「Rei, I’m sorry, but could you come with me for a moment?」

Shortly after the opening ceremony of the fighting tournament ended, when they returned to the Eternal Sky Pavilion, Rhodes called out to Rei.

Normally, Rei would have asked Rhodes what he wanted, but seeing Rhodes’ current state, it was clear what he wanted.

That was right, Rei hadn’t been the only one who had his fighting spirit ignited at the possibility of facing an S rank adventurer.

As if to prove that, there was a fighting spirit deep in Rhodes’ eyes that couldn’t be hidden no matter what.

Of course, Rei was in the same situation.

Because of that……

「Yeah, I don’t mind. I’m just going to stop by Set’s place for a bit, if you don’t mind going after that.」

Replying without a moment’s hesitation, Rei and Rhodes talked briefly to Daska and Elk before leaving the inn.

Their destination was the place where they had trained with the members of Wind Dragon’s Fang a few days ago.

Now that they were filled with motivation, if they fought in the inn’s courtyard, being spied on wouldn’t be the only problem, they would also risk damaging the courtyard itself.

Min watched the two of them leave from her window.

She looked somewhat worried……yet also happy.

Most of her worries seemed to be directed towards her son, Rhodes.

「Don’t worry. It’s not like they’re going to do anything bad.」

A voice called out to Min. Turning to see who it was, she saw her husband, Elk.

「I know. No matter what, he’s a kid who will do what he needs to do. But……sometimes he gets so absorbed in something that he neglects everything else.」

「Fufu~, feeling a passion for women……? Well, it’s not a surprise at his age.」

「……Elk, you know I’m being serious here, right?」

Hearing Elk’s somewhat mocking words, Min lifted the cane in her hand.

Elk shrugged his shoulders at Min’s actions before a fierce smile appeared on his face.

「If anything, I’m quite envious of Rhodes and Rei. Because they might be able to fight Noiz……the Immovable S rank.」

Immovable. That was Noiz’s title, the title of the best adventurer in the Bestir Empire.

Always winning, undefeated. He never lost no matter who he fought, he title came from the fact that he was always victorious, immovable from his victor’s position.

「I didn’t think that Noiz would show up……otherwise I would have wanted to join the tournament as well!」

Seeing Elk’s regretful expression, Min lowered her cane with a sigh.

Considering her husband’s personality, it wasn’t too unexpected as she reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

「Well, we bodyguards can’t leave Daska-sama for that long. Even if we continue to stay inside the inn, we don’t know what might happy. Especially since Rei’s presence will be known everywhere during the tournament. More than anything……」

「There will be a lot of idiots, huh.」

In fact, even though they had just returned from the opening ceremony, several people who held grudges against Rei had already tried to break into the inn before being caught by security.

The Eternal Sky Pavilion was one of the finest inns in the Bestir Empire. Since that was the case, the people hired to guard it were naturally talented as well. In addition, with the fighting tournament taking place, there were a lot of guests staying at the inn.

Because of that, it was only natural that security was tighter than usual.

They had also been contacted from other people staying at the inn.

Fortunately, these people didn’t intende to harm Rei, but rather were thinking of making acquaintance with a titled adventurer staying in the same inn.

That said, Rei found this all too troublesome, so he had asked Daska to refuse them all, so in the end, no one achieved their goal.

On the contrary, the ones more likely to come in contact with Rei were the other adventurers, who had been hired as bodyguards, staying at the inn.

In fact, the three members of Wind Dragon’s Fang had become close enough for Rei to train them.

Even though he understood the situation, Elk’s expression wasn’t too serious and neither was Min’s.

「Well, even if anyone tried to do something to Rei, if they have malicious intent, they’ll probably get what they deserve.」

「In fact, I’m worried Rei will go too far. Rei has a harsh personality, showing no mercy to those who oppose him.」

「……That’s true.」

Elk had to agree with that point.

Rei had a personality that Elk liked a lot, but it also came with its own flaws.

One of those flaws was that Rei was absolutely merciless to those who came at him maliciously.

Especially right now, with the fighting tournament being held, a large number of people had come to the Imperial Capital. What would happen if Rei went beserk in a place like this……that was a future Elk didn’t want to imagine.

「Let’s just pray there won’t be any trouble.」

Elk muttered as he became aware of the sweat forming on his forehead.

Even though Min didn’t say anything herself, she probably held similar thoughts.

 

 

「Gururu~」

Hearing Set’s somewhat sullen cry, Rei gently reached out his hand.

However, Set moved his neck to avoid his hand.

「Guru~」

Set gave a cry as if to say he wouldn’t be fooled.

It seemed like Set really was sulking.

「I’m really sorry. Don’t sulk, Set.」

「Gururururu~」

Even though Rei tried to apologise, Set showed no signs of forgiving him at all.

However, it wasn’t that unreasonable. After all, it had been quite a number of days since Rei had come to the Imperial Capital, but he had been so busy with his own things that he hadn’t paid much attention to Set.

Of course, it wasn’t like he hadn’t come to see Set at all. Rei had visited the stables whenever he had free time. But, compared to their journey to the Imperial Capital, the amount of time he had spent with Set had decreased significantly.

It was because of this that Set was sulking.

「Look, I’m really sorry. But, you knew beforehand that you wouldn’t be able to freely move about once you arrived at the Imperial Capital, right?」

Up until last year, the residents of the Imperial Capital would only have been greatly surprised to see a Griffon. But now, partly due to the rarity of Griffons, Rei and Griffons were now synonymous with each other.

Yes, it was no exaggeration to say that as Crimson, Rei was a mortal enemy of the Bestir Empire.

Listening to Rei’s words, Set gave a cry as he gently turned to look at Rei.

Set understood that if he were to freely go out, it would cause a big commotion. That was why Daska had ordered Rei to keep Set in the stables as much as possible, which Rei had passed on to Set.

