"Then... um, we'll be right back."
Suchee bowed to the Guild Staff Member and headed for the Slum District with her companions, alongside the adventurer escorts he had arranged.
After seeing them off, Rei glanced at the Guild Staff Member, who was watching Suchee's group depart with evident delight, and spoke.
"You handled that well."
The Guild Staff Member offered a slightly bashful smile at Rei's words.
Everything the Guild Staff Member had said at the Gigant Turtle dissection site was enough to win over the hearts of Suchee and the other Slum District residents.
As a result, the discussion was over in a flash while Rei was storing the Gigant Turtle in his Misty Ring, and most of the residents accepted the Guild Staff Member's proposal.
Naturally, there were some who had confidence in their own skills or simply didn't want to leave the Slum District. Those individuals chose to participate in the Gigant Turtle dissection but continue living in the Slum District as before.
Afterward, the Guild Staff Member returned to the Guild and handled the paperwork within his authority, and Suchee's group headed back to the Slum District with their escorts.
"Yes, I agree. From the Guild's perspective as well, this turned out far better than expected. Above all, Suchee and her people work earnestly and diligently, despite being from the Slum District. Learning that is a significant gain."
The Guild Staff Member was now fully cooperating with the Gigant Turtle dissection.
Naturally, the compensation paid to those who participated in the dissection came from the Guild and Daskar, which was precisely why he needed to keep expenses down as much as possible while still acting in the Guild's best interest.
In that sense, Suchee's group was nothing short of a treasure find.
"Well, being hired by the Guild is certainly helpful for Suchee and the others too... but you'd better not be thinking about deceiving or exploiting them."
"Of course not. The work is primarily that of an assistant, so the pay isn't particularly high... but even so, there's no doubt they'll be able to live better than in the Slum District."
Hearing those words, Rei felt slightly relieved.
He didn't think the Guild Staff Member would do something like deceive Suchee's group, who had come to work through Rei's introduction, but there was always the chance of the unexpected.
If that happened, it would be utterly unforgivable for Rei, who had brought Suchee into this.
"Understood. Then I won't say anything more about it. Also, I'm heading back soon—will you be all right without me staying until the very end?"
"Yes, that won't be a problem. When I returned to the Guild earlier, I checked and was told that the warehouse cleanup is mostly finished. They've also brought in heating Magic Items, so there should be no issue living inside the warehouse."
In summer it might be one thing, but in winter, as it was now, the inside of a warehouse would be quite cold.
They had probably brought in heating Magic Items to mitigate that, but would they really be sufficient? That doubt lingered in Rei's mind.
When he had been in Japan, there were times when portable heaters were brought into the school gymnasium for winter assemblies, but given the size of the gymnasium, they didn't make it warm at all.
Those standing right next to the heaters might have felt warm, but for the students lined up across the gymnasium, they were completely meaningless.
The Guild Staff Member had said "warehouse," and if fifty people—no, if they were bringing their families, friends, and lovers along, it would be at least a hundred people staying there. A warehouse that could shelter that many would naturally be expected to have considerable size.
Could a heating device really warm a space that large? Rei wondered, but then again, it was a Magic Item—perhaps something of that scale was perfectly ordinary for one.
Moreover, even if it was a warehouse, it was the Guild's warehouse, which meant there would be no drafts seeping through gaps.
If that were the case, then even if it was a bit cold, it would definitely be warmer than sleeping in the Slum District.
"I see. Then I'll leave it to you."
Rei somewhat wanted to ask more about the warehouse, but he had a feeling that pursuing the topic would lead to a slightly troublesome situation, so he said only that and took his leave.
He called out to Set, who had been playing with several adults and children a short distance away. Set immediately trotted over to his side.
"Gruu!"
Rei departed the area alongside Set, who was purring happily.
The Guild Staff Member bowed deeply to Rei and Set.
Having Rei entrust Suchee's group to him must have meant that much to him.
Forming a personal connection with Rei held great significance for someone working at the Guild.
Of course, if one were talking about pure connections, Lenora and Kenny were far closer to him.
Even so, the Guild Staff Member was simply that delighted by Rei's words and attitude—that was what it came down to.
"So? It seems you were quite busy doing all sorts of things today, Rei... but did you achieve your goal?"
As they were eating dinner in Marina's garden as usual, Vihera asked him that.
Of course, Vihera had also been at the Gigant Turtle dissection site today, so she had surely heard about all those various things—bringing Slum District residents along, getting the Guild to make concessions so Suchee's group could stay in the warehouse, preparing Magic Items so they could live comfortably there, and arranging escorts to fetch their families from the Slum District.
Even so, she had deliberately asked Rei about it—probably intending to use what he had done as conversation fodder for Elena, Marina, and Ara.
"Oh my, there was the matter with the earth wall too, wasn't there? Though it seems the compatibility with Mail wasn't particularly good."
"Mail? Would that be the one you're teaching Spirit Magic to, Marina?"
At the name that came from Marina's mouth, Elena tilted her head.
It was likely a name she didn't recognize at all.
But she quickly recalled the talk about Marina teaching Spirit Magic to a Dark Elf and murmured in understanding.
