Rei turned around at the sudden voice calling out from behind him.
He didn't instinctively brace himself, partly because he figured no one would attack him in the middle of the city—especially in front of the Guild—but more than anything, because he recognized the voice.
Turning around, his gaze fell upon a pair of a thief and a warrior.
Seeing the two familiar faces, Rei spoke.
"Culotte and Arrogan? What's going on? That's an unusual combination."
Standing there, exactly as Rei had said, were two members of the D-Rank party Eternal Power.
Normally, the mage Schola would be part of Eternal Power as well, but today Schola was nowhere to be seen.
They were from the same class as Rei when he took his Rank Up Exam. Originally, Culotte and Schola were childhood friends, and after the Rank Up Exam concluded, Arrogan joined them, forming Eternal Power.
Before the Rank Up Exam, Arrogan had picked a fight with Rei and been thoroughly taught the difference in their abilities. Despite that, he and Rei didn't end up on overly bad terms, likely because they had shared meals and lodging together for a short time.
"Schola said she had some magic to study and headed that way. Thanks to that, I've been stuck with just this guy for about ten days now."
Making a displeased face, Culotte glanced at Arrogan.
Given that Arrogan was short-tempered by nature, he naturally wasn't about to stay silent when Culotte treated him like that.
"Tch, what the hell are you talking about? Don't you know I'm the one putting up with you?"
"What?"
"What?"
The two glared at each other with a palpable tension.
However, Rei showed no sign of stopping them.
Perhaps finding this odd, Marina gave a small tug on Rei's Dragon Robe and spoke up.
"Hey, wait. Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah, it's fine. For those two, this is just their usual banter. You know what they say, right? The closer the bond, the louder the quarrel."
'Who would pair up with a guy like this?!'
They must have heard Rei's words. Arrogan and Culotte both stopped their argument and shouted at Rei in unison.
...Seeing that the timing of their shout was perfectly synchronized, it was no wonder anyone would say they were in perfect sync.
"...More importantly, Rei. The one with you, could it be..."
"Whoa... you've gotta be kidding me..."
Culotte, who had at least stopped arguing thanks to Rei's words, looked toward Rei and stopped speaking in surprise.
To be precise, she wasn't looking at Rei himself, but rather behind him—at Marina.
Arrogan, too, apparently recognized the former Guild Master Marina, as he had stopped moving. ...No, it would be more accurate to say he was captivated by Marina's beauty.
Culotte kicked Arrogan's leg.
"Ow! Hey, what was that for?!"
"You're too loud! Honestly, seeing the Guild Master and letting your jaw drop like that..."
"Hah, I see. What, are you jealous... ow! I told you, stop kicking me out of nowhere!"
"Shut up, you delusional moron! Who would be jealous of you?!"
Seeing the two begin arguing again, Marina must have understood that this was normal for them as well.
She made no further attempt to stop them... and spoke with a look of understanding.
"Ah, I remember now. If you took the Rank Up Exam with Rei, that would be the one, right? The one around the time of Elena's incident."
"Yeah, that's the one. There were a few others too..."
Recalling the Elf woman and the human man—the archer and the warrior duo—Rei smiled.
They had all been rather colorful personalities, but that Rank Up Exam felt like a distant memory—like something from ten years ago.
That was likely proof of just how fulfilling—or rather, how densely packed—the days Rei had lived through had been.
In fact, ten years ago, Rei would have been around ten years old.
After elementary school, he would play with friends, running through the mountains.
"Rei? What's wrong?"
"No, I was just thinking that the Rank Up Exam feels like it was a very long time ago."
"Given your tendency to get dragged into trouble, that's hardly surprising," Marina remarked.
Rei felt somewhat dissatisfied with Marina's words, but then he noticed Marina casting a meaningful glance at him... and then at Arrogan and Culotte, and he realized something.
That was right—the two standing before him now could be considered fairly close acquaintances of Rei's, and since Schola was acting separately, they couldn't accept any large-scale requests.
They were exactly the people Rei was looking for—there could be no better candidates.
In terms of sheer ability, it was unclear how strong the one who had attacked Asimov was, so it wasn't necessarily a safe bet.
However, Arrogan possessed a Magic Sword, and his combat ability would rank among the higher end of D-Rank Adventurers.
Culotte was a thief, so while her raw combat ability wasn't particularly strong, her skills as a thief made her highly capable of detecting traps and ambushes.
...In terms of pure combat ability, Byune was likely stronger than Culotte.
Hakumo as a weapon, along with the combat training repeatedly conducted over the winter, had given Byune that much combat power.
But in aspects other than combat, Culotte was undoubtedly the superior one.
"...Well, now that we've run into each other after so long, I actually have a request for Eternal Power... what do you say?"
At the word "request," Culotte and Arrogan each displayed peculiar expressions.
A delighted yet apprehensive look... such complex expressions.
With Schola absent, they couldn't accept any large-scale requests.
But if possible, they wanted to earn even a little money.
In that sense, they were happy to hear that Rei had a request for them... but the biggest problem was that the person bringing the request was Rei.
There was no way a request Rei brought could be just an ordinary one.
A strange degree of trust toward Rei.
Receiving such stares, Rei wore a slightly—just slightly—dissatisfied expression.
"If you have complaints, you don't have to accept. I can try looking at the Guild."
So said Rei, but in reality, since he didn't have that many adventurer acquaintances, finding a guard for Asimov at the Guild wasn't guaranteed.
