CH 557

Following the discussion at the lord’s residence, everyone went their own ways after having lunch together.

The members of Axe of the Thunder God had been planning to take the day off, but they gave priority to completing preparations for the trip first and went back into the city in a hurry. After Rei saw them off, he slowly made his own way out.

Because Set wasn’t with him, he managed to make his way there without attracting too much attention from the residents. Despite it just after lunch, he still bought a sandwich as he walked through the city.

The sandwich stall owner, noticed it was Rei, but probably decided not to make a fuss about it because Set wasn’t around. They didn’t make any comments in particular as they gave Rei an extra two sandwiches.

「Oh? Rei?」

A familiar voice suddenly called out to Rei and he turned around.

There, he saw a familiar face.

「Hey, is it just you, Rei? Where’s Set-chan? Even though I went to all the trouble of buying delicious bread for him.」

It was Milein, holding a basket full of bread.

「Set is slept in back at the stables today. ……More importantly, you’re on your own today?」

「Hm? Yes, that’s right. We made more money than expected from the Goblin subjugation, so we’re taking a break for a while.」

「……I see.」

Rei had a guess as to why they had earned more than expected as Milein took out some freshly baked black bread from the basket and gave it to him.

Leaving Set aside, Rei was surprised that Milein would give him some bread. But, he wasn’t one to turn it down and accepted the bread after storing the sandwiches he had left into the Misty Ring.

It had a fragrant scent and a different weight compared to white bread. Rei asked Milein as he accepted it.

「What’s this all for?」

「Nothing really, just a little something to share with you……well, thanks.」

「What for?」

「So. I heard that the Goblins had been reduced in number by you and some others. The gems and materials that the Goblins had on them were also related to you.」

「……Ahh.」

At those words, Rei realised what Milein wanted to say.

Rei recalled that the hideout of the Bloody Blades, which he had gone out to capture, had been raided by Goblins, who had taken away most of what they had hoarded.

「It’s true that the events are somewhat tied together, but it’s not really anything we did. ……Though, if you’re offering, I’ll take it.」

Saying that, Rei immediately bit into the black bread.

The freshly baked bread was soft and the fragrant aroma of rye as well as the faint sourness filled his mouth.

It was different from the white bread Rei liked to eat, but the black bread was also delicious.

「It’s delicious, thank you. It’s nice to have some freshly baked black bread.」

「Isn’t it? The shop that sells this bread was opened recently, it’s a surprisingly little known shop.」

From there, they continued conversing as they made their way towards the Dusk Wheat inn.

Rei already knew Milein’s intentions without needing to ask.

(Come to think of it, should I tell her that we’re leaving Gilm tomorrow? If we left without telling her, it will be troublesome when we get back. ……When we get back, huh?)

Rei smiled a little when he realised he had started to naturally consider this place home.

When he had first come to this world, Gilm was nothing more than the closest city to the Demon Forest, but now he recognised it as a place to return to.

Seeing Rei smile like that, Milein looked at him with a strange expression.

「Hey, what’s the matter with you? Smiling all of a sudden. What, are you laughing at me?」

「It’s nothing big. ……Actually, tomorrow, Set and I will be leaving Gilm for a bit again.」

Milein stopped with a twitch at Rei’s words.

「Eh? Seriously? You only just came back though.」

「Yeah. Seriously. I mean, we only came back because there were some things I needed to prepare. So, now we’re all good to go.」

「……Set-chan too?」

She hoped it wasn’t the case. Milein asked Rei with such thoughts, but Rei simply nodded back.

「Yeah. Set too.」

「……I see.」

After saying that, Milein fell siletn.

Seeing Milein’s response, Rei was a little surprised.

He thought that Milein would definitely blame him for taking Set along.

His thoughts must have showed on his face, because Milein looked at him with a confused look.

「What, is it strange that I’m not complaining?」

「Well, to be honest, it is strange. I thought you would blame me. Or say that I should leave Set in Gilm.」

「Yes, I would really like to say that. But Set-chan misses you the most, so it can’t be helped. Even if I force you to let Set stay here, when you leave, Set would not be happy. In fact, he would be sad.」

「……Yeah.」

Hearing Milein’s response, Rei understood her reasoning.

Milein held Set as her highest priority. So it made sense that she wouldn’t be selfish if it would make Set sad.

「Anyway, I’m leaving Gilm tomorrow, so you’ll only be able to play with Set today.」

「Of course! ……Ah, but……」

Milein immediately responded before thinking of something after a few seconds.

「I’m sorry, Rei. There’s a place I need to stop by, so I’ll come to see Set-chan a bit later.」

「Hm? Well, it doesn’t matter too much……did you forget a request?」

Milein gave a sigh as Rei finished his last bite of black bread.

「You know, I’m not someone who would forget about a request.」

「……Really?」

Milein puffed out her chest with a certain level of confidence. But, Rei knew how she was around Set, so he couldn’t really take her at face value.

Seeing Rei look at her quizzically for a few seconds, Milein became a little fidgety as she tried to muddle her way through.

