CH 563

12-15 minutes

All the villagers enjoyed the dinner feast as they ate the meat of the huge wild boar that Set had killed. The wheat harvest was going well and as they all enjoyed their evening meal, a voice echoed out into the village square.

Hearing that voice the first time, the villagers involuntarily turned to look in the direction of the voice……upon which they all stopped moving.

It was because they had never seen such a beautiful woman in their life.

She was wearing a robe, which her wavy reddish purple hair flowed down over. Her sharp gaze showed her strength. At the same time, she had a soft smile on her lips.

She was wearing gauntlets on her hands and a similar piece of equipment for her feet. Both seemed somewhat strange for a woman as beautiful as her to be wearing. But despite looking somewhat out of place, there was a strange sense of unity.

Beside the woman was a man, also wearing a robe.

He had black hair, trimmed to his shoulders, and a gaze that showed his strength of will.

Even though he gave off a stronger presence than most other people, he still didn’t seem to stand out much when he was with the woman.

From the outside, they seemed like travelers who had stopped by the village in search of a place to stay the night, but the feeling they gave off clearly showed that they weren’t ordinary people.

For a moment, the hustle and bustle of the lively feast stopped as silence filled the surroundings.

The first person to speak was Rei, who was eating a boar meat sandwich along with a summer vegetable soup.

「Vihera, Theorem as well. You were faster than I expected.」

Hearing his words, the people gathered in the village square understood.

These two were the people Rei had been waiting for.

「Oh, that’s good. They are the people you are meeting with, Rei. They told me that at the village gate, but I couldn’t completely believe them.」

A pitiful villager, who had been assigned the role of gatekeeper during this time, gave a sigh of relief.

At the same time, he casually came over to pick up one of the grilled skewers.

Two strangers had showed up out of nowhere in the evening. At first he had suspected it was a bandit trap, but after telling him that they were meeting with someone called Rei, he had no choice but to show them in.

After all, Rei had been the one to kill the giant boar approaching their village.

If this had been just after Rei’s arrival to the village, he probably wouldn’t have let the two strangers in so easily……

But, a gigantic boar that they wouldn’t have been able to fight off on their own……it might not have been a monster, but Rei’s Griffon had still been able to kill it in a single blow. The man had no intention of turning Rei into an enemy.

It was also true that he felt somewhat indebted to Rei for saving Apika, the youngest child in the entire village, from the wild boar.

「Yeah, they’re the people I’m meeting with. Thank you for showing them in. This isn’t meant to be for thanks, but do try this as well.」

Rei stood up and placed some food onto a nearby plate and handed it to the man who had guided Vihera and Theorem over.

The man received it with a happy smile as he immediately reached out for the skewers on the plate.

It hadn’t been that long since it had been cooked. Boar fat dripped from the bite sized pieces of meat which had been marinated with sauce that Rei had taken out from the Misty Ring as it was grilling, creating a very appetising and enticing scent as it wafted out.

Because it had been cooked over high heat, the outside had a firm texture while the inside was soft. The flavour of the sauce overflowed from the meat as the juices spread in his mouth.

「……Delicious……」

The man muttered earnestly, unable to think of anything else to say as he made his way back to the village entrance while holding the plate.

He must have wanted to share the food with his fellow gatekeepers.

Seeing him off, Rei immediately called out to Vihera and Theorem.

「For now, you guys must be tired, why don’t you have some food first.」

「Yes, let’s do that first.」

Immediately nodding at Rei’s word, Vihera sat down next to him without hesitation.

As for Theorem, after giving a small smile at Vihera’s actions, he looked around before finding Ruchard.

Ruchard must have noticed Theorem’s gaze as well. He went over to Theorem, leaving behind his friends, who were still entranced by Vihera.

「It’s been a while. You came back much earlier than I expected.」

「Yeah, the horse has worked hard. Although, it might have worked a bit too hard, it’s now resting near the village entrance. If there’s a stable, please prepare space for it.」

「Yes, as for a place to stay, is it okay to stay at my place?」

「Where’s Rei staying?」

「Also at my house.」

「I see, then we’ll go with you.」

「Understood. Um……so, she.」

Who is she? That was what Ruchard had been about to ask.

『UOOOOOH-!』

He suddenly heard voices that seemed to be a mix of cheers and shouts.

He hurriedly turned towards the direction of the voices, only to see the beautiful woman who had been with Theorem taking off her robe.

No, there was nothing wrong with that alone.

Robes were essential for travelling, but they tended to get in the way when one wanted to relax.

However, the clothes she wore under the robe were very sensational……she was wearing several thin layers of cloth that could be seen through. It was one thing if she had been a dancer or prostitute, but otherwise her garments that could only be described as too revealing.

Her thin clothes sparkled in the light of the setting sun, creating a magical aura around her.

The eyes of the villagers, both men and women, couldn’t be more captivated.

It was the same for Ruchard, who found himself unable to take his eyes off her.

「……I wonder if the lady knows how much attention she’s attracting.」

Ruchard came back to his senses as he heard those words spoken with a sigh behind him.

The lady……were the words Theorem, Flash, had used.

From that alone, it was clear that the person attracting the attention of the villagers was no ordinary person.

On the other hand, under the gazes of the villagers, Vihera just smiled in a good mood as she ate the delicious food next to the person she liked, Rei, who she hadn’t seen in a while.

She was currently wrapped up in one of the greatest happiness for a woman.

(Though……it’s a pity that there’s no one worth fighting here.)

