"Rei-san, are you here?"
Rei, who was enjoying a slightly early dinner in the dining hall of the Wheat Inn at dusk, turned his gaze toward the entrance.
Since it was still a little early—around four o'clock—there were hardly any customers in the dining hall. Had another hour or two passed, the place would have been packed with people coming for their evening meal.
Gilm was currently drawing an unprecedented number of people due to the large-scale expansion of the town, but the number of guests staying at the Wheat Inn hadn't changed much from before. That was only natural. The inn was known as a high-class establishment even within Gilm, and those who had to live hand-to-mouth simply couldn't afford to stay there. Additionally, the dining hall was slightly more expensive compared to other establishments, and since the inn's policy was to serve only enough alcohol to complement a meal, the vast majority of manual laborers headed to bars where they could drink and make noise.
Of course, not everyone fell into that category; a few did come to this dining hall. In any case, for these reasons, the Wheat Inn at dusk remained essentially the same as always, even during what could only be called an expansion rush.
"Lenora? What is it?"
Marina, who had been about to reach for the pizza, called out to the person who had appeared in the dining hall—a Guild receptionist and a familiar face to Rei.
Pizza, which had spread throughout Gilm, was naturally served in the dining hall of the Wheat Inn as well. However, due to Gilm's location, there was no seafood pizza or anything of the sort on the menu. If he provided seafood from his Misty Ring, they would make it for him, though.
"Ah, so Marina-sama is here as well. ...Actually, I have an urgent request for Rei-san."
"I figured."
There had been a few occasions before when someone from the Guild came to this inn looking for Rei. Since he had accepted an urgent request every single time, it was safe to say this was already a predictable routine for him. Of course, the rewards he received for accepting those requests were quite lucrative, so he certainly didn't mind them.
"So, what's the request?"
"Apparently, a merchant caravan transporting construction materials for the expansion work was attacked, and all of the materials were stolen. The surviving merchants and guards arrived in Gilm just now, and that's how it was discovered."
"...The materials? No, more importantly, the fact that there are bandits operating in the frontier is surprising in itself."
The frontier meant, naturally, that various monsters would appear—and not just the kind that showed up in ordinary places. To such monsters, bandits and merchants alike were simply humans. They were targets to be attacked, and at the same time, food.
Given that, bandits couldn't operate in the frontier so easily. Moreover, considering that this was near the town of Gilm, where skilled adventurers gathered, it was hard to imagine bandits being able to operate there at all. Of course, that was exactly why the payoff would be good—that much was certain.
"So those bandits specifically targeted the merchant caravan... that's not it, is it?"
"I don't think so," Lenora answered.
Marina's question had probably been asked merely as a form of confirmation. In the first place, if they were targeting a specific merchant caravan, there would be no need to attack near Gilm. If they attacked near Abuelo or Sablusta, which were farther away, they wouldn't have to deal with Gilm's adventurers.
"...In that case, a bandit group that was operating around Gilm? I'm not quite sure."
"Well, either way, there's no point talking about that right now. So? The request for us is to subjugate the bandits, right?"
"Yes. However, for this occasion only, they want the primary focus to be on recovering the materials the bandits stole."
"I see. Well, that makes sense."
Generally, when bandits were defeated, the adventurer who defeated them gained ownership of all the treasure the bandits possessed. Of course, if the bandits had some sort of family heirloom, and after retrieving it, the family that had owned the heirloom wanted to negotiate to buy it back, whether or not to agree was left to the adventurer's discretion.
But this request was about securing those materials. One would normally balk at giving up what should have become their own property... but for Rei, it wasn't particularly an issue. To begin with, what was he supposed to do with a large quantity of construction materials even if he claimed them? That was his honest feeling. Since he was staying at the Wheat Inn, Rei didn't particularly want to build a house. He wasn't struggling for money, so he had no intention of selling the materials for cash either. Since the Misty Ring's storage capacity was nearly limitless, he might consider taking them if they were offered, but that was about it.
"Well, I understand the situation. A delay in Gilm's expansion isn't something I'm particularly happy about either."
Rei had been doing various work for this expansion project, but with this many people around, it was only natural that some would try to get involved with him. Since the alias of Crimson had spread to a certain extent, no one would bother him if Set was around... but even though they were usually together, Rei and Set weren't together twenty-four hours a day.
On top of that, when he was accompanied by beauties like Marina and Vihera—women whom one would normally be lucky to see even once in a lifetime—it was only natural that those who had just arrived in Gilm and didn't know the situation would try to approach them. Of course, when Gilm's residents saw this, they would try to intervene, but not everyone was the type to back down. Rather, being protected often made them openly frustrated.
To resolve such a situation as quickly as possible, it was definitely better to finish Gilm's expansion as soon as possible.
Of course, the construction project to make Gilm half again as large as its current size wasn't something that would be finished in a matter of days, weeks, or even months. It was almost certain to take years. No, some people even declared that it would take more than a decade. Because of that, even if Rei put in a bit of extra effort here, it wouldn't have much of an impact... but still, being able to shorten the timeline even slightly was fortunate for him.
"Then, can I count on you!?"
"Yeah, that's fine. But... is there any sort of clue? Honestly, without any clues at all, finding the bandits will be difficult."
