"Huh. So you came to Gilm looking for work after all, Ilse. ...But coming all the way to Gilm at F-Rank? That's pretty reckless."
"I had a reason I absolutely needed to come to Gilm."
"A reason? Huh? Didn't you come for the expansion construction work?"
"No, that is my goal."
Even as she replied to Melan at the counter, Ilse found the man standing before her somewhat bothersome.
Her lodging was settled, and if possible, she wanted to head out and gather information right away.
Even if gathering intel at a tavern proved difficult, there were other places where people naturally congregated.
And since Ilse's target—her enemy—was an adventurer, going to the Guild was essential.
If things went well... and this was truly only if things went well, there was a possibility, however slim, that her enemy might show up at the Guild completely unaware.
Besides, even setting that aside, Ilse found herself ill-suited to deal with Melan, who kept smiling and chatting at her so cheerfully.
Melan clearly possessed the qualities of the sun, the surface, the light... those kinds of bright attributes.
In contrast, Ilse, who was searching for the enemy who had killed her parents and brother with every intention of killing them in return, was his exact opposite.
For someone like Ilse, talking to Melan was mentally exhausting.
Not that she let it show.
The fact remained that Melan was one of the adventurers who had arrived in Gilm before her.
As such, there was a decent chance he held information she didn't.
Since she couldn't go gather intelligence at the Guild or elsewhere just yet, she wanted to squeeze at least something useful out of Melan... or so she had been thinking.
But then, a helping hand was extended.
"Melan, that's enough. This Ilse girl only just arrived in Gilm today. She probably searched quite a bit for an inn before coming here too... let her rest."
"Ah, my bad. You're right. It goes without saying how hard it is to find lodging in Gilm right now."
Melan himself had trudged through a fair number of inns before finding this one. How difficult it must have been for Ilse was easy enough for him to imagine.
Though, to be fair, when Melan had arrived, the number of people flocking to Gilm for work had been smaller than it was now.
Even then, it had taken him quite a while to find this place. Considering that, he could certainly understand that finding a room in Gilm now, with even more people than back then, would be a challenge.
"No, please don't worry. I've learned a lot of useful things about Gilm."
What a good girl, the Hobbyist Shop Owner thought, handing the key to Ilse, who had said as much to spare Melan's pride.
"Here. This is the key to your room. It's in the back of the second floor—the Fang Room."
"...The Fang Room?"
Normally, wouldn't rooms be distinguished by number?
Ilse found the question puzzling, but since she was told she'd understand once she went upstairs, she said nothing more.
"Alright, I'll show you the way. It's this way."
Whether out of consideration or because he wanted to talk with Ilse a little longer... either way, Melan led her up to the second floor.
Ilse found Melan mildly annoying, but if it meant she didn't have to search for her room herself, she would follow along.
Of course, finding a room with a Fang Plate hanging on the door wasn't exactly difficult.
When they reached a spot not too far from the stairs, Ilse hesitated over what to do about Melan.
He wasn't casting any vulgar looks her way, and she fully understood that he was doing this out of pure kindness.
But... even so, it was an undeniable fact that Ilse didn't care for Melan's personality—that she found him difficult to deal with.
Then, as if reading Ilse's thoughts with perfect timing, Melan spoke up.
"Alright, I'll take my leave here. I'm planning to get some training in."
"Training?"
To Ilse, Melan seemed to possess considerable strength.
At the very least, enough that she felt she could never match him with her own skills.
"Yeah. ...There's someone I have to defeat. To save Vihera-san from that man's evil clutches."
When spoken with such fierce determination, Ilse couldn't exactly make light of it.
She hadn't been showing her emotions on her face to begin with, and in Melan's case, he might not have noticed even if she had... or so she couldn't help but think. It wasn't unreasonable for Ilse to think that way, just in case.
"You have someone you need to defeat?"
"Yeah. Vihera-san... he's deceiving the woman I love."
"Deceiving?"
Ilse looked slightly puzzled, but since she had no intention of getting involved with Melan that deeply, she left it at that.
"Well then, I'd like to unpack and take a short rest, so I'll excuse myself here."
"Got it. If there's anything you're unsure about, feel free to ask. If there's something I can do, I'll help out."
"...Thank you."
Saying only that, Ilse stepped into the room.
If he would really help me, he knows Gilm and he's stronger than me, so he'd be a useful ally... but it's probably just social pleasantry.
Letting out a small sigh, Ilse surveyed the room.
As expected of a place near the back alleys, the room was quite small.
A bed, a desk, and a simple shelf—those alone took up most of the space.
If Rei were to see this room, he would probably estimate it at about four tatami mats in size.
At the very least, compared to the room Rei stayed in at the Wheat Inn at Dusk, it was considerably smaller, and the fixtures were old and worn.
"At least nothing's rotting. I suppose that's lucky."
She muttered while eyeing the wooden shelf, then quickly began unpacking her belongings.
The inn's rate had been relatively cheap, so if someone were to say the room matched the price, that would be the end of it.
After all, in a worst-case scenario, she might have had to sleep crammed together with a crowd of men in a large shared room, or camp outdoors altogether.
Looking at it that way, being able to sleep in a proper private room, even with somewhat dated facilities, was nothing to complain about.
Anyway... Ilse quickly stowed her luggage.
Her low rank aside, Ilse had traveled through various villages, towns, and cities in search of her enemy.
She was far more accustomed to the road than her rank would suggest.
That was why the luggage she had brought to Gilm was minimal, and organizing the room was finished in no time.
Carrying only her usual dagger, she left the room.
"Oh, you're heading out already?"
"Yes. I need to find work as quickly as possible."
She offered the Hobbyist Shop Owner a smile along with her reply.
