There was someone watching me.
At Rei's words, Bluitt sharpened his gaze and scanned the surroundings.
Bluitt didn't usually wear such a stern expression, but his current look was a sharp glare—the kind one directed at an enemy.
It was sharp enough that a child would probably burst into tears if they saw him now.
But it was only natural for Bluitt to wear such an expression. He had always been confident in his own abilities, yet until Rei pointed it out, he hadn't noticed at all that he was being watched.
If he had been attacked by the owner of that gaze in this situation, there was a high chance he wouldn't have been able to respond in time. That was precisely why Bluitt's gaze grew so sharp as he looked around.
"Relax. I felt this gaze before the mock battle too. In other words, the owner of this gaze is probably interested in me, not you."
Even as he said that, Rei slightly furrowed his brows at the eerie gaze that still carried no hint of hostility.
If it were a gaze that carried killing intent or something similar, Rei could have at least understood what kind of enemy he was dealing with. But the gaze currently directed at him contained none of those emotions. It felt like nothing more than simply being watched.
"...Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Bluitt felt slightly relieved upon being told that it wasn't an enemy targeting him, but knowing that the gaze was directed at Rei, he couldn't simply rejoice. He knew Rei was stronger than him, but that didn't mean he could be certain Rei could handle an opponent whose gaze he himself had failed to detect.
Since both Rei and Set noticed a gaze I couldn't catch, at worst... it might mean they're on equal footing.
Bluitt had considerable confidence in his own strength. He had survived many battles fighting on the front lines as a noble, and street brawls like the one when he first met Rei weren't uncommon either. He was definitely stronger than a man who had just become an adventurer, had a fighting chance against veteran adventurers, and believed he wouldn't lose easily even against so-called first-rate ones.
For someone like him to have missed the gaze entirely, the one directing it at them was unquestionably stronger.
"I'd like to think I'll be fine for now. I don't know exactly who the owner of that gaze is, but I have no intention of losing easily to anyone."
Rei said it casually, but in truth, if it turned out to be a truly hopeless opponent, the option of fleeing on Set's back was always there. Alternatively, he could ride Set and launch a one-sided attack from the sky.
As long as Set and I are together, whether it's the owner of that gaze or anyone else, there's almost no chance of us losing.
With that in mind, Rei went back to enjoying the taste of his remaining soup.
"Gururu!"
Unlike Rei, Set had already finished his soup and had the audacity to demand a refill. Rei understood the request perfectly well but didn't grant it.
"We're going to visit other stalls after this, so leave it at that. Though I doubt you'd get full anyway..."
Rei was quite a big eater himself, but Set, with his fundamentally larger body, naturally ate even more. Getting so full that he couldn't eat another bite was highly unlikely. Rei understood that, but if they stayed in front of the soup stall for much longer, the stares from the people around them would become overwhelming.
"Guruu..."
Set purred disappointedly at Rei's words. Right at that moment, Bluitt finished his soup as well.
"Well then, what do we do? Which stall are we heading to next?"
The question caught Rei by surprise. He had been convinced Bluitt would split off and go his separate way here.
"Are you sure? You might catch the eye of whoever owns that gaze too."
"Yeah, I don't mind. They've probably already seen us together anyway. Given that, it'd be more dangerous for me to split from you and act alone here."
"Can't argue with that."
Rei nodded, though he personally doubted the owner of that gaze would bother attacking Bluitt.
If they were to target someone, would it be to use them as a hostage to lure me out? No, the one targeting me is probably Gaiska. In that case, would they really attack a noble...? Yeah, they probably would.
After all, Gaiska had looked down on and spoken dismissively to even Ara, the third daughter of Count Scarlet's House. That said, the one targeting him this time was likely not Gaiska himself, but a subordinate... or someone Gaiska had hired. If so, Rei judged the likelihood of the unrelated Bluitt being targeted was low.
That was precisely why he was concerned that if Bluitt kept tagging along, he might get caught up in whatever the gaze's owner had planned.
"Come on, let's go, Rei. You too, Set. A savory smell is coming from that stall over there—that's our next stop!"
Saying that, Bluitt grabbed Rei and started walking toward the stall wafting an appetite-stimulating aroma. Rei had been about to say something, but seeing the eager smile on Bluitt's face, he felt it would be foolish to argue.
"Alright, alright, just hold on a second. We need to return the soup dishes first."
Rei had enough money that the deposit on the dishes was pocket change. Considering what he'd received from Miranda, he could have bought the entire pot of soup, contents and all, without any issue. But since plenty of people were looking forward to the soup, he had no intention of doing something like that.
Holding back Bluitt, who was itching to move on, Rei returned the dishes, got his deposit back, and headed toward the next stall. Beside Bluitt, even Set was purring, just as eager to hurry along.
And so, dragged along by person and creature alike, Rei made his way to the next stall.
The savory, appetite-stimulating scent soon caught Rei's interest as well.
Fish? That's unusual.
