The victory parade passed through the main street of the Imperial Capital before arriving at it’s end point, the castle.

Of course, the parade didn’t immediately disband after arriving at the castle, that would only happen after the Emperor’s speech.

That said, most of Mercurio’s army wouldn’t be granted an audience with the Emperor, only members of the royal family and nobles would be present for that.

Adventurers, mercenaries, and volunteer soldiers would escorted to other parts of the castle, where a victory party that Theorem had requested Prime Minister Pesche to set up was being held.

Needless to say, this was already special treatment for them. They would normally not even be allowed into the castle, but in this case, they could eat, drink, and celebrate inside the castle.

For those who didn’t want to bother with the formalities of an audience with the Emperor, it was one of the best rewards they could receive.

Of course, an opportunity to meet the Emperor was something that would only happen once in lifetime for many……no, rather, most people would never even have the chance in their lifetime.

Because of that, there were still quite a few people who were disappointed to be guided here instead.

「Ahh, lucky for us. Listening to important people talking is just boring. Don’t you think so, Captain Rei?」

One of the guerrilla fighters, who was drinking wine like water, asked Rei, who was eating food without so much as a single glance at the drink.

「You’re right. Not to mention it seems like I’m quite disliked by people within the castle.」

As the leader of the elite guerrilla unit in Mercurio’s army, Rei had been qualified to meet the Emperor.

But, he had also skipped out on the fighting tournament’s formal award ceremony as he had no interest in it.

To Rei, he had already attended the award ceremony on the arena……but for the people who worked in the castle, that had just been a simple ceremony for show.

The real award ceremony was the one held at the castle.

However, by the time that ceremony took place, Noiz, who had won the tournament, had already left for the Demon Mountains, while Rei, the runner up, had also left the Imperial Capital.

What’s more, while it hadn’t been clear at the time, Rei had left to side with the then rebel army.

Naturally, the nobles and officials who presided over the ceremony were not happy with Rei’s actions.

No, in fact, they were rather bitter about it.

Their bitterness undoubtedly included any resentment against Noiz, who had never appeared in any such ceremonies.

For that reason, one of the officials in charge of the audience with the Emperor had asked Rei rather nastily if he would be attending.

Rei hadn’t appeared at the award ceremony after all, so surely he didn’t need to attend this audience either, right?

The official probably expected Rei to ask to attend in a panic.

However, Rei did the opposite and took the opportunity to leave for the victory party instead.

The nobles from Mercurio’s army, who were attending the audience, had watched the exchange between Rei and the official nervously.

They held their breaths as they wondered if Rei would explode at the official without realising who they were.

Naturally, the person talking to Rei was a rather high ranking official who knew that Rei had come second in the fighting tournament.

But, strictly speaking, those were the achievements of an adventurer such achievements meant nothing to civil servants like themselves……or so they thought.

They weren’t entirely wrong either. To the officials, Rei was just another adventurer after all.

Unfortunately, because they were always in the castle, they had only heard of Rei’s achievements on the battlefield……through word of mouth reports.

If they had known what Rei was really capable of, they probably wouldn’t have treated him like that. He was a god-like figure on the battlefield after all……that might be an exaggeration, but he was still more than capable of taking on an entire army by himself, as the trump card of Mercurio’s army.

Rei was quite happy to be kicked out of the audience, but to those in Mercurio’s army, it was completely unforgivable.

Even those in the White Rose Knights who didn’t like Rei that much were outraged, saying this wasn’t the way a hero should be treated.

As Rei left, the official was given harsh glares by the nobles as they slinked out the room.

Several people even asked Theorem, Mercurio, and Frizione if they should call Rei back, but knowing that Rei disliked events like audiences, the three of them refused.

「Fufu~, what fools. They don’t know what would happen if they made you their enemy. ……But I’ll say this, they’re not the only ones like that.」

Vihera came over to Rei with a plateful of juicy fruits as she sat down next to him.

Rei took a slice of what looked like a white Kiwi fruit from the plate Vihera held and popped it into his mouth.

「-!?」

Rei’s expression froze in shock as soon as he tasted it.

He had expected it to taste sweet and sour like a Kiwi fruit, but instead a rich sweetness without a hint of sourness spread through his mouth.

Vihera seemed quite puzzled by Rei’s reaction.

(Vihera didn’t seem too surprised or anything, so that means that this is just the normal taste to her.)

Looking back at the fruit, Rei picked up another slice to eat.

Even though he now expected it, the sweetness still delighted Rei.

The texture and taste combined reminded Rei of mangoes.

And yet, it really did look like slices of a Kiwi fruit, so it wasn’t surprising that Rei would mistake it for one.

「What’s wrong? You seemed quite surprised?」

「No, it’s nothing. The fruit was just more delicious than I expected.」

「Yeah, that’s true. It’s something grown using special methods and is only available from stores that provide for the royal family.」

Murmurs started to be heard.

Not just from the guerrillas around Rei……but from soldiers in other units as well.

A fruit grown using special methods only available from stores that provide for the royal family.

Hearing something like that, it was only natural to want to try it at least once.

They were currently attending a party being held inside the castle, but for most, this would probably be the only time they would ever be allowed inside the castle……as a result, they were quite intrigued by food that only the Emperor and his family could eat.

