「Huaah…… Mmm……」
Yawning, Rei sat up in his bed.
Looking around and turning his still slightly sleep-addled gaze toward the window, Rei remembered he was back at the Dusk Wheat Pavilion.
Outside, the weather was unbelievably good for autumn. Not a single cloud could be seen in the sky, a clear autumn day that felt closer to summer.
It almost seemed as if the sky itself was blessing Rei’s return to Gilm.
「……Well, it’s probably just my imagination.」
Rei muttered softly, his mind finally clearing up as started to properly wake up.
The Dusk Wheat Pavilion was his usual inn in Gilm. Since he hadn’t known how long the civil war would keep him away for when he left for the Bestir Empire, he had vacated his room. However, now that he was back in Gilm, he had rented a room here once again.
The day before, when he returned to Gilm, it had taken him quite a while to tear Milein away from Set. By the time Rei finally arrived at the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, dinner time was nearly over.
Even so, the proprietress, Lana, hadn’t forgotten Rei, who was an excellent customer and had left a strong impression in many ways. She readily agreed when he told her he planned to stay for a while again.
Fortunately, even though autumn was deepening, there were still some rooms available.
The Dusk Wheat Pavilion was one of the highest-class inns in Gilm. Naturally, large merchant caravans and veteran mercenary groups often stayed there. Just a short while ago, it had been packed with guests preparing for winter.
However, things had settled down now. It wasn’t completely empty, but a fair number of rooms were available again. That was why Rei was able to secure a room so easily despite arriving unannounced.
Of course, the fact that Rei had previously stayed at the Dusk Wheat Pavilion for a long time probably played a part as well.
「Today……firstly, the guild. There’s those Gamelion requests, but I also want to meet with Lenora and Kenny. It’d be great if they had any information about the dungeon too. ……No, the dungeon is the priority.」
Rei decided on his schedule for the day while getting ready, taking his clothes and the Dragon Robe, out of the Misty Ring.
The room he was currently staying in was the same one he had used before. While he had already been back for a day, the room was still quite barren.
Since he kept all his necessary belongings stored in the Misty Ring, the room would likely remain barren whether he stayed for a few days, a few weeks, or even months, even if the contents of the Misty Ring increased.
Having finished getting ready, he headed down to the first floor of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion for breakfast, but……
「Hm?」
Rei tilted his head at the sight before him.
There was something slightly off about the dining room as he entered.
He stared at the dining room for a moment……before finally realising what was bothering him.
「There aren’t many people around?」
Normally, since the inn prided itself on its food, there would be people other than the guests coming in for breakfast. While it wouldn’t be overflowing, it should have been crowded enough that finding a seat would take a moment.
Yet, right now, nearly 70 percent of the seats in the dining room were empty.
Feeling a vague sense of foreboding, he took his pocket watch out of the Misty Ring to check the time. It was nearly 10:00 AM.
「……Eh?」
Realising he had let out a dumbfounded sound at how badly he had overslept, Rei checked the pocket watch again.
However, the merciless reality remained, it was nearly 10:00 AM.
「Rei? Breakfast time is already over……would you like an early lunch?」
A familiar voice called out from behind him. Turning around, he saw Lana, the proprietress, carrying some laundry.
「Ah, no……yeah. Right, I’ll just have something light, whatever you recommend.」
Rei handed her a few copper coins and took a seat, looking around the dining room once more.
Those currently left in the dining room were either eating an early lunch, as Lana had suggested, or had overslept like Rei…… Even so, the fact that nearly 30 percent of the seats were occupied was likely because those who had already finished their winter preparations were gathered here to relax.
「I never thought I’d oversleep by hours.」
Rei could understand oversleeping by a few dozen minutes……or even an hour. But if it was nearly 10:00 AM, that meant he had overslept by three or four hours.
Oversleeping to this extent was quite rare for him.
(I guess I must have been on edge the whole time I was in the Bestir Empire. Then I came back to Gilm, slept at the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, finally felt safe, and completely crashed.)
