"A Cerberus, huh... That's troublesome."
Daskar's voice echoed through the Office.
After selling the Cerberus materials at the Guild, Rei had come to the Lord's Manor.
He figured Daskar would eventually learn about the Cerberus incident through the Knight's report, but he had judged it better to inform him as early as possible.
Beyond that, Rei wanted to discuss this incident with Daskar thoroughly, from his own mouth—from the standpoint of an Adventurer.
The Knight's report would be just that: a report from a Knight's perspective.
That didn't mean the Adventurer's perspective would be ignored, but even so, it was still necessary to properly convey things from an Adventurer's point of view.
Especially since Adventurers also needed to serve as escorts for the Woodcutters, making that point particularly important.
"Yes. I already informed the Guild about the Cerberus situation, but they said that with Gilm's current state, it's difficult to gather enough Adventurers with the strength to oppose a B-Rank Monster."
"I imagine so. Gilm has an overwhelming amount of work right now; we're short-handed as it is."
With the arrival of spring, monster activity had grown more vigorous.
In addition to the Expansion Construction-related jobs within Gilm, subjugating such monsters had become an important task.
And as was only natural, the monsters appearing around Gilm were varied.
They ranged from weaker ones like Goblins to, on the stronger end, the very Cerberus Rei had fought, as well as Cyclopes and Orc Kings.
Subjugating such monsters required considerable skill.
For the skilled Adventurers who had been in Gilm from the start—not those who arrived after the Expansion Construction began—neglecting that work was not an option.
Based on past experience, monsters rarely approached the main roads, but "rarely" was not "never." The possibility of monsters appearing on the roads could not be entirely dismissed.
Taking those circumstances into account, it was indeed difficult to assign skilled Adventurers as escorts to the Treant Forest.
However, just because it was difficult didn't change the fact that failing to assign escorts would result in casualties among the Woodcutters, bringing logging to a halt.
While it wouldn't bring the Expansion Construction to an immediate standstill, the construction period would certainly be extended.
An extended construction period was naturally not something Daskar welcomed, as funds that were never meant to be spent would drain away one after another.
For a project of this sheer scale, even a single day's delay consumed an astronomical sum of money.
As the lord of Gilm, it was only natural that Daskar wanted to avoid such a situation as much as possible.
"How about calling in more people?"
"If we're talking about whether it's possible or not, it is. But the problem in this case is where to lodge the newcomers."
Hearing those words, Rei recalled the conversation about the lodging shortage.
The inns operating as businesses alone weren't enough; they were already housing people in ordinary residential homes.
If the number of people increased further, the question of where they would sleep naturally arose.
Amidst all this, Rei suddenly remembered an event from winter.
"What about the mansions the King's Faction people were using in winter? There were several fairly large mansions there, so I think you could lodge people in them."
"...Strictly speaking, the investigation into that matter still isn't completely finished, so I'd rather not let people in... but I suppose it can't be helped. That said, if you consider the number of people I actually need, the ones who can stay in those mansions alone won't be enough. I'll need other properties as well."
"Could you use empty houses as temporary inns?"
"It's not impossible, but even empty houses have owners, so we'd need to negotiate with them. If they were like those mansions—blatantly engaged in criminal activities—that would be another story."
"I don't really understand those sorts of procedures, so I'll leave it to you. But given the Wisp situation, there's no doubt things are going to get much busier from here on out, so wouldn't it be better to start preparing lodgings for the incoming people now?"
In response to Rei's words, Daskar took a sip of tea and let out a long, deep sigh.
Daskar understood that point as well.
But even in the current situation, he was already working almost all day long.
Adding even more work on top of that was nothing short of suicide.
Daskar's honest feeling was that he wanted to finish at least a little of the current work to gain some breathing room before tackling the next task.
That said, just as Rei pointed out, bringing breathing room to the workload required more personnel, and preparing those personnel required lodging for them to sleep in... It was about to spiral into a vicious cycle, so he shifted his mindset.
"You're right. Even now, I delegate as much work as possible to my subordinates. I suppose I'll have to ask them to work a little harder."
In response to Daskar's words, all Rei could do was wish him well and hand him a package containing Cerberus meat to help restore his energy.
"For now, it's B-Rank Monster meat, so I think you'll find it satisfactory, Lord Daskar. Please eat a dish made from this Cerberus meat and do your best. If it's the Cook you've hired, they should be able to prepare it nicely."
Rei knew the skill of the Cook working at the Lord's Manor well, having eaten there many times.
So the Cook would certainly prepare the Cerberus meat properly to suit Daskar's palate.
...Actually, Rei would have liked to learn from them how best to cook Cerberus meat.
This was Rei's first time eating Cerberus meat, so he had no idea what kind of dishes it would suit.
At most, he figured it could be eaten as yakiniku or skewers.
Meat, depending on its properties, had dishes it was suited for and dishes it was not.
Meat suited for stewing, meat suited for grilling or stir-frying, meat suited for steaming, and various other cooking methods could greatly change the flavor of the meat.
Of course, that only meant what it was suited for; it didn't mean it should never be cooked using other methods.
In practice, with a Cook's skill—someone proficient in preparation and knowing exactly how long to cook the meat—the differences in meat properties could be overcome easily.
