On the day of the festival, Rei woke a little early. After a mock battle with Vihera, he finished his meal, got ready, and headed for the Lord's Manor.
He walked through town with Set at his side. Despite the early hour, far more people than usual were already hard at work on various preparations.
"Grrr."
Taking in the sight, Set tilted his head in puzzlement as he trotted beside Rei.
It was just shy of six in the morning. Summer had already bathed the streets in light, but had it been winter, the sky would still be dark at this hour. With so many people outside and working at such a time, it was only natural for Set to be confused.
Rei stroked Set's back as he spoke.
"It's because today's a festival. The ones bustling around right now are the people running food stalls or putting on some kind of attraction. They're not here to enjoy the festival—they're here to entertain the people who are."
"Grr? Grrr, grrrr?"
Set rumbled a question: It's a festival, but instead of enjoying it themselves, they're on the entertaining side?
Rei smiled at Set's reaction and kept explaining.
"At festivals, not everyone just wants to have fun. Some people genuinely enjoy entertaining others—making people happy is what they look forward to."
That was what Rei said, but in truth, plenty of people had other reasons for taking on the entertainer's role. A festival lifted everyone's spirits and loosened their purse strings. Yakisoba that was mostly cabbage with a tiny sliver of meat, takoyaki where some pieces had no octopus at all—dishes like those sold for higher prices than usual, and people still bought them, swept up in the festive atmosphere.
That was exactly why a festival was prime earning season for anyone who made their living from stall profits. Or for those who, for whatever reason, had surplus inventory to sell off at a premium—to people like that, a festival was an incredibly welcome event.
Even so, Rei decided it would be better not to explain all of that to Set, and kept walking.
As they went, the people setting up stalls, arranging goods on outdoor displays, or preparing street performances noticed Rei and Set, and each called out words of gratitude. They knew what this festival was being held for, and that was exactly why they acted as they did.
Rei returned brief acknowledgments and continued toward the Lord's Manor with Set until—
"Hey, Rei! Been waiting for you. Lord Daskar's expecting you—go on inside."
One of the gatekeepers called out the moment he spotted Rei. He had clearly been told to wave Rei through the second he arrived.
"Set, I'm heading in then. Wait here for a bit like usual, okay?"
"Grr!"
Set purred happily at Rei's words. For Set, waiting at the Lord's Manor meant waiting in the courtyard. And waiting in the courtyard meant receiving all sorts of dishes from the cooks. Rei couldn't help but envy the setup.
That said, he couldn't very well tag along to the courtyard himself. The reason he had come to the Lord's Manor today concerned his role in the festival—specifically, celebrating his passing of the Promotion Exam and showing off the Crystal Dragon's materials so that no one could voice a single complaint.
Two nights and three days in the Forest of Magic, during which he had to defeat at least two A-Rank Monsters—an exam that, by any normal standard, would be considered extremely difficult. But it had been arranged this way because Rei simply didn't have the time to sit through the standard A-Rank promotion exam at his leisure.
Since it wasn't the standard exam, there were many who felt that even though it was a rigorous test, it might still have been too lenient. That was exactly why defeating an S-Rank Monster—one that wasn't even an opponent he was supposed to face, and a new Dragon species at that—served as powerful evidence that Rei possessed the strength befitting an A-Rank Adventurer.
For that reason, the public display of the Crystal Dragon's corpse was absolutely essential for Rei.
...Though the fact that displaying it would also attract all sorts of trouble from people seeking its materials made the whole thing a double-edged sword.
(All things considered, there's quite a lot of hassle involved. ...Come to think of it, he mentioned arranging personnel to handle negotiations with nobles. I wonder how that's going.)
A maid guided Rei through the Lord's Manor while these thoughts turned over in his head. He had heard that someone would be assigned to handle negotiations with nobles, but he had yet to actually meet this person. Perhaps the topic would come up during this visit, he mused—and before long, he arrived at Daskar's office.
"Lord Daskar, I have brought Lord Rei."
The maid announced him with a knock, and a voice from inside immediately called for them to enter. Rei pushed through the ornate door he had long since grown accustomed to seeing, and stepped into the office.
Despite the early hour, Daskar was already at his desk, reviewing documents and working through his duties. Rei found that level of dedication admirable, but at the same time, it stirred a faint exasperation—the kind that made him think Daskar really didn't need to be this consumed by work.
Perhaps noticing Rei's gaze, Daskar looked up from his papers and spoke.
"There's a lot of work due to today's festival. I wanted to process as many documents as I could ahead of time. Normally, I'd still be taking it easy at this hour."
"Well, if that's the case, then fine. You're an important figure here in Gilm, Lord Daskar. Please make sure you don't overwork yourself and ruin your health."
"I drink potions to maintain my condition. Don't worry about me."
Potions of that sort were cheap if you bought cheap ones, but naturally the effects were low. The kind Daskar used would surely deliver high efficacy—but at an equally high price. Still, considering the wealth that flowed into Gilm, the sole frontier city of the Kingdom of Mireana, spending that kind of money was no issue at all.
