An elderly man in his fifties greeted Daska’s group as they entered the Imperial Capital after the guards’ security check

He came over after Daska’s carriages stopped.

Even though there were three carriages he went straight to Daska’s carriage without hesitation.

But, what was more surprising to Rei than anything else was that the guide didn’t seem to react to Set’s presence at all.

(Is this something unique to a veteran?)

As Rei watched on with admiration in his heart, the guide once again turned to the carriage Daska was in as he gave a deep bow.

「Margrave Rowlocks, welcome to the capital of the Bestir Empire. I am very happy to welcome one of the greatest heroes of the Mireana Kingdom. My name is Ombrel Marmit. Although you won’t be here for a long time, I will do my best to ensure you have a satisfying stay.」

As if to reply, the carriage door opened.

Elk, Min, and Rhodes stepped out of the carriage, followed by Daska.

Giving a small nod towards Ombrel, who was still bowing deeply, Daska spoke up.

「I’m Daska Rowlocks, Margrave of the Mireana Kingdom. I’ll be in your care. Considering our relationship with the Bestir Empire, there has been a lot of turmoil, but I’d like to settle things peacefully.」

「I understand. If there is anything I can do, I will do my best to do it.」

「I see. Then, let’s head to the inn first. Come into the carriage.」

「I understand.」

Saying that, Ombrel boarded Daska’s carriage.

Seeing his response, Rei was a bit surprised.

It was because he realised that Ombrel was definitely someone with a certain level of ability.

No, since he had been able to surprise Rei with just his movements before boarding the carriage, he had to be someone with an unimaginable level of power.

(He’s dressed like a guide, but……could it be the Bestir Empire’s guides also work as guards? Well, it’s not hard to understand if you consider they will have to stick to Daska’s side the whole time. He has a last name, so he’s definitely from a noble family. ……He can’t be someone from Requiem’s Toll, could he?)

Rei thought in his mind, but he ultimately decided there was no need to worry about it. The guide was someone arranged by the upper echelons of the Bestir Empire after all.

At the same time, having someone with a high level of combat power at their side while they remained unaware of their enemies, they couldn’t let their guard down completely.

Elk seemed to have similar thoughts. He gave Rei a meaningful look before boarding the carriage with Ombrel.

Rei shrugged his shoulders in response as he got back onto Set’s back and stroked his neck.

「Set. Various things might happen in the Imperial Capital, but let’s not go too crazy.」

「Gurururu~……」

Set rarely objected to Rei’s words, but this time was different.

His cry was clearly disapproving.

However, his dissatisfaction was not for his own safety, but for Rei’s safety.

Knowing that, Rei gave a slight smile as he stroked Set’s neck.

「It will be fine. There’s no way I’ll lose to those guys around here. And, if anything does happen, the Bestir Empire might reveal some opportunities.」

「Guru~」

Even so, Set gave an anxious cry. But, seeing that Daska’s carriage had started to move, Set reluctantly followed after.

There was no one around as they were currently near the gate reserved for nobles to enter. But, going in a little further, it started to feel more like a normal city……no, it was even busier because of all the tourists who had come for the tournament.

Some inquisitive tourists couldn’t help but stop and stare at Daska’s group as they proceeded prominently down the main street.

「Hey, that carriage. Which noble do you think it is?」

「Hmm, that crest doesn’t look familiar to me. It’s probably not from the Bestir Empire, maybe some small neighbouring country?」

「No, no, hey, wait a moment. Look there. There’s someone riding a Griffon. Wouldn’t someone like that become famous quickly?」

「……Hey, a Griffon……you don’t think it could be Crimson, do you?」

「Crimson? ……Oh, the war! But, Crimson was said to be a tough looking big man, right? The person riding on the Griffon doesn’t seem that big.」

「No, but……are there really that many people who have a tamed Griffon?」

Before he even realised it, Re could hear such conversations.

Rei could only pretend he hadn’t heard anything as his lips distorted into a wry smile.

At first, rumours that Rei was a large person hadn’t existed, but for some reason, such rumours had spread rapidly after he entered the Bestir Empire.

For some reason, even Dune, who had blocked the highway to extort people, had believed that Rei was a large person.

Rei had been skeptical at first, but then again, there hadn’t been that many people who had seen him in person.

This was more so the case for the Bestir Empire, which had been devastated by Rei’s magic.

Those who had participated in the war on the side of the Mireana Kingdom would have had many more opportunities to know what Rei really looked like.

If you heard that Crimson was someone who swung a huge scythe to reap the lives of dozens and hundreds of soldiers and knights of the Bestir Empire, it only made sense to think his build would be equally large to swing such a weapon.

While hearing the discussion around him, Rei wondered what kind of commotion would occur when people realised he was Crimson after joining the tournament. As he thought of that, Rei took a look around.

Naturally, there were quite a number of people watching them, so there had to be some who knew that the crest on the carriages belonged to Daska……Margrave Rowlocks. Rei noticed quite a number of people looking at them with hateful gazes.

They continued to advance through the city while making sure that no one tried doing to anything to them.

「Gurururu~」

At this point, Set gave a cry.

