"Right this way, please."
"Sorry about this."
Rei was led to the back of the tavern, one of Egg's team's bases.
They would have preferred not to bring Rei to this place, but the earlier commotion had drawn the attention of the entire tavern. They couldn't very well hold a conversation in that kind of atmosphere.
Rei himself wanted to avoid causing any more trouble for the other patrons, so he obediently headed to the back of the shop without protest.
To the clerks working there... to Egg's subordinates, this was a location of critical importance in defending Gilm, and there were numerous documents containing information that could not be shown to outsiders.
Even so, they let Rei through because they understood that he was acquainted with Egg and... that he represented a major Combat Power in defending the town of Gilm.
As far as Rei was concerned, he had already shared all the information he knew. With nothing further to offer, being brought here meant he had nothing new to give... but considering the current situation, he at least wanted to know how things turned out.
That said, Rei's guess was that the stall owner had sensed danger the moment he saw Rei and likely fled right then.
No matter how capable Egg's team was, given the sheer number of people currently flooding into Gilm, finding a single person among them was nearly impossible.
Well, if they truly set their minds to it, it could probably be done—but in that case, many of the various tasks being carried out simultaneously would grind to a halt.
For Egg, who was entrusted with Gilm's underworld... its intelligence operations, so to speak—juggling many tasks simultaneously was simply par for the course.
Not to mention, a massive number of personnel were currently converging on Gilm.
Amidst all that, they had to ferret out spies, and if an opponent proved dangerous, capture them... or in the worst case, kill and dispose of them. If the target wasn't that dangerous, or could be put to some use, it wouldn't be unusual to let them swim free under surveillance.
In that sense, ever since the Expansion Construction began, Egg's team had been spending busy days in a different way than the Guild or Lord Daskar.
"Rei, for now, eat this while you wait. You like this kind of food, right?"
"Huh..."
Whether it was made in this shop or bought from another, a plate of Yaki Udon was set before Rei.
Normally, Yaki Udon contained meat and vegetables, but the dish in front of Rei was made with fish fillets and vegetables.
And not dried or salted fish for preservation, but fish meat that had been stir-fried from fresh fillets.
Fish meat, unlike regular meat, was difficult to stir-fry. When stir-frying, if you handled the flesh too clumsily, it would fall apart. Preventing that required a considerable degree of skill.
(Fish... and not dried or salted, but fresh fillets. Unless they brought it from the sea by some means, it must have been caught in a river near Gilm. ...Fish, huh? It seems the fish caught in that lake can be eaten normally too, so eventually it might be sold as a regular food ingredient.)
Recalling the lake, Rei used a fork to bring the Yaki Udon to his mouth.
Then, Rei was startled just as much as—or perhaps more than—when he had seen the fish.
The Yaki Udon Rei had eaten up until now was mostly seasoned with a rich, heavy sauce. But this Yaki Udon, probably to bring out the flavor of the river fish, was seasoned with a light, refreshing sauce instead.
And perhaps because it used some kind of fruit, a faint acidity lingered in his mouth.
That acidity enhanced the mild taste of the river fish, pairing exceptionally well with the fragrantly grilled udon.
That said, the slight disappointment was that the dish had already begun to cool. After all, with cooking, eating it fresh off the heat was always best.
"This is... delicious. Which shop's Yaki Udon is this?"
"It's from a stall that's been the talk of the town lately. Though the stall sets up in a different location every day, so you can't always buy it even if you want to. Today, it was set up not too far from this tavern."
Intrigued by those words, Rei asked for details about the stall's location.
As they talked and Rei continued eating the Yaki Udon... the sound of someone running could be heard from beyond the door.
"No good! I went to the location Rei told us about, but that stall was already gone! I searched the surrounding area too, but there was no sign of anything like it, and no information either."
Saying so, a man entered the room.
Understanding that the person who had gone to the location he reported had returned, Rei savored the last bite of his Yaki Udon and nodded in agreement. Just as I thought.
The man Rei had seen was unquestionably first-class. What he was first-class at was hard to say precisely. However, that he was a dangerous individual could be guessed from his eyes alone.
"Damn it. That means we've got one more person to investigate. Circulate the information about this case to the other locations."
A man who had been thinking about something a short distance away gave those instructions to the one who had delivered the report. Even as he did so, he showed genuine distress.
To the man, the information Rei had brought was extremely helpful.
It was helpful, yes, but at the same time, the fact that it would make them even busier was an undeniable source of headache.
"Are you really that busy? Well, I figured you were, but you still look busier than I expected."
Rei asked the man.
As he had just said himself, he had expected Egg's team to be busy right now, but from the looks of things, they seemed even busier than Rei had anticipated.
For Rei, that was slightly unexpected.
"Yeah. Right now, various factions are sending people into Gilm. Amidst all that, we're moving around handling things. Since our numbers are limited, there's only so many people we can assign. ...Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm actually grateful you tipped us off about this."
To Egg's subordinates, they had been informed about a dangerous individual they hadn't had on their radar. As such, they were grateful to Rei for letting them know, and had no intention of harboring any dissatisfaction. Given that, there was no way they could voice any complaints to him.
"I'm glad to hear you say that. It helps me out too. ...So, I can leave that man's case to you, then?"
