"Alright, so that's all the felled lumber for now. I think we can bring over a decent amount more once some time passes."
With that, Rei slipped out of the building's grounds alongside Set before any alchemists could accost him.
After being felled in the Treant Forest, the timber underwent magical processing here by the alchemists. This transformed what should have been ordinary wood from the Treant Forest into construction material of exceptional quality.
...Then again, even if trees growing elsewhere were subjected to the same magical processing, they wouldn't become magnificent construction material like the Treant Forest's lumber. Strictly speaking, it could hardly be called ordinary wood at all.
The alchemists possessed remarkable skill—but alongside that skill came strong peculiarities. They were, perhaps, a bit too honest with their emotions. To Rei, they were not the sort of people he wanted to go out of his way to associate with.
Especially right now, with the matter involving Lunora and Zozo's group.
Considering that, the possibility they would ask him to bring them Lunora's or Zozo's claws and fur couldn't be denied.
Not wanting to get caught up in such a troublesome situation, Rei had made a swift departure.
"Gruru?"
Are we going home already? Set seemed to purr.
Rei stroked Set as he spoke.
"Yeah. For now, we should head back to the Treant Forest as quickly as possible."
The only ones here were Rei and Set; the others were nowhere to be seen. Even Zozo, who followed Rei, was absent.
Traveling from the Treant Forest to Gilm by riding Set versus traveling on the ground by carriage made a world of difference. Given those circumstances, Rei had left Zozo waiting in the Treant Forest and come to Gilm on the flying Set.
Naturally, Zozo had expressed his desire to come along, but Rei had refused, considering the difference in travel speed. Even so, Zozo had insisted—yet when Rei firmly overruled him, Zozo couldn't argue back and ultimately chose to wait obediently where he was.
With Zozo left waiting, Rei needed to return to the Treant Forest as quickly as possible. In the worst case, there was no denying the possibility that Zozo might come running to Gilm seeking Rei.
Granted, Zozo's running speed might be faster than average, but it couldn't even compare to Set's flying speed. If that happened, Rei and Zozo would inevitably pass each other, and Zozo—searching for Rei—could end up causing trouble.
As a precaution, Zozo was still wearing the tamed monster collar that he would normally only wear within the city. It was a measure to prevent anyone unfamiliar with Zozo's special nature or his status as Rei's tamed monster from attacking him.
"Grururu."
At Rei's words about heading back immediately, Set purred, clearly disappointed. From Set's perspective, he probably wanted to stop by a food stall somewhere and grab a bite.
"Hey, Set-chan is hungry too, so wouldn't it be fine to drop by a shop somewhere?"
Rei had been about to leave with Set, but at the sound of that suddenly familiar voice, he turned his gaze. And there, exactly as expected, stood a certain person.
"Mirene, aren't you supposed to be working?"
"I have the day off today. ...I just got back from a long job, so I need a proper block of time off."
Mirene added that somewhat defensively—probably because she didn't want Set to see her as the kind of woman who skips work to play. That said, her words were by no means wrong. She had completed an escort job for Gilm personnel to a country far from Gilm. Even accounting for being snowed in along the way, it was a job measured in months. Having finished something like that, taking a decent block of time off was perfectly reasonable.
"So, since you're on break, you came to play with Set."
"Correct. Man, when we ran into each other in front of the Guild, I couldn't play with Set-chan to my heart's content. So I figured I'd come today, but... looks like that's a no-go, huh."
"That's how it is. I need to head to the Treant Forest now. ...Still, even if you were looking for Set, I'm impressed you actually found this place."
The sheer tenacity of Mirene was genuinely fearsome, Rei thought to himself.
In truth, this wasn't a place Mirene would normally visit. It was where the timber felled in the Treant Forest received magical processing, but for anyone uninvolved with that operation, there was almost no reason to come here. Despite that, Mirene had tracked Set all the way to this spot—it would have been impossible not to be surprised.
She's not using some weird Magic Item, is she? ...With Mirene, it wouldn't be strange if she'd spent most of her escort reward on creating some kind of Set-radar Magic Item.
In fact, Mirene had a history of offering so much to Set that she ran out of money and had to be forcibly dragged along to a job by her companions. This, despite possessing top-class skill and fame among the young adventurers in Gilm. With a precedent like that, it wouldn't have been strange at all for her to pour money into such a Magic Item.
"What? Did you decide to buy something for Set-chan at a stall or something?"
"No, were you even listening to me? ...Guess not."
It was clear that Mirene hadn't registered a single word of Rei's question about how she'd found this place. Whether she'd let it go in one ear and out the other, or genuinely hadn't heard it, the result was the same. Mirene as she was now could hardly be mistaken for a highly capable adventurer.
Well, she said she's on vacation, so I guess it's fine. Should we stop by a stall? I'm pretty sure there was a yaki udon stall on the way here. ...Considering the situation with Zozo, I can't afford to spend too much time, but.
Thinking of yaki udon, Rei noticed that he was also feeling slightly hungry.
"I can't spend too much time, but want to stop by a stall for a bit? You're coming too, right, Mirene?"
"Obviously."
She had tuned out Rei's words earlier, but when it came to anything involving Set, Mirene caught every word perfectly—and she replied instantly.
