That convoy of carriages naturally drew the eyes of those traveling along the road.
With fifteen carriages moving together as a group, that was only to be expected.
The fact that they had entered through the Main Gate after only a brief exchange between the coachman and the Guards also played a role.
Among those lined up to enter Gilm, some had still been waiting when the carriages left Gilm just moments earlier. From their perspective, fifteen carriages had departed and then returned almost immediately. Asking them not to worry about it would have been unreasonable.
That said, even if they asked the Guards what had happened, they would never learn the reason. The Guards naturally knew the general circumstances, but they were not careless enough to reveal them. Some merchants, perhaps catching the scent of a profitable opportunity, even tried using bribes to extract information—but not a single Guard leaked a word.
The carriages that had entered Gilm made their way toward the Lord's Manor with practiced ease. The fact that one of them appeared slightly slower than the others was presumably because Gaga was riding in it.
Before long, the carriages arrived at the training ground within the Lord's Manor. Waiting there was Daskar, just as Rei had seen him several times before. Due to the presence of a giant Lizardman unlike anything they had ever seen, Daskar waited there in a state of mild tension.
Then, the carriages came to a stop—and someone stepped down from the one beside Set.
"Ah, Lord Daskar."
At that familiar voice, Daskar nearly collapsed on reflex. For that person was someone Daskar remembered all too well—far too well. Then again, with Set beside the carriage, it went without saying that Rei was riding in it.
"Rei, huh... So? Where is this giant Lizardman?"
"He's here. Gaga."
Whether he had heard Rei's words or not, Gaga emerged from the carriage.
A stir ran through the assembled crowd. Gasps of astonishment slipped from the lips of the Knights stationed around as Daskar's escort. It was only natural—a Lizardman standing roughly three meters tall had descended from a carriage, ducking carefully to avoid hitting his head.
Judging by its face and tail, the creature was unmistakably a Lizardman. But its sheer size was on an entirely different level. They had heard the reports beforehand, but only by seeing it in person did they truly grasp its scale.
Seeing is believing, as they say—this must be exactly what that means.
Watching the stunned Daskar and Knights, Rei thought this to himself with deep conviction. When he had first seen Gaga, he too had been thoroughly dumbfounded, so it was only natural that he expected others to feel the same.
While Daskar and those around him remained in their state of shock, Lizardmen began emerging one after another from the other carriages as well. However, Daskar's attention was so captivated by Gaga's massive form that he did not seem to notice.
Gaga stood roughly three meters tall—only about a meter taller than Zozo. But right now, that single meter carried tremendous weight.
Daskar, oblivious to his surroundings and fixated on Gaga, eventually came back to his senses.
"Rei, good work. I'd like to hear the details."
"Yes. This Lizardman is Gaga. He's Zozo's brother, one of the top five warriors in the Gran Dragonia Empire, and the Third Prince."
"...What?"
Unable to comprehend what Rei had just said—or perhaps unwilling to—Daskar could only manage that single word. Please let what I just heard be a mishearing, his response carried that silent plea.
But showing no intention whatsoever of indulging Daskar's hopes, Rei repeated the same information. And by the second time, Daskar could no longer pretend he hadn't heard.
"I see... The Third Prince..."
He muttered, uncertain how to handle Gaga. If this were Zozo, his Right of Succession to the Throne was so overwhelmingly low, and since he was nominally Rei's Tamed Monster, there had been no need to worry much. But the Third Prince was another matter entirely—Daskar would have to treat him with the utmost courtesy.
...Even if the Gran Dragonia Empire existed not in this world, but in another world entirely.
Daskar did not doubt for a moment that the Gran Dragonia Empire existed in another world. For the one who had brought that information was Rei... or more precisely, Rei's master. He understood just how powerful Rei's master was from the winter incident with the Eyeball. Above all, the mere fact that it was Rei's master was enough to fully convince him.
"In that case, first we should prepare a room—"
Daskar had been about to say as much, but suddenly Gaga said something to Zozo, and the two began conversing. Sensing that interrupting would be unwise, Daskar fell silent.
"Lord Daskar?"
Rei questioned Daskar's behavior, but when Daskar shot him a glance telling him to be quiet for now, Rei had no choice but to comply.
After several dozen seconds passed, Zozo turned the Stone Tablet toward Daskar.
"My elder brother Gaga says he wishes to be treated not as a prince, but the same as the other Lizardmen."
"Is that... truly all right?"
Given Gaga's status as the Third Prince, Daskar had even considered the possibility that he would be told to contact the Royal Capital. But what Gaga had conveyed was the exact opposite of Daskar's expectations.
"Yes. Elder Brother Gaga has always disliked formalities... Furthermore, he found his battle with Lord Rei quite enjoyable, and wishes to fight again."
Creak.
As if making that very sound, Daskar's face turned, directing his gaze at Rei.
"You fought him?"
"Yes."
To Daskar's tentative question, Rei answered plainly. Daskar had been about to say something to Rei, but Rei, understanding that he would be reprimanded if things continued like this, struck first.
"When we fought and I won, he promised not to be hostile toward the Green People while in Gilm."
Hearing that, Daskar could not bring himself to reprimand Rei. It was obvious how much the Green People would benefit Gilm. And above all, Gaga was looking at Rei with a friendly gaze, saying he wanted to fight again on those terms—so there was no way Daskar could blame him for this matter.
"Ah... understood. However, make absolutely sure it doesn't become a major problem. Got it? Ab-so-lute-ly."
