The second floor of the Guild housed meeting rooms available for adventurers to use. Several large conference rooms could accommodate multiple parties, while a number of smaller ones served individual parties or small groups.
The room Lenora led Rei and the others to was one of the smaller ones.
"She's a person with a very strong sense of responsibility, isn't she?" Marina remarked.
"Ah, ahaha. That's right. She has a rather... intense personality, but I do think her sense of responsibility is genuine," Lenora replied, sounding somewhat evasive.
Marina tilted her head, clearly bothered by the way Lenora was dancing around the subject.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I think you'll understand once you meet her. Look, we're here."
As Lenora spoke, Rei and the others found themselves standing before the door.
"Excuse me, Bistol-san. May I have a moment?" Lenora called out.
"Yeees. What is it~?"
"...Huh?"
A bewildered sound slipped from Rei's mouth at the voice that answered from inside.
It was undeniably a man's voice — deep enough to be described as husky. Yet the manner of speech was unmistakably feminine. It would have been impossible not to question what he was hearing.
Beside him, Marina hadn't voiced her confusion aloud, but even she couldn't completely mask her puzzled expression.
"..."
Rei and Marina exchanged glances in silence.
Watching the two of them, Lenora vaguely anticipated what was about to unfold... and opened the door.
Stepping through, Rei momentarily felt as though he'd wandered into some garden where someone was elegantly enjoying afternoon tea. However, the person enjoying that tea was not a noble young lady, but a man whose muscles bulged so prominently that his physique was obvious at a glance.
And yet, for some reason, he was wearing women's clothing.
Of course, Rei couldn't definitively say that no women's clothing existed in a size large enough to fit someone who could accurately be described as a mass of muscle... but such garments were undoubtedly extremely rare.
"Ugh..."
Given the sight before him, it was perhaps only natural that Rei groaned involuntarily.
Marina, standing next to him, didn't show overt surprise on her face, but even Rei could tell she had frozen in place.
"My, my. Lenora-chan, who are those two? No, judging by their appearance, could they perhaps be members of the Crimson Lotus Wings~?"
For some reason, Bistol asked while raising his pinky finger, but the observation itself was spot on.
(Marina, I understand. She's famous enough. But... how did he figure out who I am?)
Rei currently had the hood of his Dragon Robe pulled up as usual. His face shouldn't have been clearly visible, yet Bistol had not only identified him as a member of the Crimson Lotus Wings — he'd identified him as Rei specifically. That was unexpected.
"Fufufu. The Crimson Lotus Wings are a famous party even within Gilm. Especially during the current expansion work, it's fairly well known that Rei-chan played a major role~"
"...-chan?"
He clearly hadn't expected to be addressed with a diminutive. Rei stared intently at the person before him.
"Oh my. If you look at me with such passionate eyes, I'll fall in love."
If anything, it's your appearance that's too intense.
Suppressing the urge to say that aloud, Rei spoke instead.
"Well, whatever. Call me what you like."
"Oh my, then how about 'darling'—... No, I'm sorry. It's just a joke, so could you please stop looking at me like that? I'll never say it again."
Bistol directed those words not at Rei but at Marina, speaking in a rush.
Until that moment, his demeanor could fairly have been described as bold, but now beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. That was how much he must have felt from the gaze Marina was directing at him.
Yet when Rei glanced at Marina, all he saw was her usual smile.
There was no denying she was stunningly beautiful. Even so, the moment Bistol caught sight of that smile, a chill ran down his spine.
Whether it was a woman's intuition — or at least a feminine instinct — or the primal, small-animal wariness born of being glared at by an overwhelmingly powerful individual... regardless, the lesson was seared into his heart: he should never again direct that kind of joke toward Rei.
Completely unaware that any such exchange had taken place, Rei opened his mouth to move things along.
"So, I need you to confirm the materials I recovered. Is that alright?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. Now that you mention it, that's right. I'd completely forgotten. Well then, shall we head to the material storage area right away? Submitting them to Gilm will have to wait until tomorrow, but I've already gotten permission to leave them at the storage yard today."
Bistol spoke as if trying to gloss over something.
"Well then, I'll be taking my leave now. Ah, Bistol-san. Once you've confirmed the materials, please sign this document and hand it to Rei-san," Lenora said.
"Got it~. Leave that to me."
Bistol took the document and flashed a smile with a wink, but seeing that from the corner of his eye, Rei reflexively stepped back a few paces.
"Ah, ahahaha. Bistol-san, you might want to focus more on your escort duties from now on," Lenora offered gently.
"Yeah... the people who came all this way with me had been traveling together for quite a long time, so I can't bring myself to think that way so quickly, but... still, considering the work, I suppose I can't afford not to."
Bistol murmured while rubbing his freshly shaved jaw. Even so, the sadness dwelling in his eyes suggested he was genuinely mourning the escorts he had lost, from the bottom of his heart.
Seeing Bistol like that, Rei revised his assessment of the man — an existence that could rightfully be called a monster, though in an entirely different sense from the ones Rei was familiar with.
"Oh... about the bodies at the site where you were attacked. I went ahead and burned them."
"Huh? Really!?"
Though somewhat taken aback by Bistol surging toward him with such force, Rei nodded.
"Yeah. It's near the highway, and it's been getting fairly warm. If we'd left them as they were, there's no doubt it would have led to all sorts of unpleasantness."
"Thank you... thank you so much... I really wanted to do something about it myself, but at that time, all I could do was flee to Gilm..."
