As the winter chill softened and the snowfall thinned, Rei walked down the main street of Gilm with Vihera.
Normally, Byune and Set would have come along, but today it was just the two of them.
As for Marina, the handover of her duties as Guild Master was apparently in its final stages, so she was working with Worker today.
As for why Rei and Vihera were out together, just the two of them, today of all days...
"Come on, Rei. We're out together, just the two of us, so you could look a little happier, couldn't you?"
Vihera, holding Rei's hand, said this with a radiant smile.
...Yes, the reason they were out together today was for a date.
Once they officially formed a party, there would be almost no opportunities for them to be alone together.
Because of that, today was a date with Vihera... and once the handover was completely finished in a few days, Rei would have a date with Marina as well.
The idea had first been brought up by Vihera when everyone was chatting in Rei's room at the Wheat Inn at dusk.
Naturally, Elena was also participating in the conversation via Paired Orbs, so Rei had objected... but for some reason, he and, incidentally, Byune were both kicked out of the room. After the three women discussed it among themselves, Elena conceded to Vihera's point, and thus the date came to be.
"I think I am looking happy, though."
He said this and pushed back the hood of his Dragon Robe.
As if to announce the end of winter and herald the arrival of spring, the sky was a cloudless blue.
The sun floating in that blue sky shone so brightly that it was hard to believe it was still winter.
"Really? Well, if you're happy, Rei, then I suppose that's fine... oh, look. Maybe because the weather is nice today, there are a lot of stalls out. Shall we buy something?"
"Yeah. Well, having a lot of stalls probably means there are just that many people with time on their hands."
Adventurers who spent every day in idleness would inevitably find themselves wanting to do something else.
Of course, it depended on the person, but those running stalls partly as a way to kill time were probably that type.
However, since they were running stalls as a way to kill time, they naturally couldn't compare to the professionals.
Even so, the fact that they were selling to a certain extent was perhaps because the unseasonably fine weather was making passersby let their guard down.
Still, among them there were also adventurers who, through sheer natural talent, could cook on par with professionals, so Rei scanned the many stalls, searching for that kind.
"Ah, hey, Rei. It's not a stall, but that looks a little interesting."
Just as Rei was looking around for something delicious, Vihera suddenly tugged on his hand.
True to her word that it looked interesting, Vihera's eyes were sparkling with curiosity.
Rei turned his gaze in the direction Vihera was looking and understood—indeed, this seemed like something that would appeal to her.
What was there was not the kind of stall Rei had been looking at... but rather something closer to street performance.
Several adventurers stood there, looking around with confident smiles.
"Alright, alright, the entry fee is two Silver Coins! Just two! Then you pick one person from this group here, and without stepping outside the circle drawn on the ground, you pull against each other. The one who makes their opponent let go of the rope or step outside the circle wins! The prize money varies depending on your opponent!"
To Rei, that competition... or rather, game, seemed like a cross between tug-of-war and sumo.
Due to various restrictions, it required not just brute strength, but also reading the opponent's intentions.
That was likely what had caught Vihera's interest.
"Want to give it a try?"
"Sure. Since we're here, shall we give it a little try?"
At Rei's words, Vihera smiled with amusement and approached the man who was looking for challengers.
Naturally, Rei followed after her... and the man working as the barker noticed the two of them, his cheek twitching.
Since this barker was also an adventurer, he knew Rei's face.
Furthermore, he knew Vihera, who was walking alongside Rei.
And above all, he understood all too well that these two were out of the ordinary in every sense of the word.
(This is bad... what do I do?)
Since they were coming straight toward him, it was certain they were going to challenge them.
The man, who didn't think he could beat those two in pure physical ability, quietly glanced at his companions.
But those who received his gaze all nodded back.
If this had been a simple contest of strength... something like a mock battle, the men probably wouldn't have agreed so readily.
But this game was fairly well-known in their hometown.
Because of that, they likely thought that with this game called Circle Rope, they might just be able to beat Vihera and Rei.
In fact, the men had played Circle Rope against higher-ranked adventurers before and had won.
They didn't think they could beat Rei or Vihera easily, but perhaps... they held out that hope.
"Then, I'll go with your strongest person."
And Vihera was challenging the strongest opponent among the men.
The very person who had always placed at the top in the Circle Rope games held back in their village.
"Understood. Then I shall be your opponent to the fullest. Normally I'd ask, 'Do you want me to go easy on you?'... but it seems there's no need to ask you that."
"Yes. Please give it your all."
At the man's words, Vihera replied with a beaming smile.
She must have taken a liking to the man's attitude.
After paying the entry fee, Vihera and the man each gripped the rope and stood on the circle.
Then, the man who had been recruiting challengers shouted, goading the crowd.
"Now then, will the lovely War Maiden triumph over the ruffian! You can't miss this great match!"
"Hey, come on."
The man muttered in dissatisfaction, holding the rope, as his supposed companion threw him under the bus without a second thought and turned Vihera into a heroine of justice.
But the man who had been spoken to didn't seem to particularly mind, and declared the start of the game.
"Begin!"
With those words, the first to react was not the man who was used to the game... but Vihera, who simply had superior reflexes.
As if to settle the match right then and there, she pulled the rope, but the man was also the strongest at Circle Rope among them.
He relaxed the strength in the hand gripping the rope, steering the situation so that Vihera would stumble backward from the sudden lack of resistance.
However, as if she had read the man's actions, Vihera planted her feet and did not budge from within the circle.
Rather, she saw his grip go slack as the perfect opportunity and pulled the rope with all her might...
"Ah!"
