「If you really are Crimson, please! Give us some training too!」

Rei had a puzzled look on his face as a trio of adventurers gave a deep bow in front of him.

He was at the dining area of the Eternal Sky Pavilion when the adventurers came over to him while Daska and Elk watched on in amusement. Min glanced over for a moment before immediately returning to the book she was reading. Familiar faces, such as Rhodes and the knights, just kept eating while talking about other things, while the nobles and merchants in the surroundings also looked over.

Having three people bow their heads at Rei drew a lot of attention from everyone else and their guards in the dining room.

「Daska-sama?」

「I don’t mind. You’re technically supposed to be my bodyguard, but since you’re now participating in the tournament, you’re not really my bodyguard anymore. Act at your own discretion in this regard.」

Although Daska spoke very official manner, the amused look in his eyes said it all.

What would Rei do about this? Daska and Elk just watched on as they drank some wine to accompany their entertainment.

It had been a few days since they arrived at the inn. No matter how comfortable the inn was, Daska had started to become quite bored, not being able to go out and about.

Since Rei and Rhodes were now participating in the the tournament, they were essentially removed from Daska’s list of escorts as they spent their time training in the two days before the start of the tournament.

Aside from Daska, the other nobles staying at the Eternal Sky Pavilion spent their time touring the Imperial Capital, joining sightseeing tours, or taking the opportunity to deepen their interactions with nobles from other countries.

However, Daska was a noble from the Mireana Kingdom, which had been hostile with the Bestir Empire for many years.

Most nobles didn’t not try to interact with him as they believed that they would end up under the Bestir Empire’s scrutiny.

For the merchants staying here, the so called big magnates, Gilm, which was on the Mireana Kingdom’s frontier, was an interesting location due to its supply of rare materials, but it was just too far away to do practical business with.

Even if he were to follow the example of other nobles and tour the Imperial Capital, he would run the risk of being targeted, so he had no intention of exposing himself to unnecessary danger.

Even if he had a skilled adventurer like Elk protecting him, he didn’t have the habit of putting himself in dangerous situations.

As a result, Daska had holed himself up in the inn, accepting visits from some of the more unique individuals and training his own body, though not to the same level as Rei.

To put it bluntly, he had a lot of free time.

The same went for Elk, who was employed as Daska’s bodyguard. For them, the fact that some people wanted Rei to train them was a great way to kill time.

Although he didn’t say it, they way he looked at Rei clearly expressed his intentions.

「……Rhodes, what do you think?」

Decided that there was no point in asking Daska or Elk, Rei asked Rhodes, who was his current training partner.

Rei had expected Rhodes to refuse.

Training with someone better than you was a natural way to learn. In other words, for Rhodes, the more opportunities he had to train with Rei, the more his skills would improve.

It was no exaggeration to say that Rei was expecting that response when he asked Rhodes.

But……

「I don’t really care.」

「……What?」

Rhodes’ response was very unexpected to Rei, he was fine with letting others join in.

His answer was so unexpected in fact, that Rei just stared at him for a moment.

Seeing Rei look at him like that, Rhodes replied, as if trying to come up with an excuse.

「No, training with you has definitely helped me…… However, it’s also true that if I continue to train with just you, I won’t know if I’m getting stronger or not. That’s why I would like to fight some other people once in a while.」

「……I see.」

Even Rei had to accept the reason Rhodes gave.

As Rei and Rhodes sparred with each other over and over, Rei had gradually pushed harder as Rhodes got stronger.

And, to be polite, he made sure to increase his strength at the same rate as Rhodes’ improvement.

In other words, even though Rhodes had gotten stronger, he really hadn’t felt it at all.

The only reason why Rhodes had realised he had improved was because he heard Rei telling him that his speed and sharpness of his sword swings had improved. But, if possible, he wanted to spar with others during his training and win. It couldn’t be helped that he had such thoughts.

(Did I overdo it?)

Rei thought to himself while looking at Rhodes.

(It’s true that losing too often can be bad in various ways. If that happens……)

Rei glanced over at the trio of adventurers.

(Wouldn’t it be nice to have Rhodes build some confidence by fighting these guys? If its training then they can’t complain about anything.)

After collecting his thoughts, Rei spoke to the three, who were still bowing their heads at him.

「Just to be clear, I’m also participating in the fighting tournament. As for training Rhodes, it’s mostly just a way for me to pass the time. In the first place, I don’t really teach people, so I’m not that good at it. If you accept my training, you’ll basically be sparring with Rhodes a lot. If you’re fine with that, I will accept you.」

「Really!?」

At a speed which could almost be called reflex, the member of the trio who had asked Rei to train them raised his head.

The expression on his face was definitely a happy one and he had a smile that could almost be called joyful.

「Thank you, I was planning on participating in the fighting tournament to test my skills, but if I could have someone as skilled as you training me, it would have been worth it coming all this way. In that case, let’s start training right away……」

「Luzi, we’re still eating. And, you haven’t even introduced yourself yet. You’re in such a rush.」

A young woman with short hair, who was standing behind the man called Luzi, spoke in a scolding tone.

The last of the trio, a young man with a cane, probably around Rei’s age or older, nodded in agreement.

