Rei left the Guild and, bringing Set along, considered strolling through town and grabbing something to eat from the food stalls as they walked.
Or so he had thought, but...
"Set-chan, it's been a while since we last met, but you're as cute as ever. Here, do you want to eat this sandwich? It's packed full of your favorite cheese inside, you know?"
Seeing the person fussing over Set while saying such things, Rei involuntarily looked up at the sky.
It wasn't snowing, but clouds covered the sky enough to call it overcast, and the sun was only visible occasionally through gaps in the clouds.
When Rei looked back at Set again, sure enough, a familiar figure was doting on him there.
Judging that things couldn't stay like this forever, Rei reluctantly called out to the person.
"Yohanna, it's been a while."
"Hey, Set-chan. Want to go play together after this? See, I'll spoil you more than Mirene would. Okay?"
It seemed as if Rei's voice wasn't reaching her at all—no, not "as if." She genuinely didn't seem to hear him, and she continued doting on Set.
Rei was at a loss for what to do, but a man who had come from a short distance away suddenly noticed Rei and called out to him.
"Rei-san, you've come back to Gilm!?"
That person, like Yohanna, was someone Rei recognized.
He was someone who had belonged to the same Mobile Unit as Yohanna during the Bestia Empire civil war.
"Yeah, you're looking well too. ...Yohanna is the same as ever, I see."
"Ah, ahahaha. Ahahahahahaha."
At the sight of Yohanna, who still showed no sign of noticing Rei and continued doting on Set, the man laughed as if trying to gloss something over.
He knew that Rei wouldn't get angry over something like this, but seeing Yohanna—who was a leader figure for their group—behaving like this probably gave the man plenty to think about.
Perhaps feeling slightly sorry for him, Rei decided to leave dealing with Yohanna to Set for the time being and changed the subject.
"Are you guys participating in the Cobolt subjugation?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. We have a decent amount of financial leeway, but I do it so my body doesn't get rusty."
"Yeah... seems like there are a lot of people like that."
Cobolts being defeated for diet purposes—though technically slightly different—left Rei with an indescribable feeling even from his perspective.
"Yes. Also, quite a few people who are just killing time participate. Even if they take a break, there are plenty of people who get bored of drinking themselves under the table at taverns or going to brothels and things like that."
Cobolts being defeated to kill time also gave him an indescribable feeling, much like the diet purpose.
However, regardless of the reason, the fact that Cobolts were being defeated was an undeniable truth.
As long as the damage Gilm suffered was reduced because of it, the reason didn't matter.
"So, why are you at the Guild, Rei-san? Are you maybe taking a Cobolt subjugation request?"
Though he asked, it was obvious he was thinking that was probably not the case.
From the man's perspective, Rei the Alias-Bearer doing such a thing wouldn't bring any benefit—rather, he probably couldn't imagine Rei accepting a request that would only bring trouble.
And since Rei actually had no intention of accepting Cobolt subjugation requests, that assumption was by no means wrong.
...If the existence of a Rare Species or High-ranking Species among the Cobolts could be confirmed, there would have been a possibility of accepting subjugation requests in pursuit of an unknown Magic Stone, but.
"Starting tomorrow, the Gigant Turtle dissection will be taking place, so I came to discuss that."
The Gigant Turtle dissection.
The moment they heard Rei's words announcing that, the adventurers nearby reacted for an instant.
Even when Rei had been talking with Lenora about the Gigant Turtle dissection at the Guild, the surrounding adventurers had been trying somehow to obtain that information.
For those taking Cobolt subjugation requests due to a shortage of funds, the Gigant Turtle dissection probably seemed like a lucrative request.
However, since the Cobolt subjugation requests were of higher importance to Gilm, the reward had ended up being quite modest.
As for Rei, while he wasn't the one paying the reward, the fact that the reward was low meant fewer people would aim for it, which gave him slight pause.
That said, considering the size of the Gigant Turtle, it wasn't something that could be finished within just this winter, so he wasn't bothered to the point of feeling displeased.
"Eh? You're finally going to dissect it?"
"Yeah. Originally, I planned to start before the new year, but I was in Anesis."
At the mention of Anesis, the man cast his gaze toward Yohanna, who was doting on Set with a subtle expression.
When Rei had gone to Anesis, Set was naturally absent from Gilm as well, and as a result, Yohanna had developed what could only be called Set withdrawal symptoms.
That she was doting on Set this excessively right now was undoubtedly a rebound from those withdrawal symptoms.
"Oh, that's something to look forward to. I've been interested in the Gigant Turtle."
"I figured. I know there are a lot of people like that. But you can't just ignore the Cobolt situation, right? Well, considering we still don't understand why they're so persistently attacking Gilm, there's also a possibility they might stop attacking entirely starting tomorrow."
"When you put it that way... I suppose so."
"That's why the reward for the Gigant Turtle dissection will be fairly low. If you're still fine with that, come join me. Oh, and the reward is small, but I intend to let you take a little bit of the dissected meat as a souvenir. ...I don't know if it'll be tasty, though."
As far as Rei knew, turtles were not generally eaten.
The exception to that was softshell turtle.
In reality, there were regions where sea turtles were commonly eaten as food, but.
Even so, since the Gigant Turtle was undeniably a High-Rank Monster, it was impossible for its meat to be bad.
(I've seen softshell turtle hotpot on TV, but I've never eaten it.)
