CH 538

Although summer was coming to an end, the nights were still hot.

The temperature had dropped from peak summer, but that made no difference to those out and about in the city at night.

Eating and drinking in a bar to avoid the heat or going to a brothel in search of a woman’s soft skin.

It was currently early in the night. Rei was walking alone through the streets as he made his way back to the Dusk Wheat.

He had gone to the Lord’s residence just before the sun set, so it made sense that it was late by the time he left.

Elena and Daska exchanged various information on the matter of the Bestir Empire, how to proceed, and how each others’ factions, Elena’s father’s faction to be precise, would be involved in the matter. All this was necessary to have a discussion on whether or not they should do anything.

In addition, there was the matter of the Church of Holy Light, which had been operating secretly in Exil, as well as talks on what to do if the Church of Holy Light entered Gilm.

As a result, Rei ended up having dinner at the Lord’s residence. Since he was treated to a meal made with high ranking monster ingredients, he didn’t have any personal complaints.

His only concern was……

(I hope Set isn’t sulking.)

He muttered to himself as he looked up into the sky.

For a few seconds, his eyes were distracted by the clouds obscuring the moon……

「Ahh! There you are! Rei-kun, Rei-kun!」

A voice that suddenly called out to him pulled Rei back to reality.

At the same time, he heard light footsteps running towards him followed by the sound of something jumping off the ground.

The next moment, he felt a soft weight on his back.

Turning around to see who it was without losing his posture, he saw a familiar female Catkin.

It was Kenny, the guild receptionist, who had a flamboyant expression on her face.

「Hold on, it’s dangerous for you to suddenly jump on Rei-san!」

The sound of another set of footsteps approaching was heard after a short delay.

A young woman with a serious expression came into Rei’s eyes as he turned around with Kenny on his back.

As a matter of course, this person was also an acquaintance of Rei.

Like Kenny, Lenora was also a guild receptionist.

「……It’s been a while, Rei-san. I apologise for the trouble Kenny has caused. Hey, Kenny. Get off Rei-san!」

「Ehh……it’s been so long, hasn’t it, Rei-kun? Should I replenish Rei-kun’s energy like this……huh? Hm? Hmm? Hmmm?」

While replying to Lenora, something about Rei caught Kenny’s attention as she brought her face closer to his back and started sniffing around.

「Why is there the smell of a woman I don’t know?」

Kenny looked at Rei with a quivering gaze, but Lenora, who had been watching, gave a small sigh as she tried to calm Kenny down.

「That’s right. Rei-san went to the Labyrinth City, didn’t he? Naturally, there are other adventurers there, so there must have been a female adventurer among them.」

「Hmmm, it doesn’t smell like that though……Rei-kun, do you what it might be?」

When asked by Kenny, Rei calmly looked away as he shrugged his shoulders.

「I did have to deal with various adventurers. Of course there were female adventurers among them.」

「Really?」

「Probably.」

Even though his reply was brief, what passed through Rei’s mind was the dignified figure of the General Princess and the bewitching figure of battle maniac dressed in thin, dancer like clothes.

「Hmmmm……well, that’s fine. More than that, Rei-kun, Lenora and I were just talking about having dinner together, what do you think?」

Kenny seemed suspicious about Rei’s attitude for a moment, but she quickly changed the subject as she asked Rei.

From Kenny’s point of view, it was more important to actually deepen her relationship with Rei rather than find out if a new rival existed or not.

Rei had just eaten dinner at the Lord’s residence a little earlier, but Rei still had plenty of room for more food, so he gave a small nod.

「That’s fine. I want to see how Set is doing though, so is the inn fine?」

「Of course, that isn’t a problem. How about you, Lenora?」

「That’s okay with me as well. I’d like to hear from Rei-san as well.」

Lenora glanced at Rei with a smile.

To be honest, Lenora saw Rei as something like a younger brother and was curious about what he had experience in Exil.

Quickly deciding on dinner at the Dusk Wheat, the three of them started walking together.

「That said……it’s not something I have the right to saw, but isn’t a bit late for dinner?」

At a time when the sun rose early and set late, there weren’t many people who ate after it was completely dark.

Of course, there were many people who were drinking at various bars as well as those working night shift who wanted to grab some late snacks.

However, Kenny just nodded exaggeratedly at Rei’s words, as if she had been waiting for him to ask.

……At the same time, she casually wrapped her own arm around Rei’s in an experienced manner.

「That’s right. There was a Goblin settlement found inside the forest along the highway. We had to calculate the rewards for the party that subjugated them, the purchase of materials and magic stones, exchange of proofs of subjugation, and more. After that, there was also the report. It wasn’t until evening was approaching that we finished……」

「I-Is that so?」

The feeling of Kenny’s plump breasts touching his arm caused his cheeks to blush slightly as they moved towards the Dusk Wheat.

「……What the hell happened here? No, I know why, but I don’t want to say it……」

Rei muttered dumbfoundedly at the scene spread before his eyes.

「Ah, ahahaha. There were definitely a lot of people who said they wanted to meet with Set-chan, so this was a possible outcome.」

Kenny had a wry smile on her lips as she replied to Rei.

「Wow……how should I put it, wow……this is amazing.」

Lenora muttered in amazement.

In front of them were the Dusk Wheat’s stables.

Normally, it wasn’t a place where people would gather, but right now, almost 20 people were present.

When Rei’s group reached the Dusk Wheat, they decided to eat right away, so they called out to the proprietress, Lana.

