"Whoa..."
What escaped Yigal's mouth was a sound of sheer surprise.
Given his timid personality, even at the sight of the Crystal Dragon's corpse appearing before him, Yigal didn't let out a full-blown scream.
This was likely because he had been told beforehand that the corpse would be brought out.
Of course, even so, it wouldn't have been strange for someone who knew nothing about it to scream.
(Come to think of it, Yigal may look timid on the outside, and his personality certainly seems to match, but at his core, he might actually be quite steady. ...Lord Daskar chose him as someone he could trust, so it's only natural when you think about it.)
This Festival had been put together on short notice, but Daskar was pouring a great deal of effort into it.
Naturally. He could publicly announce that he had taken Rei as his Trusted Aide, and simultaneously, he could display the corpse of the Crystal Dragon—a new species of S-Rank Monster Dragon from the Forest of Magic—that Rei had slain.
Entrusting the preparatory work for something so significant meant he would naturally dispatch someone reliable.
If that was the case, then there was no doubt that Yigal was an important asset to Daskar.
"Now then, first things first... how should we display this Crystal Dragon's corpse? Yigal, what do you think would be the best way to show it?"
"Eh? You're asking me!?"
He clearly hadn't expected to be asked such a thing.
Yigal stared at Rei with an expression of surprise.
"Well, obviously. The only ones here right now are you and me. That being the case, the one whose opinion I should be asking is you. ...I should have arranged for someone who specializes in this sort of thing. Though I'm not sure who to bring in for a situation like this."
He didn't know exactly what kind of people did this sort of work, but between just Rei and Yigal, there was the question of how to arrange the display so it looked presentable—striking, but not so overwhelming that it lost its impact.
They could leave those finer details to specialized professionals when the Crystal Dragon was officially unveiled. For now, Rei confirmed that the Crystal Dragon's corpse fit on the stage with plenty of room to spare, and nodded.
"For the time being, there's quite a bit of room on the stage even with the Crystal Dragon's corpse. The rest can be left to the experts... I think. What do you say?"
"Eh? Ah, yes. I think that works fine."
Rei couldn't help but feel that a man in his twenties using "boku" as his first-person pronoun was a bit much, but strangely enough, when a timid-looking man like Yigal said it, the word seemed to suit him.
Then again, perhaps only Rei felt that way.
"Understood. Then this size for the stage will do."
With that, Rei touched the Crystal Dragon's corpse and stored it in his Misty Ring.
Yigal was startled to see the massive body that had been right before his eyes vanish in an instant.
However, as one of Daskar's subordinates, he naturally knew that Rei possessed an Item Box. So while he was surprised, it wasn't anything extraordinary.
At the very least, the surprise was far smaller compared to when he had first laid eyes on the Crystal Dragon's corpse.
"Then, about the earth wall... no, if we dispel the earth wall under these circumstances, we'll stand out."
It went without saying that the stage in front of the Guild had suddenly been enclosed by an earth wall.
To passersby, it was only natural to wonder what on earth it was.
Fortunately, no one was trying to tear down the earth wall or anything of the sort just yet.
Since it was in front of the Guild, they probably assumed it was related to the Guild's Festival attraction.
Or, if it was someone who already knew about the public display of the Crystal Dragon's corpse, they might have figured that preparations were currently underway.
At any rate, if the earth wall were dispelled and disappeared in that situation, and Rei and Yigal were standing on the stage, they would naturally draw attention.
In a few hours, the public unveiling of the Crystal Dragon's corpse and Rei's promotion to A-Rank Adventurer would draw far more attention anyway, so honestly, the thought that standing out a little here wouldn't matter did cross his mind.
Even so, he decided it was better not to draw attention just yet. Rather than dispelling the side facing the passage, Rei had Yigal dispel only the earth wall on the Guild-facing side, and they slipped into the Guild unnoticed by the people around them.
"Rei-san, may I dispel it now?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
At Rei's words, Yigal pressed his staff to the ground and chanted a short spell... and the earth wall covering the stage sank back into the ground as though being absorbed.
(Seeing something like this, it wouldn't be strange for Yigal to assume I'm an Earth Magic user.)
Rei's Skill—strictly speaking, Death Scythe's Skill—Terrain Manipulation, produced effects similar to the Earth Magic Yigal had just used.
That said, Terrain Manipulation could raise or lower the ground by about five meters within a one-kilometer radius, but it couldn't do something like raising an earth wall to a height of nearly ten meters the way Yigal had.
However, that didn't mean Death Scythe's Skill was inferior.
Terrain Manipulation was still only at Level 5, with room to grow.
Also, while magic would presumably consume a considerable amount of mana, a Skill consumed surprisingly little.
Then again, even if it did use a large amount of mana, Rei possessed an enormous reservoir to begin with, so he didn't need to worry about that sort of thing.
Beast Magic aside, the fact that Rei possessed enormous mana was fairly well known.
After all, until he obtained the Ring of the New Moon to conceal his mana, he had been unable to hide it at all.
Those who possessed the ability to sense mana through some means or another were quite rare, but not nonexistent.
Gilm had a fair number of people with such abilities, and through them, the sheer magnitude of Rei's mana had gradually become known.
"Thanks. I imagine you'll have more work when the real thing starts, but I'm counting on you."
"Yes, Lord Daskar told me to, so I'll make sure to do my job properly."
