The dishes prepared on the table were absolutely delicious to Rei.
Byune attacked the food with vigor rivaling Rei's, and while Marina and Vihera ate more politely, they still savored every bite.
The food brought out was nothing particularly extravagant—skewers, stir-fries, stews, sandwiches... mostly simple fare that could be eaten easily.
What slightly surprised Rei was finding nikuman among the dishes.
Of course, nikuman wasn't exclusively a winter food. No, in Rei's mind it was fundamentally a winter food, but the cooks of Gilm, knowing no such thing, prepared it as a dish that could be eaten year-round.
Eating the nikuman, Rei couldn't help but think that he'd rather be having pizza... was that just him being contrary?
His pizza oven was already stored safely inside his Misty Ring. It was an extremely rare item, and a Magic Item at that. When the Treant Forest's attack had happened, things had been so sudden that he'd left it behind, but before returning to Gilm after defeating the Gigant Turtle, he'd made sure to retrieve it.
(Baked nikuman... I remember seeing something like that somewhere before. Should I try making it next time?)
Thinking this, Rei brought the nikuman to his mouth—and was surprised.
He'd been certain the filling would be a minced paste of meat and vegetables, but instead it contained solid, substantial chunks of meat. He had no idea what cooking method had been used, but the meat, cut like diced steak, overflowed with juices when bitten into. Combined with the nikuman's dough, it offered a completely different flavor from the nikuman Rei knew.
"Hahaha. How about that—surprised?" Daskar, who had been watching Rei's reaction, said this with evident pleasure.
"...Yes, I'd say it's quite different from the nikuman I know."
"I thought so, I thought so. Actually, several of my cooks ate nikuman in winter and were quite shocked by it. They researched various approaches, and one of the dishes they came up with is that nikuman."
Rei had taught the nikuman recipe to the Golden Bread Pavilion at their request. Of course, since Rei didn't know the exact recipe himself, all he could do was tell them about the existence of such a dish from his vague memories.
In any case, the nikuman—which could fairly be said to have been co-developed by Rei and the Golden Bread Pavilion—had its recipe publicly shared among the cooks of Gilm, just like udon. The Golden Bread Pavilion alone being unable to meet customer demand was likely one of the major reasons for making the recipe public.
Regardless, nikuman and pizza had now spread throughout Gilm. Given that many merchants were visiting Gilm with the arrival of spring, these dishes would inevitably spread to the Kingdom of Mireana and then to neighboring nations, just as udon had. Unlike udon, which required tableware, nikuman and pizza didn't particularly need dishes. Considering they could be eaten casually as fast food, Rei believed they would spread even more easily.
A calm, peaceful time flowed by, making one want to ask what had happened to the tense atmosphere from moments ago. Rei and his companions savored the food, Daskar laughed happily at their impressions, and Worker contributed his own knowledge about the dishes.
That enjoyable time passed, and eventually all the food found its way into the stomachs of everyone present.
Daskar called the Maid once more, had her clear the spotlessly empty dishes, and had her prepare after-meal tea.
With that finally settled, Worker spoke up.
"Well then, the meal is over. Shall we get down to business?"
"Indeed. It's not just us—neither Daskar nor the Guild has the leisure to take it easy, either."
At Marina's words over her tea, Daskar let out a small sigh. Since she had known him since childhood, she was difficult to deal with. Moreover, he had even proposed to her, albeit in a youthful indiscretion.
(What on earth was I thinking as a child?) If the childhood version of himself were standing before him now, he would absolutely never let himself do such a thing.
Making sure not to let these thoughts show on his face, Daskar spoke.
"Right. You defeated the Gigant Turtle, yes? I'd like to confirm what effect that has had on the Treant Forest."
"...Indeed."
At Daskar's words, Marina's expression turned slightly sorrowful.
There had been no deaths in the battle against the Gigant Turtle. But the battle before that—against the monsters that came from the Treant Forest—had certainly not been without casualties.
Especially...
"Daskar, Worker, I'd like to ask something. You're planning to use the Treant Forest's wood as construction material for Gilm's expansion, correct?"
"Hm? Ah, that's right. Is there a problem?"
"Well... a problem, or rather... You already know that before fighting the Gigant Turtle, we fought monsters that emerged from the Treant Forest, right?"
"I heard about that from the man who came to request reinforcements."
"...Then do you also know this? Among the monsters that appeared from the Treant Forest, there was a giant flower monster."
"I know. I heard about that too. We won't touch those who were killed by that monster—no, those who were turned into trees. Of course, if the relatives, lovers, friends, or comrades of such individuals wish to do something with those trees, we won't say anything."
Turned into trees. In words, it was brief, but in reality, living human beings had been forcibly transformed into trees.
One's family, lover, friends, comrades—those who had seen such people turned into trees might not want to force them to stay like that. They might want to release them. It wouldn't be strange for someone to feel that way. Also, those from homes with spacious gardens might choose to plant them there and live alongside them. Daskar intended to leave such matters to the concerned parties.
"The fortunate thing is that hardly any adventurers entered the Treant Forest. If any number of adventurers had gone in and been turned into trees..."
At Marina's words, everyone wore expressions of dismay.
