「……Excuse me, Worker. Who's this?」
Having decided to head for the dungeon, Rei had taken care of handovers and preparations — particularly purchasing a massive stock of various foods to eat inside — and was about to set out for Golts first thing in the morning. But for some reason, bright and early, just as the six o'clock bell rang and he tried to leave through the Main Gate, Worker called out to stop him.
The last time Rei had seen him, there had been mountains of paperwork not only on his Office desk but even on the floor, and he had looked extremely busy processing it all. Yet from what Rei could see now, Worker looked perfectly healthy — not at all like a man living through busy days.
And the person Worker had brought with him was a man in his late twenties.
He wasn't exactly brawny, but it was clear at a glance from his appearance — and the way he moved — that he had trained his body with an emphasis on speed.
He had a longsword sheath at his waist, so he was undoubtedly a Vanguard.
But what surprised Rei most was... the man's sheer strength.
He possessed a level of strength that couldn't even compare to the adventurers who had come for the Expansion Construction.
No, even considering only Gilm's adventurers, there was no doubt he ranked among the top.
「Oh my.」
The one who murmured while floating a smile that could only be described as lascivious as she looked at the man was, as one would expect, Vihera.
「Ah-—Vihera, calm down.」
Rei tried to stop her, but perhaps sensing something from Vihera's smile, the man reflexively stepped back a few paces and reached for the longsword at his waist.
「Reliu-san, please calm down. She's not a problem.」
「But... that smile just now...」
The man called Reliu tried to speak, looking unconvinced by Worker's words, but eventually seemed to judge that saying anything here would be pointless. He let go of his weapon with a look of resignation.
「So? Why did you bring such a capable man along? And at this hour, no less.」
Reliu, who had just been called capable, formed a slight smile and spoke.
「I'm your reinforcements.」
「...Reinforcements?」
Rei directed his gaze at Worker, who nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
「Yes. You may not know, Rei-san, but he is an A-Rank adventurer who holds the alias Gale. I believe he's more than reliable enough as Combat Power?」
「No, that's not what I mean. Why do we need to increase our combat power in the first place? I don't mean to brag, but our party is quite strong in terms of combat power.」
「'Quite strong' doesn't even begin to cover it, I think.」
Reliu muttered those words almost reflexively in response to Rei.
Reliu held the alias Gale, but standing before the members of the Crimson Lotus Wings led by Rei, the only opponent he could confidently declare he would beat was someone even smaller than himself — Byune, who could only be called a Girl.
With that level of assembled strength, the description "quite high overall combat power" was woefully inadequate.
Of course, that didn't mean he intended to lose so easily himself.
「If our combat power is sufficient, then why go out of your way? And an Alias Holder, at that.」
Naturally, hiring an alias-holding adventurer required commensurate compensation.
Depending on the case, it might not be just money but some kind of special Magic Item — the sort of thing that couldn't normally be bought so easily with gold.
「It's cooperation from Lord Daskar. As you know, Golts is a town located within the territory governed by a Neutral Faction noble. Furthermore, that noble is apparently quite close to Lord Daskar... Therefore, since we're challenging the dungeon, it was decided that we should bolster our combat power as much as possible.」
「...Huh.**
Did you know about this? Rei asked Marina with a glance.
Since Marina had been the one to negotiate with Daskar regarding this matter, it wouldn't have been strange for her to know that additional combat power was coming. Maybe she had kept quiet to surprise them — or so Rei thought. But seeing Marina's surprise, he could easily surmise that she hadn't known either.
Indeed, the words that next came from Marina's mouth contained genuine astonishment.
「I didn't know. I had heard that he was a close friend of Daskar's, but still... to think he would hire Reliu to accompany us.」
Naturally, Marina, who had served as Guild Master before Worker, knew of Reliu, the man who held the alias Gale.
Seeing Marina's reaction, Rei concluded that Reliu was, for the time being, a trustworthy addition to their combat power.
「Can we trust him?**
Rei asked Worker rather than Marina.
Worker nodded without hesitation, as if to say there was no problem at all.
「Yes. He's a trustworthy man. And... in his case, there is one reason why traveling with the Crimson Lotus Wings poses absolutely no problem.」
「No problem?」
「That's right. Lady Elena, who travels with the Crimson Lotus Wings... and with you, Rei-san — is an extraordinarily beautiful woman. So much so that under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be unusual for a man to harbor impure thoughts toward her.」
What came from Worker's mouth was, in a sense, an obvious observation.
Even Rei, who had been traveling with Elena, Marina, and Vihera for a fairly long time, could by no means deny it.
Of course, making a careless move on any of those three would amount to a life-threatening crisis, so very few people would commit such foolish acts.
Even so, being subjected to gazes full of desire was something Elena and the others were accustomed to, but that didn't mean it wasn't unpleasant.
...Though if the one directing those lustful gazes was Rei, that was a different story.
「He is married. And utterly devoted to his wife. So much so that he could never look at another woman in that way.」
「Hey now, I'm not saying I don't see them as women at all, you know?」
Reliu said that, but in truth, there was not a trace of lust in the way he looked at Elena and the others.
Elena and the others, who were being observed, understood that clearly.
Seeing Elena and the others nod, Worker judged that what he was saying was by no means a lie.
