"This is... I see."
Gradalas took the tentacle that Rei handed him and nodded in understanding.
He had never seen the eyeball's tentacles firsthand, but he had read the reports from the Guards who had experienced them directly. He was confident that the tentacle Rei handed over was essentially the same as what was described in those reports.
Of course, it wasn't entirely impossible that this tentacle was a fake.
However, the floating eyeball had been clearly visible even from where Gradalas was stationed, and more importantly, the battle against it—though not in full detail—could be clearly witnessed from a distance as well.
Given that, it was only natural to conclude that no one would go to the trouble of preparing a fake tentacle to deceive him.
"And also, this here... are you certain you want me to hold onto it?"
"Yeah, I don't mind. Honestly, it does seem like it could be used as Magic Item material, but more than that, it'd be better to have even a little more information about this incident."
Rei replied to Gradalas.
In truth, what Rei had handed over—a portion of the eyeball's tail—was something that anyone with a discerning eye would undoubtedly consider an extremely valuable material.
After all, it was the tail of an entity from outside this world.
That said, Rei was only entrusting it to him temporarily. He fully intended to have it returned once the examination was finished.
Reading that intention from Rei's demeanor, Gradalas nodded firmly.
"Once the investigation is complete, I will certainly return it."
"Please do. Also, as I mentioned beforehand, my master took the corpse. There might still be fragments of flesh at the battle site, but more than that, the area has been scorched to bare earth, and there may still be residual poison. Please be careful."
Rei pressed the point, especially regarding the poison.
After all, the poison that eyeball had used coated its tail in a toxic liquid, and evaporating it would turn it into a poisonous gas—an extremely troublesome substance.
Compatibility likely played a role, but to Rei, that toxic liquid felt more troublesome than the lightning it could unleash.
"Mm. ...I am grateful for everything."
Saying that, Gradalas bowed his head.
Rei told him not to worry about it and stepped out of the tent.
Outside, a somewhat deflated atmosphere hung in the air.
Depending on how things went, they might have had to fight the giant flying eyeball that was visible even from here. Thanks to Rei and his party defeating it, that was no longer necessary—so the relief was only natural.
Separately, Elena was joyfully reuniting with Ara and Ielo, while Vihera was doing the same with Byune. Marina and Set were also right beside them.
With a rare gathering of beauties all in one place, it was no wonder that any lingering sense of tension had dissipated.
After glancing at the scene, Rei began walking in the direction that most of the people present were looking.
Naturally, this drew attention to Rei as well, but since everyone here knew what kind of person he was, no one said anything in particular about it.
"For now, the report's done. We're cleared to head back."
"I see. ...But considering the size of that thing, it was probably visible even from Gilm. In that case, I'd imagine there's quite a commotion in town... what do you think?"
Marina, who had been watching Elena and Vihera, voiced the question.
Indeed, an enemy of that size had been flying at a considerable altitude.
It went without saying that those present here could see it, but it wouldn't have been strange if it were visible from Gilm as well.
However...
"There's no doubt it was visible, but Lord Daskar will handle it. There are Guards and adventurers too."
Hearing Rei's words, Marina nodded in understanding and smiled.
To Marina, Daskar was someone she had known since childhood, and the Guild was an organization she had run as Guild Master for years.
While Marina wasn't particularly involved with the Guards, she knew full well their capability in protecting Gilm's public order to the best of their ability.
Given that, Rei's attitude of placing full trust in Gilm was enough to make her happy on its own.
"Then let's head back to Gilm and see if your prediction is right. Besides, making a lavish meal for tonight's celebration is a bit of a hassle, so shall we buy food from various shops to bring back?"
"Good idea. Now that we've defeated that eyeball, there's no point in staying here any longer. ...Will they prepare carriages for the return trip too?"
"They brought us all the way here, so naturally they'll arrange carriages for the return. And if that doesn't work out, we can just travel in the Set Basket."
"...Actually, traveling by Set Basket would probably get us to Gilm faster than by carriage."
"No, I will make sure to properly prepare carriages for you."
The one who cut into Rei and Marina's conversation was the Knight who had served as their guide on the way here from Gilm.
Since he had been the guide on the way out, it made sense that he would serve as the guide on the way back as well.
"Is that so? Then I'll leave it to you."
Rei had already noticed the Knight approaching, so he replied without any particular surprise.
The Knight, for his part, judged that his approach had been naturally perceived as a matter of course, and nodded promptly.
"Understood. I will have the carriages brought around immediately."
Seeing the Knight off, Rei called out to Elena and the others, who were still chatting.
"Hey, Elena. We're heading back to Gilm soon. Don't just stand around talking—get ready."
"Umu, understood! ...Though, there isn't really any preparation to speak of."
If pressed on what preparation meant, the only thing that came to mind was making sure not to forget one's weapons.
As for Vihera, her weapons were her Hand Gauntlets and Foot Guards—already equipped on her person—so there was no way she could forget them.
And so, all of Rei's party members safely regrouped to return to Gilm.
...Naturally, they could not prepare that many carriages, and most of the people would be walking back to Gilm as the snow began falling once more.
"It's less of a commotion than I expected."
Those were the first words Rei uttered upon returning to Gilm.
Indeed, just as Rei said, the people walking through the streets were slightly abuzz, but it was nothing like the panic he had been worried about.
