The place Rei, Vihera, and Set headed to was a fairly high-class establishment in Gilm.
Neither Rei nor Vihera was short on money, so entering a restaurant of this caliber posed no particular problem for either of them.
Rei in particular had wiped out several bandit groups on his way back from Gauche, and the treasure he'd obtained was a respectable haul.
Vihera had plenty of confidence in her own abilities as well—if she wanted to earn money, she only needed to take monster subjugation requests.
In fact, after returning to Gilm and learning that Rei had gone alone to the desert nation of Solrein, she had been accepting subjugation requests nearly every day, partly to vent her frustration.
"Hmm. The battle with the Sand Serpent sounds a little interesting. I've fought similar monsters a few times before."
Having heard from Rei about the battle with the Sand Serpent—though it amounted to nothing more than a single throw of the Twilight Spear—Vihera gave a brief reply.
For someone like Vihera who specialized in hand-to-hand combat, one would normally assume a large-bodied opponent would be extremely difficult to fight.
Indeed, it was a fact that the reason one used weapons like longswords and spears rather than unarmed combat had to do with the opponent's size and reach.
And since unarmed combat involved attacking with one's own limbs, attack power was inevitably lower.
...Of course, in Vihera's case, she used Magic Item gauntlets and greaves, and could even produce sharp claws and blades from them.
However, since the weapons she produced were used in close-quarters combat, her reach wasn't particularly long.
In other words, while she could slash through an opponent's skin and flesh, dealing damage beyond that was generally impossible.
Even so, the reason Vihera said a battle with a Sand Serpent sounded interesting was because she had a plan to win.
Delivering mana-based shock directly into the opponent's body—Vihera's skill, Magic Impact Palm.
With this skill, no matter how hard the armor, how tough the skin, or how thick the muscle, it all became virtually meaningless.
The more confident an opponent was in their defenses, the more fatal Vihera's strike would become.
"You might enjoy it, Vihera. ...For me, it was over in a single hit with the Twilight Spear, though."
"I've heard about that, you know? There was a big uproar over that spear, right? And in the end, you had to lay low for a while. ...If they'd come around when I was there, I would have given them a fun punishment."
Seeing Vihera's smile, Rei wondered what kind of punishment she would have inflicted... and while reflecting on how lucky the vanished merchants were, he reached for the dish on his plate.
The food from Gauche's stalls and the dishes Cathy had made for him were certainly delicious.
But the place Rei had spent the longest time in since coming to this world was Gilm, and because of that, eating Gilm's cuisine gave him the comforting feeling of coming home.
"So, what are you going to do from here, Rei?"
"...From here? No, I don't particularly have anything specific in mind."
If asked whether he had somewhere to go or something he wanted to do, Rei would hesitate slightly and shake his head.
For the time being, he planned to focus on collecting Magic Stones from unknown monsters around Gilm.
The frontier city of Gilm naturally had many monsters Rei had never fought before.
So many, in fact, that the ones he had fought were the minority.
Monsters in the desert were certainly appealing, but he wanted to defeat monsters closer at hand before seeking out those in other regions.
Thinking that way wasn't strange for Rei.
(Eventually, the Forest of Magic too...)
As Rei was thinking this, he noticed that Vihera, for some reason, had an unhappy expression on her face.
No, rather than unhappy, it would be more accurate to say she was sulking.
"What's wrong?"
"...It's nothing. It's just that it looked like you were thinking about something else while you were with me."
"Something else, you say. You're the one who asked what I was going to do from here, aren't you?"
"I know. ...Even so, you should try reading a woman's feelings once in a while."
Rei tilted his head.
Of course, the person standing before him was someone who could fittingly be called a peerless beauty.
Thinking about "a woman's feelings" when it came to such a person was, he knew, generally strange.
But if that person was Vihera... then being asked whether she wanted to fight would feel far more natural. That was Rei's honest feeling.
Perhaps sensing through a woman's intuition that Rei was thinking something strange, Vihera cast a slightly sharp gaze his way.
Vihera fully understood that she was not a normal woman.
Even so, the desire to occasionally be seen as a woman by the person she loved was only natural for a maiden in love.
"This food is good."
He abruptly changed the subject.
Rei must have realized that continuing this conversation would be dangerous in various ways.
Vihera looked as though she was about to say something for a moment, but apparently decided that whatever she said would be meaningless now. Without pressing further, she reached for the food.
Thus, while eating their meal, Rei and Vihera drifted into casual conversation.
Understanding that pressing further would only work against him, Rei didn't delve deeper into topics about a woman's feelings. And Vihera, perhaps thinking it would be too harsh on Rei to scold him any more, went along with his words.
"True. It's a little disappointing that we can't eat Bestia Empire cuisine, though."
"Don't be unreasonable. If this place were near the Bestia Empire, that'd be one thing, but this is a remote, ordinary frontier."
"...The phrase 'ordinary frontier' raises all sorts of questions, but..."
"I won't deny that. But it's a fact that we're far from the Bestia Empire. Given that, expecting to eat Bestia Empire cuisine in Gilm is impractical."
"I know, but still."
Continuing their conversation in this manner, they went on with their meal.
When they had first entered the restaurant, Vihera had been radiating hostility, but as she continued eating with Rei, she had calmed down considerably. The staff bringing dishes to their table were no longer as tense as they had been initially.
"Here you are. Bicorn and Kelpie stew."
The two stews, which could be called the main dishes of this meal, were placed on the table.
Bicorn was a subspecies of Unicorn; whereas a Unicorn had only one horn, a Bicorn had two.
