「Well then, Prince Mercurio, Vihera-sama, Theorem-dono. Thank you for all your help.」
Early in the morning, before the sun had even risen in the eastern sky, Widele thanked those who had come to see her off outside the camp.
With her white armour, cloak, and sword sheathed at her waits, Widele appeared very dignified to those that saw her.
「Yes, I’m looking forward to hearing from Frizione. I’d be very happy for her to join us.」
「I understand it would be the best outcome and Princess Frizione doesn’t particularly care about the right to inherit the throne. I believe it will probably be fine……」
If Frizione joined the rebel army, she would be serving under Mercurio.
Recallilng the conditions Mercurio had set, Widele gave a non-committal reply as she avoided the question.
「Rei……I would tell you to be careful, but with Set, it’s not likely to be that dangerous. You never know what will happen in the Imperial Capital though. I hate to say it, but it’s a place filled with demons and monsters. Be very careful.」
「I know. Besides, as long as I wear this robe, people are less likely to notice me. With Set waiting outside the Imperial Capital, we should be able to deal with anything that happens.」
「That’s true. With Set close by, I’ll have less to worry about.」
Vihera had strong trust in Rei and equally strong trust in Set.
Rei might look like a weak mage and newbie adventurer at first glance, but Set’s overwhelming power was clear from his appearance.
In terms of avoiding people he didn’t want to deal with, Set was the best deterrent.
……That said, it sometimes did lead to those targeting Set instead.
「Also……please don’t cause any trouble. Right now, you’re accompanying the White Rose Knights as a guest. If you cause any trouble, it might end up affecting Frizione.」
「Honestly, I’m not confident in that……but I’ll try my best.」
Rei’s role this time was of a guest who was saved by the White Rose Knights during a mission.
At first, there had been the idea that Rei should dress up as a member of the White Rose Knights due to his feminine face. Rei understood that, but he also would rather not dress up as a woman.
……The fact that the armour of the White Rose Knights were designed to fit a woman’s physique aside, Rei preferred not to wear makeup as part of the disguise.
Ever since finding out that he had a more childish and feminine face, he had developed a stronger aversion to cross dressing than most people.
He didn’t mind other people doing it, but his own aversion was because he could imagine it not suiting him well.
「Really……it’s not enough just to try, you have to manage it.」
Though Vihera sighed in a somewhat exasperated manner, there was hardly any anxiety in her eyes.
The surroundings had started to brighten, as if blessed by the morning sun, rising in the eastern sky.
Seeing that, Vihera felt that no matter what Rei did, things would happen as they happened.
「Well then, Prince Mercurio. We will be leaving.」
「Yes. I hope you all return safely. Just to be safe, I took care of all the scouts in the area this morning. More will probably be sent out soon, but for now, it’s safe.」
「Yes! I’m sorry for all the trouble. I will definitely deliver the letter to Princess Frizione.」
Widele spoke with a determined voice as she climbed onto her horse.
All of the horses they had ridden to get here had already died in the fight when they first met up with Rei. So the horses they were now all riding had been given to them by the rebel army.
Considering the horses they were given, it was clear that Mercurio and Theorem had high expectations of Widele.
That said, they were ultimately not warhorses, and so were inevitably inferior to those that had been rigorously trained from a young age. Of course, this included a fear of Set.
「Then, Rei-sama. I’ll leave the scouting from the sky to you.」
「Yeah. ……I’ll be off then.」
「Yes, be careful.」
Following that brief exchange with Vihera, Rei went over to Set, who had moved a short distance away so as to not scare the horses.
At that moment……
「Captain Rei!」
Turning around to face the voice, Rei saw all the members of the guerrilla unit gathered, despite it being early morning.
Even Pernyx, the Vice Captain, was there.
『Take care!』
The members of the guerrilla unit all shouted in unison and Rei gave an embarrassed smile as he waved back.
Soldiers came out of nearby tents, thinking it was an enemy attack, but when they saw that the people gathered were the members of the guerrilla unit and rebel leaders, they all sighed as they returned to their tents.
They directed harsh looks towards the guerrilla unit, probably due to having their sleep disturbed.
That said, although they were tired, they were still awake enough to not direct those looks towards Mercurio, Vihera, or Theorem.
Otherwise, there was no doubt that many unfortunate events would have ensued.
「Then, I will move slowly while keeping watch from the sky. Is that okay?」
「Yes, it would be much appreciated if you could do that. ……I would have preferred that you moved closer with us, but with the horses like this……」
Widele gave a bitter smile as she saw her horse clearly frightened by Set’s presence.
The same was true of the horses ridden by the other White Rose Knights and if they continued to ride with Set nearby, it was obvious that they would tire out mentally before they ran out of physical strength.
And, if that happened, they would have to walk the rest of the way to the Imperial Capital.
In the current situation, where every hour, minute, and second mattered, they couldn’t afford to do that.
They did also need someone to scout the surroundings as they traveled, so Set was undoubted the perfect pick for that.
Since he could survey the surroundings from the sky, his range was overwhelmingly large.
