"Eh? Are you seriously saying that?"
It was the day after his meeting with Bluitt.
Having finished breakfast with sandwiches made by Georgima's subordinates—or perhaps disciples—along with a hearty soup packed with meat, fish, and vegetables, Rei couldn't help but respond to Miranda's statement in disbelief.
Miranda, however, simply nodded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course. There are only about ten days left this year, and the day after the new year begins, a party will already be held. Given that, you need to order your clothes for the party now while there's still time."
"No, but I already have the outfit from when I first had dinner with Elena's parents, right? Won't that work?"
"It won't not work, but I do think it would be better to have something tailored to properly fit your body."
In this world, the vast majority of clothing was made to order. That was precisely why secondhand shops existed in considerable numbers, and it wasn't uncommon for mothers to sew clothes for their own children.
The outfit Rei had worn to that dinner had been prepared on the Duke Kerebel's side. It was extremely expensive attire, but inevitably inferior to something made to order.
Every noble attending the party would be wearing made-to-order clothing, which meant they also had the eye to spot when someone's outfit didn't suit them. Rei, in particular, drew the scrutiny of Noble Faction Nobles for various reasons, so their gazes would be all the harsher.
To avoid that, having proper attire prepared was undoubtedly the safe choice.
"Besides, considering your abilities, Rei-san, there will be countless opportunities to attend these kinds of parties from now on. In that case, why not have something made now? The master has said the Duke Kerebel's House will cover the cost."
Rei thought about it for a moment.
Considering his reputation—or whatever one chose to call it—it was certain he would be made to attend such parties in the future. If anything, the fact that he hadn't been invited to any until now was what was truly strange.
That was partly because he had been based in the frontier city of Gilm, and largely because Daskar had been discreetly shielding him. But above all, the biggest factor was likely the rumor that Rei was someone who showed absolutely no mercy, even to nobles.
Still, since he would be attending the New Year's party at the Duke Kerebel Mansion, it was almost certain that others would start trying to get him involved in future parties. An unknown entity was frightening, but once someone had seen it even once, it was no longer unknown.
Considering all this, he decided that regardless of whether he attended other parties going forward, having at least one party outfit on hand for emergencies would be no loss.
(Fortunately, my body doesn't show any signs of growing any further for now, at least. ...Actually, is that really fortunate?)
Since arriving in this world—or more accurately, since taking residence in this current body—Rei hadn't grown taller at all. An unchanged physique was fine, but honestly, he would have preferred it if his growth had happened after he'd gotten bigger, or if a larger body had been created for him.
In Elgin, those who stood over two meters tall weren't exactly numerous, but there were definitely more than in Japan. Because of that, Rei was often underestimated.
Even so, with the alias of Rei the Crimson spreading in recent days, fewer people made light of him based on appearance alone.
At any rate, since his height was unlikely to change going forward, even if he had one party outfit made, there was no reason it would stop fitting due to changes in his build—unless he grew wider rather than taller, that is.
"Understood. I'll have the clothes made. ...But will they be ready in time?"
Since coming to Elgin, and even back in Japan, Rei had never once had clothes made to order. Perhaps because of that, he had the impression that anything made to order would take at least a month. That wasn't necessarily wrong, but this was Anesis, and he was currently at the Duke Kerebel Mansion. Most unreasonable requests could be pushed through easily enough by the rank of a duke.
"It'll be fine. The master has said there's no issue on that front. ...Then, without further ado, I'd like to take your measurements right away, if that's alright with you?"
"Huh? You're going to measure me?"
While he had his doubts, he also figured it wouldn't be unusual for a maid working at the Duke Kerebel Mansion to be capable of such a thing. But to his question, Miranda shook her head.
"No, a craftsman is already here and waiting."
"...Is that so..."
If he had refused, wouldn't calling the craftsman have been a waste? The thought crossed his mind for a moment, but they had probably anticipated from the start that he would agree. Whether it was Miranda, Elena, or Liberte acting as the Duke Kerebel who had made that call, Rei couldn't say. Either way, it was a fact that they had read him perfectly.
"Shall I show him in?"
"Yeah, go ahead. ...But I'll be paying for the clothes myself."
"The master has said the Duke Kerebel's House will cover it, but..."
"I appreciate the gesture. But I'll likely be wearing these clothes for a long time to come, so I'd rather pay for them myself. Fortunately, money isn't an issue."
The wealth Rei had accumulated was enough to live lavishly through several lifetimes. Even for made-to-order clothing, he had more than enough to buy it with ease.
Seeing his demeanor, Miranda apparently judged that pushing further would be pointless and eventually nodded.
"Understood. I'll inform the master. Then may I call the craftsman in?"
Rei nodded back.
Around the time Rei was having his measurements taken at the Duke Kerebel Mansion, Gaiska was listening to a report from Deotres.
But the only thing visible on Gaiska's face was displeasure.
"Why can't you gather more men!? It's a simple job—all you have to do is kill one person!"
