The day after everyone had steak together, Rei planned to visit Daskar after finishing breakfast—but before he could, a carriage pulled up at Marina's house.
The coachman explained that Daskar had sent him to bring Rei along. With that settled, Rei boarded the carriage.
He hesitated over what to do about Set, but Set insisted on staying behind to play with Ielo. In the end, Rei headed to the lord's manor alone.
Normally, Set would jump at the chance to come along—visiting the lord's manor meant getting food from the cook. But playing with Ielo must have been that much more appealing to him.
It was also possible that Set simply hadn't had much of a chance to play with Ielo lately.
At any rate, Rei arrived and was shown into Daskar's office in the lord's manor, same as always.
Ordinarily, someone like Daskar—the lord of Gilm—wasn't so easily accessible.
But Rei could meet him without a prior appointment, as a general rule.
If Rei happened to show up while Daskar was meeting with someone else, that would be a different story.
In that sense, it was a testament to how much Daskar trusted and relied on him.
"You're here. Have a seat."
Rei entered the office to find that despite the early hour—past eight, but still morning—Daskar was already doing paperwork.
He had already been swamped with paperwork when the festival got thrust into his schedule.
It was only natural that the workload would grow accordingly.
Rei couldn't help but think Daskar was overdoing it, but he knew the festival wasn't solely for Rei's benefit, so he couldn't very well tell him to stop.
Following Daskar's suggestion, Rei took his usual seat on the sofa. Daskar signed the document he'd been reading, then came over to stand before him.
"Now then. I'd like to discuss a number of things under normal circumstances, but we don't have that luxury. Today is especially busy. So I'll get straight to the point. The festival—it's been set for the day after tomorrow. Bear that in mind, Rei."
"The day after tomorrow?"
"Mm. I did say it would be soon, didn't I? There's the announcement of your promotion exam results as well. Given that, I wanted it as early as possible. Honestly, I would have liked it today, but that was simply impossible."
"...Figured as much."
Rei understood the importance of the preparations.
If anything, holding a festival on such short notice the day after tomorrow was already remarkably fast.
"Right. Though as I've said before, this won't be the kind of festival we put on a grand scale for. I intend it to be something everyone can enjoy casually. ...But while everyone else can relax and have fun, the same won't apply to you, Rei."
"I know."
The festival the day after tomorrow was, whatever its nominal purpose, really about publicly announcing Rei's promotion exam results and displaying the Crystal Dragon's corpse that he'd slain in the Forest of Magic.
Given that, Rei couldn't simply enjoy the festival the way others would.
Even if he could enjoy it, it would only be briefly.
He found that unfortunate, but under the circumstances, he couldn't exactly say so out loud.
"So, what do I need to do? If we're putting the Crystal Dragon's corpse on public display, I'm sure there'll be people who get ideas."
Common sense said that stealing materials from the Crystal Dragon was impossible.
But the corpse was attractive enough to blow common sense right out of the water.
Even setting aside the corpse itself, a single part—a single scale, a scrap of flesh, even a strand of body hair—held immense value.
And with so many people certain to gather to see the Crystal Dragon, security could never be guaranteed to be airtight.
It was also possible that someone, unable to refuse a noble's order, might act out of sheer desperation.
That was how magnetic the Crystal Dragon's corpse was.
"I've already submitted a guard request to the Guild. I'll also deploy knights from our side. ...Even so, the fact that I can't guarantee complete safety is just the reality of Gilm."
"True enough."
Rei nodded with heartfelt understanding.
Times like this, having a large population of skilled adventurers was a double-edged sword.
"Should we ask Marina for help? Her Spirit Magic seems like it would be useful in a lot of ways."
"Ugh... Marina, huh..."
Daskar's expression turned pained at Rei's suggestion.
Since Marina knew about his dark history, he probably figured asking her for a favor would only get him teased again.
But after lengthy deliberation, Daskar finally gave a reluctant nod.
He decided that if it meant gaining access to Marina's Spirit Magic despite his dark history, he could swallow his pride.
"Understood. I'll contact Marina from this end later."
"I don't have any particular errands besides going to the Guild and Laurie Dissection Shop, so should I stop by the clinic where Marina is and fill her in on the situation?"
"Please. Wait a moment—I'll write a letter for you to take to her."
Daskar returned to his desk.
Rei watched him go, then sampled the tea a maid had brought in during their conversation.
They'd been talking long enough that it had cooled somewhat, but the brewer's skill still showed through.
Still good enough that he could appreciate it.
A few minutes later, Daskar finished the letter with practiced speed and brought it over.
"Please take this."
"Got it. What should I do the day after tomorrow? Should I come to the lord's manor, or head to the Guild?"
"Come to the lord's manor. The Crystal Dragon's corpse will be displayed at the Guild, but putting it out too early in the day could invite exactly the kind of trouble you mentioned earlier."
Even with Marina guarding the corpse using Spirit Magic, Guild-hired adventurers, and Daskar's knights and soldiers serving as guards, the simple fact remained: without the Crystal Dragon's corpse—the thing drawing all the attention—there would be no incident.
Given that, the safest approach was to keep the corpse stored inside Rei's Misty Ring until it was time for the public display.
