Riding Set through the sky, Rei spotted the familiar silhouette of a city far in the distance.
It was Gilm—a place Rei could call his hometown in this world of Elgin.
About ten days had passed since he delivered the letter to Dostri in Count Relduct's Territory, and Rei had finally returned to where Gilm was visible.
Incidentally, he did end up buying tableware at Dostri's shop, but at a heavily discounted price.
Rei had insisted on paying properly, knowing the family was likely struggling financially, but Dostri pushed back, insisting it was a token of gratitude—for delivering Jazz's letter, for saving his niece Schiller... and above all, for helping bring down Count Relduct.
What would happen to Count Relduct's Territory now that Relduct had been captured by the Rebel Army?
Rei didn't know either, but Dostri must have judged that things couldn't get any worse than they already were.
Setting aside the aristocracy of Count Relduct's Family, when viewed within the larger framework of the Noble's Faction, stoking public discontent was unquestionably a bad move.
(Well, whether that "bad move" leads them toward pacifying the populace or toward harsher crackdowns under the pretext of punishing insolence toward nobles... I can't say which way it'll go.)
Gazing at the distant figure of Gilm, Rei nonetheless judged that a crackdown was fairly unlikely.
That was because Elena was in the Noble's Faction.
If they tried to suppress the populace without cause, there was no doubt that someone in the Noble's Faction would understand what action Elena—the Alias Holder known as the Princess General—might take.
Even so, Rei could predict that various disturbances would still arise.
"Set, let's head down."
"Gruuu!"
Set cried out at Rei's words and descended toward Gilm's Main Gate.
Rei had previously been asked not to land directly in front of the Main Gate, but lately, that sort of thing had been falling by the wayside.
Of course, unlike before, there was no one in Gilm who didn't know about Rei and Set, and the information that an Alias Holder adventurer with a Gryphon Tamed Monster was present had spread far and wide.
Among those coming to Gilm, there were even people who hoped to catch a glimpse of Rei and Set.
...Naturally, aside from such individuals, there were also Merchants eager to somehow get close to Rei.
With the expansion construction underway, the number of people arriving in Gilm was growing day by day.
In fact, as Set flew through the sky and Gilm drew closer, Rei could see with his own eyes that a large crowd was lined up in front of the Main Gate.
"Same as always, I see.... Well, we weren't away from Gilm for that long, so I guess it's to be expected."
It hadn't been that long since Rei had set out for Count Relduct's Territory.
...The speed of that travel was, naturally, largely thanks to Set.
At any rate, watching the same line as when he departed, Rei touched down on the ground.
"Whoa!"
The nearby Guards and those waiting to complete entry procedures cried out in surprise, but the Guards quickly recognized Set and realized it was Rei, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Rei, don't startle us like that."
"Yeah, my bad.... We've had a lot going on. I'm heading inside."
So saying, Rei proceeded into Gilm, and the Guards didn't say anything in particular.
"Hey, why does that man get to enter Gilm without going through procedures!"
A Plain Man who had been waiting in line raised his voice in protest, but the Guard calmly addressed him.
"Rei is allowed to enter Gilm freely without procedures for the duration of the expansion work. Well, that should tell you he's been entrusted with a role that important."
The man heard the Guard's words and, though not fully satisfied, fell silent.
He understood that being granted such preferential treatment required commensurate power.
In this case, "power" didn't mean combat strength alone. Wealth, connections, and various other things—it meant not just direct might, but many different kinds of strength.
In other words, the man understood that Rei possessed that level of power.
...Given that Rei was riding Set, it wouldn't have been strange for him to understand this.
No, to be precise, he did understand it. But watching Rei walk right through while he himself had been waiting in line for hours just to complete entry procedures, he couldn't help but voice his frustration.
"There you go, your procedures are finished too, so you can go on in. Gilm is more crowded than usual right now. Make sure you don't get caught up in any trouble."
So told, the man nodded with a still-somewhat-dissatisfied expression and entered Gilm.
"Oh, isn't that Rei? Haven't seen you around lately. What's going on?"
A Village Gatekeeper standing in front of the Lord's Manor called out to Rei upon seeing him.
As before, Merchants seeking an audience with Daskar were gathered nearby.
Those Merchants directed gazes of mixed emotions toward Rei.
Beyond jealousy, many also sent looks brimming with greed, recognizing him as a potential source of profit.
But Rei knew that getting involved with such Merchants would only lead to troublesome outcomes, so without paying them any particular mind, he called out to the Village Gatekeeper.
"I'd like to report a completed request to Lord Daskar."
"...Lord Daskar?"
The Village Gatekeeper probably hadn't been informed about this request. He tilted his head slightly at Rei's words, but another Village Gatekeeper spoke up.
"Understood. I'll go inform them for now, so wait inside the manor."
He would normally have been told to only allow those with business inside the manor, but Rei was exceptional in many ways.
He was highly valued by Daskar, and the benefits and achievements he had brought to Gilm thus far were incomparable to those of the Merchants currently waiting in front of the Lord's Manor.
Also, the Village Gatekeeper probably understood that Rei was not fond of Merchants... or more accurately, of Merchants who came pushing aggressively.
Trying not to pay attention to the stares from the Merchants, Rei entered the manor.
