"Be sure to come visit again! You too, Set!"
"Guruuu."
Maruka called out to Rei as he boarded the carriage waiting in front of House Quento's Residence, and to Set, who stood nearby. Her expression was no longer that of a magical genius or a high-ranking noblewoman, but simply that of a seven-year-old girl.
"Yeah, I'll come back. When I do, make sure you have something delicious waiting for me."
"Hmph, leave it to me. I may have lost this time with that dish you called okonomiyaki, but next time I shall serve you a meal even you do not know!"
As a member of the ducal house, Maruka could not bear being outdone by Rei’s culinary knowledge. Next time they met, she would definitely show him! As she puffed out her chest in determination, Koan, who had boarded the carriage with Rei, allowed a faint, genuine smile to touch his lips. It was not the fixed, practiced smile that usually lingered on his face, but one that rose from the depths of his heart.
(A friend truly is a necessity. Especially since the Young Lady is so clever for her age... no, far too clever for her own good. Because of that, she has never had anyone she could truly call a peer. Although we failed to bring him into our service, coming all the way to the City of Gilm at such risk was worth it for this alone.)
Heaving a private sigh of relief, Koan spoke to his master through the carriage window.
"Well then, Young Lady. I shall escort Rei-san and Set back to their inn."
"Hm? Is it not the Guild?"
"I thought so at first, but..."
Koan glanced at Rei, who sat opposite him. Rei shrugged slightly before looking up at the sky, which was stained a deep red by the sunset.
"As you can see, it's already evening. If we go now, the Guild will be swamped with adventurers returning from their day's work. It'll be a madhouse. I'll save my report for the Guild Master until tomorrow."
"Oh? Is it perhaps because I summoned you today?"
"That's part of it, but the Guild Master wasn't even there when I stopped by earlier. It wouldn't have mattered either way."
"I see. That is well, then... until next time!"
With that final farewell, the carriage began to move, drawing away from Duke Quento's Residence.
"Rei-san, thank you for today. It has been a very long time since I've seen the Young Lady so happy."
"I'm glad to hear it. It makes the trip worthwhile."
"If only you could have become my colleague, things would have been even more interesting. I also never imagined the Young Lady would take such a liking to Set."
Koan murmured this while watching Set through the window as the gryphon trotted alongside the carriage.
"I've been invited to join several groups before, but I've turned them all down. Though, I did think that if it were you, working together might not be so bad... but while I might be hired temporarily as an adventurer, I'm not really inclined to be formally employed by a noble house."
"I thought as much. From the moment I began gathering information about you in this city, I suspected that would be your answer. This visit was a gamble on a sliver of hope... but seeing you form a bond of friendship with the Young Lady is more than enough."
"By the way, you mentioned Duke Quento... which faction is he aligned with?"
"The King's Faction," Koan answered bluntly.
There was no reason to hide it; it was information Rei could easily obtain with a little investigation, and Koan likely thought it better to be transparent.
"The King's Faction, huh."
In Rei's mind, the King's Faction was associated mostly with the nobles who had been nothing but dead weight during the war with the Bestia Empire. While he knew that the majority of those who had caused trouble were a specific subset of problematic nobles, the negative impression remained strong.
"Ahaha. Well, I'm sure you have your thoughts on the matter, Rei-san."
"You could say that. ...But tell me, why did you decide to serve Maruka, Koan? From what I've seen, it feels like you're serving her personally rather than the Quento family."
"That's correct. There is no mistake about that. It is precisely because of who she is that I chose to serve her."
"A seven-year-old child?"
"It might seem strange to an outsider, but it's a simple fact that the Young Lady saved me."
Rei sensed no falsehood in Koan's voice.
"Do you mind if I ask what happened?"
"Not at all, though it isn't a particularly pleasant story. Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
There was a profound level of trust between Maruka and Koan that Rei found fascinating. One was a Former A-Rank Adventurer—a superhuman by the standards of this world—and the other was a mere child. He was curious what kind of event could forge such a bond.
(Actually, based on what he just said, they didn't meet recently. Maruka must have been even younger back then.)
Without hesitating, Koan began to speak.
"The Young Lady mentioned earlier that I used to be an A-Rank Adventurer. The party I belonged to was also an A-Rank Party."
"An A-Rank Party... the only one I'm really familiar with is the Axe of the Thunder God."
"Ah, they are famous for many reasons. They are a family, and their bond is genuine. ...But unfortunately, my old party wasn't like that. In fact, we were quite the opposite. We were a group formed purely for profit and cold calculation."
Rei was surprised to see a self-deprecating smirk on Koan's face. To Rei, Koan seemed like a relatively good-natured person.
"At the time, I was desperate for money. A vast sum—the kind that even an A-Rank Adventurer would struggle to amass."
"...Money?"
