「……Fuu~. As expected, the black tea that Ara brews is delicious.」

Inside the tent, praised Ara with a smile as she brought a cup of tea to her mouth.

Rei also nodded, silently agreeing with Elena, as he also brought the tea to his mouth.

「Thank you very much. ……Set and Yellow can eat these.」

Thanking Elena, Ara placed a plate of fruit for Set, who was lying down next to Rei, and Yellow, who was on Set’s back.

It was a action that seemed more like that of a veteran maid than of a knight who carried a huge battle axe.

「Well then, again, it’s been a while Rei.」

「That’s right. Last time was at the dungeon? I was surprised Yellow brought the letter. Especially since I was writing a letter to you at that time.」

「Pft, I’m happy to hear that. ……Well, that’s also because Ara wasn’t able to get a letter to you in Baar.」

「But, Elena-sama……I didn’t expect to see Rei-dono again in Baar, so far from Gilm. It couldn’t be helped.」

Ara protested at that comment, but seeing Elena’s eyes looking at her with a mischievous light, she realised what was happening and sighed as there was no point saying anything more.

「Well, don’t worry about it. I didn’t think of writing a letter myself after the surprise meeting with Ara.」

To be exact, Rei knew how long and how much effort it took to exchange letters in Elgin, so he had never thought of sending a letter at all, but Rei continued without saying that out loud.

「Speaking of that. It seems the guild masters have a magic item that allows for long distance communication. If I had something like that, I would be able to talk with Elena whenever I want.」

「……I see. Certainly, I’ve heard of such a magic item. It would also make it easier to deploy my army if I could talk to specific people at any time. ……What do you think, Ara? 」

Even during a conversation with someone she liked, her thoughts turned to how she could efficiently run an army. It wasn’t that Elena didn’t think of others, but it wasn’t without reason that she was called the General Princess.

However, Ara shook her head in response to the General Princess’s question.

「I’ve definitely heard about such a magic item, but it seems to be something that can only be found in dungeons. Alchemists and researchers have been desperately studying them, but what they can currently produce requires a large amount of magic power and only has a range of 20m. In addition, it needs a large amount of valuable materials to produce.」

「Is that so. I had hoped something like that would make it more convenient to control an army……」

Fu~, Elena sighed. At the same time, although it was somewhat impolite, she put her elbow on the table as she looked at Rei.

「Ah, Rei. If such a magic item can only be found in a dungeon, then why not head down a dungeon again?」

Rei felt like he was being sucked in as Elena asked with with moist eyes, but he soon collected himself and gave a small nod.

An ordinary man would have been distracted by Elena’s moist eyes. Right now, she had a glossy aura around her.

(Elena-sama……if she’s like this now, I wonder what will happen when she finally becomes a woman. I often hear the words ‘Beauty of the Kingdom’, but considering Elena-sama’s charm and ability, she’s a ‘War Godess of the Kingdom’. When I think about that, the fact that Rei-dono isn’t only focused on Elena’s beauty is really great. ……Although he’s also a blockhead.)

Not knowing Ara’s thoughts, Rei gently averted his eyes as he spoke.

Of course, even for Rei, it wasn’t that he didn’t care about Elena’s beauty. Her appearance, where her strength and beauty harmonised strangely, had no doubt taken away Rei’s thoughts. Furthermore, Elena had even given him her first kiss. He wasn’t such a child to not feel anything even after that.

「That’s right. After this war is over……that might be a good idea. The only dungeon I know of is the one I went with Elena to, but if I remember, there’s a place in the Mireana Kingdom called the Labyrinth City?」

「Mm. The rare ore that can be taken out from that dungeon as well as materials from monsters that can only be found in that dungeon makes it a city as valuable as Gilm on the frontier. It is one of the most important locations in the Mireana Kingdom.」

「……Monsters that can only be found in that dungeon.」

「Yes. Are you interested?」

Elena looked towards Set who, along with Yellow, was eating the fruit given by Ara.

Her meaning was clear. After all, Elena was the only person outside of Rei who knew about the Magic Beast Art.

And, Rei was also happy for the invitation to descend into a dungeon.

「Ah, yes, very. I’m also interested in the Labyrinth City itself.」

Replying to Elena, Rei patted the back of Set, who was eating fruit.

At the same time, Rei wondered aobut the magic items that could be found from the dungeon.

There were many useful magic items that could be obtained from a dungeon. For example, the ones that allowed two distant people to talk directly to each other, like the ones used by guild masters they had mentioned previously. Another familar example was the Power Axe that Rei used to own that was now used by Ara.

As for the ability to allow communication between distant people, the pair of orbs that Rei received from the Lich he had met in the dungeon, Grimm, would be one of them.

As Rei was thinking about undiscovered magic items, he suddenly realised that Elena was staring at him.