Naturally, Rei didn't know how to butcher a turtle, nor did he know what kind of seasoning would work best.
Given that, the only thing Rei could do was leave it to a professional cook.
"Anyway, if those conditions are acceptable, please accept the request tomorrow morning."
"I'll accept the request!"
The one who answered Rei's words was not the man he had just been talking to, but Yohanna, who until moments ago had been doting on Set.
It was unclear from where she had been listening, but since she said she would accept the request, she must have heard that he was recruiting for the Gigant Turtle dissection.
What Yohanna was thinking when she said she would accept this request was obvious to Rei without even needing to think about it.
"I'm telling you, we—or more accurately, Set—won't be watching the Gigant Turtle dissection the entire time. After a quick check at the beginning to make sure there are no problems, he'll probably go somewhere else."
"Even so, I don't mind. If I can definitely meet Set-chan, then missing this opportunity is not an option for me."
Seeing Yohanna declare it so firmly, Rei couldn't say anything more.
If she was accepting the request fully aware of everything, then Rei felt grateful rather than inconvenienced.
The members led by Yohanna, being a former Mobile Unit, possessed considerable strength when it came to pure combat ability.
Even if monsters drawn by the scent of the Gigant Turtle's blood showed up, there was no need to worry about them losing to most opponents.
"If you're going that far, then I have nothing more to say. Are you sure? From our side, it would be a huge help if you and your group took on this request."
Because Rei had led Yohanna and her comrades as a Mobile Unit during the Bestia Empire civil war, he could trust them without any doubt.
Yohanna and her group had also witnessed Rei's fighting with their own eyes during the civil war, seen him annihilate enemy positions with a Flame Tornado, and furthermore seen the existence of Set, deciding they absolutely never wanted to fight Rei.
That was why they had immigrated to Gilm from the Bestia Empire, which was hostile to the Kingdom of Mireana.
...Even among them, Yohanna had come to Gilm not out of any concern about opposing Rei, but purely because she wanted to be with Set.
"Yes, leave it to me. I'm good at dissecting monsters, and it seems I can get a little bit of the Gigant Turtle's meat too, so I've been somewhat interested."
"Yeah... I'll spread the word to the other members too. There are some who aren't taking Cobolt subjugation requests and are just idle."
Including Yohanna, the former Mobile Unit members had rented a single mansion where a large number of them lived.
Of course, not everyone lived in that mansion; some rented separate rooms on their own, and in some cases, there were those who had found lovers and were living together, or had gotten married and started families.
Even so, as long as a large number of them still lived in that mansion, spreading the word was easy.
"Please do. The more people there are, the faster the Gigant Turtle dissection will progress. Plus, with you guys, I don't have to worry about anyone stealing materials."
It had been agreed that someone from the Guild would come to monitor whether anyone was stealing materials, but even so, not having to worry about anyone stealing at all was helpful for Rei as well.
Moreover, the Guild was currently busy with the Cobolt situation.
That was obvious just from looking at how Lenora and Kenny were working at the Guild.
Because of that, the number of people dispatched from the Guild was likely to be reduced from the original plan.
No, considering what Rei had actually seen, they would be reduced.
Rei had no particular dissatisfaction with that.
It had been part of the original agreement, and given the current Cobolt situation, he understood that they had to prioritize dealing with that.
(If anything, once the Gigant Turtle dissection progresses to the point of extracting the Magic Stone, it might be better to push the rest to next winter.)
The reason he could think that way was, after all, because he had the Misty Ring.
If he put it inside the Misty Ring, he at least didn't have to worry about it rotting.
That was demonstrated by the fact that the Gigant Turtle was still fresh in its current state.
"Rei-san? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I was just thinking the Cobolts are a nuisance."
Rei replied to the man's words.
In truth, that wasn't what Rei had actually been thinking, but it wasn't wrong either.
For whatever reason, the Cobolts had attacked Gilm numerous times, and because of that, adventurers who could normally be used as manpower for the dissection were being diverted there.
"Not many people are thinking that seriously about the Cobolt situation, though. Of course, I don't know what will happen if this continues into spring."
Since it was currently winter, the Expansion Construction was not progressing very far.
In the truly important places that required craftsmen, guards were hired to proceed with the construction, but... such places were quite few.
That was why guards could be assigned to those craftsmen as well, and most of those craftsmen had the nerve to continue their own work without concern even if Cobolts attacked.
But that was only a story about a small number of limited craftsmen who also had guards.
If it became spring and the Expansion Construction began, a massive amount of manpower would be poured into the construction.
When that happened, naturally there would be a shortage of adventurer hands for guarding.
Adventurers had originally been hired as guards, but between monsters that might or might not come, and the Cobolts that, while Low-Rank Monsters, attacked in large numbers—which was more troublesome depended on the situation, but in terms of purely consuming manpower, the latter was undoubtedly more troublesome.
(When spring comes, the adventurers who left during the winter will return, so the manpower will definitely increase. It will increase, but... we can't just do Cobolt subjugation alone, after all.)
Once the Expansion Construction began in earnest, there would never be enough adventurers no matter how many there were.
"For the time being, it'd be better to settle the Cobolt situation quickly. There's still a reasonable amount of leeway until spring, but there's not enough leeway to just sit back and watch."
At Rei's words, both the man and Yohanna nodded with slightly serious expressions.