The man introduced himself as Bob.
The unfamiliar term "traveling hunter" piqued Rei's interest.
Perhaps because Rei had taken an interest, Nielson and Seto seemed to grow interested in Bob as well.
"I don't think my stories will be all that interesting to you, honestly. If anything, I'd like to hear yours, Rei-san."
For Bob, the chance to hear stories from an alias-holding adventurer didn't come along very often. Having encountered Rei under these circumstances, it was only natural that he wanted to hear all sorts of things from him.
"Alright. You tell me something interesting, and I'll share some of my own."
"Hmm... fair enough. Let's settle on that. So, what should I talk about?"
Rei answered immediately, as though he'd already decided what he wanted to hear about.
"First off — why are you a hunter? If you're moving from town to town and village to village, wouldn't being an adventurer be more convenient in a lot of ways?"
For instance, some cities, towns, and even villages required a fee to enter. That fee, however, was waived for anyone carrying a Guild Card. Since that was the established rule, it was only natural.
But Bob hadn't registered as an adventurer, so of course he didn't have a Guild Card. Which meant he often had to pay out of pocket just to enter cities, towns, or villages.
A Guild Card could also serve as identification. Whether or not you had one could make a significant difference if anything went wrong.
"You're right. People I've met before have told me to register at the Guild as an adventurer too. But... I don't know, something about it just doesn't sit well with me."
"I see."
That was all Rei could say to that.
If there had been some concrete reason — say, the Guild he'd tried to register at was corrupt, or something along those lines — Rei could have spoken to the Guild on his behalf and tried to sort things out. But this was different. It wasn't that he had a clear reason. He truly just hadn't registered on a vague whim. If that was the case, anything Rei said here would be meaningless.
Perhaps surprised by Rei's attitude, Bob looked slightly taken aback.
"Huh, is that okay? Everyone I've talked to about this before kept insisting I should register anyway."
"You already know all that and still haven't registered, right? Then there's no need for me to lecture you about it. Though if you're thinking about convenience, I do think you'd be better off as an adventurer."
Rei had gained plenty of benefits from becoming an adventurer himself. That was why he said as much, but he also knew that his perspective was shaped by his own experience. And besides...
"Even if you do become an adventurer, it's not all convenience. There are plenty of headaches that come with it too."
And that was no lie.
Among adventurers, some — like alias holders — were regarded as heroic figures. But it was also not unheard of for people to suffer losses when requests failed thanks to ill-behaved low-rank adventurers. Worse, though truly few in number, there were even some who accepted escort requests only to collude with bandits and sell their charges to them. Naturally, if such deeds came to light, ruin awaited.
The sheer number of people working as adventurers meant that such rotten apples existed. And for anyone who had dealt with one, the word "adventurer" was not something to be trusted. To such people, a hunter like Bob was probably more reliable. Of course, being a hunter also meant he could only take on the sort of requests a hunter would handle.
"Being an adventurer... from what I've heard, it sounds reasonably interesting. Maybe I should give it a try."
"Oh, come on..."
Rei shot Nielson an exasperated look at her talk of becoming an adventurer. To him, Nielson becoming an adventurer was simply not an option. For that to even be possible, the existence of fairies would need to be far more widely accepted in society. As things stood, the moment word got out that a fairy had become an adventurer, there would be no shortage of people trying to capture her.
Of course, Nielson was highly capable — the Chief had high expectations for her even among fairies. Anyone who tried to capture her would end up on the receiving end of her pranks. And not just ordinary pranks, either, but the kind of vicious, ruthless practical jokes that defied description.
"A fairy becoming an adventurer? Now that would be fascinating. If that happened, I might become one myself."
Unlike Rei, Bob seemed genuinely intrigued by the idea. If Nielson became an adventurer, he said, he might give up the traveling hunter's life and become one too. He was probably imagining that he could take on requests alongside her.
Rei, who knew Nielson's personality all too well, was willing to entertain the idea of traveling together, but teaming up with her on actual requests was something he'd rather pass on. When it came to completing a job, there was no denying the possibility that her fairy whimsy would derail the whole thing.
And it wasn't just Nielson. Many fairies were the type to think that as long as they were entertained, nothing else mattered. That was likely a trait inherent to the race itself. Even the Chief, though reasonable enough, was still a fairy at heart and undoubtedly similar in that regard.
That was exactly why Rei felt fairies were cut out for anything but adventuring. If something caught their curiosity, it wouldn't be surprising for them to ruin hours of hard work — tasting a rare material they'd just collected, or poking and prodding at things they shouldn't touch. In terms of exploring the unknown, they had qualities that suited the adventurer's life. But in every other respect...
"For what it's worth, fairies becoming adventurers isn't something that really happens. Even if it did, it'd be a long way off."
Both Bob and Nielson looked dissatisfied at that. They had apparently hit it off at some point, and the two of them had been deep in discussion about what they'd do as adventurers. Rei's interruption was clearly unwelcome.
