"...Haa."
Rei let out a heavy sigh as he stepped out of the alchemists' building.
He had no idea where or how they had gotten the information, but somehow the alchemists already knew there was a giant individual among the Lizardmen—in other words, word of Gaga had already spread.
It hadn't been that long since Daskar himself had learned about Gaga. And yet the alchemists already knew, which was exactly why Rei sighed in bewilderment.
『Is something the matter?』
Seeing Rei's mood, Zozo asked through the Stone Tablet.
If Rei were to voice his frustrations about the alchemists right now, Zozo might actually charge into their building, depending on the circumstances.
"Nah, it's nothing. Just thinking things are about to get a lot more complicated."
『I see. Then, where shall we go next?』
"To see Marina. Even if we're just lodging Gaga in the courtyard, I need her permission first. The problem is, I don't know where she is right now."
Marina could heal injuries with Spirit Magic, and her skill made her highly sought after.
Ideally, she'd be stationed at the facility where Recovery Magic users and medical staff were on standby, but there was a very real chance she wasn't there for some reason.
Either way, he needed to find her, which meant heading to that building first.
"Gruu!"
Midway through Rei and Zozo's conversation—conducted via Stone Tablet translation—Set suddenly purred.
He was demanding food, plain and simple. But the moment the surrounding crowd heard his cry, they tensed up—a reaction undoubtedly triggered by the recent Gaga incident.
"...Right. Set's been helping me out all day today too, so let's buy something to eat. Sandwiches and skewers are both good for eating on the move. Which do you want?"
"Gururururu."
At Rei's words, Set wavered, tail wagging.
Knowing Set, he probably wanted both.
That was exactly why he couldn't decide.
"Guruu..."
Can't I have both? Set purred, fixing Rei with round, pleading eyes.
Rei wanted nothing more than to cave, but he somehow mustered the willpower and shook his head.
"Just one."
"Gruu..."
"Hey! I won't forgive anyone who bullies Set-chan!"
A voice rang out suddenly. There was no need to wonder whose it was.
"Mirene, huh? Didn't we run into each other around here last time too? Is this your usual walking route or something?"
"Of course not. I'm only here because I might get to see Set-chan."
"Well, you're not wrong about the odds being high..."
Whenever Rei delivered lumber felled in the Treant Forest to the alchemists' building, Set—his tamed monster—was naturally present too.
Mirene knew this, which was why she wandered the area whenever she had free time.
Hoping to run into Set, just like before, and just like today.
Given that she had actually found him, her prediction hadn't been far off.
"See? Hehe."
Her smug demeanor came from the fact that Yohanna—her rival—didn't yet know you could meet Set in this area.
In other words, she had successfully outmaneuvered her.
"Ah... sorry to interrupt your moment of triumph, but I'm a bit busy right now. Set doesn't have time to play with you either."
"Just a little bit? Please?"
"Sorry, I really don't have any slack today."
Normally, he'd have enough leeway to let Set play with her for ten minutes or so, but today was different.
If he couldn't find Marina by nightfall, he'd end up bringing Gaga to her house with zero prior notice.
It wasn't likely that Marina would actually get angry, but bringing someone to the home of the person whose guest he was without asking permission was a breach of courtesy on multiple levels.
"Come on, work with me here!"
"...Tell you what. If you're willing to deal with a furious Marina, then I suppose I can afford to be a little late."
He didn't think Marina would actually fly into a rage if he brought Gaga unannounced, but given the situation, it would still be inexcusably rude.
"Huh!? The Guild Master... I mean, Marina-sama is involved in this?"
It wasn't that Mirene had any particular complex about Marina. Even so, Marina had been the Guild Master since before Mirene became an adventurer, and Mirene owed her a great deal.
For someone like that, being told to handle Marina's fury was absolutely out of the question.
At the same time, losing her chance to dote on Set was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.
Mirene's expression twisted into sheer agony.
But in the end, she decided that inconveniencing Marina would be unwise. Tearfully, she handed her skewers to Set and took off.
『What was that about...?』
"Someone who loves playing with Set. She started doting on him pretty early on after I came to Gilm. In terms of understanding his charm, she was probably the first."
A few others had taken an interest in Set as well.
But purely as a beloved pet—half ornamental companion, the way most of Gilm treated him now—Mirene was likely the first, as far as Rei could recall.
That had been a few years ago, and in the time since, he'd lived through such densely packed experiences that those early memories were already blurry.
『I see.』
Zozo looked at Set with a slightly bewildered expression.
Even from Zozo's perspective, Set was an overwhelmingly powerful being. He could state with confidence that even if he fought Set himself, he would have virtually no chance of winning.
On top of that, Set was his senior among Rei's tamed monsters, which earned him a measure of respect.
For all those reasons, Mirene's desire to dote on Set was completely beyond Zozo's comprehension.
"Anyway, Set's finished his skewers. Let's go find Marina."
Thinking this, Rei belatedly realized something: Mirene hadn't shown the slightest interest in Zozo just now.
Either she had already heard about Zozo from someone, or she'd simply had eyes for nothing but Set.
