"...I'm afraid it's impossible. I'm sorry, Marina-san, but it's likely beyond me."
So saying, the fox beastman woman in her late twenties, standing before Rei and Marina, bowed her head.
"Even you can't manage it, Kones?"
Marina asked as if to double-check, but the woman called Kones raised her head and nodded.
"Yes. B-Rank monster materials are brought in fairly often, so I can manage those. Even with A-Rank monster materials, while the failure rate would be higher, I believe I could manage if I were allowed to ruin half... no, more than half of the material. However..."
Making clothes from S-Rank monster materials was simply beyond her current abilities.
Kones stated as much. As one of the finest tailors in Gilm, having to turn down a commission was clearly frustrating for her. The fox ears sprouting from her head were pressed flat against her skull.
"...I see. I thought that if anyone could do it, it would be Kones, the one making my dresses."
Marina directed her gaze toward her own attire. Today she was wearing a pure white party dress that seemed tailored for winter. The immaculate white, reminiscent of fresh snow, enveloped her voluptuous figure.
Among the party dresses Marina owned, including this one, several had been made by Kones. Some were Magic Items she had worn since her adventuring days, while others were simply ordinary dresses she wore on a regular basis.
She had acquired most of them after leaving her settlement and beginning her life as an adventurer, but in recent years, she had taken a liking to Kones's work and had been having her craft dresses specifically.
Marina acknowledged her skill, which was why Kones was the first person who came to mind when Rei asked her to introduce a tailor to make clothes from Silver Lion fur. However, even Kones had no choice but to conclude that she definitely lacked the skill to fulfill a commission using S-Rank monster materials. All she could do was bow her head.
"It's fine. You're not to blame for this, Kones, so don't worry about it. We were the ones asking for something unreasonable."
Marina recognized she had been asking too much. She shook her head, signaling Kones not to worry.
And yet... as one of the finest tailors in Gilm, being forced to refuse a commission was deeply regrettable, disappointing, and even humiliating. As was evident from the dresses she made for Marina, and as Kones herself believed, her skill as a tailor was exceptional. Calling herself one of the best in Gilm was neither arrogance nor baseless pride. In fact, if the tailors of Gilm were asked who was the most skilled, many would name Kones.
"If... if you still insisted on having clothes made from Silver Lion materials, what would happen?"
When Rei asked in Marina's stead, Kones shook her head.
"With my current skill, I would undoubtedly ruin all of the material."
If it were low-rank monster materials, that would be one thing, but ruining S-Rank materials like a Silver Lion's due to her own inadequacy was something Kones could not endure, she explained. She had confidence in her abilities, but she did not let that confidence become arrogance.
Rei found himself liking Kones's attitude. Naturally, this was not romantic interest, but rather appreciation for Kones as a tailor. Kones seemed to understand this as well and showed no particular reaction toward him.
"In that case, the question becomes what to do with the Silver Lion fur."
Rei nodded in agreement with Marina's murmur.
"At worst, we could always just display it as a pelt..."
"That would be a waste."
Marina immediately dismissed the suggestion, but since Rei hadn't been serious, he quickly nodded in agreement. It was common practice to display pelts or taxidermied heads of hunted prey, but using Silver Lion materials for such a purpose was undeniably wasteful no matter how one looked at it.
"In that case... hey, it was Kones, right? Even if you can't make clothes from Silver Lion fur right now, would you be willing to take the commission eventually... once your skills have improved enough to handle it? Of course, that's assuming the Silver Lion fur is still around by then."
He was implicitly saying that if he found a more skilled tailor before then, he would go to them instead. Hearing this, Kones stared at him in astonishment. What lay in her expression was not reproach, but rather joy at the realization that he truly meant it.
Kones did not find the idea of working with Silver Lion—an S-Rank monster's materials—unappealing. No, rather, she had even thought that she absolutely wanted to do it herself. But as long as it was clear that her current skills made it impossible, she could not risk ruining the Silver Lion materials through failure. That was why the promise that someday she would... how could she not be happy about that?
"Yes. I don't know when it will be. But I will definitely... I want to become able to make clothes from Silver Lion materials as soon as possible."
"...Understood. Then I'll leave it to you."
So saying, Rei spoke briefly with Kones before leaving the shop.
"I'm sorry, Rei. I thought Kones would be able to handle Silver Lion materials."
"No, don't worry about it. This shop was the right recommendation, wasn't it?"
"Yes. As far as I know, she is unquestionably one of the finest tailors in Gilm."
That was precisely why, if Kones couldn't make Silver Lion clothes, finding someone in Gilm who could would be difficult. Of course, Marina didn't know the abilities of every single resident in Gilm. It was possible that a tailor more skilled than Kones existed, but at the very least, Marina didn't know of one, and among those she did know, Kones was the best.
"More importantly, sorry for taking up your time on my account."
"It's fine. My busy work is already finished, and I don't have anything I need to rush off to do."
"...Has Worker not arrived yet?"
Rei had assumed Worker was already here and was busy with the Guild Master handover, but the words from Marina's mouth were unexpected.
"Yes. He said he'd arrive in Gilm around next week, but... it seems there were various issues at the dungeon. The handover with the person sent there also took a fair amount of time."