"Yeah, leave it to us. That's our job. You just enjoy the Festival to the fullest. ...Though, on the day itself, you probably won't have that kind of time."
The people here had likely been informed about what would happen at the Festival. With the Crystal Dragon's corpse going on public display, and people out there plotting to steal its materials, perhaps that was only natural.
"True. But once the busy part is over, I'll have some degree of freedom, so I'll enjoy the Festival then."
In response to Rei's hopeful prediction, most of the men in the room cast glances that said, If only it were that simple.
If he had simply become an A-Rank Adventurer, there were a fair number of those in Gilm, though their numbers were small. If that were all, there probably wouldn't be anything special directed at Rei.
But... in this case, Rei had slain an S-Rank Monster dragon, and a new species inhabiting the Forest of Magic at that.
Given that, there would be many who wanted to get to know Rei, now a Dragon Slayer, and it wouldn't be strange for others to try negotiating with him to let them have even a little of the Crystal Dragon's materials.
Because they could foresee that sight, the men thought that on the day of the Festival... no, for a while after, many people would likely come to see him.
Rei had no idea he was viewed that way and merely tilted his head.
"Anyway, if you're saying I can leave that man's case to you, I should get going soon. ...By the way, and I really mean just by the way, if I run into the man I found in town again, should I capture him?"
To Rei's question, the men wore troubled expressions.
Since Rei had judged the man dangerous, there was no doubt he was someone harboring some kind of scheme. However, suspicious as the man was, he hadn't actually done anything yet.
Given that kind of opponent, Rei capturing a suspicious person simply because he happened to encounter him would cause various problems.
Not to mention, Rei was a famous figure in Gilm.
If it were Egg's team, who handled intelligence, it wouldn't be unusual for them to pull strings from behind the scenes. As such, they couldn't simply nod at Rei's question.
"No, please don't. If you do something like that, it'll cause problems. If you spot him, just let us know, and we'll handle it."
"Got it. If I find him, I'll do that."
Saying so, Rei left the tavern... or more precisely, exited from the back of the tavern.
He didn't go out through the front of the shop because he figured that if he did, it would cause another scene like before. Wanting to avoid any unnecessary commotion, Rei slipped out the back.
Once outside, the surroundings looked the same as always.
"Phew. That took more time than I expected. ...Where should I go now?"
Given the current situation, Rei had nothing in particular he needed to do. Normally, he would have things to do, like heading to the Treant Forest, but with Set not here, he couldn't very well do that.
"Should I walk around and look at the food stalls? ...That might be a good idea."
He muttered to himself, and since he had nothing he needed to rush, he decided to browse the food stalls... and maybe a few other shops as well.
It had been several years since Rei started using Gilm as his base, but even so, he didn't know everything about the town. Given that it was beyond the scale of what one would normally call a town, that was only natural.
And that Gilm was now undergoing Expansion Construction to become even larger. So much so that even residents living in Gilm wouldn't find it strange if they got lost.
Walking through areas he rarely passed before, he came across a weapon shop.
It wasn't particularly bustling, nor was it short on customers—just one of the many weapon shops around.
What was unusual was the abundance of cheap weapons.
"These are pretty cheap. ...But the quality seems to match."
Indeed, the weapons sold in this shop were all quite inexpensive. Half the price of weapons sold on the main street... and some were even discounted by eighty percent.
Naturally, there was a reason weapons were this cheap...
"Can't be helped. These are weapons forged by Blacksmith apprentices, after all."
Whether she had heard Rei's words or not, a middle-aged woman spoke with a hint of displeasure from the other side of the counter. But then, she seemed to realize something, and her eyes went wide.
"Well, I'll be. Are you perhaps Rei?"
"That's right, but how did you know?"
Just as the Female Clerk was surprised, Rei was equally surprised.
He wasn't accompanied by Set, and he wasn't wearing his Dragon Robe hood down either. For someone to see him as he was now and recognize him as Rei meant they had either met somewhere before, or knew of Rei for some reason.
"Oh, I play with Set from time to time. I saw you then."
That was an explanation sufficient to convince Rei.
That said, those who played with Set were mostly children or young people. A middle-aged woman like the one talking to Rei... it wasn't that there were none, but the number was quite small.
Given that, it wouldn't have been strange for Rei to remember her as well, but unfortunately, he had no recollection of the woman.
Still, it wasn't as if Rei remembered everyone's face, so he figured it was that kind of thing and continued the conversation.
"So, what kind of shop is this weapon shop? You just said something about Blacksmith apprentices bringing in weapons."
"Exactly what it sounds like. Blacksmith apprentices sell the weapons they forge to turn them into cash. ...Of course, since their masters wouldn't permit it, they do it secretly for the most part. Apprentice-forged weapons are discarded anyway unless they're good enough for actual use, so they're better off turning them into money here."
"...Do those kinds of weapons actually sell? Well, I guess they must sell if you've set up a shop like this."
"Full-fledged Adventurers buying them is rare, sure. But they sell to people who just want something for show, or who just need a weapon for the time being, that sort of crowd."
At the Clerk's words, thinking I see, Rei decided he might as well and purchased about a dozen cheap spears, lining them up from cheapest first.