The day after the party at Marina's house, Rei stood in front of the Guild.
Despite the winter chill, a large crowd had gathered around Set outside the building, showering him with affection.
This was likely because Rei and Set had been away from Gilm for a while. Plenty of people who had doted on Set before were eager to fuss over him now that he was back.
...In reality, Set had been gone for less than a month.
At any rate, seeing Set happily surrounded by admirers, Rei decided the griffon wouldn't feel lonely and headed inside.
The first thing that struck him was the sheer volume of people.
Having spent several winters in Gilm before, Rei found it almost incongruous to see this many people inside the Guild during the off-season.
It wouldn't have surprised him as much if the crowd was concentrated in the bar area. But right now, there were more adventurers crowded around the Request Board and reception counter than the tavern.
(This is probably the Cobolts' doing, too.)
Cobolt attacks meant their materials, Magic Stones, and Subjugation Proof Parts could be cashed in. These adventurers were likely here for exactly that reason.
Of course, the ones present were those strapped for cash or looking to pad their winter funds—a distinct minority among Gilm's adventurer population. The reason so many were packed inside the Guild was that many had come for the Expansion Construction work and hadn't left even after winter set in.
Tuning out the chatter of adventurers forming their usual parties or temporary Cobolt-hunting groups, Rei made his way toward the counter.
Naturally, a fair number of adventurers were already lined up there. He had deliberately avoided the busiest morning hours, arriving at the Guild around nine, but even so, the crowd was larger than he had expected.
(Then again, from the looks of it, the morning rush must have been even worse. So I definitely picked the right time... or so I'd like to believe.)
Rei stood in line, mulling this over. Perhaps unsurprisingly, no one tried to pick a fight with him. In the past, adventurers who didn't recognize him might have tried, but this was Gilm—Rei's home turf. The influx of newcomers drawn by the Expansion Construction had heard the stories from the locals and clearly recognized him as someone you simply didn't cross.
Above all, Rei had made quite a spectacle of himself during the construction work, so anyone who didn't know his face was in the minority. If he had been wearing his Dragon Robe with the hood up, perhaps someone might have failed to recognize him, but with the hood down, his identity was plain to see.
Thus, without causing any particular incident, Rei eventually stood before Lenora, his assigned receptionist.
"Is this regarding the Cobolt—"
Having handled nothing but Cobolt-related matters for days, Lenora assumed this would be more of the same. But the moment she registered who was standing in front of her, her eyes went wide.
That she didn't cry out was a testament to her professionalism. However...
"Ah! Rei-kun!? When did you get back!?"
Kenny, a cat Beastman with a figure that turned heads, was standing next to Lenora. In complete contrast to Lenora's stunned expression, Kenny's face broke into a radiant smile the instant she spotted Rei, her voice carrying across the counter.
To Kenny, Rei was someone special. Lenora knew this, so she didn't comment on Kenny's outburst. The other Guild Staff Members working behind the counter, however, shot Kenny sharp glares.
The Guild had been overwhelmed lately because of the Cobolt situation. Having someone act so carelessly in the middle of such a hectic period didn't sit well with those who were working themselves to the bone.
"Yesterday," Rei replied. "And just like I promised before, I was hoping to get the Gigant Turtle dissected... but when I got back, I heard Cobolts are attacking almost every day. I came to see how things are being handled."
He had also come to ask whether any High-ranking Species or Rare Species had appeared among the Cobolts, but since that was a long shot, he didn't bring it up.
"Ah, that matter. I've received instructions from the Guild Master regarding it. The reward will be lower than the Cobolt subjugation pay. However, Rei-san's previous proposal to transfer a modest portion of the Gigant Turtle's meat is perfectly acceptable."
Whether that arrangement was reasonable, Rei couldn't say. But he could guess why the reward had been set lower than usual. Without that adjustment, anyone chasing a quick coin would abandon the Cobolt subjugation and flock to the Gigant Turtle instead, so it made sense.
(Though that brings its own problems. I was hoping to finish the Gigant Turtle's dissection by spring, but if manpower is being diverted to the Cobolts... there's a good chance it won't be done this winter.)
Even under ideal circumstances, considering the Gigant Turtle's size, it was unclear whether the dissection could be finished this winter even if every adventurer in Gilm worked on it. As a monster that was truly gigantic—no, excessively so—the inability to calculate in advance how long the process would take was a real problem.
Once the dissection actually began, they could estimate the timeline based on their progress. But that was only possible after work had already started.
"Lenora, just to check—if the low reward means not enough adventurers show up, will the Guild send its own people?"
"Yes, absolutely. The Guild has plenty of former adventurers on staff, and people experienced with dissections. ...When the Cobolt situation first started, there were some who wanted to leave the dissections entirely to the Guild, but there's hardly anyone like that anymore."