It was merely a matter for ordinary people—not professional Cooks—of which meat suited which cooking method.
(Ah, but Marina might be able to manage something like that? Her cooking skill rivals that of a professional.)
Having lived for so long, Marina's culinary skills had naturally been honed.
In fact, when Rei stayed at Marina's house, she was the one who did the cooking.
Considering those circumstances, Rei thought it might be better not to eat all the Cerberus meat at the Birth Tower today, but to save some and have Marina cook something for him another day.
"Oh, B-Rank Monster meat. That sounds promising."
As the lord of Gilm, Daskar had countless opportunities to eat luxury meat.
But when it came to High-Rank Monster meat, that was a different story.
For one thing, the sheer difficulty of even finding a High-Rank Monster was a major factor.
In that sense, the Cerberus meat Rei brought was, even for Daskar, somewhat of a rarity.
...That it was only "somewhat" rare was precisely because Daskar served as lord of Gilm, a Frontier territory.
Accepting the meat, Daskar immediately called a subordinate and had it delivered to the kitchen, instructing them to use the Cerberus meat for tonight's dinner.
Afterward, Rei spent about ten minutes chatting with Daskar—also serving as a change of pace for the lord—before leaving the Office.
He was walking down the corridor when he noticed a man walking toward him from the opposite direction.
The man was probably one of the Servants working at the Lord's Manor.
But what slightly impressed Rei was that, despite being a Servant—someone who wouldn't be expected to need martial prowess—the man possessed a certain level of strength, evident from the subtle way he moved his body.
(Given that this is the Lord's Manor, it wouldn't be strange for there to be some competent fighters among the Servants. The lord of Gilm is clearly someone others would envy and resent.)
Gilm was the only Frontier in the Kingdom of Mireana.
Being its lord meant obtaining enormous sums of money on a regular basis.
That was precisely why he could afford to lead the Neutral Faction.
Of course, money alone wasn't enough to keep people loyal; one needed to possess character as well.
At any rate, Rei could understand that assassins being sent after Daskar was not uncommon, and even short of such direct action, it wouldn't be strange for spies of some sort to be infiltrated.
If so, it wouldn't be strange to have not only those whose strength was obvious at a glance like Knights, but also those whose strength couldn't be discerned just by looking.
(Oniwaban, was it? Something I saw in a manga or something.)
Rei concluded that the Servant from earlier was probably one of them. As he walked down the corridor with that thought, this time a Knight came striding toward him from the front.
Judging by his hurried appearance, some problem must have occurred.
That said, Rei had no intention of volunteering to help with something he hadn't been asked to do.
Now that the Wisp situation had come to light, he wanted to stay near the Birth Tower as much as possible.
He joined Set, who had been playing in the garden, and left the Lord's Manor.
As he stepped outside, someone who appeared to be a merchant was loudly berating the Knight on gate duty.
"Why not! What's wrong with just greeting Lord Daskar? My superiors told me to make sure I meet with him!"
"I understand, but unlike last year, Lord Daskar is busy this year and is generally declining meetings with Merchants. If word gets out that he met with one Merchant, then a whole swarm of others will come demanding the same, won't they?"
Hearing the Knight's words to the merchant, Rei nodded in understanding.
For a merchant, having met with Daskar personally was a powerful weapon when competing against other Merchants.
If such a person were known to have met with Daskar, the information would naturally spread to other Merchants, and they would surely take action to meet with Daskar themselves.
That was exactly why the Knight couldn't let the merchant meet with Daskar, no matter what the merchant said.
(Do your best.)
With that thought, Rei glanced at the Knight and tried to walk past the merchant...
"Then why is this person coming out of the Lord's Manor!"
The merchant, who had been arguing with the Knight—though it was really just the merchant talking at him—stopped, grabbed Rei's Dragon Robe, and said that.
For the merchant, it was probably unbearable that Rei had come out of the Lord's Manor with Set when he himself couldn't manage to see Daskar no matter how hard he tried.
(Set is here too, so you'd think he'd know who I am.)
It wasn't quite true that there was no one in Gilm who didn't know Rei was accompanied by Set, but the vast majority did.
And naturally, many also knew that Rei was Daskar's right-hand man.
In reality, Rei had never intended to become anything of the sort, but the fact remained that he harbored goodwill toward Daskar as a person.
At the very least, enough to want to help him if he was in trouble.
At any rate, Rei directed a gaze of mild exasperation at the merchant man, who showed absolutely no sign of recognizing him.
For a merchant, information was life.
Given that, coming to Gilm without knowing about Rei was fatal.
Moreover, by now the alias Crimson—Rei's epithet—had spread not just throughout the Kingdom of Mireana, but even to the Bestia Empire and the surrounding nations of each country.
"Do you realize whose robe you're grabbing?"
The Knight directed a gaze of exasperation at the merchant.
To the Knight, Rei was more than an acquaintance; right now, he was a guest of Daskar's.
If the merchant was going to do something to Rei, the Knight had to stop it.
Just before he could pull the merchant away from Rei—a sudden, powerful impact.
A brief sensation of floating for a few seconds, and the coldness of the ground against his cheek.
Even so, with the reflexes of a trained Knight, he immediately turned his face toward the direction he'd been blown, and what he saw was the figure of Rei, gripping the merchant's arm that held a dagger.