The snow barbecue party was far more lively than Rei had expected.
The mansion where Yohanna and the others lived wasn't located in the Noble District. It was an area where a certain class of wealthy people resided, but ordinary neighborhood interactions were still a part of daily life. Under those circumstances, holding a noisy party like this naturally drew curiosity, and some people came to see what was going on.
"Hey, hey, hey, a party outside in this cold? Are you serious?"
"But it smells really good, doesn't it? Look, they're grilling something over there."
"You're right. ...I'm getting hungry. Want to go eat something?"
As a few people were talking like that, some of the party participants in the courtyard must have noticed the group in front of the mansion. They approached with smiles.
"Hello. Were we being a little too loud?"
When one of Yohanna's male companions said that, the people who had been addressed quickly shook their heads.
"No, no, it's nothing like that. We were just curious about what you were doing."
"Yeah, exactly."
Seeing the others nodding in agreement, the man smiled and spoke again.
"Is that so. Well then, would you like to join the party, if you'd like? Rei, Set, Elk, Min, the Guild Master — there are quite a few famous people here, you know?"
"Eh? Really!?"
They were surprised to find that the party's attendees were more impressive than expected, but in the end, they didn't join. After all, they hadn't been invited. Crashing it so brazenly would be bad for their reputation. Understanding that, they departed with only a hint of lingering reluctance.
"Rei-san wouldn't really care about that sort of thing, I think."
"Are you an idiot?"
One of the people who had been watching the man — a woman who was interested in a Former Mobile Unit family member living in this mansion, the same man who had just been talking with the neighbor — spoke up.
"An idiot... I don't think that's fair."
"Listen. Crashing a party you weren't even invited to? Normally, you just can't do that."
"Is that so?"
"It is. More importantly, apparently there's still plenty of Gamelion meat, so let's go eat together."
Saying that, she dragged the man toward the courtyard. He was still muttering, "Is that so...?" but the woman was simply smiling at the prospect of spending time with him.
"Gururururururu!"
Eating Gamelion meat, Set purred happily. There was also meat from other monsters including Orcs, along with vegetables, seafood, and fruit. For Set, this party was a perfect opportunity to eat as much delicious food as it wanted.
Seeing Set like that, Mirene and Yohanna were captivated with entranced expressions. Normally, it wouldn't have been surprising if they ended up arguing over Set, but right now, just seeing Set looking so happy was enough to make them happy. They had no interest in anything other than the scene before them.
"...Hey, those two. Is it okay to just leave them like that?"
Who murmured that, exactly? But naturally, no one answered. It was obvious that even if someone spoke to Mirene or Yohanna right now, they wouldn't react at all. Or rather, if they did react, it would likely be because their time with Set was being interrupted — meaning they were more likely to get angry.
From an outsider's perspective, the two could fittingly be described as beautiful, but in reality, they were adventurers with strength far beyond what their appearance suggested. There was no way anyone would willingly do something to displease such people. Besides, if they were getting in someone's way or causing some kind of trouble, that would be one thing, but simply gazing at Set like that wasn't bothering anyone.
There was no one present who would willingly step on a tiger's tail.
"Gyahahahahaha! Man, this is great! Today's a good day!"
"Oh my, where did you buy that outfit? ...Huh, is that so?"
"Hey, hey, I want to eat that meat too!"
Such voices echoed all across the courtyard. It was exactly what you would call a party — a fun time.
Rei was eating a bold skewer of fish simply impaled on a stick and sprinkled with salt, smiling as he watched the scene.
Most of the ingredients for this party had been provided by Rei. As for alcohol, since Rei didn't drink, there was almost none in his Misty Ring; what was available had been brought by the participants.
...Note that "almost none" meant there was a little, but its purpose was not for Rei to drink. It was for disinfecting wounds, or for when camping with someone — Rei didn't drink, but he would let his dining companions have some — things like that.
"Hey, Rei. Thanks for today."
The one who called out to Rei as he watched the partygoers enjoying themselves was a man who at first glance looked like nothing so much as a major Bandit.
"Pamidor... and Kumito too. ...So, don't tell me?"
Along with Pamidor was a small child. It was someone Rei recognized — Pamidor's son, Kumito. That much was within what Rei already knew, so there was no problem at all. But the reason Rei's words trailed off was that there was one other person present — someone he didn't know.
Even so, Rei could more or less guess who this unknown person was. And yet, accepting that this person was who she appeared to be was... no, it was difficult to comprehend.
As Rei asked with complicated feelings, Pamidor spoke while making his ferocious face look almost bashful.
"It's your first time meeting her, Rei. This is Sofan. She's my... well, partner."
The person introduced as Sofan offered a soft smile and bowed her head.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sofan. It seems my husband and son are always in your care."
At the words of the woman who had introduced herself as Sofan, not only Rei but several others who had been secretly observing from the surroundings wore expressions of astonishment.
...But that was only natural. Sofan was a petite woman with an atmosphere that gave off a soft, gentle warmth. In fact, if someone told them she was Pamidor's daughter, they would have been inclined to believe it.
"You've gotta be kidding me!? That vicious guy's wife is that cute type!?"
"Hey, someone call the guards! We've got an incident, an incident has occurred!"
"Wait, hold on. If Sofan is his wife, that means that kid is..."
"Hey, someone call the knights! There's a dangerous criminal, a dangerous criminal is here!"
