Silence filled Daska’s room.

The reason was clearly because of Rei’s statement that he would join the Third Prince’s faction.

Daska tossed the document he had been reading onto the desk and, along with Elk and Min, turned to look at Rei.

All three of them looked at Rei with sharp, almost aggressive, gazes.

「……Rei. If I’m not mistaken, I heard you say that you wanted to join the civil war?」

Daska’s voice was heavy and powerful as he asked for confirmation.

There was a serious air about the room when Rei had first entered, but now there was an additional sense of pressure.

Daska asked as he displayed the face of a man who led one of the Mireana Kingdom’s three major factions.

However……Rei ignored the pressure as he spoke.

「Yes. That is what I said. If possible, I would like to leave the Imperial Capital as soon as possible.」

「What are you planning to do about the award ceremony for the tournament? You entered it as a representative of the Mireana Kingdom and won second place.」

「……Since I lost in the finals, I think it’s fair to say that I lost.」

「Don’t digress. In the first place, what Vihera-sama asked you to do prior to this was to draw the attention of the people of the Bestir Empire so that they could rescue Prince Mercurio, right? That was splendidly achieved. So why bother taking part in the civil war?」

「Going back to the topic of second place, I lost in the finals of the tournament. I can’t forgive myself for that, but at the same time, I want to be able to use Overlord’s Armour, that I stole from Noiz in the finals.」

「……Your opponent was the S ranked Noiz, an undisputed fighter, you know? There are only three of them in the world. Are you really that upset about losing to someone like that? You are certainly strong. If you think about when you defeated Elk, you’re probably stronger than an A rank adventurer, even if you’re not S rank. But even so, I’m sorry to say this, you’re still only at the level of A rank. You’re not the strongest or anything like that.」

After saying that Rei had defeated Elk, Daska turned his gaze to Elk, who was sitting on the sofa.

Rei did the same as Elk’s gaze matched his

It was true that Elk had lost to Rei before. But, he had since trained himself and felt that he was stronger than before.

That was why Elk believed he wouldn’t lose as easily the next time he fought Rei.

Thunk-!

Hearing that sound all of a sudden, Rei saw Min swinging her cane down on Elk’s head.

「Right now, Elk’s abilities are irrelevant. We are discussing Rei’s decision.」

「……Hmph.」

Elk wanted to say something in response, but he knew that if he did, Min’s cane would swing down again. In the end, he remained silent with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

Ignoring their exchange, Daska spoke again.

「Are you sure you want to join the Third Prince’s faction?」

「Yes.」

They looked at each other in silence for about a minute. Eventually, Daska sighed as he spoke.

「I understand. Do as you wish.」

「……Are you sure?」

Daska’s decision was unexpected to Rei.

That was why he couldn’t help asking for confirmation.

「I kind of expected this to happen. Considering your personality, it’s not that strange. However……if this happens, we’ll need to take various measures. For example, you’re currently acting as my bodyguard. That was left unresolved when you entered the fighting tournament, but if you were to intervene in the civil war, you have to have clearly stopped being my bodyguard before leaving. I would also need to report to everyone that we no longer have anything to do with you.」

Hearing those words, Rei made a slightly unpleasant expression.

The most troublesome thing was still the people looking for Rei to serve them.

Rei was currently employed by Daska, so Daska could step in on his behalf to refuse.

But, if Daska were to stop employing Rei, it would then be possible for others to invite Rei to serve them without going through Daska.

From now on, he would have to turn down offers himself. Considering how troublesome it would be, it was true that Rei was reluctant.

But, even so……if asked if he had any other way to settle his feelings regarding his tournament loss, there was only no other way.

「That’s right. It’s true that many troublesome things might happen, but……if I disappear from the Imperial Capital before it becomes known, those problems will also disappear.」

「Disappear? Hey. You’re not planning on not attending the award ceremony at the castle, are you?」

Rei’s words seemed to suggest that if Daksa agreed, he would leave immediately and join up with the Third Prince’s faction, so Daska couldn’t help but ask.

Rei nodded back immediately.

In fact, attending the award ceremony……in other words, being more conspicuous than before, would definitely draw more invitations than ever before. It was likely that many assassins, like those from Requiem’s Toll, would also come.

All that considered, Rei’s plan was to get out before any of that happened.

(It’s a shame about the magic item……but anyway, if an armed conflict were to break out as people were discussing in the dining area, there won’t be time for an award ceremony.)

Considering Vihera’s personality, it wouldn’t be strange for her to take the lead to control the war.

Rei and Vihera hadn’t known each other for very long, but their relationship was quite strong. Given that, it was possible for Rei to guess what Vihera was thinking to some extent.

(That said, I don’t know if the Third Prince would allow that.)

The Third Prince was someone Theorem admired and Vihera had returned to the Bestir Empire to save, after hearing he was in danger. Of course, Rei expected him to have the appropriate abilities. But still, there was no way for him to comment on someone he had yet to meet in person.

Daska, unaware that Rei was thinking of such things as he stood before him, let out another sigh.

「……It can’t be helped. In the first place, it feels like we just happened to go with the flow in this matter.」

In this case, ‘we’ referred to the Neutral and Aristocratic factions.

To begin with, the matter had been brought to them by Vihera through Rei and Elena.

Although they had done a lot of groundwork, the ones to actually make the biggest moves were Theorem, Vihera, and others, including Rei, whose role it was to enter the Bestir Empire’s fighting tournament to draw attention.