"Understood. Though given Gaga's personality, unless something quite extraordinary happens, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Then fine. So, Lord Gaga... no, perhaps just Gaga. Even if we treat Gaga as an ordinary warrior, the question is where to prepare a room..."
"He says he wishes to stay at the same place as Lord Rei."
When Zozo relayed Daskar's words to Gaga, that was the reply.
Daskar dumped the matter entirely onto Rei with a look that said it was his jurisdiction, but Rei was equally at a loss, even being told that Gaga wanted to stay where he was staying.
Currently, due to Zozo's circumstances, Rei was lodging at Marina's house in the Noble District rather than his usual Wheat Inn at Dusk. Though even if Gaga wanted to stay at the Wheat Inn at Dusk, it would have been impossible in the first place. But that said, he couldn't just bring Gaga to Marina's house without permission while he himself was staying there.
In the first place, bedding large enough for a three-meter-tall Gaga to sleep on naturally did not exist in Marina's house. No, getting him inside a room at all would be difficult. In other words, if Gaga came to Marina's house, the only sleeping quarters that could be offered would be the courtyard.
Whether "fortunately" was the appropriate word in this case was unclear, but Marina's garden was maintained at a very comfortable temperature through Spirit Magic, so if he tried to sleep in the courtyard, he could manage it.
Then again, making Gaga—someone who holds the title of Third Prince—sleep out in the garden like that... even if I'm told he's been entrusted to me, that's bound to cause all sorts of problems, isn't it?
Rei got along reasonably well with Gaga thanks to the matter with their weapons, but even he understood that having him sleep in the garden was problematic.
"Due to Zozo's situation, I'm currently staying at Marina's house, but if I bring Gaga along, I doubt he'd be able to fit inside, so the garden would be the only place for him to sleep... would that be all right?"
"Ah... what to do about this."
Daskar had dumped handling Gaga onto Rei, but even hearing Rei's words, he couldn't bring himself to nod in agreement. He couldn't—until...
"Elder Brother Gaga says he has no issue with that. He says it would be better for me, who can serve as his interpreter, to be nearby. Additionally, Elder Brother Gaga frequently camps outdoors with soldiers as a warrior, so with the warmth of that garden, there should be no problem."
Zozo, translating Gaga's words, conveyed this. Those words were surprising to Daskar, yet at the same time something he could accept. Without Zozo—someone capable of mutual communication—various problems would inevitably arise. However, as a member of the Imperial Family, Gaga could have just as easily ordered that Zozo be allowed to stay in this mansion. At the very least, the majority of nobles Daskar knew would have done exactly that. Even if Daskar were in Gaga's position, he probably wouldn't have volunteered to sleep in the garden.
If asked whether he could do it, it was without question something he could. In fact, before becoming a lord, when Daskar had served as a Knight, camping out had been nothing unusual. Compared to those times, sleeping in an environment maintained by Marina's Spirit Magic, with no concern about meals, couldn't even be called camping.
However, the current Daskar was a lord. Moreover, he was the leader of the Neutral Faction, and one of the most important figures within the Kingdom of Mireana. For such a person to sleep in a garden would be extremely damaging to his reputation. In that sense, given Gaga's position as the Third Prince, Daskar felt there were various problems—yet Gaga himself did not seem particularly bothered.
Could it be that for Lizardmen, camping outdoors is a perfectly normal occurrence?
Since Gaga was not human, but a Lizardman—and one from an entirely different world at that—it wouldn't be strange for Daskar's common sense to differ from Gaga's. If that were the case, then forcing the issue here might itself cause problems in the future. With that thought, Daskar looked toward Rei.
"I leave Gaga in your hands, Rei."
"Huh? Um... is that all right?"
From Rei's perspective, he had never expected such words to come from Daskar. He directed a surprised look at him. But Daskar, on the receiving end of that gaze, nodded in response to Rei's question, albeit with some reservations.
Probably... no, without a doubt, this matter would end up creating a debt with Marina. Then again, Daskar had been accumulating debts with Marina countless times since childhood, so it wasn't as if he didn't feel this was par for the course.
She's held leverage over me about all sorts of things since I was little, after all.
Sigh.
Half in an attempt to escape reality, Daskar recalled the past. But knowing that doing so served no purpose right now, he once again addressed Rei.
"For the time being, make arrangements for Gaga to stay at Marina's house. I'm counting on you."
"Um, in other words... you're saying I should get permission from Marina?"
"...I'm counting on you."
Quietly averting his gaze from Rei, Daskar repeated, "I'm counting on you."
Rei had been about to say something to Daskar, but judging that anything he said now would be futile, he forcibly changed the subject. Well, since it was actually about Gaga, the topic hadn't shifted all that much.
"Leaving the lodging matter aside, I have various things I need to do from here on today, but I can't bring Gaga along for those, you see?"
He needed to deliver the lumber felled in the Treant Forest to the location where the Alchemists were waiting, but Rei was absolutely certain that bringing Gaga there would cause a commotion. These were people who coveted materials like Set's fur and claws, who yearned for the Eyeball's materials, and who in some cases even desired the Twilight Spear and Death Scythe itself. If he brought Gaga—whom no one could possibly mistake for an ordinary Lizardman—to such a place, what would happen? It went without saying.
Having thought that far, Rei suddenly felt a question arise.
The Lizardmen of this world have various useful parts as materials, but what about ordinary Lizardmen like Gaga and Zozo's subordinates? If it turns out their materials differ from this world's Lizardmen, would that point to another world...? Or would it simply be recognized as a special variant?
Entertaining such doubts, Rei proceeded to persuade Gaga to wait here for the time being.