"Good work."
The moment Rei stepped into the office on the Guild's second floor, Marina looked up from the sofa with a smile, teacup in hand.
Worker and Daskar followed suit, each offering their own greeting.
Rei's expression carried a hint of displeasure, but he understood it had been necessary. He kept his complaints to himself.
If he had simply walked past without a word, there was no telling what the Guild staff would have thought.
Ordinarily, they wouldn't have let their frustration show so openly. But after being buried under paperwork day and night—and with the festival arriving on top of it all—it wouldn't have been strange for their excitement to boil over in odd ways.
Under those circumstances, it was hardly surprising that they'd act out of character.
In fact, while Kenny's enthusiasm was expected, seeing Lenora press Rei that aggressively was exceedingly rare. She normally played the role of Kenny's restraint—yet this time she had charged right at him alongside her. That alone spoke to just how shocking the Crystal Dragon's corpse had been.
"Setting aside what happened on the first floor... you must be tired, Rei. Get some rest."
At Daskar's prompting, Rei finally let himself relax.
In truth, he wasn't particularly exhausted, but standing before that many people had been its own kind of burden. He'd appeared before large crowds before—or rather, he had—but in those cases, the spotlight had usually been on someone else.
After about ten minutes of small talk, Daskar apparently judged that Rei had rested enough. He cleared his throat softly and turned to face him.
"Rei, as of today, you're an A-Rank Adventurer. Just like you said in your speech, I'm glad that someone who truly cares about Gilm has reached A-Rank. But as I told you before, this is a special case. Do you recall the condition about arranging someone to handle negotiations between you and the nobles?"
Rei considered Daskar's words for a moment, then nodded.
Now that he mentioned it, that had come up. Rei glanced toward Marina.
The only people in this office were Rei, Marina, Daskar, and Worker. Worker was the Guild Master, and Daskar was the lord of the city. Neither of them could possibly serve as Rei's negotiator.
That left only Marina.
And Rei knew full well that he was hardly cut out for the role himself. That was precisely why Daskar and Worker had arranged for a negotiator as a special exception in the first place.
Catching Rei's gaze, Marina flashed a radiant smile.
"I'm your negotiator. Marina. Pleased to work with you."
The introduction was almost comically theatrical. After all, Rei and Marina were already living together—there was no need for a self-introduction at all.
Though, looking at it objectively, Rei had been the one to crash at Marina's house. Depending on how one framed it, he could easily come across as a freeloader.
"Since when?"
"Let's see... quite a while ago, actually. Think about it—being your negotiator means acting alongside you wherever you go. That means the negotiator ends up joining the party. Or at the very least, traveling with you constantly."
Rei had no choice but to concede the point.
He hadn't given it any thought before, but Marina was right. A negotiator would naturally be at Rei's side at all times. And no ordinary person could keep up with that.
Partly due to his personality, and as if fate itself had decreed it, Rei attracted trouble wherever he went—though he also stuck his own neck into it often enough.
Given the kind of life Rei led, even someone confident in their negotiating skills would be nothing but dead weight if they couldn't survive a fight.
Daskar and Worker understood that perfectly well, which was surely why they had chosen Marina.
Beyond that, Marina was the Former Guild Master—and having served in Gilm, the sole frontier of the Kingdom of Mireana, she was a recognizable figure in her own right.
On the combat front, she was a former adventurer—or rather, she had returned to active duty, so she was a fully active adventurer with nothing to worry about.
Rei knew exactly how capable Marina was, better than anyone possibly could.
The only concern is...
His gaze drifted to Marina's striking face as she sipped her tea.
"Peerless" was the only word that did her beauty justice. In her party dress, her brown skin and generous, feminine curves were fully on display. Above all, she radiated an almost overwhelming feminine allure.
For a noble—especially one too foolish to gauge another's strength—it wouldn't be unthinkable to want Marina as a wife, a concubine... or, in the worst case, even a slave.
If Marina became his negotiator, that sort of trouble was all but guaranteed.
No matter how famous she was, plenty of nobles lacked the sense to recognize what they were dealing with. To men like that, Marina's beauty and the raw desire she inspired would be reason enough to try their luck.
That was why Rei couldn't shake the feeling that letting Marina handle negotiations might actually create more problems than doing it himself.
"It'll be fine."
Reading Rei's expression, Marina seemed to understand exactly what was eating at him. Her tone was reassuring.
"Daskar and Worker already told me—if push comes to shove, I'm free to defend myself."
"That's a relief to hear, but can you actually negotiate under those conditions?"
"That depends on my skills... Unless you don't trust me?"
Put like that, Rei couldn't possibly say no. He partied with her. He knew better than anyone just how capable she was.
