Having visited the Lord's Manor many times before, Set separated from Rei and the others and headed to the garden, already accustomed to the routine.
Rei and his party were then guided to the office by one of Daskar's maids.
"There are a lot of people here too."
The number of people walking through the corridor was vastly different from when Rei had last visited.
(They probably limit the number of people inside the building at any one time, swapping them in and out so that other merchants can enter.)
As Rei walked down the corridor, casually observing his surroundings, the maid glanced back at him and spoke with a smile.
"At present, merchants visit here nearly every day. From representatives of trading firms whose names no one in Gilm has ever heard, to conversely, those whose names everyone would recognize... all sorts of merchants come."
"I'd imagine."
With this many people gathered, it was only natural that a wide variety had come, from large trading firms to independent merchants.
(Even so, the ones in here are probably those who weren't selected for this expansion project... huh.)
In the direction Rei's gaze wandered, several merchants widened their eyes in surprise at the sight of his party.
If Set had been present, their attention would have been drawn to him, but at this moment, it was Marina and Vihera who commanded all the stares.
Rei, with the hood of his Dragon Robe pulled up, and Byune, a child, did receive some glances, but they didn't attract nearly as much attention.
(Well, considering the appearance of those two, it's only natural.)
One was a Dark Elf—a race so rare that even in Gilm, where many people gathered, there were exceedingly few of them. The other was a woman dressed in thin garments that made her look like a prostitute or a dancer.
Moreover, since both were beauties of such caliber that one might only encounter once in a lifetime, there was no way they wouldn't draw attention.
For Marina and Vihera, however, such stares were an everyday occurrence, so they didn't seem to particularly mind.
The maid guiding the party observed the two women with a hint of surprise and admiration as she continued leading them toward the office.
A few merchants tried to call out to Marina and Vihera, but every single one was unable to speak, intimidated by the aura the two women exuded.
And so, without being approached by anyone, Rei and his party arrived at Daskar's office, but...
"Don't mess with me, you idiot! Do you really think such a plan would be approved!"
The moment the maid reached out to knock on the door—a door that could truly be described as a work of art—a shout echoed from inside.
(Something happened.)
Rei, Marina, and Vihera exchanged glances, sharing that same thought.
Byune, on the other hand, simply stared silently at the door without changing her expression, as usual.
Less than ten seconds after the shout, a merchant in his mid-twenties emerged from the office.
No, it would be more accurate to say he fled.
He violently threw the door open and ran straight past Rei and his party.
His appearance was truly desperate; his face bore an expression suggesting he feared he would be killed if he stayed in that office a moment longer.
The maid, however, seemed completely oblivious to the man's state and called out toward the interior of the office.
"Excuse me, my Lord. I have brought Lord Rei and his party."
"...Ah, come in."
Hearing the voice that responded, the maid ushered Rei and his party inside.
What they saw upon entering was Daskar wearing a distinctly displeased expression.
There was no doubt that the cause of his foul mood was related to the shout they had just heard.
(I thought the ones in here would be sharp-witted merchants, but... it seems there are some who are sharp enough to still say things that anger their counterpart. Well, come to think of it, that's only natural.)
Observing Daskar, Rei kept this thought to himself, careful not to let it show on his face.
"Lord Daskar, I heard you were calling for me at the Guild?"
"Yeah, that's right. Anyway, have a seat. We can't talk if you're all standing. Hey, bring us something light to snack on."
"Yes, sir."
At Daskar's words, the maid bowed and left the room.
Daskar then moved from his desk—which had several piles of paperwork on it—to the sofa reserved for guests.
"You certainly seemed angry, didn't you?"
Waiting until everyone was seated on the sofa, Marina posed the question to Daskar.
If she had been one of Daskar's subordinates, she probably wouldn't have dared to speak to him while he was in such a mood.
But to Marina, Daskar was like a troublesome younger brother.
Or perhaps a childhood friend she used to play with when they were little.
That was why she could speak to him so casually, even with Daskar making such a displeased face with his rugged features.
Daskar didn't seem particularly angered by her informality, though he still spoke with a sour tone.
"Yeah, he suggested that we lower the quality of the materials used for the expansion by one grade... or maybe two."
"...I can see why you'd be angry."
If this weren't the frontier, that proposal might have been worth considering.
Of course, even in ordinary villages or towns, people didn't cut corners on materials during construction.
That was because, even if not to the same extent as around Gilm, there were monsters, and above all, to prepare against not monsters but people—the likes of bandits—cutting corners there was simply not permitted.
Under such circumstances, Gilm naturally paid close attention to the quality of the materials used in the expansion.
Despite that, the merchant who had just bolted from the office had suggested lowering the quality of the materials without the slightest care.
There was no way Daskar could possibly accept that, and the result was the roar Rei and his party had heard.
"Well, I can't say I don't understand where they're coming from. The materials being used for this expansion are truly first-class, and even among first-class goods, they're of particularly superior quality. The sort of quality that's rarely used even in the Royal Capital. It's not strange for merchants to set their sights on that."
"I'm gathering those materials because they're necessary. If we carelessly cut corners here, we'll be the ones crying about it later. Besides..."
Daskar had gotten that far when a knock echoed through the room, interrupting him.
When Daskar ordered them to enter, the maid from before returned with several others, carrying cups of tea and sandwiches for everyone.
