It was noon on the day of the Gigant Turtle dissection.
Aside from those keeping watch—though even half of the guard detail was eating—everyone was enjoying their midday break.
No snow was falling, but winter was still winter.
Firewood had been provided by the Guild, and as everyone warmed themselves by the fire and ate, Rei made his way toward the group of Slum District residents.
For the record, Rei had already eaten lunch with Vihera and Byune, and was now enjoying a post-meal rest.
The others were chatting with whoever happened to be nearby, and a few had even managed to fall asleep sitting upright.
While everyone was more or less free to spend their time as they pleased, a certain natural boundary had formed between the groups.
In particular, no one dared approach the Slum District residents—perhaps because the others simply were not sure how to interact with them.
Had they run into each other in the city, they might have chatted about any number of things. But seeing Slum District folk participate in such a massive-scale project left many with a sense of dissonance.
Then again, if Rei and the Guild Staff Member had not been present, it would not have been surprising for someone to try harassing the Slum District group. But in a place where Rei and the Guild Staff Member were standing watch, no one would dare try anything of the sort.
...Amidst all of this, Rei approached the Slum District group without the slightest sign of concern for the atmosphere around him.
Many of them were eating skewers of Cobolt meat—not because they had any fondness for it, but simply because it was the most readily available food in their current situation.
Cobolts attacked Gilm almost daily. The Fleeing Adventurers cut them down, and the corpses became food for the Slum District residents.
Cobolt meat, while not quite as bad as Goblin meat, was far from delicious.
Even so, if one set their mind to eating it, it was perfectly edible.
Given that, it was only natural for the Slum District residents to treat it as their staple.
(No seasoning at all—just grilled plain. This isn't about enjoying a meal; it's more like refueling.)
To Rei, who ate for enjoyment, the sight of the Slum District residents eating could hardly be called appetizing.
In truth, among the Slum District residents, those who could afford to savor the taste of their food were a very small minority.
In that sense, the people here were your typical Slum District residents.
"Um..."
As Rei drew closer, those who noticed him cast wary glances in his direction.
They knew he was the one who had given them work, but he was still a stranger to them, and wariness came naturally.
Rei paid the looks no mind as he searched for his target...and before long, he found them.
"Suchee, got a minute?"
"Huh? Oh, Rei. What is it?"
"There's something I'd like to discuss regarding your group."
With that, Rei scanned the surrounding area.
The people nearby were watching him with suspicious eyes, wondering whether he might harm Suchee or demand something unreasonable from her.
This was hardly the place to bring up the possibility that others might attack Suchee and her group out of envy back in the Slum District, or the idea of lodging in a Guild warehouse.
He figured that if he said so here, the people around would find some excuse or another to refuse.
In reality, his words and actions were motivated by concern for Suchee, and he believed they would come around if he explained it thoroughly.
"All right. ...Hey, don't worry. Rei looks suspicious, sure, but he's not actually that bad."
It's okay, isn't it? Suchee gently reassured a girl of about ten who was gazing up at her with concern, patting her on the head as she did.
Whether the girl understood Suchee's words or not, she reluctantly let go of Suchee's clothes.
"Come on, then, let's go. A little ways off is fine, right?"
"Yeah, that works. ...But do I really look that suspicious?"
"You do. Robe aside, are you seriously telling me that hiding your face under a hood doesn't look suspicious? If you were with that gryphon, it'd be a different story. But right now it's just you."
When she put it like that, Rei found it hard to argue.
In truth, with his hood pulled up, it was difficult to identify him as Rei.
Meanwhile, Set—who had come to serve as something close to Rei's symbol—was running around the area as if making up for a lack of his usual exercise.
In that sense, describing Rei as suspicious-looking when he was not accompanied by Set would not have been unreasonable. ...Not that Rei himself welcomed the assessment.
"So? What did you want to talk about? I'm pretty sure no one caused any problems."
"Yeah, it's not about that. Actually, the Guild Staff Member praised your group's efficiency—said you were quite skilled."
"Really? ...Ehehe."
Perhaps pleased that her friends were being praised, Suchee smiled and scratched her cheek.
(Seeing her like this, you could tell she had a bright personality. ...And if she was feeding that many children, it was no wonder she came all the way to the Expansion Construction site to hunt Cobolts.)
Among those who had come today were many Children.
Those Children were also pulling their weight with the dissection work, and since they moved before being told, none of the others working on the dissection had any complaints.
Suchee had been bashful at the praise, but after a moment she collected herself, looked at Rei, and spoke.
"So, what did you call me over for? If the kids' work isn't a problem..."
"It concerns the safety of the Children you brought with you."
Suchee's expression turned serious.
Once he was certain she was ready to listen, Rei explained what he had discussed with the Guild Staff Member earlier.
He told her that the Slum District residents might be attacked by others targeting the rewards earned from the Gigant Turtle dissection, as well as the meat itself—or the money from selling it.
When he also explained the situation with the underworld organizations, Suchee's face grew troubled, as if in understanding.