"Well, when you compare the price of a Cobolt against the dissection costs, most people barely broke even. If the corpse was in bad shape, the extra costs meant they were operating at a loss. So a lot of people started giving up on the materials and only bringing back the Subjugation Proof Parts and Magic Stones."
Kenny cut into Lenora's explanation, but her words triggered a different concern for Rei.
"Is it really fine to just leave the Cobolt corpses out there? There's a chance they could become Undead. It's fine now because it's winter, but once spring comes, those bodies are going to rot."
"Ah, that's been handled. We've left it to the residents of the Slum District. Honestly, the ones who have profited the most from this entire Cobolt situation are probably the people there. At the very least, they won't have to worry about going hungry."
During a normal winter in the Slum District, many would die of starvation or exposure. Yet the population there never shrank—in fact, it was slowly growing, as more people drifted in than died out. But that was beside the point.
Under Daskar's special permission, the residents of the Slum District collected the Cobolt corpses scattered across the battlefield and hauled them back to the slums. There, they dissected the bodies themselves, using the meat for food and the materials—particularly the fur—for their own clothing.
In reality, the pelts were completely unusable as-is. But among the Slum District's residents were people with all manner of skills, including some who could tan leather. Those individuals were turning a considerable profit. Tanning normally took time, but some had somehow gotten their hands on Magic Items that shortened the process considerably.
There were even some who couldn't be bothered to harvest the Subjugation Proof Parts and Magic Stones from low-rank monsters like Cobolts, leaving them behind. The Slum District residents who collected those could use their connections to convert them into cash.
All told, the Cobolt attacks had become a windfall for the Slum District. Some had earned enough through luck and resourcefulness to leave the slums entirely.
Hearing all this from Lenora, Rei was struck by the sheer resilience of the Slum District's residents.
"The Cobolt attacks are nothing but a nuisance for people living normal lives, but for the Slum District residents, it's practically a boom."
"That's right. There was some debate among Gilm's leadership about whether it was appropriate to hand the Cobolts over to them, but without that arrangement, the Expansion Construction site would be buried under a mountain of corpses."
"...I can imagine."
From what Rei had seen from the sky when he arrived yesterday, he estimated there were at least a hundred Cobolts. Considering that many Cobolts were attacking every day—and not just once a day, but multiple times—disposing of their corpses would be an enormous undertaking.
"Well, I understand the situation for now. So what should I do? Just come back here tomorrow morning?"
"Yes. However... not at this hour. We'd need you here much earlier, around six o'clock."
Ugh. Rei almost let out an involuntary groan, but Lenora's request was perfectly reasonable.
Since the Gigant Turtle was stored in Rei's Misty Ring, the work couldn't begin without him. That meant he had to be there when the other adventurers were ready to start.
From the Guild's perspective, since they were funding the reward, they naturally wanted the dissection finished as quickly as possible. But leaving the Gigant Turtle outside Gilm overnight was out of the question. Doing so would attract not only the Cobolts but every other monster in the area.
The scent of blood from an outdoor dissection was guaranteed to draw predators, and in winter, hiring enough guards to deal with them would cost a fortune. Since this was the frontier in the dead of winter, the monsters drawn by the blood would inevitably include High-Rank Monsters, meaning the adventurer guards would need considerable strength.
"Ah... right. Got it. So I just need to be at the Guild by six AM?"
"Yes. Um... it will probably be quite crowded though..."
"Rei-kun, have you ever been to the Guild at that hour? If it's your first time, I'm sure you'll be surprised."
Kenny chimed in after Lenora's warning with a knowing chuckle.
"I'd rather avoid it if I could... but I can't put off the Gigant Turtle's dissection forever."
If Rei hadn't gone to Anesis, the dissection would have been done by now, without question. Since that delay had been his doing, he couldn't very well refuse the Guild's request after they had accommodated him. Even if he had insisted, the Guild probably wouldn't have pushed back the start time for him anyway.
After finishing up the remaining details with Lenora, Rei turned to leave, careful not to get in the other adventurers' way.
"Hey, Rei-kun! Want to grab lunch together today? Ow!"
Kenny tried to invite Rei out, but was immediately suppressed by Lenora, who brought a rolled stack of documents down on her head.
Holding the makeshift weapon, Lenora spoke with exasperation.
"Listen, you know perfectly well how busy we've been these past few days, right? We can't exactly just drop everything for a lunch break when noon rolls around. ...Are you seriously planning to be the only one who slips out in the middle of all this?"
Kenny wilted under Lenora's withering glare and tried to protest, but the sheer force of her senior's presence rendered her speechless.
Apparently satisfied, Lenora's expression shifted back to a professional smile as she turned to Rei.
"I apologize, Rei-san. Please don't mind Kenny."
"...Sounds like the right call."
Kenny cast a pleading look toward Rei, but sensing that lingering would only draw Lenora's wrath onto herself as well, she beat a hasty retreat.
Rei walked away, the sound of Lenora's lecture to Kenny fading behind him.