"Yes. my older sister had contracted a very rare, difficult illness. To treat her, we needed medicine crafted from several incredibly scarce materials. That's why I took a lucrative offer and joined a party linked by nothing but self-interest. The money accumulated steadily, and just as we were about to reach the amount needed for the medicine... my comrades betrayed me. Or perhaps 'betrayal' is the wrong word. As I said, we were only together for the profit. I had told them I would leave after that final job. To them, it made more sense to kill me and steal my share of the savings rather than let me walk away."
He let out a weary sigh and shook his head, as if mocking his own past naivety.
"They set me up on that final mission. I was on the verge of death, but I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my sister alone. I fought like a demon and managed to kill them all... but they were A-Rank and B-Rank adventurers. I didn't walk away unscathed. I was half-dead, crawling along the highway trying to reach the city, when the Young Lady's carriage happened to pass by. She saved my life with her recovery magic. Afterward, she used her family's influence to introduce me to a skilled alchemist who finally crafted the medicine my sister needed."
Koan spoke of his encounter with Maruka with the soft, reverent expression of someone sharing a cherished treasure.
"I see. So that's the debt that led you to her."
"Yes. She saved my life and my sister's life. But beyond that, I was simply awestruck by her character. I wanted to see for myself how far she would go and how much she would achieve in this world."
"That's some serious dedication."
Inwardly, Rei wondered if Koan was just a lolicon, but he was wise enough not to say it aloud. Had he cracked that joke, the duel in the garden might have resumed without any of the earlier restraint.
"That's why it's such a shame you won't be my colleague, Rei-san. ...Still, knowing she has a true friend makes me happy. The Young Lady is far too capable for her own good; she can't relate to other noble children her age. And older children tend to avoid her because they hate being outwitted by a seven-year-old. To find someone she can actually talk to, she usually has to find someone much, much older."
As they talked, the carriage eventually slowed to a stop. They had arrived in front of the Dusk Wheat Inn, Rei's regular home in Gilm.
"Ah, it seems we've arrived. My apologies for talking your ear off about my own life. ...I know it's not my place to ask, but please, continue to be a good friend to her."
When Koan bowed deeply, Rei nodded simply.
"We're friends now, so you can drop the formalities. Besides, Maruka wouldn't want you bowing like that just to keep me around."
"...You're right. I overstepped."
Koan gave a wry smile, then opened the carriage door.
"Here you go."
"Yeah. Thanks for the ride."
With a brief farewell to Koan, Rei and Set entered the familiar inn. Koan watched them go before turning the carriage back toward the noble district. He felt a quiet satisfaction knowing that the man who had befriended his Young Lady was exactly the kind of person he had hoped for.
If Rei had been the type to use Maruka for political gain, Koan would have stopped him, even if it cost him his life.
(Though, to be honest, I don't think I could win against him in a fair fight. I'd have to rely on a surprise attack.)
They had only crossed blades once in the garden, but from the maneuvering and the sheer power he felt through the Death Scythe, Koan knew Rei's combat strength was already beyond his own.
(And to think he's only Rank C. It's absurd. Then again, Rank B and above require more than just raw power, so I suppose it makes sense in a way.)
Koan mused on this as the carriage carried him back to House Quento's Residence.
"Oh, welcome back! You were away for quite a while this time."
"I had to go all the way to the City of Emocion. ...Lana, how much longer is my stay paid for?"
The woman who greeted Rei was a middle-aged, stout woman—Lana, the landlady of the Dusk Wheat Inn. She checked the ledger on the counter and smiled.
"With what you paid in advance, you're covered through the end of the month. What's the plan?"
"I see. Then, please take this for the next stretch. Just let me know when it's running low again."
Rei reached into the Misty Ring and placed three platinum coins on the counter. Even for the landlady of one of Gilm's finer establishments, the sight of such wealth was startling. She looked at Rei with wide eyes.
"My, how generous! I take it things went well this time?"
"Yeah. A lot of unexpected things happened, but in the end, it was a very profitable trip."
Rei thought of the massive amount of seafood stored within his Misty Ring and nodded. If he wanted to, he could make a fortune just selling the delicacies he had brought back.
"That's good to hear. But honestly, I'm just happy you're back in one piece, Rei-san."
Lana's warm smile made Rei feel a bit bashful under his hood. To hide his embarrassment, he pulled out five relatively large fish about 30cm long from the Misty Ring and handed them over.
"A souvenir from Emocion. They're sea fish, so they're a bit bigger than what you find around here. They're great grilled with a bit of salt."
"Oh, my! They really are huge. Thank you! As a thank you, today's dinner is on the house. I can't refund the room fees for the time you were away—that's city policy—but I'll make it up to you with the food!"
Beaming, she hurried toward the kitchen to put the fish on ice.
That evening, for the first time in weeks, Rei sat down to a hot meal at the Dusk Wheat Inn and savored every bite.