The news that Rei would be gone for about fifteen days naturally came as a great shock to those who heard it.
However, the adventurers gathered here were skilled individuals trusted by the Guild.
As such, they were fully capable of accepting Rei's absence and figuring out how to manage without him.
So while it was true that they were surprised to hear he would be gone, they did not fall into any significant confusion.
If anything, the one who was most affected—no, shocked by the prospect of Rei's temporary absence was Zozo.
The other Lizardmen did not appear particularly bothered, but for Zozo, who was utterly devoted to Rei, being separated from him for such a long period was far from desirable.
It was not just Zozo, either. Gaga also seemed somewhat displeased that Rei would be gone for a while.
That said, in Gaga's case, the main reason was simply that he would be losing his only mock-battle opponent stronger than himself.
"Just to be clear, you'll explain all of this properly to Lord Daskar, right?"
The knight felt some unease about Rei's absence, but he also held the view that if Rei properly explained things to Daskar beforehand, then it couldn't be helped.
"Wau?"
The Water Wolf showed no particular reaction, whether it understood the meaning of Rei's words or not.
Given that it understood this world's language, it surely grasped that Rei would be gone for a while.
Even so, the fact that it showed no notable response was likely because, to the Water Wolf, Rei and Set's absence was not that significant an event.
"So... I know it's a bit late, but what did you all do for dinner tonight?"
Rei said this to break the slightly awkward atmosphere.
But upon hearing those words, everyone present wore equally awkward expressions.
With Rei gone, dinner would naturally consist of the preserved rations brought by carriage.
The one saving grace was that fish could be caught in the nearby lake.
There were animals and birds in the Treant Forest as well, but unfortunately, it seemed no one had managed to catch any today.
...Even without that particular issue, the fact that some people were worried because an abnormality had occurred and Rei had disappeared was also a significant factor.
"We ate whatever. It's nice to have this kind of meal once in a while. Once you get used to Rei's cooking, though, things are going to be tough from here on out," one of the adventurers murmured.
In truth, adventurers rarely ate luxurious, freshly prepared meals during the course of a request.
For missions like this one, where they were tasked with guarding a location, they could eat reasonably decent food, but even that was overwhelmingly inferior to the dishes Rei produced from his Misty Ring.
Fundamentally, what Rei stored in his Misty Ring was food from restaurants he had found delicious.
It was only natural that a difference in taste would emerge.
"Putting my cooking aside... with the people here, couldn't you manage to buy something like a simplified Item Box if you worked hard enough at it?"
While not as high-performance as the one Elena possessed, it wouldn't be strange for Gilm's adventurers—particularly skilled ones—to be able to afford such a Magic Item.
Even for adventurers like those present, it would undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to their finances.
"Even if you had the money, it's not the kind of thing you can just buy right away. Though the money is a problem too, of course."
The other adventurers nodded in agreement with the one who had spoken.
Manufacturing a simplified Item Box was naturally difficult.
Gilm had many skilled alchemists, but even they still struggled to produce one.
"On top of that, unlike Rei's Item Box, you can't keep warm things warm with the simplified version."
"That can't be helped," the adventurer next to him said to the one muttering in dissatisfaction.
The reason Rei's meals were so good was largely because time did not flow for the items stored inside.
With the simplified version, even if you put food in, it would cool over time.
Given enough time, it would probably spoil as well.
When that happened, eating a warm meal like Rei did would be impossible.
"I'm planning to buy one once they start selling them in Gilm, myself. The cooking situation is a shame, but an Item Box isn't just for food, right? With one, transporting luggage would be a lot more convenient too."
Hearing those words, several people nodded in agreement.
For adventurers, transporting luggage was of great significance.
In places where carriage travel was possible, it was one thing, but the kind of work adventurers did often involved locations where carriages could not enter.
As such, there were times when they inevitably had to travel with nothing but what they could carry on their person, and in those cases, an Item Box would be tremendously useful.
Furthermore, being able to store materials stripped from defeated monsters into an Item Box would undeniably be extremely convenient.
Rei spent the evening hours chatting with the others about the Item Box in this manner.
...It was not that none of them were worried about Anastasia and Fana, but rather that they understood in the current situation, nothing they did would matter and would only needlessly drain their stamina.
The man who had feelings for Anastasia, however, seemed to be gripped by a fierce sense of restlessness.
"All right, take this then."
"Understood. I'll deliver it to Lord Daskar."
He must have written it during the night—while the others were talking, or after they had gone to sleep.
Rei stored the somewhat thick envelope in his Misty Ring.
The weather around them had grown hot enough that calling it summer would not be mistaken.
Despite it still being morning, several of the adventurers were glaring resentfully at the sun hanging in a cloudless sky as if it owned the place.
Still, with the lake nearby, it probably wouldn't get too hot even as midday approached.
While the others dealt with the heat, Rei—thanks to the Dragon Robe, which made heat and cold a non-issue—mounted Set's back.
"Grrrrl!"
"Woof!"
Set let out a cry and soared into the sky, and the Water Wolf barked to see them off.
Set, happy to receive the Water Wolf's farewell bark from the friend he had grown close to, flapped his wings... while Rei, on his back, turned his gaze toward the Treant Forest.
