"Ugh, another half-month of this... It’s going to be a long, boring trip."
Rei muttered to himself as he slumped inside the carriage. Luno, overhearing the complaint, shot him an exasperated look.
"You call it boring, but it’s not like you can just hop on Set and fly ahead to Gilm by yourself, can you?"
"I know. If I were traveling alone, it would be one thing, but as long as I’m hired as the supply officer, I can’t just go off and do whatever I want."
"Exactly. If you pulled a stunt like that, it wouldn’t just mess with the discipline—we’d all starve to death."
One of the knights riding in the carriage as a guard chimed in with a dry chuckle. He wasn’t one of the men who had guarded Rei on the way to the Seremuse Plain, but he treated Rei with an easy familiarity, clearly viewing him as a fellow member of the Larkus Territorial Army.
Being residents of the City of Gilm—a place where elite adventurers gathered—these men were accustomed to powerful figures. Even with Rei now carrying an alias and being feared by many, Daskar had specifically chosen guards with temperaments that allowed them to treat Rei without undue stiff formality.
The Larkus Territorial Army had already departed the Seremuse Plain and was currently en route to the City of Gilm. At the moment, they were still traveling with Daskar, the Margrave Larkus himself. However, about half of the knight order, including Daskar, would soon split off toward the Royal Capital to attend the victory ceremony. The remaining knights and adventurers were tasked with returning straight to the City of Gilm.
"Still, a ceremony, huh?" Luno muttered.
The knight looked at Luno as if he were a curiosity. "What, are you jealous? I didn't think you'd care for that sort of thing."
"I don't care about the stuffy ceremonies, sure. But I can't deny the appeal of the feast at the parties or seeing all those noble women dressed in their finest silks."
"...The food, huh? Good point."
Rei was the one who responded this time. It was typical of him to focus on the mention of a feast rather than high-society women.
"Sure, if you attended a noble’s party, you’d probably get to eat some rare delicacies," the knight said. "But you’d need to have achieved some massive feat to get an invite. Unless you have the status of someone like Lord Daskar, of course. In that sense, if Rei had attended, he’d probably have all the gourmet food and fine wine he could handle."
"...And then get dragged into noble squabbles? No thanks," Rei countered. "I’d much rather be at ease in the City of Gilm where I can spend my time however I like, even if I miss out on a fancy meal."
Especially considering Lunojis's family, Rei added silently. I’d almost certainly get caught up in a mess.
The arrogant face of that noble—now a man who had lost both arms at the shoulder—flashed briefly through his mind. Ultimately, the Lunojis incident had been left entirely in Daskar’s hands. For Daskar, the matter was a powerful bargaining chip to use against the Noble’s Faction, so he had been more than happy to handle the cleanup. He had likely intended for that outcome from the start, which was why he had employed Egg and the double agent Vel.
"Noble squabbles, huh?" Luno said. "I wasn't that active this time, so it doesn't really concern me. If I had gone to the ceremony, I probably could have just relaxed and enjoyed the wine."
"...If you weren't active, you wouldn't have been invited to the ceremony anyway," Rei muttered under his breath.
One of the knights caught the remark and gave a small smile. "Not necessarily. Luno was assigned as Rei's guard. Since Rei is the center of attention, eyes would naturally be on his guard as well."
"Ugh, I’d get dragged into it too? Never mind. Like Rei said, the faster we get back to Gilm, the better."
Rei shot Luno a flat, deadpan look for retracting his statement so quickly. Despite the bickering, the air was relaxed. The tension that had gripped them before the war was gone, replaced by the relief of victory. Had they lost at the Seremuse Plain, the Bestia Imperial Army would be sweeping through the Kingdom of Mireana by now.
"Still, this war was easier than I expected," Luno remarked. "The actual fighting only lasted about a day. Even then, the Neutral Faction mostly just charged into the chaos Rei’s magic created or provided cover for the King's Faction during the surprise attack on the enemy main camp."
"Normally, battles like that continue for days, or even weeks," the knight added. "In fact, almost none of the supplies in Rei’s Misty Ring were even touched, right?"
The knight looked at Rei for confirmation.
"Yeah. The only things we really used up were the rations. Though I suppose that’s why Lord Daskar was so generous with the food at the victory banquet."
Rei thought back to the feast held after the battle. A massive amount of food intended for long-term rations had been distributed lavishly, precisely because it was no longer needed for the march. Since the dishes had been stored in the Misty Ring while they were fresh, the banquet had been quite a hit. Rei, however, felt more exhausted by the end of that feast than he had during the actual fighting.
As the Larkus Territorial Army continued down the highway, their numbers gradually thinned. Over the next few days, the units of various other nobles split off to return to their own territories. While those nobles would eventually head to the Royal Capital for the ceremony, they couldn't bring their entire military forces with them. Taking a full army into the capital could easily be misinterpreted as the Neutral Faction preparing for a coup against the King.
