"...That's cheap, isn't it?"
Bistol muttered as he ate a skewered fish that had been salted and grilled.
His slight dissatisfaction was likely because the price Marina told him they'd gotten for selling the pirates into slavery was lower than he'd expected.
Marina, however, didn't seem particularly bothered. She tilted her head slightly and said, "Is that so?"
Illuminated by the firelight, Marina's figure possessed an alluring charm that would undoubtedly have captivated any man. But it had no effect on Bistol, who had the body of a man yet the heart of a woman—no, a maiden.
"Of course. I understand it being cheaper than in Gilm because this is the countryside. But... no matter how you look at it, it's far too cheap!"
"But the slave trader knew his trading partner was you, an alias-holding High-Rank Adventurer, right? Do you really think he'd try to lowball you?"
"That's..."
"And I had the guards with me during the negotiation. Do you think anyone could get away with something underhanded in that situation?"
Faced with those follow-up words, Bistol had no argument to offer.
In his heart, he regretted not going along with them. But since his purpose in accompanying Rei's group had been to catch as many fish as possible, he simply couldn't abandon that goal.
"Garanka seems to be quite deep in the countryside, so that's probably factored into the price too. Besides, Rei doesn't mind, does he?"
Rei, receiving that look, nodded as if it were obvious.
"Marina negotiated, and that was the price. I have no complaints."
"Are you sure?"
For Bistol the merchant, from what he'd heard, his understanding was that the pirates had been bought at a considerable discount.
However, seeing Rei—who under normal circumstances would never allow such a thing—accept it so readily, Bistol felt as if the wind had been taken out of his sails.
"Yeah, that's fine. To begin with, leaving aside the sale of the pirates as slaves, this whole pirate incident only yields significant profits for us."
At Rei's words, Bistol directed a gaze at him filled with a little—no, considerable—exasperation.
For Bistol, not earning profit where profit could be earned was simply unthinkable.
However, for Rei, he had managed to seize all the treasure the pirates had hidden—though only what he'd gotten them to confess to—and had obtained a large quantity of the disposable Magic Items that the pirate Boss carried, which generated a smoke screen.
(Plus... obtaining a ship is a big deal.)
It was a quite old ship, bearing the marks of numerous repairs.
However, in terms of studying ships in Gilm—a place nowhere near the sea—because they could freely dismantle and break an old ship without worry, the vessel they had obtained was perfectly sufficient.
Had the pirates been using a newer ship, it would have been too new for them to carelessly take apart.
In that sense, being able to acquire an old ship was definitely something to be grateful for.
"Haa... You really are a soft touch."
Perhaps because he didn't know exactly how much profit Rei had gained, Bistol shook his head as if to say anything more would be meaningless, and resumed eating his salt-grilled fish.
"So, Rei. What will you do tomorrow?"
Perhaps judging that the conversation with Bistol was over, Elena asked Rei this.
But Rei, being asked, questioned her in return with a puzzled look.
"What do you mean, 'what will I do'? I plan to catch fish, but is there something else?"
"I see. I assumed you would be going back to that village."
"I'm thinking of heading there once around evening. I intend to buy fish and such from them."
Today, they had purchased fish from the villagers returning from fishing, but the amount wasn't that large.
For the village, that was only natural—they had been worrying about how to deal with the pirates.
Then Rei had arrived, and within the very same day... in less than a few hours, he had defeated the pirates. After seeing that, the villagers had judged it safe and gone out to fish.
In reality, they had only been fishing for perhaps two hours at most, so the amount of fish they caught was naturally not that large.
But tomorrow, they would fish all day from morning onward, and sell what they caught to Rei.
...This was a beneficial arrangement for both the villagers of Garanka and Rei, who wanted to acquire as much fish as possible while he could.
Of course, without the Misty Ring, in which the passage of time didn't exist, no matter how large a haul of fish he bought, it would have simply rotted.
"Hmm, I see. Then it's fine if we don't go there tomorrow?"
"If there's nothing you particularly need to do, I think that's fine. Even I plan to come right back once I buy the fish."
Thus they finished their meal while conversing... and once the meal was over, the rest of the time until bed was free.
Rei engaged in light combat training with Vihera, Bistol began preparing the fish caught today to be dried, Byune went into the forest to gather fruit for dessert, Marina used Spirit Magic to keep watch on the surroundings, and Set and Ielo played together.
Amidst all this, Elena, who had been talking with Ara using the Paired Orb, suddenly called out to Rei.
"Rei, I need you to come here for a moment!?"
At those words, Rei leaped backward to dodge one of Vihera's swinging fists and lowered the Death Scythe and Twilight Spear he had been holding.
Seeing this, Vihera didn't press with a follow-up attack, and the mock battle—which objectively could only be described as a serious fight—came to an end.
"Hey, Elena. What's this all of a sudden? It hasn't even been that long since we started."
Vihera said this with clear dissatisfaction, though in truth nearly ten minutes had already passed since the mock battle began.
Under normal circumstances, continuing full-intensity exercise—a mock battle—for nearly ten minutes would be enough to leave someone gasping for breath.
Especially when the mock battle opponent was someone with extraordinary strength like Rei or Vihera, the fatigue should have been even greater.
However... Rei and Vihera showed no signs of being out of breath at all.
They retained enough stamina that it would not have been strange to say they had just started the mock battle seconds ago.
Though that was precisely why Vihera, having the mock battle interrupted midway, openly expressed her dissatisfaction.
