"Alright then, Zozo. I'm counting on you here."
"Yes. ...However, I am envious that I must remain here at the Birth Tower while Brother Gaga returns to Lord Rei's side."
In response to Rei's words, Zozo spoke with a slightly sullen expression.
For Zozo, if it meant being able to live alongside Rei, he likely would have preferred to be the one at his side.
But as long as Zozo was the only one who could use the Stone Tablet, leaving him here was absolutely necessary.
"For now, just bear with it. There are some Lizardmen who are gradually learning words and writing. Eventually, they'll be able to take over your role here for communication."
"I understand that, but..."
Zozo wore a reluctant look.
Having sworn loyalty to Rei, Zozo did not want to be separated from him if he could help it.
However, he had been persuaded that loyalty was not merely about staying by Rei's side, and as a result, he had agreed to remain at the Birth Tower.
As a prince of the Gran Dragonia Empire—no, as a Lizardman man, he understood the need to protect the Birth Tower. Still, given that he would be lodging here while Gaga stayed with Rei, it was hardly strange for him to feel dissatisfied.
"A carriage should come to pick up Gaga around evening, so I'm counting on you to babysit him until then."
"Babysit Brother Gaga, you say? ...That sounds like it will be quite the challenge."
"There are other adventurers besides me, and a new Knight should be arriving too, so I don't think that will be an issue."
With that, Rei climbed onto Set's back.
When Zozo was riding along, Set couldn't fly—but that wasn't the case now.
Carrying only Rei, Set flapped its wings after just a few running steps and surged upward into the sky.
The sight of those left on the ground rapidly shrinking into the distance stirred not unease, but exhilaration.
The Birth Tower was indeed a tower, as its name suggested, though not an exceptionally tall one.
At Set's rate of ascent, it too shrank to nothing in the blink of an eye.
(Yeah, flying through the sky like this really does feel good.)
Seeing the Birth Tower from above during the day, rather than at night, gave it a different atmosphere altogether.
With that thought, Rei and Set headed toward Gilm.
And since they were flying through the air rather than running along the ground, it went without saying that the trip took less than a few minutes.
...So much so that despite departing later than the Knight transporting the mercenaries by carriage, Set arrived in Gilm overwhelmingly faster.
After quickly completing entry procedures, Rei made his way through the city.
His destination was not the Lord's Manor, but the Guild.
His report to Daskar was already finished, and the Knight would handle reporting the matter of the mercenaries who had attacked the Birth Tower.
More importantly, Rei judged that gathering information on how the Guild currently regarded the Birth Tower took priority.
Since adventurers were stationed to guard the Birth Tower, there was no way the Guild had no information about it.
He wanted to ask the Guild about those details, and at the same time, learn what measures they intended to take regarding the tower.
The Birth Tower was undeniably important to Daskar, but whether the same held true for the Guild was another question.
(Well, knowing Lord Daskar, he's probably already made arrangements.)
Thinking along those lines, Rei parted ways with Set at the entrance and stepped into the Guild.
Inside, the Guild was as lively as ever.
Before the Expansion Construction, there would have been few people around at this hour of the day.
But ever since the construction began, crowds filled the Guild even during daytime.
...Even so, there were undeniably fewer people than in the morning or evening.
Rei wove his way through the gaps between the many adventurers.
Some recognized him on their own and stepped aside to clear a path.
"Ah, Rei-kun! Over here, over here!"
Kenny, spotting Rei approaching the counter, waved happily.
There were no adventurers in front of her counter.
Rei wasn't sure whether that was by chance or because she had directed them elsewhere, but since Lenora—his usual attendant—was nowhere to be seen, he headed toward Kenny.
"Where's Lenora?"
"Lenora stepped out for an errand. She should be back soon, though..."
"What will you do?" Kenny asked. Rei shook his head.
He had come only to gather information about the Birth Tower. Had Lenora been available, he would have asked her, but he decided that for simple information gathering, Kenny would do just fine.
"Have you heard the story about a tower teleporting next to the Treant Forest?"
"Wait, how do you know about that, Rei-kun...? No, it's Rei-kun, after all. Thinking about it, it's not surprising."
From Kenny's surprise, Rei understood that information about the Birth Tower hadn't spread very far yet—or rather, that the Guild was doing its best to keep it from spreading.
"That's right. Actually, Set sensed the Birth Tower teleporting in the middle of the night yesterday, so I think I was the first person in this world... no, in Gilm, to see it."
He nearly said "in this world" but managed to gloss over it.
Kenny didn't seem to notice and nodded with genuine understanding.
"If it's Set-chan, I can accept that he'd pick up on something so unreasonable."
Kenny murmured thoughtfully.
That was likely a testament to how well she understood that Set's very existence defied reason.
...Of course, she wasn't disparaging Set. If anything, it was a compliment.
Since Kenny didn't react with surprise when he mentioned the name "Birth Tower," Rei gathered she had already been informed of it and continued the conversation.
"Right. ...So? Can I ask how the Guild intends to handle the Birth Tower?"
"Honestly, if you want to ask about that, you'd be better off asking the Guild Master rather than me..."