「And, even if I forget, Sulunin will remember.」

「No, well, Sulunin definitely wouldn’t forget. Is it okay though?」

「It’s fine!」

Seeming to reach the conclusion that she had managed to prove her point, she turned around to head off.

「So, I’ll see you a bit later.」

Lightly waving his hand as he saw her off, Rei suddenly muttered to himself.

「That black bread was really delicious. Maybe I should have asked where the location of the shop was?」

The fact that the bread was freshly baked might have had something to do with it, but the bread was already delicious on its own without additions like butter, jam, sausages, or eggs.

「Ehh-! Is that true!?」

A voiced echoed out in the guild.

Luckily, it was past noon and there weren’t that many adventurers around.

The only ones left were the adventurers drinking on their day off or eating a late lunch.

In that environment, a scream like voice echoed out.

The owner of the voice, was Kenny, the receptionist at the counter.

Her eyes widened in amazement and had an astonished face in response to the news that the person before her had brought.

「Yeah, I knew you hadn’t heard about it. How should I put it, it’s just like Rei to not mention it……I was right to come over to let you know just in case.」

Milein shook her head as if it was a deplorable thing to do.

「I can’t let this happen. I have to go to Rei-kun right now……」

Saying that, Kenny was about to jump over the counter when a hand was placed on her shoulder from behind.

Startled by the sensation, Kenny turned around fearfully as she saw a smiling Lenora.

However, her smile was by no means a friendly one. Rather, it was a smile that gave off a strangely powerful aura.

「Hey, Kenny. It’s getting close to evening and it will be getting bery busy soon. If you leave now, other people will be troubled, right? Especially me and the other receptionists at the counters.」

「……B-But……」

Kenny was at a loss for words due to Lenora’s unprecedented pressure.

「……」

「I know, I know. But, are you okay with that Lenora? Even though Rei-kun is leaving Gilm tomorrow.」

「It’s true that I think he should have said something, but he did say he was busy with various things. Besides, if you want to talk with Rei-san, it doesn’t have to be right now, you can do that afterwards.」

When Lenora said that, Kenny, who had known her for a long time, could sense the subtly sullen feeling from her words.

(Well, Lenora loves Rei as a younger brother, doesn’t she? As an older sister, she must have a lot on her mind.)

Thinking to herself, Kenny let out a small sigh as she sat down on her chair.

Seeing that, Lenora gave a nod as well before sitting down to organise some documents.

It wasn’t that busy right now, but as Lenora said earlier, it would be evening in a few hours and they would be very busy processing requests, purchasing materials and magic stones, and exchanging proofs of subjugation with money.

Before that happened, it was necessary to handle any documents that could be handled right now.

「Well, I’ll do my best then. Instead, I’ll go see Rei-kun after work today, so don’t follow me Lenora.」

「Yeah. ……Hm?」

Lenora, who had been sorting through documents, suddenly stopped after responding to Kenny.

She felt like something hadn’t been quite right with what Kenny had just said.

Thinking for a few seconds, she recalled what Kenny had said…….and turned to look at Kenny quizzically, who was going through some other documents.

It was strange that Kenny was in such a good mood now after being flustered just a few minutes ago.

「Hey, Kenny. Don’t you think there was something strange with our conversation just now?」

「Eh? No? I don’t think there was anything strange.」

「……I thought I just heard you ask me to not follow you when you got to see Rei-san later today?」

「Really? Is that just your imagination? Ah, I wonder what I should do with these, I’ll have to check them out.」

Kenny was about to leave her seat with the documents she was holding, but Lenora reached out and grabbed her uniform.

Lenora must have grabbed it with all her strength. Since it was the body of the uniform she grabbed onto, Kenny’s chest was on the verge of bursting out of it.

「Hey, Lenora!?」

Kenny immediately held her chest to prevent her uniform from tearing apart and Lenora didn’t miss the opportunity.

She quickly grabbed the documents that had scattered around when Kenny held her chest and quickly read them.

「……Hey, Kenny. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with these documents, what were you going to check?」

「Eh? That’s……you see, as a Catkin, our female intuition is unique……」

「That’s not true, is it?」

Hearing Lenora’s words, Kenny must have known that she couldn’t get away anymore as she slowly averted her gaze.

「Right, if you understand, then sit down. ……We don’t have much time, so let’s get the paperwork in order.」

「……Eh?」

Kenny, who had assumed that she was being pressured about what she had said earlier, looked back at Lenora.

However, she immediately regretted her response.

While Lenora’s lips were smiling, her eyes were definitely not.

What are you up to, going to see Rei alone? Lenora’s eyes alone told Kenny that she would have more explaining to do when their work was donw.

(Ahhhhh……I’ve gone and done it now.)

Although she regretted it in her mind, the angry Lenora wasn’t going to let that go.

On this summer night, the last night before Rei would leave, she would have a meal together with him……and if she was lucky……spend the night together.

Lenora seemed to read Kenny’s mind and greatly derailed her plans as she went with her.

……On the whole way there, Kenny had to listen to Lenora’s nagging.