At Zels's invitation, Rei and his party settled onto the sofa, and cold fruit water was promptly served before them.
Rei had plenty of fruit water chilled in bulk during winter stored in his Misty Ring, but the fruit water here was chilled using a Magic Item.
Cold... so thoroughly chilled that one might wonder if it would start freezing if cooled any further.
Rei could understand the appeal of drinking something like this in summer, but it was easy to see why Zels was overweight—he drank things like this and never moved his body.
Then again, a Guild Master's job was to run the Guild, not to fight.
Worker, who had succeeded Marina as Guild Master, possessed very high ability in that role, but from an adventurer's perspective... he had a certain level of skill, yet still couldn't pull off something like beating a veteran adventurer.
No, if the opponent was someone with real talent, there was even a chance of losing to someone who had only just become an adventurer.
In that sense, Zels clearly possessed high ability as a Guild Master after all.
Watching Zels drink the chilled fruit water with evident relish, Rei thought this over and reached for his own glass.
The others followed suit... and Zels, who had been watching them, eventually spoke up.
"So, what exactly is your business? You mentioned you didn't want to draw too much attention?"
"Yes, that's right. Actually, I'd like the Guild to introduce us to a reliable information broker. One who absolutely isn't in anyone else's pocket... especially Jaya's."
Hearing this, Zels frowned, the flesh of his cheeks bunching up.
When it came to information brokers, the Guild had a fair number of contacts.
But an information broker who wasn't in Jaya's pocket... that was extremely difficult to find.
The organization boasting the greatest influence in the nation of Reblurina—that was Jaya.
"Given that they have connections even to the upper echelons of the country, Jaya's influence within this nation is considerable, even if it's confined to our borders."
"...Oh?"
Vihera, who had been listening to Zels's explanation, suddenly found something strange about those words.
Zels paused his explanation and turned his gaze toward her.
"Yes?"
"No, it's just... does Jaya only operate within Reblurina? Not to put too fine a point on it, but Reblurina is a small country, isn't it? If the goal is making money, wouldn't it be more efficient to expand into other countries?"
It was a valid point. If the objective was turning a profit, that would undoubtedly be the best choice.
No matter how you looked at it, Reblurina was ultimately only a small nation.
Even sharing the same vassal status under the Kingdom of Mireana, there were countless countries more developed and larger than Reblurina.
In fact, nearly every country surrounding Reblurina was bigger.
So why operate only within Reblurina?
That was what Vihera found puzzling.
"Ajas did stick his nose into Gilm's business, and apparently most of the prostitutes in Mejougo are women forcibly taken from other countries."
"But that's... well, I don't really like putting it this way, but that's essentially going abroad to procure materials for business, isn't it? Besides, the prostitutes working in Mejougo may have been brought there forcibly, but now they're working of their own accord."
At Vihera's description of the prostitutes as materials for business, several people grimaced.
Even so, none of them reproached her, understanding that she didn't want to use such words either.
And they had to concede Vihera's point about Jaya not operating in other countries.
"Which means there must be something special about this country..."
"Something about this country? But... not to be rude, ours is a small country with no particular distinguishing features, you know?"
Rei felt that someone actually living in this country might have a point saying so, but at the same time, he wondered if there were things they couldn't see precisely because they lived here.
"In any case, I understand that Jaya holds strong influence in this country."
Thinking the conversation was drifting off track, Marina forcibly steered it back.
The fact that Jaya operated only within Reblurina and did nothing beyond forcibly bringing women from other countries to work in Mejougo... was certainly intriguing, but the matter at hand was the information broker.
"Ah, sorry about that. Anyway, for those reasons, finding someone among the information brokers the Guild uses would be a bit difficult."
Zels told them as much, but Marina smiled faintly at his words.
The others, including Rei, did the same. Only Byune expressionlessly munched on the dried fruit that had been served alongside the fruit water.
"The fact that you're specifying 'information brokers the Guild uses' suggests you have someone else in mind, doesn't it? Perhaps an information broker you use personally, unrelated to the Guild... or something along those lines."
"...You saw right through me."
At Marina's words, Zels smiled, the flesh on his cheeks quivering.
"Yes. The moment you used the phrase 'information brokers the Guild uses,' it was suspicious. So? Do you have any other contacts?"
"I do. There's an information broker I use personally, not through the Guild. He harbors a deep grudge against Jaya."
"...You're quite bold to use someone like that. If word got out that you were doing such a thing here in the capital of Reblurina, wouldn't that draw Jaya's attention?"
"That's true. Honestly, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't take such a dangerous risk."
As if the conversation with Marina had stirred something, a sorrowful look crept into Zels's eyes.
It was enough to make them surmise that Zels and the information broker had some history with Jaya.
But perhaps judging that he shouldn't speak of it here, Zels opened his mouth before Rei or the others could say anything.
"His name is Unchuu. He's a man who's been investigating Jaya extensively, and I have no doubt he'll be of use to Marina-sama... no, to all of you."
