After the incident in the Slum District, Rei and his party naturally left the area.
They had gone to the Slum District in the first place to put pressure on Precious and his associates. Since that had succeeded, there was no need to remain.
The Slum District naturally had poor security, and one never knew what might happen.
...Of course, the news of Rei's arrival had spread rapidly as intelligence, so in reality, no one would pick a fight with him unless they were remarkably out of touch or had only just arrived in the Slum District.
However, unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately for the people of the Slum District—Rei did not know that his information had spread through the Slum District that quickly.
Marina, as the former Guild Master, was aware of such things, but she kept quiet, judging that staying in the Slum District any longer would likely lead to troublesome incidents.
"So, you've half-threatened Precious... but what are we going to do now? Honestly, I think they'll be quite cautious after this incident."
"Yeah... ah, hold on a second. My throat's a little dry, so why don't we drink some Fruit Water? Look."
Rei, about to answer Vihera's question, turned his gaze toward a stall on the street selling Fruit Water.
The Fruit Water made with spring fruits was a seasonal limited edition.
It wasn't particularly strange for Rei to want to drink some. After all, it was true that his throat was dry.
Vihera and Marina had no objections to Rei's suggestion, and Byune actually took the lead in wanting to drink Fruit Water, tugging at the hem of Rei's Dragon Robe.
As for Set, it was already walking toward the stall.
And so, they bought Fruit Water at the stall.
"Welcome. Our Fruit Water is delicious. We use fruits gathered by adventurers. And not just any fruits, but ones from quite deep in a forest a little ways away. Plus, the containers we keep the Fruit Water in are custom-made, so the flavor hardly deteriorates."
"Huh... then, let's see. I'll take all of it."
"Hm? Ah, all varieties? Then..."
In response to Rei's words, the stall owner immediately reached for the containers holding the Fruit Water... but Rei shook his head at the owner's action.
"No, not all varieties. All of it. Everything you have here. ...Ah, of course, if there's a limit on how much you can sell to one person, then that's fine."
"Huh? Eh? E-Everything!? Are you serious!?"
The man had probably come to Gilm this spring.
If he had been in Gilm from the start, Rei buying out all the food at a stall wouldn't have been unusual talk at all.
Of course, some stalls limited the amount they would sell to one person because they wanted others to taste their cooking as well, not just Rei.
Rei had said "if there's a limit on how much you can sell" for that very reason.
But fortunately, this stall owner seemed to operate on the principle that as long as it sold, it was fine, and he happily sold all the Fruit Water to Rei.
Having originally had a livelihood elsewhere, and above all, not having been in Gilm for very long, his scheme was probably to just sell everything if he could.
"Thanks for your business! Please come again anytime!"
The stall owner saw Rei and his party off with a beaming smile.
And after they were gone, he looked up at the sky.
The sun was still high, and there was plenty of time before the day ended.
He still had some fruit in stock, so he could make more Fruit Water with those.
Or perhaps, today he would just head straight to a tavern and enjoy the luxury of drinking from midday.
Thinking such thoughts, he set about his actions to enjoy the sudden fortune that had visited him.
Whether he knew the stall owner was rejoicing or not, Rei walked along the road with Marina and the others.
The Fruit Water was certainly tasty enough... but even so, Rei seemed a little dissatisfied.
The Fruit Water he had drunk before was chilled by a Magic Item.
But the Fruit Water from the stall just now was lukewarm.
Of course, he knew that Magic Items were expensive, and he also knew that they were not something a normal stall would be able to use.
However, having seen such a sight before, it was only natural that he couldn't help but think that way.
(If it's lukewarm, make it cold... ah, this is exactly when I should use the Misty Ring.)
An idea suddenly occurred to him.
The Misty Ring originally had the effect of stopping time for whatever was placed inside.
That was exactly why food taken out of the Misty Ring was always freshly made.
In other words, just as hot food stayed hot, cold things would remain cold.
For instance, if he chilled Fruit Water with snow in the winter and kept it inside the Misty Ring, he could enjoy cold Fruit Water in the summer... or rather, if it froze, he might even be able to enjoy sherbet.
(No, Fruit Water doesn't have that much juice in it, so would it even become sherbet if frozen? How did you make ice cream again? Chill milk and shake it around?)
Rei, whose thoughts had gotten mixed up between the methods for making butter and ice cream, noticed the figure of an acquaintance in his line of sight.
And that acquaintance came straight toward Rei and his party. ...No, she charged toward Set.
"Set-chan, are you okay!? I heard you encountered danger while I was away on a guard escort mission!"
Rei cast a slightly exasperated glance at Mireinu, who looked as though Rei and the others weren't even in her field of vision.
Of course, Mireinu, receiving such a glance, didn't show any sign of caring at all as she devoted all her energy to adoring Set.
But that couldn't be helped.
When Asimov was attacked, Mireinu hadn't been there.
The Scorching Wind led by Mireinu was regarded among the young adventurers in Gilm as the most likely to rise in prominence.
...If it was about rising in prominence, Rei was certainly a candidate too, but he was an exceptional existence in many ways.
For a typical adventurer, it was only natural to aim for Mireinu rather than Rei.
Precisely because it was the Scorching Wind led by such a Mireinu, various requests naturally flooded in at this time of year.
Among them were those who wanted to establish connections with the Scorching Wind while they still could, and those who, in some fit of madness, thought to make Mireinu their concubine.
