"I'm telling you, I saw it! I clearly saw Seto descend onto the grounds of Marina-sama's house!"
At those words from the man, the others around him exchanged glances.
Did you see it?
No. I didn't.
What about you?
I didn't see it either.
The men exchanged words through their gazes alone.
Since they hadn't seen Seto with their own eyes, they couldn't know whether the man's claim was true or not.
They couldn't know, but given the current situation, the possibility that it was true was high.
(Besides... it depends on how the others react, I suppose.)
The men were currently positioned in a spot within the Noble District where they had a clear view of Marina's house.
Similarly, several other men were scattered around the vicinity.
Thinking about it normally, it wouldn't be strange for them to be caught as suspicious individuals.
However, everyone here was a retainer of nobles living in the Noble District.
Even if they were viewed with suspicion, as long as the nobles employing them served as their backers, there would be no particular issue.
Why were they doing such a thing?
Naturally, it was to make contact with Rei as quickly as possible.
They likely wanted to obtain Crystal Dragon materials as quickly and in as great a quantity as possible by making contact with Rei.
The reason they could pull off something like this was precisely because they were retainers of nobles living in the Noble District.
In that sense, it was far from fair.
However, as far as the nobles were concerned, they were merely exercising their own privileges, so they didn't particularly mind.
Amidst all this, the man had claimed that Seto suddenly dove down from the sky toward Marina's house, so it was only natural that the others were bewildered.
"For now, there's no point in just staying here like this. Shouldn't we go report to our superiors?"
"Yeah, you're right. We can't stay like this forever, so it'd be better to report it. If we don't and other nobles find out, our noble lords won't be able to tolerate it."
"Besides, we're not permitted to enter the grounds of Marina-sama's house."
The ones here were adventurers employed by nobles.
And the majority of those the nobles had hired were not adventurers who had recently come to Gilm, but those who had been in Gilm for a long time.
In other words, most of them had been active as adventurers when Marina served as the Guild Master.
That was precisely why many of them respected Marina.
Some harbored different feelings toward her, but regardless, there was no one who would dare enter Marina's grounds without permission.
Well, initially there were a few who tried such a thing, but those individuals were immediately blown back outside by Marina's Spirit Magic.
Because of that, they understood that sneaking into Marina's house was impossible, and most adventurers stopped trying to enter the grounds.
This sort of judgment was perhaps to be expected of capable adventurers worthy of being hired by nobles.
Knowing Marina's personality, they were able to make the sound judgment that it went without saying what would happen if they forcefully tried to enter the grounds—though that was also a factor.
At any rate, as long as someone claimed to have seen Seto, there was no doubt they needed to report to their employers.
If Seto... or more accurately, Rei, was actually there, they could expect additional rewards.
If Seto or Rei turned out not to be there, there was a possibility of being scolded.
But fortunately, the employers of these adventurers were not petty.
Even if it were a misidentification, they understood that if their employers scolded them harshly for it, they wouldn't come to report until they were truly certain they had seen Rei or Seto.
If that happened, they would no longer be able to outmaneuver the others.
That was precisely why, even if they were being somewhat hasty, their employers wouldn't get angry.
In fact, they had been told as much, and had also been instructed to notify them immediately if anything unusual occurred.
Given that, the adventurers had no option but to report the possibility that Rei had returned.
And the others—those who, like the adventurers here, were employed by nobles and had been told to notify them immediately if Rei returned—likewise ran to contact their own employers.
Around the same time the adventurers near the mansion were notifying their employers of the abnormality, Rei was enjoying tea with Elena in Marina's courtyard.
He did need to go to the Guild, but judging that Seto's arrival from the sky had likely been seen, he decided it would be better to wait until the surrounding commotion settled down.
"If we keep waiting like this, I imagine even more people will gather. What do you plan to do?"
"Yeah. Sorry to Seto, but I'm planning to head to the Guild alone."
"Guru..."
Seto purred disappointedly upon hearing Rei's words.
He had already finished the baked sweets Ara had prepared, and was currently enjoying a leisurely moment watching Ielo move about on his body... but naturally, he must have heard Rei and Elena's conversation.
"If Seto is with me, they'll immediately know it's me."
"That is... true, I suppose. Many people hold the perception that Rei and Seto are always together."
Given that Seto exceeded three meters in length, he couldn't exactly try to hide discreetly.
There were skills like Size Change and Optical Camouflage, but at its current Level 2, Size Change only reduced his three meters down to seventy centimeters, and its effect duration was fixed.
Optical Camouflage could make him completely invisible, but he could only remain transparent for a little over six minutes, and its effect duration was also fixed.
In particular, while Optical Camouflage certainly made him invisible to those around him, even in that state, anyone who bumped into him could still touch Seto normally. So while it might be fine in a wide-open area, it wasn't suited for use in the middle of town.
In combat, it would be a different story.
For those reasons, if Seto was with him, people would immediately recognize that Rei was right there.
Under normal circumstances, that would be perfectly fine.