As usual, Set headed to the stables, and a Maid who had been briefed on the situation by the Village Gatekeeper guided Rei to one of the reception rooms.
The Maid, who was aware of the circumstances, had probably been considerate—there was no one else in the reception room Rei was guided to.
"I will inform Lord Daskar right away, so please wait a moment."
Placing down tea and baked sweets, the Maid exited the room.
Seeing her off, Rei looked around the room.
As befitted a reception room, the interior was designed so that visiting guests could relax comfortably.
That applied equally to the paintings hanging on the walls and the vases placed on the shelves.
Normally, such so-called works of art were not particularly interesting to Rei.
However, the Magic Items that Relduct had possessed were all classified as works of art.
Having seen them, Rei must have developed at least some interest in that area.
(I would have preferred Magic Items like weapons, honestly.... Could it be that Relduct deliberately sent those kinds of Magic Items my way as retaliation?)
For a moment, he considered the possibility, but immediately shook his head and dismissed the idea.
Relduct had lost both arms, had his wounds cauterized by a crude method to stop the bleeding, and had his face covered in tears, mucus, and drool.
In such a state, Rei couldn't imagine him pulling off any kind of scheme to trap him.
Given enough time, his hatred toward Rei might grow and drive him to action... that was conceivable, but the idea of him immediately retaliating right after being attacked was simply unthinkable.
If he had that kind of fortitude, he certainly wouldn't have ended up in such a pathetic state.
"Still... what to do with those Magic Items."
He had taken them from Relduct as retaliation, but there was little point in Rei holding Magic Items classified as artwork.
No, rather, leaving them to gather dust inside his Misty Ring could practically be called harmful, in the sense that it kept the artwork out of public view.
Because of that, he wanted to do something about it, but he couldn't exactly decorate his room at the Wheat Inn where he was staying.
For one thing, they were extremely valuable items, so leaving them in a careless place carried a real risk of theft.
Especially now, with many people who wouldn't normally come to Gilm gathered in large numbers, the danger of theft was even higher.
...If they were Gilm residents, they would know that recklessly messing with Rei was suicidal, but right now, many who didn't know that were present.
Rei had no intention of dealing with such people, so there was nowhere appropriate to leave them.
"Marina's mansion, perhaps?"
Marina, an exceptionally skilled Spirit Magic user, could certainly handle protecting the Magic Items without issue.
Also, in terms of maintaining the Magic Items, leaving it to Marina would save Rei the trouble.
Rei had been thinking that in the worst case, he would sell them for money, but decorating Marina's mansion was starting to seem like the best option.
Just as he decided to consult Marina about it after finishing his reports to Daskar and the Guild, a knock came at the reception room door, as if waiting for Rei's thoughts to come together.
He urged the person to enter, and there stood the same Maid who had guided him earlier.
"Excuse me. Lord Daskar is ready for you."
"Got it."
Draining the remaining tea from his cup, Rei rose from his chair and was guided by the Maid toward the Office.
"Ooh, Rei. Good to have you back. I didn't think you'd fail, but I'm glad to see you safe and sound."
Daskar, wearing a full smile, received a small bow from Rei.
"I believe I completed the request, for the most part.... Though I ended up going beyond the scope of the original assignment."
Rei was thinking of the mine incident.
Collapsing and destroying a mine was, by any measure, a considerable achievement.
...Though as long as he was ostensibly on the Kingdom of Mireana's side, it wasn't something he could do openly.
"I see. Then let's hear your report right away."
Urging Rei to sit on the sofa, Daskar also moved from his desk to the sofa and spoke.
It seemed to Rei that Daskar was wearing an expression that anticipated an interesting story.
He had been buried in paperwork lately, and was probably hoping to dispel that frustration with Rei's tale.
"Let's see, where to begin.... First, on the way to Count Relduct's Territory, I rescued a woman named Schiller who had been abducted by Orcs. Her father, Jazz, was originally from Count Relduct's Territory, so I was able to gather quite a bit of information from him."
"...That's another remarkably convenient turn of events."
The person Rei rescued en route to Count Relduct's Territory happened to be someone who had fled from there.
Hearing that alone, anyone would naturally think it was too convenient.
Rei wouldn't deny that he would think the same if told by someone else.
"It might be understandable to think so under normal circumstances, but... according to Jazz, Schiller's father, Count Relduct's Territory was under heavy taxation, with governance that could fairly be called oppressive."
"...The Noble's Faction's general approach is that nobles of noble blood are meant to lead the populace, but..."
Noblesse Oblige. The obligation of the noble.
Rei had encountered various subcultures while in Japan as well.
It was a term that occasionally appeared in those works.
He could understand that the Noble's Faction were supposedly people who practiced this Noblesse Oblige.
Of course, the result of them twisting it to their own convenience was probably the kind of politics that had been conducted in Count Relduct's Territory.
"At any rate, it seems that a fair number of people have been fleeing from Count Relduct's Territory. Thinking of it that way, my encounter with Jazz might not be so strange after all."
"...I suppose you may be right. And? What else?"
Prompted to continue, Rei went on with his report.
...That Daskar showed slight interest in a hotpot made with river fish came as a surprise to Rei.