The day after Rei and his companions had met with Precious in the Slum District, Rei stood in front of Asimov's house.
Asimov had spent the night at the Guard Station, but it seemed he had already returned home by the next day.
Rei hadn't known that. He only learned it when he ran into a guard in town, and came here to verify the truth.
From the outside, the building showed nothing particularly unusual. Set had crashed into Asimov's research room, but that wasn't visible from here—which was exactly why, looking at it from the front, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"...Well, knowing Asimov, he's probably taken some kind of countermeasure anyway."
Considering Asimov's personality, it was hard to imagine he would leave things exactly as they were after being attacked once. As Rei muttered this to himself, Vihera nodded beside him.
"Right. If anything, I'm sure he's preparing something to counterattack with."
"Probably. Still, Pamidor and others come to this house too, so I doubt he'd just attack anyone who approaches without question... I think."
The fact that he still couldn't say that with certainty was likely precisely because the person in question was Asimov. Given his personality, something like the door exploding the moment you knocked on it wasn't entirely impossible, either.
It should be fine, right? ...Yeah, probably.
Muttering as if to reassure himself, Rei confirmed that he was properly wearing his Dragon Robe before knocking on the door.
"Asimov, you in?"
Relieved that nothing happened to the door he had just knocked on, he called out from outside the house.
About a minute passed... and eventually, the door opened.
"Who is it? Ah, Rei."
The person who appeared was, naturally, Asimov. He didn't appear to have any particular abnormalities—no signs of lingering injuries or anything of the sort.
Relieved by that, Rei spoke up.
"Putting aside the fact that you came back from the Guard Station, isn't it careless to stay home alone? Even just temporarily, why don't you hire a guard?"
"There's hardly anyone crazy enough for that. Besides, at this time of year, there are plenty of adventurers I can't trust either."
Even Asimov, who often threw himself headlong into his research, must have known such things since he lived in Gilm.
No, I suppose it's only natural for an Alchemist. If he carelessly hired some clumsy adventurer as a guard after painstakingly creating his Magic Items, they might vanish along with the guard before he knew it... and that's the better outcome. At worst, the adventurer guard might even attack him.
Maybe he's actually surprisingly sensible... Rei marveled, observing Asimov's demeanor.
But even so, the person being targeted not hiring a guard was nothing short of dangerous.
"You don't have to pick a rookie, right? If you chose an adventurer who's been in Gilm for a while, they'd have a certain level of trustworthiness."
"...Even if you say that, I'm busy with my research, so I barely know any adventurers. Aside from you and your group, there's only a handful—A-Rank adventurers or Alias Holders—whose names I've even heard of."
"You're supposed to be a skilled one yourself, so... don't adventurers come to you with requests or something?"
"They do, but I mostly turn them away. Well, there were a few I dealt with... but there are more whose names I don't remember. I might recognize them if I saw their faces, though."
"With that attitude, it's a wonder you remembered me."
"In your case, Rei... well, there's Set too. Pamidor brought you along, after all."
Being an eccentric, Asimov's way of thinking was hard to grasp. That was Rei's honest feeling. Of course, knowing that saying so wouldn't accomplish much, he kept it to himself.
"Then how about you introduce someone as a guard, Rei? If it's someone you know, there shouldn't be anyone who would try to steal something from this house, right?"
At Vihera's words, Marina, Byune, and even Set, who hadn't yet headed to the courtyard, nodded in agreement.
"Someone I know?"
"Yes. What do you think?"
"Even if you say that..."
Rei was at a loss for words at Vihera's suggestion. Though not as extreme as Asimov, Rei didn't exactly have a wide social circle either. No, there were many adventurers who knew Rei's face. Even his face without the Dragon Robe's hood had spread to a certain extent.
But that was strictly limited to others knowing Rei's face; the number of people whose faces Rei himself knew wasn't all that high. His strength was a factor, but it ultimately came down to his personality. His ruthless attitude toward those who opposed him inspired awe, but rarely affection.
Of course, it wasn't as if everyone was intimidated by Rei and kept their distance...
"Mirene said she had another request starting today."
Mirene had been happily playing with Set yesterday, but as expected of someone regarded as a young hopeful, this season brought many Nomination Requests. Even without those, spring had just begun, and she was surely taking whatever requests she could to rebuild the funds that had dwindled over the winter.
"Then what about Elk? No, Elk isn't in Gilm, is he?"
Due to rehabilitation matters, Elk—no, the entire Axe of the Thunder God—had left Gilm as a family.
"Hmm... this is tough. Why don't we go to the Guild and think it over? There might be someone there. Or perhaps..."
Rei stopped mid-sentence and turned his gaze toward Marina... the person who had served as Guild Master until recently.
She seemed to understand what opinion was being sought of her. Marina spoke after a moment's thought.
"Hmm, unfortunately, given the current situation, it'd be best if I didn't show my face at the Guild and start meddling in things. I'd likely invite all sorts of unwarranted misunderstandings."
"Then what about asking here instead of at the Guild?"
"...If you absolutely insist, it can't be helped, but... I'd rather you didn't."
"Why?"
Vihera interjected into Rei and Marina's conversation.
"This is a Crimson Lotus Wings action, isn't it? Considering the future, it's better not to rely too much on my authority rather than my abilities. That might be fine in Gilm, but it'll cause trouble when you're active in other towns or villages, won't it? Better to get used to it now while you can."
