"Hm? Lord Rei?"
Rei had been drinking tea at Marina's house, watching Set and Byune play in the garden, when that voice called out and snapped him back to reality.
Naturally, Rei knew exactly whose voice it was.
And if the owner of that voice was here, it went without saying that another person had come as well.
"Rei? Marina too... oh, Ielo."
Ielo, who had been nestled in Elena's arms, spotted Set through the window and immediately squirmed in that direction.
Since the window was closed, though, Ara had to hurry over and open it for Ielo.
"I was getting bored sitting around at the inn. Plus, I wanted to gather what information I could about the Cobolt situation, so I came here."
"Hmm, I see. I've already heard about the Cobolt situation from Lord Daskar. Though it seems there's no need for me to lend a hand. He told me in no uncertain terms to stay out of it."
Perhaps displeased at being told to stay out of it, Elena murmured with a slightly sullen expression.
Of course, Elena perfectly understood why she had been told such a thing.
She was stationed in Gilm as a watchdog over the Noble Faction Nobles.
If someone in her position were called out to subjugate Cobolts, the Noble's Faction would take offense, seeing their symbol being deployed against mere Cobolts. Worse still, rumors could spread that Gilm's own forces were insufficient to handle the threat.
That would be far from ideal for Daskar, who led the Neutral Faction—one of the Three Great Factions.
If they truly found themselves unable to defeat the Cobolts and the situation exceeded what Gilm's adventurers could manage, they might genuinely need to rely on Elena. But for now, the adventurers were more than sufficient.
Given that, it was an indisputable fact that there was no need to borrow Elena's power for this incident.
"I suppose you're right. Considering Daskar's position, he could hardly say otherwise. ...At any rate, welcome back."
"...I'm back."
"Thank you for having us again."
Mindful of Daskar's position, Marina welcomed Elena and Ara, and the two accepted the greeting with slightly bashful expressions.
For them, Marina's home was clearly a place where they could relax far more easily than at any ordinary inn.
Thanks to Marina's Spirit Magic, the interior was always kept immaculate—warm in winter, cool in summer.
"Well then, since we have the whole party gathered here together for the first time in a while, shall we make tonight's dinner a bit extravagant?"
"Hold on. Ara and I aren't members of Crimson Lotus Wings, you know."
Elena's tone carried just a hint—truly only a hint—of disappointment.
She was likely envious that Marina and Vihera, both her comrades and romantic rivals, were party members while she was not.
But given her position, becoming an adventurer simply wasn't an option.
"Was that so, I wonder? ...But you act together so often. Calling you a Semi-Member should be fine, right?"
Naturally, no such classification existed in the Guild's system.
And Marina, the former Guild Master, knew that better than anyone.
She said it anyway, largely because she wanted Elena to feel, even a little, the same sense of belonging they shared.
And in fact, the moment Elena heard the word "Semi-Member," a happy smile bloomed across her face.
"Semi-Member. Hehe, I see. ...I see."
The way she murmured those words, combined with her natural beauty, was striking enough to steal one's breath away.
Naturally, Rei found himself captivated by Elena's appearance...
"Ahem. So, we were talking about having a somewhat extravagant dinner tonight. What should we do? Cook for ourselves, or eat out?"
"We'd better cook for ourselves. We can't exactly bring Set into a restaurant."
Marina answered Vihera, who had asked the question with a cough that seemed designed to cover up something.
When this group shared a meal, Set and Ielo simply had to be part of it—of that much, Marina was certain.
Rei sent a grateful glance her way for the consideration.
"In that case, the question is what to make. Should we bring out the oven?"
Until recently, whenever they ate at Marina's house, they had used the Magic Item oven Rei carried with him to cook their meals.
Barely a month had passed since then, but the incident in Anesis must have been enough of an upheaval to make it feel longer.
"Yes, let's do that. ...Since we're at it, let's use the oven to make all sorts of things together. Fortunately, we have ingredients on hand... Rei, could you provide some from your end as well?"
"Ingredients? Sure, I've got all kinds of things. No problem on my end. ...Come to think of it, we still have the fish we caught when we all went to the sea near the end of summer. It might be fun to make something with those. Though about the only dishes I can manage are salt-grilled. Or maybe soup?"
In this case, the soup would simply be his usual campfire recipe with fish substituted for dried meat. Adjusting the broth specifically to complement fish was well beyond Rei's abilities.
If he thought of it as just tossing fish into his usual improvised camp soup, that would be an appalling waste.
For people who lived near the sea, cooking fish so casually would be unremarkable. But this was Gilm—nowhere near any ocean.
There were rivers, of course, so fresh fish wasn't entirely unavailable... Even so, the differences between river fish and sea fish—in taste, texture, size, and everything else—were considerable.
Preserved sea fish did make their way here in salted, smoked, or dried forms, so it wasn't as though they were completely cut off from seafood.
Even so, whatever sea fish arrived in Gilm had invariably undergone some form of preservation. Raw fish like what Rei had stored in his Misty Ring... while not impossible to obtain, doing so would cost more than any ordinary household could ever justify for a meal.
That was exactly why tossing sea fish into the kind of slapdash soup Rei could produce would shock, sadden, or in some cases outright anger anyone who knew better—adventurers, cooks, and anyone else with a shred of culinary sense.
That said, everyone present knew full well that Rei's Misty Ring contained a large quantity of sea fish, so no one would stop him on that account.