Yes, that was the greatest source of Gaiska's frustration.
The course of action chosen by Gaiska, who harbored a deep grudge against Rei, might have been highly effective had it not been winter. Since he was hiding the fact that the target was Rei, there was no chance that those Deotres approached would cower in fear of the Crimson alias. More likely, they would have seen it as easy money and gladly accepted.
Deotres had indeed expected that to be the case. But to his surprise, many of the skilled adventurers he had approached had simply decided not to work during the winter.
Unfortunately, this was perhaps inevitable. For a skilled adventurer, saving up enough money to last through the winter before the snow fell wasn't difficult, and such people had no reason to accept a suspicious request without going through the Guild.
Anesis, being the second city of the Kingdom of Mireana, had a very large number of adventurers gathered within its walls. Among them, it wouldn't have been strange for some to accept dubious requests—but this time, whether by bad luck or good, none of that sort were to be found.
The problem, however, wasn't simply a matter of numbers. Since the plan was to have them fight Rei, they wanted capable fighters, not just warm bodies, in order to wear him down. And they had failed to gather such people.
"I did look into various options," Deotres said. "But just about everyone I was counting on turned me down."
"Why! Are mere adventurers daring to refuse my orders—no, my requests!?"
The fact that the word "orders" had slipped out was likely Gaiska's unvarnished true feeling. That said, those who looked down on adventurers weren't limited to Gaiska alone, so this wasn't particularly abnormal.
"Then what am I supposed to do? Leave that lowly cur named Rei to do as he pleases? I need to act in order to bring Elena back to her senses!"
I need to act. Even as he said that, Gaiska had no intention of truly moving himself. He would give orders, hire adventurers to follow them, and defeat Rei—or rather, even if defeating him was impossible, make him regret humiliating someone of Gaiska's station.
That had been the plan, but it had stumbled right out of the gate. As if to suppress the irritation within him, he brought his glass of wine to his lips.
He knew full well that downing alcohol in the morning was problematic in more ways than one, but without doing so, his irritation would reach its peak again and he'd end up taking it out on the servants.
Since that day—the day Rei had humiliated him—several servants had already become targets of Gaiska's displaced anger. Precisely because he was aware of this, he felt inclined to exercise at least some restraint, bringing the wine to his mouth to calm himself.
Even in a situation where a careless provocation could lead to anything, Deotres showed no sign of concern and opened his mouth to speak.
"The anonymous request is what's arousing suspicion, I'd wager."
"...You're saying to use the name of Marquis Seisole's House?"
"Yes. If you do, there's no doubt that those seeking a connection to Marquis Seisole's House will come forward."
"But..."
At Deotres's words, Gaiska hesitated, gazing at the wine glass in his hand.
They were currently trying to hire adventurers without revealing the name of Marquis Seisole's House. That was what had made the request seem suspicious and driven so many to refuse—but using the name would naturally mean revealing that he was behind it.
If such adventurers attacked Rei, it would be immediately obvious who was responsible. Granted, the only person in Anesis who harbored a deep grudge against Rei was Gaiska himself. In that situation, an attack would make it painfully clear who had ordered it.
If this were Seisole territory rather than Anesis, handling things under the name of Marquis Seisole's House would have been simple enough.
"How troublesome."
"Indeed. So, as a proposal—why not abandon the idea of killing Rei altogether?"
"...You're telling me to forgive the one who humiliated me so thoroughly?"
"No, no. I wouldn't go that far. But considering the current situation, gathering the personnel to kill Rei is impossible. There appear to be a few Alias Holders in Anesis as well, but even they... no, perhaps precisely because they are who they are. They wouldn't accept suspicious requests."
An Alias Holder was a big name in and of itself. Since they could generally manage on their own, they had no reason to go out of their way to accept dubious requests. Of course, there were those who sought thrills or battles with strong opponents. Given that, it wasn't an absolute certainty that they would never accept one—but the probability was quite low.
"So what should we do? You clearly have something in mind, right? If you're saying all this without a plan..."
"Of course I do."
Gaiska opened his mouth to say he wouldn't let the matter drop so easily, but Deotres cut him off before the words could form. Gaiska's expression soured slightly at the interruption, but retaliating against Rei was more important than his displeasure with his subordinate's tone, so he prompted him to continue.
"So, what's the plan?"
"First, retaliation is fine—but forget about killing him. At least for this particular matter, going that far isn't feasible."
"What..."
Gaiska had been absolutely determined to kill Rei, to exact revenge on the man who had defied a member of Marquis Seisole's House. Why was Deotres suddenly saying such a thing? An irritated glare was leveled at him.
But the man on the receiving end of that glare showed no sign of being bothered and spoke evenly.
"How about holding a mock battle? Not to kill Rei, but to gauge his strength. If we frame it that way, there's a high chance adventurers curious about Rei's abilities will gather in large numbers—and we won't need to hide our name."
Deotres delivered those words with a faint smile.