「Ohh-! Rei. It’s been such a long time. It’s late for me to say this, but thanks to you, we were able to win the war against the Bestir Empire and the Neutral faction was able to maintain its respect. Thank you for that.」

Inside Daska’s office, in the lord’s residence. As soon as Rei entered, Daska, who had been cleaning up documents at his desk, stood up from his chair with a smile on his stern face as he thanked Rei.

At first glance, he looked like a grim middle-aged man who could be a warrior or a knight, so it was surprising to see the mismatch of someone like Daska doing paperwork. However, Rei only laughed at that in his mind.

「I was hired as a mercenary, so I was just doing my job.」

「Hahaha. That’s right, but you still played a very big role. Transporting supplies and using Set to keep a watch on the surroundings as we marched. Your biggest help was in battle. If you hadn’t been there, us Neutrals and the Aristocratic faction would have suffered a lot of damage. I was late to come back to Gilm because of the mess in the Royal Capital that I had to deal with, but did the guild master give you the magic tent?」

「Yes, it was very useful on my trip to Emoshion.」

「I see, that’s good then. That magic tent was one of the best magic items I had. It’s a bit old and there’s no fire or water in it, but it’s still fine to use when camping out at night.」

「That’s true. In my case, I have a dagger that can make water and I can use magic to create a fire. It is a bit of a hassle to have to do that outside the tent, but it’s like day and night comparing it to camping outside normally.」

Daska nodded with a smile at Rei’s words.

To Daska, it might have been a smile of satisfaction, but to others who didn’t know him, they might see it as a smile closer to that of a savage carnivorous animal.

It was the day after Rei had decided to take the rank up quest. He had come to the lord’s residence to thank Daska for the magic item he had been given. Strangely, all the knights he met, and even their boss, Daska, were surprisingly friendly to him.

If you thought about it though, it wasn’t really that much of a surprise considering how much Rei had benefited them. Originally, they would have likely suffered a great amount of damage to their vanguard forces, but Rei’s magic meant that they had suffered almost no casualties. Thus, that alone was already sufficient to increase the influence of the Neutral faction within the Mireana Kingdom.

Daska had remained in the Royal Capital for such a long time to take advantage of his additional influence and had only returned to his territory in Gilm several days ago.

After returning to Gilm, he had to deal with one task after another, hearing about what had happened in Gilm while he had been away. He had spent the past few days sorting that all out when Rei had come.

Because of that, it was natural for Daska to be in a good mood.

「That aside, that Lemrace. I heard in the Royal Capital that Emoshion had been blockaded by a monster……well, you did solve that problem in the end. Thanks for that.」

「No, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Besides, the Lemrace was a highly intelligent monster. Why would it blockade Emoshion? It won’t be perfectly safe unless the cause is eventually found.」

「……That’s true. That part is certainly still not known. However, I have heard rumours that researchers will be dispatched from the Royal Capital, so you won’t need to worry about that. Rather.」

Daska, who had been smiling and talking in a good mood, suddenly turned serious as he looked at Rei.

「I heard you met with Duke Quent’s daughter?」

「Yes, I have. Is there any problem with that?」

「……No, I don’t have the right to stop you from meeting who you want, so I can’t say I have a problem with that. Rather, how was it? Seeing the young lady.」

「Well, she was surprising in various ways. It’s amazing to see someone able to use magic so well even though they are less than 10 years old.」

「When you say that about her magic, I can only hear it as sarcasm.」

Daska said that with a wry smile. However, unlike Rei, who could only use fire magic, Marka was definitely amazing in the sense that she was good at wind, earth an light magic.

(Well, I don’t think I would lose to her if we fought.)

Rei was aware that he wasn’t a match for Marka in terms of the range of magic they could use, but he didn’t think that she would be able to handle the fire magic that he specialised in.

That said, she was also followed by Coan, who could serve as her vanguard.

「For now, I’m just friends with Marka.」

「……Friends. Well, if you say that, I won’t say anything more. But be careful, Marka aside, her father is pretty determined person.」

「Yes, thank you for your advice.」

At Daska’s advice, Rei bowed his head honestly.

「So then, may I ask what your plans for the future are? You’re going to take the rank up test, so can I think that you plan to continue working in Gilm as an adventurer for a while?」

「……No. I’m sorry, but I’m planning to go to the Labyrinth City soon.」

「The Labyrinth City? ……Well, if you want to collect magic stones and magic items, then that’s not a bad place to go. However, it’s going to be tough to go down a dungeon by yourself.」

Daska looked at Rei worriedly.

When he had still been serving in the knights back at the Royal Capital, Daska had once received a mission to go down the dungeon in the Labyrinth City. He spoke with a seriousness that only those who had seen the real thing could have.

However, Rei shook his head with a small smile at Daska’s words.

「It’s fine. I won’t be going down alone. There’s Set as well.」

Originally, he had wanted to say that he would be going down the dungeon with Elena. However, Rei hesitated to explain it, considering the difference in stance between the Neutral and Aristocratic factions.

「I see. ……I see.」

Daska nodded twice with a smile as he realised it.

It wasn’t hard to see Rei’s reluctance to say any more and having known Rei for so long, it wasn’t hard for Daska to guess what Rei was hesitating about.