"Rei, are you against me becoming an adventurer?"
"How did we get on that topic? Well, if you're asking whether I'm for or against it, I'm against it."
"Hey, Rei!"
Perhaps not expecting such an immediate rejection, Nielson shouted with a look of clear displeasure.
But that was Rei's honest feeling. He knew that if he said something careless now, it would only lead to trouble down the line. ...If Nielson went and told the Chief something like "Rei said I'd make a great adventurer," he would never hear the end of it. What kind of ordeal would the Chief put him through? He could hazard a guess from watching Nielson's antics, but that didn't mean he had any desire to experience it firsthand.
"Anyway, let's get back on topic. Or rather... what were we talking about? Oh, right. You got lost while hunting and ended up here. I don't mind you spending the night with us. But I can't let you use the Magic Tent."
The Magic Tent Rei possessed was extremely rare. Because of that, he had no intention of letting anyone he didn't trust use it. ...If asked whether Nielson counted as someone he trusted, he'd be hard-pressed to answer. But even so, he'd known Nielson for... well, not exactly a long time, but long enough to understand her personality. And because of that, he was confident she wouldn't intentionally break or steal the Magic Tent. She'd been lectured by the Chief on various matters, and she understood Rei's personality as well. She knew full well that if she did something to the Magic Tent, a simple "it was just a prank" wouldn't begin to cover it.
...Even so, the fact that fairies could still pull pranks in any situation meant he couldn't be entirely at ease.
"Magic Tent? I've never heard of one... but judging from the name, it's a Magic Item, right?"
Bob's gaze shifted toward the Magic Tent as he spoke. It wasn't hard to guess from the name that the tent in his line of sight was the Magic Tent in question. And with "Magic" right there in the name, deducing that it was a Magic Item wasn't difficult either.
"Yeah, it's a Magic Tent. It's one of the more high-end Magic Items I own. I can't let someone I just met use it. Especially when I think about worst-case scenarios."
"That makes sense. I don't mind at all, though. Just being able to spend the night by a campfire — and with an alias-holding adventurer and a fairy, no less — is more than enough. But... is it really safe to use something that valuable out in the open like this?"
Bob asked the question while still eyeing the Magic Tent. At first, Rei didn't understand what Bob was worried about. But after a moment's thought, it clicked.
"Seto's here, so the Magic Tent basically never gets attacked. You're a hunter, so you should understand — whether it's animals or monsters, they instinctively try to flee from an overwhelming presence. ...Though there are always a few with dull instincts or low intelligence who'll still charge at Seto even after seeing him."
What came to mind for Rei was Goblins. He'd been attacked by them many times before, so it was a matter of personal experience.
It seemed the same was true for Bob. He nodded in immediate understanding.
"Goblins, right. I run into them sometimes while hunting, and they're a real nuisance. The worst part is that killing one or two isn't enough for them to grasp the difference in strength. Plus, arrows snap or arrowheads chip when you use them on the things. And after all that trouble, Goblin magic stones get bought at rock-bottom prices."
Bob let out a heavy sigh, his expression clouding over. Just as when Rei had mentioned it earlier, genuine experience was etched into those words.
(At the very least, merchants will buy magic stones even from non-adventurers. The Guild, though... before the question of whether they'd even buy them, just showing up as a non-adventurer trying to sell would draw too much attention.)
But selling to a merchant came with its own headaches. Specifically, the haggling. From a merchant's perspective, buying magic stones was fine, but they wanted to pay as little as possible. The cheaper they bought, the higher their own profit — simple as that. And to a merchant, Bob probably looked like a good-natured, easy mark.
That said, Goblin magic stones were, in Rei's estimation, worth about as much as a single AA battery. Whether a merchant would bother seriously negotiating with someone coming to sell something that cheap was another question entirely.
"So what happens if the Goblins show up?"
"Seto's here. He'll protect the Magic Tent. Or more accurately, the Goblins will be too busy paying attention to Seto to care about the tent."
This was partly because Seto was a high-rank monster. But more than that, Seto would absolutely never tolerate Goblins attacking the Magic Tent where his beloved Rei was sleeping.
"You've got it good, Rei-san. I travel alone, so when it comes to sleeping outdoors, I barely have any margin to just... rest."
"Huh? Then why not travel with a few other people instead of going solo?"
"...I wish I could."
Bob replied with a slightly troubled smile to Nielson's offhand remark. For Bob, being able to travel with someone would have been a relief. But finding a partner willing to travel with a solo hunter — not an adventurer, a hunter — and not settle down in one place but wander from town to town... naturally, there weren't many people eccentric enough to sign up for that. Of course, it was a different story if it was only for the stretch between one village and the next.
"Well, I'm sure hunters have their own share of headaches."
At Rei's words, Bob nodded with a wry smile.