What the stall was serving was a fish Rei had never seen before. It looked somewhat like a carp at a glance, but the details were different in various ways. The Hobbyist Shop Owner skillfully filleted the fish with a knife, wrapped the flesh in some kind of plant leaf along with seasonings, and grilled it directly over charcoal. It was a simple preparation, but a mouthwatering aroma drifted through the air.
What is this smell? I can't describe it exactly, but there's no mistaking that just breathing it in makes me hungry.
Despite the tantalizing scent, the number of customers lined up at the stall was small. It wasn't empty, but compared to the soup stall earlier, the line was clearly shorter.
"It looks so delicious. Why so few customers?"
"Hm? Ah, you don't know, Rei? That fish is called Jolf, and it's quite a high-grade fish. The leaf wrapping the flesh is also a herb that's hard to gather this time of year. Since they use that, the price per piece inevitably goes up."
"Jolf... I've never heard of it."
"Well, I figured. They say it doesn't live in that many places, and during spring and summer it hibernates... that sounds weird to say, but anyway, it's a strange fish that basically only moves around in autumn and winter."
"...That is genuinely a strange fish."
As far as Rei knew, most fish became active in spring and summer. Well, there were also many fish where autumn or winter was their season, so he couldn't paint them all with the same brush. The Hatahata he was fond of, for instance, was truly a winter fish. But even those didn't hibernate during spring and summer. At least, no such fish existed as far as Rei knew. And with its carp-like appearance, the whole thing felt even more incongruous.
"Right? That's why the catch is small too. They only live in clean, reasonably deep rivers. That's why it's more expensive than meat. ...Though as you can see from the line, it's not so expensive that people can't afford it."
Intrigued, Rei joined the end of the line with Set. Naturally, the two of them drew attention here as well. The man and woman in front of Rei were actually quite frightened by the fact that Set—a Gryphon—was right behind them.
For a moment, Rei considered saying something to them, but whatever he said wouldn't instantly ease their tension, and more importantly, his relationship with them was nothing more than standing in the same line. Given that, he decided it was better to stay quiet rather than make them even more tense, and he continued his conversation with Bluitt instead.
"So, the fact that you're here means you'll be attending the New Year's party too, right?"
"Yeah. I went to the trouble of getting measured and having clothes made for it. ...Though I'm sure attending will definitely spark some kind of incident."
There was the matter with Gaiska, but that wasn't the only problem. Rei could easily imagine that within the Noble's Faction, there were plenty of other nobles who found him disagreeable.
"I'm telling you, it's not just the Noble's Faction that finds you an eyesore."
"What?"
"Think about it. Who would be displeased seeing Rei of the Neutral Faction getting along with the Noble's Faction?"
"...The King's Faction?"
"That's right. Plus, there are nobles outside the Three Great Factions too."
Rei's expression turned to one of surprise. Every noble he had met so far had belonged to one of the Three Great Factions. Or perhaps there had been others, but that simply wasn't how Rei had perceived it.
"Now that you mention it, you're right. There are nobles who don't belong to any of the Three Great Factions."
"Obviously. ...Oh, more importantly, look. It's our turn."
While they'd been talking about nobles, the line had moved forward, and now it was Rei's turn. Just as Bluitt had said, Rei was charged a slightly higher price than at the other stalls, but with plenty of money from his gambling winnings, he went ahead and bought about thirty in bulk.
He didn't buy them all out, though, because there was still a line behind them. If he had tried something like that, it was almost certain the people waiting would have been upset.
After buying their share, they moved away from the stall. Unlike the soup stall, there were no dishes to return here. So Rei and his group settled down a short distance away to enjoy the food. Of course, with Set and Bluitt around—beings that stood out no matter what—they couldn't fully escape people's stares even at a distance. Still, Rei felt relieved that the number of gazes had decreased, even if only slightly, and after giving Set a portion, he brought his own food to his mouth.
The first thing that spread across his palate was a refreshing fragrance reminiscent of Aojiso. Next, the taste of Jolf's tender, fatty white meat delighted Rei's tongue. The seasonings packed inside the herb leaf alongside the Jolf didn't assert themselves too strongly—likely intentional, so the fish's own flavor could shine.
Savoring the dish, Rei handed a few more pieces to Set, who had already finished his in a single bite, then went back to enjoying his own.
"Jolf is a river fish, right? For it to be this fatty and not taste muddy at all... that's impressive."
"Yeah. They probably did a proper job removing the mud. ...Why are you so surprised?"
Bluitt looked slightly put out, apparently finding it unexpected that Rei would direct such an astonished look at him the moment he mentioned mud removal.
"No, I just didn't think that Bluitt, a noble, would know about mud removal and things like that."
In Rei's case, when he'd lived in Japan, he had caught fish himself in rivers and swamps, and there had been times when his father or an acquaintance shared their catch with him. That was why he knew about the process. But to think that Bluitt, a noble, was familiar with such a practice—that was surprising.
Rei told him as much while slightly deflecting the topic, and Bluitt flashed a smug grin.
"I'm out in town all the time. Of course I know that much common sense."
"...I don't think that's something the next head of a noble family should be spending his time on."
Even so, Rei couldn't help but smile as he savored the Jolf dish together with Set and Bluitt.