Walking through the city, Rei and Set naturally stood out.
To be precise, it was Gryphon Seto — standing over three meters tall — that drew attention. And since Rei was walking alongside Set, it was immediately obvious who he was, which made him stand out as well.
Normally, Rei would stop by food stalls while walking through town and buy various things to snack on, but today he needed to discuss the A-Rank Promotion Exam.
With that in mind, making stops at food stalls was out of the question.
The stall owners would normally call out to Rei, hoping to make a sale, but today they seemed to sense from his demeanor that he had no time to spare — none of them made any move to call out.
For a stall owner, Rei was normally a valued customer who bought in bulk.
However, since the owners also worked in Gilm, they could quickly read the room and tell whether it was appropriate to call out or not.
Granted, among the stall owners were some who had only recently arrived in Gilm, but fortunately, those individuals watched the other owners and refrained from calling out to Rei.
It was sheer luck that no one at this particular moment was so self-absorbed as to ignore the mood.
Many stalls existed, and precisely because of that, competition was fierce.
Stalls run by people who only thought of themselves and didn't care about others naturally wouldn't last long — unless their cooking was exceptionally good.
The passersby as well, seeing Rei and Set's demeanor, judged that they were on the job and made no move to approach them.
To be precise, a few children said they wanted to play with Set, but when Rei told them he needed to head to the Guild, they didn't press the matter and obediently walked away.
And so they continued through the city... and eventually arrived at the Guild.
"Alright, I'm going inside the Guild, so wait here, Set. It might take a while... no, you'll be fine, won't you?"
"Gruu?"
At Rei's words, Set tilted his head as if to ask, Really?
Regardless of how things were on the way here, while Rei was inside the Guild, Set needed to wait outside.
And if Set waited outside the Guild, it was easy to imagine people gathering — wanting to pet him, play with him, or give him food.
For Rei, that was the usual state of affairs, so it was only natural.
After giving Set a light pat, Rei headed toward the Guild.
Set watched Rei's back with a slightly lonely look, then headed to the carriage waiting area as usual and lay down... and within minutes, several people had gathered to play with him.
"Well, this is... something else."
Upon entering the Guild, Rei looked around, feeling as though it had been a very long time since he'd last set foot here.
Despite it still being daytime, a considerable number of adventurers had gathered — either seeking work or reporting that they'd finished their jobs.
Even so, compared to the Guild's most congested hours at dawn and dusk, the crowd was far thinner.
With so many people flocking to Gilm, it was not uncommon during the early morning and evening hours for the building to become so packed that people felt like they might be crushed.
And showing even more urgency than the adventurers were the Guild Staff Members.
Normally, at this hour, there wouldn't be many adventurers coming in, and the staff would have time to relax — but what lay beyond the counter was far from such a scene.
Above all, the number of Guild Staff Members and Receptionists behind the counter had clearly increased — even from Rei's perspective.
And not by just one or two, but by dozens.
The space behind the counter was so crowded that people had to navigate it with extreme care just to walk through.
(...Wait, I'm supposed to talk with Guild Master Worker about the Promotion Exam, right? In other words, I have to go through there to the back?)
The staircase leading to the Guild Master's Office was at the very back of the counter area.
Rei was considerably smaller than average, so squeezing through the tight spaces behind the counter might be easier for him than for others — but that didn't mean he could move through easily.
(Ah, but maybe the Guild has accounted for that. There are some rooms on the second floor, so there's a chance we'll talk there.)
Deciding on that, Rei headed toward the reception.
Lenora, noticing Rei's presence, glanced for a moment at Kenny, who was giving instructions to other Receptionists some distance away. But upon seeing that Kenny hadn't yet noticed Rei, she showed a moment of hesitation — and ultimately decided that getting Rei to the Guild Master took priority. She said nothing to Kenny and bowed toward Rei.
"Rei-san, welcome. Please proceed to the Guild Master's Office."
"Huh?"
Rei was surprised by how smoothly the words came from Lenora's mouth.
To the Guild Master's Office — because that was what she'd said.
"Um, through here?"
"Yes. Someone like you can manage navigating through a space like this, can't you, Rei-san?"
"I figured since the inside of the counter looks like this, I'd be meeting Worker on the second floor or something."
"Ah, the second floor... the second floor is even worse than here, you know."
Lenora muttered with somewhat distant eyes.
Looking at her expression, it was clear that her words were no exaggeration.
(If the inside of the counter looks like this, it's natural that they'd use whatever space is available for work. Or rather, considering the current situation, the Guild itself is probably too small. But that doesn't mean they can easily expand it.)
The Guild was one of the busiest places in Gilm, which was currently undergoing Expansion Construction.
Given that, there was no way they could easily expand or rebuild it.
Rei did entertain the notion of relocating to another large building, but with so many people already recognizing this place as Gilm's Guild, moving would undoubtedly cause chaos.
(When winter comes... no, relocating in winter would be tough to begin with.)
Deciding that, for now, he should focus on the Promotion Exam rather than relocation, he steeled himself and stepped behind the counter.
Several adventurers directed their gazes at Rei entering the restricted area, but since there was no particular hostility or malice behind them, Rei paid it no mind and headed toward the back.