They would stop him for an entirely different reason—they wanted to eat a proper, delicious fish dish rather than see it reduced to mere toppings in Rei's improvised soup.
"I'll cook the fish. You'd rather have something delicious, wouldn't you, Rei?"
Rei nodded readily at Marina's proposal.
He wouldn't go so far as to call his own cooking bad, but he understood better than anyone that it was by no means good.
Seeing his reaction, Elena, Vihera, and Ara all wore pleased expressions.
Getting to eat Rei's home cooking was by no means a bad prospect for the three of them.
But naturally, if they were going to eat, they wanted the food to be delicious.
"Then we'll need to let Byune know as well. This is a celebration, after all. Let's make the most of it. My cooking skills are itching for this."
If anyone asked who the best cook in this group was, every single member would point to Marina without hesitation.
The others weren't completely hopeless in the kitchen—it wasn't as though they could only produce dishes classified as hazardous materials. But it was an undeniable fact that they could only manage food that was merely edible.
That was why Marina's words drew looks of delight from everyone.
"What should I bring out for ingredients? ...Should I pull out some High-Rank Monster meat?"
"Hmm, that would be nice, but whether my skills can properly draw out the flavor of that kind of ingredient is a bit questionable. For now, could I get some monster meat around B-Rank instead of S-Rank or A-Rank?"
Rei nodded at Marina's words, though in most places—anywhere other than Gilm—meat from a B-Rank Monster would be priced well beyond what an ordinary household could afford.
For those with the means, purchasing B-Rank Monster meat wasn't particularly difficult, of course.
"Understood. Then I'll... ah, that's right. I have some prepped meat ready. I'll roast that in the oven."
Saying so, Rei headed out into the garden with Marina.
Immediately, the happy cries of Set and Ielo reached their ears. Byune wasn't making any particular sounds of joy, but she was undeniably giving off a delighted aura.
Spotting Rei and Marina stepping out into the garden, followed by Elena and the others, those two creatures and one person turned their gazes toward the group as if wondering what was going on.
"Gruu?"
As if speaking on behalf of all three, Set purred a questioning note—what is it?
Stroking Set, Rei spoke up.
"Today's the day we all came back to Gilm, right? So I was thinking we'd have a party right here in the garden tonight. ...Besides, it's warm out here."
Rei's words were perfectly accurate.
Thanks to Marina's Spirit Magic, the garden was maintained at a comfortable temperature, like spring or autumn.
What's more, as evidenced by the fact that Set and Byune had been running around earlier, there was no issue with the ground being wet and difficult to walk on from the snowfall.
"Gruu!?"
Hearing talk of a party, Set purred excitedly, as if asking, Really!?
Byune, who had been resting a short distance away, was radiating a happy atmosphere as well, even though her expression hadn't changed.
For Byune, who loved eating above all else, a party meant one thing—the promise of delicious food.
Since Marina had declared she would put her skills to use, that expectation was far from unfounded.
"So that's the plan. We're going to start preparing now. That means running around and playing in the garden is on hold for the time being. Got it?"
"Gruu!"
Set let out a cry that seemed to say, if it meant eating delicious food, he could manage that much patience!
Ielo landed on Set's back and chirped as if to say he felt exactly the same way.
"Good. Glad you understand. Then... let's start by bringing out the ingredients. What should we begin with? Meat? Fish? Vegetables?"
"Hmm, let's see. Since it's prep work, fish first. ...With Rei's Misty Ring, the nice thing is we don't have to worry about the ingredients going bad."
Normally, in winter like this, there was little need to worry about spoilage.
Of course, if one were to leave ingredients sitting out for days on end, they would certainly spoil.
But with Rei's Misty Ring, they could store everything after prepping it and it would stay perfectly fresh. On the other hand, since time was effectively stopped inside the Misty Ring, the flavors wouldn't meld together, and there was no way to deodorize meat or fish—so it wasn't purely advantageous.
Still, being able to store everything in the Misty Ring after finishing the prep work and retrieve it whenever needed made the benefits enormous.
"Then fish it is. ...What kind should I bring out?"
"Hmm, you know that fish with the sharply pointed snout? The one that was fairly large? Could you bring that one out?"
Reminded, Rei recalled a fish that resembled a swordfish.
It wasn't exactly a swordfish, but the resemblance was unmistakable.
"This one."
What Rei produced was a fish roughly one meter long.
However, since the snout itself accounted for about thirty centimeters, the actual body was closer to seventy centimeters.
Seeing the fish, Marina nodded with satisfaction.
"Yes, yes, this one. I tried a little when we were at the sea, and I think this fish would be delicious pan-fried in butter. The flesh was soft, but on the bland side."
Butter-grilled swordfish. The mere thought of such a dish made Rei nod in agreement—it sounded undeniably appetizing.
"Pouring the juice of a tart fruit over it before eating would make it even better."
"Huh? Would it? If you're grilling it in butter, I think the sourness would just be unnecessary seasoning."
Vihera objected to Rei's suggestion.
This was clearly a matter of personal preference.
Back in Japan, Rei had always been the type to squeeze lemon juice over his fried chicken.
Vihera was probably the sort who wouldn't put lemon juice on fried food or tonkatsu, either. Come to think of it, manga and anime back in Japan were always depicting disputes that broke out over exactly this kind of thing.
Entertaining such thoughts, Rei decided that when the time came to pour fruit juice over the butter-grilled fish, he would only do so on the portion he served himself.