"Phew, udon really is delicious."
Having finished his New Year's Eve Udon, Rei murmured that after draining even the broth.
When he glanced over at the others, many of them were still eating.
Only Rei, Set... and Byune had finished theirs.
"Nn!"
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Byune demanded a refill from Rei.
In response, Rei didn't reach for his Misty Ring and simply shook his head.
"No. It's already the middle of the night. Udon may be easy to digest, but if you eat too much, it'll take a toll on your body. You're an adventurer too, Byune, so take care of your health, alright?"
Granted, there were plenty of adventurers this season who drank until morning.
If such people heard Rei's words, some of them would probably scoff.
(Let those kinds of adventurers do as they please. Besides... it's not really my place to say, but Byune is still a child. Better to be careful with her health.)
Whether she understood Rei's feelings or not was impossible to glean from Byune's expression, but seeing that she didn't ask for more udon, Rei nodded... and then pulled a few Silver Coins from his Misty Ring.
"Nn?"
She probably didn't understand why she had been handed Silver Coins so abruptly. Byune tilted her head in puzzlement and looked at Rei.
The same was true for Vihera, Marina... and Elena, who was displayed through the Paired Orbs.
Only Set was lying on the snow, enjoying the strange space where the ground beneath his belly was cold but everywhere else was warm as spring.
"What? There's a custom I know of called Otoshidama. When the new year arrives, you give a child some money."
Rei didn't know the formal meaning of Otoshidama—that it originally signified eating mochi to receive the power of a god. Even so, he knew that children receiving money on New Year's was something he had experienced himself.
"Money? ...What a strange custom."
"Just think of it as a good-luck charm. Byune, you can go buy snacks at the food stalls... no, tomorrow. Tomorrow. Don't try to go now."
The instant the words "buy snacks at food stalls" left Rei's mouth, he grabbed Byune's clothes, stopping her from dashing out immediately despite her expression not changing.
"For one thing, you just ate udon. From here on, we're just going to sleep, so if you're going to eat something, how about waiting until tomorrow? Besides..."
"Food stalls aren't open this late at night, you know? ...Right?"
Rei nodded in response to Vihera's words.
That was right. In Japan, food stalls would normally be open when visiting a shrine for Hatsumoude in the middle of the night.
But naturally, Elgin had no custom of Hatsumoude.
Moreover, this was Marina's mansion in the Noble District. Leaving here would mean traveling alone through the Noble District in the middle of the night.
A person running through the Noble District at this hour... no matter how you looked at it, the only word that came to mind was "suspicious."
Granted, even if she were temporarily detained, Byune was reasonably well-known as a member of the party that Rei... and Guild Master Marina would be forming starting in the spring.
Rei was naturally well aware of how much attention they attracted.
That was precisely why he wasn't particularly hiding the fact that they were forming a party.
Naturally, if such well-known people were forming a party, there were many who would want to join if they could. Many, that is... but the adventurers of Gilm who knew Rei's character would never be able to say they wanted to join so easily.
No, there were those who tried. But they were held back by adventurer acquaintances and gave up.
That could be called a fortunate example. Those who failed to understand their own strength and merely wanted to reap easy rewards—and who tried to approach not the dangerous Rei but the other members—were stopped by force by the adventurers who had temporarily partied with them at the time.
They said: "We don't care what happens to you, but there's absolutely no way we want to be targeted by a monster like that because of you."
This showed a glimpse of how Rei was perceived among the adventurers.
At any rate, for such reasons, Byune was also reasonably well-known as a member of Rei's party.
Even if someone found it suspicious seeing her running through the Noble District, there was no reason she would be unreasonably arrested.
"...Nn."
"Well, it's the end of the year, so places like taverns might still have all sorts of people making noise."
"Hey, Rei. We finally got Byune to give up, so don't say unnecessary things. Look, she's completely set on going to the tavern now."
"...She is?"
From Rei's perspective, Byune didn't appear to have changed from how she was a few minutes ago.
But to Vihera, who had known Byune the longest among them, it must have been different.
Looking steadily at Byune, she cautioned Rei.
"She is. Can't you tell just by looking?"
Even being told that, from Rei's perspective, Byune's expression didn't appear to have changed.
"...Can you tell?"
Rei, puzzled by Byune's expression, asked Marina.
But Marina simply shook her head.
"Right."
"Yes. ...Unfortunately, I can't tell either. Elena?"
'I might be able to tell if we met in person rather than through the Paired Orbs.'
In other words, even face-to-face like this, they couldn't really tell.
Seeing Rei and the others tilting their heads, Vihera apparently realized they were being serious, and opened her mouth with a slightly exasperated... yet somehow proud expression.
"You've all known Byune for a decent amount of time too, so you'll eventually be able to tell. ...Right?"
"Nn."
Byune, who received the glance, murmured briefly without seeming particularly bothered.
"See?"
"No, it's not like saying that helps. ...Well, whatever. Anyway, it looks like Byune has given up on going to the tavern."
Byune, who until moments ago had been trying to head for the tavern, must have lost that inclination while they talked.
She sat in her chair and began to show signs of sleepiness.
But that was only natural. Although Byune possessed a certain level of skill—abnormal given her age—she was still a child.
