While Rei, the rest of the Crimson Lotus Wings, Elena, and Ara were enjoying a pleasant evening at Marina's house, Ilse harbored feelings that were the exact opposite.
The inn where Ilse had secured a room was the type that had no dining hall and served no meals.
Given that was the case, she had no choice but to go to a dining hall, tavern, or food stall if she wanted to eat.
Among those options, Ilse had come to a tavern partly to gather information about her enemy.
She ordered ale and a few dishes, planning to simply prick up her ears and eavesdrop on the conversations of the people making noise around her.
That had been her intention, but...
"And that's why there's this annoying guy hanging around Vihera-san."
Thud.
Saying that with a voice full of dissatisfaction, Melan, who for some reason was sitting across from Ilse, slammed his mug of ale onto the table.
Yes, for some reason, Ilse was currently sharing a meal with Melan.
At first, she had tried to decline, saying that as a Low-Rank Adventurer she didn't have much money, but Melan insisted on treating her, making it impossible to refuse.
The town patrol work Melan was currently doing required a certain level of combat ability due to the nature of the job, but precisely because of that, the pay was reasonably high.
...Though compared to the Young Mages working on the new wall, it was considerably less.
Even so, treating a lone woman to a meal was no problem at all for him.
"I see. It must be painful having another man near the person you love. ...Besides, considering Vihera-san's beauty..."
At first, when she heard the name Vihera, Ilse didn't know who that was.
But listening to Melan's description, she gathered that this woman possessed beauty worthy of being called peerless, and wore thin garments like a Dancer or Prostitutes would wear.
Being told that much, it didn't take Ilse long to realize this was the person who had saved her earlier that day.
Come to think of it, the men who had approached her had called her Vihera, hadn't they?
"Exactly! And that guy Rei doesn't just have Vihera-san, he's got several other beauties just like her surrounding him..."
"...Several, you say? Beauties on the same level as Vihera-san?"
The words that came out of Melan's mouth were something Ilse simply couldn't believe.
A beauty that one might be lucky to see once in a lifetime... and there were several others besides Vihera.
Ilse had a fair amount of confidence in her own appearance, which was exactly why Vihera's beauty had so overwhelmed her.
"That's right! Seriously, that guy Rei... just because he has some ability..."
"But still, this Rei person is that Crimson, right? The one said to have a Gryphon as a Tamed Monster. Making an enemy of an Alias Holder and High-Rank Adventurer... you should probably reconsider..."
Ilse recalled the Gryphon she had seen while walking through Gilm earlier that day.
Up until Abuelo, which was near Gilm, the towns had been normal, with only minor exceptions.
But Gilm alone could be called an extraordinary place in many respects.
"Even if he's an Alias Holder, I can't forgive anyone who makes Vihera-san unhappy!"
His voice laced with irritation, he brought the mug he had slammed on the table earlier back to his mouth.
He wasn't savoring the ale; he was gulping it down forcefully, as if to suppress his frustration.
"Pwah! ...One more, please!"
Calling out to a Waitress passing nearby, Melan reached for the food on the table.
He brought to his mouth a stir-fry dish, cooked salty to pair well with alcohol.
Perhaps due to working under the blazing sun, that salty dish tasted quite good to Melan.
And so, drinking the fresh ale the Waitress brought and continuing to eat... it became clear he wasn't much of a drinker to begin with.
Melan's face turned red from the alcohol.
Looking at Melan, who was completely drunk... Ilse suddenly felt like asking the man in front of her a question.
Normally she wouldn't do such a thing, but Ilse was also drunk.
Above all, the fact that she had found the enemy she had been searching for over many years that very day was significant.
"Hey, Melan-san. There's something I'd like to ask you, if that's alright?"
"Mm-ah... What is it, being so formal? We're close, aren't we, Ilse? Ask me anything."
We're close? she couldn't help but think, but if he was that drunk to begin with, it worked out conveniently for Ilse.
Mainly in the sense that whatever she asked here would probably stay in this moment only, and he likely wouldn't remember it by tomorrow.
"Revenge... what do you think of it?"
"Revenge? Ah... I think it's a meaningless act."
The moment she heard those words, Ilse felt a rush of blood to her head, despite having asked the question herself.
She had asked several people before what they thought of the act of revenge.
But most of them told her that revenge was meaningless, a foolish act.
Of course, not everyone said that, but still, many told her revenge had no meaning.
She had expected that such an answer would come back.
From what she had talked about with him, Melan, while somewhat self-righteous, was fundamentally a man with a strong sense of justice.
Even understanding Melan's personality, she had still asked what he thought of revenge.
So getting the answer she had predicted—and yet not the one she had hoped for—getting angry about it would be the wrong response.
"Ah, hey. Melan-san. This stew is also delicious, you know? Would you like to try some?"
"Mm? Oh, then maybe I will."
At Ilse's words, spoken with the intent of deflecting the conversation, the drunk Melan's attention was easily diverted.
Though his hands wobbled from the alcohol, he ate the stew.
"Ah, it's good. Really good. Just like Ilse said."
Whether he could actually taste it in his drunken state, Ilse couldn't tell.
But since Melan said it was delicious, she judged there probably wasn't any issue.
(In this situation, if food with poison or something in it were served, what would he even plan to do? Well, I suppose it just means he trusts me that much.)
Eating the salty stir-fried Orc meat that was seasoned to go with alcohol, Ilse looked at Melan sitting across from her.
