Rei only found out during dinner at the Dusk Wheat Pavilion

At the table were the familiar three members of Wind Dragon’s Fang.

Rei had wondered if they needed to continue escorting the merchant group they had come to the Imperial Capital with, but Mosst had told him that the merchant had an escort to begin with so they weren’t needed.

In any case, Elk came over to their table as they ate a meat and vegetable stew, alongside various other dishes. Since the person Rei had defeated was Rhodes, he didn’t feel like it was right to have either a celebration or consolation party.

「Elk? That’s a surprise. Is Daska-sama okay?」

Now that both Rei and Rhodes had left their escort jobs, Daska’s only bodyguards were Elk, Min, and the knights who had come with them.

Rei was wondering about that, but Elk shrugged his shoulders as he sat down next to them.

「Min is there. Sometimes, I want to take things easy when I eat as well. Also, I wanted to eat something other than fine food. Excuse me, I’d like some boiled offal with beans and some chicken skewers.」

Although Elk ordered food that would go well with alcohol, he didn’t order any alcohol with it, perhaps because he was still aware of his position……an escort for Daska, a noble of the Mireana Kingdom and long time hostile nation.

After making his order, Elk got himself a glass of water before turning to Rei.

Elk didn’t have his usual cheerful atmosphere. If anything, he had a worried look on his face.

Somewhat pressured by the feeling Elk gave off, Luzi, Vaycul, and Mosst just ate silently.

Eventually, a waitress brought the food that Elk had ordered, placing it on the table before leaving.

Unable to bear the silence, Rei spoke up as Elk reached for the boiled offal and beans with a spoon.

「So, what did you come down here for? I’m sure you didn’t come down just for food, right?」

「Hm? ……Yeah. There’s something I’d like to ask you and the others.」

Swallowing the food in his mouth, Elk turned not just to Rei, but also to the three members of Wind Dragon’s Fang.

Upon receiving his gaze, Luzi and the others stiffened up involuntarily.

Even if he was from a different country, Elk was still an A rank adventurer. Since they rarely had the opportunity to see such a person, they couldn’t help but be nervous.

Rei seemed a bit confused at their reactions, but in the first place, Rei had known Elk for quite a while now. When he had first met Elk, he also hadn’t known much about the common sense of this worlds, which was why they had been able to get along quite easily.

Rather, it should be said that Luzi and the other two’s reactions were the more common response to show.

「What do you want to ask?」

「About that. ……Actually, Rhodes hasn’t come back yet. Do you know anything about it? I thought he might have been here with you.」

Elk spoke as he looked around the dining area.

Naturally, Rhodes wasn’t here, so Elk gave a sigh.

He turned back to Rei before speaking again.

「It’s not a big deal that he lost today’s match. Even he himself knew that he probably couldn’t beat you. ……But, after the match, you two were arguing, right? I think that’s probably the reason……what honestly happened?」

At Elk’s question, Rei thought for a moment as he took a bite of the stew before shaking his head.

「It’s true that Rhodes was in a bad mood at the time, but I don’t know why that happened either. We had just been having a normal conversation.」

In response to Rei’s words, Elk looked at him with a hint of suspicion.

He didn’t think Rei was lying. However, in Rei’s case, he sometimes did things unconventionally and he suspected that may have been part of the reason.

「Just to confirm, what were you talking about?」

As Elk put his spoon down, Rei recalled their discussion as he explained.

Maybe intrigued by Rei’s explanation, Luzi and the other two listened in quietly.

After hearing Rei’s explanation, Elk instinctively placed his hand on his forehead as he gave a deep sigh.

「Did something strange happen?」

「Well. From what I heard from Rei, it seemed like an ordinary conversation. What do you think, Mosst?」

「Hmmm, maybe his pride was hurt after being comforted by Rei, since he considered Rei his rival?」

Mosst spoke the thoughts that came to his mind, but even he was doubtful of his own words.

However……Elk knew that it was the right answer.

Naturally, some information was missing.

Rhodes was in love with Vihera and the reason he had participated in the tournament at all was to show off his presence to Vihera.

(But, when it was all over, he hadn’t been able to get Rei, his romantic rival, to show any seriousness. It was a crushing defeat. And then, to be given words of comfort……he couldn’t help but think that he wasn’t being treated as an equal……I guess.)

Thinking to himself, Elk looked up at the ceiling as he let out another sigh.

Rhodes was someone with quite a lot of pride. The impact of Rei’s words must have been considerable.

Considering all that, Elk could understand why Rhodes may not have felt like coming back right away.

(In the worst case, he might stew over it for a few days without coming back.)

Although Elk thought it might happen, there was also nothing he could do about it.

Of course, it didn’t mean he wasn’t worried. However, Rhodes was already old enough to make his own decisions, so he felt that worrying needlessly would only make Rhodes more stubborn.

(Min is definitely worried though.)

Thinking about his wife and her strong love for their son, he decided it would be best to tell her the situation as soon as possible.

After reaching that decision, Elk’s actions were swift.

He quickly shoved the skewer meat, offal, and boiled beans in front of him into his mouth before reaching for the bread in front of Rei. ……Just as he was about to grab it, he saw Rei reach for a fork on the table, so Elk quickly changed his target, snatching Luzi’s bread instead.