"The hell you say!"
The wild remarks being thrown around must have reached Pamidor's ears. His already ferocious face grew even more brutal as he shouted at the surroundings. Those he shouted at all averted their gazes in unison.
"Fufufu."
Seeing Pamidor like that, Sofan let out a gentle laugh.
"Jeez... this is exactly why bringing you along leads to all kinds of ridiculous situations."
"Oh my, is that so? I'm just happy to be able to participate in the party with you. And I finally got to meet Rei-san, whom I'd only heard about until now."
Sofan smiled while looking at Rei, but seeing that, Pamidor opened his mouth with a slight hint of panic.
"Hey, wait. Don't say anything weird, alright?"
"Oh my, is it something weird? I wonder what? I was just about to praise Rei-san as always—"
"Sofan! Look, Kumito is getting bored. Why don't you go look around together for a bit?"
"Oh my. Fufu. Kumito, shall we go look around the party venue with Mama?"
"Yeah! I'm hungry!"
Kumito answered energetically to Sofan's words. Watching his wife walk away, leading Kumito by the hand, Pamidor let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried about what she might suddenly say.
But there was no way Pamidor's actions could be hidden from those who had been observing the situation around them.
"...Huh?"
He glared at the surrounding gazes with a mix of irritation. Since Pamidor already had a ferocious face to begin with, when he turned it into a brutal expression, no one could maintain eye contact with him. After snorting displeasedly at the people around him who had quietly averted their eyes, Pamidor turned his gaze back to Rei.
But when he saw that Rei was trying to hold back laughter, he furrowed his brows.
"Hey, Rei."
"Y-yeah. Sorry. It's just... First time meeting her, but she seems like a good person."
"Hm? Well, yeah."
Pamidor returned the words gruffly, but the faint smile on his lips was probably proof that he was a devoted husband.
As they continued talking for a few minutes, Pamidor suddenly changed the subject.
"By the way, I heard you captured a Dungeon... I'm not talking about the Silver Lion, but do you have any other good monster materials?"
"Ah... no, I don't. After entering the Dungeon, we didn't fight any other monsters and went straight to the Deepest Layer."
"Hah? But monsters would still attack you, right? I don't think they'd just let you go because you didn't fight back."
"Well, there were... various circumstances."
"...I see. An adventurer isn't going to readily talk about their own advantages."
"Let's go with that."
To be precise, they had reached the Deepest Layer in an instant thanks to Grimm, but there was no way he could say that. Besides, his connection with Grimm was genuinely an advantage for him, so it wasn't entirely a lie either.
"Rei!"
Rei had been talking with Pamidor, but a voice called out from behind him. He was surprised to see Asimov standing there when he turned around.
He had mentioned the party to Asimov and tried inviting him, but he had still figured that Asimov probably wouldn't come and would be focusing on improving the Sleipnir boots. Considering Asimov's dedication to Alchemy, the fact that he had come here was actually more surprising.
Holding a skewer with Gamelion and vegetables on it, Asimov approached Rei while bringing it to his mouth. Rei had been about to say that eating while walking was bad manners, but then he reconsidered — this was a casual party in a courtyard, so there was no need to worry about that.
"I didn't think you'd show up at this kind of party, Asimov. I figured you'd be focused on the Sleipnir boots."
"Yeah, obviously."
"Hm?"
Rei tilted his head at Asimov's words, which had been stated with baffling confidence.
"Then why are you here?"
"Right now, I'm at the stage of applying the components extracted from the Silver Lion's internal organs onto the Sleipnir boots and letting them dry."
"...I see."
Rei hadn't been able to predict how the Sleipnir boots would be strengthened, but he had assumed it would involve something far more magical. The fact that not only were components being extracted from internal organs, but they were being applied directly onto the boots — while surprised, he found himself nodding in understanding.
"I have to ask, but that's not going to make the Sleipnir boots change appearance in some weird direction, or worse, give them a strange color or smell, right?"
Hearing that components extracted from internal organs were being applied, it was only natural to worry about such things. Even if the Sleipnir boots' performance improved, if they gave off a foul stench, he wouldn't want to wear them by any stretch. Depending on the severity of the odor, it could even affect monster subjugation requests.
(No, before that, Set would give up.)
Even in its base state, Set had a sense of smell far sharper than any human's, and on top of that, it had the Sense of Smell Enhancement skill. For Set, a foul odor was actually an attack method that could deal considerable damage.
...The fact that this was largely unknown to others was probably fortunate for Rei and Set.
Rei asked while feeling a sense of dread on multiple levels, but Asimov shook his head at him.
"It's fine. No problems there. For a few days after drying, there might be a slight lingering smell, but even after the current drying process is finished, the work continues, and by the time I hand them over to you, there won't be any issues at all with that... probably."
"Hey."
"No, look. Using Silver Lion materials is a process where I have to move forward one step at a time while checking everything. It's not the kind of material that can be figured out so easily."
"Then why not test it with some other boots first—"
"That's not possible due to the quantity of materials. Probably... going by my intuition, one enhancement of the Sleipnir boots is the best I can manage. ...Oh, that reminds me. Would you like to try making clothes and pants out of the Silver Lion's fur? Well, if we do make them, we'd need to bring in a tailor."
With the Sleipnir boot enhancement not even complete yet, Asimov was already voicing his next idea, and Rei found himself unsure whether to be exasperated, impressed, or angry.