"Yes. She's a bit faint-hearted, or perhaps shy... something along those lines. But in terms of spirit affinity, which is essential for Spirit Magic, she has quite a remarkable gift. Rei saw it up close, so he understands, right?"
"Ah... yeah. I think that's probably true."
"Hey, what's with that vague response?"
Perhaps dissatisfied with Rei's words, Marina complained.
To Marina, Mail was a Dark Elf with considerable talent.
She was still immature at present, but if she continued to grow, Marina was certain she would achieve great things in the future.
Talent for Spirit Magic aside, though, Marina did think that faint-heartedness of hers needed to be addressed.
"No, I mean, it's just that I see your Spirit Magic all the time, Marina..."
Rei, who had been on the receiving end of her displeasure, told her as much.
After all, he watched Marina's Spirit Magic—possessing what was, as far as Rei knew, the highest level of skill—nearly every day.
For instance, despite the cold being severe enough for snow to fall right now, the garden of Marina's home was warm enough to eat meals outdoors, and the snow was prevented from entering the garden at all.
All of this was due to Marina's Spirit Magic.
To anyone who understood Spirit Magic, it was a level of large-scale Spirit Magic usage that would make them think, What an outrageous waste...
Eating in a place where such large-scale Spirit Magic was being employed meant that the standard for Spirit Magic for Rei—no, for Elena, Vihera, and Ara as well—inevitably became aligned with Marina's.
Since those other than Rei hadn't seen what kind of Spirit Magic Mail used, they could only nod along with Marina's explanation. But Rei was different.
Having actually seen Mail's Spirit Magic with his own eyes, even when Marina told him Mail was a highly talented individual, it didn't quite resonate with him.
"Oh, come on. That's only natural. Mail and I have a difference in the number of years we've been using Spirit Magic."
Marina said that, but Rei suspected that her Spirit Magic reaching that level of skill was probably also related to her being the Shrine Maiden of the World Tree.
"Ah, yeah. Well, that's true enough."
Rei didn't know exactly how old Mail was.
But Marina, standing right before him, possessed the longevity of a Dark Elf and had a track record of working as an adventurer for many years before becoming the Guild Master.
Given that experience, it was only natural that her skill in Spirit Magic would be exceptionally high. Of course, that was also underpinned by talent sufficient to become the Shrine Maiden of the World Tree.
Comparing Marina and Mail was, in a sense, like telling a talented rookie adventurer who had just started out to demonstrate power on par with Rei's.
It was simply not something that could be done.
Asking a woman about her age was supposed to be taboo... well, Marina was the one who brought up the years of experience, so he should just let it slide.
Deciding it would be better not to touch on that subject any further, Rei shifted the conversation.
"At any rate, this means we can't say for certain that no Cobolts will enter Gilm anymore, but they'll definitely decrease. If that happens, the number of people participating in the Gigant Turtle dissection should increase."
"Hmm. However, if Rei blocked Cobolts from entering Gilm with the earth wall, won't that mean even greater numbers head toward the Gigant Turtle?"
"Probably. That's why the people hired as dissection guards are going to be busy. Though, since whoever kills a monster can claim ownership, the ones assigned to guard duty should see it as a prime earning opportunity and work hard... but..."
Rei said that, though he still had some concerns.
When subjugating Cobolts that had invaded Gilm, the construction materials laid out at the Expansion Construction site formed a simple maze-like layout.
Thanks to that, even if a certain number of Cobolts invaded Gilm, dealing with them was not a difficult matter.
But the fact that they could no longer enter Gilm because of the earth wall meant that Cobolts would now be moving across flat ground all at once.
The question was whether those hired as dissection guards could handle opponents attacking them simultaneously like that.
In a one-on-one fight, adventurers who could instantly kill a Cobolt were not uncommon.
Even at two-on-one or three-on-one, those with a certain level of skill could win.
But at ten-on-one, twenty-on-one, thirty-on-one—and if that happened over and over again—it was a different story.
"Should I build some lower earth walls near the dissection site to split up the Cobolts to some extent?"
After a few seconds of silence, Rei muttered that.
Even without making them as large as the earth wall built to keep Cobolts out of Gilm, creating walls of about one meter would still be extremely troublesome for Cobolts.
And not just one or two—he could create as many of those earth walls as he wanted within the range his Terrain Manipulation allowed.
Given that, the Cobolts' formation would be disrupted, and they would no longer be able to charge as a massive horde.
The drawback was that those same earth walls would get in the way when the guards went to kill the Cobolts, but if they adopted a formation of waiting behind the walls for Cobolts to climb over, it shouldn't be a problem.
Well, there might be some who absolutely wanted to kill Cobolts themselves, or wanted to kill more to earn more money, but there was no need to worry about people like that.
He made that judgment.
In reality, they were hired as guards—to intercept attacking monsters—not being encouraged to proactively go out and slay enemies on their own.
Given that, there was no need to concern himself with those who would charge at the Cobolts of their own volition. That was Rei's conclusion.
"Oh, that sounds like it could be rather fun. Though fighting Cobolts isn't very interesting, I might consider participating if that's the case."
"Well, with your strength, Vihera, I don't think there's that much need to worry, but be careful, all right?"
Rei said that and turned his attention back to the rest of his dinner.