It was a statement close to a bluff, but fortunately, it seemed to work well enough for now.
Flustered, Culotte spoke up.
"Wait a minute. I didn't say we wouldn't take the request. So? What kind of request is it? At least let us hear it. If it seems manageable, we can take it."
Culotte glanced at Arrogan with a look that said "You don't mind, right?" but Arrogan, receiving that look, apparently had no objections and simply nodded.
"Yeah. If it's something we can handle... sure. You're not going to tell us to go defeat an A-Rank monster or something like that, are you?"
If so, he was out—Arrogan conveyed this without words, and Rei nodded.
"I don't think it's that dangerous of a request. It's a guard job."
"...A guard?"
They probably never expected the word "guard" to come from Rei's mouth. Culotte and Arrogan both looked at Rei and Marina with blank expressions.
"I want to explain the details anyway... shall we head to a diner around here? It'd be better if not too many people overhear."
"Is it alright for the Guild Master to issue a request without going through the Guild?"
To Culotte, Marina was someone far above the clouds.
That was why her speech was more polite than her usual tone.
But Marina, addressed in such a manner, wore a radiant smile.
A smile so captivating that even another woman would find her cheeks flushing red.
"It's fine. I'm just an adventurer now. Even if I am a former Guild Master."
Led by Marina, Rei and the others entered a diner a short distance from the Guild.
There were some customers inside, but since it was still before noon, a considerable number of tables were empty.
"Welcome. Will you be dining?"
A diner employee asked upon seeing Rei's group.
He showed a slightly surprised expression upon seeing Marina, but it quickly vanished, replaced by a friendly smile as he inquired.
"We'd like something light to eat, so just put together something for us. Oh, and we'd appreciate it if you have any drinks."
Handing a few Silver Coins to the clerk, Marina spoke with a smile.
The moment he saw that smile, the clerk's face turned bright red as he accepted the Silver Coins and hurriedly spoke.
"F-Feel free to use any table you like. I'll get everything ready right away."
With that, the male clerk headed straight for the kitchen.
Marina had handed over a few Silver Coins, slightly more than necessary, but the amount was intended to cover borrowing a table.
...Though it was still a bit too much.
Once they were seated at a table, Arrogan spoke up as if unable to wait any longer.
"So, Rei. What do you mean by a guard? You don't mean your guard, do you?"
It probably wasn't meant as a lead-in to the conversation, but Arrogan said it like a joke.
In truth, it was merely a conversation starter, and Arrogan didn't think Rei actually needed a guard.
This was the same for Culotte, who was instead looking at Arrogan with an exasperated gaze for even saying such a thing.
These two had participated in the Rank Up Exam alongside Rei and had his abilities demonstrated to them more thoroughly than anyone could imagine.
That someone like Rei would need a guard was impossible no matter how you looked at it.
...Well, perhaps if he were physically weakened by illness or something he might want a guard, but from what they could see, Rei showed no sign of being in poor condition.
Then whose guard? The next person Arrogan and Culotte's gazes turned to was Marina, who was with Rei.
But for her as well, they could tell at a glance that she gave off an aura of being stronger than them.
To the extent that it would be more accurate to say they would be the ones receiving a guard from her rather than the other way around... something like that.
"Yeah. Actually, there's a bit of a problem right now."
At those words, Arrogan wore a displeased expression.
Of course, since Rei had brought this matter to them himself, Arrogan understood that there were circumstances behind it.
But even so, being told that there was indeed a problem made him think various things.
It wasn't just Arrogan; Culotte likely felt the same.
Showing a slightly wary demeanor, she spoke up.
"Just to confirm, this problem is something we can actually handle, right?"
"Ah... yeah, I don't think you'll be involved in the problem itself. What I'm asking you to do is guard duty, but it's strictly precautionary in nature."
"Precautionary?"
"Yeah. The person I'm thinking of having you guard was attacked a little while ago. I've already warned the ones I suspect carried out the attack, so I think it should be fine now. But it's not a certainty, and the person has actually been attacked once before. That's what I mean by precautionary."
"Ugh, sounds like a hassle just hearing about it."
"Does it? Ultimately, like I said, I don't think there'll be any attack, so it's really just a precautionary thing. I don't think it'll actually come to combat."
"That's just your own perception, isn't it? Applying that to us is a bit troublesome."
It was no tactic or negotiation—Culotte muttered with genuine concern.
Having completed numerous requests over the past few years, she had some confidence in their skills.
But even so, she also understood that the gap between them and Rei was something that simply couldn't be bridged.
After all, climbing from Guild registration to B-Rank Adventurer in just a few years, and even holding an Alias, was something that under normal circumstances would be utterly unbelievable.
"Even if you say that... Marina, what do you think?"
"You're asking me here? Oh, thank you."
Thanking the clerk, who had just brought out some fruit, sausages, and other easy-to-eat items along with Fruit Water, Marina thought for a moment and then spoke.
"What Rei is asking for this time, as he said, is largely precautionary in nature. So I think a D-Rank Adventurer should be fine."
"...I'll take it."
"Hey, Arrogan?! What are you saying all of a sudden?!"
Arrogan suddenly nodded at Marina's explanation.
Seeing his faintly reddened cheeks, it required no thought to figure out why he had accepted the request.
Glaring at Arrogan with vexation... yet thinking it would be various kinds of trouble to leave Arrogan alone like this, Culotte accepted Rei's request with a sigh.