On the night of the day he brought the woodcutters back, Rei was eating in Marina's yard as usual.
"So where did the woodcutters end up living?"
Marina asked, tearing off a piece of bread by hand. Rei reached for a skewer as he answered.
"They're using the warehouse where the Slum District folks stayed during the Gigant Turtle dissection. There were apparently a few other options prepared, but in the end they all decided to lodge together."
The fact that a strong sense of solidarity had formed among the woodcutters during the trip to Gilm was probably a major factor.
Also, since the woodcutters had all come from outside Gilm, Rei figured they chose to stay together precisely because they were outsiders.
At any rate, having completed the first batch of the woodcutter transport request, Rei would spend the next few days hauling felled lumber from the Treant Forest again before taking on another woodcutter recruitment assignment.
"That there were so few woodcutters was a bit unexpected. Well, the Expansion Construction having started in earnest is probably a big factor too."
Vihera offered that observation as a follow-up to Rei's words.
"More accurately, skilled woodcutters. I don't know the details, but it seems like a woodcutter's skill level affects the trees they fell and so on."
Saying so, Rei recalled the conversations among the woodcutters.
Since the recruitment had been for skilled woodcutters, the ones Rei and Set had brought naturally met that standard.
That was precisely why, during rest breaks or meals on the journey, the topics the woodcutters discussed among themselves tended toward that sort of thing.
They talked about precautions for felling trees and other such matters, sometimes agreeing with each other, other times debating over disagreements.
When Rei felled a tree, all it took was a single flash of his Death Scythe and the tree toppled effortlessly.
But that was something only Rei could pull off. Normally, it wasn't that simple.
That was why each woodcutter had their own approach — the content of their conversations was so specialized that Rei could barely understand it, but he grasped the gist.
"There's really that much difference? But last year you didn't seem to worry about that sort of thing much."
"Last year was busy enough on its own. They probably didn't have the margin to worry about things like that. Or maybe it became an issue during last year's incident, so they started emphasizing it this year."
"I see. Applying lessons learned is important."
Given her long experience on battlefields, Elena must have found that convincing.
The others nodded in agreement with her words as well.
"Well, that's how things are with the woodcutters. The fact that all the guys I brought chose to stay in the same place might have something to do with that too."
Because they had shared their techniques and methods with each other, they might have been able to let their guard down.
So Rei said.
Since he had brought only truly skilled woodcutters, the ones he had recruited must have possessed top-tier technique in their hometowns.
In other words, the other woodcutters often couldn't keep up with or understand their talk, so in that sense, having someone who actually understood what they were saying must have been a welcome thing.
In that regard, this trip to Gilm for work had undoubtedly been a good stimulus for the woodcutters.
"I see. But in that case, you'd better be careful."
"Huh? Why?"
Rei tilted his head, unable to understand Elena's words, which — though only slightly — had carried a serious tone.
But Elena continued in an earnest voice.
"This time it happened to be people who were compatible with each other, so there may have been no problems. But sometimes, even with similar backgrounds, the chemistry is the absolute worst. Precisely because they're similar to yourself, you find them unforgivable."
"Ah, so like being repulsed by your own kind?"
Strictly speaking, that wasn't quite the right term, but the nuance of Rei's words must have gotten through.
Everyone besides Elena — except Byune, who was absorbed in her meal — nodded at Rei's words.
"Precisely because of similar circumstances, there are guys who develop a competitive hostility toward the other party, so you should be careful. Especially since in this case they're coming from villages and towns to work, right? Then, pardon my saying so, but they might judge that things would go more smoothly without that person around, and send someone with a problematic personality."
"…I really don't think it would go that far. This is a request from Gilm. Lord Daskar's name is well-known in many ways. Wouldn't they think it would be problematic in all sorts of ways to send such a person in response to a request from a territory he governs?"
"I wonder. There are people in the world who think they're the most important, and because of that, there are many who believe everything will go their way. You've experienced plenty, Rei. You know that, don't you?"
Rei nodded at Elena's words, though he thought that there probably weren't idiots of that caliber out there.
"I thought so too, but…"
Sighing gloomily, Rei gazed at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
"Listen, I refuse to let this guy work alongside me. No matter what, absolutely not."
"Don't screw with me! I'd sooner die than work with the likes of you!"
The ones arguing were woodcutters from the same village — no, woodcutters from entirely different villages.
It had been several days since he first delivered woodcutters to Gilm.
After those woodcutters had grown accustomed to working in the Treant Forest and Rei had finished hauling the accumulated felled trees with his Misty Ring, he had set out from Gilm again with Set to gather more woodcutters. And this was the result now spread out before his eyes.
"This is quite troublesome."
The one who said that to Rei was this village's Village Chief.
In other words, the person who had recommended the woodcutter currently fighting in front of Rei.
"That's true. Ideally, I would have liked you to prepare someone with fewer personality issues."
"You may say so, but there's no denying that Deltone is the most skilled woodcutter in our village. So, what will you do? From our end, it's already been arranged for Deltone to go to Gilm for work, and the woodcutting jobs through winter have been prepared accordingly."
"Even if his skills aren't quite top-tier, I'd appreciate a woodcutter with fewer personality issues."
The biggest reason for the current argument was that the woodcutter named Deltone had started a fight the instant their eyes met.
