『Heh……Flame Emperor’s Crimson Armour, huh? The fact that you could use Overlord’s Armour was surprising enough, but to think you managed to improve on it, that’s Rei for you.』

Elena spoke through the projection of the Paired Orb with an amused smile.

Set was next to Rei as he spoke with Elena and the small dragon, Yellow, was similarly next to Elena.

With all the corpses on the battlefield disposed of, Rei was spending his night talking with Elena over the Paired Orbs before his departure to the Imperial Capital the next day.

Normally, it wouldn’t have been surprising for Vihera to show up at this time, but surprisingly she didn’t make an appearance.

It seemed that she had been called to help with the preparations for tomorrow’s departure.

Although Vihera claimed that she had run away from the Bestir Empire, that didn’t mean that her popularity and ability had disappeared as well.

In fact, during the time when Mercurio’s army was still called the rebel army, many people had joined out of admiration for her..

Considering that, it wasn’t surprising for her to be entrusted with an important role during the return to the Imperial Capital.

Although Vihera was reluctant, she still accepted her role after it was requested by Mercurio, Frizione, and Shurus.

That said, it was only on the condition that she could keep her current clothing, which both Frizione and Shurus had raised concerns over.

「Noiz was very strong. Even though I won in the end, it felt like he gave the win to me, so there’s still a long way for me to go before I reach S rank.」

『……But, Rei, wouldn’t it be better to get to A rank first? You’re still only B rank right now.』

「Ah……that’s true. It wasn’t like the Adventurer’s Guild asked me to join the civil war either, I joined on my own, so it won’t count towards my guild rank.」

Rei sighed at Elena’s words.

From Theorem’s perspective, it was impossible for him to borrow Rei as a fighting force in the civil war by sending a request to the Adventurer’s Guild in the Mireana Kingdom……or even to Gilm’s guild branch. As a result the request had been directly passed to Rei by Theorem and Vihera.

They then managed to secretly ally with both the Aristocratic faction, through Elena, and the Neutral faction, through Rei, but the guild had nothing to do with it in either case.

In other words, from the guilds perspective, despite all of Rei’s contributions in the civil war, he still hadn’t completed any official requests.

『Well, in your case, your rank isn’t that important, so it’s fine, right? It’s not like you’re that desperate to reach A or S rank, are you?』

「Considering the rank restrictions on request, I would like to have as high of a rank as possible. There’s also the matter of magic stones.」

In the first place, the reason why Rei had been speeding through adventurer ranks was so that he could accept requests with rank restrictions.

Specifically, monster subjugation requests with rank restrictions.

His goal was to obtain the magic stones of stronger monsters, so while he wasn’t as concerned about his adventurer rank, now that he was B rank, he still felt that getting to a higher rank would be better.

Especially against S rank monsters like Dragons, sending a B rank adventurer……especially a solo adventurer, would normally be considered a death sentence. So, even if a request to hunt one came up, he probably wouldn’t be able to accept it.

『I see. But it’s over now, so I guess there’s nothing you can do.』

「That makes sense, now that you’ve said it.」

Rei sighed and stroked Set’s head as he watched him and Yellow chatting away with each other.

『So……when exactly do you plan on coming back? Considering we need to explain things to Daska-sama as well, I think it would be best for you to return as soon as possible.』

「Oh……about that.」

Rei seemed too embarrassed to speak after hearing Elena’s question.

Was she hoping that……he ride Set back to Gilm to see her in person?

Although he could guess what Elena was thinking, Rei could only shake his head.

「The truth is, there was a unit I led during the civil war. ……Well, I never really commanded them myself, but they were considered by direct subordinates. About half the unit has said they want to go back to Gilm with me.」

It was only among those who had been affected by the tainted Wyvern leather armour at first, but as word spread through the guerrilla unit, more and more people said that they wanted to go to Gilm as well.

Some admired Rei’s strength while others were captivated by Set’s cuteness, but one of the biggest factors was that if they went with Rei to Gilm, there would be no risk of having to fight Rei even if war broke out between the Bestir Empire and Mireana Kingdom again.

Having been trained by Rei, they knew just how strong he and Set were……and they had also witnessed their power first hand, so they knew that fighting Rei and Set meant certain death.

Noiz was just as strong as Rei, but while Noiz was better at individual combat, Rei had many methods of attacking a wide area, making him more dangerous to fight compared to Noiz.

It wasn’t just the guerrilla unit who thought that, many from the punitive force felt the same.

……No, in the case of the punitive force, they had fought Rei and Set directly, so they probably never wanted to do that ever again.

Still, leaving the country they had lived in for so long was no small matter.

In that sense, the guerrilla unit, who had worked closely with Rei within Mercurio’s army, was quite unique.

『Hmm, I see. Your unit was made up of pretty elite fighters, wasn’t it?』

「Yeah. But, well, there’s a few reasons that they now feel uncomfortable staying in the Bestir Empire.」

『Uncomfortable?』

Elena seemed doubtful.

She had previously heard from Rei that the unit he led was an elite force within Mercurio’s army.

That meant those who were part of it were undoubtedly among the best in the Bestir Empire in terms of strength and discipline.

Why would such people feel uncomfortable in their own country?

But once she heard Rei’s explanation, she had to agree with the reasoning to a certain extent.

During the final battle, even if it was part of an enemy trap, they had ended up fighting against their own allies. Naturally, this made others view them quite harshly.