Since Worker was returning to Gilm, it naturally meant someone needed to be sent to take charge of the dungeon's Guild branch office as well. However, since Rei and his party had cleared the dungeon, it was certain that the surrounding area would decline in the near future.
That was why the shopkeepers, adventurers, and merchants... as well as others who had benefited from what could be called dungeon interests, directed their dissatisfaction toward the Guild. Worker had handled the busiest part, but even so, he hadn't been able to resolve everything. Considering those circumstances, the delay in Worker's arrival wasn't particularly surprising. No, rather, Worker's ability to process the situation in such a short time should be commended.
"In that case, things are going to get busy starting next week."
"Yes. Though Worker is capable, so it shouldn't take too long. Once that's done... hmm, I think we should decide on a party name soon. What do you think?"
Asked while Marina directed her gaze at him, Rei considered what to do while shooting an annoyed look at the falling snow. They had tentatively agreed that the four of them—Rei, Marina, Vihera, and Byune—would form a party, but when they had tried to decide on a party name at Marina's house, they ultimately couldn't settle on one.
"Right. Why not just let Set decide?"
Rei muttered, recalling the image of Set playing in the backyard of the Wheat Inn at dusk with the children... and with Mirene and Yohanna.
Marina gave Rei a somewhat exasperated look. ...The fact that even such a gesture exuded feminine charm was a testament to how sinful Marina could be called.
(Ah, that guy who was staring at Marina just fell.)
Rei was surprised to see a man walking a short distance away slip on the snow, his eyes captivated by Marina. There were others who, despite having lovers, were being pinched because they couldn't tear their eyes away from Marina in her party dress.
"Rei? Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing. ...More importantly, what should we do now? I thought the clothes matter would take longer, so I hadn't planned anything."
"...I suppose. Shall we take a little walk together?"
Rei had no objections to Marina's invitation, so he nodded. And so, Rei and Marina walked together down the main road.
Because it was winter, there were fewer people walking through the city compared to other seasons. Even so, Gilm's size was close to what could be called a city, and even with fewer people about, the number of pedestrians was by no means small.
Many of them directed their gazes toward Rei and Marina... or more precisely, toward Marina. Since Rei wasn't accompanied by Set and had the hood of his Dragon Robe up, few recognized him. Also, while adventurers would likely be able to recognize Marina as the Guild Master, non-adventurers might not. And when someone stood out, naturally many people took notice.
...If Set had been there, they probably would have recognized Rei, but to those who couldn't, it simply looked like Rei was flaunting his relationship with an exquisite beauty like Marina.
"Hey, missy. Come hang out with us for a bit."
Men who knew nothing, upon seeing Marina, naturally felt the urge to hit on her. They thought it was presumptuous for a brat like Rei to be with such a fine woman, and that she should be handed over to them instead.
...If one lived in Gilm, it was naturally impossible not to know of Rei, and the men certainly knew about him. However, they had never met him directly; they only knew him by reputation. That was why, if Rei had been with Set, they would have realized his identity and never attempted something so foolish.
The mercenaries who had come to Gilm just before winter... the fact that they were not adventurers was also one reason they weren't well-versed in Gilm's adventurer scene. They were confident in their abilities, and in fact, they possessed a certain level of skill. Yet they trusted no one outside their own group, operating entirely within their own small community. That was why they were poorly informed... and to those who did know about Rei and Marina, the scene before them evoked the image of a child playing with flame ore next to a bonfire. But...
"And apparently, if you buy a gemstone from that shop, you get a ring engraved with the name of the person you're giving it to."
"Are you implicitly telling me to buy you a ring?"
"Not implicitly—straightforwardly."
"...You're remarkably honest about it."
"Well, Elena isn't here, and Vihera isn't either. It's fine at a time like this, isn't it?"
Rei and Marina continued talking as they walked, ignoring the mercenaries... as if there were truly no one, or nothing, there at all.
'...'
The mercenaries probably never expected to be ignored so completely. Several seconds passed in stunned silence... And when they came to their senses and realized they had been completely disregarded, their faces flushed red with anger at being made fools of by a kid and a woman.
The course of action the mercenaries should take in such a situation was a foregone conclusion. Their pride had been wounded, so they would reclaim it by force.
"Wait, you bastards!"
The first man to shout had already clenched his fist even as he called out to stop them. He grabbed Rei's right shoulder and forcefully spun him around... and whether the man noticed the small sigh that escaped Rei's lips or not, the next moment after feeling a dull impact in his solar plexus, he lost consciousness and crumpled to the ground.
"What!? Zose!? You bastard, what did you do!?"
One of his companions shouted and raised his fist toward Rei... only to find that his feet had been frozen in place by the snow, rendering him unable to move. Whether he realized it was Marina's Spirit Magic or not, the next moment he too lost consciousness from one of Rei's strikes and collapsed to the ground.
Following that, the dull sound of flesh being struck echoed in succession around them, and in a matter of seconds, every one of them was feeling the coldness of the snow with their entire body.
"Honestly, it's troublesome that there are always guys like this even in winter."
"I know. ...Anyway, about that ring..."
Brushing off the entire incident with just those words, Rei and Marina continued their date.
...Leaving the mercenaries collapsed on the cold snow behind them.