After greeting Lenora and Kenny, Rei continued to talk with them for another 20 minutes. Kenny still felt like she hadn’t talked enough when someone interrupted them.

「Pardon me, could I borrow Rei for a moment?」

It was the lightly armoured warrior who called out to the three of them. However, Lenora and Kenny, who both worked as guild receptionist, had never seen him before.

They didn’t remember the faces of all the people who went through Gilm’s guild, which was considered to be the true home of adventurers, but they wouldn’t forget faces of people with strong presences like the man before them. Because of that, Kenny tilted her head slightly, unsure of who the man was.

It was the same for Lenora, but maybe because of her more serious attitude towards her work as a receptionist, she just looked back politely.

「Ah, I’m sorry. My name is Coan, I work for a certain person. While you were talking with Rei-san, I was able to get all I needed ready.」

「……I see.」

With just those words, the two of them were able to understand what kind of person Coan was.

After all, it had become quite well known that many nobles and their subordinates had gathered at Gilm. All to see Rei, who was in front of them.

「What do you plan to do, Rei-kun?」

「Well, it is true that I did promise him earlier, so I’ll head out for a bit.」

「……Is that so? Then, be careful. It’s better now, but until recently, there were a lot of disturbances.」

Kenny’s words implied that people like Coan had been the cause for all that.

As for Coan, who had come this far to meet with Rei, he knew that many other people with the same purpose as him had caused a wild mess, so he couldn’t refute Kenny’s words. Still……

「But those who had been causing trouble should have already been driven out of the city, so everything should have calmed down now?」

At the very least, Coan wanted to distance his master from such people.

Kenny nodded her head in response without saying anything else, seemingly in agreement.

In fact, most of those who had been expelled from the city were those who had not intended to bring Rei to their side using legitimate means. Thus, Egg and Marina had made their moves from behind the scenes to expel them. So, it was true that the only ones who were allowed to remain in the city were those who had been recognised as people who wanted to properly negotiate with Rei.

Of course, most people had no idea about that.

「Well, I promised you before I came to the guild, so I don’t care about all that. What about Set?」

「Yes, my master told me they would like you to bring him with you.」

Does that mean that Coan’s master isn’t part of the Royalist faction? Rei thought to himself for a moment.

After all, when he had been called up by the Royalist nobles during the war with the Bestir Empire, he had been told by the messenger that he could not bring Set with him.

However, he then recalled that many of the Royalist nobles who had been sent to fight the way had been quite problematic.

(Well, in the end, I’ll just have to see who it is.)

Concluding to himself, Rei turned to Lenora and Kenny.

「In that case, I better get going. If the guild master comes back, please tell her I’ve returned. I’ll come again tomorrow.」

「Mmm……hey, Rei-kun. Why do you want to see the guild master so much?」

Kenny looked a little dissatisfied, but Lenora soon replied to her with a dumbfounded expression.

「You know……it was a request from the guild master……or rather, Rei went to Emoshion with information she provided, so it’s only natural to report back to her when he comes back. Don’t be stupid and just do your work. Even if it isn’t the busiest time of the day, there’s still things that need to be done.」

「Okay, okay……seriously. I had wanted to spend leisurely time together with Rei-kun now that he came back.」

「Yes, yes, do that on your days off.」

Seeing the two of them return to their usual pattern of conversation, Rei felt a strong sense that he had returned.

「Now then, we’ve kept your carriage waiting outside, so let’s go.」

「Sure.」

Led out the guild by Coan, there was a carriage waiting outside.

However, the carriage wasn’t a fany carriage for nobles that Rei had expected, but rather a carriage that would best be described as solid and robust.

OF course, the materials used to build it were expensive materials.

「……Heh.」

While looking at the carriage, Rei’s impression of the noble he had yet to meet increased a notch.

Although having a fancy looking carriage wasn’t bad for a noble, Rei himself wanted to refrain from riding such a garish carriage.

……That said, Rei himself would still have been much more prominent than a carriage, with Set following him around, carry the Death Scythe and having an item box.

「Come in, please.」

Coan opened the carriage door himself and invited Rei inside.

「Set, we’re going.」

「Gurururu~」

Set gave a short cry and got up from where he had been lying and Rei’s voice before he got into the carriage.

The children who had been playing with Set all gave sounds of regret, but they still let him go as they waved their small hands, knowing who was number 1 to Set.

 

 

After leaving the guild, the carriage naturally headed towards the nobles district.

The horse that was pulling the carriage had been intimidated by Set, who was walking beside them, but the carriage driver was skilful enough to stop the horse from running wild.

「So, do you think you can tell me now who wants to see me?」

「Sorry. My master told me that it should be a surprise.」

「A surprise, huh.」

It was true that a surprise would leave a strong impression on the other party when meeting for the first time. But on the other hand, if the surprise did not go well, it would leave a bad first impression. The other party must have known that and yet still didn’t want to tell Rei who they were……

(Are they too confident in themselves?)

As Rei remained slightly confused, the carriage carried on and eventually arrived at the entrance to the nobles district.

What surprised Rei was that they had only needed to give the guards at the entrance to the nobles district a small glance before they were let in without any additional words.

