About ten days had passed since his date with Kenny, and Rei arrived at the Guild as usual.
During that period, he had made one trip with Elena and the others to deliver supplies to Sura's group.
Since everyone was traveling by carriage, they had already drawn considerably closer to Gilm. At this pace, they would undoubtedly arrive well before winter — early in autumn, in fact.
Of course, in the roughly ten days since Rei had returned from the coast, the seasons had begun shifting rapidly from summer toward autumn.
If that trend continued, Sura's group might reach Gilm a little later than he had anticipated.
In any case, the moment Rei stepped into the Guild, the voices of adventurers discussing Gamelion inevitably reached his ears.
With the season turning to autumn, such topics coming up was par for the course. The problem was that even adventurers who had come to Gilm seeking work through the Expansion Construction were talking about hunting Gamelion.
(Just as Kenny predicted.)
Among the adventurers who regularly operated in Gilm, many understood a Gamelion's strength.
But among those who had come seeking construction work, while not all of them were the same, there were more than a few who could by no stretch be called skilled.
If such people tried to hunt a Gamelion, there was no question that casualties would be rampant.
Depending on how things played out, the Expansion Construction itself could even fall behind schedule.
Given the current circumstances — wanting to push the construction as far as possible before winter — a delay in the work would completely defeat the purpose. Yet even understanding that danger, the profits to be gained from slaying a monster like a Gamelion were substantial.
Naturally so. The Expansion Construction in Gilm had no shortage of work, but the pay itself was nothing remarkable.
Of course, the wages weren't so low that one couldn't make a living, but compared to the rewards from hunting a Gamelion, it was overwhelmingly meager pay.
That was only natural, given the difference between a job that carried the risk of death and one that didn't. But among the adventurers, some figured that since they had managed to make it all the way to Gilm, they could handle the monsters around here just fine.
In reality, there was a vast difference in difficulty between coming to Gilm before the Expansion Construction and coming now.
But given the simple fact that they had actually reached Gilm, more than a few adventurers convinced themselves that their strength would serve them well here too.
...In that sense, ordinary people who had come simply seeking work — not adventurers — were probably better suited for the construction.
Of course, even among such ordinary people, there were a rare few who would overestimate themselves and try to register as adventurers.
Naturally, those who had just become adventurers couldn't take requests that involved going outside the city walls. But whether fortunately or unfortunately, Gilm was currently in such a chaotic state that slipping past that sort of scrutiny wasn't impossible.
Having come to Gilm to earn money, it was only natural that their attention would gravitate toward better-paying jobs.
And when they ended up in over their heads, they would no doubt regret it only at the brink of death — by which point it was already too late.
(It would be nice if something could be done about that, though.)
Even if someone unrelated to him died, Rei would feel a twinge of sadness, but he wouldn't let it linger.
Besides, being an adventurer was ultimately a matter of self-responsibility.
If someone misjudged their own abilities and got themselves killed, that was purely self-inflicted.
Even so, he did care enough to think it would be better if they didn't die.
Part of that was because Kenny had been worried about it.
But in practice, there was no doubt it was beyond his power to fix.
Forcing a ban on Gamelion hunting would only cause problems of its own.
(In the end, it comes down to looking at your own abilities objectively... I suppose.)
With that thought, Rei had been approaching the counter where Lenora worked to ask about today's schedule when—
"Rei-san!"
For some reason, Lenora called out happily the moment she spotted him.
It was nothing new for Kenny to happily call out upon seeing Rei, but for Lenora to do something like this was unusual.
In fact, an adventurer man processing a request at a nearby counter with another receptionist was casting a startled glance their way.
Lenora must have noticed the attention. Though her cheeks flushed faintly, she still beckoned Rei over.
Beside her, Kenny was in the middle of processing another adventurer's request, but she shot a brief, envious glance at Lenora.
"So, the fact that she called out to me like that — does that mean there's some kind of problem?"
"Well, it's... I suppose you could call it a problem, but... the Guild Master is asking for you. Could you go to his office?"
"...Worker's?"
Hearing those words, it was only natural for Rei to get a bad feeling.
Being called to the office under these circumstances could only mean something troublesome had come up.
(Should've brought Marina along.)
Since their workplaces were in different locations, Marina, Vihera, and Byune had each headed straight to wherever they were assigned.
Rei came to the Guild nearly every morning because, in his case, the Misty Ring and matters involving Set meant there were plenty of things only he could handle.
This time, that had come back to bite him.
Not that Rei had any particular grievance against Worker.
Being summoned to the office itself was fine. But if it involved receiving some kind of request, he honestly would have preferred to leave the negotiation to Marina.
Lately, Rei had been leaving such negotiations entirely to Marina. This was the bill coming due, so to speak.
(Well, if it were truly something dire, they wouldn't have waited for me to show up. They'd have sent someone to the inn to fetch me. ...Which means it's probably not that urgent a crisis... at least, I hope.)
Judging by past experience, probably... most likely... surely, it wasn't that big a problem. If only that were the case. Thinking such thoughts, Rei nonetheless stepped behind the counter and followed Lenora up the stairs at the back toward Worker's office.
Normally, this time of day was busy with adventurers picking up requests. The fact that Lenora was summoning Rei to the Guild Master's office meant the matter at hand carried a fair degree of urgency.