Rei hadn’t felt particularly tense during that time. He hadn’t felt like he was pushing his body either, he thought he had just been acting normally.
……Though, if he were to call the rampage he unleashed in the Bestir Empire “normal”, very few people would agree.
Returning to Gilm, which he could practically call his hometown, must have finally let him fully relax.
(Well, I was planning on resting my body a bit anyway, and I have a lot of other things to do, so oversleeping a little is fine.)
As he stretched lightly and thought to himself, Lana arrived at his table with a plate of sandwiches and a bowl of soup.
「Please, take your time.」
After saying that, Lana quickly hurried off. It wasn’t that she disliked Rei or anything, she was just busy with her inn duties.
「First up……definitely the guild. Then I have what I promised Scorching Wind, I also want to see if the magic sword I took from Noiz can be repaired.」
Rei muttered to himself as he took a bite of a sandwich.
True to the inn’s reputation for delicious food, the sandwich was incredibly tasty, hard to believe it had been made in such a short time.
Rei particularly liked the ones made with Gamelion meat.
(I guess Gamelion meat is already back on the menu. ……Should I just take today off and head out tomorrow instead?)
Rei pondered this while eating the sandwich filled with grilled Gamelion meat marinated in sauce, but a few other people in the dining room had already began to notice his presence.
「Hey, that guy……could it be Crimson?」
「Eh? No, he’s supposed to be out of Gilm right now, isn’t he? Maybe it’s just someone who looks like him? Besides, Crimson’s robe is supposed to be incredibly plain.」
「Eh? But do you think someone wearing such a plain robe could afford to stay at this inn? You can’t afford to stay here without the skill to back it up, you know?」
「Well, it’s not like he’s guaranteed to be staying here. The food here is great, so maybe he just came to eat.」
Hearing the voices around him and judging that things would get bothersome if he stayed, Rei quickly finished his sandwiches while savouring the taste. Downing the vegetable soup, he left the dining room and headed for the stables.
「……Well, I figured she’d be here, but this is exactly as I expected.」
The moment Rei entered the stables, the first thing he saw was Milein feeding a sandwich to Set.
Moreover, the sandwich Milein was holding looked rather familiar.
……It was a matter of course. It was the exact same type of sandwich Rei had just been eating in the dining room.
In other words, Milein had gone out of her way to buy a sandwich from the Dusk Wheat Pavilion’s dining room just to feed it to Set.
「Ah, Rei. ……You’re up pretty early. You could have slept in a bit more, you know.」
「It’s past ten already.」
Rei replied to Milein’s somewhat dissatisfied greeting as he looked around the stables.
Naturally, there were many horses present, but about half of them looked somewhat frightened.
The remaining half that weren’t frightened were either rigorously trained horses or horses that had been in the stables when Rei had stayed at the Dusk Wheat Pavilion before leaving for the Bestir Empire.
(Could it be that the frightened horses……are scared of Mileine, not Set?)
Rei suddenly had that thought as he looked around the stables, but he decided that couldn’t possibly be the case as he spoke up.
「More importantly, did Sulunin talk to you?」
「Eh? Ah, you mean about you needing something from us? Removing the Seed of Contract or whatever? Honestly, as long as I can stay with Set-chan, I’m perfectly satisfied.」
「……You really are something else. Well, as long as you understand. So, what do you want to do? Since we ran into each other here, should I just remove it for you now?」
Rei added that removing the Seed of Contract in a stable felt a bit anticlimactic, but Milein just stared at him intently.
It wasn’t the soft, affectionate gaze she directed at Set, but a sharp one.
「Hey, Rei. I’m happy you’re removing the Seed of Contract. Really, I am happy. But why so suddenly? The whole reason you cast that magic was because we saw Set-chan use powers that normal Griffons don’t have, right? So, why?」
For Milein, removing the magic that binded her was a joyous occasion. ……It was a shame she would lose the strong fire resistance that came as a byproduct, but she was still glad she wouldn’t have to die if something happened.
