「……Are you sure?」


  Sitting on the sofa, Rei unconsciously stopped drinking his tea and asked Elena.

  He had just been told that all the monsters they had killed on the way to the dungeon and in the dungeon would be given to him as a reward.

  「There are no issues. In the first place, we have don’t have the means to sell all the magic stones and proofs of subjugation.」


  (I see, come to think of it, I did here that that was usually left to Vel.)

  He nodded in his mind, but still spoke out his question?

  「Certainly you don’t have any connections on hand to sell through, But still, wouldn’t I be taking unfair advantage of you if I took it all because you can’t sell it?　If it comes down to it, you could ask the coach driver.」


  「That is true. However, we have given you much inconveniences this time. This is what I can give you……ah, no. Rather, I still have one more thing.」


  「……Elena?」


  Rei asked Elena after hearing her mutter as if she had thought of something, but Elena shook her head as if it were nothing.

  「Anyway. For me, I think it would be fine if we gave you all the monsters this time. Although you may have forgotten, for now, I hold the position of a Duke’s daughter. Even as a soldier, I have received much fame. I’m not concerned about money, I even have reputation as the General Princess.」


  「Well, if Elena is fine with it, I have no complaints.」


  Seeing that there were no complaints, she gave a nod and elegantly carried the the cup of tea to her mouth.

  「……Ara, sorry, but I would like another cup of tea. Something a bit lighter.」


  「Ah, yes. I will prepare it immediately.」


  At Elena’s words, Ara bowed her head and went out the small room.

  As Elena saw Ara off, she waited for door to the room to close before turning her eyes to Rei.

  「……Elena?」


  「Rei, I’m sorry……but if you could lend me your ear for a minute……yes, please pay attention.」


  「What, all of a sudden?　Ah, well, I don’t mind.」


  While wondering, he got up from his sofa and sat next to Elena. He waited for what she had to say.

  「……」


  As he waited for several seconds, he started to feel suspicious of Elena, who stayed silent, and turned around to look at her.……


  Unexpectedly, Elena’s hands grasped his cheeks and forced his face to look at her.

  Originally, this would have been impossible given Rei’s physical abilities, but now, although incomplete, Elena had inherited the power of an Ancient Dragon. Magical power aside, in terms of pure physical strength, there wasn’t much difference between them. Rei was taken by surprise and didn’t offer any resistance as his face was suddenly turned to towards Elena.

  ……However, Elena still didn’t have full control over her strength. Even now, if it hadn’t been Rei, the person would have suffered from whiplash.

  「Hey, I……」


  At that sudden action, Rei couldn’t utter a single thing until the end. The reason was because Elena’s lips had covered Rei’s.

  「……」


  At that sudden action, Rei’s eyes widened. However, Rei didn’t dislike Elena. When her beautiful face, which was now dyed red, entered his eyes, he accepted her lips without resisting.

  Her lips were soft ad somewhat cool. Maybe it was her body odour or perfume, a unique citrus scent could be smelled. However, the fragrance surrounded Rei without any discomfort.

  He wondered how long their lips would stay like this. It was Rei’s first kiss since he was born, at the same time, it was with a beautiful woman like Elena. This was the only reason he could accept it right now.

  Soon, their lips quietly separated and silence dominated the room.

  Although it had just been a kiss on the lips, Rei was born in the countryside and was a novice at such things. With the position of a duke’s daughter, although there were opportunities to come across such knowledge, Elena had absorbed herself in honing her martial skills to the point where she became known as the General Princess. Because of that, it had been the first time for either of them.

  「B-Because that was my first kiss, that should be enough as a reward!?」


  Although Elena said that in an overbearing manner, she was the same as before……no, her face was redder compared to the usual whiteness of her skin, making the redness more conspicuous.

  「Ah……that is, yes. Well.」


  Rei was also Rei, because it was his first experience of kissing someone, he had no choice but to tell himself that was the reason.

  Originally, back in Japan, Rei had enjoyed reading manga and light novels and had knowledge about such situations. However, now that he had experienced it, it seemed that there were a lot more things to consider.

