Steadily, steadily, the snow continued to fall.
It had taken a fair amount of time for the snow to start in the first place, but once it began, it piled up in the blink of an eye.
Amidst that falling snow, Rei walked along the main street with Set at his side.
It had been a few days since Tris—a merchant whose mindset Rei could scarcely comprehend—had come and gone.
Rei had thought that perhaps Tris might show up again the next day or so, but neither Tris nor any other merchant from the Spiel Merchant Guild had made an appearance since.
(Come to think of it, that Spiel Merchant Guild or whatever it's called was slow to approach me. All the other merchants and guild members had already come forward long before.)
A fair amount of time had already passed since the information about Rei clearing the dungeon had been made public. For merchants who were supposed to be quick to spot an opportunity, their appearance before Rei could only be described as remarkably late.
The snow had been falling since the previous night, but the residents of Gilm had already trampled it firm, leaving no pleasure in treading through fresh powder.
Even so, Rei walked toward his destination, watching the drifting snow and the overcast sky above.
"Gruu, gururu, gururururuu!"
The snow itself must have been entertaining to him. Set ran circles around Rei, purring in high spirits.
...And yet, he never once collided with the other people walking along the street—a true display of a gryphon's prowess.
(A dog. A puppy, at that.)
Given his size, Set could by no means be called a puppy, but as he chased the falling snow, running around in circles, there was a cuteness to him that would make anyone believe it if told he was one.
It wasn't just Rei who thought so. The other pedestrians along the main street couldn't help but smile as they watched Set darting about.
"Ah! Isn't that Rei-kun! What are you doing out here? Playing in the snow with Set-chan?"
Rei turned toward the familiar voice... and his eyes went wide beneath the hood of his Dragon Robe.
There was no mistaking whose voice it was. He had been listening to it for years.
But the figure standing where he looked was not the face he had expected. It was someone wearing layer upon layer of clothing, with a hat and mask covering their face so completely that even its shape was indiscernible.
For a moment, Rei thought he was seeing things, but even so, recognizing whose voice he was hearing, he opened his mouth.
"Kenny...?"
He still couldn't say it with certainty—his words turning into a question. No doubt because of her appearance.
"What, did you mistake me for someone else?"
"...No, mistake isn't quite the right word..."
In this case, the accurate description would be that he hadn't been able to recognize Kenny as Kenny, but saying so honestly would obviously earn him a scolding.
Understanding this, Rei kept his words vague.
"Hmm... well, whatever. More importantly, what are you doing out in this cold, Rei-kun? ...Huh? Are those different shoes?"
When it came to Rei, Kenny was sharp enough to notice quickly.
"Yeah. My Sleipnir boots are being reinforced by Asimov. So I'm wearing these in the meantime."
"Is that so? ...Oh, by any chance, is it from the Silver Lion?"
As a guild receptionist, Kenny naturally knew that Rei had cleared a dungeon.
No—rather, she was among those in Gilm who knew quite a lot about Rei's activities.
"Gurururu?"
Who? Who? Set circled around Kenny, pacing about her.
He probably recognized from her scent and voice that it was Kenny, but apparently couldn't identify her from her appearance alone.
"What? What's wrong, Set-chan?"
Kenny gently stroked Set with her gloved hand.
Being stroked, Set apparently finally understood that it was Kenny.
Letting out a happy cry, he rubbed his face against her.
"Hehe, what's gotten into you, Set-chan? You're awfully clingy today."
"Set's always been friendly with people to begin with. ...More importantly, what about you, Kenny? Aren't you at the Guild today?"
"I'm not in until this afternoon. Organizing documents, and also..."
Kenny started to say something, but stopped herself mid-sentence.
Marina was stepping down as Guild Master to become an advisor-cum-adventurer—no, considering where she herself would place the emphasis, it would be more accurate to say an adventurer-cum-advisor.
In any case, not many people knew that Marina was stepping down as Guild Master.
Not many in Gilm, and even fewer within the Guild itself.
Among those, Kenny knew because she was closely involved with Rei alongside Lenora.
If Marina was returning as an adventurer, she would naturally be working closely with Lenora and Kenny.
Knowing this, she had been informed in advance.
Lenora, being the serious type, was one thing, but Rei wondered whether someone with Kenny's light-hearted personality might accidentally let something slip. Judging by her current demeanor, however, that didn't seem to be the case.
"I see."
Rei conveyed without words that she didn't need to finish her sentence, and turned his gaze back to Kenny.
Normally, Kenny would be wearing her guild uniform with its deeply plunging neckline, as if showing off her figure—but right now, there was perhaps no one for whom the word "bundled up" fit more perfectly.
(She's a cat beastman, so in the sense of curling up under a kotatsu, it might be fitting.)
Contrary to Set, who was happily playing in the snow, Kenny's appearance made Rei nod inwardly.
It was very much like her, he thought.
"What is it, Rei-kun? ...Hey, more importantly, won't you rest somewhere with me? I know a shop that serves really nice sweets."
"Ah... sorry. I was planning to head to the library."
Yes, Rei's destination today was the library.
Currently stored in vast quantities inside his Misty Ring were Silver Lion materials, lying dormant and unused.