The main street had a lot of pedestrian traffic and, naturally, there were also a lot of food stalls targeting those pedestrians.

Starting with the smell of grilled skewers, there were a wide variety of flavours from freshly baked bread and rich soup to the sweet scent of fruit.

Set was loyal to his appetite, so it was only natural that his stomach asserted itself when faced with so much stimulating food.

Set’s sense of smell in particular was much more acute than humans, which was also why he was drawn to the smells.

「Hey, we can’t do that now. We have to finish procedures at the inn first.」

Rei said that as he tapped Set on the neck, who was about to start moving towards the stalls. Set reluctantly came back to his senses as he followed after Daska’s carriages.

「Haha, so Set was also tempted by the smell?」

A knight asked with a small smile from his horse as he walked alongside Set.

「Yeah, that seems to be the case. However it would be stranger to not get hungry after smelling something this good.」

Replying to the knight, Rei looked over at a bakery stall with a fragrant scent.

The appearance of freshly baked bread all lined up not only made Rei pause, but also other passers-by.

Of course, freshly baked bread couldn’t be made without an oven and an oven took up a lot of space, so it wasn’t possible to have one at a food stall.

The bread might have been baked elsewhere and brought to this stall to sell, but it must have been a hassle to transport freshly baked bread.

At any rate, capital was currently filled with tourists who had come for the tournament and merchants looking to do business.

With the adventurers who had also come to participate in the tournament themselves, the population density was several times higher than usual.

With so many people walking along the main street, there was no doubt that it would have been quite difficult to bring freshly baked bread to the stall.

「It sure smells good, doesn’t it? ……Hey, hey. Why don’t we go over and just get a little bit?」

The one to say that was not Rei……but a knight.

However, it was a different knight to the one Rei had been talking with earlier.

His words were filled with so much emotion that you could tell he wanted to eat the bread lined up at the stall from the bottom of his heart.

「Guru~!」

Of course, Set also agreed.

However……

「What are you thinking? In the first place, we are being watched by everyone around us. If we embarrass ourselves, we will also embarrass Daska-sama!」

The knight was scolded by another knight in a low voice so as to not be heard by people in the surroundings.

Rei also whispered to Set, who had been about to turn towards the bakery.

「Hey, you too Set. When we get to the stables at the inn, I’ll get something for you to eat right away.」

「……Gururu~」

Set turned to look between Rei and the bakery stall behind them before eventually giving up and speeding up his steps.

At the very least, he would have something to eat if they hurried to the inn.

Rei couldn’t help but smile at Set’s expression.

Continuing along the main street, they finally arrived at a huge five-story inn, a rare sight in the world of Elgin.

Such a rare building could be found here precisely because it was the Imperial Capital of the Bestir Empire.

Naturally, the cost of staying at such a inn was something that would make ordinary nobles hesitate. It was a place where only wealthy merchants and high ranking nobles could stay in.

Normally, even Daska would hesitate to stay at such an inn.

However, part of that had to do with the fact that Daska lived in quite the remote region. He placed a high priority on simplicity and robustness, so he would usually prefer to stay away from such a luxurious inn.

But, since they were here on invitation by the Bestir Empire, there was no way they could turn down the lodging that had been prepared.

If they were to refuse, they would have needed a very big reason, but they had no such reason.

「……It’s an amazing inn in many ways.」

Rei muttered as he looked at the sign at the entrance to the inn.

There was a sign that with the words “Eternal Sky Pavilion” written on it, probably the name of the inn.

「The Eternal Sky Pavilion? It’s a rather exaggerated name……is what I would like to say, but seeing the building, I can’t help but agree.」

「I guess so. Rather than that, let’s go inside.」

The knight nodded at Rei’s prompt to keep moving.

Entering through the gates, they immediately saw people. More than 50 employees were waiting in a line in front of the inn.

It was clear that they were here to welcome Daska, but not all guests would be treated like this.

This display of the Bestir Empire’s gratitude showed that they valued Daska as an important guest.

(On the other hand, there is also the possibility that they are trying to make us think that so that we lower our guards……)

Rei thought to himself, but he judged that Daska should have know that as well. Daska turned his gaze to Ombrel, who was conversing with someone who seemed to be in charge of the inn, as he got off his carriage.

The conversation ended in less than a few minutes as several people from the inn came over to Rei and the others……or more precisely, Rei and the knights.

A man in his forties, who seemed to be the inn’s representative, took a step forward as he spoke up.

「Nice to meet you, Margrave Rowlocks, everyone. My name is Dantasto, I am in charge of the stables here at the Eternal Sky Pavilion. I will show you the stables, so please follow me.」

「Ah, that’s fine, you guys got to the stables.」

The person who said that was Daska, who got off his carriage to talk with Ombrel and the inn manager.

As expected, Rei and the knights couldn’t go against their employer’s order as they headed for the stables.

For a moment, Rei wondered what would happen with the carriages, but he then saw an inn employee unloading luggage from the carriages and realised that they would be moved to the stables later.

(Well, we’ve finally made it to the Imperial Capital……I wonder what kind of turmoil will happen from here.)

Rei thought to himself about the many turbulent events that would take place while he was in Imperial Capital.

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