「To celebrate Rei’s second place in the tournament……cheers!」

『Cheers!』

The Eternal Sky Pavilion. Luzi’s voice echoed through the dining area.

It was already dark outside and the moon was shining brightly on the ground from the cloudless sky.

Looking at the moonlight from the dining room window, Rei remembered the conversation he had with Elena a while ago through the Paired Orbs.

(She’s a good girl.)

Rei had told her he planned to stay back to participate in the civil war.

Elena seemed to have a lot to say after hearing that, but ultimately gave her consent.

However, he had to promise her that he would return to the Mireana Kingdom alive.

Normally, Elena would have been against something like that. It was once thing to agree to Rei’s participation in the fighting tournament to draw the attention of the Bestir Empire’s upper echelons, but this time he would be joining the civil war as part of the Third Prince’s faction.

As an adventurer, it would probably be fine if Daska explained to everyone that Rei was no longer under his employ before he joined the civil war, but that was still only a possibility.

(But still, it is absolutely important to me that I throw myself in the battle that will happen here.)

Despite the midsummer like night, Rei muttered to himself as he drank ice cold fruit juice inside the dining room that was cooled by magic items.

It is often said that one real actual battle was better than a few days of training. It had been about a year and a half since he had come to Elgin. After surviving battles unimaginable to ordinary adventurers, Rei had no choice but to agree with those words.

In was precisely because of the civil war that he planned to master the Overlord’s Armour he had stolen from Noiz.

(Right now, I’m not using Overlord’s Armour. Rather, I’m in a situation where I’m being used by Overlord’s Armour.)

Muttering to himself, Rei reached his fork out towards the Orc steak on the table……and just as his fork was about to stab into the steak, another fork came flying out from the side, piercing the steak, and disappearing before Rei’s eyes.

「Hey, hey, hey, hey, why is today’s main character eating alone at a window seat like thi? Come closer……to the center!」

Rei gave Luzi a dirty look and spoke while Luzi washed down the steak he just ate with some wine.

「You know, runner up sounds good, but in end I lost in the finals, you know? So why are you congratulating me?」

Rei spoke with disgust as he reached for the platter of fruit that was placed near the steak.

He had lost today’s fight and ended as the runner up. Runner up sounded good, but in reality, it was nothing but a loss.

And yet, Luzi had asked him to celebrate……barging into his room and dragging Rei out just as he was basking in the afterglow of his conversation with Elena through the Paired Orbs.

In a situation like this, there was no way for Rei to be in a good mood and enjoying himself.

(……Well, it’s true that he’s also tring to cheer me up I suppose.)

Rei thought to himself.

When he had actually arrived at the dining area for the celebration party, many people had called out to him.

Some were words of comfort while others offered congratulations.

Even though he had many thoughts regarding their words, seeing that they were spoken sincerely, there was no way he could complain.

(Plus……it’s probably a farewell party for the people who have been staying in the Eternal Sky Pavilion for the entire duration of the tournament.)

Even if it were only for the duration of the tournament……no, perhaps because of that, there were some who probably felt sad parting ways with those they had spent such fun times together.

In fact, staying at the inn for the duration of the tournament had led to new business opportunities, connections between nobles, and some young people had even developed romantic relationships.

Normally, this wouldn’t have happened just by staying at an inn, this had probably only happened because they had spent the duration of the tournament together.

To top it off, this was the Eternal Sky Pavilion, the best inn in the Bestir Empire, so there were no suspicious people among the guests staying here.

That said, there was Rei, the most suspicious person in all of Elgin.

(Even if I am an adventurer, I know what the outcome will be if I cause a commotion at an inn where nobles and wealthy merchants stay.)

If Rei did cause a commotion where important people gathered, the aftermath would be scary in many ways.

Even if he came from a different country, that didn’t mean he was safe, considering the national power of the Bestir Empire.

「What are you talking about? In the first place, did you really intend to beat Noiz? Well, it’s true that you did better than me. I’ll admit that. But still, I think it’s a bit far fetched to think you could win against the Immovable Noiz.」

「……Hmph, what did you say before your match?」

Since Luzi had also lost Noiz, his words made sense.

Rei responded almost on reflex.

Although it was a way for him to vent his anger, Luzi accepted it without saying anything in particular.

As Rei had said earlier, this wasn’t the kind of attitude he expected from someone who had lost to the same person.

However, from Luzi’s perspective, he was quite literal in praising how Rei had fought so well against Noiz.

(I couldn’t do much against Noiz myself? ……This kid.)

Compared to himself……no, even compared to Mosst, who was the smallest and thinnest member of Wind Dragon’s Fang, Rei was even smaller.

In terms of body build, Rei was slightly larger than Mosst, the mage, but he was still physically smaller than Vaycul, the thief.

And yet, such a person had put up such a fight. That alone was enough to astound, but he had also done the unbelievable deed of stealing Noiz’s skill just by looking at it.

Not just Luzi, but Vaycul, Mosst, and the people watching with them were shocked speechless by the sight.

(I guess I was right to ask Rei to train us after all. ……He’s a real star.)

As Luzi was congratulating himself for calling out to Rei before the tournament started, he noticed Rei suddenly stop reaching for the fruit and stare at him.

「What’s wrong? You’re not going to tell me you’ve fallen in love me, are you?」

The serious look in Rei’s eyes gave Luzi a bad feeling and he blurted out a joke without thinking.

That seemed to work out. Rei gave a wry smile and shrugged his shoulders as he relaxed his gaze.

