"Hoh... Black Wolf, you say."
Rei detected a hint of displeasure in Elena's words, but it was only natural for her to be displeased upon learning that an assassin was freely coming and going inside his lodgings.
"Calm down, look. Even the passersby are scared of you."
At Rei's words, Elena regained a measure of composure and corrected her expression.
Had this been the Duke Kerebel Mansion, Elena would not have needed to be so mindful of her own demeanor. But right now, Rei and his party were in the middle of the City of Anesis.
Moreover, since she was not wearing any particular disguise, the passersby recognized Elena as Elena.
...Initially, Rei had suggested she try disguising herself, but the ones who rejected that idea were Ara and Miranda, along with every other maid who had been present.
They told him that even if Elena disguised herself, it would be impossible to hide her beauty.
They actually tried a light disguise on her, but Elena's hair was a magnificent golden color, as if the sunlight itself had taken form, and being in drill curls, she had a great volume of it.
They tried preparing hats and the like, but fitting all of her hair inside them was not impossible, but it was certainly extremely difficult.
Unable to conceal Elena's golden hair—her greatest defining feature—and forcing a disguise on other areas would only draw more attention.
This was especially apparent with her clothing.
Her bountiful twin hills could not be hidden even if she tried to cover them with clothes; if anything, a poor attempt would only emphasize them further and attract people's eyes.
If that was the result in winter clothing, who knew what would have happened in summer when she would be lightly dressed.
At any rate, a clumsy disguise would only make Elena stand out more.
Given that, since she would stand out either way, the judgment was that not disguising her would reduce the number of people entertaining strange ideas.
(A disguise-type Magic Item or something like that would probably be useful to have, though)
Thinking such thoughts, Rei opened his mouth to calm the slightly displeased Elena.
"Come on, we're about to go buy souvenirs, right? If you buy souvenirs in that state, you'll only trouble the shopkeepers."
"Mm, that is..."
Perhaps understanding that she was being displeased, Elena shifted her mood slightly at Rei's words.
It was also because she judged that she should enjoy this, since she had gone out into the city alone with Rei for the first time in a while.
"So, what kind of souvenirs should we buy? Or rather, who specifically do you think we should buy for?"
"Hmm, let me see. The essentials are Marina's group. And Lord Daskar, I suppose. After that, anyone you feel you've been indebted to should be fine, should it not?"
"People I've been indebted to, huh."
Saying that, Rei recalled the staff of the Wheat Inn at twilight, and the two receptionists at the Guild he was close to. Besides them, there were the people at the Full Belly Diner and others he was reasonably close to.
"...Come to think of it, that's going to be quite a lot of people."
"I would think so."
At Rei's words, Elena told him this while a smile rose to her lips.
It was proof of just how many people Rei had interacted with in Gilm, and that made Elena happy.
As someone who knew Rei's secret, the words that came from his mouth were nothing but pleasant to her.
...Though a certain receptionist at the Guild did require a degree of caution.
"In that case, it looks like we'll be buying quite a lot... well, if there's any left over, I can just store it in my Misty Ring, so it should be fine."
Even with foods that had expiration dates, there was no problem as long as they were kept inside the Misty Ring.
After all, he could even buy freshly made food, store it in the Misty Ring, and bring it back to Gilm as a souvenir.
That was precisely why, even if he purchased large quantities of food as souvenirs, they could be kept inside the Misty Ring and eaten without issue even years later.
"Food? Hmm, I was thinking of something like small trinkets."
"Ah... I see. But for souvenirs, I think things you can consume—like food or drinks—are generally better."
Those were words born from Rei's experience.
When he was in Japan, there had been a few times when he received souvenirs from friends or relatives for trips and such.
But when he received things like pennants or stuffed animals, for Rei, they were just a hassle to find a place for.
In the end, such items would be put in a cardboard box and stored in a closet or somewhere similar, and in that sense, his honest feeling was that lots of snacks, food, or drinks like juice were better.
Of course, since they had gone to the trouble of buying souvenirs for him, he couldn't voice any complaints.
(The one saving grace is that they never brought back wooden swords as souvenirs, at least)
Rei himself had never actually received a wooden sword as a souvenir, but in manga and the like, that kind of situation came up a few times.
If someone had brought him a wooden sword...
(Huh? Would that actually have been a problem?)
If he lived in Tokyo, having a wooden sword brought to him might be troublesome, but in the countryside... somewhere like his family home surrounded by mountains, it could be used to kill or throw away snakes and other such creatures, and it would be effective for driving away animals like monkeys, raccoon dogs, and foxes.
(Thinking about it that way, a wooden sword might have actually been more useful than a pennant.)
Thinking such thoughts, Rei walked through Anesis with Elena, searching for items to serve as souvenirs.
"Now then, we're buying souvenirs, but... specifically, what kind of souvenirs do you think would be appreciated? Food and that sort of thing is fine too?"
Rei asked Elena based on his experiences from when he was in Japan, but what came back was a faint look of exasperation.
Unable to understand why she was giving him such a look, Rei asked directly.
"Did I say something strange?"
"Yes. Well... if it's anyone other than Marina's group, that would be fine. But for Marina's group, I think they would be happier with something more substantial—something that lasts, rather than food."
"Is that so? Well, if you say so, let's go with that."