"If you'd like, I could send someone to pick you up at Marina's house, like today. What do you think?"
"No need. If it's a festival, Set will want to come along too, so I'll pass on the ride."
With that settled, Rei stored the letter in his Misty Ring and left Daskar's office.
"Whoa..."
Stepping out of the lord's manor and arriving at the clinic, Rei let out the exclamation upon seeing that despite it still being morning, a considerable number of injured people were already inside.
For a moment he wondered if some major accident had occurred, but looking at the patients, the majority had bruise wounds from being punched.
In other words, these weren't accident injuries—they were the result of fights, or brawls.
(They mentioned that a lot of people have been getting quick-tempered over the festival, but I guess it was true. The summer heat might be playing a part too.)
When summer arrived, the heat made more people irritable, which led to more brawls.
Or so Rei thought—though it was still mid-morning and the sunlight wasn't all that intense yet.
Even so, the temperature was certainly high enough.
"Rei? What brings you here?"
At the voice, Rei turned his gaze toward it.
Marina stood there, clad in a party dress as always—hardly fitting attire for a clinic.
And yet, when a woman like Marina, whom one could rightly call a peerless beauty, wore it, even a clinic didn't feel out of place.
No, to be precise, there was a sense of incongruity—but the more accurate way to put it was that it stopped bothering you entirely.
Many of the people in the clinic were indeed captivated by Marina's appearance, but Rei paid no mind to his surroundings and spoke up.
"Marina, just the person I wanted to see. Got a moment? ...Though looking at this situation, I imagine you're busy."
"Oh, not really. Most of the people here are injured, but the majority are minor wounds. I don't think there's anything in particular I need to do."
From her tone, it was clear Marina wasn't any happier about the current state of the clinic.
...Naturally. This clinic was originally established to treat people injured during the expansion construction.
And yet, whether from festival excitement or heat-driven irritability, here were all these people causing brawls and showing up at the clinic.
For those who were genuinely trying to receive treatment, wanting to say "give me a break" was perfectly understandable.
"Then can I borrow you for a bit? I've got some business with you, Marina."
"I don't mind. Given the situation, that's probably for the best."
Most of the people here had come in because of brawls, but among them were some who planned to invite Marina to the upcoming festival.
The majority, however, knew that Marina was the Former Guild Master and was currently Rei's companion—or more precisely, understood her as Rei's woman. So those entertaining ideas of inviting her were people unaware of the circumstances—recent arrivals to Gilm.
Still, even they couldn't recklessly call out to Marina, held back by her beauty and the intense feminine allure she radiated.
Many of those who had been planning to invite Marina directed gazes of reverence at Rei, who conversed with her so casually.
Stepping out of the clinic and moving around to the shadow of the building, Rei handed Marina the letter.
"What's this? ...A letter from Daskar."
She recognized it from the wax seal, but couldn't help wondering why he'd sent a letter instead of simply telling her.
Still, having been handed it, she couldn't very well not read it.
The contents were short—just the matter at hand, nothing more.
A brief message she could read in about thirty seconds.
"Really, if Daskar is a noble, he should write like one."
"Wouldn't that just make it needlessly long?"
Letters written by nobles came with lengthy preambles, including elaborate greetings, requiring considerable length before getting to the point.
In that sense, this letter probably demonstrated Daskar's straightforwardness.
"A guard detail, huh. Getting to see the Crystal Dragon Rei defeated up close is significant for me too. ...It's a shame I won't be able to enjoy the festival, though."
She said that, thought for a moment, and then nodded.
"Understood. If the Crystal Dragon that Rei went to the trouble of defeating ended up having its materials stolen by some stranger, that would be a waste. In that sense, if it's better for me to stand guard to prevent that, then allow me to do so. ...I would like a little something in return, though, if you don't mind?"
"Even if you say you want something in return... What is it you want?"
"Oh, you're going to make a woman say it? It might be impossible during the festival, but you'll have some free time once it's over, won't you? In that case, take me somewhere then. ...Deal?"
That was, in essence, an invitation for a date.
Rei understood at least that much—but that didn't help him figure out where to go.
If this were Japan, he felt like they could just go to a movie theater or somewhere along those lines.
(The lake, maybe? ...No, that won't work.)
When the lake came to mind, the first one he thought of was the one that had been teleported next to the Treant Forest.
But the Lizardmen lived by that lake, and a fair number of adventurers were stationed there as guards in case anything happened.
On top of that, the slime was surely still burning from Rei's magic.
Such a place was hardly conceivable as a date location.
(Then again, at night, the sight of the burning slime might actually be somewhat fantastical, come to think of it.)
He didn't entirely dismiss the thought, but Rei quickly rejected the idea.
"Understood. We can discuss where to go later, but a date works for me too."
"Oh, really? Then I suppose I'll just have to do my best guarding the Crystal Dragon's corpse."
At Rei's words, Marina told him so with a beaming smile.
From Marina's perspective, she'd issued the invitation thinking a date would be a lucky bonus at best—Rei accepting so readily was unexpected.
Of course, from Rei's perspective, if this had been an invitation from someone he disliked, that would have been one thing. But this was Marina—someone he held affection for.
There was no way he would turn her down.