Possessing an appetite, a desire for sleep, a sex drive—and beyond all those, what could only be called a battle lust—Vihera considered mock battles with Rei an act akin to supreme pleasure.
In the end, since it was a mock battle and not a life-or-death struggle, she couldn't experience true, heartfelt pleasure.
Even so, fighting Rei brought Vihera an overwhelming sense of pleasure compared to risking her life against some random weakling.
That was why she protested with a dissatisfied expression toward Elena, who had so abruptly interrupted it.
Elena, knowing Vihera's personality—or perhaps in this case, her disposition. At any rate, knowing this about her, she apologetically bowed her head.
"I apologize. But it is a summons from Lord Daskar."
"...I see."
Vihera had been harboring dissatisfaction, but being told it was a summons from Daskar meant she couldn't throw a tantrum any further.
With an "It can't be helped," she indicated with her attitude that the mock battle was temporarily suspended.
Only moonlight and firelight illuminated Vihera's form, and combined with her outfit resembling that of a prostitute or a Dancer, it created a rather fantastical sight.
Rei was momentarily captivated by the sight, but quickly recalled that Daskar was calling for him and turned toward Elena.
"So? Weren't you talking with Ara, Elena?"
"I was. But during our conversation, the matter of the pirates came up. Upon hearing that, Ara suddenly asked me to wait a moment while she went to fetch Lord Daskar... and Lord Daskar said he wanted you brought out."
"...The ship?"
He wondered if perhaps Daskar was asking to buy the ship he had acquired, but since Rei had intended to sell it from the start, he thought there was no need to rush so urgently.
As he sat before the Paired Orb, just as Elena had said, Daskar's figure appeared.
"Sorry about this, Rei. Calling you out so suddenly."
"No, I don't mind that. But what is it? If it's about the ship the pirates used, I've properly secured it here."
"No, it's not about that. Of course, I do intend to properly purchase that pirate ship, as I'll be using it as a reference for constructing a Land Ship. However, the reason I called for you today was because I wanted to talk about the pirates you captured."
"The pirates?"
Being presented with something completely unexpected, Rei tilted his head.
At Rei's reaction, Daskar nodded frankly.
"That's right. From what I heard from Lady Elena, it seems that while the captured men are pirates, they have not committed atrocities—for instance, forcibly abducting women. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that is without a doubt. At the very least, there were no women or anyone of the sort being held captive at their hideout."
It wasn't entirely impossible that they had women hidden elsewhere, but considering the pirates Rei had interacted with... and the personality of the man leading them, he couldn't imagine they would do such a thing.
(What was it, I wonder. Perhaps because he had only recently inherited the position of Boss, there was definitely a certain... softness to him. It was clear he had no dislike for women, given how he was captivated by Vihera.)
During the voyage to Garanka, Vihera had been brought to the ship by grabbing onto Set.
A beauty worthy of being called one of the rarest in history, clad in flimsy clothing that struck directly at a man's lust.
Upon seeing this, the Boss had been completely enthralled, despite the blade of the Death Scythe being pressed against his neck—despite the fact that if Rei's hand had slipped even slightly... if the man had moved carelessly, his neck would have been severed without a second thought.
...Whether to praise the man's nerve for being so enchanted by Vihera even at the risk of his own life, or to marvel at Vihera's beauty, which had stolen a man's gaze despite the mortal danger before him.
At any rate, the possibility that the man had no interest in women was extremely low.
"In that case, the timing is perfect. It goes without saying since it was your proposal, but once the Expansion Construction in Gilm is finished... no, once it settles down, I plan to build a facility for the research and manufacture of Land Ships."
This was not a new topic.
As Daskar had stated, it was Rei who had proposed the Land Ship initiative in the first place.
"...Are you saying you want to take in those pirates as practice sailors? Is that it?"
"Exactly. Of course, ordinary sailors could serve as instructors. But having Slave Collars on them makes them ideal for the role. They cannot lie or cause harm, after all."
"No, but... are you sure? Even if they didn't commit atrocities, they're still former pirates. And between a ship floating on the sea and a Land Ship, there will naturally be various differences."
"I understand that. But in the end, a Land Ship and a regular ship are both ships. I won't say they're exactly the same, but there should be many similarities."
Rei was convinced by Daskar's words.
Gilm had no rivers or seas nearby.
No, to be precise, there were rivers flowing down from the mountains, but it would be more accurate to say there was no great river that could be traversed by ship.
Among the adventurers gathering in Gilm, there were likely some with knowledge of ships.
But as a city, Gilm lacked that kind of knowledge.
Or even if some existed, it was likely extremely crude or outdated.
In that sense, Rei could agree with the idea of making the pirates—who, as slaves, could no longer rebel—instructors in how to operate a ship.
(Well, without a sea or a river, they probably can't actually practice moving a ship. Or maybe they'd relocate to somewhere with a sea for practical training? ...But that sort of thing isn't for me to decide.)
Ultimately, it was a matter concerning the administration of Gilm, and Rei couldn't make such decisions.
All he could do was offer his opinion to Daskar, and the one to actually make the decision was Daskar alone.
"Understood. Then should I tell the Slave Trader to send those slaves to Gilm?"
"Yes. The transportation costs will be paid on our end. Please also tell them we will pay above average for the slave purchase price."
With that said, the conversation then turned to the current state of Gilm.
Autumn was approaching, and Daskar expressed his delight that the summer heat was fading, making work easier and improving efficiency—a sentiment Rei shared.
(I should probably go visit Sura's group heading toward Gilm soon.)
Thinking thus, the late summer night passed.