  With that reply, the room fell into silence again. Whether she wanted to avoid that or not, Elena spoke up again.

  「T-That’s good. Don’t think that I am a woman who would give my lips to anyone. Rei, I only permitted such an act because it was you.」


  「That is……ah, I don’t know what to say……」


  Rei fumbled for the right words, his face just as red as Elena’s.

  「No, you don’t have to say anything. Rather, don’t say anything!」


  Remembering what she had done, Elena’s face went bright red.

  Then, a few minutes after they had returned to their former seats and sat facing each other in an uncomfortable silence, there was an abrupt knock on the door.

  With exaggerated surprise, the both of them turned to look at the door.

  「Elena-sama, there were only biscuits……」


  Saying that as she entered the room, Ara brought in some biscuits on a silver plate.

  However, as expected, because Ara adored Elena, there was no way that she didn’t notice the delicate atmosphere in the room and spoke up.

  「Uhh, this atmosphere……haa, Rei-dono, this you do something to Elena-sama?」


  Ara directed a sharp gaze at Rei. Though Ara had been absent for only a short time, her beloved Elena-sama had gone red in the face and kept glancing at Rei. She was different from the usual dignified Elena-sama……no, that was why the current situation was unbelievable. Yes, because she looked like a maiden who had fallen in love……


  Thinking that in her mind, she shook her head in a hurry.

  「Rei-dono?　Is there something you should tell me?」


  「N-No. There’s nothing in particular……」


  While fumbling for the right words, he looked at Elena without thinking. And Elena being Elena, when she saw Rei looking at her, her cheeks went red again.

  「……Rei-dono. You have certainly helped us out in the dungeon many times, I am also grateful that you gave me the Power Axe. But if you use that as a pretext to make moves on Elena-sama……」


  Gently, Ara reached for the Power Axe on her back. She was ready to slash at Rei at any time……


  「Wait, Ara. Rei hasn’t done anything to me!」


  As expected, although the situation was awkward and her face was still red, Elena called out to Ara in a sharp voice.

  「But Elena-sama……」


  「Too many words. I have said myself that nothing has happened. Do you have anything more to say?」


  「……Did nothing really happen?」


  「Umu~. ……If anything, I was the one who did something.」


  The latter half was only murmured, but fortunately, Ara didn’t seem to have heard it. ……However, Rei had sharper senses than ordinary people and heard everything she said.

  Although somewhat reluctant, Ara was convinced and placed the plate of biscuits on the table before sitting next to Elena.

  However, it probably wasn’t just Rei’s imagination and her looks towards him became sharper.

  After that, there weren’t any particular topics to talk about and as the time for departure grew near, they all decided to head for the entrance of the residence.

  「Ah, you’re right on time. I was thinking about getting someone to call you.」


  As they walked out to the front entrance, Daska, the main resident of the building, said that as he turned to meet the three of them.

  Next to Daska was the carriage used by Elena. The adventurer she had hired to drive it was already sitting in his seat.

  After loading Kuust’s body into a coffin, which was also a specialised magic item, he placed the water magic spear that Kuust had used beside it.

  「Even so, Rei is quick with the girls. Did you have a secret date with the Duke’s daughter, Elena-dono, this morning?」


  Hahaha, Daska asked them while laughing.

  As the person himself would have said, he was only teasing Elena and Rei, but the timing was bad.

  As soon as he heard those words, Rei turned away. Elena’s cheeks went red and Ara went into bloodthirsty state.

  「H-Haa?　That’s impossible……」


  「……No, Daska-sama. Nothing has happened so don’t mind it.」


  As Ara told with that with a smile, there was no room to say anything else.

  「Guru~?」


  As if ignoring the atmosphere, Set appeared.

  「……Set?」


  「Ah, ahh. I called him over. This fellow challenged the dungeon along you, so he has the qualifications to see you off.」


  Daska gathered himself due to the appearance of Set.

  Elena also looked at Set and returned to her usual calm expression.

  「Set, you really helped us out a lot this time. If you weren’t there, perhaps we would have been overwhelmed by the troop of Water Monkeys. Thank you for helping us.」


  「Gurururu~」


  Elena smiled as she stroked his head and Set gave a cheerful cry.

