Rei and Set checked into a room for the night at the Dusk Wheat inn before heading to the Lord’s residence.

It was almost sunset, but Rei judged that it wouldn’t be a problem to pay Daska a visit at this time.

That said, he was the only one going.

Set was originally going to go with Rei, but after news of his return quickly spread through Gilm, as soon as he stepped outside the inn, Set was caught by people wanting to play with him.

With so many people taking care of him and giving him food, Set was more than happy to stay where he was.

「Looking around……it doesn’t seem like much has changed.」

Rei muttered to himself as he made his way down the streets and looked around.

He had been away from Gilm for less than two months, so in a sense, this was only natural.

Even so, there were more people passing through than usual, partly because it was summer, and the atmosphere felt a bit different.

As he continued along the street, almost like a tourist, the number of shops gradually started to decrease as more and more guards started to appear.

This change continued as Rei got closer to the Lord’s residence.

「Hey, you. What are you doing here?」

One of two guards walking in his direction called out to him.

Unfortunately, the guard had only arrived in Gilm 10 days ago and had only gotten the role through connections.

That was why he had called out to Rei, who looked a little suspicious wearing the hood of his Dragon Robe.

If Set had been with him, it might have been a different story.

Even the new guard had heard a lot about Set with how well known he was in Gilm.

Despite being an A rank monster, Set had reached the status of being Gilm’s mascot primarily because he didn’t attack people and was rather friendly.

In any case, the new guard called out to Rei in an attempt to quickly claim credit, but……

「Hm? Oh, it’s Rei. When did you get back to Gilm?」

As if to make up for the new guard’s mistake, the guard working with him waved to Rei when he saw him.

Rei lightly raised his hand in response as he replied to the guard who had asked him in a friendly tone.

「Just a while earlier. I’m headed for the Lord’s residence because I’ve some business with Daska.」

「Hmm. Adventurers all have their troubles to deal with. Well, please don’t cause any strange commotions. Oh, and this is a new guy, he just joined the guard recently.」

「Eh? Senior? Eh?」

The guard who had first called out to Rei let out a bewildered voice as he saw Rei casually chatting with his senior.

Seeing him like that, the senior guard spoke with a wry smile.

「This guy here is Rei. He’s a pretty famous C rank adventurer in Gilm.」

「Oh. That was before I left Gilm.」

「……Rei?」

Saying Rei’s name out loud and realising that Rei was a B rank adventurer, the new guard finally seemed to realise who he was talking to.

His eyes and mouth went wide as if he had run into a high ranking monster.

「Rei……could you be, Crimson?」

「I am often called that.」

「Pardon me!」

As soon as Rei confirmed his title, the new guard immediately bowed his head.

It made sense though.

The title of Crimson was famous for various reasons. Both in good ways……and in bad ways.

With regards to the well known stories Rei was infamous for, the most well known one was mercilessly killing nobles that he didn’t like.

……The fact that the stories weren’t that different from reality part of what made Rei, Rei.

「Calm down, he won’t attack you for no reason.」

「But, senior……」

「……It looks like we should move on. For now, if there’s nothing more, can we get going?」

「Y-Yes!」

The new guard immediately nodded in confusion.

Seeing his response, the senior guard gave a small smile and shrugged his shoulders before looking at Rei.

It’s time to give the new guard a break.

Silently indicating that to Rei, the senior guard gave a sigh before lightly tapping the shoulder of the frozen guard, who seemed worried that he would be eaten up by Rei if he so much as moved slightly.

The moment the senior guard’s hand touched his shoulder, the frozen guard let out a breath in relief after realising he was alive and unharmed.

The senior guard looked at the new guard, who had a frightened look in his eyes.

「You really are too easily scared.」

「But……that’s Crimson, isn’t it? Rumors say he burned the entire Bestir Empire army and scorched the land because he didn’t like them.」

「……No, that’s not quite right.」

「But, from what I’ve heard……」

「Rumors, for better or worse, always grow bigger.」

From what Rei heard, the rumors seemed to contain a mixture of both truth and lies, but he ended up leaving without clarifying anything.

 

 

「Oh, Rei. It’s been a while. Anything happen all of a sudden?」

Rei was currently facing the frontier lord, Margrave Daska Rowlocks, in the lord’s office.

The gatekeeper to the Lord’s residence remembered Rei, so he was allowed to visit Daska without running into any issues.

Still, normally, it wouldn’t have been possible to request a meeting and be granted permission immediately. Margrave Rowlocks’ position wasn’t a light post.

However, fortunately for Rei, he was a unique existance in many ways.

This went not only for his personality and abilities, but also his achievements.

For that reason, Rei himself was seen as something like Daska’s sword, which was why he first returned to Gilm before heading for the Bestir Empire.

「It’s been a while Daska-sama. Actually, I have to go to the Bestir Empire for a bit of a wild request……」

When Rei said that, Daska’s face, which had held a smile……suddenly disappeared.

The reflection in his eyes was no longer that of a friend, but of the noble, Margrave Rowlocks.

「What do you mean? Can you tell me the situation?」

「Before that……please take this.」

Rather than explaining in his own words, he handed over a letter than he had taken out from the Misty Ring to Daska.