Compared to the generally docile Unicorn, its temperament was extremely vicious, and it would attack anyone it saw.
Kelpie was an aquatic horse-type monster, skilled in water-attribute magic.
Both were known as fairly powerful horse-type monsters, and serving them together so diners could compare the two was something only a high-class restaurant could pull off.
"Both meats are tender but have a firm, satisfying chew. They're delicious. ...Though Kelpie is perhaps a bit more tender."
"Yeah. Bicorn is a monster that lives on the ground, and Kelpie is one that lives in water. The difference in texture probably comes from that."
Rei and Vihera each ate both types of meat while sharing their impressions.
(Horse meat... huh. Kind of nostalgic.)
A horse meat dish his mother sometimes made when he was in Japan crossed Rei's mind.
A dish with horse meat, onions, and konnyaku noodles, simmered with ginger slices to remove the odor.
He used to love placing that stew over freshly cooked rice and eating it as a horse bowl instead of a beef bowl.
(In this world, there might be similar dishes, though.)
Thinking such thoughts, he finished his meal... and finally, chilled fruit was served as dessert.
This type of Magic Item was by no means cheap, but using one was likely something only a high-class establishment would do.
The fruit, with its refreshing acidity that made one momentarily forget the summer heat... perhaps because it was chilled, its sweetness felt all the more pronounced.
After finishing the meal in its entirety, Vihera had apparently settled down as well. Her hostility had completely subsided.
After settling the bill and stepping outside the restaurant, they found Set waiting there.
His cheerful demeanor was likely because he had been eating food brought out from the restaurant while Rei and Vihera were dining inside.
Rather than putting Set in a stable, the restaurant had fed him right out front—presumably to show everyone around that Set... and Rei, patronized their establishment.
The sight of Set happily devouring his meal might not have meant much in another city, but in Gilm, it warmed everyone's hearts as they watched.
For the restaurant, this served as major advertising... and without a doubt, it had a very powerful effect on drawing in customers.
"Gururururu!"
Having just finished a river fish steamed dish, Set purred at Rei and Vihera with a small bit of fish skin still clinging to his beak.
Seeing Set like that, Vihera—whose anger had subsided but who was still a little irritated—softened and gently removed the fish skin from his beak.
"Rei has Set, and Elena has Ielo. ...I'm a little envious."
Vihera was someone who loved battle above all else, but that didn't mean she had no interest in anything else.
In particular, she found herself slightly envious of tamed monsters and familiars like Set and Ielo—creatures that were endearing and cute, yet also displayed high ability in combat.
She thought about how nice it would be to have such a companion herself... but unfortunately, Vihera had neither Tamer talent nor the magical ability to create a familiar.
Of course, even so, if she tried hard enough to make it work, it wouldn't have been impossible.
For example, she had heard that among the rare Tamers, there were some who sold tamed monsters.
But... even so.
Vihera scratched Set's neck while internally shaking her head.
Unless it was not just an adorable creature but one that was reliably useful in combat, it would be difficult to have it accompany her.
"Hmm, let's see. Getting a tamed monster or a familiar is difficult... if there's any possibility, it would be the Dragon Knight approach—raising a monster yourself from an egg or newborn state."
"I figured that would be the only option. But as an active adventurer, taking care of an egg or a baby is pretty tough, you know."
"...I'd imagine."
Vihera, standing right in front of him, already had a nature that loved battle.
In that state, hatching an egg or taking care of a newborn monster would be difficult.
"Are there any Magic Items or something for that kind of thing? You're a mage, Rei, so wouldn't you know?"
As Vihera asked this while scratching the neck of Set, who was purring contentedly, Rei recalled a book he had read in this city's library.
"Let's see. They're not exactly living creatures, but... beings created through magic, like Golems or Gargoyles, wouldn't need raising, I think."
"Golems and Gargoyles, huh. ...I think they're fine, but they don't quite click with me, somehow."
What was floating through Vihera's mind—was it the image of herself flying through the sky, seized by a Gargoyle's feet, or riding on a Golem's shoulder?
Whatever the case, given that Vihera herself was a beauty without parallel, there was no reason such a sight wouldn't suit her.
"Well, even if they're created through magic, it's not something I can do myself. You'd probably need to get an Alchemist or someone to help."
What crossed Rei's mind were the two people who had made the Twilight Spear.
However, asking them to make a Golem or Gargoyle right after they had poured everything into creating the Twilight Spear seemed somewhat risky.
Of course, by risky, he meant dangerous to the health of those two, who had pushed themselves so hard to create the Twilight Spear.
While thinking about such things, Rei opened his mouth in a slightly joking manner.
"In your case, you have Byune, right? She has sufficient skill as a bandit, so she wouldn't be a burden."
That was clearly evident when considering the experience from the battle in Marina's hometown forest.
It was true that Byune didn't have the combat ability to be called a one-man army or an unmatched warrior, but she still had enough ability to not interfere with Vihera's fighting and to protect herself.
More accurately, rather than protecting herself, it would be correct to say she would hide so the enemy wouldn't find her.
On top of that, perhaps because she was still small, she was undeniably cute in that sense as well.
In that regard, Byune might be the ideal candidate for what Vihera was looking for.
Thinking that way wasn't unreasonable.
"Listen... Byune is neither a tamed monster nor a familiar, you know."
In the direction of Vihera's exasperated gaze... a single adventurer was running toward the Guild with a look of panic.
"Did something happen?"
"...As always, being with you is never boring, is it."
Exchanging glances, the two of them and Set began walking toward the Guild.