"Gyaah, gyaah!"
"...What's with this one?"
Rei and Kenny had finished eating various fish dishes at the Full Belly Diner and stepped outside, but with that cry, a single owl appeared and landed on Rei's shoulder.
Kenny cast a suspicious glance at the owl, but Rei recognized it, so he was not particularly surprised.
This was especially true since, on the way to the Full Belly Diner, he had seen the person associated with this very owl in the middle of a negotiation.
"What about your master?"
"Gyaah?"
Rei asked the owl on his shoulder, but unlike Set, it wasn't as if he could understand what the owl was trying to say.
However, just from looking at the owl's demeanor, he could immediately tell it had no intention of being hostile toward him.
"Vivian, where on earth did you go!?"
When that voice echoed through the surroundings, it wasn't long before the owl's owner... Bistol, made his appearance.
"Still, Vivian, huh. So that's the name you ended up getting?"
"Gyaah."
Whether it was happy to receive the name Vivian or not, Rei couldn't tell even from its cry, but he eventually waved his hand broadly toward Bistol, who appeared from further down the road.
"Hey, Bistol! Over here!"
"Oh my, Rei? My Vivian caused you trouble, didn't she~"
"!?"
The one who gasped upon seeing Bistol, the person Rei had called out to, was Kenny, who had been watching the situation unfold from beside Rei.
Working as a Guild receptionist, she saw many peculiar individuals.
Among adventurers, there were many who stood out and tried to draw attention to themselves, so that was only natural.
...Of course, those who stood out despite lacking ability often quickly realized it and returned to normal attire, and those who couldn't would soon disappear from Gilm — or from this world entirely.
Even for Kenny, who was accustomed to seeing such attention-seekers, Bistol's appearance... and above all, his manner of speech, came as a surprise.
From the mouth of a heavily muscled, large man came a feminine way of speaking.
Combined with his gestures, which somehow evoked a woman, under normal circumstances, it would be far beyond the acceptable range.
However, that was only under normal circumstances. Kenny, who interacted with various people daily as a Guild receptionist, quickly composed herself.
"Rei-kun. Who is this?"
"Hm? Ah, this is Bistol. He went with me when I went to the sea. On the way back, while we were sheltering from the rain, we took in this owl... Vivian, was it?"
"Oh my, Rei, you shouldn't be underestimated~ To think there was someone good besides those three~"
With that single remark, Kenny's impression of Bistol completely reversed.
"Hehe, I'm happy to hear you say that, but unfortunately, Rei-kun and I aren't in that kind of relationship yet."
With her best behavior, Kenny called out to Bistol.
If anyone who knew Kenny's usual demeanor were present, they would be surprised by her current way of speaking.
Of course, Kenny didn't act casually with just anyone.
In this case, it was likely because the person was an acquaintance of Rei's whom she found a bit hard to understand, prompting her to adopt such an attitude.
"Oh my, is that so? Rei, you're so slow~"
Rei, who had been teased before about being too fast-handed but had never been told he was slow, was somewhat unsure how to respond to Bistol's words... but, judging that continuing this conversation would lead to things he would find unamusing, he changed the subject.
"Looks like your fish negotiations went well. Did you make a decent profit?"
"Indeed~ Thanks to Rei, there's no doubt I made a considerable profit. Would you like me to treat you to something as thanks?"
Naturally, Bistol knew how much Rei could eat.
After all, Bistol had cooked meals countless times while they were at the sea, so he would inevitably understand the circumstances.
For such a Bistol to offer to treat Rei, it went without saying how much profit he had made from this endeavor.
For Bistol, it was fish obtained with almost no necessary expenses... and not fresh, exactly, but overnight-dried fish — preserved food as close to fresh as possible.
It was fish with value that couldn't compare to the salt-cured fish brought into Gilm.
Moreover, thanks to Bistol's overwhelming presence and his own commercial talents, he wouldn't be ripped off and could trade at fair prices.
Being able to conduct such trades, Bistol was considerably grateful to Rei for taking him to the sea.
"Hmm, but I just finished eating."
"Oh, is that so? ...Ah, a date."
Bistol muttered that upon seeing Kenny, but Kenny, who had been mentioned, offered a troubled smile.
Thinking about it normally, since a man and woman had eaten together, calling it a date wouldn't be wrong.
However... unfortunately, the place where Rei and Kenny had eaten wasn't an atmospheric restaurant, but a workers' cafeteria.
The dishes served were all delicious, of course, but rather than a date, Kenny's honest impression was that it should be called a tasting event.
Since she had been able to eat with Rei, it wasn't as if she wasn't happy about it.
Rather, considering she got to experience something rarer than an ordinary date, she even thought it was good.
Seeing Kenny's demeanor, Bistol, perhaps thinking something, held his hand out to Vivian.
"Come now, Vivian. Come here. We're leaving soon, so don't get in Rei's way."
Vivian, who had been perched on Rei's shoulder, obediently moved upon hearing Bistol's words.
"Huh... So you decided to go the Tamer route after all?"
Looking at the collar Vivian wore, one could immediately understand what it meant.
Set and Ielo wore similar things, after all.
"Yes. This little one seems to have taken a liking to me, too."
Bistol, smiling happily, even appeared to be filled with maternal love.
...Of course, the fact that a heavily muscled, large man was brimming with maternal affection was undeniably somewhat disconcerting.