Furthermore, if he had been using such potions for personal indulgence, it might have been questionable. But in Daskar's case, he drank them because they were necessary for him to do his work. In that sense, calling it an official expense was no exaggeration.
"I see. Then I'm relieved. ...Though ideally, the best thing would be to properly rest your body rather than relying on potions."
"Indeed. If the workload decreased a bit, I could do just that. ...But enough about that. Regarding today's festival—initially, there was a suggestion to prepare an appropriate outfit for you here..."
"No, if possible, I'd like to go as I am."
"I figured. The festival planning committee said the same thing—Rei is an adventurer, and this festival celebrates a promotion exam... officially it's something different, but that's what it amounts to. Given that, they decided Rei shouldn't dress up in anything special and should just wear his usual attire."
"That helps me out."
Rei voiced his thanks, though the Dragon Robe he currently wore was an item whose value would be nearly impossible to set a price for. Thanks to its concealment effect, no one short of a Magic Item appraiser would ever discern its true worth.
"Hmm, it seems attire won't be an issue. ...Next, the arrangements. After this, I need you to go to the Guild. A stage has been set up in front of the building for displaying the Crystal Dragon's corpse—I need you to go confirm it. I doubt there are any problems, but I want you to check it thoroughly so nothing goes wrong when the moment comes."
For Daskar, the public unveiling of the Crystal Dragon's corpse was the centerpiece of the entire festival. Failure was simply not an option. That was why he needed Rei to confirm everything in person.
"Understood. But if it's being displayed in front of the Guild, I can't exactly haul the corpse out for a test run. If I did, there's no doubt the people gathered around the building would see it."
There was also the option of surrounding the stage with cloth to block the view before testing, but fabric large enough to cover a stage built to hold the Crystal Dragon would require a considerable amount. Whether they would prepare that much cloth, or simply have Rei confirm things would fit based on his memory of the corpse's size—that decision Rei had no choice but to leave to Daskar.
"Don't worry. I've arranged for an Earth Magic user who can shield the area from view. Bringing the corpse out won't be a problem at all."
Rei nodded, convinced. To hide a stage from prying eyes, there were plenty of methods beyond draping it in cloth. Using earth magic to raise a wall and block the view was probably the most straightforward approach.
...Of course, it wouldn't be impossible for someone out there to have some means of seeing through an Earth Wall to the other side. But if one worried about such possibilities, they would become paralyzed, unable to take action on anything. At this point, Rei figured it was better to simply trust the Earth Magic user Daskar had arranged than to waste energy on futile worries.
"Understood. I'll leave that part entirely to you, Lord Daskar. So after I go to the Guild and check the stage... what do I do next? Should I just wait at the Guild?"
"No, come back here once. When the festival begins, we'll send you to the Guild from here."
"...In a big way, I take it?"
At Rei's words, Daskar nodded.
For Daskar, this was the perfect opportunity to publicly signal that Rei was his trusted aide. It wasn't actually true in any formal sense, but simply having others believe it would produce a real enough effect. That was why using the lord's private carriage to transport Rei to the Guild would be so effective.
Rei understood exactly what Daskar was thinking, but he had no intention of refusing. Daskar had supported him considerably over the years, and Rei's close relationship with Marina was also a factor. Above all, Daskar was a Noble who didn't throw his weight around needlessly or issue orders from on high—and Rei genuinely held goodwill toward him.
For that reason, if Daskar wanted to make use of him, Rei was perfectly fine with it. If Daskar ever found himself in conflict with other nobles, Rei would side with him without hesitation. In that sense, the idea that Rei was Daskar's trusted aide wasn't wrong at all.
"Understood. Then I'll head to the Guild and show my face. I won't know exactly how things look over there unless I go see for myself."
Daskar had—or more accurately, Daskar's subordinates and the Guild had—planned and prepared everything. Rei didn't think there were any problems with the stage for the Crystal Dragon's corpse. He didn't think so, but there was still a real possibility something had been overlooked.
That was why Rei, following Daskar's instructions, set out for the Guild.
"I'll be attending the Crystal Dragon's debut as well, so keep that in mind."
"Uh... are you serious?"
"Is something wrong? It's the most exciting part of the entire festival. It wouldn't be strange for the lord to attend."
Ah, no use.
Hearing Daskar's words, Rei made that judgment instantly. Judging by his demeanor, no matter what Rei said, Daskar had no intention of changing his mind.
(Wait—could the real reason he was doing paperwork this early actually be because of that?)
Belatedly grasping the true reason—not the surface excuse—why Daskar was working at such an early hour, Rei's face settled into an expression of weary resignation.
That said, given that Daskar spent every day buried in work, Rei could understand wanting a change of pace. Previously, when the lake had teleported near the Treant Forest, Daskar had come to see it—but even then, he had been working inside the carriage, so it hadn't been a proper break.
At the lake itself, though, he had certainly seemed to enjoy it.
Recalling the lake brought the Scholar named Soltey to mind. Rei mentioned him to Daskar as a precaution. Daskar's stern face twisted ever so slightly, but he assured Rei there was no problem.