He was a man in his mid-twenties, and given that he worked as a woodcutter, it wouldn't be unusual for him to be hot-blooded.
But even so, picking a fight the moment their eyes met was honestly questionable.
That was why Rei had asked for a different woodcutter, but…
"Unfortunately, the only woodcutter we can send from our village is Deltone."
The Village Chief stated that flatly.
Hearing that, Rei considered what to do, made his decision immediately, and spoke.
"Alright then. Sorry, but we'll pretend this whole thing never happened."
"Oh? I thought you wanted skilled woodcutters?"
"That's right. I do want skilled woodcutters. But I don't need someone with personality issues so severe that they interfere with the work."
"Even if you say that, it's troublesome. As I said earlier, the only one we can send is Deltone. If you don't want him, there's no one else we can offer as a replacement…"
Observing the Village Chief's demeanor, Rei had a realization.
The Village Chief must have known that this request to gather skilled woodcutters was quite urgent on Gilm's end.
For that reason, a portion of the compensation had already been paid in advance to the woodcutters and their hometowns.
In other words, does this Village Chief want more of the advance, or did he never intend to dispatch a woodcutter in the first place and just wanted to pocket the advance… which is it?
It wasn't a certainty, but Rei had a judgment he was fairly confident about.
The Village Chief's attitude irritated him somewhat, though not strongly.
The advance wasn't Rei's money — it had been paid by the upper echelon of Gilm who issued the request — and that was probably a big factor.
Even so, having an adventurer be looked down on was not something he'd take lightly, and more importantly, if word of this incident spread, there was no guaranteeing that others wouldn't try the same thing as this Village Chief.
In that case, what Rei needed to do was clear.
"Understood. Then I don't need that woodcutter. You don't have to return the advance either — just keep it."
At Rei's words, a smile that could only be described as ugly spread across the Village Chief's face.
It was exactly the outcome where this Village Chief could reap the maximum benefit.
Deltone might have personality issues, but he was genuinely a skilled woodcutter.
The advance for dispatching him alone was a considerable sum for this village.
To receive that and also not have to dispatch Deltone — that would mean the Village Chief had obtained maximum profit.
…Of course, that was purely short-term profit.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah. Things are going to get tough from here on out, but that's the result you brought upon yourself. I have nothing more to say."
"…Huh? What do you mean by that?"
Whether the Village Chief couldn't understand what Rei was saying, or whether he sensed an ominous tone in those words — it was unclear.
But to the Village Chief's questioning gaze, Rei continued speaking without any particular concern.
"It's not that complicated a story."
Saying so, with Deltone, the woodcutter who had been arguing with him, the other woodcutters, and even the villagers watching the situation all directing their gazes at him, Rei continued.
"I'm going to report everything about this matter to the Guild. It won't decide everything on its own, but the Guild will probably look into this village in various ways. If anything turns up as a result… well, my condolences."
From his interactions with the Village Chief, Rei could easily surmise that this probably wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
If the Guild found out, it would be perfectly natural for this village to face some kind of sanctions.
For instance, even if a monster horde settled near this village and they tried to submit a subjugation request to the Guild, it might not be accepted.
From the look of it, this village doesn't have a Guild branch, so maybe that's what led to the misunderstanding.
Before landing in this village on Set, Rei had been able to view it from the sky.
There was nothing that appeared to be a Guild branch.
…Of course, a Guild branch in a village like this could be quite small.
In that case, it was possible he simply couldn't tell from looking down from the sky.
"Ridiculous! Don't screw with me! Do you think that kind of thing will be allowed?!"
His tone completely changed from the mild manner earlier, the Village Chief shouted at Rei.
The attitude he'd shown until now was just him playing nice. This was probably his true self — Rei could easily understand that much.
Even so, no matter how much the Village Chief shouted, there was no force behind it.
Well, it might be enough to command the villagers he governed, but for Rei, who had fought countless monsters and those known as masters, the Village Chief's shouting only mildly startled him into action.
"Whether it's allowed or not isn't for me to decide. That's for the Guild to decide. Well, if you have nothing to feel guilty about, it probably won't be a problem, so why don't you just relax and wait?"
"Wha… does a mere adventurer really think he can get away with that kind of attitude toward me?!"
"I do."
The Village Chief had thought Rei would be at least somewhat shaken, but Rei stated it flatly.
That attitude, as if to say the Village Chief wasn't even in his field of vision, wounded the man's strong sense of pride, and his face flushed red with anger.
But Rei directed a gaze at the Village Chief that made him feel nothing in particular, and spoke.
"Like I said earlier, if you have nothing to feel guilty about, there shouldn't be any problem. Things might get tough from here on out, but… well, good luck. With that said—"
"Hold it right there! Don't just go deciding everything on your own!"
Midway through Rei's words, the woodcutter in question — Deltone — clenched his fist and threw a punch at Rei.
But Rei launched a counter without even glancing at the blow, and Deltone's prized muscles were easily pierced by the strike. He lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
"Well, that's about what I expected. …Alright then, we're heading to the next destination, so get back to the Set Basket."
Rei glanced at Deltone once, then told the other woodcutters.
Whether because the Village Chief never imagined that Deltone, who had been the strongest man in the village, would lose so easily, in the end he was unable to say a word until Rei and his group departed.