It was proof that the owner of this carriage was someone with considerable power in the nobles district, to the point where they didn’t even need to answer questions like providing ID.

(To have such power in Gilm, a middle-sized city, they would have to be middle ranking nobility at least? If they are part of the Royalist or Aristocratic faction, it would be a big deal. But why would someone that important go all this way to the frontier? I don’t think the risk and return is worth it, no matter how strong I might be. Or…..are they a big shot who can afford to do all this? Well, as far as face value goes, it seems quite likely.)

As Rei thought about that, the carriage continued into the nobles district before eventually stopping.

「Well, it looks like we’ve arrived safely. Then, please. My master is waiting for you.」

Coan opened the door with a small smile as he guided Rei out.

The first thing Rei saw when he got out the carriage made sense, but surprised him at the same time.

It was a place that could be considered the best among the residences in the nobles district. The residence had a strong presences compared to the others around it and was clearly different. The outer gate of the residence had already been passed by the carriage and there was only a huge door before them that led to the entrance hall of the residence.

「This residence?」

「Yes. My master is waiting inside.」

If Rei had a good knowledge of nobility, he would have realised who the owner of the mansion before him. It was the residence of a very famous noble family in the Mireana Kingdom. That is, it was the residence of the Duke of Quent’s family, a major figure in the Royalist faction.

「……I’ll be blunt, I’m not familiar with noble etiquette. If you have any concerns about that, could you suggest that we don’t meet?」

Rei didn’t want to cause Daska or Marina any trouble by causing a strange fuss here. That was why he asked, but Coan gave an unexpected response.

「It doesn’t matter. My master doesn’t like formalities either. If anything……」

Woosh-!

As Coan was about to say something more, an unnatural gust of wind blew out from the mansion.

「Oh, it looks like I’ve been told not to talk about unnecessary things. ……Anyway, you don’t have to worry about etiquette. However, my master is still a noble, so please don’t be rude.」

「……They are definitely a strange person. All right, if you say so, then let’s go. What about Set? He can wait in the garden if you like.」

Rei glanced towards the mansion’s garden.

Despite being in the nobles district, the garden was quite large. It was big enough to have built another noble residence in it.

As Set didn’t care much for cold or heat, if told that he could do what he wanted in the garden, he would have just lied down to wait.

That was what Rei had in mind when he asked. But Coan’s response was again unexpected.

「No, the Griffon……Set, may also enter the residence.」

「Heh. Your master is quite bold.」

Rei had never been so surprised as smile came up on his lips.

It was clear that the earlier gust of wind had been magic, meaning that the person had the self confidence that they could handle a Griffon whether alone or with Coan.

「Come in, please.」

Saying that, Coan opened the door that led to the entrance hall.

As Rei entered with Set, what greeted them was……

「Umu, it’s been hard on you! You did well, Coan!」

Compared to Rei, who was shorter than average in this world, the girl that appeared before him looked to be younger than 10 as she only came up to Rei’s chest in height.

With a big smile on her face, her eyes shone as she looked at Rei and Set.

「……Coan?」

Rei glanced towards Coan for confirmation, but kept his eyes on the girl who was slowly approaching Set with a loving expression.

「Oh, you. Would you let me stroke you a little?」

「Guru~」

As Set like to play with kids in the first place, when the girl in front of him looked and spoke to him with such curiosity, he didn’t refuse and gently stretched out his head to rub against her face.

「Ahaha, ahahahaha. Look Coan. He’s friendly.」

「Of course. I’m glad that you are happy ojou-sama……but as a daughter of the Quent family, I’m not sure you should ignore Rei-san, who you invited.」

「Umu, that is certainly true. Umu, are you Rei, the one they call Crimson? My name is Marka Quent. I am the one who will be the next Duchess of Quent. You should know me.」

「……Coan?」

Rei had expected a dignified noble to appear. Or, he had thought that girl in front him could have been the daughter of the noble……no, rather, it would be impossible for her not to be the daughter of a noble. However, it seemed like this girl was actually the one who wanted to draw Rei to her side.

This must be a mistake right? Coan spoke up with a small smile at Rei’s confused glance.

「Marka Quent-sama. There’s no doubt that she is my master and the one who invited you here today Rei-san.」

「Of course! So you are Rei. You certainly have enough magic power to deserve a title. Admirable!」

Rei’s eyes widened slightly when Marka said that while continuing to stroke Set.

Those words meant that the girl in front of him had undoubtedly felt Rei’s magic power. Yet, she was still able to maintain her current attitude.

There had been many people who had been able to sense Rei’s magic power. However, almost all of them had held some fear towards him after sensing his immense power. Those who displayed no change in their attitude could be counted by him. Yet, the girl in front of Rei could still look back at him with a smile on her face.

(Considering the magic she used to cause that gust of wind earlier, she can’t be ignorant of magic. In that case, she must also have a lot of magic power herself?)

From the way she stroked Set’s head, she could only be seen as an ordinary child. However, the feeling still grew inside Rei that it would be better not to underestimate her.

「Umu, Rei. You and Set……why don’t you work for me? I……or to be exact, the Duke of Quent, would like to have your assistance.」

As she said that while stroking Set’s head, her eyes held such depth that you wouldn’t think they belonged to a little girl.

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