The meeting with Asimov ended with only one real decision: reinforcing the Sleipnir boots.
To be precise, Asimov had plenty of ideas for the Silver Lion materials, but the specimens were so extraordinary that he could barely figure out where to begin.
He wanted to do this, that, and the next thing too — and ended up unable to settle on anything at all.
Even so, he took custody of several of the Silver Lion's internal organs and Rei's Sleipnir boots, deciding to focus on that task first.
As a result, Rei was currently walking around in shoes borrowed from Asimov's house instead of his own boots.
Asimov's frame was clearly larger than Rei's, and his feet were no exception. Consequently, the borrowed shoes were somewhat awkward to walk in.
"Maybe I should pick up a pair of shoes somewhere... oh?"
Should he buy some?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, white snowflakes drifting from the sky caught his eye.
There had been a few flurries before now, but fortunately none had stuck. They had simply melted away.
Rei had been grateful for that. But the snow falling now was clearly heavier than anything before.
Watching it, Rei's expression soured.
Thanks to the Dragon Robe, which functioned like a simplified air conditioner, he didn't feel cold even standing in the falling snow.
Even so, the grimace was unavoidable — only natural for someone who had grown up in a snowy region.
(When I was little, I used to get excited when it snowed. I even remember playing outside in it... When did I start hating snow, anyway?)
Growing up in the mountains meant skiing and sledding when the snow came. There were a few kids his age nearby, so they'd have snowball fights, build snowmen, and dig out snow igloos.
But that was only through elementary school. By the time he reached middle school, Rei recalled that snow no longer brought him any joy.
A white Christmas wasn't a particularly rare sight for him, either. Even watching characters celebrate it in manga and anime, he could never quite share the sentiment.
Instead, only the misery of shoveling snow came to mind.
"Gurururu!"
While he was absently watching the snow, that cry reached him unexpectedly.
He turned toward the familiar sound and found Set there, just as expected. And beside Set was Mirene.
...The right to spend a day with Set, promised some time ago. Mirene was using it today, enjoying her time with him.
"Ah, Set-chan! ...Hm, Rei? Just so we're clear, today I'm the one who's with Set-chan."
"I know. I'm not going to tell you to give Set back right this second. Just bring him back before the day's over and that's fine."
"...Oh, really?"
She had clearly expected to be told to return Set immediately. Mirene's voice came out flat with surprise.
"Gurururu!"
Pay attention to me too! Set rubbed his face against Rei.
Rei stroked Set's head with a smile. "Go let Mirene spoil you rotten."
"Guruu!"
Of course! Set cried, and Mirene beamed at the sound.
For his part, Set didn't dislike Mirene either. In fact, he was quite attached to someone who always doted on him and kept feeding him treats. In that sense, Mirene and Yohanna ranked near the top of Set's affinity.
(Yohanna was pretty furious when she heard Mirene would get her day with Set first, though.)
Yohanna and her party hadn't been able to return to Gilm with Rei and the others because of their escort quest in the Dungeon. But that was finished now, and they had already come back to the city.
The moment she ran into Rei, Yohanna demanded her promised day with Set. But as luck would have it, Mirene and the rest of the Scorching Wind were also nearby at the time.
There was no way Mirene would quietly back down from that. An argument naturally ensued... and in the end, priority went to Mirene, who had the prior claim.
Mirene had been waiting eagerly for her day with Set for months. The reason she hadn't brought it up to Rei before was undoubtedly Vihera's unconsciousness. Rei had been running himself ragged trying to wake Vihera, and it simply hadn't been the right time for Mirene to cash in her promise.
But now Vihera was awake, so... that must have been her reasoning.
In truth, Rei had no reason to refuse Mirene's request, and as a result, she had won her day with Set — today.
"Well then, I'm going to go play in the snow with Set-chan, so... see you."
"Yeah. Bring Set back to the inn by tonight. ...And don't take him back to your own inn."
"Guh! I-I know that!"
She had probably been vaguely considering doing exactly that. Mirene wore the look of someone caught red-handed before managing to stammer out a defense.
(Things have calmed down around here, so maybe it's about time I tried absorbing the Silver Lion's magic stone. With the snow coming down, there should be fewer people heading outside the city than usual, too.)
Watching Mirene pat Set's head, Rei mused on this.
He didn't exactly relish going out in the snow, but this was a magic stone from an S-Rank monster — the Silver Lion's. It obviously couldn't be absorbed carelessly.
"Guruu?"
Noticing Rei deep in thought about the magic stone, Set tilted his head and gave a small cry, as if asking what was wrong.
Rei stroked his head to indicate it was nothing, then turned back to Mirene.
"Well, I'm heading back now. Take care of Set."
"Leave it to me. I'll be sure to give Set-chan plenty of affection."
She was clearly thrilled to be with Set, telling him so with a full smile. The snow around them was getting heavier by the minute, but Mirene didn't seem the least bit bothered.
After parting with Mirene and her snowy stroll through town with Set, Rei resumed walking.
