"Well now... that's a very you way to meet someone, Rei."
"Whoa... To do that to Roger of all people. Can I call you Brother?"
When Rei recounted how he had obtained the letter of introduction from Roger, Maruka struggled to stifle her laughter. Nicky, on the other hand, had dropped his earlier formal speech entirely, going so far as to ask if he could call Rei "Brother."
As far as Rei was concerned, the fact that these two were reacting this way only confirmed what Lindy had told him—Roger clearly held significant influence in the city of Egginis.
...From Rei's perspective, their first encounter had been close to the worst possible, and given everything that had followed, he didn't particularly view Roger as all that remarkable an individual.
The gap in perception was likely significant, but Rei didn't seem to mind. He simply lifted the cup of tea before him and took a sip.
This was a private room inside the Star River Inn, the inn where Rei had decided to stay.
True to its hotel-like atmosphere, the rooms were ranked by price.
Among them, Rei's room fell into a tier slightly above average.
With Rei's funds, he could have easily afforded the finest room available.
But he didn't need anything that extravagant. This room was more than satisfactory.
Of course, if he were curious about the finest room, he could simply ask Maruka—who was staying in one—to show it to him.
Given Maruka's position as the daughter of Duke Quento's House, and the fact that she herself was regarded as a future powerhouse, appearances mattered a great deal to her.
That was precisely why, despite her own reluctance, Maruka had ended up staying in the finest room.
Knowing her personality, such an overly lavish room probably wasn't to her taste.
"I heard Roger was skilled, but he still can't match those Golems currently being sold in Egginis—the ones that are supposedly incomparable to anything before, right?"
"That is true. However, until those Golems appeared, he was consistently one of the people producing the highest-performance Golems in all of Egginis. To put it in terms you'd understand, Rei... hmm, I'd say he's akin to an A-Rank Adventurer, and one who holds an alias at that."
Rei understood that she was likely referring to him.
When they had started talking in this room, he had already covered that much.
...Or perhaps the reason Nicky had started calling him "Brother" wasn't just because of the Roger incident, but also influenced by that revelation.
"I guess that makes sense. But what I want isn't one of Roger's Golems—it's those high-performance ones. Though, of course, if there are other convenient Golems available, I'd be interested in those too."
Among them, what had caught Rei's interest the most was likely the garbage-collecting Golems he had seen around the city.
A Golem that automatically cleaned up trash would certainly be useful at Marina's estate.
That said, Marina's home was already maintained comfortably by spirits, so even without a Golem cleaning, the spirits would handle it.
"Hmm, high-performance Golems, you say. So that's your target too, Rei. However... those Golems have low production rates and are few in number. Price aside, whether you can actually purchase one is honestly a matter of luck. I want one myself, you see."
"So you two are after those rumored high-performance Golems too? Well, I suppose given that Maruka came all the way to Egginis, that much should be obvious."
"To be precise, most of the people staying at this inn are likely targeting the high-performance Golems. Though, some are seriously aiming to buy one while others would be happy just to get lucky, so their levels of enthusiasm vary."
Rei nodded, satisfied with her explanation.
From the start, he had heard that the high-performance Golems were few in number.
Given that, he needed to be prepared for the very real possibility that he might fail to purchase one even if he tried.
Nobles aside, this was especially true for merchants.
After all, buying a Golem here was ultimately for the sake of business.
...Though, a merchant with enough resources might well use a Golem as a personal possession rather than as merchandise.
"In that case, it really does come down to luck, huh. There's no system where the strongest person wins a fight and gets to buy a Golem, is there?"
"Of course there isn't."
Maruka shot Rei a look of disbelief at his words.
In stark contrast to Maruka, Nicky's face was twitching.
Since Nicky had come to Egginis as Maruka's bodyguard, if things worked out the way Rei had just described—where the winner of a fight earned the right to purchase a Golem—then naturally, Maruka couldn't be the one fighting.
Which meant Nicky would have to step into the arena.
And if a fight broke out, Nicky might end up having to face Rei.
Nicky was certainly a capable man, possessing enough skill and pride to be entrusted as Maruka's bodyguard in Koan's stead. Against an ordinary adventurer, he could win with ease.
But that was only against an ordinary adventurer.
Against an alias-holding A-Rank Adventurer, he didn't think for a moment that he could win.
Furthermore, Rei hadn't mentioned the Crystal Dragon incident, but if Nicky learned that Rei had slain a Crystal Dragon—in other words, that he was also a Dragon Slayer—he would absolutely, from the bottom of his heart, want nothing to do with fighting him.
"If that's the case, then maybe an auction? If so, depending on how many Golems are up for sale, I'm a bit worried."
Between his quest rewards and his bandit hunting, Rei had accumulated enough savings to live in leisure for several lifetimes.
But the people gathered at the Star River Inn were all wealthy individuals—nobles and major merchants.
Naturally, more than a few of them possessed assets to rival Rei's.
Considering that the people staying at this inn had all come to purchase rare, high-performance Golems, there was no guarantee Rei would be able to buy one.
