The season wore on, and the Gamelions had finally vanished from the outskirts of Gilm.
As the daily temperature continued its steady decline and snow seemed imminent, Rei stood inside the Guild.
To be precise, inside the Guild warehouse.
Currently, a vast quantity of monster corpses lay stacked within.
This was the first batch of dissection work the Guild had long promised to carry out on the monsters stored in Rei's Misty Ring.
With the cold reaching the point where snow could fall at any moment, the Expansion Construction had been scaled back to minimum levels. This was an effort to give the now-idle adventurers a chance to earn at least some coin.
...Incidentally, the wages paid to the adventurers handling this dissection were jointly funded by the Guild and Daskar.
"Then we'll take them into our care. The monster materials and such, as promised..."
"Yeah. Anything I don't need, the Guild can purchase."
If Rei were an Alchemist, the materials from the nearly one hundred monster corpses currently filling the warehouse would be of immeasurable value.
But Rei couldn't use Alchemy, and neither could any of his companions.
Given that, he only needed to keep the truly rare materials that might prove useful for crafting Magic Items. The Guild could buy the rest.
Under normal circumstances, monster materials had to be used before they deteriorated. Things like internal organs and eyeballs could be processed to extend their shelf life, but even that only went so far.
With Rei's Misty Ring, however, there was no degradation—just as with food.
That was why a mass dissection like this posed no problem whatsoever for him.
And above all else...
"Don't sell the meat. I'll take all of it. That's fine, right?"
Even this much monster meat could be effortlessly preserved inside his Misty Ring.
(Well, this should keep me from worrying about meat for a while.)
Rei mused as he surveyed the pile of monster corpses. Not that meat was in short supply—he still had plenty stockpiled inside the Misty Ring.
The reason he still felt compelled to hoard was likely because not only Rei and Byune, but Set as well, were all prodigious eaters. Rei and Byune could easily put away about three meals' worth of food in a single sitting, and Set could demolish twenty servings without breaking a sweat.
Because of that, even with the current surplus, Rei couldn't help but want to stockpile massive quantities.
"Thank you very much. Once the dissection of the monsters in this warehouse is finished, I'll go notify your inn."
"Alright. But I've already told Worker—the Guild Master—that I'll be leaving Gilm before long. When that happens, halt the dissection for now and resume it when I return next year."
"Understood, I'll do as you say. ...Still, looking at it like this, there's a tremendous amount here. And this isn't even everything, is it?"
"That's right. One way or another, they've been piling up ever since the Treant Forest incident. Plus there are monsters I defeated elsewhere. The Gigant Turtle's turn won't come for a while yet, though."
"With something that size, dissection certainly won't be easy. It's likely that the first thing to be dissected next year will be the Gigant Turtle... and it wouldn't be surprising if that alone took the entire winter."
The Guild Staff Member spoke with genuine feeling—no doubt because he had seen the Gigant Turtle firsthand during the Treant Forest incident.
Its sheer size had carried the potential to cause devastation that, at worst, could have wiped Gilm off the map.
Naturally, past experience allowed them to estimate just how much time dissecting the Gigant Turtle would require.
"Right. I plan to have that done when I get back, so I'll leave the preparations to you."
"Yes. I'll spread the word in advance. Dissecting a monster of that size will require a considerable workforce."
Getting the word out ahead of time would make it easier to gather people.
Rei nodded to the Guild Staff Member and exited the warehouse.
"Gururu?"
Spotting Rei approaching as he stepped out of the warehouse, Set purred while still being petted by the people gathered around, its gaze fixed on Rei.
Seeing Set's reaction, the others quietly dispersed, figuring anything more would only be a nuisance.
A few lingered reluctantly, but once Set made it clear through its demeanor that it wanted to go to Rei, no one pressed the matter further.
"Did they pamper you plenty?"
"Guruu!"
Set purred energetically at Rei's words, as if to say of course.
Seeing the exchange, envious gazes drifted toward Rei from those nearby.
It was no exaggeration to call Set the idol of Gilm, but even so, the one it loved most was still Rei.
For the Set Enthusiasts, Rei was someone to envy, someone to resent, and someone to be grateful to—all at once.
After all, the residents of Gilm could dote on Set only because Rei, who had Set as his Tamed Monster, had come to their town.
Considering those circumstances, they were jealous of Rei's closeness to Set—but also grateful, because without Rei, they never could have fawned over Set in the first place.
For the Set Enthusiasts, Rei inspired a complicated tangle of emotions.
Be that as it may, Rei walked through Gilm alongside Set as the town edged toward winter, stopping at several eateries along the way to buy soup by the pot.
As they walked, he could feel that, true to the approaching season, there were fewer people about than there had been just a short while ago.
"Ah, Rei. How about it? They're grilled up nicely—want to buy some?"
As he made his way down the main street, the Abuelo Stall Owner called out to him.
Having been in the mood for a snack anyway, Rei saw no reason to refuse and bought some skewers.
"Give me about twenty."
"Thanks as always. You know, having Rei buy from us really makes the stall happy. Plus, seeing you eating proves the food is good."
The Abuelo Stall Owner grinned broadly.
Rei's purchases were so large that passersby inevitably found their eyes drawn to the stall. They'd watch Rei and Set eating with obvious enjoyment, decide they wanted some too, and make a purchase. And if it was delicious, they'd come back to buy again—so as a customer, Rei was beyond welcome.
