「Then, come again to play! You too Set!」


  「Gururu~」


  As Rei got onto the carriage parked outside the Quent residence, Marka called out to Set, who was standing close by.

  Her expression wasn’t that of a genius mage or of a duke’s daughter, but rather of a seven year old girl.

  「Ah, I’ll come to see you again. Show me something delicious to eat then.」


  「Umu, leave it to me. This time I might have lost to the dish you called okonomiyaki, but next time I will let you eat a dish you have never seen before!」


  As someone from a duke’s family, she could stand that Rei had a dish that she didn’t know of. The next time Rei came over, she would definitely show him! Seeing her look so proud, Coan, who was sitting in the carriage with Rei, gave a brief smile.

  His smile wasn’t the usual smile that he always had on his face, but a genuine smile from the bottom of his heart.

  (She really needs friends after all. Especially since ojou-sama is too wise for her age……no, too smart. Because of that, she didn’t have anyone who was close to her until now……we didn’t manage to achieve our goal of recruiting him, but it was still worth the risk of coming all the way to Gilm.)

  Giving a sigh of relief in his mind, Coan called out to his master from the carriage.

  「Then, ojou-sama, I’ll send Rei and Set back to their inn.」


  「Hm? Not the guild?」


  「That’s what I thought at first as well……」


  Saying that, both Marka and Coan turned to look at Rei, who shrugged his shoulders lightly before looking up to the sky, which was already turning red with the sun setting.

  「As you can see, it’s evening already. The adventurers who have completed their requests will be back and the guild will be busy processing everything. As for the guild master, I’ll see her tomorrow.」


  「Mm? Could it be because I called you here?」


  「Yes, but in the first place, the guild master wasn’t there when I went to the guild. You wouldn’t have made a difference.」


  「Is that so, that is good then……see you later!」


  Saying their goodbyes, the carriage left Duke Quent’s residence.

  「Rei-san, thank you for today. It’s been a long time since I’ve see ojou-sama so happy.」


  「If you say that, then I guess it was worth me coming here.」


  「If it had been possible, it would have been interesting to work together with Rei-san. As for Set, I hadn’t expected ojou-sama to like him that much.」


  Coan said that as he watched Set walk alongside the carriage from the window.

  「I’ve been invited by others many times before, but I’ve refused them all. Well, if it’s you, it might not have been that bad to work together……temporary employment as an adventurer aside, I don’t feel like being formally employed.」


  「I thought as much. I was half expecting this to happen as I was collecting information about Rei-san in this city. Even so, I had still been hoping that you would join us……well, it’s still good that you’ve formed a friendship with ojou-sama.」


  「By the way, Duke Quent……which faction does he belong to?」


  「The Royalist faction.」


  Coan replied simply to Rei’s question.

  There wasn’t anything to hide in particular, and above all it was something that could be found out easily, so Coan thought that it would be better to say it himself.

  And, in fact, that was the correct decision.

  「The Royalists, huh.」


  In Rei’s memory, he only remembered them from dragging their feet in the war with the Bestir Empire. Of course, he knew that many of the Royalist nobles who had been sent to the war were problematic to being with, but it had still left a strong impression.

  「Ahaha. Well, there are many things for Rei-san to think about.」


  「That’s right. ……So, why did you want to serve Marka? From what I’ve seen, it looked to me that you are serving Marka as an individual rather than serving Duke Quent.」


  「That’s right. There’s no doubt about that. I was willing to serve ojou-sama because I felt like it.」


  「Still, a seven year old kid?」


  「It certainly might look strange from the outside……but, it’s also true that ojou-sama saved me.」


  Rei ddn’t feel like Coan was lying.

  「May I ask what happened?」


  「Well, it’s not really an interesting story……are you sure?」


  「Yes.」


  There was a strong relationship of trust between Marka and Coan that Rei could see. A former A rank adventurer, who would be considered a superman to many people in this world, and a seven year old child. It was interesting to think about what series of events could have occurred for them to be the way they were now.

  (No, from what he said, the two of them didn’t meet just yesterday. That means that Marka would have been even younger then.

  Without seeming to care about the thoughts in Rei’s mind, Coan spoke up.

  「I believe ojou-sama mentioned it earlier when we were sparring, but I used to be an A rank adventurer. The party I worked in was also an A rank party.」


  「Heh, an A rank party? The only one I know of is Axe of the Thunder God.」


  「Ah, they are famous in many ways. It’s good to be able to form a party with just family. ……Unfortunately, the party I worked in wasn’t that close. No, rather I should say it was pretty bad. After all, it was a party formed purely on the basis of gains.」


  Rei looked at Coan in surprise, who mocked himself as he laughed at his own stupidity.

  From Rei’s point of view, Coan seemed to be a person of good character.

  「I really needed money at the time……it wasn’t a small amount, it was enough that it wasn’t something I could earn even as an A rank adventurer at the time.」


  「……Money?」


  「Yes. My sister……had a difficult illness. In order to treat her, I needed a medication that used a number of rare ingredients. That was why I joined a party that was formed purely for financial gain. That was why I took advantage of it to make some quick money. Thanks to that, I was able to accumulate a good sum, but just when I was about to be able to reach the amount I needed to complete the medicine……I was betrayed by everyone in the party. No, I guess the word betrayed isn’t quite right in this case. As I said earlier, the party was originally formed to make money. When I told them that I would be leaving the party after we finished a request, it wasn’t strange for them to try to kill me and take away the money I had saved rather than just letting me go.」


  Giving a small sigh, Coan shook his head.