「Judging from the situation, she did the right thing, letting Set out of the stable.」

「Well, that’s true. If that many people tried to get inside the stable, some of the horses would definitely get too excited and go on a rampage.」

Lenora muttered while nodding at Rei’s words.

「And the one at the center is……naturally Milein, it seems.」

Set was lying under the moonlight in an open space in front of the stables. Several lights were lit up around him and, under the light, Milein was feeding Set skewers, sandwiches, and stewed meat while stroking him.

Other people also gave Set food while petting him or admiring him in their own ways.

A little further away, the mage who had used magic to create the lights around Set gave a sigh.

It was Sulunin, the mage of the party Milein led, Scorching Wind, and the person who served to stop Milein from doing anything too crazy.

Rei’s group of three didn’t go over to Milein, who was obsessing over Set, but to Sulunin.

In their hands were sandwiches that Lana had entrusted to them.

They had been asked to pass some to Sulunin, who had been pulled into the whole event.

「It’s been a while.」

「Oh, Rei-san. Lenora-san and Kenny-san as well.」

「Good evening.」

「It looks like it’s been quite troublesome.」

Lenora and Kenny both exchanged greetings with Sulunin, who bowed his head with a small smile.

The poor mage was probably the biggest victim in this whole affair.

To the victim, Rei handed over the sandwiches in his hand.

「Here, it’s from the proprietress. Have some to cheer yourself up.」

「Sorry for the trouble. ……No, I’m really sorry.」

His first apology was for Rei bringing sandwiches over. Needless to say, his second apology was for Milein, who he turned to look at.

「Well, I had been expecting this since I came back to Gilm.」

「Mmm, that’s for sure. Milein-san hasn’t been feeling well for a while.」

Lenora sat down on the grass as she set out the sandwiches that had been prepared for them. Kenny also sat down on the ground in agreement.

Typical of Kenny, she didn’t miss the opportunity to sit next to Rei.

Lenora reached out for a sandwich as she looked at her colleague with an exasperated gaze.

「Oh? Come to think of it, there are barely any insects around here.」

「It seems that proper measures have been taken with regards to that.」

Ahead of Sulunin’s sight were column like objects about 1m tall, either side of the stables.

They gave off a faint light, similar to moonlight.

「It’s an insect repelling magic item that prevents animals and monster familiars in the stables from getting irritated by insects. There are similar magic items in regular inns, but the Dusk Wheat in particular has a large stable, so they place a higher importance on that.」

「Heh.」

The one who was impressed by Sulunin’s explanation wasn’t Kenny or Lenora……but Rei.

『……』

Seeing his response, Kenny and Lenora looked at each other in silence.

Before long, Kenny spoke up somewhat cautiously.

「H-Hey, Rei. You’ve been staying at this inn for over a year, haven’t you? You never noticed the magic item?」

「No, well……」

As if to change the subject, Rei brought a sandwich to his mouth.

It was a sandwich made from freshly baked bread and the bread was still moist and soft. Sweet and salty boiled chicken and crunchy leafy vegetables were sandwiched between the bread.

「This is delicious.」

「……Hmmm. Well, I guess I’m hungry as well, should I start eating?」

Saying that, Kenny reached out for a grilled fish sandwich.

You sure? Lenora seemed to asked with a glance, but Kenny didn’t seem to care at all as she brought a sandwich to her mouth.

(To be a good woman, one shouldn’t push a troubled man more than necessary. It would be a different story if it were about another woman though.)

Thinking like that in her mind, Kenny looked back at Lenora.

「So, Rei-san. Since you’re back from the Labyrinth City, will you be staying in Gilm for a while?」

Lenora asked while taking small bites of her vegetable and ham sandwich. However, Rei’s response was a silent shake of his head.

Clearing his mouth with water, Rei spoke up again.

「I’ll probably be leaving Gilm again in the near future. I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a messy situation.」

「Eh? That’s a lie, right? You just came back after so long and you’re leaving again?」

Kenny, who really looked like a Catkin as she licked the sauce off her hands, asked without thinking.

Sulunin, who had been listening in, also had a surprised expression on his face.

In Sulunin’s case, Rei’s departure meant that Set would be gone again, and he wondered what would happen to his party leader.

(No way, I’m going with Rei for Set……is something she would say……)

The reason he could imagine Milein saying that was because of her current expression as she played with Set.

However, as the person who’s job it was to hold Milein back, Sulunin had no choice but to assume that following Rei would be dangerous in many ways.

This was because Rei’s strength was much greater than theirs, so if Rei said that it was going to be messy, it was definitely going to be dangerous.

「A lot of things happened in Exil. Things could get pretty nasty if anything goes wrong.」

「……Are you able to tell us anything about it?」

Kenny asked while wiggling her cat ears, but Rei silently refused as he shook his head.

At this point, telling them that he was going to the Bestir Empire would make them worry greatly considering that they all knew how much he had stood out in the Spring War.

「Well, Set will still be with me. We also have other people working together with us. Considering that, I don’t think you need to worry too much.」

Rei brought a ham and cheese sandwich to his mouth as he continued to speak in a light tone.

「Besides, maybe you’ll find out what I’m doing later, so if you’re curious, take your time to wait to find out.」

If he went to participate in the Bestir Empire’s fighting tournament, there was no doubt that news would definitely become widespread.

It wasn’t far off to say that the new would spread to Gilm.

Thinking like that, he told that Kenny, Lenora, and Sulunin, who looked at him worriedly as they ate the sandwiches.