She felt the eyes of people in the area gather on her. However, Elena didn’t care about them as she looked at the person who had caused all this trouble.

Renodis Imarhen. He was the heir to Marquis Imarhen, and while capable, had a tendency to look down on others.

As she recalled the character of the person in front of her, Elena let her magic power flow through her sword whip, returning it to its normal state, before sheathing it at her waist.

「I felt that trouble was probably going to happen……Renodis, what are you doing to my subordinate and guest?」

Twitch.

Renodis’s body reacted at those words which were spoken without any emotion.

Renodis considers others as people to be used by him, but he wasn’t that stupid to oppose the daughter of Duke Kerebel. Even in a fight, he considered it dangerous because Elena was someone on equal levels with him. And most of all, she was the one who would become his wife in future.

However, the fact that he judged Elena to be his equal in battle was only because of his own great pride. That said, it was also true that if he could admit he wasn’t her equal, he wouldn’t have the personality he had.

With his sword’s blade sliced right in half, he shook his head with a smile.

「Elena-sama, if you have such a stern expression, your beautiful face will be ruined. Right now……」

As he said that, he turned to look at Ara and Rei.

He knew at this point that saying anything about Ara right now, even if she had acted against him, would make Elena unhappy because Ara was her childhood friend. To Renodis, Ara was just a fox borrowing the power of tiger……no, more like a lizard borrowing the power of a dragon. Still, he wanted to avoid dampening Elena’s mood, since he wanted to make her his wife. Because of that, his gaze turned towards Rei, who was next to Ara.

(It looks like he’s wearing some kind of magic item, but it doesn’t seem to be a very good quality magic item. The clothes he is wearing under his robe are also extremely shabby. In other words, he’s not a noble……since he’s at this battlefield, he’s probably an adventurer.)

He immediately made his judgement after glancing at Rei.

The fact that he could tell that Rei’s Dragon Robe wasn’t ordinary, but a magic item, was a real sign of Renodis’s ability. However, even though he could tell it was a magic item, he was unable to understand the quality of the Dragon Robe due to its strong effect of concealment.

「Because that adventurer over there wasn’t understanding of his own position, I was thinking of giving him a little discipline.」

Elena frown slightly at Renodis’s words.

Seeing that, Ara threw all sorts of abuse at Renodis in her mind, who had just stepped on all of Elena’s landmines.

It was true that in appearance, Rei couldn’t compare to the noble Renodis. However, Rei was someone that Elena, her superior, admired. For him to insult Rei, especially after Elena had sent Yellow to Gilm and started to show her side as a girl.

(I have to handle this somehow……)

Normally, Ara would have been the first one to charge out. But, she knew what would happen if Elena and Renodis were to start a duel. They had also started to draw more people here compared to before.

「This adventurer is a friend of mine. Pointing your sword at him is the same as pointing it at me, wouldn’t you say?」

「……No, if you’re an acquaintance of Elena-sama, I’ll let this pass.」

At any rate, even if Rei was just an adventurer, Renodis must have realised the foolishness of entering a head on conflict with Elena. Renodis returned his sword, blade broken in the middle, back to to its sheath.

However, he didn’t forget to glare at Rei at the very end.

(I didn’t have anything to do with this though? Why is he glaring at me?)

As Rei thought to himself, he decided that the incident had nothing to do with him now that it was all resolved. Why did he glare at him even though it was Ara that had brought things to this stage? It would have been fine if he had been the one involved in the incident……was what Rei thought, but he knew better than to say that here.

If Renodis had heard his thoughts, it would likely get even more troublesome.

「Sorry Elena-sama. I caused necessary trouble.」

「Don’t worry about it. His actions have been too much for me and it was convenient to take him down a notch. ……Rather, Rei, it’s been a long time.」

Elena nodded at Ara and smiled at Rei as they came over.

At the same time, those who were watching from the surroundings, regardless of gender, where shocked by Elena’s smiling face.

It was not the smile of the General Princess. Rather, it was her own smile as Elena Kerebel.

Their next thought was who the smile was directed towards. Even if the majority of them did not know Rei’s name, there were no other adventurers with a Griffon. He was conspicuous enough that anyone among the 100,000 people that formed the Mireana Kingdom’s army would know about him. Rei’s prominence was inevitable, alongside the rumours that Margrave Daska Rowlocks had spread, saying that he was a hidden trump card of the Neutrals faction.

「Ah. It looks like you’ve been doing well. I was a bit worried when I sent Yellow back, but it seems he arrived back safely.」

「That’s right. I read your letter……well, I also got a lot of other things.」

The figures of Kenny and Lenora that Elena had seen through Yellow flashed past her mind for a moment, but perhaps because it was only for a moment, there wasn’t any change in her expression. But……

(Elena-sama……)

For Ara, who had been with Elena since they were children, it was very easy to understand her unusual behaviour.

Still, because of her devotion to Elena, she refrained from saying anything.

「Well then, let’s not talk here any further. Do you want to come to my tent? I’d like to hear about what you’ve been doing since then.」

Elena’s tent. At those words, a buzz started to stir again. The adventurers, knights and soldiers near Elena didn’t fully understand, but the nobles who knew what she meant were all surprised. After all, this was Elena they were talking about. Despite her beauty, she had never had a lover. If she had ever called a man to her tent, it was always either her subordinates or colleagues from her position as General Princess. But, those who saw her smile a few seconds ago wouldn’t think that way.