The man, noticing the rope rapidly slipping out of his hand, desperately tried to stop it and tightened his grip... but by the time he tried, the rope had already completely disappeared from his hand.
"Winner, Vihera the War Maiden!"
The MC's voice echoed around them.
The man who had competed against Vihera probably hadn't thought he would lose so easily.
He could do nothing but stare at Vihera in blank amazement.
"No, that was splendid. As expected of an adventurer who travels with Rei. To think you would win so effortlessly..."
"Really? But this time it was purely my physical ability that got me here, so I don't think it'll be so easy to win next time."
Hearing Vihera's words, the dumbfounded man came back to his senses.
He turned his gaze toward Vihera and nodded back with confidence.
"Of course! Next time we play Circle Rope, I absolutely won't lose!"
"Hehe, right. I'll look forward to it."
Vihera smiled at the man and received two Gold Coins as prize money.
Vihera was surprised by the unexpectedly high payout, but the amount was likely set that high precisely because the men had absolute confidence in their Circle Rope skills.
Also, in reality, many people had challenged the man up until now, and there was a proven track record of him having beaten all of them.
Their belief that they wouldn't lose to Vihera in Circle Rope had completely backfired.
Although, their earnings for today had already exceeded two Gold Coins at this point, so they weren't exactly in the red.
Rei had thought about challenging them too, but when the MC gave him a teary-eyed look that practically begged him not to, he couldn't refuse... and ultimately gave up on the idea.
"Come on, Rei. Don't look so disappointed. Since you're with me, couldn't you look like you're having a little more fun? ...But, let's see. Want to eat something? I got prize money, so I'll treat you, as long as it's within that amount."
"Hmm... let's see. Then, how about we get some Sandwiches from that stall over there? They smell pretty good, and they look delicious."
What Rei turned his gaze toward was a single stall.
It looked like an ordinary stall, and there weren't many customers.
But the aroma drifting from it was undeniably stimulating Rei's appetite.
At Rei's words, Vihera also focused her attention on that stall.
When she did, she noticed the same appetite-stimulating aroma that Rei had mentioned.
It wasn't exactly pungent, but rather somewhat nostalgic... an aroma that evoked such sentiment.
Rei and Vihera had grown up in completely different environments... no, they were from different worlds entirely, but even so, the impression they got from the drifting scent was the same.
"Sure, let's eat. ...If there weren't snow on the ground, we could have taken our time more, though."
Vihera took Rei's hand and started walking toward the stall.
Rei didn't particularly resist, and spoke while holding hands with Vihera.
"Yeah. But spring is just around the corner. Once it arrives... how about the whole party goes somewhere to have fun? A picnic combined with a gathering request would be fine too."
"Oh, that's a nice idea. I'd like to take it easy by a lake or somewhere once in a while. ...We could even go to the sea, but that would take too much time."
"Ah... yeah. If we travel by riding Set, it wouldn't take that long to reach the sea, but once we form a party, that becomes a bit of an issue."
That was the biggest drawback when it came to forming a party.
If it were just Rei... or more accurately, just Rei and Set, then Rei could ride Set and travel whenever he wanted.
Considering Set's travel speed, there would be a literally order-of-magnitude difference in speed compared to walking.
But the only one who could ride on Set's back and fly was Rei... no, Byune was still a child and light, so it was only Rei and Byune.
Moreover, if Rei and Byune both rode on Set's back together, the distance Set could fly would be limited.
Of course, if they grabbed onto Set's ankles like when they were searching for Anbris, it wouldn't be a problem, but leaving all midair movement to Set was dangerous in various ways, and no one wanted to use that method if they could help it.
...Though Vihera had been delighted, saying it was fun to fly through the Sky while hanging onto Set.
At any rate, since they would be acting as a party, they had no choice but to compromise on that front.
"Come to think of it, what happened about the carriage?"
"Marina said she'd look into it using her connections, right?"
Vihera, having finished ordering the Sandwiches, answered Rei while handing him half.
"Ah, come to think of it, Marina did say that. ...But what kind of carriage do you think it'll be?"
As they walked down the street, Rei brought a Sandwich to his mouth and asked, and Vihera shook her head.
"I don't know what kind of carriage you're expecting, Rei, but it'll probably just be an ordinary one."
"...Figured it'd end up that way."
If possible, Rei wanted a Magic Item carriage like the one Elena rode in, with an expanded interior, but naturally, such a carriage was extremely expensive, and it wasn't something you could buy just because you had the money.
It required connections, materials, luck... all sorts of things.
Even knowing that, having experienced riding in Elena's carriage, it was only natural to want to ride in a comfortable one.
It was probably similar to how, once you get used to luxury, it's hard to go back to a lifestyle below that standard.
"I wanted Elena's carriage, if possible."
"...If we, who just formed a party, had a carriage like that, I think we'd get caught up in all sorts of troublesome events, don't you?"
"That issue is... well, from the very moment we formed our party, we've already got way too many troublesome things lined up."
Rei was a B-Rank Adventurer and Alias Holder, accompanied by Gryphon Seto. Marina was a rare Dark Elf and a Spirit Magic user. Vihera was a former Bestia Empire princess. ...Furthermore, the latter two were beauties who stimulated men's desires to the utmost.
The least conspicuous among them was Byune, but even Byune was a survivor of a bloodline that held great significance in the Labyrinth City.
"...Now that you mention it, you're right. More importantly, today is a date we went to the trouble of arranging, so let's not think about anything else and just enjoy our time together."
Rei nodded to Vihera as she said this with a smile... and on this day, as the end of winter drew near, the two of them enjoyed their time together.