(Transporting the felled logs will just have to be left to the adventurers.)
Among Rei's current duties, the busiest task was transporting the lumber felled in the Treant Forest.
If the building materials ran out, the Expansion Construction would stall.
In fact, not long ago, a shortage of wood had caused major chaos at the work site.
Still, transporting lumber was not something only Rei could do.
If the adventurers transported it by carriage, there would be no problem.
...However, naturally, hauling logs would take a heavy toll on the adventurers' stamina.
(The fact that they can actually do it if they try... is pretty incredible, isn't it?)
When Rei watched TV back in Japan, felled logs were loaded onto transport vehicles using cranes and the like.
While one person couldn't do it alone, several people could accomplish such a feat with their bare hands—which was probably proof of just how much higher the physical abilities of adventurers in this world were compared to people on Earth.
...Though, admittedly, those adventurers probably wouldn't be too pleased to hear Rei say something like that.
(Well, even so, they'll just have to do their best. In the first place, it's strange that my presence is a prerequisite for Gilm's Expansion Construction.)
Go earn your money, he thought.
While Rei was thinking this, Set continued flying, and they arrived at Gilm in no time, entering the city immediately.
His first destination was, naturally, the Lord's Manor.
(Lord Daskar should have already received a report about yesterday's incident. Which means... he's undoubtedly worried about what happened, especially regarding Anastasia.)
Given that Daskar had been helped by Anastasia during his days as a knight, it was clear that he had personal feelings toward her.
If so, hearing about yesterday's incident would certainly have him worried.
Confirming Rei's expectations, when he stated at the Lord's Manor that he had business with Daskar, he was immediately shown into Daskar's office.
"You're here."
He was likely worried about Anastasia, but the fact that he showed no sign of losing his composure upon seeing Rei was fitting of the man who governed the frontier of Gilm.
Rei handed Daskar the letter he had received from the knight and spoke.
"Yes. I'll get right to it—about yesterday's matter. You've heard that there was an abnormality, right?"
"Yes. The carriage that brought the researcher back returned. ...Ah, right. The researcher who clashed with you has been dismissed."
Rei nodded at Daskar, who said it so casually.
He may have gotten worked up over the Water Wolf incident, but someone who believed it was acceptable to harm others for the sake of their own intellectual curiosity was not someone with whom a friendly relationship could possibly be built.
Hearing that such a researcher had been dismissed brought relief to Rei, but...
"Um, well, I'll ask just in case, but when you say 'dismissed,' you don't mean you literally removed his head or anything like that, right?"
A sudden curiosity prompted him to ask.
But Daskar opened his mouth with an exasperated look at Rei's words.
"Obviously not. He has plenty of problems, but there's no denying he was a skilled researcher. ...So? What was this abnormality of yours?"
"Ah, yes. Simply put, the Wisp in the underground space beneath the Treant Forest went out of control. No, I'm not sure if 'out of control' is the right term, but in any case, something happened and a hole connecting to another world opened up."
"...Go on."
He was surprised to hear about a hole connecting to another world, but Daskar did not let it show on his face.
Fundamentally, the Wisp's ability was to summon beings and objects from other worlds.
Given that something had happened to the Wisp, hearing that a hole leading to another world had appeared was something he could accept.
"Regarding that hole, I happened to have a Magic Item that could interfere with and stabilize such spatial anomalies, so it's not an issue for now."
It was a rather forced explanation, but there was no way he could mention here that he had received help from Grimm, who was supposed to be his master.
He had set things up so that his master had helped him out on several occasions before, but repeating that excuse would naturally give rise to doubts.
Why was it that his master, who was supposedly living deep in the mountains, kept showing up specifically when Rei was in trouble?
It was natural to question that.
...That said, it wouldn't be strange for Daskar to wonder whether Rei conveniently happened to possess such a Magic Item either.
However, it was reasonably well-known that collecting Magic Items was one of Rei's hobbies.
Given that, it wasn't impossible for Rei to have such a Magic Item. ...Though even Rei understood it was a bit of a stretch.
Daskar also cast a slightly suspicious gaze at Rei's words.
Even so, he did not interrupt Rei's account and prompted him to continue.
"And?"
"With the spatial hole stabilized for now, I went through to the other world. Fortunately, I could breathe normally, and I was able to meet a friendly race called Centaurs with whom communication was possible..."
From there, Rei went on to explain what he had experienced on the other side.
What captured Daskar's interest the most was, unsurprisingly, the Dragonias.
"In any case, for those reasons, I intend to depart tomorrow for a while—probably about fifteen days—to go annihilate the Dragonias in the other world. Would that be acceptable?"
"...Honestly, having you gone for that long is painful, but if it's necessary to search for Anastasia, it can't be helped."
"I appreciate you saying that."
Having made a promise on the other side, Rei had intended to go even if Daskar did not grant permission, but now that he had received it, he could head there with peace of mind.
"So, what exactly are these Dragonias?"
"I have a corpse with me—would you like to see it? ...Though, frankly, they're rather unsettling creatures."
"I don't mind. It's unclear what kind of relationship we'll have with that other world, but it's undoubtedly better to know."
Rei nodded at Daskar's words and retrieved a Dragonias corpse from his Misty Ring.