And children naturally got sleepy early when night fell. On top of that, she had just eaten udon and her stomach was comfortably full, so it was only natural for Byune to get drowsy.
Thinking it was bedtime for a child, Rei looked at Marina.
They were already planning to stay at Marina's mansion today.
Going to sleep a little early shouldn't be a problem.
Marina, who received the glance, nodded back to Rei.
It was a mansion she originally lived in alone, but she had hired people temporarily to clean it for today.
...Of course, she usually cleaned with Spirit Magic, but today was special.
Incidentally, when she put out the call for people to clean, many had the strange idea that they would get to set foot inside Marina's mansion, but such people were naturally screened out.
For that reason, Marina's mansion was cleaner today than even Spirit Magic could achieve.
Given those circumstances, there was no problem at all showing someone to a guest room.
"Right. Then... what shall we do? Shall we continue talking inside the house? Though if we do, Set won't be able to come in..."
Marina murmured apologetically, glancing at Set lying on the snow, but Set purred as if to say not to worry about it.
The current situation, where he could enjoy the coldness of the snow and the warmth of spring simultaneously, was entertaining for Set.
Besides, knowing that Rei was close by, Set wouldn't feel lonely.
Rather, with Set in this garden and Rei inside Marina's mansion, the distance between them was smaller than at the Wheat Inn at dusk.
"Looks like Set is fine, so let's head inside. ...Set, should we leave the oven as it is?"
"Gururu!"
They were no longer baking pizza, but the oven still radiated a certain amount of heat.
It would remain that way until either the magical power Rei had used to activate it ran out, or Rei intentionally stopped it.
The oven provided light along with heat, and together with the glow created by Marina's Spirit Magic, it played a part in turning the garden into a fantastical scene.
Rei had asked whether it was all right to extinguish one element of that scene, but Set shook his head and purred.
"I see. Then we'll leave it as is, but... don't pull any weird pranks, alright?"
"Guru."
Hearing Set's cry, Rei turned his gaze to Marina.
"So there's no problem. Let's head into the mansion."
"Yes. Rei, please take care of the table and chairs. The oven aside, we should bring these inside. I'll carry the Paired Orbs."
Without saying anything to Vihera, who was already holding the half-asleep Byune, Marina swiftly issued instructions.
(Seeing this kind of thing, I really think Marina is more suited to be the party leader. ...Well, I understand she can't be the party leader because she's the former Guild Master.)
While storing the chairs and table in his Misty Ring, Rei thought to himself.
Rei understood too. Who among them would cause the fewest waves as party leader.
But even so, when he considered whether he could really lead this group, he couldn't help but second-guess himself.
He thought he would eventually need to sort out his feelings about it.
At times like this, someone who was honestly hedonistic might use the privileges of a party leader to demand physical intimacy... but in the case of this party, if he tried something like that, they would probably be happy to be held by Rei.
Byune being the exception, of course.
Rei hadn't thought that far, but regardless, he couldn't help but wonder whether he was suited to be the party leader.
Thinking such thoughts, Rei entered the mansion along with Marina and Vihera.
Guided by Marina, Vihera carrying Byune departed, and those left in the living room were only Rei and Elena, displayed through the Paired Orbs.
'Hm? What is it? You look like you suddenly started worrying about something.'
Through the Paired Orbs, Elena asked Rei.
"No, it's nothing."
'...You say that, but do you think I'd believe you?'
Faced with Elena telling him that directly, Rei hesitated for a moment... and eventually, with a small smile, conceded that he couldn't win.
"Marina and Vihera both plan to push the party leader role onto me, you know that, right?"
Addressing Elena, Rei naturally... without even realizing it, poured out words that could only be called his own complaints.
It was rare for Rei to show weakness, but right now it was just him and Elena... and the fact that they had finished the New Year's Eve party and his guard was down played a big part.
At Rei's words, Elena smiled, looking just a little pleased.
She was happy that Rei had come to her with this kind of consultation, but Rei, seeing her smile, wore a disgruntled expression and opened his mouth.
"What? I know I'm worrying about something uncharacteristic of me. But I've never been particularly good at giving people orders, so it can't be helped, right?"
'I wasn't laughing at how you looked or anything. ...But I understand Marina and Vihera's feelings too. If someone has to be the party leader, it should be Rei after all.'
"That's overestimating me, don't you think?"
'Is it? I don't think so. Besides... I'll be joining Rei's party in the future, won't I? So if Rei is the party leader, I'd be happy.'
"Even if you say that... No, I know logically that it's best for me to be the party leader. I know that, but..."
'The others all have their various circumstances. Rei has his own circumstances too, but for those who don't know Rei's situation, having Rei as the party leader is still the safest choice, I think.'
Rei's circumstances... without knowing that Rei came from another world or about Beast Magic, Rei was simply an adventurer who had a gryphon as his Tamed Monster.
Of course, having a gryphon—and from a third party's perspective, a Rare Species equivalent to S-Rank as a Tamed Monster—made him unquestionably someone with extraordinary circumstances.
"I agree. I think Rei should be the party leader too."
"I agree as well."
Told this as well by Marina and Vihera, who had returned after putting Byune to bed... in the end, Rei let out a sigh and accepted the role of party leader.