If the other party was leisurely walking through open terrain or camping out in the open, that would be one thing, but there was no way that bandits committing crimes near Gilm would do something so careless. Mountains, forests, woods... or caves. There was no doubt that they had set up their hideout in one of those places.
"We did confirm the direction the bandits left in from the merchants who reported. Can something be done with that?"
"...No, with just that... it would be a bit difficult even to track them by scent. Well, if we start from the site of the attack, could we track them?"
"Mn!"
Rei had been hesitating slightly, but Byune, who had been listening to Lenora's story without paying attention and had stuffed her mouth full of food, let out that sound.
"Hey, don't talk until you've swallowed everything in your mouth," Vihera immediately scolded.
"So? What is Byune saying?"
Only Vihera could fully communicate with Byune. That was why Rei asked her, as always.
"I think you can mostly guess even without being told. ...Byune is saying she'll search for the bandits' whereabouts."
"I see. So Byune has gotten to the point where she can do that sort of thing recently."
During the winter, she had undergone endless combat training, and her combat ability had become quite formidable. Of course, she was still far behind the other members of the Crimson Lotus Wings. But Byune's true profession was, above all, a thief. Given that, skills like tracking, trap detection, and scouting were what should have been valued in the first place.
When I think about it that way, the current Byune is actually closer to a warrior than a thief. ...Well, having combat ability is never a bad thing, so it's fine.
After thinking for a moment, Rei decided that with Set also present, they could manage even if Byune made some mistakes.
"Alright, then let's leave it to Byune first, and if that doesn't work out, we'll leave it to Set."
The fact that Rei had some leeway, even if only slightly, was largely because what had been stolen was construction materials. If food or the like had been stolen, it would be gone once it was eaten. But with materials, there was no chance of them disappearing immediately. Of course, after a certain amount of time passed, there was a possibility they would be sold off somewhere, so it wasn't as if he had unlimited time.
Still, why would bandits target construction materials? Even if they try to sell them... hmm.
Thinking this, Rei suddenly found it strange and asked Lenora.
"The materials that were stolen... exactly how much was there in terms of quantity?"
"Five carriages' worth, I'm told."
"That's a fair amount, but it's not exceptionally large."
With that amount of materials, if they tried to sell them, they could probably do so without being traced. Or rather, even if they did sell them, they didn't need to sell everything at once. They could divide it up and sell it off little by little.
"In that case, it'll take some time to dispose of regardless of which way they go about it."
"That's right. However, the request from the merchants is to recover the materials as quickly as possible."
"...Hm? This isn't from the Guild or the Knight Order, but a request from the merchants?"
Marina, who had been listening to Rei and Lenora's conversation, asked with a slightly puzzled tone.
Lenora nodded in response to Marina's question.
"Yes. Since the materials hadn't been handed over yet..."
"Ah, I see. So that's the nature of the contract."
From Lenora's words alone, Marina nodded in understanding.
Rei felt slightly puzzled by Lenora's demeanor, but judging that he didn't particularly need to say anything himself, he quickly began preparing for departure—after swiftly clearing the food on the table into his stomach, that is.
Marina and Vihera only smiled faintly at Rei's attitude, knowing it was just how he was. Thanks to Byune's cooperation as well, in less than a few minutes, all the dishes on the table had vanished.
While wishing he could have savored the food more, Rei finished paying. Since Marina was wearing her usual party dress, she changed into clothes stored in Vihera's room while Rei was settling the bill.
"The place that was attacked is the location we just heard about, right?"
"Yes."
Whether Marina had heard the location of the bandit attack from Lenora while Rei and Byune were clearing the food, she asked to confirm. Seeing Lenora nod, the four of them headed to the stables to collect Set and left the town.
It was already around four in the afternoon, and people who had finished work were starting to come out. Since it was early summer, the sun was still high... but even so, there were many people whose faces showed the fatigue of having worked long hours. Especially those who had come to Gilm as manual laborers had been pushing their bodies hard all day, breaks included, so their exhaustion must have been considerable.
Of course, the people in the streets weren't only the tired ones. Those who had come shopping to prepare dinner were also energetically haggling over prices.
"Looking at it like this, it's lively, isn't it?"
"It is."
Listening to Marina and Vihera exchange words, Rei observed the surroundings along with Set.
"Gurururu."
At the delicious smell of food drifting over, Set purred, indicating it was hungry. Rei and the others had eaten at the Wheat Inn, but unfortunately, Set hadn't eaten yet. Thinking about it that way, it was only natural for Set to claim it was hungry.
"Ah... right. Should we buy a sandwich? Once the bandit matter is resolved, I'll feed you plenty, so just bear with it a little longer."
"Guru..."
At Rei's words, Set purred sadly. Of course, once Rei bought a sandwich and gave it to Set, it would immediately purr happily.
After confirming that Set had calmed down a bit, Rei headed toward the main gate. Since it was still around four o'clock, there was no need to worry about the gate closing. Also, since many people were coming to Gilm for the expansion, the gate's closing time had been significantly delayed.
Even as Rei and the others were about to leave Gilm, they could still see people going through the procedures to enter.
"Hm? Ah, it's Rei. I've heard the story. Bandit subjugation, right? Be careful."
Whether from the Guild, or perhaps word had been passed down from the lord's mansion since it was related to the expansion work—in any case, everyone except Rei, who didn't need to go through procedures, quickly completed the formalities and stepped outside of Gilm.