「……What’s wrong?」

「I did bring up the subject of dungeons. However, isn’t it a bit rude to forget about the person in front of you and sink into your own thoughts? Especially since you’re in a woman’s room.」

「Room? ……Ah, that’s true. It definitely is a room.」

At Elena’s sudden words, Rei looked around with a wry smile.

Although they were currently in a tent, the inside didn’t look like a tent that would be found on the battlefield. If someone were to be brought inside without knowing where they were, they would probably think they were in a room.

「Besides, I’ve been the only one talking up until now. I mean, aside from the letter, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, so you should ask me more questions. ……Or, did you not miss me?」

Elena only whispered those last words, but Rei, with his enhanced senses, was able to hear that completely.

(I have been letting Elena do all the talking so far, but I don’t have too much experience what to do now. For now……)

Thinking to himself, he stood up from the sofa and sat down next to Elena, who had been sitting opposite him.

「Hey, what are you doing……」

At Elena’s surprise at his sudden action, Rei gently reached out to her shoulder, which was covered in armour due to their location on the battlefield.

「I’m sorry, I’m not very tactful. Until now, I’ve rarely had the opportunity to be close to a woman……so.」

At Rei’s actions, Elena gave a small smile, which could be described as somewhat melancholic.

「It is the same for me as well. Since I’ve been absorbed in martial and magic training, I’ve lived a different life compared to the average noblewoman. I’m not familiar with relationships between men and women either. But when I kissed you that time, I did it by my own choice.」

Elena placed her hand over Rei’s hand, which was on her shoulder.

As the two of them looked at each other without saying anything……

「Ahem.」

They were brought back to reality at the sound of a purposeful cough and quickly separated.

「I know that Elena-sama and Rei-dono are on good terms, but I would like you to consider your surroundings.」

「That, I’m sorry.」

「It wasn’t intentional.」

At Ara’s jittery gaze, both Rei and Elena immediately apologised before Rei went back to his previous seat.

「Now that both of you have calmed down, let’s get into the main subject.」

「……The main subject?」

Rei had thought that they had just wanted to talk with him since it had been such a long time, so he turned to look at Elena after what Ara said. Hearing Ara’s words, Elena decided that this wasn’t the time to talk about love. With a small nod, she changed from the woman, Elena Kerebel, to the General Princess, Elena Kerebel, as she turned to look at Rei.

「Actually, even before this war began, my father had sent many spies to gather information on the Bestir Empire.」

Rei nodded at Elena’s words without any surprise. Elena’s father was Duke Kerebel, a central figure among the nobility. Obviously, he had heard from Elena that this war was different from the past ones or had understood that from the spies trying to gather information after making their way into Gilm.

Conversely, if Daska, who was a central figure among the Neutral faction, was collecting information about the Bestir Empire, it was easy to guess that the Nobles faction and Royalists would also be doing the same.

「So, did you get any important information? Or, even if you did find out anything, are you allowed to tell me?」

「Ah. My father has given me permission in advance for this matter. And……it’s not completely unrelated to you.」

「It isn’t unrelated to me?」

Rei gave Elena a strange look at those words.

However, Elena just nodded in agreement as she continued.

「One of the spies that entered the Bestir Empire brought back some information. ……It seems that they saw Vel among the Bestir Empire’s expeditionary force. However, at the very end, we lost contact with the person who gave that information.」

「……I see.」

At those words, Rei understood that Elena……or rather, the nobles, had received that information at the expense of the spy’s life.

「Since they were the traitors we let escape, we have to clean them up ourselves.」

「Duke Kerebel didn’t say that explicitly, but I think that is likely the case.」

Ara, who was listening silently to their conversation, agreed with Elena.

This was because Ara had some personal feelings regarding Vel’s betrayal. Or rather, because of Vel’s long association within their group, Ara held more emotions compared to Rei, who had only met him for the first time when he accepted the request for the inheritance ceremony.

「I understand the information. However, although Vel was able to escape at the Altar of Inheritance, he must have been severely injured right? His left arm was cut off from the shoulder and his face was chemically burnt. In such a short period of time……no, healing magic?」

Healing magic didn’t exist in Rei’s original world. But, he had seen it with his own eyes several times and knew how effective it could be. Because of that, Rei spoke his thoughts thinking that Vel could have recovered from the injuries Rei inflicted with healing magic……but, Elena shook her head to say that was incorrect.

「Vel certainly survived his injuries. But, it’s not healing magic……apparently he survived with alchemy or other techniques.」

「……What?」

「According to the report, he had something like tree roots growing from his left arm. As for his face, it was basically Vel’s face, but he had four eyes.」

After hearing those words, Rei understood how Vel had survived. An existence created using a simplified inheritance ritual that Vel himself had told Rei about back in the dungeon. Rei had fought against those created with that technology. They were called.

「Demon Soldiers.」

Rei’s words echoed around the silent tent.

Elena and Ara, who already knew about the existence of Demon Soldiers, nodded silently at Rei’s words.

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