The sandwiches appeared to be freshly made, and the aroma of freshly cooked meat drifted through the room from several of the fillings.
Fundamentally, sandwiches were meant to be eaten after cooling down; it was standard practice to let them sit for a while after assembling them so the bread could settle and absorb the ingredients—essentially letting them mature.
But the sandwiches on the table right now were warm ones, filled with freshly prepared ingredients.
They could be called sandwiches made specifically to be eaten immediately after being put together.
They were delicious, but once the filling cooled, they would become unpalatable—perhaps best described as sandwiches with a short window of optimal taste.
After the maids left and Daskar told them to go ahead and eat, Rei and Byune reached for the sandwiches.
A moment later, Marina, Vihera, and Daskar did the same.
What Rei picked up was something that could fittingly be called a steak sandwich—some kind of meat that had been grilled and then sandwiched in bread with vegetables.
Thanks to Daskar's instruction to bring something that could be easily picked up, all the sandwiches were bite-sized.
Eating his sandwich, Daskar spoke again.
"Well, putting that matter aside. I called you all here—to be precise, I called Rei here—because I have a job I'd like to request."
Perhaps the food had served as a change of pace and helped him calm down somewhat.
Daskar set aside his earlier indignation for the moment and spoke.
"Me?"
"Yeah. Originally, I was only calling Rei, but... well, I expected Marina and the others to come along too."
He briefly glanced at Marina, but she simply offered a radiant smile in return.
Her demeanor clearly said that her being here was a given.
Vihera wore a similar smile, while Byune was single-mindedly devouring her sandwiches.
Looking over the members of the Crimson Lotus Wings, Daskar let out a sigh as if giving up.
"The truth is, I called Rei here because it concerns the recent theft of materials."
"Ah, that incident."
The recovery of the stolen materials and the capture of the culprits—someone disguised as bandits who were actually the private soldiers of an unknown party.
In addition, the amount of stolen materials was greater than what Bistol, the merchant with the overpowering personality who had originally submitted the request to Rei, had been transporting.
Since there was no particular reason for Rei to keep those materials, they were sold off to Gilm—or more accurately, to Daskar—through the Guild.
As Daskar had just mentioned, the materials used for this expansion project were all first-class.
Because of that, while payment hadn't been made yet, it was certain that the sum would be considerable when Rei received his reward for the expansion work.
"That's right. Because you all brought nearly every one of them back as captives, the interrogation went smoothly too."
What kind of interrogation had taken place, Rei couldn't know.
But he could guess that many of those who underwent it had likely ended up in miserable circumstances.
(If they'd spilled the information readily, I don't think they'd have been treated too harshly, though.)
That sort of thing had nothing to do with Rei and his party who had captured them, and more importantly, they had no interest in it.
No—they were interested in the information obtained from the captives, though.
"So, whose people were they in the end? Being able to maintain that many private soldiers would require a fairly large trading firm, or... perhaps none other than a noble."
"Nobles."
At those words spoken so bluntly, Marina twisted her expression in displeasure.
She had said "large trading firm," but she had probably already guessed the answer.
"I see. I suppose the King's Faction is getting desperate too, then."
"No."
Daskar immediately shook his head at Marina's words.
"Eh? No? Then, could it be..."
"Yeah. The ones pulling the strings behind this incident are the Noble's Faction."
"...Really? It's not that the captives were fed false information or anything like that, is it?"
Perhaps it was a scheme to pit the Neutral Faction against the Noble's Faction, forcing them to exhaust their combat power, funds, and supplies.
Marina suggested this, but Daskar shook his head once more.
"No, I was naturally suspicious of that as well. But I had each and every one of them interrogated individually from various different angles. If they could all answer without any contradictions, then they wouldn't be working as private soldiers—they'd be working somewhere with much better conditions."
"I see. But what were they thinking, doing something like that? Honestly, it's not that I can't understand it at all, but it just looks like self-destruction to me."
"I'd tend to agree, but it's not uncommon for the Noble's Faction to have people who can't control their emotions with reason. There's a good chance it was some hothead acting out."
Those were words Rei could accept as well.
No—rather, it was precisely because Rei had seen many such nobles up to now that he could accept it.
"I see. I understand the situation, but... so what do you want me to do, calling me here?"
"I want you to retaliate."
"...Huh? Are you sure?"
They had clear evidence secured in the form of captives.
But this was still a different faction from Daskar of the Neutral Faction—a faction that was larger than the Neutral Faction, and one with which they were currently trying to build a friendly relationship.
Also, for Rei, the Noble's Faction was not a stranger's matter, as it was the faction Elena belonged to.
However, Daskar simply nodded in response to Rei's question.
"I don't mind. I'll tell you who to retaliate against, provided you accept the request. I'll leave the method to your discretion, Rei, but as for injuries, try to avoid killing them as much as possible."
"The merchants who were attacked did have casualties, you know? Is that still fine?"
"Even so."
It wasn't as if Rei believed in pretty platitudes like all lives being equal.
Even so, being told so boldly like this wasn't particularly amusing.
Daskar must have imagined Rei would react this way. With a masculine grin, he continued.
"What I'm saying is, simply don't produce any casualties. In other words, you can do anything else. Going overboard would be a problem, though."
At Daskar's words, Rei nodded with a wicked grin and an expression of understanding.
At this point, Rei had already half-decided to accept the request from Daskar.