"Unchuu, huh. But if you had an information broker like that, couldn't you have told us yesterday?"
"He's also a personal friend of mine. Given that, I couldn't simply introduce him so easily, even to Marina-sama. Besides, Jaya's eyes are everywhere."
At those words, Rei raised his assessment of Zels a notch.
He had seemed like the type who might be swayed by Marina's charm, but clearly, that wasn't the case.
(Well, he's been entrusted with the Guild Master position, so maybe it's only natural he can manage at least that much.)
Even while harboring such a rude thought—comparing him to a rotten fish still being a sea bream—the conversation between Marina and Zels continued.
"There's a tavern not far from here. It has a sign with a picture of the sun on it, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. Give this to the tavern keeper and ask whether they have Meel beef cheese. If you do, they should guide you to where Unchuu is."
Rising from the sofa, Zels pulled a short sword with a blue gemstone set into the pommel from his office desk drawer and handed it to Marina.
What that short sword symbolized required no explanation.
Rei thought it was an awfully cautious approach, but he accepted that standing in opposition to an entity like Jaya in this country was simply that perilous.
Also, the man named Unchuu was ultimately just an information broker, and in terms of direct combat power, he probably wasn't all that formidable.
"Yes, thank you. Then we'll head to that tavern right away. This is a bit late to ask, but are you sure you don't mind introducing us to this Unchuu person? If you end up being targeted by Jaya..."
"That much won't change, given that I'm already sheltering Unchuu. No, rather, we're the ones who'll be making use of Marina-sama and your party's combat power."
Zels's laughter, accompanied by the quivering of his cheeks, echoed through the office.
Rei and the others listened, then eventually rose to their feet.
"Thank you, Zels."
At Marina's parting words with a smile, Zels beamed broadly and nodded silently.
With that, Rei and the others left the office, descended to the first floor, and exited the Guild.
Curious stares from Guild staff members and adventurers followed them, wondering what they had been discussing, but no one tried to harass them.
Most likely because it was widely known that they were acquaintances of the Guild Master.
Some adventurers who hadn't been present when Rei's party first arrived were also there, but having heard about the group from others, they merely watched from a distance.
Once outside the Guild, Set spotted them and bounded over happily.
The other passersby who noticed Set were startled and immediately tried to put distance between themselves and him.
"Gurururu!"
"Hey, settle down. I came right back, didn't I?"
Rei said this, but Set rubbed his face against Rei's body.
If this were Gilm, Set wouldn't have been this clingy.
But this was Reblurina, where there was no one to dote on him.
That being the case, Set, who had simply been waiting, was bored... and above all, knowing he was feared by those around him, he must have been lonely.
That was why, seeing his beloved Rei return, he wanted to be pampered.
While stroking Set, Rei turned his gaze toward Marina.
"Well then, shall we go?"
"Yes."
With that, the entire group headed toward their next destination—the tavern with the sign depicting a sun.
Thanks to Set's presence, no one tried to accost them as they walked the streets, and before long, they spotted their destination.
About twenty minutes on foot from the Guild.
Rei felt slightly puzzled that they had arrived without any incident—he apparently understood that he was something of a troublemaker.
"Guruu..."
"Sorry, Set. Wait here again, okay."
Having been petted by Rei and the others during the walk, Set felt the loneliness of being left to wait alone all the more keenly.
(If Ielo were here, it might be a different story. But then again, that could lead to extra trouble.)
Ielo was Set's friend—best friends would be a more apt description—but Ielo was currently at the Silver Fruit Inn.
Rei figured that if Ielo were here, Set's loneliness would at least be somewhat eased... but if someone caught sight of a dragon's child, there was no guarantee that no one would get any malicious ideas.
Here, not many people knew what Ielo was.
Knowing nothing... that was precisely why there was a high chance someone might do something that could incur Elena's wrath.
With an organization like Jaya already wielding strong influence in Reblurina, it wouldn't be strange at all.
With those thoughts in mind, Rei and the others left Set at that spot and stepped into the tavern.
Left behind, Set seemed to judge that its presence would obstruct foot traffic and curled up a short distance from the entrance.
"Welco—"
The tavern keeper started to call out upon seeing Rei and the others enter, but his voice caught midway.
Since it was midday, several people were eating inside the tavern, but they too found the keeper's abrupt silence strange, followed his gaze, and similarly froze.
The sheer impact Rei's party had on those around them was simply that significant.
Ignoring the stares, Rei and the others walked straight up to the counter.
The tavern keeper seemed to snap back to himself and waited for them to approach.
When they reached him, he spoke again.
"Welcome. Are you here for food? Or a drink?"
"...No. Neither."
Saying this, Marina placed the short sword she had received from Zels on the counter so the keeper could see it.
Upon seeing the short sword, the keeper's face stiffened with surprise, and he looked at Marina, who had placed it there.
To him, Marina spoke with a bewitching smile.
"Would you happen to have Meel beef cheese?"
At Marina's words, a look of even greater astonishment than moments before spread across the keeper's face.