For Rei, food would be more appreciated, but if Elena said so, then it would probably be better to do as she suggested.
When it came to a woman's heart, Rei was completely ignorant, after all.
"In that case... accessories? No, but something they can use regularly would be better."
Marina, Vihera, and Byune—the three of them were adventurers who partied with Rei.
Given that, he thought that even if they were given accessories... but then he recalled two of his three companions and immediately retracted his previous thought.
Marina always wore party dresses, and that did not change even on the battlefield.
Vihera similarly wore layered thin clothing like what prostitutes or dancers wore on a regular basis.
...With those two wearing such restrictive clothing, he didn't think that wearing one or two accessories would affect their movements at all.
Byune was the only one who dressed like a thief, so she probably wouldn't wear jewelry or the like.
"Ah, yeah. I guess going with accessories is the best option after all? What do you think?"
Rei asked, but what came back was Elena with a smile across her entire face.
However, though she was smiling, her eyes were not smiling.
Unconsciously taking a step back from such an Elena, Rei asked.
"Umm... was there something wrong with accessories?"
"No, there is no problem. Ah, no problem at all. ...It is just that I felt a little envious of Marina and Vihera and the others."
At Elena's words spoken while still smiling, Rei immediately caught on.
Though Rei was dense when it came to a woman's heart, even he was not oblivious enough to not realize what Elena was envious of in this situation.
"Ah... well, it's not exactly a souvenir, but as a memento of going out together with you today, want me to buy something for you too, Elena?"
"Is that alright? Just being able to go out with you like this makes me more fortunate than Marina or Vihera."
The unsmiling smile she had been wearing until moments ago disappeared, and Elena asked if it was truly alright.
For Elena, it was certain that she harbored a slight sense of guilt toward Marina and Vihera—women who loved the same man she did.
Traveling alone with Rei—though Ara, Ielo, and Set were also present—and introducing him to her family.
She had been doing such things, after all.
...Of course, Rei had also been to the Dark Elf settlement, Marina's hometown, and had traveled to the Bestia Empire, Vihera's homeland, where he met her father, younger brother, and older sister.
In that sense, Elena was actually the most behind.
Even so, for Elena, simply having the time to spend with Rei like this left her with no complaints.
"It's fine, it's not that big a deal. ...That said, I don't know where they sell accessories, so we'll need to start by finding that."
"Y-yes. According to what I heard from a maid, from spring to autumn, street stall merchants sell various things, but..."
Saying that, Elena looked up at the sky.
What was there was a ceiling of clouds that could drop snow at any moment.
It was by no means clear.
No, since it was currently winter, even if it were sunny in these conditions, street stall merchants would not be present.
Of course, whether the kind of accessories sold by street stall merchants would suit women of such breathtaking beauty as Elena, Marina, and Vihera was another matter entirely.
"In that case... oh, how about Magic Items?"
Ornamental Magic Items were not rare, and if they were Magic Items, Rei could appraise them to some degree.
If so, it was only natural for Rei to think that he should just buy those.
Moreover, considering they were gifts for companions they partied with, it was desirable for them to have some kind of effect.
While it was undeniably a somewhat bland thing to give to close women—his effectively romantic partners—even so, from the perspective of those who lived by the sword, it was by no means a bad choice.
Elena apparently had no objections to Rei's opinion either, as she floated a happy... genuinely smiling expression, unlike before.
As expected, receiving a present—one of accessories—from her beloved was simply that joyful.
"I am... happy."
Elena said so in a small but clear voice.
From happiness and embarrassment, her cheeks were faintly dyed red.
Though they couldn't understand the content of Rei and Elena's exchange, the passersby who had been casting glances at them were captivated by Elena's expression, and one after another, some bumped into other passersby or even into buildings.
Even so, those who bumped into things did not consider themselves unlucky.
That was because they were able to witness with their own eyes the extremely rare sight of Elena's cheeks dyed red.
It was to the point that, if cameras existed, there was no doubt that the sight before them would have become a lifelong treasure.
...The buildings aside, the passersby who were bumped into were the only ones truly inconvenienced.
Whether Rei noticed what was happening around him or not.
At any rate, seeing Elena smiling happily, Rei himself smiled with satisfaction and opened his mouth.
"Then let's head to a shop that sells Magic Items right away. ...Do you know where one is?"
At Rei's questioning words, Elena once again shook her head.
"I have been a few times, but I traveled by carriage then, so I don't know the details of the area."
"Ah... I see. Right."
Elena was the Daughter of Duke Kerebel, bearing the alias of Princess General.
It was only natural that walking through Anesis on her own two feet to look around, like she was doing today, was the rarer occurrence.
Under normal circumstances, heading directly to her destination by carriage would be her usual behavior.
"Then let's search for a Magic Item shop while asking people along the way. If we know one exists, we don't need to worry too much about it."
In villages and small towns, there were cases where Magic Item shops didn't exist at all.
If these were the kind of ignition-type Magic Items, that would be another matter, but what Rei was looking for fell into the undeniably expensive category.
If so, even if someone opened a shop in a village or small town, they would never be able to stay in business.
But this was Anesis, the second-largest city in the Kingdom of Mireana.
The kind of Magic Item shop Rei was looking for was certain to be there.