It was the letter Elena had written to explain the circumstances of the situation.

「……」

Daska silently accepted and opened it as he read through the letter.

The letter itself wasn’t that long and he finished it in under a minute.

But, even after finishing the letter, Daska didn’t say anything in particular and just groaned as he looked through the letter again.

This happened three times before he eventually put the letter on his desk with a sigh and looked at Rei before speaking.

「……I understand the general situation from Elena-dono’s letter.」

Saying that, he let out another big sigh.

It seemed the situation was highly unexpected for him.

The fact that Vihera, the second princess of the Bestir Empire, had been living in Exil, in the Mireana Kingdom, and above all, that Theorem had gone to find Vihera.

「There are many things……many things I want to ask about, but you said you found a magic items called paired orbs? So you can communicate with Elena-dono?」

「Yes.」

Rei nodded briefly and immediately took out his paired orb from the Misty Ring.

He then poured magic power into it.

On the other side, it seemed that Elena had expected Rei to arrive in Gilm today from her nightly conversations with him. Before long, Elena’s face was reflected in the orb and she spoke up without any particular sign of panic.

『Rei? Since you’ve activated the paired orbs at this time, it seems you’ve arrived in Gilm.』

「Yeah. I’m in Daska-sama’s office right now. Daska-sama wanted to talk to you, so I activated the paired orbs.」

Saying that, Rei moved the orbs so that Elena could see Daska instead of himself.

『Oh, that’s fine. It’s been a while, Daska-dono.』

「Hmm, it’s been a while. ……So, about what you wrote in your letter.」

『Yes. As far as I understand, everything in the letter is correct.』

「Then, the second princess of the Bestier Empire really……this has become another troublesome situation. Even if it was just the last war, the Bestir Empire holds a grudge against us because of treaty that was signed at the end of the war.」

Daska let out a bitter sigh.

As the war had ended with the Mireana Kingdom’s victory, the Mireana Kingdom was naturally in an advantageous position with regards to the end of war treaty.

Especially with regards to things like reparations and ransoms for those who had become prisoners of war.

For that reason, it was clear that the current Bestir Empire harboured a large amount of hatred for the Mireana Kingdom.

At least, that was the case for the upper echolon of the Bestir Empire.

Under such circumstances, if it became known that the second princess, who was quite popular in the Empire, held feelings for the person who had determined victory and defeat in the war against the Mireana Kingdom……it might even lead to another war in the worst situation.

『I can certainly understand Daska-dono’s thinking. However, if we take this opportunity to rescue His Highness Mercurior, as requested, it will be an opportunity to consume the Bestir Empire’s strength and national power. Especially if His Highenss Mercurio manages to become the next emperor, it would be the birth of a pro-Mireana Kingdom emperor.』

「……But, that’s only if everything goes well, right?」

Daska’s words seemed to be testing her, but Elena responded with a beautiful smile.

『I didn’t think those words would come from someone who knows Rei, Daska-dono.』

With just those words, Daska was at a loss on how to respond.

The fact was that Rei had successfully completed all his previous requests, some of which had been extremely difficult.

Considering Rei’s achievements and his 100% request completion rate, Daska couldn’t say that he didn’t trust Rei. And, above all, Daska did trust Rei’s skills.

『Besides, I’ve already hired someone who can use summoning magic to inform my parents about this matter. Do you think my father will miss such a good opportunity?』

「Certainly, Duke Kerebel wouldn’t miss this opportunity.」

What would happen if they could install a pro-Mireana Kingdom emperor in the Bestir Empire, which had historically been an enemy nation?

Even if things didn’t go that far, the creation of a pro-Mireana Kingdom faction was good enough.

It was clear that this would reverse the power discrepancy between the Royalist and Aristocratic factions……or at the very least, significantly narrow the power gap.

In that case, should I take advantage of these events? Daska thought about it, but as expected, it wasn’t a matter that could be decided on immediately.

「……For now, I’ll just say that I’m looking at this positively.」

『That’s isn’t a problem. But don’t forget that Rei has to leave Gilm as soon as possible.』

「The autumn tournament, huh? It’s a pretty big event even for the Bestir Empire.」

It was precisely because they were enemies that the Bestir Empire would invite nobles from the Mireana Kingdom to the tournament.

To show off their strength.

Especially because they had lost the Spring War this year, it was clear that they would be sending out invitations to many more countries to show their neighbours that their national strength had not declined.

In that case, it was only natural that Daska, the leader of the Mireana Kingdom’s neutral faction, would receive an invitation. In fact, the invitation had already arrived.

After all, Daska was one of the key players in the Spring War. Even the Bestir Empire didn’t want their neighbouring countries to think that they were worried about losing another war by not sending out an invitation.

That said, it was rare for a faction leader to visit directly. It was more common for a subordinate or confidant to be sent as a proxy.

「In this case, if I’m going to support this directly, it would be better to go in person. I’ll need to think a little more about that.」

Daska muttered out loud, as if thinking about something.

After that, Elena and Daska continued to exchange more detailed information on the matter and how to proceed.

In the meantime, Rei snacked on sandwiches and drank the tea brought over by a maid as he focused on listening in to the discussion.

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