He was going to research whether anything could be done with them.
He had tried inviting Vihera and Byune before leaving the inn, but both had declined.
Since there wasn't anything in particular to do right now... Rei had thought, but for a while now, Byune had been receiving training from Vihera.
Having heard about Unbris and the Silver Lion, Byune must have felt that she was clearly lacking in strength to stay alongside Rei and the others.
In reality, what Rei and Vihera expected from Byune as they traveled together was her skills as a thief—combat prowess was secondary.
But Byune herself couldn't accept that.
...The cause of Byune's behavior was partly the gap in strength between her and the others, but there was no doubt that Vihera's transformation by Unbris also played a role.
To Byune, Vihera was someone who stood apart from everyone else.
Set was to Rei, Ara was to Elena... and Vihera was to Byune.
That was the kind of presence she was.
But Vihera's eye color had changed, and according to more detailed accounts, there were various other changes as well.
The most significant of those was likely her lifespan.
According to Grimm, who had conducted the ritual to restore Vihera's consciousness, she had been told that her lifespan had extended to a degree incomparable to a human's. That was what she had been told.
At this rate, she would be left behind.
Driven by that thought, Byune was having Vihera train her so she could become at least a little stronger.
Of course, it wasn't just Vihera—Rei also sparred with her from time to time.
From Rei's perspective, Byune seemed to have a certain talent for fighting.
Moving quickly with her small frame, she rarely got hit by attacks.
No doubt thanks to having continuously dived into dungeons with that body of hers up until now. In terms of evading attacks, her ability was astonishing for someone around ten years of age.
But... the small frame that was advantageous for evading enemy attacks could also become a fatal liability when it came to attacking them.
Even when she struck an opponent, she could tear their skin, but she couldn't break bones, let alone completely sever flesh.
Given Byune's physical abilities, this was natural—but in short, she simply lacked strength.
In this world, there were people who possessed astonishing power despite their small stature.
Rei himself was a prime example. He possessed strength unbelievable from his appearance alone.
Though not to Rei's extent, there were more than a few people—the Dwarf, for instance—who had strength that defied their size.
However... in Byune's case, her constitution only gave her power proportional to her appearance.
That was why she likely aimed for vital points or used needle-like weapons.
(But targeting vitals is also something the one being targeted can defend against easily. If she had an attack method like Vihera's Magic Impact Palm that ignores the opponent's defense, that would be a different story.)
Ultimately, what Byune was best suited for was not defeating enemies but keeping them at bay and toying with them using her signature speed.
Rei thought so, but as long as Byune insisted on defeating enemies herself, he knew that saying anything would be pointless.
"Rei-kun? What's wrong?"
"Oh, no. It's nothing."
"Hmm. ...More importantly, the library, right? I can't imagine wanting to go to a place like that. If you're going to the library, I think you'd be better off just staying out in the snow."
As a guild receptionist, Kenny possessed a corresponding level of education.
She had visited the library many times before, but that was strictly because her work as a receptionist required it.
She couldn't possibly imagine wanting to go to the library of her own accord.
"I don't mind reading books to begin with."
"...You really are unusual, aren't you."
"Am I? I don't think there are many mages who dislike reading. ...Well, to each their own, so I suppose there might be some mages out there who hate reading."
"Now that you mention it, there were a few adventurers who said they liked reading too."
"Right?"
Adventurer literacy rates were by no means low to begin with.
Naturally. If you couldn't read, you couldn't read the request sheets posted on the Request Board, let alone know the reward amount.
Worse, if you worked with someone malicious, your pay could even be stolen.
For that reason, at minimum, adventurers could read the reward amounts, and words like subjugation, gathering, and materials. Those who could also write were far from few.
Moreover, since Gilm was a frontier town that attracted many skilled adventurers, its literacy rate was so high that it might even surpass the Royal Capital.
And when there were more people who could read, it was only natural that some would find joy in books.
...However, perhaps befitting the nature of adventurers, it was also true that many preferred moving their bodies over reading.
"Hmm, I still have some time before I need to go to the Guild, so I was hoping to relax with you for a bit."
"I'll take you up on it next time."
"You promise? ...Well then, I'm off to the Guild. I'll kill time teasing Lenora."
"You'll get scolded again, you know."
Kenny teasinging Lenora was a familiar sight at the Guild.
There were even people who went to the Guild just to see the two of them interact.
"It's fine. That girl is too serious about everything. If I don't tease her a little to help her unwind... See you."
With that, Kenny waved lightly and walked away, looking a little disappointed that her time to talk with Rei had run out.
Rei watched her go, then stroked the head of Set as he bounded back over.
The library and the Guild were in the same direction from where Rei currently stood, so he could have gone together with Kenny... but since she hadn't said anything, he figured she probably had her own business to attend to.
"Well then, shall we get going too?"
"Gruu... Gurururu?"
Shall we? Set looked up at him, and together they set off down the main street once more.
Numerous passersby watched the cheerful Set with gentle expressions.
No one could possibly look at Set as he was now and judge him to be a vicious monster.
(Though that just goes to show how beloved Set is by the people of Gilm.)
Happy at the thought, Rei couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his face.