However, she knew how much Rei cared for Set, and she also knew how incredibly attached Set was to Rei.
It was frustrating……truly frustrating from the bottom of her heart, but Rei was the absolute most important person to Set.
Knowing the bond between the person and Griffon, she couldn’t help but wonder why he was suddenly removing the Seed of Contract.
「Is it that strange?」
「Of course it is.」
「Well, to put it simply……I participated in the civil war that broke out in the Bestir Empire, and during that time, I used Set’s skills completely out in the open in front of a massive crowd. It’s known to the point where there’s no hiding it anymore.」
「……What on earth have you been doing? Better yet, what were you thinking!? Set-chan already draws enough attention just by being a Griffon! And why are you getting involved in a civil war in the first place!?」
「A lot of things happened, alright? A lot of things.」
He couldn’t exactly reveal his reasons for getting involved in the civil war here, so he dodged the question.
This civil war had been orchestrated by the cooperation of the Neutral and Aristocratic Factions of the Mireana Kingdom. He couldn’t just casually talk about it in public.
「Even so, with your power, Rei, you didn’t have to go out of your way to reveal Set-chan’s secret, did you?」
「……Maybe, but if I hadn’t, I would have died.」
Milein’s eyes widened dramatically at Rei’s words. She was so shocked she nearly crushed the sandwich in her hand.
「You nearly died……what kind of situation could possibly cause that?」
The Rei that Milein knew possessed enough power to overwhelm an entire army on his own. She couldn’t even begin to imagine a scenario where someone like that would struggle……let alone nearly die.
「Well, I ended up fighting a rather strong opponent.」
「……Exactly what kind of opponent would make you say something like that?」
Hearing Rei’s words, Milein urged him to continue, her interest clearly piqued.
Rei hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should tell her, but he decided there was no need to keep it a secret and answered plainly.
「The Bestir Empire’s S rank adventurer, Noiz, the Immovable.」
「-!?」
That name was completely unexpected for Milein. Her eyes widened, and she stared at Rei for a few seconds, as if trying to gauge the truth of his words, before asking timidly.
「Really?」
「Yeah. Well, as for the result…… how should I put it? Set and I fought together, and technically he retreated, but considering how the fight went, it was more like we lost, or he let us go. He really lived up to his S rank. I was pretty confident in my fighting ability, but I never expected it to turn out like that……that’s how it felt.」
「Well, of course! S rank? Your rank is……B, right? It’s honestly more surprising that you managed to fight him at all with that rank difference.」
「Anyway, because of that, I went all out with Set’s skills during the final and biggest battle of the civil war. Once I used his skills in front of a huge crowd, I figured there was no hiding it anymore, so I just spammed them against the enemy. ……Right now, a lot of people in the Bestir Empire know Set is a Griffon rare species. Because of that, there’s no need to keep you bound by the Seed of Contract anymore.」
「Gururu~」
Set gave a cry at Rei’s explanation. Milein hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.
「But I’ll miss the fire resistance. If we aren’t going to talk about Set-chan anyway, the Seed of Contract is basically just a blessing, isn’t it?」
「It’d be highly unnatural if you were the only one unable to speak while everyone else was talking about Set. ……Don’t worry, I’ll leave the fire resistance intact.」
「You can do that?」
「Yeah. Though it’s only possible because the Seed of Contract has been inside you, constantly interacting with your magic power, for such a long period. And you have an affinity for it.」
Milein thought for a moment before giving a small nod at Rei’s words.
「……I understand. Please, go ahead.」
Hearing Milein’s consent, Rei took the Death Scythe out from the Misty Ring and began an incantation.
『Fire, use the Seed of Contract within them as fuel to become her strength.』
A small flame appeared at the tip of the Death Scythe……and Rei directed that flame toward Milein.
『Quiet Flame.』
The moment the spell activated, the small flame was sucked into Milein’s body……and she clearly felt the sensation of something burning within her.