Ilse's true purpose was to find her enemy or information leading to them, but looking for work was by no means a lie either.
As an F-Rank adventurer, Ilse faced her share of struggles just earning enough to live on.
...Using her relatively blessed appearance, she had considered earning money as a prostitute on more than one occasion.
But whenever she thought of her kind parents and brother, she couldn't bring herself to do something so frivolous.
If things ever became truly desperate... there was a chance she might have considered it, but fortunately, she hadn't found herself in such a situation yet.
"That's true. If you're not picky about the work, there's no shortage of jobs in Gilm right now. If you're confident in your skills, guarding the wall under construction would be a good option."
"No, unfortunately I don't have much confidence in my abilities..."
In truth, Ilse only possessed the combat ability of an F-Rank adventurer.
She had never had much aptitude for fighting.
Even so, Ilse hadn't given up on her revenge.
"I see. Then... at the construction site, there are various small tasks that can be entrusted to adventurers, so you could try helping out with those."
"Understood. I'll go to the Guild and ask about that."
"You should. Claiming you can do a job you can't actually handle, and then ending up unable to deliver... that would cause all sorts of problems."
After exchanging a few brief words, Ilse bowed to the Hobbyist Shop Owner and left the inn.
"...Circumstances, huh."
Watching the door through which Ilse had departed, the Hobbyist Shop Owner muttered to himself.
An appearance that clearly wasn't suited for adventuring.
Of course, among adventurers, there were many who possessed power that couldn't possibly be guessed from their looks alone.
But... from what he had seen of Ilse, he had a feeling her abilities as an adventurer probably weren't something to get too hopeful about either.
Even so, she had come to Gilm. That meant she definitely had a reason.
In other words, there was no doubt she had some kind of circumstances behind her.
Not that the Hobbyist Shop Owner had any intention of doing anything about it.
He was merely providing Ilse with lodging, nothing more.
He had absolutely no intention of sticking his nose into her business.
Well, if she causes trouble for my inn, that's a different story.
He glanced toward the door with that thought, but quickly shook his head and returned to his work.
"There are so many people."
Overwhelmed by the far greater crowds than she had expected, Ilse made her way toward the Guild.
She had a general idea of the location from asking Melan, and since it was on the main street to begin with, there was no way to get lost.
Ilse was walking along with such thoughts when...
"Eh!?"
Midway through her walk, she let out an involuntary cry at a presence that caught her eye.
What she saw through the gaps between the crowds of people walking by was a creature with the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion...
Naturally, Ilse knew what it was.
An A-Rank monster. A Gryphon.
But despite the presence of such a creature, one that could fittingly be called legendary, the residents of Gilm didn't seem particularly surprised.
On the contrary, some were even petting the Gryphon or offering it food.
What's going on?
She thought perhaps only a handful of people had accepted the Gryphon's presence, but many of those walking along the main street were looking at it with gazes usually reserved for something endearing.
A dream? Or a hallucination?
Had she lost consciousness from the midsummer heat and was dreaming... or had the heat gotten to her and she was seeing things?
She wondered for a moment, but immediately dismissed the thought.
She lightly pinched her own arm, and it hurt normally.
Which meant the Gryphon at the end of her gaze was real... and eventually, she recalled the story she had heard about an Alias Holder adventurer in Gilm who kept a Gryphon as a Tamed Monster.
It hadn't been related to her enemy, so she hadn't listened all that carefully.
But she did remember hearing similar stories in various places.
Crimson Lotus, was it? No, that's not right. Crimson? Yes, I think that was the alias.
As if dredging the memory up from the bottom of her mind, she recalled the rumors about the adventurer with a Gryphon Tamed Monster.
According to the rumors, regardless of whether they were nobles or anything else, he ruthlessly killed anyone who made an enemy of him.
According to the rumors, he possessed overwhelming combat power and had single-handedly ended the war with the Bestia Empire.
According to the rumors, he was quite the womanizer, always keeping beautiful women around him.
Wait.
Remembering that much, Ilse suddenly realized something.
Could he perhaps become a powerful asset in her quest for revenge?
As an adventurer, Ilse possessed only meager combat ability.
Given that, she had never really planned to take down her enemy directly with her own hands.
Of course, if she could exact revenge on the person who had killed her parents and brother herself, that would be ideal.
But she knew her own limitations well enough to understand that was impossible.
If she absolutely had to do it herself, she would need to resort to poison or something of the sort.
Or else... it sent chills down her spine just thinking about it, but she could lure him into bed and strike when he let his guard down while holding her.
But ultimately, as long as she lacked confidence in her own combat ability, the chances of failure were extremely high.
If that was the case, wouldn't it be better to drag in someone whose combat power far exceeded her own?
Fortunately, they say he's a womanizer. If it's just being held by him, I can endure it.
The thought of being held by her enemy filled her with a level of disgust that made her want to die, but if it was for the sake of revenge, she could accept it.
Ilse was aware that she was full of contradictions, but even so, she found herself convinced by her own reasoning.
Besides, if he has a Gryphon, I can travel quickly to other places too.
Since she had no way of knowing whether her enemy was actually in Gilm, a Gryphon would be the ultimate means of transportation, or so Ilse thought.
However, Ilse had no way of knowing that Set fundamentally refused to carry anyone other than Rei.
If she were to use Set for travel, she would have no choice but to cling to its front legs in flight.
With such thoughts swirling in her mind, she left that spot behind, and upon arriving at the Guild, Ilse tried to glance over the requests posted on the Request Board for the time being...
"Eh?"
She stopped in her tracks.
Because there, at the end of her gaze... on the arm of a man lined up at the Guild counter, she spotted a tattoo she recognized.
The very same tattoo as the one on her enemy—the one who had killed her kind parents and brother.