Rei, Vihera, and Set — two people and one creature — returned to Gilm and made their way to the Guild to report the Cobolt Leader incident.
The moment Rei stepped inside after parting with Set at the entrance as usual, the sound of a commotion reached his ears.
The sight of so many adventurers in an uproar made it obvious that something had happened.
Vihera, walking beside him, tilted her head in curiosity.
"Did something happen? Could word about the Cobolt Leader have gotten twisted somehow?"
"Hard to say. But if that were the case, I'd expect to see those three we met in the forest somewhere."
Normally in a situation like this, he would ask an adventurer acquaintance for details.
Unfortunately, scanning the Guild hall, Rei didn't recognize a single face.
Then again, it was still midday, and most adventurers were out on requests.
That was precisely why the number of adventurers present was smaller than it would be in the morning or evening.
Smaller, yet still noticeably more than a typical afternoon.
...The din of adventurers talking and shouting carried across the hall, likely because there were simply that many people making noise.
"For now, shouldn't we report the Cobolt Leader incident first?"
"Yeah."
Rei nodded at Vihera's suggestion and headed for the counter.
Behind the counter, however, a large number of Guild Staff Members were each busily engaged in some task.
Normally, several Receptionists would be stationed at the counter.
Gilm, being a frontier city with a large adventurer population, had far more Guild Staff Members — including Receptionists — than a place like Gauche.
Despite that, not a single Receptionist was visible at the counter right now.
Even Kenny, who would normally call out cheerfully the moment she spotted Rei, was nowhere to be seen.
"What in the world happened? It's rare for them to be this frantic."
Vihera muttered as she watched the Guild Staff Members bustling about behind the counter.
Whether they overheard her or not, several staff members glanced toward Vihera... or more precisely, toward both her and Rei.
"Rei-san! And Vihera-san!"
The one who called out was a male Guild Staff Member in his forties.
His expression was brimming with joy, as if he had found Buddha in hell, and his voice carried to the other staff members as well.
"Rei-san? He's back?"
"He was fighting a Cobolt Leader, right? Well, if it's Rei, a Cobolt Leader wouldn't even be a challenge."
"Then maybe we should ask him to..."
"That would work, but which area do we have him handle?"
"Wouldn't the farthest one take the most time? He has Set-chan, so travel speed won't be an issue, right?"
Hearing the staff discussing this among themselves, Rei could piece together that something else must have happened.
A Goblin Leader, a Cobolt Leader — and perhaps something similar had occurred again.
At the same time, it made sense that the Cobolt Leader incident had already been reported.
Vihera glanced at Rei, then addressed the staff.
"It seems the Cobolt Leader incident has already been relayed. So could you tell us what's going on? I can tell things are hectic, but..."
Her tone wasn't accusatory, but it carried a weight that absolutely couldn't be ignored.
Several of the staff members who had been addressed exchanged glances with one another before one of them finally spoke up.
"Well, the truth is, groups of various monsters — starting with Goblins — have appeared."
"That's not particularly unusual, is it? Coming so soon after yesterday is a bit odd, sure, but it's hardly something that would throw the Guild into this kind of uproar."
"No, well... based on what's been confirmed so far, there are multiple packs of Goblins, Cobolts, Orcs, Lizardmen, and various others — each species forming several groups."
"...What?"
Even Rei, listening beside Vihera, couldn't help but let out a sound of surprise. It was genuinely unexpected.
If, for example, a few High-ranking Species of Goblins had each formed their own pack, he would have been somewhat surprised but could have accepted it as plausible.
Given the Cobolt incident, he already understood that some kind of abnormality was occurring — but the fact that packs of this many different types of monsters had formed was something even Rei hadn't anticipated.
The word "pack" here didn't simply mean a gathering of monsters. It referred to a group led by a High-ranking Species or Rare Species — like a Goblin Leader or Cobolt Leader.
The existence of so many such packs was clearly dangerous.
Even if the majority of adventurers in Gilm were skilled, there was naturally a limit to their stamina.
Hester's example made that painfully clear — a Goblin pack had killed most of his party members.
Hester and his party had the strength to handle a few... no, even a dozen or so Goblins with ease.
But nearly a hundred Goblins was an entirely different matter. They simply couldn't sustain the fight due to sheer stamina drain.
And Goblins didn't fight fairly, attacking one at a time.
They could swarm from every direction without warning.
"Is that true? This isn't some kind of misidentification?"
Vihera pressed for confirmation, but the staff member shook his head.
"These are reports from adventurers who returned after observing each pack. I can't imagine everyone independently filing false reports. If it were only one case, the possibility of a misidentification couldn't be entirely ruled out, but..."
The implication was clear — with this many people reporting separately, it wasn't a lie.
Vihera nodded.
After all, she had seen a pack of Cobolts led by a Cobolt Leader with her own eyes.
She had no intention of denying what she had personally witnessed.
"And the packs' movements?"
"Well... naturally, it varies. Some remain where they were found, others are actively moving, and some are heading away from or toward Gilm."
"...Moving quite freely, aren't they."
Vihera muttered with an exasperated expression. Beside her, Rei was deep in thought.
This many High-ranking Species appearing at once, each forming packs — no matter how you look at it, this isn't coincidence. It's far more likely the result of some intention... or someone's will. And yet each pack behaves differently?
