gilm has that kind of fish dish. ...Cathy, can you make it?"
"I wonder. But if you want to eat it, Augusto, I'll definitely make it happen."
"Augusto-san, I'm jealous you have such a skilled wife."
As Rei listened to the exchange between the three of them, Set—having grown bored—nuzzled his head against Rei.
"Guruuu..."
Seeing Set tilt his head quizzically as if asking, "Are we leaving yet?", Rei patted him apologetically.
"Sorry. I wanted to talk a bit more, but it looks like Set has reached his limit. I should get going."
The one who looked the saddest at Rei's announcement was, naturally, Cathy. Augusto also wore a regretful expression.
Zarust was disappointed too, of course, but as an adventurer, meetings and partings were an unavoidable part of life. He understood that well. Still, losing Rei—a man to whom he owed multiple debts—from Gauche was undeniably a shame.
"Rei, come visit again... again, okay? Augusto and I will always welcome you."
Cathy, holding back tears, patted Rei's head. He was still wearing the Dragon Robe's hood, so she patted over it, but even so, Rei felt he could sense the warmth of her hand.
"Yeah, I'll come again. Cathy's cooking was incredibly delicious."
At Rei's words spoken with a smile, Cathy smiled happily in return and nodded.
"Rei-san, if anything happens, please rely on me. I'll help as much as I possibly can. ...Though I do have to wonder just how much use my power could actually be to you."
"Well, to rely on Augusto-san's power, I'd have to come all the way out to Gauche."
Rei nodded at the words from Augusto and Zarust, which carried a hint of lighthearted banter.
"Yeah. If anything comes up, I'll take you up on that. ...Well then, see you."
After giving a brief farewell to the two, Rei mounted Set's back.
"Alright, Set. Let's go."
"Gurururururu!"
At Rei's words, Set cried out loud with joy.
...The monsters that happened to be near Gauche heard that cry and, sensing the presence of an overwhelming predator, quickly fled—but that was something neither Rei nor Set would ever know about.
After a few running steps, Set flapped his wings and rose into the sky.
Augusto, Cathy, and Zarust watched him go, seeing Set's figure gradually grow smaller against the cloudless sky.
Augusto lamented the departure of a reliable adventurer. Cathy's tears—the ones she had been holding back—finally spilled over at the loss of someone she had come to regard as her own son. And Zarust regretted the departure of Rei, who despite being younger was so far beyond him in ability that even comparing them would have been absurd.
All three mourned Rei's absence in their own ways. But in the sense of losing an Alias Holder B-Rank Adventurer rather than Rei as an individual, Zarust might well have been the saddest of all.
Zarust was known as a skilled adventurer in Gauche—but that was only relative to Gauche's standards. Honestly, he wanted to learn more from Rei as a fellow adventurer. Rei, whose alias resounded even in the Kingdom of Mireana and the Bestia Empire.
...Of course, Rei was a combat-focused adventurer. In the general sense of what it meant to be an adventurer, he was by no means outstanding. No—compared to an ordinary adventurer, his various skills were certainly above average, but even so, judged as a B-Rank Adventurer, he was about standard... or perhaps slightly below that.
In Rei's case, he essentially overwhelmed opponents through sheer physical ability, extraordinary magic, the existence of Gryphon Seto, and an array of Magic Items—brute-forcing past his average-level adventurer skills. The fact that he could do so was precisely because he had the power to back it up—and that wasn't wrong, either.
"...Hm?"
Zarust, who had been regretting not having a mock battle with Rei, noticed several figures hurrying toward them through the open main gate.
Understanding who they were, Zarust furrowed his brow slightly.
It was Daridora and his guards.
Augusto and Daridora had been targeted by the People of the Hundred Faces and had cooperated regarding the village affair—but one of the reasons for that cooperation had been Rei's presence. If Daridora tried to eliminate Augusto, he would inevitably clash with Rei. And because he understood there was no chance of winning against Rei, Daridora had adopted a stance of reconciliation.
But... with Rei now gone, whether he would maintain that attitude was questionable at best.
"Oh my, I came in a bit of a hurry, but... it seems I didn't make it in time. Rei-san has already departed, then?"
"...You certainly have quick ears."
Augusto asked back with visible wariness, wondering where Daridora had gotten the information that Rei was leaving Gauche.
Like Zarust, he understood that with Rei gone, Daridora no longer needed to cooperate with him. In fact, considering the interests surrounding the People of the Hundred Faces, Augusto's existence was all harm and no benefit to Daridora.
He couldn't imagine Daridora trying something in such a public place... but given his past actions, it was possible.
Augusto was tense inwardly, but as if reading his mind, Daridora smiled and spoke.
"Rest assured. I won't do anything to Augusto-san at this point. If Rei-san were to learn of such a thing..."
Even without finishing the sentence, everyone present understood the fate that would await Daridora.
Of course, whether Rei would actually return to Gauche was unknown. But if he disposed of Augusto, he would have to live in constant fear of when Rei might come back—cowering day and night. For Daridora, who already had a nervous disposition, there was no way he could endure such a life.
And as a result... Daridora had reluctantly decided to maintain his alliance with Augusto.