"...An assistant, huh."
With a sigh, Daskar turned his gaze toward Rei and Anastasia, who sat on the sofa across from him, enjoying tea and sandwiches.
It was now a little past four in the afternoon. There was still time before dinner, but it was around the hour when one's stomach started to feel a bit empty. That was exactly why Rei was so grateful for the sandwiches Daskar had prepared.
Rei, ever greedy when it came to eating, happily brought the sandwiches made by Daskar's cook to his mouth.
"Yes. Even to investigate the Wisp in that Underground Space, I can't manage everything on my own. Given those circumstances, I really do want an assistant."
"But..."
"I know what you're trying to say, Daskar."
Anastasia spoke, cutting off Daskar's words.
"A trustworthy researcher won't be found so easily. I've already heard about that from Rei."
At that, Daskar turned his gaze toward Rei.
While savoring a sandwich filled with stir-fried deer meat and vegetables, Rei nodded at Daskar—signaling that he was indeed the one who had told Anastasia about those circumstances.
Watching Rei with a hint of exasperation, Anastasia continued.
"Even someone you consider useless from your perspective, Daskar, might be someone I could put to use."
"Meaning...?"
"Meaning I won't leave it to you. I'll choose for myself. Not with a lord's eyes, but with a researcher's eyes."
"But, that's..."
Is it really all right? Daskar's words carried that implicit concern, but Anastasia nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Have you forgotten the incident with the Kelpie? Even then, what I said turned out to be correct, didn't it?"
Daskar fell silent at Anastasia's words.
Rei, who had been listening while eating his sandwich, naturally had no knowledge of this Kelpie incident. He guessed it was probably some kind of trouble that had occurred back when Daskar was still working as a knight.
And eventually, Daskar reluctantly accepted Anastasia's position.
"Well then, Rei. I'll be taking my leave here. I'm going to go look for someone who could serve as an assistant right away."
Rei and Anastasia had just finished reporting the day's various events at the Lord's Manor—especially the possibility that monsters from the lake were appearing at locations unknown to them—but as soon as they stepped outside, Anastasia said this to Rei.
True to her word, she was likely about to set out in search of a usable assistant this very instant.
Rei was surprised by Anastasia's drive to act, and at the same time, a question surfaced in his mind.
"You say you're going to look for someone who could serve as an assistant, but how exactly do you plan to search? You've only just arrived in Gilm, right? Then wouldn't you have no idea what kind of researchers are here or anything like that? Besides... Gilm has a lot of people gathered right now, so there are rough characters around too."
He recalled that Vihera had once mentioned that whenever she patrolled the town, she would almost always run into some kind of trouble.
Of course, when it came to attracting trouble, Vihera's appearance and the clothes she wore made her a walking magnet for it. But once someone became even slightly familiar with Gilm's affairs, they would naturally learn all about Vihera and wouldn't dare mess with her so recklessly.
Unlike such Vihera, however, Anastasia had only just arrived in Gilm and her name was completely unknown. And with an appearance that could fittingly be called that of an intellectual beauty, Rei predicted that if Anastasia went around alone, she would definitely get caught up in trouble. No—he was half certain of it.
That was why he couldn't help but wonder whether it was really all right to just let her go off by herself.
But Anastasia simply smiled and told him there was no problem.
"Listen, Rei. You seem to have forgotten, but I'm an Elf too. Maybe not to the extent of that acquaintance of yours... Marina, was it? But I can use Spirit Magic."
"...If you could use Spirit Magic as well as Marina, I'd think that was incredibly amazing."
In truth, from Rei's perspective, Marina's Spirit Magic bordered on omnipotent in its versatility.
So even if someone told him Anastasia couldn't use Spirit Magic the same way Marina did, he would only think, "Well, naturally."
"Really? Anyway, that's why, so there's no need to worry about me. Besides, you have things to do from here on too, right?"
"Yeah. I left today's load of Treant Forest wood behind, so all I have left is to head to the Guild. That's not particularly urgent."
What he planned to have the Guild look into was the matter of the horse made of grass that he had fought in the Treant Forest.
More precisely, he wanted to ask the Guild whether the grass that had composed the horse's body could be appraised and purchased as some kind of crafting material.
Rei was nearly certain: if that grass-made horse was truly a creature that had come from the lake, then the grass making up its body might well be a variety never before discovered.
Of course, this world still had plenty of unknown aspects, so something of that degree wasn't particularly unusual.
"See? If you still have things to do, then I'm fine. Leave it to me."
With that, Anastasia turned and departed from in front of Rei.
Her light, breezy stride made Rei think she was actually looking forward to finding some kind of new encounter in Gilm.
"Guruu?"
Set, standing beside Rei, looked up at him with a purr, as if asking what they were going to do.
Rei hesitated briefly at Set's gaze, but judging that anything he said would be pointless if Anastasia was that confident about being fine, he petted Set's head.
"Anastasia says she'll be fine, so anything I say here would just be wasted breath. Let's head to the Guild like we originally planned."
"Guruu!"
Hearing they were going to the Guild, Set purred happily.
For Set, the Guild was a beloved place where everyone played with him and gave him all sorts of food while he waited for Rei. In that sense, Set absolutely loved the Guild.
Set purred as if urging him to hurry along.
