Since Vihera lost consciousness, the seasons had turned.
Summer with its lush green foliage had ended. The leaves on the trees had turned red and begun scattering to the ground.
Even as autumn deepened, Vihera remained unconscious.
The Unbris that Rei had attacked—the one that had fled into Vihera's body—had apparently been the original entity. Since the day Rei defeated it, no other individuals had been found.
Whether it was the effect of the near-fatal injuries it had sustained, the consequence of its main body fleeing into Vihera, or some other reason entirely, Rei didn't know. What mattered was that no Unbris had been sighted since the day Vihera lost consciousness.
Of course, the Unbris was a black, mist-like entity capable of traveling underground, so there was always a chance it simply hadn't been discovered. Still, Rei judged it likely that no more Unbris remained.
And yet, from the day Vihera collapsed to this very day, Gilm had hardly been at peace.
The Unbris itself may have been annihilated, but the packs led by monsters it had evolved into Leader Species were still out there.
As long as those packs existed, the monsters had to be put down, and many of Gilm's adventurers were kept busy with subjugation requests.
Still, the Unbris's destruction meant that Leader Species would no longer multiply so easily. Once enough time passed and the packs were wiped out, the frontier would be that much safer.
The adventurers gathered in Gilm were skilled, and the extermination of those packs was proceeding smoothly.
The number of merchants—which had been declining from summer into autumn—had returned to normal. No, it was safe to say the numbers had increased even further.
Merchants who had been unable to travel to Gilm during the Unbris situation were now arriving all at once.
Autumn would soon give way to winter, and before long, snow would begin to fall.
Those who traveled to Gilm in winter were, as a rule, only those with pressing reasons to do so. Everyone else waited until spring.
Nobody wanted to risk being snowed in for an entire winter, so it was only natural that many wanted to earn what they could before that happened.
Rei walked through the unusually bustling streets of Gilm with Set at his side.
His demeanor was the same as always—at least, that was how it appeared to the city's residents.
But anyone who knew Rei more intimately would have noticed that his unchanging composure was only surface deep.
Ever since Vihera collapsed, he had been searching everywhere for some way to restore her consciousness. Every lead had ended in failure.
No—it would be more accurate to say that while some methods may have had merit, none had actually succeeded in waking her.
Naturally, there had been those who tried to deceive him and swindle him out of his money. What became of those individuals hardly bears mentioning.
"Set, it's gotten a bit chilly. You holding up okay?"
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred to assure him he was fine.
Set could sleep on snow in the dead of winter without any issue whatsoever. Gryphons possessed abilities that far surpassed those of humans to that degree.
Even so, Rei's concern for Set spoke to just how much he cared for his familiar.
As Set rubbed his head against Rei, nuzzling him, the corner of Rei's mouth twitched upward and he stroked Set's head.
"Good to hear. But autumn's deepening. Snow will fall before long, so keep careful, Set."
Lecturing Set as they walked, Rei and his companion made their way down the street—until a savory, mouthwatering scent drifted from a nearby stall and caught Rei's attention.
"Come to think of it, I'm a little hungry. It's still a while before dinner. Want to grab a bite?"
"Gruruu!"
Set purred happily at Rei's suggestion and peeked toward the stall.
"Oh, if it isn't Rei and Set! What'll it be today? My recommendation's the Lizardman skewers. ...Though you've probably had your fill of those by now."
The stall owner greeted the familiar pair with those words.
What he said was an undeniable truth.
The monster corpses left behind by the Unbris incident had naturally become food for Gilm's residents. With merchants staying away, everyone had resorted to eating that meat. Tolerable for a few days, perhaps, but after ten days of monster meat at every meal, people grew weary of it. A month of it went without saying.
Other ingredients could be purchased if one tried. But given the shortages, prices had naturally risen above what they would normally be. In the end, many people had eaten nothing but monster meat at every meal for weeks.
Now that the Unbris situation was resolved and merchants were returning, it was only natural that those who had grown sick of monster meat sought other fare.
That said, even among monster meat, anything that wasn't from the demi-human types that had formed packs still saw some demand.
Either way, now that people were finally free from a steady diet of monster meat, there was no shortage of those who wanted to avoid it for a while.
As a result, sales of the Lizardman skewers at the stall were anything but steady.
"Why sell Lizardman skewers again, of all things? You'd probably make better money selling something else."
"Even if you say that, my family's been selling Lizardman skewers for generations. No way I can just change that now."
"...Look, you should sell what your customers actually want. Whatever. I'll take all the Lizardman skewers you've got."
The stall owner was momentarily dumbfounded by Rei's words, but once he registered who he was dealing with, a broad grin spread across his face.
"You got it! Give me a minute—I'll grill up the prepped ones too."
What he handed over were the freshly cooked skewers.
Any they couldn't finish could simply go into the Misty Ring, so Rei didn't have to worry about the food getting cold.
He brought one to his mouth for a bite and nodded in appreciation.
There's a reason this family's been selling Lizardman skewers for generations. These are genuinely several notches above the average stall skewer.
The outside was seared crisp over high heat, yet the meat inside retained a tenderness that stopped just short of being overcooked. Each bite released a burst of meat juices that flooded his mouth, the savory sauce working in tandem to break down the meat.
"Delicious."