In the first place, Widele’s group had been found by Rei from the sky.
「Well, that can’t be helped. But, even if we head straight for the Imperial Capital, we’ll definitely have to spend at least one night out. What about the horses then? I usually have Set watch over my magic tent from just outside, so if the horses get scared, we’ll have to move further away.」
「That’s probably the only way. In the first place, we’re the White Rose Knights. Even if it’s someone your age, Rei-sama, we can’t spend the night in the same tent.」
Widele said that as if it were obvious, but some of the other knights were attracted by the words ‘magic tent’ that Rei had mentioned.
「Captain, Rei-sama is still a child, so there’s no need to worry so much about him, is there?」
「No, that’s indecent. Besides, Rei-sama is Vihera-sama’s love interest, isn’t he? If you spend a night with someone like that……I wonder what will happen.」
「……I’m sorry, I was wrong.」
At Widele’s words, the knight bowed her head in complete surrender.
Despite bowing her head while on horseback, the knight remained perfectly stable. Her riding skills were good, as expected of someone from the White Rose Knights.
「You can decide how to set up camp. Fortunately, while the magic tent is a little small for this number of people, I think we can still fit everyone in it.」
「Well, then, I’ll discuss that with you later. For now, could you scout ahead? I’d like you to stay close by if possible though. I had thought about it before but, that Griffon……Set was it? Set is very fast. We can’t keep up with him.」
「Guru~!」
Of course! Set seemed to say with a happy cry as Rei patted his head.
「Set can reach the Imperial Capital in just a few hours. Anyway, I understand. I’ll take my time scouting from above.」
「Thank you very much.」
Hearing Widele’s words, Rei signaled Set to take to the sky.
With a flap of his wings and a run-up over a few meters, Set took to the sky.
Seeing Set run into the air rather than fly, Widele quickened her own pace as she turned a sharp gaze towards her subordinate who had spoken something unnecessary earlier……about spending the night in Rei’s tent.
「Don’t say such stupid things.」
「But, Captain, you already know Rei’s abilities, right? He single-handly annihilated an entire army, he has a Griffon under his command, and he has many magic items. He’s a good candidate no matter how you look at him. I’d like to recruit him into the White Rose Knights if it were possible.」
「That’s impossible. In the first place, Rei is a man. At that point, he already can’t join the White Rose Knights. And, above all, you’ve all spoken with him, so you understand his personality.」
「He looks like a girl though, so if he tried a little, no one would think of him as a guy. He’s even wearing a robe that hides his body features.」
Hearing those words, Widele unconsciously wondered for a moment if Rei could really do that.
But, the next moment, imagining Rei started fights with nobles……and not just the ones that were hostile to them, even the nobles that supported the First Princess……
「It’s impossible. He is certainly an unparalleled fighter, but he’s too hard to handle. It wouldn’t be a problem if he were hired as a temporary adventurer, like this time, but to let him join our faction would require a great deal of resolve.」
「……But isn’t the rebel army using him as a force for their own benefit?」
「That must be because of Vihera-sama. Unfortunately, Princess Frizione wouldn’t be able to control Rei-sama. Even Angela-dono, the leader of the White Rose Knights, would have a hard time doing that.」
From Widele’s perspective, Mercurio’s ability to win over Rei without causing any problems was a testament to his greatness……or more precisely, his skill in using people.
She herself could only imagine a future where problems would arise no matter what they did.
「Anyway, it’s best to keep a distance from Rei-sama for now. Becoming enemies with him is out of the question, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy to make close to us. ……Considering that, Margrave Rowlocks has always treated Rei-sama like family. Do people from the frontier think differently about such things?」
「That may be true. Also, according to what I heard from Princess Frizione before, there are hardly any true nobles in Gilm, where Rei-sama was based. It’s probably only possible thanks to Margrave Rowlocks being the leader of the Neutral faction.」
Widele nodded at her subordinate’s words.
「The reason why things went so smoothly in Gilm was because it is a remote area. If it were the Mireana Kingdom’s capital, even Margrave Rowlocks would have had trouble treating Rei like family. If you think about it, any place where Rei-sama is present is probably a place where etiquette isn’t so strict.」
Looking at Set, who was flying in the sky, Widele muttered with regret.
The sun had fully risen and the surroundings were bright as Rei looked around from Set’s back.
Widele’s group, moving along the ground, were already as small as a sesame seed.
「Gururu~」
Rei stroked Set as he gave a cry to tell Rei that there was nothing of note in the surroundings. Rei took some dried meat out of the Misty Ring to eat himself as he also passed a few pieces to Set.
The dried meat had been made at the Eternal Sky Pavilion.
It was very delicious, considering how expensive it had been, and Rei had nothing to complain about.
If he had to give a comment, it would be that it was so delicious that it made other dried meats feel like it was missing something.
「……We’re heading back to the Imperial Capital, so if we’re lucky, I’ll stop by the Eternal Sky Pavilion to buy as much dried meat and other dishes as I can.」
Rei muttered softly as he turned to look towards the direction of the Imperial Capital, while Set happily gulped down the dried meat.
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