「That’s right. There’s no point rushing. If you don’t stay calm, you won’t survive the tournament. And, above all, you risk failing requests.」

Seeing the other two speak to him in quick succession, Luzi seemed unable to come up with an excuse. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he spoke up.

「Yes, I was being too rushed. You can start training us after we finish eating. In the meantime, I would like to introduce myself. Is that okay?」

「……That’s right, please do that.」

The curious glances from other guests around them reminded him of similar previous situations.

Naturally, since this was the Bestir Empire, gazes were not just directed towards him but to Daska as well, but it was also true that there were far fewer glances than when they had first arrived at the Eternal Sky Pavilion.

Of course, the two people that were watching him with the most interest were Daska and Elk, who welcomed this turn of events with great enthusiasm.

Rei took his remaining food and moved to another nearby table.

「So, first of all, let’s introduce ourselves. Please tell us your names, your preferred weapon, and your role in your party.」

Even as Rei prompted them, he didn’t stop eating his soup and bread.

The vegetable soup was made by slowly simmering meat and vegetables over a long time before adding in more meat and vegetables when everything had dissolved into the soup.

Even though no flour was used, the thick soup was proof enough of the time and effort that had gone into cooking it.

The bread was a black bread that was commonly eaten in the Empire, but unlike most black breads, this one was very soft.

In particular, its unique sourness went well with the soup and made Rei want to continue eating it forever.

As a high class inn that lower nobles couldn’t stay inn, the chefs that cooked the food were incredibly skilled and it was one of the most delicious meals Rei had ever eaten.

Naturally, there was no way Rei wouldn’t stock up on such a dish, so it went without saying that he had requested the head chef to prepare a huge pot of it to store into the Misty Ring.

The first person to answer Rei as he ate was naturally Luzi, who had been the one to ask for training.

「I’m Luzi. My weapon is this claymore here. I’m the leader of the party, Wind Dragon’s Fang.」

He looked to be in his late teens to early twenties, probably around the same age as Rhodes.

He was wearing metal half plate and you could tell he was well built just by looking at him.

On his back was a larger than normal claymore.

(A typical power fighter, I guess.)

Rei nodded at Luzi before turning to look at the young woman.

「I’m Vaycul. As you can see, I use two daggers and I’m good at fighting using my speed. I’m also the party’s thief.」

Vaycul took out two daggers that were sheathed at either side of her waist in one breath.

She spun them in her hands before returning them to their sheaths.

Just by watching her movements, it was clear she was used to wielding daggers.

From how she had spoken to Luzi earlier, she also seemed to have a strong willed personality.

Next, Rei turned to the last person.

「I’m the last one. I’m Mosst. As you can see from my cane, I’m a mage. My special attributes are wind and water. In case you’re wondering, I’m also the calmest person in the party.」

A young man around Rei’s age said that without any change in his expression while holding a 1m tall cane.

As he said himself, his calmness was part of his personality.

In addition, from what Rei could tell, the robe Mosst was wearing was quite the quality item.

(It’s an expensive mage’s robe. There’s no doubt that it’s some kind of magic item.)

Regardless of if he was a mage who was just starting out as an adventurer, if he was at the Eternal Sky Pavilion whether as an escort, patron, or here on his own, he couldn’t possibly be a novice. That was what Rei thought.

Their roles in combat were well balanced and formed an ideal party.

Luzi served as the vanguard while Mosst would cast magic from the rear. The thief, Vaycul, would be able to follow up depending on the situation.

「I see, a well balanced party.」

「Hehe~, that’s right.」

Luzi puffed out his chest and laughed at Rei’s compliment.

His reaction was proof that he was confident in his party.

However, his smile disappeared with Rei’s next words.

「But, if you’re all participating in the fighting tournament, there will be a lot of problems.」

「What-! You were just praising us, and now this!?」

「Calm down Luzi. What Crimson said is true. Leaving you aside, I lack strength to deliver a critical attack and Mosst is a mage who needs time to cast his magic. It’s true that it will be hard to get a win in the main tournament if we have to fight head to head, let alone in the qualifying rounds.」

「That’s right. As a pure mage, I will be at a disadvantage if I have to fight alone most of the time.」

Aside from their leader, Luzi, Rei was secretly impressed when he found that the other two understood their current situation more than he expected.

As he thought about that, Rei suddenly asked a question that had been bothering him.

「I’m surprised that you asked to train with me. In case you didn’t know, I’m quite notorious within the Bestir Empire.」

「Notorious? Oh, you mean the war? I understand that many people are concerned about that, but there’s never an end to blaming those who killed or were killed in the war. I mean, we were the ones who started the war in the first place.」

「Also, the fact that no one we knew took part in the war is a big deal.」

What was Luzi saying? Rei was a bit surprised as Vaycul quickly explained.

Mosst shrugged his shoulders to silently express his agreement.

(I see. Maybe it’s because they haven’t lost anyone they know, but they also have a strong sense of professionalism.)

Realising that, Rei spoke up again.

「I understand. In that case, I’m planning on continuing training after this, so please come with me. Oh, and Rei is fine. Crimson feels too exaggerated in many ways.」

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