With that, Rei took his leave from the Guild.
He made that decision figuring that stepping inside would likely stir up all sorts of commotion again.
Besides, the desire to enjoy the Festival, even if only a little, was strong.
"Gurururu."
Seeing Rei approach, Seto purred happily.
It was probably because an earth wall had suddenly appeared a short distance away and then vanished.
Perhaps because many people had been distracted by that, there were unusually few people around Seto—only a handful.
...No, rather, given that something like that had just happened, perhaps the more surprising thing was that several people had remained by Seto's side despite it all.
"Ah..."
Even so, a woman who had been doting on Seto let out a disappointed murmur.
Still, perhaps deciding she couldn't interrupt Seto's business, she quietly stepped away from him.
Feeling a twinge of guilt, Rei called out a light apology to her, then headed toward the Lord's Manor with Seto.
The Festival was already in full swing, and far more people than usual filled the streets.
Even those who would normally be working on the Expansion Construction were out in town today to enjoy the Festival, so the crowds were only to be expected.
"Seto, what do you think? Want to stop by a stall somewhere?"
"Gururu..."
At Rei's words, Seto seemed to hesitate.
It wasn't that he had no interest in the stalls, but with this many people around, if Seto—whose body length exceeded three meters—lined up at a stall, he would undoubtedly be in the way.
Of course, among Gilm's residents, few would mind such a thing.
However, right now, a great number of people had gathered in Gilm seeking work on the Expansion Construction.
Naturally, many of them were seeing Seto for the first time.
If such people suddenly caught sight of Seto, there was no telling how they might react.
From Seto's perspective, he was likely taking that into consideration.
Rei stroked and comforted Seto as they made their way to the Lord's Manor.
(We're drawing quite a lot of stares. Well, considering today's Festival, I suppose that's to be expected.)
Rei and Seto walking through town naturally attracted the attention of many onlookers.
Given the reason this Festival was being held, it was hardly strange that so many people were watching them.
The fact that no one actually called out to Rei was likely because most of them were engaged in a sort of mutual standoff, each holding the others in check.
And so, in the end, Rei arrived at the Lord's Manor without being approached by anyone.
Naturally, the Village Gatekeeper at the Lord's Manor had been informed that Rei and Seto would be returning, so they were let in without being made to wait.
That said, rather than being shown to the Office as usual, they were guided to a guest room instead.
If there had been an issue with the stage, Rei would have needed to go to the Office and discuss it with Daskar. But since there were no problems on that front, it was likely out of consideration—not wanting to interrupt Daskar's paperwork.
After all, Daskar was attending the Festival today.
There was no question that he needed to finish as much paperwork as possible before then.
"Still... I'm bored."
Rei had been shown to the guest room, but he was the only one inside. No one else was around.
Naturally. The people working at the Lord's Manor were busy every day.
Cleaning, guiding guests, and various other duties besides—if it were break time, that would be one thing, but in the middle of work, they had no time to entertain Rei.
Sure, if he asked someone to keep him company, they would probably oblige... but even Rei wanted to avoid interfering with their work.
He was just considering reading a Monster Encyclopedia to pass the time when the door was suddenly knocked.
Who could it be? he wondered for a moment. But figuring it was probably a Maid or Butler bringing tea or a light snack, Rei called out and told them to come in...
"My, you certainly look like you have time on your hands."
The one who entered the room and said that was a Dark Elf woman wearing a flashy party dress.
"Marina? What are you doing here? Wait, is it alright for you to be away from the clinic?"
"There's no Expansion Construction today, so there's no problem at all."
"No, I feel like precisely because it's the Festival, the clinic would be even busier."
When it came to a Festival, naturally, there were plenty of people whose excitement ran high.
Or people who drank more alcohol than usual and got drunk.
Those kinds of people naturally had their inhibitions lowered, making them far more likely to start fights.
Many of them were originally brawny workers who had come seeking jobs on the Expansion Construction, or adventurers who had arrived in Gilm as caravan escorts—rough crowds to begin with.
With that kind of commotion going on, Rei had figured the clinic would be swamped... but Marina shot him a look of exasperation.
"If they were injured during Expansion Construction work, that would be one thing. But why should I have to treat people who got into fights because they got drunk on the Festival atmosphere?"
"...Well, that's..."
Now that Marina put it that way, Rei couldn't argue.
As she said, if it were a work-related injury, Marina would use her Spirit Magic to treat it without hesitation.
But if someone came in asking for treatment because they got into a fight after getting worked up or drunk at the Festival... well, if the injury were life-threatening, she might treat it. But for something like a fracture, it was hard not to consider it their own fault.
"See? Then there's no problem with me being here."
"I suppose. ...Wait, that's a completely different matter."
If this were some eatery in town, Rei would have accepted Marina's explanation without complaint.
But this was the Lord's Manor.
For Marina to show up in a place like this... considering her relationship with Daskar, it might not be all that unusual, but it was still natural to have questions.
"Is that so? Well, I did have a little business with Daskar too."
"Don't tease him too much."
To Daskar, Marina was someone who knew his past—what could only be called his dark history.
Because of that, she frequently teased him.
Knowing that, Rei had said as much... but Marina put on an expression of offense.
"I didn't come here with that intention at all. If I say I have business, does that mean I'm teasing Daskar?"
"Are you saying you're not?"
To Rei's words, Marina offered a meaningful smile.