In reality, Rei and his companions likely just didn't know about it—there were probably several adventurers who had entered the Treant Forest—but at least as far as they were aware, Thresha's party was the only one clearly confirmed to have died there. There had been other cases where Rei found relics of the deceased, but ultimately it remained unknown which party they belonged to, or whether they had truly been wiped out.
(Thinking about it, Thresha must have complicated feelings.)
Thresha had watched her comrades be consumed by the Treant Forest right before her eyes. Since she had fled, she would never know what ultimately happened to them. And precisely because she didn't know, she couldn't help wondering which of the trees growing in the forest was the final form of her comrades.
"We've gotten off topic. In any case, the Treant Forest's lumber was the ideal material for Gilm's expansion."
"But since we defeated the Treant Forest's avatar, that means the forest won't expand anymore, correct?"
"That's correct."
Daskar nodded at Rei's words, but even so, Rei didn't particularly look apologetic. To begin with, the monster had attacked them—defeating it was only natural. Above all, it had targeted Rei specifically. Thanks to that, no major damage had occurred, but if the Gigant Turtle had gone on a rampage against anyone else, or worse, rampaged inside Gilm itself, there was no telling how much devastation would have resulted.
(Ah, but there's the Barrier, isn't there? Though whether it would have any effect on the Gigant Turtle is another question entirely.)
In the first place, while they had named it the Gigant Turtle, it wasn't actually an ordinary monster. Given that, whether Gilm's Barrier—designed against monsters—would have been effective was questionable at best.
"Is the current scale of the Treant Forest insufficient for Gilm's expansion?"
"Let's see... it's borderline. Most likely, thinking about it normally, it would suffice."
"Then there's no problem, is there?" Marina interjected.
"For now it seems adequate, but that's only under current circumstances. I'm sure you understand, Marina—when advancing a large-scale plan like this, it's better to have as much margin as possible."
"True. But originally, the Treant Forest didn't exist, right? You were already planning Gilm's expansion even under those circumstances, so wouldn't it be better to make effective use of what's available now?"
"...I understand that. But the Treant Forest, while dangerous... no, precisely because it's dangerous, it's an extremely attractive existence. That's a fact."
Daskar said this with a small sigh, then exhaled once more as if to change his mood.
"For now, we'll need to investigate the Treant Forest later. If no more monsters emerge after the Gigant Turtle that Rei defeated, it'll be easier for us to make our move."
"That would be very helpful on our end as well."
"So then, about what happened in the Treant Forest..."
Prompted by Daskar, Rei began recounting what he had experienced.
What particularly captured Daskar and Worker's interest was the image-language used by the root puppet. It was an unknown language, and as Guild Master, Worker's interest was naturally piqued. Meanwhile, Daskar harbored the thought that perhaps it could increase the likelihood of being able to Tame monsters.
However, Taming was a special skill in many senses. No, rather than a skill, it might be more accurate to say it depended on innate talent and the individual's personality. Even if the secrets of the image-language were uncovered, whether that would enable Taming... Rei would tilt his head in uncertainty. The possibility existed, but it was as thin as a spider's thread.
(Well, in my case, on the surface at least, I'm not actually a Tamer, so I can't say for certain.)
Thinking about Taming, Rei answered questions from Daskar and Worker.
About an hour passed, and having heard the general account, Daskar nodded with satisfaction.
"I see, I understand the broad strokes. For now, as for what will become of the Treant Forest, we'll need to observe for a while. Of course, we'll continue logging during that time."
Whether more trees would appear in the Treant Forest was unknown. But precisely because of that, it was necessary to log as many trees as possible while they still could. Otherwise, there was no telling when someone who had noticed the forest's special properties might show up.
"I see. Good luck with that."
However, such matters had nothing to do with Rei. Showing no particular concern, he said as much to Daskar.
"Umm, we'd like Rei-san to help with various things as well. Especially for transporting the logged wood—Rei-san's Item Box would be extremely useful. Would it be possible for you to continue accepting requests as before?"
Rei's Misty Ring would be a considerable asset in transporting lumber. Without Rei, they would need to hire personnel for transport, and there was no telling how much funding that would require. Additionally, while the Treant Forest was located relatively close to Gilm, there was still the possibility of monsters appearing. In that case, they would need to hire adventurers as escorts, requiring even more funding.
Considering all that, having someone with a Misty Ring, who had Tamed a flying monster in Set, and who held the strength of an Alias Holder, there was no issue. Of course, the amount paid to Rei would be substantial, but it would still be cheaper than assembling and escorting an entire transport team.
Rei, met with those expectant looks, thought for a moment before nodding.
"Sure. It's not an absolute promise, but I can take on requests when I'm free. As for payment, it would help if you could pay in Flame Ore."
"Yes, of course, we'll accommodate your preference. Ah, right. Speaking of which, you should be able to rank up to A-Rank for the Gigant Turtle incident. What do you think?"
Worker directed a meaningful gaze at Rei, but...
"Nah, etiquette and formalities are a pain, and besides, I'd probably get dragged into all sorts of troublesome things, so I'll pass. I'm not particularly troubled at B-Rank."
So Rei replied.