About two weeks had passed since Vihera regained consciousness. Outside, snow had begun to fall, marking the complete transition from late autumn to early winter.
Fortunately, while it was snowing, it had not yet accumulated enough to pile up. Among the adventurers, there were still some making one final push to save up funds for surviving the winter.
Gamelion hunting remained as popular as ever, but many others were also accepting subjugation requests for monsters that only appeared during the winter season.
Amidst all this... Rei had come to Asimov's house.
Though it would be more accurate to call it Asimov's research laboratory.
"Sorry about this. I've been pretty busy with various things."
Asimov, showing a rare hint of exhaustion, had indeed been looking busy for a while now.
Rei didn't know the reason why Asimov had been so busy, but Rei himself had also been under close scrutiny from others and hadn't had much free time either.
The news that Rei had defeated the Silver Lion and captured the dungeon had been publicly announced by the Guild.
The report, published a few days after Elena and Ara had departed, naturally drew the attention of the adventurers in Gilm toward Rei.
The most numerous among them were, naturally, the merchants.
It was a fairly well-known fact that the Silver Lion existed as the dungeon's Boss Monster.
That was precisely why it was a golden opportunity for the merchants to obtain Silver Lion — S-Rank monster — materials.
However, thanks to a few coincidences — such as the fact that autumn was already nearing its end and few merchants remained in Gilm, as well as the experience from the Twilight Spear incident — it didn't turn into as much of a hassle as before. That was fortunate for Rei.
Additionally, the fact that the gazes of the city's residents and adventurers remained unchanged from before was a key factor in keeping Rei from feeling stressed.
For the adventurers, the strong perception that Rei was an extraordinary existence with formidable combat power from the start remained, and for the city's residents, the perception that Rei was special in various ways because he had Set was likely why.
Furthermore, there were cases where those who had been earning money at the dungeon came to Gilm holding grievances, so Rei couldn't let his guard down in various senses.
Still, it was fortunate that it was winter. As everyone was busy working to prepare for surviving the cold season, the number of people focusing their attention on Rei decreased. It was around that time when Asimov contacted him, and they met like this for the first time in a while.
"A lot happened on my end too."
"Yeah, I heard. I never thought you'd actually capture a dungeon, though."
As a matter of course, Asimov had also heard the information about Rei capturing the dungeon.
He looked at Rei with eyes as if observing something interesting.
"...What is it?"
"No, I heard the story about you capturing a dungeon, but looking at you now, you seem the same as before."
At Asimov's words, Rei nodded, as if to say it was only natural.
It wasn't as though capturing a dungeon would change his personality or anything.
Of course, there were those whose personalities changed due to great fame, but in Rei's case, he already had a certain level of fame even before capturing the dungeon.
From his exploits in the war against the Bestia Empire to various other achievements.
For such a Rei, the fame to be gained from capturing a dungeon at this point was not something he needed to regard as particularly special.
...Of course, he understood that capturing the dungeon protected by a Silver Lion — which could only be defeated with the help of Elena, Elk, and the others — was undoubtedly a great achievement for Rei as well.
"Honestly, it's not as bad as with the Twilight Spear, but the merchants are still annoying."
"When it comes to S-Rank monster materials, that can't be helped."
"It's not just merchants. I've been getting quite a few approaches from alchemists too."
"...Figured as much."
In terms of selling the Silver Lion materials, the merchants were desperate, but when it came to actually using the materials, it was only natural for alchemists to spring into action.
Even A-Rank monster materials were known to cause fierce bidding wars among alchemists, and what had appeared here were S-Rank monster materials.
It wouldn't be strange for someone to want to obtain those materials even if it meant paying their entire fortune.
Amidst all that, Asimov, who was relatively close to Rei, wasn't rushing around in a panic.
Of course, Asimov was also interested in the Silver Lion materials, but he had the expectation that Rei would bring them to him.
"So, did you bring the materials?"
"Yeah. It's just, even with the materials alone, I wasn't sure how to use them."
Currently, Rei had the Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear as weapons.
He also had several other combat Magic Items, and given that, there was nothing he urgently wanted.
Normally, one might worry about the materials deteriorating, but in Rei's case, he had the Misty Ring, so there was no need to worry about that either.
"Hmm... I see."
Asimov nodded at Rei's words and stared at his appearance.
The Dragon Robe, Sleipnir boots, Misty Ring, Bracelet of Magic Absorption, Ring of the New Moon — Rei was equipped with various Magic Items in addition to these.
And though hidden beneath the Dragon Robe, there was also the Eye of Nebula.
Given that numerous other Magic Items were also stored inside the Misty Ring, it was fair to say Rei was a walking mass of Magic Items.
"Looking at you, Rei, your entire body is covered in Magic Items. But you originally like collecting Magic Items, right? Then it's not like you don't want any, is it?"
"Yeah. That's for sure. But I never expected to suddenly get my hands on Silver Lion materials like this. I'm pretty lost on what I should have made."
"...Specifically, what kind of Silver Lion materials do you have?"
He asked this because he had heard rumors that not just Rei, but several others had joined forces to fight and defeat the Silver Lion.
If the materials had been divided equally, the Magic Items that could be created would differ depending on which parts remained as materials.
That was what he was thinking when he asked, but...
"Almost the whole thing. I gave away some claws and such, though."
"...Huh?"
The words that came out of Rei's mouth were completely unexpected for Asimov as well.
"All of it?"
You're joking, right? Or is this a joke? Asimov asked with that intent, but Rei simply nodded calmly.