Though she looked troubled, Kenny was clearly happy to talk with Rei. With an "it can't be helped" expression, she began to speak—leaning in close to Rei's ear and whispering so the surrounding adventurers wouldn't overhear.
Naturally, that kind of behavior drew attention in the Guild.
Many of the adventurers shot jealous glares at Rei.
The voluptuous beauty Kenny was, as always, popular among the adventurers.
"Basically, I think the Guild's actions will align with Lord Daskar's wishes. But there might be adventurers who want to see it for themselves if they learn about it, so the Guild would prefer to keep it hidden. ...I haven't seen it myself, but it's quite large, isn't it? I think they feel it would be difficult to keep it hidden from everyone."
Figures, Rei nodded at Kenny's words.
There was no doubt that the Birth Tower was a fascinating subject to adventurers.
Just as mercenaries hired by someone had attacked the tower, there would surely be those who saw it as a source of profit.
And in reality, Lizardman children and unhatched eggs were undoubtedly things that could fetch a high price.
Precisely because they understood this, the Guild likely wanted to suppress information about the Birth Tower as much as possible.
"In that case, will the Guild handle steering the adventurers away? Information control, I mean."
"It seems so. However, I don't think it will be anything too large-scale."
Kenny gave Rei a slightly apologetic look.
They would conduct information control, but from the Guild's position, not being able to do so on a large scale was apparently what she felt sorry about.
Rei shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. As long as you can reduce the numbers even a little, that's fine. Besides... if it's just going to observe out of curiosity, that's one thing, but anyone who gets any stupid ideas will receive an appropriate punishment."
Among the Lizardmen currently guarding the Birth Tower was Gaga, who, even without fighting at full strength, possessed the ability to fight on even footing with Rei.
Against a run-of-the-mill adventurer, Gaga would make short work of them.
Additionally, while inferior to Gaga, Zozo was stronger than an ordinary Lizardman, and the other Lizardmen were properly trained soldiers.
Rei predicted that even Gilm's adventurers wouldn't be able to sneak into the Birth Tower so easily.
Let alone the adventurers who had come to Gilm for the Expansion Construction—overcoming the defenses of Gaga, Zozo, and the others would be nearly impossible for them.
Of course, there were some adventurers whose names weren't well known but were actually highly skilled, so it wasn't an absolute certainty.
"Oh, is that so? If Rei-kun says so, I won't say anything more about it... But anyway, that's the situation, so please don't expect too much from the information control. Honestly, I think it would cause fewer problems if the Guild Master designated it as a restricted area."
Kenny's suggestion was one Rei could agree with.
At the very least, if it were designated as a restricted area, no one would be able to approach it without special permission.
"Why not? If that would be best, shouldn't Worker do exactly that as the Guild Master?"
"I think so too, but it seems there are various complications."
Even hearing that, Rei wasn't entirely convinced. Still, he didn't voice his dissatisfaction, likely because he knew that Worker was working himself to the bone for the Guild's sake.
...He also knew that some adventurers suspected Worker might be plotting something suspicious, but Rei had never doubted him on that front.
If nothing else, Rei had a fairly long relationship with Worker, and more importantly, he knew that if Worker were truly contemplating anything dubious, the former Guild Master, Marina, would definitely take action.
Worker surely understood this as well, so even in the unlikely event he conceived of something questionable, Rei couldn't imagine him actually carrying it out.
"Alright then, that's it for the Birth Tower discussion for now... but do you know what's happening with the Treant Forest lumber? Logging was called off for today, so won't there be a shortage of building materials?"
"Probably so. The Woodcutters must be troubled by not being able to work too."
"That's a problem as well."
The Woodcutters Rei had gathered using the Set Basket at Daskar's request.
There were also Woodcutters who had come to Gilm on their own.
Such Woodcutters had come strictly to earn money, and if they couldn't work, they would only be wasting their living expenses on food and lodging.
What's more, until recently there had been an endless demand for Treant Forest lumber for the Expansion Construction, so Daskar had been trying to recruit as many Woodcutters as possible.
Even now, as they spoke, a not-insignificant number of Woodcutters were heading to Gilm seeking work.
Woodcutters who had already worked in Gilm and had some financial leeway were one thing, but those who had just arrived with no work were in a very tight spot financially.
Of course, being a Woodcutter didn't mean one could only do woodcutting; there was no shortage of jobs available with the Expansion Construction.
However, that held true not only for Woodcutters but for those in any specialized trade—many took great pride in their line of work.
Because of that, some simply couldn't accept being told to do a different job after coming all the way as Woodcutters.
"Then again, that's something they should decide for themselves. There's always the option of not forcing themselves into other work and waiting for logging to resume."
"There's nothing the Guild can do about that. It's their own decision... But considering the building material shortage, it seems logging will resume relatively soon. Treant Forest lumber is highly regarded as a building material, so I hear it's being prioritized for the Expansion Construction."
"You know a lot."
"Oh, if you work at the Guild, this much naturally reaches your ears."
Kenny said it without a hint of boasting, as if it were truly nothing.
As a Receptionist, the volume of information that came her way was naturally greater.
Understanding this, Rei continued chatting with Kenny about Gilm and the Treant Forest going forward, as well as about the Lizardmen and the Green People.