Feeling a touch of exasperation at Mirene's behavior, Rei led Set and Mirene toward the stall. In less than ten minutes of walking, it came into view.
When the stall owner realized it was Rei and Set who had arrived, he broke into a happy smile and spoke. Mirene could certainly be called a beauty, but for the stall owner, having Rei and Set there—or more accurately, having Rei, who would likely purchase a large amount of food—was probably the bigger thrill.
"Welcome. My yaki udon uses the cooking method that's been trending lately, so it's delicious."
"Eh? There are trends for how to make yaki udon?"
Mirene asked the stall owner with a look of surprise. Having only recently returned to Gilm, she probably hadn't been aware of the local trends.
But Rei knew about this particular method. It was the same technique used by the stall owner who had previously been invited to Marina's garden—grilling the noodles thoroughly on their own, then steaming them with alcohol, seasoning them, and finally mixing in the vegetables.
The appearance of the finished dish wasn't all that different from ordinary yaki udon. But actually eating it revealed a difference of a full rank—sometimes more—in flavor compared to the standard version. That much was obvious just from seeing how prosperous the stall of the owner who devised this method had been.
Moreover, the technique could be replicated simply by watching. This particular method didn't require any special culinary skill—not the sort of thing that would take years of training to master. And since the original stall owner had decided that having more delicious yaki udon shops around would be a good thing, he taught the method to anyone who asked, making no particular effort to keep it secret. Naturally, the technique had spread to many shops serving yaki udon throughout Gilm.
"There is. Well, you'll understand once you try it."
At Rei's words, the owner flashed a grin and began preparing the yaki udon. After draining the boiled noodles and spreading them across the iron griddle, he immediately started stir-frying meat and vegetables while leaving the noodles as they were—a move that visibly surprised Mirene.
The subsequent steps also differed from how ordinary yaki udon was made, and each new technique drew fresh surprise and admiration from Mirene.
Once the finished yaki udon was served on a plate and she took a bite with a fork...
"Delicious."
That was the only word that escaped Mirene's mouth.
She lived in Gilm, so of course she had eaten yaki udon before. But the yaki udon she'd had in the past and the one she had just eaten were clearly in different leagues.
"Right? Well, it takes more effort to make than ordinary yaki udon, so it gets pretty tough when there's a crowd. ...Looks like Set enjoyed it too."
Set, eating the yaki udon from a plate placed on the ground, purred happily—clearly savoring every bite.
In the end, Rei bought a large quantity of yaki udon from the stall. Naturally, yaki udon alone would be inconvenient to eat later, so he also paid for the plates. The stall owner had hoped for exactly that outcome, but the sheer volume of the unexpected sale still left him letting out a joyful cry of being overwhelmed. And then...
"Well then, Set-chan. This is where we part ways. ...Two lovers torn apart by fate... yes, this is a trial!"
"No, it's not really that dramatic."
Rei didn't point out the obvious objection—namely, that Set was a single individual. He understood full well that making such a retort would only invite Mirene to push back. The fact that Rei himself suffered no actual harm from Mirene's dramatics was also a significant factor in his silence.
"Grururu."
See you again, Set purred toward Mirene. From Rei's perspective, Mirene's attitude seemed somewhat exaggerated, but from Set's perspective, she was someone who played with him, so he had no particular complaints. If Mirene had been the type to neglect Rei, Set would never have taken to her this much. ...Well, she did tune out Rei's words from time to time.
But Mirene would never neglect Rei.
"Rei, you're involved in various dangerous things, so be careful, okay."
Those parting words seemed to be referring to the matter Rei was currently caught up in—the business with Lunora and Zozo's group. After all, many people had seen Rei lead Zozo, whom he had tamed, to the Lord's Manor. Given that, it would be no surprise if it had become the subject of rumor, and no surprise at all if those rumors had reached Mirene's ears.
"Yeah. Next time I get the chance, I'll introduce you to Set's companion."
As far as the official story went, Set had been tamed by Rei, and Zozo was treated the same way—tamed after Rei had demonstrated his power. Since taming methods varied wildly from tamer to tamer, if it was said that this too was a legitimate method, everyone had no choice but to accept it.
In Zozo's case, given his high intelligence, the truth was closer to swearing loyalty to Rei for defeating him rather than being tamed in any conventional sense. But there was no way for anyone unfamiliar with that to figure it out, so presenting it as taming was certainly the easiest approach.
...Though if Zozo learned language and was told he'd been tamed, he might take offense.
"Really? Well, if I think of it as Set-chan's junior..."
The words Mirene returned lacked any real enthusiasm. Her love was directed entirely at Set's existence, so that was probably why. Also, while she had never fought a gryphon, she had fought lizardmen before— that might have been a significant factor as well.
I'll need to think about that after actually introducing them.
With that in mind, Rei parted ways with Mirene—who was still reluctant to say goodbye to Set—and left Gilm. Inwardly, he felt relieved that Mirene hadn't insisted on coming along to the Treant Forest.
After that, he rode on Set's back as usual and arrived at the Treant Forest in a matter of minutes, but...
"Well, yeah. Hmm. ...I figured something like this was a possibility."
What Rei saw upon arriving at the Treant Forest was a group of green demi-humans—most likely having newly teleported there.