(Well, maybe it wasn't really a fit of madness.)
In front of Rei—or more precisely, in front of Set—Mireinu displayed an affectionate demeanor, but that was strictly only in front of Set.
Normally, Mireinu possessed beauty that anyone could confidently call her beautiful, even if not quite at the level of Marina or Vihera.
And as the leader of the Scorching Wind, she was also a capable adventurer.
They were still a C-Rank party, but rumors circulated that they would soon become a B-Rank party.
Beautiful and skilled. Her personality was also... if one set aside the matter of Set, there were no problems at all.
Thinking of it that way, it wasn't strange for someone to consider making Mireinu their concubine.
But naturally, Mireinu would have nothing to do with such a person.
Anyone who tried to use force would learn firsthand just how capable the Scorching Wind was.
Mireinu herself had absolutely no intention of leaving Gilm, where Set was, to become the concubine of some unknown man.
If anything, if Rei were to approach her, she would consider it with the aim of getting to Set, but she knew there was no such interest in the way Rei looked at her.
"Ah... moments like this, adoring Set-chan, really make me feel like I'm truly alive."
...Looking at Mireinu nuzzling Set with a melting expression, asking anyone to harbor such feelings would be asking the impossible.
"So, Mireinu, you finished your guard escort mission and came straight to see us... I mean, Set, right?"
"Obviously. I heard Yohanna is also away from Gilm on another guard escort mission right now... If I don't adore Set-chan at this very moment, when else would I do it!?"
Her melting expression vanished in an instant as Mireinu clenched her fists, raised them to the sky, and shouted.
Many of those around who witnessed the scene applauded Mireinu's outburst.
For anyone living in Gilm, the love-hate drama between Mireinu and Yohanna over Set was well-known.
Since it was entertaining to watch, it was only natural.
Set was fond of Mireinu and Yohanna, who played with it and gave it food, and the scene bothered no one.
Well, Rei, who was always with Set, had been subjected to such sights many times and couldn't say it left no impression on him.
"I see. ...Well, what we needed to do today is already done. Meeting Mireinu helped me relax too, so I guess it's fine."
Today's plan had been to apply psychological pressure on Precious... and the hope that some evidence might surface.
But as for whether the other side would take action immediately after Rei and his party showed up...
(It's unlikely.)
Even with Rei before him, and even when Rei unleashed Flying Slash at the ground, Precious had shown no particular sign of agitation.
With that being the case, there was a reasonable expectation that he wouldn't do something like suddenly making a move on the very day he knew he was suspected and Rei's party had acted.
If by chance he did move, there was a strong possibility that the Information Broker... or the Plain Man from the underworld who had informed Rei's party about this incident would tip them off.
Normally, one might wonder whether it was wise to trust someone from the underworld that much... but Rei knew his own strength. Given that, he judged it wouldn't be strange for those in the underworld to want to improve their impression of him.
Particularly in this case, from the perspective of the underworld figure who had gotten involved with Rei's party, it was his rookie who had picked a fight with Rei.
Given that, they needed to curry favor with Rei at least a little.
To the point of informing Rei immediately if there was any information.
Rei himself had almost never had direct conflicts with people from the underworld... but that was just how much Rei's power was feared in various ways.
Also, there were many on the underworld side who wanted to build good relations with Rei.
For those reasons, Rei judged that it was fine to relax a little for now, and bringing Mireinu along—who was still clinging to Set as it carried her—he headed toward the main road.
He wasn't heading to the Guild, nor did he intend to do any shopping.
Since the place where they had the snowball fight in winter had become a park, he figured it would be fine to play a little there.
"Mireinu, don't fall off."
"There's no way I'd fall. I'm riding on Set-chan, aren't I? Then there's no safer or more reassuring place than this."
Marina and Vihera smiled at Mireinu, who declared this in a confident voice.
Not the mocking kind, but genuine smiles born from finding the sight endearing.
Set had grown to about three meters in length, so Mireinu riding on its back almost looked like a person being carried by a giant stuffed animal.
Thinking that... Rei felt a little down.
If Mireinu, who was taller than him, looked like that, what would it look like when he rode Set?
(Is that how I always look too?)
That was a little disheartening.
But to everyone other than Rei, that was far too obvious by now.
Rei riding Set was already an ordinary sight in Gilm.
"Ah! It's Set-chan, Set-chan! Only Mireinu-nee-chan is riding! Let me ride too!"
As they advanced toward the open lot, their figures naturally stood out.
Envious of Mireinu riding Set, many Children came over.
"No way. This is my reward."
"...Since when did it become a reward?"
Walking a short distance away, Rei muttered that response to Mireinu's words.
But perhaps because it was in a low voice... and more importantly, because Mireinu was focused on adoring Set, she didn't seem to hear it.
Of course, even if she had heard it, Mireinu would have boldly asserted her right to play with Set.
If that had happened, it certainly would have led to all sorts of trouble.
"Rei, you decided to play today, didn't you? Then, instead of overthinking things, wouldn't it be better to take it easy a little?"
Rei nodded at Marina's words as she walked beside him and removed the hood of his Dragon Robe that he had been wearing.
He hadn't found it that glaring before because he had the hood on, but now the sunlight hit Rei's face directly.
Since it was the soft sunlight of spring, it wasn't blindingly bright, but...
(No, maybe it's just a feeling?)
Summer sun and spring sun.
Contemplating the difference between them, Rei decided to at least spend today taking it easy.