  Ara saw that and finally stopped releasing pressure before approaching Set.

  「It is as Elena-sama said. You’ve been a big help.」


  Ara held out some dried meat in her hands and Set picked it up in his beak as he gave a happy cry.

  「Haha, looking at him like this, he’s cute enough that you wouldn’t think he was an A rank monster.」


  「That is really true. He is so friendly that you wouldn’t believe how bravely he fights in battle.」


  「Really, Griffons really are amazing.」


  Interested in Elena and Ara’s words, Daska chimed in.

  Unsurprisingly, it seems he didn’t care about the strange atmosphere that had been around earlier.

  「I see. I think that if Set and Rei work together, they won’t fall short of an A rank party.」


  「……Heh~」


  Hearing some good information, Daska just smiled.

  After meeting with Set, Elena and Ara went towards Daska.

  「If Daska-dono hadn’t sent Rei as my escort, I probably wouldn’t have come back from the dungeon. ……Rei did his role well. Even though it was difficult for Daska-dono, I cannot thank you enough.」


  Awkwardly, he had been limited to selecting a D rank adventurer due to Vel’s work behind the scenes. This was understood by Rei as well.

  Elena and Daska shook hands while Ara gave a deep bow.

  「As Elena-sama said, Rei has helped a lot. I would like to thank Margrave Rowlocks for your good eyes.」


  Seeing the two of them like that, Daska smiled.

  His smile was different from when he had heard about Rei and Set’s abilities earlier, it wasn’t a smile as if he were planning something, but rather, a plain and simple smile……furthermore, it was a manly smile.

  「Don’t worry about it. If Elena-dono had died in my territory, there would be a variety of things I would have to do. I did it completely in good faith.」


  「Nevertheless, I would like to thank you because it is a fact that I was saved because of it.」


  「It’s not a bad thing to be able to make the Nobles Faction owe the Neutral Faction a favour.」


  While saying so, Daska grasped the hand presented by Elena.

  And finally, Elena and Ara came to Rei.

  「……We have truly been taken care of by Rei. Regarding the matter of Kuust’s body, if Rei hadn’t been there, it would have been impossible to return it to his family. Someday, I would like you to come visit my place if you have the chance. At that time, I will welcome from my position as the successor to Duke Kerebel.」


  「Rei-dono, I will make use of this Power Axe.」


  「Ahh, both of you stay well. I will rush over if a war breaks out.」


  「That’s right, if Rei and Set are there, no matter how powerful they are, I feel we have a chance of competing against the Bestir Empire.」


  Elena smiled at Rei’s words. Ara felt that Elena’s smile now held the charm of a girl, unlike her previous smiles, but she only watched their interaction without saying anything.

  「Well then……stay well.」


  「Ah. Elena too.」


  「……Mm?　When did the two of them reach the point where they could talk with each other like this?　This wasn’t the case yesterday.」


  「!?　Ah, no. This is……」


  「Daska-sama, Elena-sama and Rei-dono understood that they could trust each other after overcoming crises. Elena-sama told Rei-dono that he doesn’t have to use honourifics with her.」


  Ara spoke out as if to protect Elena, who was fumbling for the right words. Daska thought of something and smiled back as he spoke.

  「I see, I see. It seems you’ve won the trust of Duke Kerebel’s daughter, the renowned General Princess. As expected of you, Rei.」


  「……Thank you very much.」


  Rei bowed his head at Daska with a wry smile after Ara’s follow up.

  「Elena-sama, we had better depart soon. We have spent too much time here……」


  「Mmm, that is so. ……Rei.」


  When Rei looked at her after she spoke, Elena took a step forward and whispered into his ear.

  「I gave you my first kiss. The price of a girl’s lips is never cheap.」


  Shortly after telling him that, she quickly entered the carriage, leaving behind the unique scent of her body odour mixed with perfume that he had felt when they had kissed.

  「Then, excuse us. I truly thank you for this time.」


  Finally, Ara said that before the carriage departed from Margrave Rowlock’s residence towards the city.

  ……As Rei left, his cheeks were still dyed slightly red.