「I understand the situation... but what we're heading to is, in all likelihood, a Dungeon. It hasn't been confirmed yet, but it's almost certain. And if it is a Dungeon, we don't know how large it will be inside. Depending on the case, it could be quite narrow.」
「Ah-... Well, I get what Rei's thinking, but you won't know until you actually go there.」
Rei pondered Reliu's words for a moment.
While pondering... he eventually spoke.
「Just to be sure, if we bring Reliu along, how will we handle the distribution of monster materials, Magic Stones, and any other treasure we might find in the dungeon?」
These were Rei's final words of confirmation.
The primary objective of this dungeon trip for Rei was to obtain a Dungeon Core — necessary to level up Death Scythe's Terrain Manipulation skill.
But beyond that, he was naturally also after monster materials and Magic Stones.
A dungeon, in particular, might yield types of Magic Stones he had never been able to obtain before, so in that sense, Rei had fairly high expectations.
Of course, the monsters that had fallen from the cliff and lay dead on the ground were apparently Goblins, Cobolts, Orcs, and the like, so there was a real possibility that only commonplace monsters lurked within.
Even so, the monsters that had fallen to their deaths from the dungeon to the ground were most likely the weaker ones within... or so the odds suggested.
In reality, Orcs were among the dead monsters, so the possibility that only weak monsters fell wasn't all that high.
Regardless, no matter how reliable someone was as combat power, if they tagged along uninvited and demanded a share of the dungeon's treasures, it wouldn't be that there was zero benefit to Rei's group in bringing him, but the disadvantages would clearly outweigh any gains.
But in response to Rei's question, Reliu shook his head without seeming particularly bothered.
「Ah, I don't need anything we get in the dungeon.」
Rei was naturally surprised by the bluntly stated words.
Then why go to the dungeon at all? he wondered.
「Challenging a dungeon means putting your life on the line. That doesn't change, even for an alias-holding adventurer. And yet you're saying you don't need anything?」
「That's right. I've already received my compensation from Lord Daskar for this.」
「...If you don't mind, can I ask what that compensation was?」
A reward substantial enough to make a man declare he needed nothing else despite challenging a dungeon.
Hearing that Reliu had already received it from Daskar, Rei grew curious.
Of course, it wasn't as though he absolutely had to know no matter what, but he still wanted to if possible.
Sensing Rei's curiosity, Reliu apparently saw no issue and nodded frankly before speaking.
「A while back, Schmine — ah, that's my wife's name. Schmine came down with a serious illness. It was a pretty troublesome disease, but Lord Daskar had the materials needed to make the Magic Potion to cure it.」
「Ah-... I see.**
Hearing that much, Rei could easily understand what Reliu felt indebted for.
Given Daskar's nature, if he had the means to cure the wife of Reliu — a valuable asset to Gilm — there was no way he would choose not to cooperate.
If this had been an ordinary... say, a mere C-Rank Adventurer or B-Rank Adventurer, Daskar might not have handed over Magic Potion materials as a lord's judgment.
But an alias-holding adventurer was precisely that rare — an existence with extremely high combat power, a veritable trump card.
If such an existence developed an attachment to Gilm, then a modest expenditure was well within acceptable bounds.
Of course, there were those who wouldn't feel gratitude even when they received it... but fortunately, Reliu had enough sense to properly recognize a debt of gratitude.
Still, even so... if you can use an alias-holding adventurer for free, isn't dragging him along on our dungeon exploration a bit... honestly, is that really the right call?
Rei harbored such thoughts as he looked at Reliu.
If they had the freedom to use an alias-holding adventurer, assigning him to a different job would likely benefit Gilm more.
It was only natural for Rei to think so.
「Then, it's settled that he'll be accompanying us? I have work to attend to, so I'll take my leave now.」
Seeing Worker about to depart, Rei moved to stop him for a moment.
But considering the sheer volume of paperwork that had been in Worker's Office, the man had interrupted his work — or perhaps come before even starting — to see them here. With that in mind, Rei couldn't carelessly call him back.
「Rei? Is something wrong?」
Elena, seeing Rei about to call out and then suddenly stop, asked, but after a brief consideration, Rei judged there was no problem.
Daskar had arranged it, and Worker had personally brought the man — there was no need to doubt him.
Adding a man to this group carelessly could invite romantic entanglements and the problems that came with them, but judging by Reliu's demeanor as a devoted husband fixated solely on his wife, such issues seemed unlikely to arise.
Given that, extra combat power was not a bad thing when challenging what appeared to be an unknown dungeon.
...Provided the dungeon interior was spacious enough, that is.
「He's an Alias Holder, so there's no way he won't be reliable. ...Alright, nice to work with you for now.」
「Yeah. But I'd like to get back to Gilm before winter if possible, so count on me. I don't want to worry Schmine.」
「Right. I'd like to be in Gilm during winter too. Well, depending on the dungeon, some are actually more comfortable inside during winter or summer, I hear.」
For instance, the first dungeon Rei had ever delved into was like that.
The dungeon he had explored together with Elena maintained a constant internal temperature, making it an ideal refuge during summer and winter.
Of course, since that dungeon had been conquered, there were hardly any who used it anymore.
「Glad to hear you say that. Alright, let's go. Let's conquer that dungeon as quickly as we can. Truth is, I've challenged dungeons a few times before, but I've never actually cleared one.」
「Figured as much.」
Conquering a dungeon was difficult even for an alias-holding adventurer.
Knowing that, Rei returned a heartfelt nod to Reliu's words.