"Then, I shall take my leave. Let's talk again if the opportunity arises."
So saying, Nigle departed.
They had only just entered Egginis.
Nigle had planned his visit to Egginis well in advance, so he surely had lodging arranged beforehand.
That said, Nigle was by no means wealthy. His rank was only that of a Baron, and he was the kind of lord for whom working alongside his people, covered in mud, was not uncommon. Because of that, while he would likely splurge a bit on his accommodation, it would still be a moderately priced place.
Honestly, Rei would have been fine with such a place himself... but a moderately priced inn would naturally have a moderately equipped stable, and there was a possibility Seto would not be allowed in.
That was the reason Rei couldn't stay at the same inn as Nigle.
"Well then, what should I do first?"
"Gruu?"
Seto purred, as if asking, Aren't we going to look for an inn?
Seto was drawing a lot of stares from Egginis's residents. Naturally enough, among those casting such gazes, there were some with malicious intent. A Gryphon, an A-Rank Monster, would sell for a price that could let someone live in leisure for the rest of their life if they could somehow obtain one. Even if Seto was following Rei as his Tamed Monster... it wouldn't be strange for someone to think, What if?
Rei and Seto were naturally aware of such gazes, but they couldn't exactly retaliate against someone who had only looked and hadn't actually laid a hand on them. ...Which, in other words, meant that if someone actually did try something, they would respond accordingly.
"Right. There are a few things I need to do... but it comes down to either getting a room at an inn, or going to the Guild to search for Golias and the other adventurers from the orphanage. One of those two."
Regarding inns, Rei had already heard about high-quality establishments from Anne. However, what Anne and the others knew was only secondhand information. Particularly for inns where Nobles and wealthy merchants stayed, it wouldn't be strange for rumors to contain elements of wishful thinking.
That was exactly why Golias, who was active in this city, should be able to provide more accurate information. Alternatively, he might also have information about newly built inns that Anne didn't yet know about.
He wavered between the two options... and ultimately decided to go to the Guild. After all, he judged that he could obtain more accurate inn information from Golias, who actually lived in Egginis, than from what he had heard from Anne. A major factor in his decision was that if he got a room at an inn Anne had mentioned, then later contacted Golias and heard about a better one, moving would be a hassle.
"In that case, I need to go to the Guild first... but where is it?"
While not as large as Gilm, Egginis was not merely town-sized—it was on a scale that could be called a half-city. Naturally, the interior was expansive, and a place immediately recognizable as the Guild was not visible from where Rei currently stood. This was true of Gilm as well, but the Guild was likely set somewhat back from the main area.
(Thinking about how they carry monster corpses inside, I'd think it'd make more sense to have the Guild right near the Main Gate.)
In Gilm, when adventurers defeated monsters that were difficult to disassemble themselves... or monsters from which valuable materials could be harvested, they would load the corpses onto carts or carriages and transport them to the Guild. For Gilm's residents, it was a familiar sight, but with so many people currently gathered in Gilm for the Expansion Construction, many of them were surprised to see monster corpses being transported on carts and carriages.
In Rei's case, he had his Misty Ring, so he didn't need to worry about such things.
(Well, even I could think of something that obvious, so there must be some other reason they don't do it that way.)
With that in mind, he decided to grab something to eat since it was nearing evening, and headed toward one of the several stalls. If this were Gilm, he would have been on familiar terms with most of the stall owners, so he'd know which stalls served reliably good food. Unfortunately, he had only arrived in Egginis today, so every stall was a first for him.
Because of that, he chose the first stall to visit based on intuition.
"Welco—"
The stall owner started to call out, but the words caught in his throat upon seeing Seto standing next to Rei.
"Don't worry. This Seto is my Tamed Monster. He won't harm anyone... as long as no one tries to harm him first, you're safe."
"O-oh... Golems aren't an uncommon sight, but this is the first time I've seen such a huge monster up close."
The middle-aged man said that, staring intently at Seto. ...And yet, the fact that he was simultaneously adjusting the grilling of what appeared to be river fish spoke to his seasoned skill.
"To me, Golems are the unusual ones. ...Ah, is that also a Golem by any chance?"
Rei muttered while surveying the surroundings, pointing toward a Golem that looked as though a spider had been caricatured. It was about knee-height to Rei, walking along the ground with dexterously moving legs.
"Oh. That's a Golem for picking up trash."
"For picking up trash...?"
Such a use was unexpected even for Rei, but watching it deftly use its legs to pick up a skewer—likely one for grilling—that had fallen on the ground and deposit it into a hole opened in its body, he could only nod in understanding.
"Yeah. There are quite a lot of them in Egginis."
"Huh... interesting. How much area can one clean? And what's its Magic Stone efficiency like?"
A trash-collecting Golem was fairly interesting to Rei. While it might not cover all of Gilm, and cleaning the entire Noble District would be impossible, for the grounds of Marina's estate, it seemed to have sufficient performance. As a souvenir for Marina and the others, it didn't seem like a bad idea.
"A cleaning Golem, huh. A lot of those are made by apprentices for practice, so if you're looking to buy... honestly, I'm not sure. They sell them at pretty much every shop, but the performance varies considerably depending on the maker. They're Golems with a lot of hit-or-miss to them!"