Normally, seeing a giant eyeball floating in the sky—and knowing that a battle was taking place around it, and that the battle was occurring not far from Gilm—it wouldn't be strange for there to be quite an uproar.
What's more, many of those currently in Gilm were not native-born residents, but people who had stayed behind for the Expansion Construction... meaning many were unaccustomed to the ways of the frontier.
For those who had originally lived in Gilm, even a modest commotion wouldn't warrant much concern. ...Though whether today's battle against the eyeball could be described as a "modest commotion" was another matter entirely.
By comparison, for those remaining in Gilm due to the Expansion Construction—people whose hometowns were quite far away or who couldn't afford the journey back—even Cobolts appearing in Gilm on a daily basis would be enough to call a major crisis.
"If there's no commotion, isn't that fine?"
"Right. Or maybe they've been in Gilm long enough that they've grown used to it."
Vihera murmured, as if agreeing with Elena's words.
Is that how it works? Rei couldn't help but think. But come to think of it, if everyone around them wasn't particularly alarmed, showing surprise on one's own could be seen as embarrassing or shameful—and it wouldn't be strange for people to feel that way.
What's more, since no direct crisis was bearing down on Gilm, it was entirely natural for that kind of perception to differ.
"Anyway, if there's no commotion, then that's fine. More importantly, like I said earlier, today is a celebration for taking care of that eyeball, and we're having a lavish dinner—so let's get ready for that."
At Marina's words, everyone who heard her... especially Byune, who was voracious when it came to food, nodded quickly with an unusually expressive face.
For Byune, a celebration feast must have been something that deeply appealed to her.
Of course, the meals that Rei and his party ate on a daily basis, viewed from the perspective of someone living an ordinary life, may not have been "lavish" per se, but they were certainly above average.
After all, they used a Magic Item oven to eat freshly made, hot-off-the-grill food.
Furthermore, many of the ingredients were high-rank monster meat that Rei had procured, along with seafood that was difficult to obtain in this area.
Though to be precise, the seafood had been caught during a summer trip to the sea by this same group including Rei, so it would be more accurate to say he was simply storing preserved food.
"Mn!"
Byune led Set and Ielo forward through the town.
Rei and the others followed behind the girl and the two creatures.
They arrived at a yaki udon stall that was by now no longer a rarity in Gilm...
"There's a surprisingly large line."
At the stall, located in an area Rei didn't visit often, more than ten people were lined up.
In this winter season, with snow falling lightly, no less.
At the same time, Rei, whose five senses were sharper than most, naturally noticed the savory aroma drifting from the stall.
"Gruu!"
"Mn!"
Set and Byune each voiced their desire to eat the yaki udon from that stall.
Sensing the savory aroma in the air, Rei wasn't about to refuse to line up out of laziness.
The others felt the same, so the group quietly joined the queue.
...Naturally, the sight of Rei's party standing in line drew attention and gazes.
Among the onlookers, the person standing right in front of Rei—pleased that Vihera had spoken to him—began explaining why this particular stall was doing so well.
"First of all, it's the savory aroma of the grilled udon. Normally, you'd take freshly boiled udon straight to the iron plate and stir-fry it with meat and vegetables, but this place goes the extra mile."
"The extra mile?"
"Yes. First, after boiling the udon, they drain it thoroughly before putting it on the iron plate... but initially, they just place the udon alone on the plate and grill it slowly. Then, as they press the udon against the plate and light char marks begin to form, they flip it over and grill it again."
He continued his explanation.
Rather than tossing the udon directly into the meat and vegetables already being stir-fried, they grill the udon thoroughly on its own first. Then they sprinkle ale over it and cover it with a lid, steaming the udon after grilling it.
After that, they add a special sauce to the udon, seasoning just the udon itself, before finally mixing and stir-frying it with the meat and vegetables.
By doing this, the outside of the udon is firmly grilled for a crispy texture, while the center retains a delightfully chewy one.
Additionally, since the udon is grilled thoroughly beforehand, the sauce clings to it much better.
When Rei heard this, he did wonder whether not seasoning the meat and vegetables would throw off the flavor balance—but according to the man's explanation, that wasn't an issue.
In any case, it's different from other yaki udon stalls, so please give it a try.
Thinking that they would eat it anyway since they were already in line, Rei waited for their turn while listening to the man's persistent recommendation.
However, a stall was still just a stall.
Naturally, the amount of food that could be prepared at once was limited... and since the process required one or two extra steps compared to ordinary yaki udon, it inevitably took more time to make a single serving.
Since it unavoidably took longer than making regular yaki udon, a considerable amount of time passed before it was Rei's party's turn.
The hardest part was that the whole time they were waiting, the savory aroma of the sauce from the cooking yaki udon drifted through the air around them.
Whether they wanted it or not, their expectations only grew.
After several tens of minutes... it was finally their turn.
They purchased their yaki udon and ate it right there.
Takeout was technically possible, but in that case, they would have needed to bring their own containers.
That was why they ate on the spot...
"Yeah, it's delicious. It's more savory than regular yaki udon."
"And since they grill it first, they shorten the udon's boiling time compared to normal."
Saying that, everyone was satisfied with the yaki udon... and negotiated to bring the stall to Marina's house for tonight's celebration party.