"Nwaaah! Lord Rei, why yesterday, why..."
"Yeah... right. I completely forgot about you."
Rei had arrived at the wall construction site as usual, but upon spotting him, Malz approached at a speed unbelievable for his age and began to lament.
The old mage, utterly devoted to Rei, had been sulking in a manner unbefitting his age, largely because Rei had barely shown his face at the construction site the day before.
Even so, the fact that he didn't complain and merely lamented was probably proof of just how much he respected Rei.
"Sorry. I had some business yesterday. I was completely tied up with it and forgot to come by."
"Nn, nngh... When you apologize so honestly, I can't exactly stay angry... I-I suppose it can't be helped. Just this once."
Accepting Rei's straightforward apology, Malz let go of his anger.
(A guy's... no, an old man's tsundere act... who exactly is that for?)
Rei thought this, but since he had told Malz he'd be right back when spoken to yesterday and ultimately never returned, he didn't point it out.
"So, what do you need? I'll have you know I was busy yesterday, and I'm busy today too... hmm?"
While talking with Malz, Rei suddenly noticed a figure running straight toward him and felt a moment of caution, given what had happened just the day before.
However, upon realizing it was someone he recognized, he immediately relaxed.
"Mercy Rain... right?"
Yes, the ones running toward Rei were the members of the D-Rank party, Mercy Rain.
The difference from before was that there were now five of them.
(I heard one of them went missing... ah, I see. Given the timing...)
Rei recalled the events of the previous night... more accurately, the three carriages that had been at the location where Ajas and his men were.
The kidnapped women had been fitted with slave collars and packed into those carriages, but given the timing, the reason there was one more woman now required no thought to figure out.
"Haa, haa, haa. Rei-san, um, thank you so much!"
The blue-haired woman running at the front reached Rei and bowed deeply.
Malz briefly flashed an annoyed expression at the members of Mercy Rain, but quickly hid it.
For Malz, having his time to talk with Rei interrupted was highly displeasing.
However, upon seeing the group bowing their heads to Rei, he judged it best not to interfere right now.
Of course, that consideration wasn't out of concern for the Mercy Rain members; it was mostly because he simply didn't want to ruin Rei's mood by interrupting their conversation here.
"Ah... it seems you already know the situation."
"Yes. I heard it from Lyusha."
The blue-haired woman said this, shifting her gaze to a woman Rei didn't recognize... Lyusha.
"Um, you're the person from yesterday, right? Thank you so much?"
Rei was slightly bothered by her drawn-out way of speaking and the fact that she ended her sentence with a question for some reason, but deciding there was no need to point it out right now, he simply nodded.
"Yeah. Have you been told about what happened yesterday?"
"Yees. Besides, I was on the outside while inside the carriage, so—"
Through a window, or perhaps a gap in the carriage body—either way, it seemed she could see outside through a gap.
(The Intelligence Unit... no, the Intelligence Unit is fundamentally an organization that doesn't operate in the open. If so, was it the Guard Force who explained the situation to her?)
Convinced of this, Rei voiced a question that had suddenly come to mind.
"I heard you were made to wear a slave collar, but did you remain conscious while it was on you?"
"That's right. I was basically conscious the whole time. But I was ordered not to do anything unnecessary, so I couldn't move."
"I see."
Even among slave collars, there were various levels of performance.
The truly expensive ones could freely manipulate the emotions of the wearer.
Naturally, such items were incredibly costly and not something that could be prepared by the dozens like in this case.
In any case, the one Lyusha wore wasn't that powerful, which was likely why she could see and hear what was happening outside.
"Well, I'm glad you're safe. The rest of your party was worried about you; they were on the verge of getting into a fight over it."
When Rei's gaze turned to the remaining four, they awkwardly averted their eyes.
"Jeez. You all need to get along, you know?"
At Rei's words, Lyusha scolded the other four.
But the way she scolded them was like reprimanding children, and it somehow gave a warm, fuzzy feeling to those watching.
Seeing Lyusha like this, Rei also felt relieved that nothing strange had been done to her while she was captured.
There were various suspicious points, but ultimately, she had been taken to be made into a prostitute.
It wouldn't have been surprising if the organization's members or Ajas's group had assaulted her.
"We know. Seriously, don't make us look bad in front of Rei-san."
One of the men from Mercy Rain said this, his cheeks reddening from embarrassment at Lyusha's words.
Having had their comrade saved by Rei, they honestly probably wanted to look a bit cool.
"Well, I'm glad you're all safe in the end. So, what are you all going to do now? Given that your comrade went through such a terrible experience, are you not going to work in Gilm anymore?"
"We thought about that at first. But that would feel like losing, and we didn't like that, you know? So we've decided to keep working in Gilm for a while... Fortunately, we won't have any shortage of work right now."
"I see. Do your best, then."
For now, all Rei could do was offer those words of encouragement.
In reality, no matter what Rei said, it would be meaningless if they didn't have the motivation themselves, so he wasn't wrong.
And that choice was by no means a mistake.
At Rei's words, the members of Mercy Rain nodded happily.
To the members of Mercy Rain, Rei was an Alias-Holding High-Rank Adventurer.
Under normal circumstances, they felt he was not someone they could casually approach.
Having had their comrade saved by him on top of that, it was only natural for them to harbor strong feelings of goodwill toward Rei.