She muttered to herself as she brought some freshly baked bread and boar stew to her mouth.

Humans had three major desires, food, sleep, and sex, but Vihera had a fourth, the desire for combat.

She felt regretful that there was only Rei, Theorem, and Set present who could satisfy her urge to fight, but she enjoyed the feast without letting it show on her face.

At first, the villagers had been at a loss for words at her beauty, but as time went on, they gradually got used to the atmosphere and they started to talk with her.

「Don’t you think it’s dangerous to be dressed so lightly? All men are wild beasts, you know? A beautiful woman like you would be eaten in no time.」

「Fufu, it’s fine. Even though I might look like this, I’m quite strong. The only one who can have me is the one who can defeat me. ……Right?」

She glanced over at Rei, who was enjoying a boar steak with Set.

Seeing that, the person who spoke to Vihera must have realised she had feeling for Rei.

At the same time, some of the men, who had fallen in love with Vihera at first glance, as if she had stolen their souls away, despaired when they heard her words and saw her expression.

No matter how hard they fought, there was no way they could beat Rei, who had the title Crimson.

The despair of those who had seen Set crush the boar’s head was particularly bad.

It was true that Set had been the one to do that, but Set belonged to Rei. In other words, they understood that if they wanted to get the woman in front of them, they would have to beat Rei, who was probably stronger than Set.

「Well, who knows.」

Rei shrugged his shoulders as he went back to enjoying his steak.

Vihera wanted to say something to Rei, but judging that it wasn’t the right occasion, she made do with cooking some more food next to him.

「Hmm……it’s been a long time since I’ve had alcohol to drink.」

Vihera’s somewhat seductive voice echoed out from within the living room of Ruchard’s house.

There were currently only three people in the house, Rei, Vihera, and Theorem.

The owner of the house, Ruchard, was still attending the feast back in the village square.

Outside the house, Set was lying on his back, keeping watch for anyone that might approach.

Up until now, Set had been banned from entering the village, but thanks to his achievements in protecting Apika, and with Ruchard’s help, he had been given official permission by the village chief to sleep inside the village.

It seemed that the general opinion had been it was a pity to not let Set into the village and this incident had just turned into the trigger.

「Drinking is fine, but please don’t go overboard. Your body is precious.」

「I know. Rather than that, we should get down to business. Rei, you got here safely, so everything went well, right?」

When Vihera looked over at Rei, Rei nodded while drinking some cold fruit juice that he had taken out from the Misty Ring.

「For the most part. ……But, some things have changed from the original plan.」

At Rei’s words, Theorem’s eyes twitched.

「Hmm. May I ask specifically what has changed?」

「Daska-sama will be attending the tournament personally.」

「……Margrave Daska Rowlocks is going out of his way for this? Can this be considered part of his cooperation for you Rei?」

「I guess so. It’s not that bad of a situation either way though?」

At Rei’s question, Theorem gave a deep sigh in agreement.

「It’s certainly quite attractive from a strength perspective. But the price is the problem. Especially when someone as big as Margrave Rowlocks makes a move……well, I wonder what kind of conditions they will request.」

He was happy to have more cards to play, but there would likely be things he would have to pay in return.

Vihera agreed with Theorem’s words.

「So the leader of one of the three major factions in a hostile country is going to make his own appearance. It’s certainly going to be a messy affair.」

「Vihera-sama, don’t talk like it’s someone else’s problem.」

「Oh, but I’m already out of the Bestir Empire’s royal family, so it basically is someone elses affairs to me, you know? Even so, I do have feelings for my immediate family, so I’m helping out.」

Theorem sighed when he heard those words as he moistened his throat with the cold fruit juice Rei passed him.

However, the next moment, Rei reported something even more troublesome.

「But, of course, since Daska-sama is going to the Bestir Empire, a hostile nation, he will need an escort, right? I could escort him, but I need to participate in the upcoming tournament.」

It was a statement which Theorem had just been tussling with himself. As the leader of one of the three major factions, the Neutral faction, albeit significantly weaker than the Royalist and Aristocratic factions, Daska would be travelling to an enemy country that they had just been at war with several months ago.

It would be impossible not to bring an escort under such circumstances.

On the surface, Rei could act as an escort, but since he would be participating in the tournament, he couldn’t act as a full time escort.

「In other words, you want us to prepare an escort?」

As Theorem replied to Rei, he was forced to make a difficult decision.

In the first place, Theorem’s faction, the Third Prince’s faction, was not that big of a force. Furthermore, in the current situation, the Third Prince, the head of their faction, was under house arrest. Theorem was the current practical head of the Third Prince’s faction.

Naturally, some in the faction did not like this and it could be said that they were overwhelmingly shorthanded at the moment.

In the middle of all this, he had to provided some of his own forces to guard an influential noble from a neighbouring country……and someone as major as Margrave Rowlocks. It would clearly be a blow for them to have to provide a suitable level of combat power as an escort.

On top of that, Daska and the Third Prince’s faction couldn’t been seen as having any sort of cooperative relationship, so there was also the difficult task of bringing someone out who’s face was unknown to the other powers.

(I could take a look around the adventurers guild……)

Theorem thought about that, but considering that many skilled adventurers would also be participating in the tournament, it would be difficult.

However, Rei spoke to him at this point.

「No, Gilm has prepared the escort.」

「I see, that’s a great help.」

Theorem spoke, not just with words of relief, but a feeling that he was truly relieved……

「However, that escort is the A rank party Axe of the Thunder God.」

At those words, Theorem froze up.