「Hey-!」

「Hehe, that’s too bad. I’ll take this bread. The bread made here is delicious.」

It was a fact. It was no lie that this was one of the highest class inns in the Imperial Capital and that their cooks were all top notch as well.

That was why all the bread served here was very delicious.

They also had many types of bread including black bread, white bread, and something that resembled croissants.

「……Ugh……」

Because of that, Luzi could only watch Elk leave grudgingly.

To be honest, he wanted to complain. However, his opponent was a titled A rank adventurer. He was already lucky to have sat at the same table as Elk, so maybe he should just accept having his bread being taken away? As Luzi was thinking about it, more bread was passed to him from a neighbouring seat.

Who was his saviour? With those thoughts in mind, Luzi turned to the person who had passed him the bread. It was Mosst.

For Mosst, who ate an average amount for an adventurer but not as much as Luzi, it was strange that he wasn’t being teased.

Then, the next moment, Vaycul also passed her plate of bread over to him.

At this point, Luzi grew slightly suspicious as he looked at Vaycul.

「What are you doing?」

However, Vaycul didn’t seem to mind as she replied.

「Well, since it’s you, I’m guessing you want to win your match tomorrow……I guess this is an encouragement of sorts.」

「……Oh, right.」

Hearing those words, Luzi remembered his match tomorrow.

In fact, he knew that his chances of winning were close to zeor. However, Luzi still intended to win as he took on his next opponent……the S rank adventurer, the Immovable Noiz. Vaycul and Mosst both knew that, which was why they did what they did.

「You’re showing a lot of consideration for me. Well, that’s fine. I’ll try my hardest to earn this bread.」

Luzi’s words and actions were a complete 180 from his earlier nervousness when dealing with Elk.

It seemed like he had different attitudes towards opponents he was going to fight and people he weren’t going to fight.

While watching the interaction between the three of them, Rei also spoke up.

「I’ll support you, so do your best. Oh, and if your’e going to lose, it would be helpful if you could make Noize reveal even a little more. It will be more convenient for me when I face him in the finals.」

「……Hmph, you’re so certain I will lose and that you will make it to the finals.」

「Ahh……but when you hear about the potential candidates, it does seem like a lot of people are expecting that?」

They must have heard the rumours being discussed at the stadium, inn, and around the city. At Vaycul’s words, Luzi gave a snort before eating the bread.

「Doesn’t anyone think I’ll win? ……Well, that’s why big upsets are interesting. ……Rei, I’m sorry, but your opponent in the finals won’t be Immovable, but me. It will happen. You’ll regret it.」

「Sure. It would be fun if that happens. ……Well, we’re both staying at the same inn and training together. I’ll bet on Luzi in tomorrow’s match.」

Was Rei being serious? Vaycul turned to look at him.

In truth, the odds for Noiz’s opponent would definitely be something crazy. That just went to show how strong Noiz was.

From Vaycul’s perspective, betting on Luzi was the same as throwing money away.

However……

「Well, that’s the point of a long shot. I’ll only be betting copper coins though.」

Hearing the words ‘copper coins’, Vaycul……and Mosst seemed satisfied.

However, Luzi seemed unhappy as he spoke to Rei.

「……Hey. I won’t ask you to bet gold coins, but at least bet silver coins.」

「As expected, silver coins is a bit much.」

Rei had no money concerns for the time being……in fact, he had earned quite a bit from asking Elk to bet on him in the matches. But, he still didn’t’ want to spend silver coins on a bet that had a high chance of losing as he shrugged his shoulders at Luzi.

「You guys are going to bet on me, right?」

Judging that there was no point in talking to Rei about it any further, he turned to his party members. But……

『……』

Both Vaycul and Mosst averted their gazes.

Their attitude was more than enough to show who they thought would win the next day’s match.

「AHHHHHHHHH, if that’s what you’re thinking, I won’t lose so easily tomorrow. No, I will win. And when I win, I won’t forgive you, even if you apologise for your behaviour towards me.」

「Ahahaha. If Luzi beats Immovable tomorrow, I’ll do my best to make it up to you.」

「……Hmph-!」

At Luzi’s snort, two customers sitting at a nearby table, who had been listening in, called out to him.

「Hey, brother. You’re fighting Immovable tomorrow?」

「Hm? Ah. Well, yes.」

「I see. It will be a good memory.」

「That’s right. You’re pretty lucky to be able to fight Immovable. Normally, it would be difficult to even meet him in person.」

The two of them spoke with smiles on their faces, assuming that Luzi would lose.

They didn’t have any bad intentions. In fact, it was rarer to find someone who would claim they could defeat Noiz.

However……it still didn’t make Luzi feel good.

「Didn’t you hear what I was saying to those two? I’m not going into the match with the intention of losing.」

『……』

Hearing Luzi’s words, the two men looked at each other as if they didn’t understand what he was saying……the next moment, they burst into laughter.

「Hahahahaha, I see. Well, it’s better to be hot blooded when you’re young.」

「I see. When we were young, we thought we couldn’t lose to anyone either……no, it’s not bad. Sorry for not reading your mood.」

That was what the two of them said to Luzi, but they still didn’t think he could win. They just hinted that he was young and free to do whatever he wanted.

Luzi seemed to understand that as well. Without saying anything more, he focused back on his food.

Regardless of what the two men had said, they were well intentioned and held no malice. Because of that, Luzi couldn’t get mad at them and had no choice but to stay quiet, albeit unhappily.

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