Of course, while such fruit was primarily provided to the royal family, it wouldn’t be that difficult for a high ranking noble to obtain some for themselves.

「Wow, it’s sweet! ……But it doesn’t linger, the taste cleans itself once I swallow it.」

「Delicious……truly delicious……」

「It’s amazing! This is definitely not the kind of food we would normally be able to eat.」

The soldiers all praised the fruit.

Seeing that all the fruit except what was on her plate was gone in an instant, Vihera turned to glance at a maid waiting in the corner of the room.

The maid seemed to understand what Vihera met from just that glance. She was happy that Vihera had asked her to help and bowed with a broad smile before leaving the hall where the party was being held.

Of course, they normally wouldn’t serve food intended for royalty that easily.

But, Vihera was present.

While Vihera claimed to have run away from the Bestir Empire, as could be seen from Gurgast and Tilleyle, her influence was still by no means small.

Naturally, as with the maids, there were many in the castle who still admired Vihera. Even putting Vihera aside, the only people present were soldiers who had served in Mercurio’s army, which had won the civil war, thus giving Mercurio the right to inherit the throne. Because of that, leaving a good impression on them wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

「So, Rei. What do you plan to do now……?」

Vihera was about to ask something when she noticed several people enter the hall.

It wasn’t just Rei and Vihera either. Many of the soldiers, who had been drinking and eating noisily, noticed them as well.

That was because they looked very out of place in this location.

The guerrilla soldiers in particular looked annoyed when they saw a familiar figure among those who had just entered the hall.

That was right, it was the official who had nastily asked Rei if he intended to attend the audience with the Emperor.

As someone who hated such troublesome events, Rei had been more than happy to not attend, but the guerrilla soldiers were not as amused, seeing their commander treated so rudely.

Because of that, they all cast unfriendly gazes at the man as he entered.

The group seemed immediately aware that they weren’t welcome.

They stopped in their tracks for a moment before one of them took a step forward and the others followed behind them.

Then, after reaching Rei, the person at the front bowed as he spoke.

「Your Highness Vihera, it has been a long time.」

「Yes, it’s been a while. I never thought you’d show up.」

「……One of us did something stupid. Nice to meet you, Crimson Rei-dono. I am Jeev Lasno, Quelda’s superior, the one who was rude to you.」

Jeev gave a deep bow towards Rei, just as deep as the one he had given Vihera.

He looked to be in his fifties and was about a head taller than Rei.

He was of average build and while his expression was gentle, his eyes held a depth that seemed to see right through to the soul of the person he was speaking to.

He grabbed Quelda’s head as he forced him to bow.

「Quelda, do you have anything to say?」

「Y-Yes! I am so, so sorry for my rudeness towards you, Rei-dono.」

Jeev’s words seemed to have made Quelda quite nervous. The way he gave his apology made it hard to believe that he was the same person who had been so arrogant towards Rei before.

「I would also like to apologise……Rei-dono, I am so sorry.」

Jeev bowed again.

Rei and the guerrilla soldiers just looked at them in surprise.

There were confused as to why they seemed to be doing this after being so hostile to Rei before.

Among the people present, only Vihera seemed to see it as only natural.

Jeev held a fairly high rank even among officials, and as such was naturally quick to pick up on things.

He predicted that opposing Rei in their current situation would likely cause the Bestir Empire to suffer significant damage.

(No, even if it wasn’t Jeev but someone else, I think anyone with a brain would think of that. To deal with Rei in any way right now would need someone like Noiz. ……Oh, well, I guess Gurgast might be willing to fight. If he hadn’t returned to his territory already, he would have happily brought up the matter at this point.)

Vihera had the random thought as the figure of Gurgast, who had returned to his territory rather than participate in the victory parade, popped up in her mind.

Both Mercurio and Theorem had requested that Gurgast participate, but Gurgast refused to listen to them.

While he was one of Mercurio’s strongest fighters and undoubtedly the one who had achieved the most accolades in the war, none of it meant anything to him, so he just went back home.

「No, don’t worry about it. I’m not that good with formal events anyway. I’m more comfortable having fun with everyone else like this. ……Anyway, if you’re worried about me, please take care of Set as well.」

The mention of Set reminded Jeev of Rei’s familiar, the Griffon. Jeev smiled as he nodded in response.

「He’s eating over at the stables.」

「I see. I wish he could have been here too.」

Hearing Rei’s words, not just the guerrillas but also the soldiers nodded in agreement.

Set was seen as a symbol of death among the punitive force, but to Mercurio’s army, he was closer to a guardian angel and many of them wished to witness Set’s cuteness up close.

Jeev bowed his head towards Rei as he smiled wryly.

「I’m afraid I can only decline your request.」

No matter what, allowing a Griffon into the castle was still considered to be too dangerous, so Set had to wait at the stables.

Of course, as Jeev said, Set was being fed copious amounts of food.

There were some people who had been unhappy about having to serve food to a Griffon at first.

That said, the people who had been entrusted with taking care of Set were gradually captivated by his appetite and friendly nature……although no one present knew of that.

As for Rei, he had pretty much expected that to be the case.

「More importantly……His Majesty the Emperor wishes to meet with you privately.」

Jeev said that to Rei as if it weren’t anything special.

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