At his partner's demeanor, Rei gave a light wave to the knight on gate duty and set off toward the Guild with Set.
Since it was still too early to call it evening, the number of people out on the streets wasn't all that large. Even so, the avenues were reasonably bustling—people shopping for dinner, those who had finished work a bit early already heading for a tavern, and so on.
Even among the small children, there were those earnestly doing their jobs.
"Hmm, I suppose you'd call it 'good work.' ...Everyone's as busy as ever, huh."
"Guruu?"
Set turned a questioning gaze toward Rei at his murmur, but Rei shook his head as if to say it was nothing... and then suddenly sharpened his eyes.
"That's some pretty clumsy tailing."
"Gururururu."
Set purred in agreement.
Since Rei had noticed, there was no way Set, whose five senses were far sharper than Rei's, wouldn't have picked up on it too.
After leaving the Lord's Manor and walking for a while, once the crowd around them had grown thicker, someone appeared—tailong Rei and Set.
That said, Rei and Set being tailed was actually not all that unusual. Given that Rei was famous in Gilm, information about him naturally fetched high prices. Or perhaps following Rei might lead to some unexpected money-making opportunity. People who thought that way would occasionally show up and try tailing him, but since he would go to places like Marina's mansion in the Noble District, the high-end Wheat Inn at Dusk, or outside of Gilm, the difficulty of tailing him was normally quite high.
That was why Rei usually didn't pay much attention to whoever was following him, but if the person tailing him harbored hostility, that was another matter entirely.
Now then, what to do. Should he capture the tailer and interrogate him about why he was following? No, but if the man claimed he just happened to be heading the same direction by coincidence, there'd be nothing Rei could do about it.
It wasn't quite killing intent, but the man clearly held hostility toward him, so he couldn't just leave him be.
If he continued moving with the tailer in tow, there was a chance of causing trouble for the people around them.
"Want to do a little stall tour before heading to the Guild?"
"Gururururu!"
At Rei's words, Set purred happily.
Set also understood that these words from Rei were a countermeasure against the tailer. But even so, getting to tour new stalls was something worth being happy about.
Stalls could basically be set up by anyone as long as they filed an application. Some people made their living through stalls, while others ran them as a hobby or as a change of pace... people set up stalls for all sorts of reasons. Because of that, each encounter with a stall was something that could truly be called once-in-a-lifetime. There was no guarantee that a stall operating on a given day would be there the next day or beyond.
That was exactly why Set was happy to explore new stalls.
Noticing Set's enthusiasm, Rei placed a hand on his head and gave it a light scratch.
Perhaps enjoying the sensation, Set purred happily, and the two of them—one person and one creature—headed toward a back alley.
Though not as much as the main streets, back alleys also had their share of stalls. Since space on the main streets was limited, it was only natural for those who couldn't secure a spot there to move to areas like back alleys.
Rei and Set stopped by several such stalls, buying each owner's recommendation.
That said, there wasn't anything that made him think it was exceptionally delicious.
Perhaps the slightly unusual find was a bread baked using the juice of a fruit similar to a tangerine, which he bought a few extra of as a sweet-and-sour treat. Of course, bread that used that much fruit juice naturally came with a corresponding price. Even aside from the main streets, Rei didn't think it would sell well in a place like a back alley, and indeed, quite a few were left unsold.
Also, while it had novelty, it wasn't quite exquisite enough, which was probably another reason Rei didn't feel like buying very many.
While eating a sandwich made with flaked grilled river fish tossed in sauce, Rei walked toward areas with fewer and fewer people, wondering if it was about time... and right at that moment, he heard footsteps running up from behind.
When Rei turned to look, what he saw was a young man running toward him with a short sword in hand.
That said, from the perspective of Rei, who was in his mid-teens, the man was considerably older.
He was holding a short sword, but judging from the way he ran, it didn't seem like he had any real combat training. Or if he did, it was only at the level of having dabbled a bit.
At the very least, he was no match for Rei.
Well, he could guess that much from the clumsiness of his tailing.
The way he held his weapon was like something out of a movie—a gangster charging at his enemy with his whole body while screaming. As a way to wield a short sword, it was by no means correct. Much less when attacking an opponent whose physical abilities were clearly superior to his own, like Rei—that kind of charge would be easily dodged...
"Yo."
Dodging the man's attack, Rei swept his legs. He then adjusted the man's fall in midair so that he wouldn't go down face-first.
If the man had landed face-down, there was a high chance he would stab his own stomach with the short sword he was holding.
For Rei, since this was someone who had just tried to take his life, there was no need to worry about the man's safety. But in order to hear the reasons why the man had targeted him, he couldn't very well let the man die.
In Rei's case, he had any number of reasons to be resented by people. That was why he needed to properly confirm exactly what reason the man had for attacking him.
Once he understood the circumstances, it would be easier to figure out how to handle the aftermath. Whether there were unavoidable reasons behind it, or it was motivated by selfish greed, or something else entirely. He wouldn't know unless he asked directly.
"So, what exactly is your reason for attacking me?"
"Ugh... ah..."
He hadn't lost consciousness, but even so, the man who had been slammed onto his back on the ground couldn't get any words out right away from the impact.
Thinking that, Rei observed the man's condition and waited until he could speak.