……All that said, Daska had still gone to the trouble of traveling to the Bestir Empire’s capital, and Elena’s father, Duke Kerebel, was working behind the scenes to ensure that everyone could be secured in the event the Third Prince’s faction were to lose the civil war.

Considering that, it wasn’t like they were trying to reap the benefits without doing much. But even so……there was a big difference between planning something themselves and having something brought to them after it was planned.

Daska acknowledged Rei’s words because he understood that.

It was also partially influenced by the fact that Noiz, their only concern at this point in time, had said he would be heading to the Demon Mountain.

From the finals, it seemed that Noiz was the only one in the Bestir Empire who had a certain chance of defeating Rei. Even if an A rank adventurer appeared, Rei would be able to handle them. And, above all, since this was no longer the arena, Set would be able to join in the fight as well.

「Then?」

「Yeah. Do as you wish. I’ll ask anyway though, do you know where the Third Prince’s faction is based?」

「No, unfortunately.」

Rei shook his head as he said that, but there was no sign of disappointment on his face.

Daska must have found that strange as Daska urged him to continue.

「It’s true that we don’t know where their base is right now, but if a civil war breaks out, the Third Prince’s faction will become known, whether we like it or not.」

「……Are you going to be hiding somewhere until then? I don’t think you would be able to do that.」

Elk, who had been silently watching the two of them talk, interrupted Rei and Daska’s conversation.

He said that knowing that Rei, like him, wasn’t good at waiting in silence.

But, Rei just shrugged his shoulders as he replied to Elk.

「Well, that might be true if it were just me, but I have Set. I’ll spend some time with him somewhere nearby where there are monsters.」

「……It’s not normal to spend time relaxing in a place where there are monsters.」

Min muttered next to Elk, holding her forehead.

However, the idea itself wasn’t that dangerous for Rei. Naturally, there wouldn’t be any high ranking monsters near the Imperial Capital. And yet, for Rei, who was visiting the Imperial Capital for the first time, this was a big opportunity for him and Set to absorb the magic stones of unknown monsters.

At the same time, he was looking forward to eating the meat of monsters he had never eaten before.

「Collecting unknown magic stones and eating monster meat I’ve never tried before. To be honest, for Set and I, this is the best environment we could have. The only and biggest problem is……we might get too absorbed in it and the civil war might end before we realise.」

「No, Rei. There’s a bigger problem than that.」

Daska spoke with a sigh and Rei tilted his head.

「First of all. How are you planning on finding out the location of the Third Prince’s faction from somewhere like that? With only you and Set, there’s no way to get any information.」

「……I was thinking that adventurers would still be working as usual, even during the civil war, so I would be able to get some information from them……」

Is that no good? When Rei asked, not just Daska and Min……even Elk sighed.

Then, as if speaking on behalf of all three, Elk voiced his thoughts.

「Really, what’s the point of using such uncertain methods to gather information?」

「Uncertain?」

「Of course. Besides, you don’t know if adventurers will go to where you are, and you don’t know if they will have the information either. In the first place, you can’t even tell if the information you get is correct if you hear it from just one person.」

「……Ugh.」

Elk’s words hit the nail on the head and Rei let out a small groan.

「Haah, your fighting skills and ability to make quick decisions is great, so why are you like this……go to Count Obrisin’s territory, which isn’t far from the Imperial Capital. Her Highness Vihera should be there.」

Daska spoke to Rei with a somewhat exasperated look on his face.

「Umm……why would Daska-sama know where Vihera is? There haven’t even been any rumours about the location of the Third Prince’s faction in the dining area.」

Anyone with the financial means or power to stay at the Eternal Sky Pavilion would naturally have a keen ear for information.

Nobles would try to get accurate information as quickly as possible in order to avoid being caught up in the civil war while merchant would try to find business opportunities.

How could Daska know about the base of the Third Prince’s faction, which had yet to be talked about in the dining area? In response to Rei’s question, Elk spoke with some pride.

「We’ve been getting information about that thanks to my idiot son.」

「……What?」

Rei knew that Rhodes had infiltrated the First Prince’s faction, but he didn’t think that Rhodes would contact them in this situation.

Seeing what Rei wanted to say in his expression, Min sighed as she continued the conversation.

「To be precise, someone from the Third Prince’s faction contacted us late last night. They gave us information from Rhodes and also told us where the Third Prince’s faction was based.」

Elk laughed awkwardly, but still looked happy, probably because of the information they had obtained thanks to Rhodes.

In truth, the Third Prince’s faction would probably prefer to not let anyone know where they were based.

It would eventually become known, but the later the better.

Still, when Rhodes asked them to inform Daska of the situation in exchangge for obtaining information on the First Prince’s faction, they couldn’t refuse……although they didn’t know themselves either. Fortunately, they were able to find the location of the Third Prince’s base in the end and pass on the information to Daska.

「……But, why would Rhodes want to tell us the location of the Third Prince’s faction?」

「Well, who knows. I guess he probably wants us to make good use of the information because of our involvement.」

Rei nodded, although he was still a little skeptical, as Daska replied with a small shrug.

That reason seemed to be convincing enough.

「Anyway, now that your destination has been decided, I’ll let the guild and nobles know that you left me this afternoon. I’ll also take care of the accommodation arrangements. So, you should go to Vihera-sama location. ……Remember, there are many people in Gilm who are waiting for you. Make sure you come back.」

Rei nodded at Daska’s words, gave a small nod towards Min, and silently exchanged gazes with Elk, before leaving the room.

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