"Yes. Well then, we're going to get ready for work right away."
Saying that, the members of Mercy Rain began to leave... but before they did, only Lyusha stopped and bowed to Rei once more.
"Rei-san, thank you so very much for this. Thanks to you, I'm able to be with my comrades again like this."
Dropping her characteristic drawn-out speech, she bowed to Rei with firm, proper language.
As she raised her head, the usual Lyusha was back.
"Well then, excuse me."
Lyusha said this and ran after her comrades.
Rei watched the five of them leave, but suddenly noticed a gaze directed at him.
The one looking at him was Malz, who had been listening to the conversation between Rei and the Mercy Rain members.
Noticing Malz directing a somewhat surprised gaze at him, Rei put on a puzzled expression and opened his mouth.
"What is it?"
"Ah... no. I was just thinking that Lord Rei is involved in various things beyond this expansion project. Judging from that conversation, you got caught up in that party's problem. Come to think of it, you spoke to them before, Lord Rei; was it related to that?"
"No, it's not. It was something else... well, a lot of things happened. Unfortunately, I can't speak of it."
Rei vaguely deflected the topic, deciding it was better not to speak about Ilse's revenge.
Many people already knew about Ilse's revenge.
But since it was still something that could be called Ilse's private matter, Rei felt that saying it from his own mouth was a bit different.
Whether he had some thoughts upon seeing Rei's attitude, Malz didn't press the matter further.
"More importantly, Lord Rei. Please show me the Death Scythe."
"Again? Well, I guess it's fine."
At Malz's words to change the subject, Rei took the Death Scythe out of his Misty Ring with a bothered look and placed it on the ground.
Seeing this, Malz began to examine it closely, trying to analyze even a little about the Death Scythe.
Watching Malz do so, Rei felt relieved that the topic had changed.
The wisdom of age... that's probably what it should be called.
Of course, demanding Rei bring out the Death Scythe, which he was interested in, at the same time as diverting the topic, left Rei with the impression that he was a sly old man.
"Hmmm... not only does it function as a magic catalyst, but it has this weight on its own. And on top of that, it has the effect of making you not feel it, Lord Rei. Imbuing a Magic Catalyst with effects as a Magic Item isn't that rare of an idea, but..."
"You've said that before. Looking at the Death Scythe over and over and saying the same kind of thing... don't you get tired of it?"
"No, no, I don't get tired of it at all. It may seem like I'm saying the same thing, but in reality, there's always a new discovery every time I look at it. Above all, looking at this Death Scythe gives birth to all sorts of new ideas."
"Didn't you originally take interest in me because of my magic, not Magic Items? How did you end up being more interested in Magic Items than magic before I knew it?"
Rei said this, but in truth, what Malz had become interested in was Terrain Manipulation... not Rei, but a skill the Death Scythe possessed.
Outwardly, it was officially treated as Earth-type Magic, though.
(Did Malz figure that out? ...Well, apparently there are Magic Swords that shoot fire, and Magic Swords wreathed in lightning, so thinking about it that way, it wouldn't be strange for him to misunderstand that the Death Scythe has the ability to manipulate earth, right?)
If that were the case, it would be slightly troublesome... but still not fatal.
Of course, if the abilities other than Terrain Manipulation were discovered, or worse, directly witnessed, that would be a different story... but fortunately, Malz didn't seem to have noticed that part.
(Though, knowing Malz, even if he did find out, he probably wouldn't tell anyone else.)
Glancing at Malz, who was staring intently at the Death Scythe as if he hadn't heard Rei's words... or perhaps intentionally ignoring them, Rei then looked around at his surroundings.
The other workers probably understood by now that Malz was special in various ways.
Even seeing him desperately examining the Death Scythe placed on the ground, no one particularly said anything.
If anything, they were focused on preparing for work, which would start soon, prioritizing that instead.
"The wall is coming along decently too."
"Mm? Ah, yes, it is. However, it's still only in the initial stages right now. Who knows when it will finally be completed. It's summer now, so there's no problem, but once winter comes..."
Malz, who had been examining the Death Scythe, must have heard Rei's murmur this time. He responded accordingly.
"Winter, huh... Right now, there are probably people who wish winter would come sooner, but once winter arrives, many will wish summer would come sooner."
Looking up at the summer sky with its cumulonimbus clouds, Rei murmured.
It was currently the height of summer.
Despite it still being morning, a fair number of people were sweating on their foreheads. As always, Rei was wearing the Dragon Robe with its simplified air conditioner function, so he was staying comfortable.
"That's true. At my age, the summer heat takes its toll on me. Especially this year, it feels hotter than usual."
"Does it?"
Was it because of his age that he felt that way? Or was it because this was Malz's first time experiencing summer in Gilm?
Rei didn't know.
As long as he was wearing the Dragon Robe, that was perhaps only natural.
No matter how high or low the temperature got, it would never be uncomfortable for Rei.
Well, if he took off the Dragon Robe, that would be a different story, but Rei basically only took it off when he was at an inn.
And at the Wheat Inn at dusk, the temperature was kept constant thanks to a Magic Item.
At Marina's house, too, that sort of thing was accounted for thanks to Marina's personal ability, Spirit Magic.
Thinking about it like that, it was only natural that Rei couldn't truly understand Malz's words.
Thinking such thoughts, Rei turned his mind to the work he would be doing today.