After the end of the award ceremony, Noiz and Rei left the arena. Seeing that nothing further had come from the explosion they had heard earlier, the general audience, nobles, and invited guests started leave when a voice was hear from one person.

「Hey, what was that explosion from earlier? It felt like it was coming from the castle.」

「Well, who knows. It’s not something you should be concerned about, Rhodes. Your goal is Rei, right? As you can see, Rei was inside the arena when the explosion occurred. Since that’s the case, it’s obvious that Rei did not cause the explosion.」

At Bratta’s words, who shrugged his shoulders slightly as he spoke, Rhodes looked back dubiously.

In fact, as Rei had showed up on the arena immediately after the explosion, it was certain that he wasn’t involved in it directly, just as Bratta had said.

But even so, Rhodes had reason to be concerned.

(The original plan had been for Rei to attract the attention of the upper echelons of the Bestir Empire……the nobles here in the arena. Exploiting that opportunity, Vihera and her allies would rescue the Third Prince. That was what should have happened.)

Rhodes thought of what he had heard from Vihera and Theorem before entering the Bestir Empire as well as what Elk, Min, and Daska had discussed before entering the Imperial Capital.

And, considering the timing of the explosion, it couldn’t have been more obvious.

(However, if they needed to take covert action, why would they do something so flashy that the sound of explosions could be heard? If that’s the case, there’s no point in pretending to be a diversion……)

Rhodes was a little puzzled in his mind, but because of his focus on those thoughts, he didn’t notice several members of the First Prince’s faction observing him.

Normally, he would have noticed, but right now, his concern was on Vihera.

It was true that Rhodes had infiltrated the First Prince’s faction out of a sense of rivalry towards Rei. That much was true, but it didn’t mean that his love for Vihera had disappeared.

「Anyway, what you need to do is to get the power to fight Rei, right? You’re still lacking in power right now. Even if His Highness Kabajid gave you a magic item, you still need training to use it properly.」

That’s why you’re training with me.

The other people in the room gave Pelfiel strange looks when she said that.

But none of them voiced their thoughts.

If they did say anything, they might end up being dragged into Pelfiel’s training as well.

Pelfiel could certainly be relied on, but it was a well known fact that the training she imposed on herself was rigorous and the training she imposed on others was harsh.

In that sense, the members of the First Prince’s faction were grateful that Rhodes was the one being trained, meaning that no one else was harmed by Pelfiel. There were quite a number of people who held those thoughts.

「……I know. Pelfiel’s training will be perfect for gathering strength to fight Rei.」

Although Rhodes had a disgusted expression on his face, he didn’t reject Pelfiel’s words.

Perhaps happy to hear that, Pelfiel spoke with a smile on her face.

「I see, as long as you understand, that’s fine. Training is something that will never let you down. Bratta and the other know, but they still don’t seem to get it.」

「If I follow your training, my body will break down instead of grow.」

At Bratta’s mutters, Pelfiel looked at him as if saying she was disappointed.

「You’re thinking of working as His Highness Kabajid’s sword? You need to train harder. I won’t let you say you felt nothing after watching the finals.」

「……Hmph.」

Even though they belonged to the same faction, their interactions seemed to be somewhat thorny, as if they didn’t get alone very well.

Despite that, the others didn’t seem to have any particular thoughts regarding them.

That was because they had seen this exchange many times before, so they already understood that this was their method of communication.

「All that aside, when exactly will I receive the magic item you mentioned?」

Rhodes seemed to have no intention of continuing this form of conversation and Bratta let out a sigh of sorts.

「Well, there has been talk of giving you a magic tiem, but do you think it will be that easy to get one?」

Hearing those words, Rhodes grew tense.

He spoke with a sharp look.

「Isn’t this different from what you said earlier?」

「Well, that all depends on His Highness Kabajid’s thoughts. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you when. However, it should be some time soon.」

「……I see.」

Was the request refused? That was what Rhodes thought for a moment, but he gave a sigh of relief when he found out that didn’t seem to be the case.

(However……I’ve understood from today’s match that even if I received a good quality magic item, it’s doubtful that I would be able to compete with Rei.)

Noiz had moved around at a speed that couldn’t be seen and Rei had been able to deal with it.

If asked whether he had the ability to fight against Rei right now, his answer would be no.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was going to give up. That was why he was undergoing Pelfiel’s training.

 

 

After the award ceremony, Rei and Noiz returned to the waiting room.

Rei sat down on a sofa, which was comparable in quality to the ones in the Eternal Sky Pavilion.

Noiz sat down opposite Rei.

「……So, why are you in the same waiting room as me? I’m sure there’s a private one for you as well, right?」

Rei asked Noiz, who had sat down as if saying it was only natural for him to be here. However, Noiz himself didn’t seem particularly concerned with Rei’s question as he closed his eyes.

Seeing Noiz like that, Rei realised it once more.

It was the same during their fight, but even though he was facing Noiz like this, he didn’t feel any fear at all.

It was the same after he had regained consciousness after losing, but he felt it now even more so, facing each other after the end of the troublesome award ceremony.

As Rei was thinking to himself as he looked at Noiz, Noiz eventually spoke up.