Still……even though he understood the reasoning, he didn’t like the fact that he no longer had much time he could spend with Rei. It made him sad and lonely.

Set was over 2m in size and though he was still growing bigger day by day, he had only been born for less than two years. Since he had been created using the Magic Beast Art, his mental age and physical age were not the same. Rei was still Set’s favourite partner and someone he wanted to be pampered by.

In particular, because he had been able to spend as much time as he wanted with Rei on before getting to the Imperial Capital, he now felt even more lonely than before.

Seeing Set’s state, Rei seemed to understand that. He gently extended his hand again and, this time, Set didn’t avoid it as he scratched his head.

「Gururu~」

Set accepted the head scratches comfortably.

After being stroked, he no longer rejected Rei as he rubbed his head against his hand.

「I’m sorry I haven’t been paying attention to you. Here, I’ll give you this. Please eat this and cheer up.」

「Guru~?」

What is it? Set tilted his head as Rei presented him a sandwich made with stewed chicken and leafy vegetables.

Set stretched out his beak to the sandwich……before picking it up and putting it inside his mouth.

「Gurururu~!」

It must have been extremely delicious. Set gave a happy cry as Rei said there was more, taking it out from the Misty Ring.

The sandwiches had been made by the chef of the Eternal Sky Pavilion. As a chef that served an inn where even lower class nobles wouldn’t be able to stay, their skills were top notch. Naturally, the ingredients used were also of the highest quality.

As Rei petted Set, who seemed to be in a good mood as he ate the sandwiches, the smell piqued his interested as he asked Set.

「Hey, Set. May I have a piece of that sandwich?」

「Guru~!」

Okay, Set seemed to say with a cry.

Since it was so delicious, Set wanted to share it with Rei as well.

With Set’s permission, Rei reached out for a sandwich before bringing it to his mouth.

The bread was freshly baked and had a moist, soft texture.

Then, as he bit through the bread, the stewed chicken appeared.

If the meat was simmered for too long, it would become soft, but since it hadn’t been cooked for that long, the meat still had texture as the flavour spread through his mouth.

At the same time, he tasted the crunchy texture of the leafy vegetables as well as a slight spiciness.

The chicken juices had soaked into the bread, but not to the point where it was unpleasant.

Perhaps because it was coated with butter, but the texture of the bread wasn’t overpowered by the rich flavour of the chicken and brought it all together as the various ingredients mixed in his mouth.

「……It’s delicious.」

It was said that when people encountered something truly delicious, they wouldn’t give unnecessary compliments, that was exactly Rei’s situation right now.

He really wanted to reach out for another sandwich……but since this was something had had brought as an apology for Set, he hesitated on taking another one.

Seeing Set give happy cries as he ate one sandwich after another, Rei reached out to touch his back.

「It’s going to be a while before the tournament ends. In the mean time, we won’t be able to play around like we used to, but once this matter is over, we can play together again.」

「Gururu~……」

Even while eating the sandwiches, Set gave a sad cry.

He rubbed his face against Rei, spreading the smell of the sandwiches, which was a given considering what he had been eating just before.

「I’ll come over to the stables as much as possible. Okay?」

「Guru~?」

Really? Set seemed to ask as Rei nodded and petted his head.

「Yeah. It’s not like I don’t want to play with you either. So, please just be patient a little longer. Pochi and Tama, the beastkin you’ve become friends with, might want to play with you too, right?」

Hearing Rei’s words, as he tried to calm Sest down, Set gave a happy cry.

To him, it was a fun thing to play with new friends.

Pochi and Tama. They were beastkin who worked as maids for a merchant who was staying at the Eternal Sky Pavilion. They were a Dogkin and Catkin pair who were secretly popular with the other guests at the inn due to their adorable appearance and behaviour.

While visiting the stables to take care of their horses, they had naturally become friends with Set and now, even though he couldn’t do much, Set looked forward to interacting with the two of them.

While petting Set on the head, Rei took out a star shaped baked sweet confectionery.

It was something he had bought from a stall while walking through the city previously.

「Sorry, Set. I’ll leave this here for you to share with Pochi and Tama.」

「Guru~!」

Probably because it was something he hadn’t eaten before, Set’s eyes were filled with curiosity as he turned his attention to the baked goods in Rei’s hands.

With a small smile on his face, Rei left it there with Set before leaving the stables.

 

 

「You all good?」

「Yeah.」

A voice called out to Rei as he left the stables and returned to the inn.

Needless to say, the owner of that voice was Rhodes, who had parted ways with him when he went to the stables.

Rhodes had left a bad impression on Set when they first met and Set still held it against him, so he hadn’t gone to the stables with Rei.

If Rhodes had come along, there was no doubt that Set would have taken a lot longer to cheer back up.

Rhodes himself no longer held the same dislike for Set as he had when they first met.

In the first place, he hadn’t liked Set initially only because of Min’s interest in Rei.

……Of course, it would be a lie to say that he wasn’t also worried aobut his mother interacting so casually with a Griffon.

It was now over a year since they had first met. Although he hadn’t been with Rei and Set the whole time, Rhodes no longer viewed Set as a danger.

Because of that, Rhodes did want to repair his relationship with Set, but considering past events, it wasn’t an easy task.

In the end, he had decided to leave it for later as he tried to come up with a solution.

「Anything wrong?」

Rei called out to Rhodes.

Rhodes shook his head as he half unconsciously reached for the sheath of his long sword hanging at his waist.

He didn’t draw his weapon, but he did solidify his resolve as he thought of the future.

「……Let’s go, Rei.」

For now, he didn’t care about the details.

All he had to do was to win the tournament without thinking too much.

With those thoughts in mind, he walked ahead of Rei.

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