"Is it okay to just let them roam around town like this? Come to think of it, don't they get stolen?"
Even a Golem made by an apprentice, given that it was walking around freely, undoubtedly had a commensurate level of performance. If so, it wouldn't be strange for someone to try stealing one.
Of course, Nobles and wealthy merchants wouldn't bother taking such a risk. But Egginis had ordinary merchants too, and even alchemists might disassemble Golems made by others in order to improve their own technical skills.
Despite all that, from what Rei could see, the Golems were casually walking through town and picking up trash.
"Hm? Oh, apparently there's no need to worry about that. I'm no expert, so I don't know the details, but basically, if someone tries to take a Golem out of Egginis without changing its registration, the guards get notified right away. And the Golem either stops working or, in some cases, goes on a rampage."
"That's quite... a convenient feature. Well, since they're selling Golems as merchandise, maybe that much is only natural. What about if another alchemist tries to take one apart?"
"Apparently that's not a problem either. I don't know the reason, but basically, that sort of thing is made impossible."
"Is that how it works?"
Rei would have liked to know more about the details, but there was no point asking someone who wasn't an expert about the finer workings of Golems. Back in Japan, Rei had used all sorts of machines—TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, game consoles... and many others—but being able to use something and understanding how it works were two different things.
Because he understood that much, he was able to accept the stall owner's words.
"Oh, the people who know that much about Golems... they're only a handful of folks even within Egginis."
"Got it. Ah, one more thing—I'd like to know where the Guild is."
So saying, he asked the stall owner for directions to the Guild. After buying several additional fish skewers as an information fee, he headed that way.
"Gurururu."
Seto purred happily, eating the fish with evident relish. For Seto, even fish bones were something he could effortlessly crunch through and eat. The distinctive savory aroma of grilled fish, the crisp texture of salted skin, and the backbone... he savored every bit of it, walking through town in high spirits.
As they approached the direction the stall owner had indicated, the number of people who appeared to be adventurers increased. Given that it was nearing evening, adventurers who had finished their work were probably heading to the Guild to collect their rewards.
Naturally, Rei and Seto were the center of attention for those adventurers. However, even while drawing such attention, no one tried to pick a fight.
In reality, there were some—people who were unfamiliar with adventurer gossip, the kind who had only just become adventurers—who tried to start something based solely on Rei's small stature, but they were being stopped by other adventurers.
The information that Rei would attack without mercy anyone who made an enemy of him, even if they were a Noble, was widely known precisely because of its extremity. If he would go that far even against a Noble, what would happen if an adventurer made an enemy of him didn't require much imagination.
Receiving such gazes, Rei arrived at the Guild the stall owner had directed him to. Seeing many adventurers going in and out of the building made it obvious that this was the Guild.
"Seto, wait here for me."
"Gruu."
As always, Rei left Seto at the carriage parking space and entered the Guild.
It went without saying that, being evening, it was quite crowded. It was crowded, but... perhaps because he knew what the Gilm Guild had been like lately, while he could understand it was crowded, it didn't strike him as being that packed. The Gilm Guild... especially in the evening, was in a state that could fittingly be described as packed like sardines. Compared to the Gilm Guild, the scene before Rei's eyes actually seemed less crowded by comparison, since there was still enough space to move around reasonably.
"Now, the only question is how to find Golias."
"Huh?"
One of the members of a party passing right by Rei on their way out of the Guild let out such a sound in response to his muttered words. Naturally, when such a voice was heard that close to him, Rei directed his attention that way as well.
When their eyes met, the one who had first spoken—a woman in her twenties—opened her mouth.
"Hey, you. Did you just say Golias's name?"
From what Rei had heard from Anne, Golias was a man. But the person who had spoken to him was a woman. At that point, Rei understood that the woman before him was not Golias, but the fact that she had asked about Golias's name meant she must be an acquaintance.
Making that judgment, Rei nodded.
"Yeah. Do you know an Anne?"
"Anne-san!? Wait, hold on, who exactly are you? Did you just come from the orphanage? But there was no one like you at the orphanage..."
From those words, Rei understood what kind of person the woman before him was. She was probably an adventurer who, like Golias, had come from that orphanage.
"I helped out the people at the orphanage a bit. When I mentioned I was heading to Egginis, they wrote me a letter... well, a letter of introduction, to a person named Golias."
"Wait, from that village to Egginis...? How exactly did you...?"
Beyond the town where the orphanage was located, the road was a dead end. And yet, the fact that Rei had stopped by the orphanage's town before coming to Egginis was puzzling.
"I flew here."
"...Huh?"
The woman wore an expression of complete incomprehension. Naturally. Thinking about it normally, the only people who could do something like fly through the sky... were Dragon Knights riding Wyverns, at best.
But looking at Rei, the woman couldn't possibly see him as a Dragon Knight.
"...Could you tell me your story?"
With the names Golias and Anne having come up, she couldn't simply leave Rei be. Making that judgment, the woman excused herself from her party members, pulled Rei along, and brought him to the tavern attached to the Guild.