「Ah, sure. I would like to do that as well, but……」

Rei looked at the sky while speaking. It was still too early to call it sunset, but it was already late into the afternoon.

「Hm? What is it? Was there something you had to do? I won’t force you in that case.」

「……No, it’s not a problem. I have have to prepare meals for dinner in about 30 minutes, is that fine with you?」

Elena’s eyes seemed lonely for a moment at Rei’s words, but went back to normal in an instant. Right after, Rei replied to Elena and told her there was no problem.

「Of course, I don’t mind. I can’t be too unreasonable since you were hired by Daska-dono.」

Right after he said that, Ara walked forward to guide Rei.

「Over here, Rei-dono. Let’s get moving. Elena-sama’s tent is ahead.」

「Okay. Set.」

「Guru~」

In response to Rei’s call, Set waved his tail, put Yellow on his back and proceeded to walk through the noble’s camp as if it were his own.

The people who saw them leave had a wide range of expressions. Some were astonished that Rei was accompanied by a Griffon, such a high ranking monster. Some envied his ability to talk with a beauty like Elena. Others were fascinated by Yellow, the little dragon on Set’s back. ……And, there were also several nobles who didn’t find it acceptable for an adventurer to speak on such friendly terms with the General Princess.

With such gazes on their backs, Rei and the others left, guided by Ara.

(Even they’re all nobles, they are all different.)

The figure of Siminar Gupsos, who he had met on the hill, passed through Rei’s mind. One was from a Count’s house and the other was from a Marquis. Yet, Siminar’s friendly attitude was vastly different to Renodis, which caused Rei great surprise when he thought about it. However, it might also just have been because the two nobles he had just encountered were of two extremes.

He contemplated that by himself. Ara continued walking silently without saying anything……and eventually, a tent came into Rei’s view.

「Heh, so it’s something like that as well.」

The tent used by Rei’s employer, Daska, was also a high quality tent and magic item. Back then, Rei’s eyes had been wide in surprise, but the tent before him now was comparable to Daska’s……no, rather, it was obviously a higher class magic item.

「As long as I remain the General Princess, this kind of appearance is absolutely necessary. This is the same carriage from last time.」

A carriage and horse were to the side of the tent. Normally, warhorses and work horses would be kept in the same place, but the horse used by Elena had been bred with magic and doubled as an extra watch for people who tried to sneak into Elena’s tent at night, both for those who wanted to make a move on her or assassins from the Bestir Empire. For that reason, it was connect to her tent on one side as a special case.

「Come in, let’s talk over a cup of tea. Ah, you can come in as well, Set.」

Elena, who knew about the relationship between Rei and Set, opened the tent entrances without care.

That said, part of the reason was due to the wariness Elena’s favourite warhorse, which was bred as a first class warhorse, showed towards Set.

Although Set and the horse had travelled to the dungeon together previously, it seemed that it had been unable to get used to a Griffon like Set during that time. However, in this case, the reason it was unable to get used to Set’s presence was because it was a warhorse trained to detect danger. In the stables of the Dusk Wheat, where Rei stayed at Gilm, the horses and other tamed animals had gotten used to Set within a few days……or rather, their sense of danger was numbed and they stopped kicking up a fuss. Even then, they were still unable to settle down completely whenever Set was nearby.

「Gururu~」

As for Set, he didn’t have any intention to scare the warhorse, so he entered the tent with a cry.

And……

「I thought the tent was quite great when looking from the outside, but after actually coming inside, it’s completely different from the tents we’re using.」

Rei mumured to himself in admiration as he looked around.

From the outside, the tent was only 10 tatami (~16m^2) in size, but in the inside it was over 20 tatami in size (~32.5m^2). Even the furniture in the tent was unlike what would normally be found on a battlefield. Compared to the carriage outside the tent, which Rei had travelled in to go to the dungeon, this was far more luxurious.

「It’s a gift from my father. After all, it’s not uncommon for me to head to battlefields as the General Princess. ……That said, this is the first time I’ve used this tent.」

「……This tent was prepared as a reward for Elena-sama’s successful Inheritance Ceremony. Originally, Elena-sama’s position as the General Princess was primarily a symbol for the nobles, but now she also has the power of an Ancient Dragon. Because of that, this tent was prepared so that people wouldn’t look at her strangely when she practised her powers. Even though this tent is one of Duke Kerebel-sama’s magic items, this item would normally have been passed down by inheritance to the next lord.」

Perhaps she thought Elena’s words didn’t explain enough. Ara added a few points while preparing tea.

「That’s right. That said, I don’t think this war will end in just skirmishes like it used to. That is why he probably gave me this tent, which is usually passed to the next lord.」

「……Duke Kerebel-sama wants Elena-sama to return safely. That was why he also dispatched Philma-sama, his right hand man and the Knight Leader of the Kerebel Knights. I’ve brewed some tea, so please go to the sofas.」

Rei and Elena sat down on a sofa in the tent as prompted by Ara. Set lay down on the floor next to Rei.

Remembering the time they had gone to the dungeon, Ara put a cup of tea on the table with a slight smile on her face.

[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]