"...Are you serious? We just finished repelling an empire, and they’re already worrying about that kind of nonsense?" Rei asked, incredulous at the knight’s explanation.
"It's exactly because the threat of the Bestia Empire has been dealt with," the knight explained. "Our total losses were minor, but the problem is that the King's Faction sustained the brunt of those casualties. Meanwhile, the Neutral Faction made a huge name for itself. That’s only natural, given that you’ve been branded with the alias 'Crimson'."
"I can't really argue with that," Rei admitted, recalling the way the Imperial prisoners had looked at him.
"Even though a noble from the King’s Faction officially claimed the kill on the enemy supreme commander, everyone knows you were the most distinguished contributor in this war. By extension, that glory goes to Lord Daskar and the Neutral Faction. The King’s Faction, the largest faction in the kingdom, isn't going to be happy about that. They’ll look for any excuse to tear down the influence the Neutral Faction gained. Staying away from the Royal Capital is the smartest move you can make."
The knight’s tone suggested that someone like Rei, who had zero patience for noble etiquette, would be walking into a minefield of provocations. Rei had no intention of disagreeing.
"If it were just the nobles who were actually on the battlefield, they’d know better than to make you angry," the knight continued with a wry smile. "But the ones in the capital’s main circles didn't see you in action. They’ve heard stories, but they won't respect the danger until they see it. The Noble's Faction, on the other hand, understands exactly how dangerous you are now."
The rumors of what Rei had done to Lunojis had spread through the military's nobility like wildfire. While Daskar had influenced the narrative, most who had seen Rei’s power felt Lunojis had simply brought his fate upon himself. Rei had displayed enough raw strength to silence even the most prideful nobles of the Noble's Faction—but that only applied to those who had been there. Those relying on secondhand accounts might still try to meddle with him, which could end with an arrest order being issued for Rei.
"If you unleashed that Flame Tornado in the Royal Capital, the damage would be worse than anything the Empire could have done," Luno added thoughtfully. "Plus, Rei has Set with him."
Flying combatants were rare, and even the elite Dragon Knight Order had been decimated by Rei and Set. If an arrest order were issued in the capital, the resulting clash would be a catastrophe.
"Anyway, it means we get to go home to Gilm in peace. The only remaining problem is..." Luno trailed off.
"A problem? What now?" Rei asked.
Luno shrugged. "Think about it. Almost all the adventurers in Gilm were drafted for this war. There was a skeleton crew left behind for defense, but they could only do the bare minimum. Based on past wars, there’s going to be a massive backlog of requests at the guild. They’ll have prioritized urgent subjugation requests, but everything else will be piled high on the request board. Be ready—once we're back, the guild is probably going to be dumping priority assignments on us to clear the board."
"...Ugh..." Rei groaned.
He loved subjugation requests because they allowed him to collect magic stones, but he wasn't fond of tedious tasks. Even escort missions were only tolerable because they usually involved fighting monsters.
I’ll just have to pick the ones that involve combat, Rei thought. I just hope we can clear the backlog in the three months before I have to head to the Labyrinth City.
"It can't be helped," Luno said. "If we don't handle it, the city's safety and economy will suffer."
"He's right," the knight added. "Sometimes the backlog gets so bad they even pass requests to us knights."
"Is that even allowed? Knights doing adventurer work?"
"It’s not ideal, but we can't let the city stall because of red tape. It’s tacitly permitted when the adventurers are overwhelmed."
A knock sounded on the carriage door. Luno checked to see that Set was walking calmly alongside them, confirming it wasn't a threat.
"Who is it?" Luno asked.
"One of the knights. Lord Daskar is calling for Rei."
A knight poked his head in as the door opened. He was a familiar face to both Rei and Luno. Rei’s guard greeted his colleague with a grin.
"Lord Daskar? Why the sudden summons?"
"The roads to the Royal Capital and the frontier are about to split. He wants to speak with Rei, our Distinguished Contributor, before we part ways. I think he has some final precautions to go over."
"Right, we’re at the fork already. Understood. I’ll bring him over."
The knight led Rei toward Daskar’s carriage. Luno, despite being Rei’s guard, stayed behind.
"You're not coming?" Rei asked.
"I’m safe here," Luno replied with a wave. "Besides, meeting high-ranking nobles is too stiff for me. I’m not built for that kind of atmosphere."
"Lord Daskar isn't the type to care about that," the knight remarked, but Luno simply shrugged and watched them leave.
A few hours later, the groups officially split—one toward the Royal Capital with Daskar, and the other toward the City of Gilm. As for the special reward—the magic item passed down in House Larkus—Daskar promised to deliver it once he returned to Gilm. Until then, Rei would only receive his base reward from the guild.