『……But, surely there are those who understand what happened?』

「Yeah. That’s why they’re not all coming with me. The vice-captain is Theorem’s subordinate, so he’s definitely not coming. But the ones who are coming back with me are also bringing their families and partners, so our travel speed is going to be slow. In addition, we have to transport Rhodes.」

『Rhodes? What happened to Rhodes?』

「He’s in a coma right now, with no signs of waking up. ……I don’t know what to tell Elk. I just hope he regains consciousness soon.」

Elena frowned at Rei’s words.

She knew Rhodes as well.

Or rather, she knew Elk, and had been introduced to his son, Rhodes, through him.

While they weren’t particularly close, hearing that someone she knew was in a coma would naturally make her feel uncomfortable.

『Should I send word to Gilm from here? You need to let Daska-sama know you won anyway. At that time I can also…』

「Yeah, maybe.」

Rei hesitated at Elena’s suggestion.

If Elk and Min were to see Rhodes still stuck in a coma, the shock would be massive.

But if he told them now, it would still take quite a while for Rei and the others to actually get back to Gilm.

Letting them spend all that time worrying about their son seemed cruel.

Rei was undecided on what the best course of action was, but eventually shook his head.

「Let’s not tell them for now. Elk and Min might not even be in Gilm right now. I want to keep the number of people who know to minimum.」

But, even as Rei said that, he could imagine Elk and Min staying in Gilm, worrying about Rhodes.

『You think so? But……an A rank adventurer like ELk might know how to deal with whatever happened to Rhodes. Considering that, I think it would be best to let them know.』

「……I guess so. Compared to a B rank adventurer like me, it’s true that he would probably know more. Elk aside, Min is also a mage, so she should have a much better understanding of things as well.」

Elena smiled at Rei’s words.

That wasn’t how one would normally evaluate a title holding adventurer like Elk.

However, anyone who knew Elk……and more importantly, Min, would probably agree with Rei.

『So?』

「Yeah, sorry to go back and forth, but it would be a great help if you could inform Elk about the situation. In addition……once they hear about Rhodes, unless they’re on an request, they’ll definitely head this way. At the very least, Elk will and Min won’t stop him.」

『That’s true.』

Elena didn’t seem to doubt Rei’s line of thinking as she nodded.

『Alright then. I’ll let them know when I contact Daska-sama. ……Still, you really do stand out, don’t you Rei? Defeating the Immovable Noiz.』

「Like I said before, I didn’t really win. It felt like he let me have the victory. Noiz saw my Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour, an improvement of the Overlord’s Armour he used, and seemed to be satisfied enough to leave. If we had kept fighting, I probably would have lost. ……Actually, I can’t even say that I’ve mastered this Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour yet.」

Rei said that with a sigh. That said, despite him saying he hadn’t trained much with the skill, he could now use it much better than Overlord’s Armour.

『Hmph, I see. ……Next time we meet, I’d like you to show me this Fire Emperor’s Crimson Armour of yours.』

「What, you want to see it? I can show you it now. You can see it over the Paired Orb, right?」

Do you want me to show it to you now? That was what Rei thought, but Elena shot him a dissatisfied look.

『Idiot. You really don’t know how to treat a woman, do you, Rei?』

「……Eh?」

He thought about Elena’s words for a moment……before realising what she meant.

Basically, she was just using it as an excuse to tell him to come back to see her.

「Ah……right, I’m sorry. That’s what you meant.」

『Rei, you should really learn more about etiquette for these things. ……Well, not that I’m one to talk about this.』

Elena’s strength wasn’t exactly in the romantic department either.

Still, as a maiden in love, she had become more attentive to the finer details.

Having a powerful rival like Vihera at Rei’s side had also sharpened her instincts for such matters as well.

Lastly, there was Ara, who was always by her side, giving her slightly incorrect knowledge on matters of love.

Of course, it wasn’t like Ara was deliberately teaching Elena the wrong things. But, like Elena, Ara was also someone who had prioritised physical training with Elena over showing up at parties with other noble ladies.

Because of that, everything that Ara knew on the matter was learned from bits and pieces of conversations she had overheard from other noble ladies discussing the topic, resulting in a rather warped understanding.

Since Ara had been born into a noble family, she would have normally been taught such things……but having admired Elena since childhood, she ended up spending her free time training as well, making her equally clueless with regards to romance.

『Anyway, putting that aside, when exactly do you think you will return?』

「Let me think. I’d like to get back to Gilm before winter properly sets in. We are leaving for the Imperial Capital tomorrow and will have a victory parade when we get there……it seems like there will be various ceremonies after that, but those are mainly for the higher ups like Mercurio and Theorem. Once I receive my reward, I can start heading back.」

Considering he had to receive his reward and the time those following him back needed to get ready, Rei estimated it would be another three to four days.

This would normally be cutting it very close for so many people……but in this case, they had Rei.

Rei could store all the luggage they had into the Misty Ring, so they only needed to carry the bare essentials on them for the journey.

This would also increase their travel speed.

A carriage filled with household items was very different to a carriage carrying only people, with regards to the speed at which horses could pull the carriages and the fatigue of the horses themselves.

As for the carriages, Theorem had already promised Rei that those in the guerrilla unit who wanted to go with Rei would receive a carriage and horses as part of their reward.

Of course, those who didn’t want either would receive more money instead.

This was the result of negotiations after so many of them expressed their desire to go with Rei to Gilm.

『……I see. So, I guess I won’t see you until spring then.』

Elena spoke with a little loneliness through the Paired Orb and Rei found himself captivated by her melancholic beauty.

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