However, this time he specifically needed to go to the Guild on his own.
"For that reason... I'm going to leave through somewhere other than the Main Gate and casually make my way to the Guild."
"I understand what you're saying, but... that will be difficult in its own way. If this were a place like the main street, it would be one thing, but someone like you walking alone through the Noble District will definitely stand out."
Rei couldn't argue with Elena's words.
The Dragon Robe had a concealment effect, causing those around him to perceive its appearance as no different from an ordinary robe.
But that meant a person wearing a common robe—nothing luxurious or fancy—would be walking through the Noble District.
And not traveling together with his party members, but Rei alone.
To expect the adventurers patrolling the Noble District not to find that suspicious would be unreasonable.
After all, a large number of people were currently coming to Gilm seeking work from the Expansion Construction.
Among them were many questionable individuals, and naturally, some were criminals.
To prevent such people from entering the Noble District, adventurers employed by nobles frequently conducted patrols. To those adventurers, Rei wearing the Dragon Robe with his hood up to hide his face would be recognized as a blatantly suspicious person.
"Well... I could just run away if I get found?"
"Are you serious? Well, I suppose if it came to that, Rei could escape safely, but then you'd be chased by the adventurers in the Noble District as a suspicious person. You couldn't possibly make a move against them in that situation, could you?"
"...That's an undeniable fact."
Being attacked one-sidedly despite only trying to flee.
That was far from an amusing experience, but if he were to counterattack in such a situation, those pursuing him would only get more serious.
To the adventurers patrolling the Noble District, Rei with his identity concealed was an infinitely suspicious presence.
They were working to keep exactly that kind of suspicious presence from entering the Noble District, so letting such an individual escape was out of the question.
"Even so, if you show your face and move around openly, it will definitely become troublesome."
Rei said this, and in truth, those words were by no means wrong.
If Rei walked through the Noble District with his face visible, many people would try to make contact with him.
Some would understand that doing so would only displease Rei and would not approach him.
However, to those whose eyes were captivated by the Crystal Dragon materials, it was only natural to think about trying to contact Rei as quickly as possible.
"I see. In that case... how about I send out my carriage?"
"Your carriage, Elena...? I mean, that would help, but are you sure?"
Elena's carriage bore the crest of Duke Kerebel's House.
Seeing that, no one would dare carelessly stop the carriage.
Especially here in the Noble District.
Precisely because it was the Noble District, the name of Duke Kerebel's House carried great significance.
In that sense, it would undoubtedly be extremely helpful.
But... that was exactly why Rei found himself asking Elena whether it was all right to use the power of Duke Kerebel's House.
"I don't mind. I too have various thoughts about dealing with the endless stream of visitors here."
Elena was both the daughter of Duke Kerebel's House and a warrior who bore the alias of Princess General.
As such, she personally had no desire to engage in negotiations with nobles.
...She had no desire to do so, yet was more than capable if she chose to, which revealed a slight gap between Elena's personality and her abilities—but that was beside the point.
At any rate, Elena could easily predict that if she remained at Marina's house, even more nobles would come.
Even if the rumor had spread that Rei had left Gilm and headed elsewhere, many had still tried to make contact with Rei's... or more accurately, Elena and the others, who were recognized as Rei's associates.
But Marina was working at the clinic, and interrupting her there was problematic in various ways.
Vihera and Byune were working in the Treant Forest, making them difficult to contact in Gilm.
That being the case, Elena, who could be met whenever they came to Marina's house, was the ideal contact for the nobles.
After all, they shared the common ground of being nobles of the Kingdom of Mireana, and even setting aside the matter of Rei, being able to make contact with Elena seemed like a favorable prospect for the nobles.
In reality, from Elena's perspective of being subjected to such behavior, she couldn't remember the faces of the riffraff nobles who came in large numbers, and sometimes even felt disgust.
"That being the case, since Rei has come, I judged that it would be problematic to remain here."
"That helps, but is it all right to leave Marina's house empty?"
Traveling by Elena's carriage meant someone needed to serve as the coachman.
And under the current circumstances, the only person who could do that was Ara.
If Ara went out with Rei and Elena, naturally, no one would be left in this house.
Well, Rei was planning to leave Seto behind, and Ielo would likely remain as well, so it wouldn't be completely empty.
But with the rumor of Rei's return rapidly spreading, if someone visited Marina's house and there was no one to receive them, wouldn't that be problematic in various ways?
That was what Rei thought, but Elena spoke as if it were no problem.
"I don't mind. That I have left will be immediately apparent from looking at the carriage. If someone truly has business, they should come to make contact after I return. If so, there is no problem."
Strictly speaking, it wasn't that there was no problem, but she was likely saying it wasn't significant enough to be considered one.
From Rei's perspective, he couldn't help but think that it was indeed a problem, but considering the current situation, he could also understand that it would be better to go along with Elena's proposal.
"Seto, I'm going to step outside for a bit with Elena, so wait here with Ielo."
"Guru..."
At Rei's words, Seto accepted it, looking only slightly disappointed.