"Welcome, welcome! Skewers of in-season Gamelion meat! Nothing hits the spot this time of year like these! Come give them a try!"
The voice rang out as he walked, and spotting a stall selling Gamelion skewers, Rei drifted over without a second thought.
"Oh? Rei, huh. How about it? Buying some skewers?"
"Give me twenty."
"You always buy a lot. Well, I'm not complaining — great for business. ...Hang on a sec."
For the residents of Gilm — and especially for stall vendors — Rei buying food in bulk was nothing unusual. Twenty skewers was actually on the modest side for him.
Of course, twenty skewers might seem a bit much for one person, but among adventurers, those who could polish off that amount were hardly rare. As a between-meal snack, certainly, not many could manage it. But as a meal? It was perfectly ordinary.
"Still, there's a lot of Gamelion meat this year. Even setting aside what happened last year, isn't there more than the year before, and the year before that?"
"Ah... yeah. The adventurers have been putting in the work, but the bigger reason is that there are simply more Gamelions around than usual this year."
"You mean the population was already high to begin with?"
"Yeah, seems that way."
"...I see."
Was it related to the large number of Gamelions that had been inside the Dungeon last year? The thought crossed Rei's mind, but he decided there was no point dwelling on it now.
"Here you go — twenty skewers."
Taking the skewers and paying, Rei tucked all but one into his Misty Ring.
He bit into a freshly grilled Gamelion skewer as the snow fell around him.
There was something almost decadently extravagant about it — like eating ice cream in a room so hot you broke a sweat in winter, or having hot pot in a room so cold it made you shiver in summer. Such thoughts drifted through his mind as he raised the skewer to his mouth.
Just moments ago he had been grumbling about the snow, and now here he was, savoring it. That quick shift in perspective was very much in character for Rei.
Walking along and munching on his skewer, he ran into another familiar face — not Mirene this time.
The other person had apparently noticed Rei walking and eating at the same time. Looking mildly surprised, they broke into a smile a moment later.
"Rei, it feels like it's been a while since we ran into each other like this."
It was Min of the Axe of the Thunder God.
She had returned to Gilm ahead of Rei and the others from the Dungeon, but they hadn't crossed paths since.
...Naturally, among those announced as the members who had captured the Dungeon, the Axe of the Thunder God's name was included. Whether she disliked the attention or was simply too busy with Rhodos's rehabilitation, she had hardly appeared in public.
Not that it mattered much — the merchants swarming Rei were after Silver Lion materials, and since Elk and his party hadn't taken any of those, they wouldn't have been targeted anyway.
"By yourself today? Elk aside, Rhodos doesn't seem to be with you."
"Yeah. Rhodos still isn't in any shape to be walking around. But some time has passed since then, and he can speak without any problems now."
"Glad to hear he's recovering."
Though he had been treated almost as an afterthought to Vihera, Rhodos had also regained consciousness through the ritual Grimm performed using the Silver Lion's heart.
But unlike Vihera — who had stood up and spoken normally the moment she woke — Rhodos's case was different. Perhaps tied to the circumstances of his long unconsciousness, he could neither stand nor speak properly at first.
Hearing that Rhodos could now talk normally, Rei was genuinely impressed. It hadn't been that long since he regained consciousness. That being the case, Min's nursing must have made a significant difference.
(Elk... well, he doesn't exactly seem the nursing type.)
Elk's personality was rough, for better or worse. He surely worried about his son, but Rei's prediction was that if Elk tried his hand at nursing, Rhodos would end up screaming — and that assessment wasn't far off the mark.
"Yeah. He says he wants to be able to walk outside by spring, so he's working hard at it."
"Is it really that straightforward a process?"
Rei had never known anyone who needed rehabilitation. That was true in Japan as well, so he had no frame of reference for how long it typically took to walk again.
Moreover, Rhodos had been unconscious for a long time. Even with a Magic Item offering some protection, his muscles had severely atrophied. Given those circumstances, doubting whether he could really walk by spring was only natural.
(Then again, this is a world with magic. Maybe there are ways to speed up recovery?)
If a Magic Item existed to slow the deterioration of an unconscious person's body, it wouldn't be strange for magic or Magic Items to manage something more. And the person standing before him was a formidable A-Rank adventurer and mage.
"Of course it's not simple. But I think Rhodos will follow through on what he sets his mind to."
Perhaps reflecting her expectations for her son, Min smiled as she said it.
"I see. Well, tell him to keep at it. Elk must be raring to go too, right?"
"That's right. Especially since Rhodos's immaturity played a part in what happened this time. He says he's going to retrain him from the ground up."
"...I see."
The same words as a few seconds ago, but the sentiment behind them was entirely different.
If Elk intended to train Rhodos more strictly than ever before, it would be harsher than anything Rei could imagine.
"If you're up for it, Rei, would you come visit Rhodos sometime soon?"
"Ah... sure. I'll try to stop by when I get the chance."
Rei knew perfectly well that Rhodos didn't particularly care for him. That was exactly why he kept his answer noncommittal.
They chatted a while longer amid the falling snow... and eventually went their separate ways.