「Don’t be stupid. I don’t have that kind of hobby. I just want to ask you something.」

「……What do you want to ask?」

「Yeah. You……rather, Wind Dragon’s Fang, what do you plan to do now? The fighting tournament ended today……well, to be exact the official awards ceremony at the castle hasn’t happened yet, but that doesn’t matter, right?」

「I guess so.」

Luzi hated troublesome things to begin with. If asked if he wanted to go to the trouble of attending a stuffy awards ceremony at the castle, he would answer no without a moment hesitation.

In fact, as a member of Wind Dragon’s Fang, he could participate in the awards ceremony at the castle if he really wanted.

But, to do that, he would have to rely on the nobles who had come to scout them, and, if they did that, it would undoubtedly lead to the hassle that Luzi hated in various ways.

Despite it being their first participation in the tournament, all of their party members had made it to the main tournament and it was said that Luzi might have advanced even further if it hadn’t been for Noiz.

There had been multiple offers to poach such talents from nobles and merchant companies, as they couldn’t afford to let someone like that slip away.

Naturally, Luzi had turned them all down, but if he wanted to attend the awards ceremony at the castle, he would have no choice but to rely on them.

Of course, accepting a favour didn’t mean he would have to serve them, but it did mean that if anything came up in future, they would have to oblige to their requests as a priority. That would eventually lead to more requests which in turn could mean they were basically serving anyway.

In response to Luzi’s short reply, Rei had……some suggestions.

「I see. If there’s no particular reason to stay in the Imperial Capital, it would be better to leave as soon as possible.」

Luzi reacted abruptly to Rei’s words.

「Why?」

「I don’t know. But let’s just say that if things continue as they are……it might get troublesome.」

He didn’t say anything more than that. At Rei’s implication, Luzi frowned slightly.

「Is it about assassins?」

「Yeah, maybe.」

At Rei’s response, Luzi understood he wasn’t talking about assassins.

(But, has there been anything else aside from assassins? ……Yes, there has been.)

Thinking about it in his mind, the first thing Luzi thought of was the explosion that had been heard before the start of the award ceremony.

(The rumour was that thieves disguised as the princess tried to sneak into the castle and were repelled……is that related? If so, maybe the thief thing was some kind of hoax. I don’t think Rei would work with bandits.)

Luzi had heard Rei talk about hunting bandits several times during their breaks.

He would attack bandits who attacked others and steal the treasures they had stored up.

Normally, this would be an extremely dangerous act, but Rei had the skills to defeat A rank adventurers. Bandits were no match for him.

Anyone with a strong sense of justice would have said that it was wrong to kill someone, even if they were a bandit, but Luzi and the others were seasoned adventurers. There was no way they would say something so naive and, in fact, the idea had never occurred to them them……so they seriously started considering whether they could hunt down bandits themselves.

Luzi could never imagine someone like Rei working together with bandits.

(I mean, if Rei did become a bandit, he’d be the strongest bandit ever. So strong that ordinary adventurers would be easily killed if they got involved.)

If that happened, the only choice would be to send someone like Noiz or similar to kill Rei.

Rei had the strength rivaling an army on his own, so any clumsy attempts at intervention would only reduce their own combat strength.

(……Huh? If they use this method when war breaks out with the Mireana Kingdom, this could be bad for a lot of things, right?)

Rei had Set’s mobility, who could fly, and overwhelming firepower from long range. He also had the ability to compete with Noiz in close combat to a certain extent.

As there were just the two of them as well, they would be very difficult to pin down.

What would happen if such an enemy entered the Bestir Empire during a war with the Mireana Kingdom and went on a rampage? The results were as clear as day.

Luzi’s face twitched as the thought suddenly occurred to him.

Rei, suspicious of Luzi’s behaviour, asked with a strange look in his eyes.

「What’s going on? You suddenly went quiet……」

「Oh, no. It’s nothing. Anyway, can you tell me why it would be best to leave the Imperial Capital as soon as possible?」

「Well, I don’t know. I’ve already said what I can. Now it’s up to you……Wind Dragon’s Fang, to decide.」

「……Wind Dragon’s Fang, huh? I get it. I’ll talk to Vaycul and Mosst.」

After saying that, Luzi reached for a nearby grilled meat skewer, as if to indicate the difficult discussion was over.

Rei also reached for a skewer, but a fish one, as if agreeing with Luzi.

Fish in the Bestir Empire, which was did not share a border with the sea or ocean, was mostly freshwater fish from rivers and lakes.

Sea fish were very rare and expensive as they had to go through the Mireana Kingdom. And, because of the issue of freshness, they couldn’t bring in raw fish, only processed or dried fish.

……But, as expected from the best inn in the Bestir Empire, the Eternal Sky Pavilion had served sea fish for tonight’s meal.

It wasn’t dried either, but fresh fish, sprinkled with salt and grilled.

As the scales were peeled away, the salt sprinkled on the skin stimulated the tongue before the soft, fluffy texture of the fish meat spread into his mouth.

The sweetness of the fish was quite strong, but it strangely harmonised with the salt, which wasn’t too salty, in his mouth.

They took one bite, and then another. And, as they ate the food, Luzi seemed to grow interested as he reached for a fish skewer himself.

「So, the award ceremony at the castle……that’s three days away?」

「Yeah. So whatever decision you guys make, you’d better make it soon.」

As he savoured the fish skewer, Rei thought to himself……before things get too complicated, I have to teach the chef here how to cook something as I promised them. With those thoughts in mind, Rei and Luzi ate to their heart’s content and, together with Mosst, he stopped a drunk Vaycul from stripping as he somehow managed to avoid the alcohol being offered to him by the surrounding guests. The victory celebration, which was also attended by Elk, Min, and even Daska and his knights, continued well into the night.

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