Only questions remained.
If it had been just Goblins or just Cobolts, he could have accepted it.
But for multiple types of monsters to suddenly produce High-ranking Species or Rare Species and form packs — Rei couldn't fathom why this had happened.
"So... actually, there's a request we'd like you and Vihera-san to accept."
"...A subjugation request for the packs approaching Gilm?"
"Yes. We've already dispatched several parties. It's fortunate — though it feels wrong to say so — that the ones heading this way are Goblin packs, so they're not particularly strong. However, multiple packs are approaching simultaneously from several directions."
"If other parties have already gone out, is there really a need for us to go?"
"Normally, that would be the case, but..."
The staff member sighed with a troubled look.
As he said, normally it wouldn't be an issue.
But this situation was a complete irregularity.
Multiple types of monsters had produced High-ranking Species or Rare Species, each leading a pack.
Given that the current situation was already abnormal, there was no guarantee that another irregular event wouldn't occur on top of it.
Rei understood this, and after a moment's thought, he nodded.
"Understood. I'll accept the request."
"Are you sure? You've only just returned to Gilm, and you've been taking requests almost every day."
Vihera asked, a hint of concern in her voice.
"Yeah, no problem. The enemy is approaching Gilm either way, so we need to deal with it properly. Besides, if it's just Goblins, it won't be that much trouble."
"But given the situation, there could be intelligent Goblin Leaders among them, right? If so, the Goblins heading toward Gilm might be led by something like that."
"True. That's possible. But... with me and Set together, do you really think we'd lose to mere Goblins?"
"Well..."
Hearing Rei's brimming confidence, Vihera couldn't very well say no.
She understood, after all, that the idea of Rei losing to a pack of Goblins was impossible even if heaven and earth were turned upside down.
"...Fine. But I'm worried about you going alone, so I'm coming along."
"You will?"
The roles reversed from moments ago, with Rei now asking Vihera.
Vihera loved battle, but that was strictly limited to fighting strong opponents.
Rei didn't think that fighting mere Goblins would satisfy her desire for combat.
"Well, it's fine once in a while. Besides, as long as you're in Gilm, I'll be in Gilm too — so I'd rather avoid anything that puts this city in danger."
The staff member nodded at Vihera's words.
"That's right. Fundamentally, Gilm is self-sufficient, but only at a minimum level. ...Of course, there are many cities that can't even manage that, so in that sense, being able to handle even the bare minimum is impressive."
"Exactly. And if rumors spread among the Merchants that traveling to Gilm is dangerous, they'll naturally stop coming. And then..."
"Logistics stall, and we can't get the various goods we import from other cities."
Rei finished where the staff member and Vihera left off.
"Yes. Especially food — we rely quite heavily on the Merchants for that..."
"Alright, let's go."
Rei cut in before the staff member could finish.
Being someone who loved to eat, a decline in Gilm's food situation was something he absolutely could not tolerate.
If someone told him to wipe out every last Goblin to ensure food was properly brought into Gilm, he might genuinely do it.
In terms of pure food supply, it wasn't as though anyone would actually starve.
Gilm was in the frontier, and with monster meat available from the creatures that roamed the area, things wouldn't get that dire.
However, Gilm's population was far larger than that of an ordinary town — comparable to a proper city.
With that in mind, no matter how many adventurers there were, supplying enough food for all of Gilm's residents through monster meat alone would normally be impossible.
...Unless there existed someone abnormal — someone like Rei, who possessed an Item Box and could travel quickly even to distant locations.
No, if it came down to it, I could always bring food in with the Misty Ring. ...At worst, I could move to another city and not worry about meals — but that would mean abandoning Gilm, and that would leave a bad taste in my mouth. ...Hmm? Food shortage?
What crossed Rei's mind at that moment was Goblin meat.
More precisely, cooking with Goblin meat.
It was still so foul-tasting as to be inedible, but if Goblin meat ever became edible, the very concept of a food shortage would cease to exist.
Rei was confident enough in that assessment — that was just how ubiquitous Goblins were.
"...You've gotten awfully motivated all of a sudden. Well, it's Rei, so I can somewhat guess the reason."
Vihera muttered with a hint of exasperation. Rei, knowing exactly what reason she was implying, simply gave a small shrug.
After shrugging, he moved to leave the Guild then and there.
"Ah, Rei-san. Wait a moment. As I mentioned, other adventurers have already gone out for this Goblin subjugation. We'd appreciate it if you could avoid attacks that might catch them in the crossfire."
"Hey, what exactly do you take me for?"
Rei muttered in displeasure at the implication that he would recklessly endanger his allies.
But it wasn't the staff member who answered — it was Vihera.
"Considering everything you've done up to now, can you really blame them for thinking that?"
"I don't recall ever dragging allies into my attacks, you know?"
"True. But the fact that people think you're the type who wouldn't hesitate to do something like that — that's the problem."
At Vihera's words, delivered with an amused smile, Rei recalled his own past actions — how he had never hesitated to oppose lords and nobles alike — and quietly averted his gaze.
"Right. About time we head out. Even if it's just Goblins, dealing with large numbers is still a hassle."
"Hehe. Then let's be on our way."
Together with Vihera, who for some reason seemed to be in excellent spirits, Rei walked out of the Guild.