Rei had a feeling—and near-certainty—that it was the latter.
That was how intense Mirene's love for Set truly was.
Gilm sat on the Frontier, which meant skilled adventurers earned extraordinary incomes. Mirene had been considered the most promising young adventurer in the city before Rei's arrival, so how much she earned needed no imagination.
She had poured nearly all of those earnings into sandwiches, skewers, soup, and countless other dishes—all to spoil Set.
How much money that actually amounted to, honestly, even Rei couldn't begin to guess.
(Well, I can introduce Zozo next time.)
Honestly, Rei had no idea what Zozo would do going forward.
For now, he was officially tamed by Rei and treated as a tamed monster. But whether he would continue traveling as Rei's companion from here on, or act alongside Gaga and the other Lizardmen, remained to be seen.
If it was the latter, Zozo might not even be around the next time he ran into Mirene.
(Come to think of it, if Zozo starts traveling with me full-time, I'll need to make Marina's house my base.)
The Wheat Inn at Dusk could look after tamed monsters, but a Lizardman posed various problems.
Most critically, Zozo believed he absolutely had to remain at Rei's side.
Given those circumstances, he'd need to live in a proper house rather than an inn.
But with the massive influx of people for the Expansion Construction, there was no surplus housing available. Even if he wanted to build a new home, the carpenters had zero spare capacity.
On top of all that, Marina's house was spacious, kept comfortable by the spirits, and she would cook for him—it was an incredibly convenient arrangement.
"Well, I'll figure out the Zozo situation later."
『What is it?』
"Nothing. More importantly, come on. Let's go find Marina."
With that, Rei led Set and Zozo toward the place Marina was most likely to be—the clinic.
Along the way, Zozo continued drawing stares from the curious, but Rei simply kept walking as if it were nothing new. A group of children wanted to play with Set en route, but Rei explained the situation and they let him go.
And then... they arrived at their destination.
That said, the Expansion Construction underway in Gilm employed a tremendous number of workers—countless, really.
With that many people on the job, injuries were inevitable. What Rei saw when he reached the clinic was a line of patients spilling out of the building entirely.
(Potions, maybe... no, that'd cost too much.)
Adventurer-grade potions could heal minor injuries, sure.
But people with truly minor wounds—a nicked finger, say—wouldn't come to the clinic in the first place. Most of the people here had likely suffered fairly significant injuries.
Healing those with potions would be impossible with the cheap ones sold at bargain prices, and highly effective ones naturally commanded a premium.
That was exactly why they'd come here.
"Right, what to do..."
Since Rei hadn't come for treatment, he could just ignore the line and walk straight in.
But if he did that, the people waiting would almost certainly take offense and start complaining.
They were injured and queuing patiently; why should Rei skip ahead?
...It was honestly surprising that everyone was lining up so obediently despite being hurt, but that very fact made Rei hesitant to cut ahead.
"Oh, Rei-san?"
As Rei stood there deliberating, one of the women exiting the clinic called out to him.
She was one of the pharmacists who prepared medicine from medicinal herbs—a face Rei had seen a few times before.
Medicinal herbs lacked the instant healing power of potions, but they still offered a certain degree of therapeutic effect.
She had probably come outside to treat the waiting injured with those herbs, even if only partially.
For the pharmacist, Rei's presence here was nothing short of a shock.
Rei showing up injured at the clinic would be like an omen of impending catastrophe—while that was slightly dramatic, it captured what she felt.
After all, Rei always carried enormous quantities of potions inside his Misty Ring, which made it even more unlikely.
"Ah, perfect timing. I came to see Marina, but... I sure didn't expect this many patients."
"Ah, hahaha. It's usually not quite this bad. Anyway, Marina? She's a bit busy right now... What would you like to do? If you say it's urgent, I could pull her away for a moment, even if it's a bit of a stretch."
Rei glanced at the line of patients outside and felt that forcing Marina away from her work would be a bad idea.
(Then again, trying to pass word about Gaga through someone else is... a bad idea too.)
If it were anything else, he could simply ask the pharmacist in front of him to relay a message.
But when the subject was Gaga—a prince of a foreign nation—coming to lodge with them, that was out of the question.
For Rei, the image of Gaga as a warrior was far stronger than any royal title, and Gaga himself seemed to regard himself more as a warrior than a prince.
Whether to tell Marina about Gaga now.
Rei wavered for a moment, then decided that simply talking to her would only take a moment, and opened his mouth.
Feeling a little guilty toward the injured people waiting.
"Let me see Marina for just a bit. What I need to discuss is important, but it's just a quick heads-up, so it shouldn't take long."
"Hmm... All right. Marina can hold a conversation while she treats people, so I think it'll be fine."
After a moment's hesitation, the pharmacist let Rei inside the clinic.
Naturally, Set and Zozo had to wait outside.
Though he drew a few envious glares from the people in line, Rei stepped into the clinic.
Inside, Marina was simultaneously treating multiple patients with Water Spirit Magic.
"Oh, Rei. What brings you here?"
Even as she worked, Marina asked the question without showing the slightest sign of strain.