Of course, that only held true if the food met a certain baseline of quality.
Among the stalls, there were some whose cooking—whether due to lack of skill, the owner's misguided confidence, or simply a mismatch with Rei's palate—made him swear never to return. Though Rei's personal tastes aside, those stalls ultimately failed to retain customers and couldn't stay in business.
Stalls required less money to set up than a proper shop, but precisely because of that, competition was fierce.
"Come to think of it, you know about nikuman, right?"
Rei was eating his skewers, judging this stall to be a winner—the seasoning was nothing but salt, but the grilling was impeccable—when the Abuelo Stall Owner suddenly asked him this.
If asked whether he knew about them, Rei naturally did.
After all, the one who had introduced nikuman to Gilm was Rei himself.
Like udon, nikuman had spread to a reasonable extent throughout the town. And just like udon, it was fairly well known that Rei had come up with the idea... but it seemed this skewer stall owner was unaware of that.
Of course, compared to udon, nikuman was inevitably limited to certain seasons.
In summer, while udon had cold dishes like bukkake udon, nikuman was unappetizing cold. Rei certainly had no desire to eat cold nikuman, and the fact that it wasn't sold in summer suggested others felt the same.
...In reality, when Rei had first taught them about the dish, his explanation that nikuman was something to eat during the cold seasons of autumn and winter had a lot to do with it.
"Yeah, I know. But what about it?"
"Well, right now there's a stall selling nikuman, and apparently it's doing quite well."
"I see. Well, steamers don't take up much space."
Compared to an oven for baking bread, a steamer could be made of wood, and since it relied on steam, there was no need for a particularly large or heavy implement. With that being the case, cooking at a stall wouldn't be especially difficult.
(Besides, with nikuman, the bun, the filling, and the steaming time are what matter. The buns and fillings can be prepared in advance at home, so all that's left is steaming. If you focus on that, it should be perfectly viable for a stall. Though that's just layman's knowledge.)
Thinking along those lines, it was only natural that Rei, who had a weakness for good food, would want to try it if it was available at a stall.
"Oh, looks like you're interested. It's a stall run by an acquaintance of mine, so stop by. It's straight down this street."
The Abuelo Stall Owner said happily, clearly pleased by Rei's reaction. Rei gave a light wave, stashed the remaining skewers in his Misty Ring, and headed for the stall right away.
"Come to think of it, we need to start preparing for the trip to Duke Kerebel's Territory soon."
"Guruu?"
Walking beside Rei, Set tilted its head at the murmur.
To Set, as long as Rei was there, it didn't matter who else was or wasn't around.
Of course, in places they visited for the first time, most people tended to be afraid of Set, which was a little disappointing.
Perhaps sensing a hint of unease in Set's demeanor, Rei gently patted the griffon's head as they walked side by side.
"Don't worry. I said Duke Kerebel's Territory, right? That means Elena and Ielo will be coming with us too."
"Gurururu!"
Whether it was the news that Elena and Ielo would be joining them, Set purred in high spirits.
A passerby walking nearby was slightly startled, but upon realizing it was just Set purring, they smiled warmly and went back to their own business.
For the vast majority of Gilm's residents, Set's presence was already something entirely natural.
Living in Gilm as they did, it was all the more disappointing for Set when people were frightened of it in other towns.
Of course, having its friend Ielo along was more than enough consolation.
"Seriously, you're an extreme one."
Watching Set wag its tail in sheer delight, Rei was reminded of a dog.
Gryphons were monsters with the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion. If asked whether they were canine or feline, the answer would unquestionably be feline.
But Set's affectionate personality was clearly closer to that of a dog than the aloof independence of a cat.
Indeed, even now it was wagging its tail out of pure happiness.
Wagging its tail while walking down the street was, naturally, something of a nuisance to other pedestrians.
Knowing this, Rei somehow kept Set calm as they made their way down the main street toward the nikuman stall.
Whether it was Rei's efforts or not, Set settled down—still in good spirits, but with its tail firmly under control.
And so they continued down the main street...
"Hmm, I was told it was around here, but... I don't see a stall that fits."
He looked around, but there was no stall using a steamer.
He considered trying to track it by scent, but with nikuman, the meat was wrapped inside the bun, so the aroma wasn't particularly strong until it was split open.
Both Rei and Set had sharp noses... but the surrounding stalls were giving off all manner of mouthwatering scents from grilling and stir-frying, and some even sold heavily spiced soups. A chaotic blend of aromas filled the air.
Amid the mingled smells, Rei had lost the trail—but Set, whose sense of smell was even sharper, eventually tugged Rei's Dragon Robe with its beak, pulling him along as if to say this way, this way.
"That way is..."
Set led Rei to a stretch with few stalls.
Of course, since it was still the main street, it wasn't as though no customers came through... but the area was pervaded by a distinctly sweaty odor.
Nikuman was not a food with an overpowering scent to begin with.
Given that, setting up a stall in such a location was undeniably a significant disadvantage.
"A Specialised Training Ground, huh... Well, the people using it might buy nikuman, so it's probably not that bad a spot... Anyway, let's go check out the stall."
"Gururuu!"
Set purred happily at Rei's words.
The sweaty smell apparently didn't bother it much compared to the prospect of eating nikuman.
Envious of Set for that, Rei took a step forward.