"Gruu."
Set, eating a skewer right beside him, let out a pleased cry of his own.
Rei's praise clearly delighted the stall owner, who smiled happily and set about grilling the next batch.
About twenty minutes later, they received all the remaining skewers. After eating their fill, Rei stowed the rest in the Misty Ring.
He paid, said goodbye to the stall owner—who couldn't suppress a grin at his best sale in a while—and the two continued down the road.
Before long, the Guild came into view.
"...Probably nothing, though."
"Gruu..."
Rei murmured as he stroked Set and stepped through the Guild doors.
With winter fast approaching, many adventurers were busy making preparations for the season. Nobody wanted to end up working requests in the snow.
If there was a silver lining to be found, it was that many adventurers had earned substantial sums by repeatedly taking subjugation requests during the Unbris crisis. For those who had participated in the pack exterminations, winter funds were already all but secured.
The ones rushing about now were adventurers who, for one reason or another, hadn't been in Gilm during the outbreak or hadn't fought. There was also a fair number who had arrived only after the Unbris situation was resolved.
Amid all this, Rei and Set had not come looking for work.
"Ah, Rei-kun. Sorry to say, but the items for your request still haven't come in."
"...I see."
Lenora wasn't at the counter, so Rei had approached Kenny instead. He let out a quiet sigh at her words.
The request Rei had posted at the Guild was, naturally, one seeking a person or item capable of restoring Vihera's consciousness.
The reward offered was five Light Gold Coins. Even for a frontier where rare materials and monsters gathered, it was an extraordinary sum.
For Rei, it wasn't exactly pocket change, but it was within reach if he stretched a little.
He had originally intended to offer ten Light Gold Coins, but considering the difficulty of fulfilling the request, Lenora, Kenny, and even Marina had reprimanded him, insisting five was the ceiling. And so the amount had been set.
The dismantling of the many pack corpses obtained during the Unbris incident, meanwhile, had already been posted as a separate request and completed. That had yielded a considerable quantity of meat, and thanks to a generous reward, the request had been fulfilled immediately.
Ah, come to think of it, I still haven't absorbed the Orc Leader's Magic Stone.
The thought of the dismantling request triggered the associated memory.
He should have absorbed it much sooner, but between running himself ragged over Vihera's situation, the Orc Leader's Magic Stone had completely slipped his mind.
Rei recalled it now, but rather than dwell on it, he turned his attention back to Kenny.
"Up until now, I've been specifically requesting items with guaranteed effects. Do you think I should broaden it to include rumors and hearsay?"
"You'd better not."
Kenny rejected the idea without a moment's hesitation.
"Why not?"
"It's because you're specifically demanding guaranteed results that you're keeping the scammers away. That, and the fact that a high-ranking adventurer like Rei-kun is the one making the request. But the moment you say rumors are fine, you'll have people lining up with all sorts of nonsense."
"...Is it really that bad? My name acts as a deterrent, doesn't it?"
"It does. But that's because you're demanding certainty. The second you say rumors are acceptable, you'll get people thinking 'well, maybe this'll work.' And even if it turns out to be complete garbage later, they can just say 'it was only a rumor' and walk away."
"That's... not something I want to deal with."
The reason no one had taken on the current request was precisely because they knew what kind of person Rei was.
Had the request been posted by some no-name adventurer with no track record, swindlers would have come flocking without a doubt.
And if the requirement for certainty were removed, even if Vihera didn't wake up, someone would inevitably try to talk their way out of it, just as Kenny said.
According to rumors, this herb can cure any condition.
According to a story I heard, this potion can bring back the dead.
I heard from my master's friend's father's boss's son's wife that this fruit can cure any illness.
Or so they would say, over and over and over.
If that many people came crawling out of the woodwork, Rei would definitely lose it.
"See? ...Oh, right. Just in case—I should mention there's a Nomination Request from Viscount Marnino's household in the Noble District. I told them Rei-kun is too busy right now to take anything on, but they insisted I at least pass the message along."
But you're going to decline, right? Kenny's tone implied.
Rei thought for a moment, then spoke.
"No, actually, I think I'll accept it. Partly for a change of pace. I've been running around so much lately that I've sort of hit a wall with everything."
The response clearly caught Kenny off guard. The ears atop her head shot straight up in surprise.
"Are you sure? Really? I should remind you, the client is a noble. And you know how you feel about nobles."
"It's not like I hate all nobles."
Elena and Daskar, among others—there were nobles Rei held in genuine regard. Though, conversely, there were also nobles he thoroughly despised.
"So, what kind of noble is this Viscount Marnino?"
"He's King's Faction. No major scandals, but that also means there are some minor unsavory rumors floating around."
"And good rumors?"
"Nothing major on that front either, but a few minor ones. All in all, I'd call him a noble who's neither poison nor cure."
"...That's a remarkably blunt assessment."
Rei was mildly surprised by Kenny's candor.
"It's fine, really. More importantly—are you heading to Viscount Marnino's estate today?"
"No, I'll go tomorrow. Might as well make sure I'm properly prepared."
"For Rei-kun, 'preparation' is hardly necessary."
Kenny glanced at the Misty Ring on Rei's right hand—his right wrist, to be precise—as she said this. Rei could only offer a small shrug in response.