Especially if the format turned out to be the auction Rei had just mentioned—there would be those willing to pay far more than usual, determined not to lose to their rivals.
If possible, he hoped they would choose a method other than an auction, something that would give him a fair chance.
Though, ultimately, the decision of how to sell the Golems rested not with Rei, but with their creators.
"I heard they once sold them through an auction, but apparently there were various problems afterward. Since then, they've stopped holding auctions altogether."
"That does sound like..."
Rei could more or less imagine the kind of problems that had arisen.
An auction was, by its nature, an event where those present drove the price ever higher.
If it were like an online auction where the other participants were anonymous, it might not have caused as much trouble. But when people were trading face to face, it wouldn't be surprising if someone attacked the winning bidder afterward to steal the goods.
Of course, anyone participating in such an auction would have considerable assets and would likely bring escorts... but even so, nothing was guaranteed.
"Which means... not an auction, but some other method. For example, bringing in materials they specify. In that case, I'd actually have a pretty good chance."
Rei's Misty Ring contained a vast quantity of materials.
Among them were extremely rare ones. And even if he lacked a specific material, if it could be obtained from monsters inhabiting the area around Egginis, then Rei—with Seto at his side—would have a distinct advantage.
"Apparently, they did something like that in the past as well. Though from what I've heard, they've stopped doing that recently."
"Hmm... then how do they do it?"
"I'm not sure about that myself. However, there have been people who suddenly became able to purchase a Golem out of nowhere. In that sense, perhaps the alchemists are evaluating potential buyers to determine who they'll sell to."
"Then it comes down to how they judge me, I suppose... It'd be nice if something like Seto's fur could work things out."
As far as Rei was concerned, he had absolutely no intention of accommodating any demand like Roger's, where they wanted him to hand over Seto himself.
But fur and feathers? Those naturally fell out as Seto went about his daily life.
With items like that, Rei wouldn't feel the slightest pang of conscience selling them as Seto's materials.
"You, that's not fair."
At the mention of Seto's materials, Maruka cast a resentful glance his way.
Even for Duke Quento's House, Gryphon materials were not something easily obtained.
Let alone the fact that Seto was no ordinary Gryphon, but a Rare Species capable of wielding a vast array of skills.
...In reality, as a being created through Beast Magic, he was also a kind of special Chimera, but that was besides the point.
"Well, it's just a thought. If they don't want it, then it won't matter anyway."
So Rei said, but given how desperately Roger had wanted Seto's materials, he figured the alchemists would likely feel the same way.
"Besides, I have other things I need to do beyond the Golem business."
"Oh? Things that Rei himself needs to do? I'm interested."
True to her words, Maruka turned a deeply interested gaze toward Rei.
Nicky, seeing her reaction, wore a displeased expression.
"Lady Maruka, please stop poking your nose into strange matters. You'll be a bother to Brother."
"But Nicky, these are Rei's affairs. Are you not curious?"
"Ugh..."
Nicky fell silent at Maruka's words.
In truth, Nicky was also curious about what Rei could possibly be planning to do in a situation like this.
Rei had come to buy a Golem, yet he had something he prioritized even more. What could it be? Maruka looked at Rei with that question in her eyes, and Nicky, drawn in by her gaze, did the same.
Rei, subjected to the stares of both, felt no particular need to hide what he was doing.
Had it been anyone other than Maruka and her companion, he might have changed the subject.
But as it was, it wasn't anything worth concealing.
"It's really not something to get that interested in. I'm just searching for a missing adventurer."
At those words, the eager gleam in Maruka's eyes rapidly cooled.
Adventurers going missing was far from a rare occurrence.
Some left town because they could no longer stay in Egginis for one reason or another. Others might have failed a request and died.
There were countless other reasons an adventurer might disappear that one could think of.
Knowing this, Maruka naturally wondered why Rei would bother searching for someone like that.
"Just to be sure—is this adventurer someone important to you, Rei?"
"Important, you say... Not particularly. To put it bluntly, I don't even know what they look like."
Rei's words drew a genuinely bewildered expression from Maruka.
She simply couldn't fathom why anyone would go searching for someone whose face they didn't even know.
"Is it a request, maybe? You were asked to find this person, Brother? You are an adventurer, after all."
Unlike Maruka, Nicky had a somewhat better understanding of how the world worked. He suggested that perhaps Rei had accepted a request at the Guild to find this person, but Rei shook his head at that as well.
"No, I haven't received a request from anyone."
"...Then why would you do such a thing?"
"Let's see... I guess you could say it was just how things worked out."
He considered various ways to explain his current situation, but in the end, that was all that came out of his mouth.
That was right—neither Anne nor Lindy had asked him to find Golias.
It was simply that, upon learning of the orphanage's dire circumstances and hearing that Golias was an orphanage alumnus who had donated the money he earned as an adventurer, Rei felt it would leave a bad taste in his mouth if someone like that died.
The fact that the orphanage was currently in serious financial trouble was likely related to his disappearance as well.
As a last resort, Rei could always make a donation himself... but ultimately, that would only be putting off the problem rather than solving it.
In the end, he figured the people involved would have to work things out for themselves.