...To be precise, the bigger reason was that he was afraid any careless movement might cause the stacked documents to collapse.
Even so, he somehow made his way through the mountainous piles of paperwork, reached the staircase leading to the Guild Master's Office, and began climbing.
Along the way, he heard what sounded like Kenny calling his name, followed by the sound of something collapsing — but Rei chose to pretend he hadn't noticed.
He was certain that if he glanced back into the counter area, he'd get dragged into trouble.
...Next, he heard what sounded like Lenora's angry shout as well, but he chose to ignore that too and arrived on the second floor.
"At least there aren't documents piled up this far."
For a moment, Rei wondered if the hallway outside this room might also be buried in mountains of documents.
But fortunately, the hallway was normal, with no such piles in sight.
Feeling relieved, Rei continued forward and eventually arrived in front of the Guild Master's Office.
"It's Rei. I was called in — is it alright to come in?"
When he knocked and asked, a voice from inside immediately told him to enter — and Rei opened the door.
"Phew."
There were several piles of documents in the Office as well, but fewer than Rei had expected.
He breathed out in relief.
Inside, Worker was reviewing some document and signing it.
After setting aside the document he'd been examining, Worker turned his gaze to Rei.
Perhaps because he served as Guild Master in Marina's stead, he showed none of the fatigue that weighed on the staff members on the first floor.
"So, I heard there was something to discuss about my Promotion Exam... has the date been set?"
"Strictly speaking, it's not so much decided as proposed."
"Proposed? Don't tell me — you're saying I can become A-Rank without an exam? That'd certainly save me some trouble."
Rei's tone was that of someone cracking a joke.
After all, he didn't seriously think he could become A-Rank without an exam, so that was only natural.
That kind of thing simply wouldn't happen — or so he thought, which was why he'd said it. And yet... for some reason, Worker showed no sign of refuting the joke and simply stared at him in silence. Rei felt a chill.
Surely not—
"Wait, is there actually talk of a promotion without an exam?"
"No, there isn't."
When Rei pressed the question, Worker denied the possibility outright.
Though his words had been denied, Rei felt more relieved than disappointed.
He hadn't believed for a moment that he could become an A-Rank adventurer without a Promotion Exam, no matter what.
In reality, considering the numerous feats worthy of being called great achievements that Rei had accomplished, it wouldn't have been strange for something like that to happen.
That said, most of those were things that couldn't be made public.
"So then, what is it? Something must have come up for you to call me here. And at such a busy time, no less."
Rei couldn't imagine being summoned during a period like this just for a brief chat.
In other words, something related to the Promotion Exam must have come up — that was why he'd been called. That much was certain.
Thinking that, Rei asked, and Worker nodded.
"Of course. There is no mistake that I called Rei here today regarding the Promotion Exam. ...However, before that, let me ask one thing. Do you know of the Forest of Magic?"
"The Forest of Magic...? Of course I know it."
There was no way he wouldn't.
It was the place where he had first awakened upon arriving in Elgin.
In a different sense from Gilm, it was like a second homeland to Rei.
That said, this was something only Rei and the small number of people who knew his circumstances would understand.
Without such knowledge, many would likely consider the Forest of Magic a place that should never be touched.
Gilm — the sole Frontier of the Kingdom of Mireana.
But even adventurers based in Gilm were forbidden from entering the Forest of Magic.
Even for adventurers working in the Frontier of Gilm, the Forest of Magic was not a place that could be so easily approached.
That said, in the early days when Gilm was established... and when the existence of the Forest of Magic first became known, many adventurers had set out for it and never returned.
A demonic realm where even among A-Rank adventurers, only a handful ever made it back.
(Come to think of it, it was precisely because it was such a place that Zephyle chose the Forest of Magic as the location for me to awaken. When I emerged, I did encounter some monsters, but they weren't all that powerful.)
Rei's physical abilities, Death Scythe... and the existence of Set had also played a significant role.
But there was no doubt that the monsters Rei encountered when emerging from the Forest of Magic possessed only the kind of strength that an A-Rank adventurer could defeat.
In that sense, Rei did know the Forest of Magic — but that knowledge was only surface-level at best.
At the very least, he hadn't encountered any overwhelmingly powerful beings.
Though it was only something Rei had heard as a rumor, it was said that dragons inhabited the depths of the Forest of Magic — and naturally, Rei had never encountered such creatures either. ...When it came to dragons, he was living with Ielo, the Child of the Black Dragon, though.
"Since you're in Gilm, of course you know about it. Then you also understand, naturally, that adventurers of Gilm are not permitted to enter the Forest of Magic without authorization, correct?"
At Worker's question, asked as if to confirm, Rei nodded honestly.
"I know that breaking that rule carries a severe punishment. ...And the fact that you're bringing this up now means — the Forest of Magic is involved in the Promotion Exam after all?"
"Yes. There's no point in being roundabout with Rei, so I'll be frank. Would you be willing to take your Promotion Exam in the Forest of Magic?"
The expression on Worker's face as he asked was not that of someone making a joke — he was asking in earnest, from the bottom of his heart.