"Excuse me, Guild Master. I've brought Rei-san."
"Ah, please come in."
The voice came from beyond the door, and Lenora opened it.
"Whoa..."
Upon entering the office, Rei let out such a sound at the sight within.
But the reaction was only natural.
Multiple mountains of paperwork covered the desk — so many that Worker's face, the very person who was supposed to be working, was completely hidden from view.
What's more, there were piles of documents not only on the desk but even on the floor. Seeing that, it was no wonder a sound caught between surprise and pity escaped Rei's lips.
"...Please prepare some tea."
As Worker rose from his chair, his face finally came into view.
At Worker's words, Lenora wore a worried expression, bowed, and slipped out of the room.
"For now... it's fine over here, so please, have a seat."
Worker gestured toward the sofa, then walked over to Rei's side, lightly stretching his back as he went.
He was saddled with this much work, yet from what Rei could see, there was no trace of fatigue on Worker's face.
(In a way, maybe work is his hobby.)
With that thought, Rei settled onto the sofa. Right on cue, Lenora returned carrying tea and a plate of small sandwiches that could be eaten as a light snack.
"Oh, are you sure?"
"Yes. The Guild Master's work seems quite demanding, after all. He needs to eat something tasty and keep at it. ...Rei-san, please help yourself too, if you'd like. Um, they're homemade, so I can't exactly boast about them, but..."
With that, Lenora left the office.
Sandwiches handmade by Lenora — who, incidentally, had quite a following of admirers.
If any of her adventurer fans caught wind of this, they would undoubtedly be jealous of Rei and Worker.
Depending on the person, there might even be someone reckless enough to challenge Rei to a duel over it.
Rei brought one of the sandwiches to his mouth.
The crunch of vegetables and the tender texture of slow-cooked meat, slightly spicy yet balanced by a refreshing tangy sauce, spread across his palate.
Naturally, compared to sandwiches made by professional cooks or sold at bakeries, the flavor fell short by several degrees.
But even so, no one could argue that the sandwiches weren't delicious.
It wasn't just Rei eating them — Worker was too.
After devouring a simple sandwich of cheese, ham, and vegetables with evident relish and washing it down with tea, he finally seemed to recover his composure and let out a small sigh.
Rei, having taken a sip of his own tea, posed the question to Worker.
"So? The fact that you went out of your way to summon me here means there's a reason, right?"
Rei didn't think for a moment that he'd been called to the Guild Master's office simply because Worker wanted someone to chat with.
If Worker wanted a conversation partner, there were plenty of suitable candidates besides Rei.
At Rei's words, Worker nodded and spoke.
"I'll be blunt. Rei-san, would you be interested in conquering a dungeon?"
"...Huh?"
What was he talking about?
That was the first thing that crossed Rei's mind upon hearing Worker's words.
In the first place, both of the dungeons near Gilm had already been conquered by Rei himself.
For a discussion about conquering a dungeon to come up under those circumstances meant... realizing that, Rei recalled the conversation he'd had with Kenny a short while back.
"Did a new dungeon get discovered near Gilm, by any chance?"
If so, it would be a double-edged sword for Gilm.
A dungeon would undoubtedly bring great wealth, but at the same time, it carried extreme danger.
It was the very definition of high risk, high return — especially now, with so many adventurers lingering in Gilm who had no business being there under normal circumstances. The risk would far outweigh the reward.
Kenny had been worried about the Gamelion situation too, but with Gamelion, if you were lucky — or unlucky, depending on perspective — you might not encounter one at all.
With a dungeon, it was a different story.
Dungeons varied so wildly depending on location and floor that calling them a thousand different things was hardly an exaggeration, but one constant remained: the likelihood of encountering monsters was high.
What's more, Gilm's adventurers had fought Gamelion for years, so their attack patterns were well documented.
Individuals could differ significantly, of course, but there was nothing to be done about that.
By comparison, a dungeon didn't produce just one type of monster, and you had no way of knowing what kind might appear.
It was nowhere near safe enough to let adventurers whose abilities were questionable venture inside.
But Worker shook his head.
"No, it's true a dungeon was discovered, but not near Gilm."
"...Then Abuelo or Sablusta?"
Both were towns located close to Gilm.
If a dungeon were discovered in either place, a major commotion would be inevitable.
Then again, Rei hadn't heard any such rumors.
Well, Rei's own means of gathering information weren't exactly extensive, but Elena, the symbol of the Noble Faction, and Marina, the former Guild Master, both possessed highly accurate information networks.
Vihera, while not quite on their level, also had a reasonably solid network.
Since Rei ate dinner with all three of them every night, if such information existed, he would have heard about it without fail.
But he hadn't heard a thing.
That meant either the information didn't exist — or even if it did, it hadn't spread very far.
However, Worker shook his head at that as well.
"No, neither of those. Do you know a town called Golts?"
Rei thought about it for a moment, but eventually shook his head.
"No. Is it a famous town?"
"Not particularly. It's an ordinary place, nothing especially noteworthy about it — just the most prosperous town in its area. But... reportedly, on a cliff face in the mountains a short distance from Golts, something that appears to be a dungeon suddenly appeared."
Appears to be? Rei turned his gaze toward Worker, urging him to continue.