She clearly felt that what Rei was saying was neither an overreaction nor a joke, but something that could genuinely happen.
"..."
If it was within her reach, she wanted to protect them somehow.
Suchee felt that way, and while she was no stranger to rough business, she was by no means a specialist in that field.
That much was obvious from the fact that the previous day, when she had been confronted by three Cobolts, she had nearly been killed before Rei stepped in to save her.
If people in the Slum District who did not belong to any underworld organization tried to come after Suchee's people, there was no way she could stop them.
Because she understood that, she could not argue back against Rei's words.
The truth was, Suchee had never expected to be working under such favorable conditions. Compared to what the others doing the dissection were earning, their pay was clearly lower, but it was still far better than what she had imagined.
On top of that, she had heard they would receive a portion of the Gigant Turtle meat as well. She had honestly thought that if word of this job reached the people of the Slum District—especially the sort who would not hesitate to rob others—it could be dangerous.
And now Rei had come to her with exactly that concern, leaving her at a loss for how to respond.
Even so...when she thought about the safety of her companions, she could not stay silent. She opened her mouth.
"So then what am I supposed to do? There's no way the Guild is going to provide bodyguards for all of us...right?"
"Probably not."
Assigning guards to nearly fifty people—including close to twenty children alone—would naturally require a substantial amount of compensation.
Gilm had no shortage of skilled adventurers, which meant hiring anyone of a certain caliber would inevitably come with a high price tag.
There might be a few adventurers willing to work for low pay out of curiosity or simple good nature, but even they could not possibly protect all the Children by themselves.
Given that reality, Suchee and her group, living as they did in the Slum District, could not afford to hire guards.
"Hey. So then what are we supposed to—"
As Suchee stumbled over her words, Rei smiled and spoke.
"Relax. I've already brought a plan to deal with it."
"...Really? You can manage something like that?"
After hearing what Rei had just told her, Suchee could hardly believe it could be handled at all.
But to her doubting question, Rei simply nodded, signaling that there was no problem.
"Yeah. But it will require a certain sacrifice on your end as well. ...Specifically, I'd like you all to not return to the Slum District and instead sleep in a warehouse owned by the Guild."
If they would be attacked upon returning to the Slum District, then the simple solution was not to return to the Slum District.
But perhaps the idea was so far outside anything Suchee had imagined that for a moment she stared at Rei as if wondering what in the world this person was talking about.
Rei had somewhat expected that reaction, so he went on without appearing the least bit bothered.
"It's not that surprising, is it? The whole problem is that you might get attacked if you go back to the Slum District. So wouldn't it be simplest to just not go back?"
"That's...true, I suppose. But that's impossible. Among the people who came to work with me, some left family and comrades behind in the Slum District. There are people waiting for them to come back with food bought with the money they earned here."
"Ah...I suppose that happens."
Rei found himself convinced by Suchee's words.
His suggestion had been born from the straightforward idea that it would be fine to simply keep the workers here from returning to the Slum District. But hearing Suchee's explanation, he could see the flaw.
Even so...if everyone here went back to the Slum District as things were, it was a certainty that some of Suchee's companions would end up in trouble.
"But then what do we do? For today, at least, I don't think anyone in the Slum District knows how much you earned or what you got out of this. ...Unless someone starts bragging or showing off, that is."
"That's...hmm..."
She probably understood what Rei was getting at. Suchee hesitated, uncertain of what to do.
She had never imagined this would be such well-paying work. Nor had she expected to receive even a portion of the Gigant Turtle meat.
When she had accepted Rei's invitation, she had figured it would not be unusual for someone to skim a fair amount off the top.
She had hoped they could earn even a little, but when she had arrived today and discussed the terms with the Guild Staff Member, they were exactly as Rei had told her—if anything, slightly better.
Given that, it was certain the kind of thing Rei was talking about would become an issue.
None of Suchee's acquaintances would do such a thing, but that was only because Suchee had an uncommonly good-natured personality for a Slum District resident—an extremely rare exception.
Since Suchee understood that as well, she needed to take some kind of action to protect her family, friends, and companions.
"I see... I want to ask you something, Rei. That warehouse—how many people can it actually hold?"
"How many? Let's see. When I killed a large number of Gamelions before, it was big enough to line up their corpses by the hundreds."
"Hundreds of Gamelions..."
Perhaps Rei's example was so unexpected that Suchee repeated the words as if she could not even process the meaning.
Living in Gilm, Suchee knew about Gamelions.
She also knew how delicious their meat was, having been lucky enough to eat it on a few occasions.
But at the same time, she had been thoroughly warned about their ferocity by a former adventurer she was close to in the Slum District...including several of the very people who had come to do the dissection work with her today.
For Suchee, who could not even defeat a Cobolt, the thought of challenging one to a fight was simply out of the question.
...In truth, since defeating even a single Gamelion would bring in a substantial amount of money, she had entertained the idea of trying to take one down. But in the end, she had given up on it.
"Ah...um...so, that is, the warehouse the Guild is preparing—would we be able to stay there along with the families of the people who came here?"
That was what Suchee asked Rei.