(If I had to make a guess……it’s probably the General Princess.)

There was a dungeon close to Gilm. The two of them had first met on the way there and they had met again during the war with the Bestir Empire. Daska knew that their relationship had gotten closer. However, naturally, he had no right to speak about the love affairs of others. Of course though, Daska did hope that the relationship between the two would help to create a friendly relationship between the Neutral and Aristocratic factions.

Because of that, although he was very much aware of Rei’s plans, Daska diverted the subject without saying anything more.

「The rank up test though. If you pass that, you’ll be the fastest adventurer to have reached B rank.」

「I don’t know too much about that.」

Rei shrugged his shoulders as he drank some cold water a maid had given him to quench his thirst.

The ice water in the cup was more than enough to welcome guests in summer.

As he drank all the water and placed his cup on to the table, there was a knock on the door.

「Come in.」

「Excuse me, Daska-sama. It’s about time you promised to meet with Baron Milotos. What would you like to do?」

The maid who entered gave an graceful bow as she asked Daska.

Daska, who had been focusing on his discussion with Rei, seemed to had forgotten about a prior appointment.

(Or maybe he didn’t want to see him.)

Rei frowned slightly as he thought to himself.

However, Rei couldn’t detain Daska if Daska had made a prior appointment with another noble, nor did he have the need to keep Daska here. After all, Rei had only come to the lord’s residence to thank Daska for the magic tent he had been given before he went to Emoshion.

「Well, Daska-sama looks to be busy, so I’ll be on my way……ahh, I almost forgot about this, here.」

Saying that, Rei took a large 50cm long fish out of the Misty Ring. It was a conspicuous fish that numerous green and red scales all over it. When he had seen it at a fishmonger in Emoshion, he had wondered if it would have been targeted by monsters in the sea, being so conspicuous.

He had heard from the owner of the fishmonger that it was a fish that lurked around the crevices in rocks and seaweed. It was also a delicious fish, which was why he had decided to buy it.

「Wow, this fish……?」

「It’s a souvenir from Emoshion. Please eat it for dinner if you’d like. Fortunately, at this size, it should be enough for Daska-sama to eat with others. By the way, the recommended way to eat it from the fishmonger was to steam it and pour a sour sauce over it.」

「……Is that so, thank you. Here.」

「Yes, leave it to me. I will use it for tonight’s dinner.」

The maid bowed her head at Daska’s words and took the big fish from Rei before leaving.

The way she took the fish with her bare hands and calm face gave Rei a bit of a strange feeling.

「……Then, I’ll take my leave.」

「Oh, please do your best in the rank up test. As the lord of this city, I’m glad to have high rank adventurers come out from here.」

Daska didn’t seem to feel anything strange about the maid and had no change in his expression as he saw Rei off.

 

 

「Gurururu~」

Seeing Rei leave the lord’s residence, Set gave a delighted cry as he ran up to him.

When Rei had first visited the lord’s residence, Set had stayed in the stables. However, after visiting so many times, the knights had become accustomed to Set and let him run freely.

Part of the reason might have been because Rei and Set had been the first to strike in the war with the Bestir Empire, resulting in a surprisingly low amount of casualties on their side. Some of the knights would now even give Set dried meat as thanks if they saw him on the streets.

This time, Set still had some dried meat in his beak.

That was why his cry was a slightly lower pitch than usual.

「What, did you receive some dried meat?」

「Gururu~」

Lightly stroking Set’s head, they headed towards the main gate of the lord’s residence.

They had met with the gatekeepers there many times and he had become a familiar face to them.

In fact, it had been the gatekeepers who helped him out this morning when he came to the lord’s residence this morning.

There were usually two of them at the gate, but today, there seemed to be only one of them around.

「Hm? Are you finished already? That was quite quick.」

「Yes, it was because Daska-sama had an appointment with another noble.」

「……I see. Now that you mention it, another carriage passed through just a bit earlier.」

The gatekeeper frowned as he muttered to himself. It seemed like it hadn’t been someone he liked.

Seeing that, Rei decided it wouldn’t be any good to press further and went out the gate with Set.

As he was about to head back to the city, Rei suddenly decided to take out an overnight dried fish from the Misty Ring.

「Have this.」

「Hm? This is……a fish?」

Rei nodded as he handed it over to the gatekeeper, who had a doubtful expression.

「I’m not sure if you knew, but I went out to Emoshion. It’s a souvenir, not a bribe. I’ve been indebted to Daska-sama, so this is to thank you.」

「Oh, a sea fish? It’s definitely rare around here. Thank you.」

The gatekeeper received the overnight dried fish with a smile as he continued.

「Well, it’s true that bribing a gatekeeper like me doesn’t make any sense. Besides……who would give a fish as a bribe, guess I won’t worry about it. I’ll enjoy this fish for dinner tonight.」

「Please do so.」

Raising his hand in goodbye, Rei and Set left the lord’s residence and headed into the city.

First of all, he had to hand out souvenirs from Emoshion to the people he knew, then he had to prepare for the rank up test.

 

 

Like so, the remaining two days passed……and the day where more details about the rank up test would be explained arrived.

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