Do we really have to do this right now? Rei wondered for a moment, but Marina's belief was that experience in such situations was extremely important. Entrusting someone with a task when nothing was going on wasn't particularly difficult. But in this case, time was short—and on top of that, other adventurers were busy and unreachable. How one acted in such a situation was what mattered.
Of course, if it came down to it, Marina intended to ask an adventurer she knew, but she had no intention of saying so now. In any case, since they would be acting as Crimson Lotus Wings going forward, gaining experience as a party leader was something that needed to be done urgently.
"...Understood. Then let's head to the Guild for now. As for Asimov's guard..."
"Nn!"
...Why?
That was Rei's honest feeling. Why was Byune volunteering to be Asimov's guard?
Fundamentally, Byune rarely took proactive action on her own... unless food was involved. And yet, today of all days, this same Byune had stepped forward to volunteer as Asimov's guard. It was only natural for Rei to find it strange.
No, Rei wasn't the only one who thought so. Marina, who hadn't known Byune as long, and Vihera, who had known her longer, both felt the same way.
"What's wrong? That's unusual."
"Nn."
Byune gave a brief answer to Vihera's question. But that alone must have been enough to convey her intent. Vihera thought for a moment before addressing Rei.
"She seems to think that she's the best one to stay behind."
"Byune does? ...Wait, I'm impressed you understood that from that exchange. ...Then again, I suppose I already knew."
The fact that Vihera and Byune could understand each other's intentions without putting everything into words, just like Rei and Set, was something he had known for a while. Is it some kind of Telepathy? Rei wondered for a moment, but quickly shook his head and expelled the unnecessary thought.
As a practical matter, having Byune stay behind as a guard wasn't a bad arrangement for Rei either. Byune wasn't as strong as the other three, but even so, her combat ability had improved considerably through the winter training. At the very least, enough that he deemed it sufficient for guarding purposes.
Besides, as a thief, she excelled at erasing her presence, so when it came to not getting in Asimov's way, she was undoubtedly the best person for the job among them.
The biggest problem was that Asimov and Byune couldn't communicate properly. Of course, they could manage minimal communication by nodding or shaking their heads, but that was about it.
"...Sigh, it can't be helped. Fine. I'll stay here too, so you and Marina go to the Guild. As for Set..."
"Yeah, I should probably leave him here. That works for you, right, Set?"
"Grruu."
Set, who had been looking drowsy after losing to the spring sunlight and the group's conversation, responded immediately to Rei's words.
"Then it's settled... let's go. Asimov, I'm going to find someone at the Guild who can guard you, alright?"
"As long as they don't get in the way of my research, I don't mind. But is it really necessary to go that far?"
"You seriously lack self-awareness about how close you came to dying, don't you?"
Rei muttered, sounding somewhat exasperated at Asimov's words.
"Even if you say that, I was attacked, blacked out, and when I came to, I was at the Guard Station without a single wound on me. Isn't it a bit much to expect me to develop a sense of crisis from that?"
"Ah... yeah, I suppose."
For Asimov, being attacked and losing consciousness had probably been a stroke of luck. Rei thought as much, but what was done was done.
"Even so, there's a chance you'll be targeted again. You were already targeted once, so there's no guarantee you're safe anymore."
"Well, I guess that's true enough."
"Are you set on money? ...No, there's no need to even ask."
Asimov had his personality issues, but as someone who had crafted the Twilight Spear and modified the Sleipnir boots, he was undeniably a highly skilled Alchemist. As such, he fundamentally never struggled for money.
The qualifier "fundamentally" applied only under normal circumstances. An Alchemist's primary work was creating Magic Items, but crafting those required various materials. Ordinarily, one would be satisfied with a certain grade of materials—but in Asimov's case, precisely because he was so skilled, he could handle a wide range of materials, leading him to seek out rarer, higher-performance ones. Just considering how many materials he had poured into the Twilight Spear alone, one could understand his obsession with materials.
But to Rei, who wore a slightly concerned expression, Asimov nodded with a look that said to leave it to him.
"I can put up five Gold Coins right away, at least."
"...That's way too much for a guard's pay."
It depended on who he was hiring, of course, but five Gold Coins for a guard was excessive.
"I'm thinking just a few days... we'll see how it goes after that, and if it seems like more time is needed, we can add more. Any problems with that?"
"Don't mind at all. With the caveat that they don't get in my way, that is."
"Then it's settled. ...Vihera, I'm counting on you."
"Yeah, yeah, leave it to me. You go pick out a good guard, Rei."
Waving her hand lightly, Vihera pulled Byune and Asimov along with her into the house. Set, looking slightly disappointed to be separated from Rei, headed toward the courtyard.
After seeing off those three and one beast, the only ones left were Rei and Marina.
"Shall we go, then. ...Come to think of it, it's a little unusual for it to be just the two of us, Rei."
"Is it? ...Now that you mention it, I suppose so. All things considered, we spent a lot of time together during the winter, but it wasn't all that often that it was just the two of us."
"No. So even though it might not look like it, I'm actually quite happy right now. Of course, I understand that the reason is Asimov needs a guard and we're going to look for one."
With a radiant smile, Marina accompanied Rei as they headed toward the Guild. Since she was wearing a Party Dress, at a glance, it might have looked like he was escorting her on a date.
...That is, if Rei hadn't been clad in his Dragon Robe, and Marina, in her Party Dress, wasn't carrying a bow with a quiver slung across her back.
And so the two of them emerged onto the main street and headed for the Guild...
"Ah—! Rei!?"
Right in front of the Guild, that voice suddenly echoed through the surroundings.