Contrary to his appearance, Bistol's gratitude was utterly genuine. At first glance, he looked like someone who could easily be mistaken for a monster, but at his core, he was deeply sentimental and warmhearted — one might even call him sensible.
Wiping his tears with a handkerchief drawn from his breast pocket, Bistol spoke again, though a trace of sadness still lingered in his eyes.
"Well then, shall we get going? It's gotten fairly late, and Rei-chan and the others must be busy after this, right?"
"That would help. I'm getting hungry, too."
"You know... when Lenora brought you the request, you were eating. Before leaving Gilm, you were buying all sorts of things to snack on. And it looks like you were eating something on the way back, too... How are you still hungry?"
Marina shot him a look of pure disbelief, but Rei simply shrugged in response.
In truth, his enormous appetite was among the most prominent of his many shortcomings. Since he currently possessed enough wealth to be called a rich man, it wasn't a problem — but if he'd been an adventurer of merely ordinary skill, he might well have starved to death.
"Well, that's fine, isn't it? They say children who eat well grow up strong. Oh, that's right. If you're amenable, in addition to the reward for this request, I'll treat you all to dinner tonight."
It was, naturally, Rei whose eyes lit up at the word "treat."
Of course, Rei had enough wealth stored in his Misty Ring to live comfortably for the rest of his life — enough to be fine even if he were reincarnated several times over. But even so, being treated was a pleasant feeling, and there was always the possibility of discovering a dish he'd never tried before.
Since Bistol had only arrived in Gilm today, the chances that he knew a restaurant both delicious and unknown to Rei seemed slim, though.
"Uhh... um, Bistol-san. Maybe you should reconsider that..." Lenora began.
"My, why ever not? Rei-chan went to a great deal of trouble this time. And you held a memorial for my friends, too... this much of a thank-you is only natural, isn't it?"
As he had mentioned when they first met, Bistol possessed knowledge of the Crimson Lotus Wings, and by extension, of Rei. However, that information was strictly about him as an adventurer — he knew nothing of Rei's daily habits.
That is to say, he had no idea just how much Rei typically ate.
Listening to the conversation between Rei and Marina, he might have gathered that Rei had a healthy appetite, but he couldn't know the sheer scale. Much less did he know that among the Crimson Lotus Wings, there was also Byune — who consumed an amount entirely disproportionate to her small frame — and, more importantly, that Gryphon Seto was among them.
No, he was of course aware of Set's existence, but even so, he surely never imagined that a gryphon would be included among the dinner guests.
"...You're right. Well, if Bistol-san insists, I won't say anything further. However, I would recommend a restaurant called the Suishoutei, if you're treating. I hear it's inexpensive, the portions are generous, and the food is delicious."
Lenora steered him toward a restaurant that would at least minimize the damage to Bistol's wallet.
Bistol didn't seem to pick up on Lenora's intentions, but the Gilm restaurants he knew of were few in number. He had heard a certain amount from business associates, friends, and acquaintances who had visited Gilm, but that was the extent of it.
That being the case, Bistol was genuinely grateful to receive up-to-date restaurant information.
"Thank you, Lenora-chan. I'll get you some nice cosmetics next time. I use them myself, so the results are guaranteed~"
"U-umm... a-ahaha. I, um, I'll look forward to it."
Being told they were cosmetics that Bistol himself used, Lenora had no idea what kind of products they might actually be. She was curious, yes, but also, if she was honest, a little frightened.
But Bistol was surely accustomed to such reactions. With a small wink, he turned back to Rei.
"Now then, shall we go? First, I need to confirm the materials."
"Ah... yeah. Right, let's go."
Rei had plenty he wanted to say to Bistol, but he understood that pressing the issue would only waste time. Without another word, he left the room with Marina in tow.
"We'll have them put them here."
After leaving the Guild, Bistol led Rei, Marina, and Set to the material storage area where he had originally been meant to deliver his goods.
The situation had evidently been explained through the Guild already, for Guards were stationed at the site. Under normal circumstances, guarding materials was a job left to adventurers, but given the recent bandit attack, they were clearly taking no chances.
Strictly speaking, the attackers hadn't been bandits at all but a private military force — though those details had not yet been made public. The plan was to extract information from the captives Rei and the others had taken, after which the upper leadership, including Daskar, would pass judgment.
However, according to what Marina had told Rei, depending on who had orchestrated this incident, the matter might never be made public at all.
Had this been the work of a nation other than the Kingdom of Mireana, the situation would have been far less complicated. They could simply issue a statement condemning the offending nation and demand that the mastermind be handed over. Whether the other side would meekly comply was a separate matter, but at least the condemnation could be made openly.
But if those behind the attack were a hostile faction within the Kingdom of Mireana itself, public condemnation would become far more difficult. Daskar certainly had no intention of letting the matter slide; he would retaliate through whatever means necessary.
If he did nothing and swept it under the rug, it would only reinforce the perception that Daskar would not strike back no matter what was done to him — and those who sought to extend their reach into his territory would only multiply.
The frontier city of Gilm was a prize so coveted that others would reach down their own throats to seize it. To prevent such attempts, a firm retaliation was necessary, even if it never became public knowledge.
(Well, that probably doesn't have much to do with me, though.)
With that thought, Rei was prompted by Bistol and began retrieving the materials stored inside his Misty Ring.
...Roughly thirty percent of those materials were items that even Bistol didn't recognize — proof that Bistol's group had not been the only ones attacked by the private soldiers.