"I see. Well, good luck. It's about time another big business opportunity should be coming to Gilm, right?"
What did "business opportunity" mean?
Bistol, who was by no means incompetent as a merchant... and Kenny, who was a Guild receptionist, both immediately understood what Rei was referring to.
"It's almost Gamelion season, after all."
Yes, the Gamelion — a seasonal tradition of Gilm's autumn and a seasonal delicacy.
It wasn't that Gamelion didn't inhabit areas outside of Gilm; there were places in other regions where one could commonly see them.
However... Gamelion, given their size and ferocity, possessed enough strength that under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be strange for them to be treated as subjugation targets requiring the hiring of numerous adventurers.
The fact that they were treated simply as food was, unsurprisingly, because this was Gilm, where skilled adventurers gathered.
In any case, for merchants coming to Gilm, Gamelion was a highly popular product as both material and ingredient.
As an ingredient, transporting fresh Gamelion far was difficult without a special Magic Item like a refrigerator, but even dried meat could turn a profit due to its deliciousness, rarity, and the fact that it was a seasonal food.
As a merchant, there was no way Bistol would miss such a golden opportunity.
...Then, Rei, who had been talking with Bistol, noticed a gloomy expression appearing on Kenny's face.
Bistol noticed it too, but, considering Rei and Kenny's relationship, he judged it best not to interject here. With a smile, he opened his mouth.
"Well then, I should get back to work. My next business partner is waiting. ...You know, Rei, you should take your time and talk with that girl."
"Eh?"
Kenny, suddenly addressed like that, let out a surprised voice.
She hadn't thought at all that she was showing such an expression.
Even so, she quickly composed herself and directed a grateful smile toward Bistol.
Being able to talk leisurely with Rei here was by no means a bad thing for Kenny... rather, it was something to be welcomed.
"See you~"
Saying that with a smile, Bistol left with Vivian.
Whether he actually had a business meeting after this was unknown to both Rei and Kenny, but they immediately understood that Bistol had tactfully given them space.
"Shall we buy some Fruit Water from that stall over there and talk in the shade?"
Rei said while looking at a stall a short distance away, and Kenny nodded at his words.
"Gamelion is a delicious monster in many senses. I won't deny that. But that comes with the precondition that it's delicious for Gilm's adventurers."
Kenny, having said that much, took a sip of her Fruit Water but frowned slightly at its lukewarm temperature.
However, the reason Rei's Fruit Water was cold was simply because he had done something like buying Fruit Water in the summer and leaving it outside in the winter to chill.
There were not many shops that possessed expensive Magic Items like refrigerators, after all.
"I see. In other words, the adventurers who came to Gilm for the Expansion Construction will also head out to hunt Gamelion?"
"Yes. Of course, adventurers are fundamentally responsible for themselves. So even if someone insists on going to hunt Gamelion, the Guild can't forcibly stop them. But..."
Kenny cut off her words there, but Rei understood what she was trying to say.
In other words, she was thinking that many adventurers would challenge Gamelion despite lacking the skill, resulting in injuries... and in the worst cases, deaths.
"Honestly, if something happened like that time when Gamelion wandered into some Dungeon, the casualties this year might be fewer."
"For you to say that, Rei-kun, who hogged nearly all the Gamelion that had wandered into that Dungeon, it lacks persuasiveness. No, rather, if that happened, you'd make a fortune, so maybe it is persuasive?"
She must have remembered what happened back then. Kenny gave Rei a deadpan stare.
Of course, Rei didn't seem particularly bothered and kept drinking his Fruit Water.
"But if something like that happened, don't you think fewer adventurers would be killed by Gamelion?"
"There's no mistaking that, but... but there's no way a Dungeon would appear again, and right near Gilm at that... right?"
"Who knows. A lot of strange things have been happening in Gilm lately."
The new Dungeon, the Treant Forest, and so on.
Of course, if someone were to say it was because this was the frontier, these were the kind of abnormalities one would have to accept.
"True. But I can't use that as a reason to stop adventurers. No, rather, if someone were to say they're moving as an adventurer because of the Abnormality, I'd have to accept that."
To Kenny, adventurers were fundamentally just clients.
Clients who often behaved roughly, at that.
But that didn't mean she didn't care if those clients died.
If so, it was only natural for her to want to do something about the adventurers heading off to die for the sake of obtaining Gamelion.
"Stopping adventurers, huh. What about lowering the Gamelion purchase price?"
"No good. Even if the Guild lowers it, there are plenty of other places to sell."
Adventurers fundamentally had the freedom to decide where to sell the materials they obtained.
In Rei's case, he sold everything to the Guild because he found negotiations troublesome, but adventurers who were skilled at negotiating or who had exclusive merchants who would buy at higher prices didn't sell their materials to the Guild.
Of course, selling materials outside the Guild also meant there was a possibility of being haggled down depending on negotiations.
Even so, if the Guild lowered Gamelion purchase prices as Rei suggested, adventurers would undoubtedly sell to other merchants rather than the Guild.
What's more, many adventurers would look at the Guild with suspicion for deliberately buying low.
Being the Guild of the only city in the frontier, the adventurers wouldn't enter a decisive confrontation with the Guild... but the antagonistic relationship would undoubtedly strengthen, and various troublesome things would occur later — that was certain.
"Then... I can't really think of anything."
"Is that so? Well, the Guild is struggling with it too."
Saying that, Kenny offered a troubled smile.