「Rei. What do you plan to do?」

Although it was a short question? Rei couldn’t help but inhale sharply when he heard it.

He thought that Noiz might be talking about his cooperation with Vihera and the fact that the Bestir Empire was heading towards a civil war.

「What do you mean?」

Just a few seconds ago, he hadn’t felt particularly nervous even though he was facing Noiz.

However, in the end, Noiz was still an S rank adventurer.

Realising that, Rei tried to suppress his thoughts as he waited for Noiz to speak.

However, contrary to Rei’s thoughts, Noiz didn’t seem to sense anything in particular as he responded.

「It’s about what you’re doing next. The tournament is over. If that’s the case, there’s no reason for a Mireana Kingdom adventurer like you to stay in the Imperial Capital, right? Will you be going back with Margrave Rowlocks?」

「……That’s right. Probably.」

「Is there anything special you want to do when you return to the Mireana Kingdom?」

「What I want to do, huh? One of my hobbies is collecting magic stones, so I guess it will be that. I originally chose Gilm, out in the frontier, with that in mind.」

Rei said that while trying to mislead Noiz in various ways. He wondered how Noiz would react if he found out how many lies there were in his words. As Rei thought of that.

「I see. Monster magic stones, is it? In that case……hey, Rei. We’re talking about what we plan to do from here on, but if you don’t mind, would you like to go to the Demon Mountain with me?」

「……What?」

Rei couldn’t help but question Noiz, his words were that unexpected.

The Demon Mountain. That was what Noiz, and S rank adventurer, wanted permission to enter as his prize for winning the fighting tournament.

In other words, it was a place that even S rank adventurers wouldn’t normally be able to enter without permission.

Of course, Noiz’s goal in going to a place like that was to look for stimulation.

Then, he invited Rei to go with him.

Rei understood that Noiz had only made that proposal because he had been recognised. If asked whether tha made him happy or not, of course he was happy.

However……

「Sorry, but I’m not in the state for that right now.」

There was no way Rei could agree.

(If I had nothing to do after this, I would have been more than happy to go along. Of course, there would be monsters I have never fought before and I can probably get their magic stones as well.)

Hearing Rei’s words, Noiz let out a small sigh.

「I see. ……If you had come with me, I could have taught you about Overlord’s Armour.」

Rei twitched at those words.

Rei could now use Overlord’s Armour, Noiz’s skill. However, that was just a matter of being able to use it and he was far from mastering it.

No, it was an exaggeration to say that he could use it. It would be more accurate to say that he activated it once somehow.

But……that was why Rei shook his head as he replied.

「If I were to follow you, I would probably be able to use Overlord’s Armour just like you. But, in the end, that would just be a lesser copy of yours. Even though the skill might be the same, I want the path I take to be different from yours. And……when I think I can defeat you, I will challenge you to another fight.」

Hearing Rei’s words, Noiz’s face dropped for a moment, as if taken aback.

If anyone from the Bestir Empire were present, their eyes would have widened at the expression of the face of the S rank adventurer, the Immovable Noiz. Especially if it were Tragist, who would have laughed at his friend’s face.

A moment later, a smile broke from Noiz’s mouth.

「Kukuku~……I see. Even if you use the same skill as me, the destination you’re aiming for will be different.」

「I don’t know if that will happen. Even if the end result is the same, if the path I use to get there is different, even if it looks the same at first glance, it may still be different.」

「Yes, that may be true too. Haha, no, this time it’s my mistake. But, well, I thought it would have been fun to go to the Demon Mountain with you.」

Even though he was laughing, Noiz had a somewhat disappointed expression on his face. Rei also had a bitter smile as he looked at Noiz.

It was true that Rei had refused Noiz’s proposal this time, but to be honest, he also wanted to go.

An unknown monster’s magic stone, material, and meat.

Especially when it came to higher ranking monsters with higher levels of magic power, their meat would taste better.

An ordinary adventurer would only be able to let the meat rot, even if they collected a large amount of it, but in Rei’s case, he had the Misty Ring. Even Noiz had an item box like Rei.

Since that was the case, no matter how much high ranking monster meat they got, they wouldn’t have to worry about it spoiling.

It was regrettable for Rei to refuse Noiz’s proposal in various ways, but it couldn’t be helped.

Noiz was staring intently at Rei, but as if suddenly realising something, his eyebrows shifted and he let out a sigh before standing up.

「I guess it was just bad timing this time. ……Judging from your expression, it seems like you have a lot on your mind.」

「-!? ……Well, I definitely have a lot of things to do.」

Noize looked at Rei as though gazing into the depths of his heart and, although Rei had gasped, he didn’t avert his gaze.

Noiz seemed certain that something was going on, but he didn’t know what it was.

Rei stared back at the gaze filled with such thoughts……several minutes passed before Noiz eventually moved.

「Well, that’s fine. ……Rei, I don’t know when we’ll meet next, but don’t do anything that will disappoint me then.」

Those words seemed like he was looking down at Rei from above, but since Rei had lost without Noiz using his full strength, he had no choice but to accept those words.

「Yeah. Next time we meet, I’ll bring out all your abilities and win.」

「……Is that so.」

Noiz responded briefly, but despite his attitude, he left the waiting room with a slight smile on his lips.

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