And in truth, with Spirit Magic at her command, she could handle anyone who tried to strong-arm her. He understood that perfectly well.
He understood it—but that didn't mean he'd be comfortable with it.
Even so, he couldn't tell Marina to step down. Not now. He knew with absolute certainty that she would never agree to it, no matter what he said.
More importantly, Rei's promotion to A-Rank had been approved on the premise that a negotiator would be in place. If he pulled Marina from the role, he'd have to find a replacement—and failing that, his promotion could be revoked entirely.
They had just announced it to the entire city. If it were rescinded after all that, it wouldn't just embarrass Daskar—it would drag Worker and everyone else who had bent the rules to make this happen through the mud.
Rei couldn't imagine Marina ever accepting that outcome.
So in the end... all I can do is leave the negotiations to her. Beyond that, I should avoid taking requests from nobles as much as possible—or at least vet them thoroughly beforehand to make sure they're safe to deal with. Is that the way to handle this?
Fortunately, Rei had Elena.
As the daughter of Duke Kerebel's House—the family that led the Noble's Faction—Elena was naturally well-informed about nobles outside her own faction as well. Or to be precise, she'd be knowledgeable about the King's Faction Nobles.
Given that Rei was publicly known as Daskar's Trusted Aide, it was hard to imagine any Neutral Faction noble trying something underhanded with one of his companions.
Ah, but then... there might be those who deliberately manufacture an incident and use it as a pretext to make trouble for me—or rather, for Lord Daskar. Well, if they've already decided on Marina as the negotiator, they must have factored that in.
With that in mind, Rei turned back to Marina and spoke.
"You're sure about this?"
It was a final confirmation.
Marina, understanding the full weight behind his words, nodded.
"Yes. This was my decision. And besides—I'm with you. The least I can do is handle this much."
"...All right. I won't say another word. Having you as my negotiator is a genuine help."
Daskar and Worker both let out visible breaths of relief.
For them, Marina had been the only viable candidate. She was close to Rei, already in his party—and that carried enormous weight in this situation.
Rei had built a friendly relationship with Daskar, but his personality was undeniably prickly. The fact that he and Daskar got along at all was something of a rarity. Not that Daskar was the only noble Rei had forged good ties with, of course—but it was still exceptional.
"Right, that settles the negotiator. On to the next matter—you're planning to lay low in Egginis until the uproar dies down, correct? I know it's futile to say so, but please... try not to cause any trouble while you're there. Egginis is a unique city."
Daskar's tone carried the unspoken assumption that Rei was constitutionally incapable of staying out of trouble.
Rei opened his mouth to protest, but when he reflected on his track record, he found he had no rebuttal. It wasn't always Rei sticking his neck into things—often trouble came looking for him—but that distinction probably didn't matter much.
"I am genuinely curious about the golems, though. Even if they're expensive, I should be able to afford a reasonable number."
That was no lie—it was exactly how he felt.
Rei had always taken a strong interest in Magic Items, and since golems fell squarely into that category, expecting him not to be interested would have been the unreasonable position.
That said, what Rei wanted were Magic Items he could actually use. Something that could draw an enemy's attention in a fight, or pull off an unexpected feint to set up a surprise attack. Or, failing that, even a golem that couldn't fight but was handy around the house. Decorative pieces held zero appeal for him.
"Hmm. Knowing you, Rei... I suppose that's true."
Daskar was well aware of Rei's fascination with Magic Items, so he grasped the appeal Egginis held without difficulty.
"Egginis is famous for its golems, but I understand they have a fair selection of other Magic Items as well. In that sense, it should be a worthwhile destination for you."
"I've been fascinated by Egginis ever since I first heard about the city. Just as you say, Lord Daskar—if I find anything good there, I'll definitely pick it up. I'd also like to try the local specialty dishes, if they have any."
On the culinary front, Gilm's status as a frontier meant it drew people from all over, each bringing their regional cuisine. And with the expansion construction swelling the population even further, there were more varieties of food to sample than ever before.
That said, most of those workers were busy with the construction. They might cook with friends on their days off, but few ever set up stalls to sell food on any real scale—unless they had some particular reason to scrape together a little extra money.
"Hmm. Cuisine, you say..." Daskar paused in thought. "In that case—if you come across any rare spices, I'd like you to acquire their seeds. Only if it's convenient, of course. I'll pay handsomely for them."
"Spices in Egginis...? I'll keep an eye out, but..."
Rei could guess what Daskar was thinking.
Daskar currently had the Green People under his care—beings capable of accelerating plant growth. He was undoubtedly planning to have them cultivate spices for sale. In fact, a modest selection of spices had already begun appearing on the city's market stalls.
That, Rei understood, was why Daskar wanted seeds from as wide a variety of spices as possible.