"Mn!"
"Ah, hey. Wait. If you eat now, you'll be too full for lunch, you know?"
Vihera stopped Byune, who had been about to line up at the very back of the queue of people waiting for nikuman.
"Grrrrl."
"No, Set, you wait too. Let's save the nikuman for when things have settled down a bit."
Rei stopped Set, who was likewise trying to line up.
At Rei's words, Set let out a sad rumble from his throat.
"Ah, maybe we should have gone in the afternoon instead?"
Vihera, who had stopped Byune from heading toward a nearby skewer stall with Set, nodded in response to Rei's words.
"You're right. Bringing Byune through the main street before noon was asking for trouble for all sorts of reasons."
Where Rei and his group were currently headed was Pamidor's shop. Pamidor had suddenly shown up at the Wheat Inn at dusk the previous day, saying he needed to make the final adjustments to fit Byune's hand, so they had set out to retrieve the finished weapon. But because it was still before noon, the main street was currently drifting with appetite-stimulating scents from food stalls and eateries.
If it had been snowing, there would probably have been fewer stalls. Unfortunately — or perhaps inevitably — today was a rare day for winter, with not a single cloud in the sky. It was the kind of weather that fully deserved the term "winter clear sky."
Because of that, the number of stalls taking advantage of the fine weather was large.
Some of the stalls were even run by people Rei recognized from the Guild, perhaps as a way for adventurers to kill time.
...Such stalls, unlike those operated by people who truly made their living from them, were merely a way to pass the time, so they didn't have many customers.
Of course, the adventurers weren't seriously trying to turn a profit either; it was nothing more than an activity to stave off boredom.
If they got one or two customers, they were probably satisfied.
Among them, someone had lost their mind entirely and was selling meals for one Gold Coin per dish. Naturally, while curious passersby lingered to peer at such stalls, no one actually bought anything.
(It would be a lie to say I'm not curious.)
A one-Gold-Coin meal... if one didn't care about ingredient costs, there were restaurants in Gilm that charged about that much for a single meal.
Mainly establishments meant for nobles and major merchants.
But what currently sat in Rei's line of sight was a stall charging one Gold Coin.
It was only natural to be intrigued.
In fact, every time someone passed by that stall, they would see the displayed price, widen their eyes, and stop in their tracks.
"Nikuman, huh? I've heard rumors about it at the inn's dining hall a few times. Is it good?"
"Yeah. The ones I tasted had gotten considerably better than when I first tried them. Rodrigo probably isn't satisfied yet, so I imagine they'll keep getting tastier as time goes on."
"Huh... that does sound interesting."
"Well, I can't speak for the nikuman sold at other shops, though."
Just as he had told Rei beforehand, Rodrigo had taught the other cooks how to make nikuman as well.
But that was only the basics. If a shop didn't put in the effort to develop its own unique twist, it was only natural that they would be buried among imitators.
Not to mention, the Golden Bread Pavilion — which had thoroughly researched nikuman before putting it on sale — existed as the original. Launching a subpar product would only attract attention in the worst possible way.
(If possible, I'd hope for something other than nikuman — like pizza buns or shark fin buns... though that's probably impossible. Dried fish buns would be nice, at least.)
Rei harbored such hopes, but unfortunately, no Chinese steamed buns other than nikuman had appeared yet.
Then again, after Rei had taught the Full Belly Diner about udon, it had taken a fair number of days before variations like fried udon emerged.
Given that, expecting other types of steamed buns to appear immediately after nikuman went on sale was probably asking too much.
In any case, overcoming what amounted to a trial for Byune, Rei's group made their way down the main street.
All sorts of tantalizing scents drifting from various restaurants and food stalls tempted Byune, and Set as well, but they pressed on without giving in... buying skewers and bread as they went.
Rei couldn't help but think, Aren't we losing by buying food? but decided it was fine since they were things that could be eaten while walking, and they finally arrived at their destination.
"Hm?"
But upon seeing a carriage parked in front of the shop, Rei tilted his head.
It was the first time he had seen such a carriage parked at Pamidor's shop.
However, he quickly understood why.
Given Pamidor's skill as a blacksmith, it wouldn't be strange for him to receive special requests — or so he reasoned.
"What should we do? Looks like he has a customer. Should we wait a bit? We don't want to interrupt a business deal."
Rei thought for a moment at Vihera's question, then nodded.
The matter of having this short sword made was entirely something Pamidor had taken on of his own accord out of goodwill... no, out of curiosity about working with Silver Lion materials.
Of course, it wasn't purely curiosity; it was likely close to a blacksmith's instinct to elevate his own technique further by working with unknown materials.
But precisely because of that, Rei felt it would be wrong to interrupt Pamidor's work — the work he did to earn his living.
(Even if I offered to pay for the short sword, he'd probably refuse.)
Given Pamidor's skill, a weapon made from S-Rank monster materials was the kind of job that could command any price.
If it were A-Rank monster materials, that would be one thing, but craftsmen who could work S-Rank monster materials were extremely rare.
Given that S-Rank monsters themselves were extremely rare, that was only natural.
In other words, there was nothing strange about Pamidor demanding a large sum from Rei.
But Pamidor had asked for nothing other than the opportunity to work with the Silver Lion materials himself, plus a small share of the materials.
"All right. Let's wait a—"
Just as Rei was about to finish his sentence, a roar echoed from inside Pamidor's shop.
"Don't screw with me! Get the hell out! Don't ever come back to my shop again!"