"Yeah. Pretty much as-is."
"...Why?"
"Who knows?"
Asimov's question was the same one Rei had wondered himself.
But while each person had their reasons, the undeniable fact was that they had given Rei the Silver Lion essentially whole.
"That's weird, isn't it?"
"It is weird."
Normally, S-Rank monster materials were something anyone would naturally want, regardless of who they were.
At the very least, if Asimov ever obtained S-Rank monster materials, he would absolutely never do something like hand them over to someone else. He wouldn't want to.
"What's going on? ...Well, whatever. For now, lay out the Silver Lion materials. I'm sure they haven't deteriorated or rotted since they're inside an Item Box, but I still want to confirm."
"Got it. Just so you know, there's quite a lot, so I can't take everything out here."
The Silver Lion was four meters long — six meters if you included the tail.
Of course, the majority of it was meat, but the other materials were also fairly large.
This room, which had become Asimov's research lab, was reasonably spacious, but various tools and research documents for alchemy were scattered about haphazardly, making it impossible to lay out the Silver Lion materials there.
Asimov, apparently realizing this, gave a small nod and stood up from his chair.
His unusually quick movements were likely driven by a desire to see the Silver Lion materials with his own eyes as soon as possible.
"Then come this way."
Saying only that, he turned a look toward Rei that said hurry up and come.
At Asimov's completely uncharacteristic behavior, Rei smiled as if to say he had no choice and followed after him.
Asimov then led Rei to a room that was, unusually... truly and unusually, cleaned up.
The room, which had a decent amount of space, was one that Asimov had originally cleared out to conduct an alchemy experiment in a few days' time.
But for Asimov right now, postponing that experiment was not a problem.
If anything, the Silver Lion materials should be his top priority.
"Alright, I'm taking them out?"
"Wait! It'd be a waste to just put Silver Lion materials directly on the floor."
Saying that, Asimov spread a cloth on the floor.
And having spread the cloth, he was apparently satisfied. He nodded with a look of satisfaction and urged Rei on.
"Go ahead, take them out."
Nodding at those words, Rei began taking out the Silver Lion materials one after another from the Misty Ring.
Including the meat, there was too much to fit on the cloth, but the meat was strictly for consumption.
Because of that, most of the materials would end up fitting on the cloth.
The only exception was the Silver Lion's bones, which couldn't be helped.
"What about the bones? I don't think we can put them on the cloth."
"...Figured as much."
Even while replying to Rei, Asimov's gaze was fixed on the Silver Lion materials.
Asimov was originally famous as an eccentric even among alchemists, but he was still an alchemist.
S-Rank monster materials were more than enough to seize his attention.
"The bones are versatile in various ways. You could repurpose them directly as weapons, or grind them into powder and use them when forging weapons to produce special effects. The internal organs are... as alchemy materials, they're as precious as anything could be. The eyeballs are..."
When his gaze fell on the eyeballs stored in containers, Asimov tilted his head and asked Rei.
"Why is there only one eyeball?"
A question born of genuine curiosity.
Given that the Silver Lion had two eyes, it was a natural question.
But to such an Asimov, Rei opened his mouth with a slightly awkward expression.
"When I fought the Silver Lion, I thrust the Twilight Spear into its eye. It dealt significant damage thanks to that, but because of it, that eye was destroyed."
"...I see. So the Twilight Spear proved to be a great asset."
Hearing that the Twilight Spear he had created had displayed a certain presence in the battle against the Silver Lion, Asimov showed a slightly complicated expression.
He was glad that the Twilight Spear had been useful against the Silver Lion, but losing one of the Silver Lion's eyeballs was still something that weighed on him as an alchemist.
"Well, what's done is done. Good thing at least one is intact."
"I'm glad you see it that way. So, what kind of Magic Item do you think can be made?"
"Let's see..."
Asimov looked at Rei's appearance once more, but suddenly his gaze shifted to Rei's feet — specifically, to the Sleipnir boots.
They were an item that allowed the wearer to kick off the sky as a foothold for a few steps by channeling magic power.
The effect might seem plain compared to Rei's other Magic Items, but they had played no small role in Rei's activities as an adventurer.
"If I use some of the internal organs, I should be able to strengthen the Sleipnir boots' effect. Only slightly, though."
"...Strengthen them?"
"Yeah. Specifically, the number of steps you can use the sky as a foothold would increase by a few compared to now."
"Really? If that's possible, that'd be a huge help for me too, but..."
"Rei?"
Rei suddenly stopped mid-conversation, and when Asimov turned his gaze toward him, Rei shook his head as if it was nothing.
The mention of the Sleipnir boots made him think that it would have been nice if Elena had been there to hear this.
Since Elena used the same Sleipnir boots as Rei, there was no doubt she would have been delighted to hear they could be strengthened.
(Well, she probably didn't have that kind of leeway, though.)
To begin with, Elena had come to Gilm quite forcefully after hearing about Vihera's situation.
Naturally, she must have had a considerable amount of work left behind, and she undoubtedly caused inconvenience in various places.
Given that, with the Vihera situation resolved, returning immediately was the natural choice.
In fact, even last night when they communicated using the Paired Orbs, she had seemed slightly low-spirited.
The fact that she still didn't bring it up made Rei think she was being distant.
...Though, for Elena, who always carried herself as the Princess General, there weren't that many people she could show even a hint of weakness to.
"Understood. Then go ahead and strengthen the Sleipnir boots."
Deciding that figuring out how to use the Silver Lion materials took priority, Rei told Asimov just that.