  It was as if he was showing Rei his own stupidity.

  「Anyway, at the end, I nearly died from their attack. I fought madly to survive to not leave my sister behind and killed them all……but in the end, they were all either A or B rank adventurers. It was impossible for me to get out unscathed. No, in fact I was on the verge of dying. As I walked back along the road back to the city, half dead and half alive, I happened to pass by a carriage that ojou-sama was riding in and I was saved by her healing magic. After that, she introduced me to a skilled alchemist and I was able to obtain the medicine to cure my sister’s illness.」


  Coan talked about his encounter with Marka with the expression of a child gently showing his treasure.

  「I see, so you ended up serving Marka for that reason.」


  「Yes. I owe her for saving my life and my sister’s life. And, above all, I was charmed by her tolerance for others. How far can she go and how much will she achieve? I want to see it with my own eyes.」


  「……It’s quite amazing to be charmed by that.」


  If I twist his words slightly, doesn’t that make him a lolicon? Even though Rei thought that in his mind, he didn’t say it out loud. If he had even mentioned it, a continuation of the fight in garden at Duke Quent’s residence might have happened……and it would have been without anything held back.

  「Well, I’m sorry that you didn’t decide to work with us. ……Nevertheless, I’m very happy that you became friends with ojou-sama. To be honest, ojou-sama is highly capable in many things……no, rather, she’s too capable and has difficulty talking with the children of other nobles her age. However, for children older than her, they don’t like been inferior to ojou-sama, so they don’t go near her. As for people who she can talk with, they are all inevitably significantly older than her.」


  As they continued talking, the carriage stopped before long.

  While listening to Coan’s past, the carriage had continued on, eventually reaching the Dusk Wheat inn where Rei stayed.

  「Oh, it seems like we’ve arrived. Sorry for talking all this time……is what I want to say, but I would really like to ask that you continue to be friends with ojou-sama.」


  Rei nodded without a change in his expression as Coan gave a deep bow.

  「There’s no need to do that. Now that Marka is friends with me, I don’t think she would want you to do this.」


  「……That is true. I definitely got ahead of myself there.」


  Coan gave a wry smile at Rei’s words and opened the carriage door before stepping out.

  「Then, please.」


  「Ah, thanks for taking care of me.」


  Saying a brief goodbye to Coan, Rei went straight to the inn with Set while feeling nostalgic.

  Seeing them off, Coan got back into the carriage. He was glad that the person who had become a friend of the young lady had the character he expected.

  If Rei had tried to use Marka for some kind of plot……at that time, Coan would have tried to stop Rei, even if it meant giving his life.

  (However, I honestly don’t think I could beat him by fighting normally. If I had to, I would have to catch him off guard.

  They had only crossed weapoins once in that fight in garden in Duke Quent’s residence. However, considering the power he had felt behind the Death Scythe on its initial attack and when it blocked his own attack, he could easily tell that in pure combat strength, Rei was stronger than him, a former A rank adventurer.

  (That’s why it’s quite strange in many ways for him to be C rank right now. That said, considering you need more than combat strength to get to B rank, maybe it’s not that surprising.)

  Coan thought to himself as he went back to Duke Quent’s residence in the carriage.

  「Oh, you’ve come back. You’ve been away for quite a while this time.」


  「Just a short trip to Emoshion. ……How much do I need to pay for my accommodation up to now?」


  It was Lana, the middle-aged proprietress who ran the Dusk Wheat inn.

  Looking through some documents at the counter, Lana spoke with a smile.

  「The amount you gave to me previously will run out this month. What would you like to do?」


  「In that case, I’ll be in your care again. Let me know when it runs out.」


  Saying that, Rei took three platinum coins from the Misty Ring and placed them on the counter.

  After seeing that, Lana wasn’t too shocked as she ran a high class inn in Gilm. However, she still looked back at Rei in surprise.

  「Well, this is quite a bit. Did things go well for you this time?」


  「Yes, there were definitely many unexpected events though. But in the end, the profits were still big.」


  Recalling the vastness amount of raw and cooked seafood in the Misty Ring, Rei nodded his head.

  If Rei’s purpose was to make money, he could make a fortune from all the seafood he had.

  「I’m glad to hear that. But for me, I’m just happy that you’ve come back safely.」


  Feeling somewhat embarrassed under his hood after seeing Lana smile as she said that, trying to hide his embarrassment, Rei took out 5 relatively large fish, 30cm in length, from the Misty Ring and handed them over to her.

  「A souvenir from Emoshion. Because it’s a sea fish, it’s comparatively bigger than the fish around here, but it can still be eaten with salt after grilling.」


  「My, my, this is really big. Thank you very much. I’ll serve it for tonight’s meal. I can’ refund you the fees for the time you were away due to the city’s rules, but I’ll treat you to tonight’s meal.」


  While a smile on her face, she immediately headed over to the kitchen to preserve the fish.

  That night, Rei enjoyed his meal at the Dusk Wheat for the first time in a long while.