At the same time came the sound of something being struck.
Did he punch a customer? Rei wondered for a moment, but the sound wasn't like hitting a person... or flesh. It was more like something hard being struck.
Rei, guessing that Pamidor had probably punched his desk or something similar, took a step toward the shop.
He had thought it would be wrong to interrupt if a transaction was proceeding normally, but if some kind of dispute was occurring, that was a different matter.
"Going in?"
"Yeah. ...Though I don't think Pamidor needs help handling anything."
Rei replied to Vihera's question.
In truth, with his muscular build and fearsome face, Pamidor possessed enough strength that an ordinary adventurer would be no match for him.
Even if something happened, the likelihood of anyone being able to harm Pamidor was very low.
Still, considering the one-in-a-million possibility, showing his face was the right thing to do.
Rei, accompanied by Set, was famous in Gilm.
Surely no one would attempt to harm Pamidor when someone like Rei showed his face. As a deterrent, there were few better.
"Now then, I wonder what's happe— You're all coming too?"
Rei had been about to step forward, wondering what had happened, but when he noticed Vihera and Byune — and Set as well — following behind him, he asked the question.
Vihera smiled as if it were obvious, and Byune gave a nod with her usual expressionless face.
Set let out a short cry, not wanting to be left behind.
Judging that there was no point arguing with the two people and one creature, Rei headed toward Pamidor's shop.
(I don't think Set can go inside the shop anyway, though.)
He had some doubts, but figuring that Set probably just wanted to be as close as possible, he said nothing more.
As they approached the shop, they eventually noticed four men standing in front of it.
All four were heavily muscled, large men — the kind who could make an ordinary person freeze in fear with just a glare.
The four of them turned their gazes toward Rei's group as they approached... but it was the four men who looked away first.
As bodyguards, it was a clearly disqualifying response.
Even so, once they realized who was approaching, few could blame them.
Naturally, these four, operating in Gilm, were people who knew of Rei's group's reputation.
"Sorry, but we're coming in."
"...Yes."
After a moment's hesitation at Rei's words, they quickly nodded.
When the four moved aside from the door, everyone except Set entered the shop.
Only Set did not go inside, lying down next to the men instead.
With that, the men were completely frozen, unable to move.
They of course knew who Set was.
They also knew it was safe as long as they didn't recklessly provoke him, but even so, seeing a gryphon up close possessed tremendous presence.
"Grrrl?"
...However, Set, receiving their awestruck stares, merely tilted his head with a puzzled look, seemingly unconcerned.
"Oh? Well now, if it isn't Rei-san. Meeting you in such an unusual place again."
The person who had been talking with Pamidor offered these words with a delighted smile upon seeing Rei enter the shop.
But just as when Rei had met him before, while a smile floated on his lips, his eyes were not smiling.
"Yeah. I never thought I'd run into Tris in a place like this either."
Tris of the Spiel Firm. He was the one who had previously asked Rei to sell him the Silver Lion materials, and at the same time, a man with some connection to the noble who had previously harassed Rei.
"Is that so? A skilled blacksmith is valuable in many senses. It's not strange for a merchant like me to show up in person. ...Oh, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting these two — the beauty and the young girl — before."
Looking at Vihera beside Rei and Byune behind her, still expressionlessly looking around the shop, Tris made the remark.
"My apologies for the late introduction. I am a merchant by the name of Tris of the Spiel Firm. I give thanks for the good fortune that allowed me to encounter two individuals possessed of such rare beauty."
"My, how smooth. I'm Vihera, and this is Byune."
"Mn."
Perhaps noticing her name being called, Byune gave a small bow toward Tris.
Even so, a suspicious light dwelled in Byune's gaze.
Tris had surely noticed it as well, but without any sign of concern, he addressed Rei.
"No, no, as expected of Rei-san. To have such a beauty and young girl attending you..."
"...It's not really like that."
"Oh, I wouldn't mind attending Rei, you know? Well, Byune might be a different story..."
Vihera, floating a smile, turned her gaze toward Byune, but Byune merely quietly looked away.
As if to say it had nothing to do with her.
"Seems like she has no such intention, though."
"Hahaha. How unfortunate for you, Rei-san. ...Now then, enough with the pleasantries. May I ask why Rei-san is here?"
Facing Tris, who wore a smile with eyes that still weren't laughing, Rei turned his gaze to Pamidor.
"I've known Pamidor for a fair while. Thanks to that, I place various orders with him."
"Oh, you're close with Pamidor? As expected. His skill as a blacksmith is truly exceptional. That's exactly why I came to purchase his forged works, but... unfortunately, it seems I didn't meet his approval."
"Hah, you've got some nerve saying that. You knew I was working on something for Rei and you came here anyway, didn't you?"
As if cutting into the conversation between Rei and Tris, Pamidor glared at Tris with a vicious expression.
"My, whatever do you mean? As I just said, I simply came to purchase Pamidor's forged works, that's all."
"Hah, you've really got some nerve. Purchasing works? You said this to me earlier, didn't you? 'I hear you've recently obtained some very rare materials and forged a weapon from them. If possible, I'd like you to sell it to me.'"
At Pamidor's words, Rei's gaze toward Tris sharpened.
Because it was painfully obvious, without even needing to think, what those rare materials referred to.
That is to say... S-Rank monster, Silver Lion materials.
Yes — it referred to the short sword that Rei had commissioned from Pamidor.