Then, pretending to be casual, Ilse opened her mouth again.
"Come to think of it, when I went to the Guild today, there was a man with a snake tattoo on his left arm. It looked like the snake was crawling up his arm as if the arm were a tree. It was the first time I'd seen a tattoo like that, so I was a little surprised."
"Mmh... Ilse...?"
Having eaten and drunk his fill... the alcohol had probably fully taken effect by now.
He no longer had the composure to respond to Ilse's words.
(Did I ask too late?)
Ilse, who had hoped she might gain some information about her enemy, wondered while sipping her ale whether she had made a mistake in the order of the conversation, as she watched Melan.
Melan, now practically slumped over the table, was half-passed out from the alcohol.
"Ah... mmh...? ...Rei, you...!"
Glancing at Melan making those noises, Ilse looked around the tavern to figure out what to do.
A considerable amount of time must have passed while she was talking with Melan.
Most of the customers in the tavern were already drunk.
Among them, a few had passed out just like Melan.
"Well now, what should I do?"
In this situation, gathering information would be difficult.
If possible, she wanted to gather as much information as she could before things reached this state... Thinking that, Ilse brought the ale to her mouth.
Of course, not everyone in the tavern was drunk.
Those with strong tolerance were naturally present, and there were also some customers who had entered the establishment late.
If she poured drinks for such people, getting them to talk wouldn't be difficult.
Glancing at Melan, she saw that while he had still been awake earlier, he was now completely drunk and fast asleep.
In that case.
Ilse looked around the tavern once more.
Even if she were to gather information, she needed to carefully choose her targets.
Being lightly touched on the body was one thing, but there were no small number of men who would demand she sleep with them in exchange for information.
If possible, she wanted someone who would share information just for the company over drinks... and someone who was somewhat loose-lipped.
Of course, someone already passed out like Melan was out of the question, but someone still relatively sober with a tight-lipped nature was also undesirable.
As she searched for someone who looked like they might have information... eventually she spotted a trio drinking cheerfully a short distance away.
Perhaps because they were in a tavern, they weren't equipped with Armor or the like.
Still, seeing that they carried longswords and short swords, Ilse could guess they were probably adventurers.
She cast one last glance at Melan, confirming he was completely fast asleep.
The fact that he wasn't as strong a drinker as Ilse was one factor, and the fatigue from training and moving his body even after work was likely another.
Additionally, drinking with a beautiful woman like Ilse and consuming alcohol faster than usual out of jealousy toward Rei were also factors.
For various reasons, Melan had ended up in his current state.
(He probably won't wake up for a while.)
Confirming that, she headed toward the boisterously drinking trio.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Hm? What do you need, miss?"
The trio consisted of men appearing to be in their thirties, twenties, and teens.
Of course, that was merely Ilse's estimation based on appearances.
There were quite a few people in the world whose age couldn't be judged by looks, Elves being a prime example.
In response to the thirties man's words, Ilse smiled and opened her mouth.
"Actually, my companion passed out in no time at all."
She told them, and her gaze turned toward the passed-out Melan.
The three men followed Ilse's gaze, saw the passed-out Melan, and nodded in understanding.
"But I'd like to drink a bit more. So when I saw you all having fun drinking, I got envious. If you don't mind, could I drink with you?"
"Of course! Drinking with a beauty is more than welcome!"
The twenties man welcomed Ilse with evident delight.
The teens boy cast a somewhat suspicious glance at her.
A woman deliberately coming to another table on her own to drink with them.
It wasn't that such a thing never happened, but it was certainly not common.
Ilse was aware of the suspicious gaze directed at her, but without appearing bothered, she sat down in a chair and spoke.
"I just arrived in Gilm today. What about you?"
"We're pretty much the same. It's been about ten days or so since we came to Gilm, I guess?"
"Yeah, something like that."
In response to the thirties man's words, the twenties man replied.
"Oh, then you've already been working for a while. How is it? I hear there's all sorts of work available."
Disguising herself as a woman gathering information—or rather, a woman whose presence in a tavern wouldn't seem unusual—Ilse asked the Adventurer Trio.
At Ilse's casual question, the twenties man smiled and spoke.
"Yeah. The work is tough in a lot of ways, but you get paid properly for what you do. I've been hauling materials and doing odd jobs for the new wall construction... and it's been really educational."
"Really? You've worked as an adventurer before, right?"
"Ah... yeah. But I'd never been involved in such a large-scale construction project before."
"True. But, you know. Where was it again... oh right, Ruta? We repaired the wall in that village, didn't we?"
"A wall is a wall, but there's a huge difference between a single plank wall and Gilm's wall, don't you think?"
In response to the thirties man's words, the twenties man retorted.
For a while after that, Ilse continued drinking enjoyably with the three men.
Then, when the topic of Gilm having quite a lot of unusual adventurers came up, Ilse spoke up as if she had been waiting for exactly that moment.
"Come to think of it, when I went to the Guild today, there was a male adventurer with a snake tattoo on his left arm. It was quite a large tattoo, so I was a little surprised... are there many adventurers in Gilm with tattoos like that?"
"Tattoos? Hmm, I don't know of any. If it were a lion tattoo instead of a snake, I saw one on the way to Gilm... in Abuelo, was it? I saw one there."
When the thirties man answered, the other two nodded in agreement.
"Is that so? Then I guess it is rare after all."
While regretting that she had obtained no information about her enemy, Ilse continued the conversation in a way that ensured the topic wouldn't remain in the men's memories.