A few minutes had passed since they left House Silwa’s residence when Vihera suddenly spoke, declaring that she wanted him to fight her.
Elena, hearing this, looked at her in surprise, wondering what had prompted such a sudden outburst. Byune, for some reason, watched the two of Vihera and Rei with a faint smile playing on her lips.
"May I ask why?" Rei asked, meeting Vihera’s gaze head-on.
Vihera wore a small smile, and at a glance, she looked no different than usual.
But—yes, but. Though her expression was familiar, the emotion reflected in her eyes was something else entirely.
It wasn't the hedonistic light of someone seeking a fight for the sake of enjoyment; it was a light of someone seeking something with a frantic, almost maddening intensity.
If she had simply wanted to enjoy a battle, Rei would have given her an answer—whether he accepted or not—immediately.
However, seeing the emotion currently dwelling in Vihera’s eyes, he could not answer her carelessly.
"Why? Is it so strange to ask? You already knew that I love to fight, didn't you, Rei? Is it so odd for me to challenge you to a battle?"
"...I'm asking because I thought it was odd."
"Vihera?"
Elena seemed to finally realize that something was wrong. She called out with a look of suspicion, but Vihera paid her no mind at all, focusing solely on Rei as she waited for his response.
It was already clear by this stage that Vihera was acting differently than usual.
In the past, even with a powerhouse like Elena present, she had never sought Rei alone with such singleness of purpose.
Indeed, it was as if she were ignoring Elena's presence entirely, focusing her gaze solely on Rei.
"Is it absolutely necessary?"
"Yes. So that I can remain myself. And so that I can find peace within myself. I truly wish to fight you, Rei."
She channeled magic power into her gauntlets, generating claws. She pointed the tips of those claws toward him.
Vihera was tall for a woman, while Rei was short for a man. Given their height difference, Vihera was naturally looking down at him, and yet, to her, the opponent standing before her felt like an immovable wall, as steep as a cliff.
"..."
The two stared at each other in silence for several minutes.
Elena and Byune were unable to speak, and even the adventurers guarding House Silwa who were watching from a distance could do nothing but look on.
Eventually, Rei must have realized that Vihera would not back down—that she could not back down. He gave a small nod and spoke.
"Understood. Let's fight."
The moment those words escaped Rei's mouth, Elena let out a long sigh, while Byune nodded silently.
If things had ended there, it would have been fine. However, Rei noticed that the House Silwa adventurers and even the adventurers employed by House Silwa since yesterday were eavesdropping with great interest. He cast an irritated glance at his surroundings.
Sensing the aura of anger in that gaze, many of the adventurers judged that staying here would lead to something terminally disastrous—something that wouldn't end with a mere injury—and quickly fled.
In this regard, it was a testament to the quality of those employed by or affiliated with House Silwa that there wasn't a single person among them who failed to sense the irritation in Rei's gaze.
After confirming that there was no one else around, Rei turned his attention back to Vihera.
"So, when are we doing this?"
"Tonight, if possible."
"...That's quite sudden."
Rei gave a wry smile at the suggestion that it should happen this very day.
However, Vihera continued to speak without letting her serious expression falter.
She glanced up at the sky.
Above her, the sun continued its overbearing presence, shining brightly. Far from the sun, the deep blue sky and towering white clouds proclaimed the height of summer.
"With this weather, it looks like it will be a fine moonlit night. I'd like to do it tonight, if possible... What do you say?"
"Fine. I don't have any problems with that. But is the night okay with you?"
Conditions for combat differ significantly between night and day. For Rei, who wielded the giant Death Scythe, and Vihera, who specialized in close-range combat through martial arts, distance was of particular importance.
In a nighttime battle, it was naturally harder to gauge distance compared to the daytime.
For those with first-class combat skills like them, that slight difference was often enough to decide victory or defeat.
However, Vihera simply smiled and nodded.
"Yes, of course. Besides, the nighttime is not necessarily a disadvantage for me."
"..."
The smile she wore as she said this was similar to the one she had shown until yesterday, yet something about it was decisively different.
"Understood. Tonight, then. Where?"
"How about the place where you and I first danced under the moonlight? Fortunately, it's reasonably spacious."
Vihera's words brought back memories of the park where Rei had fought her using only unarmed combat.
That place was indeed quite large, and since it wasn't the kind of place people wandered into at night, it was perfectly adequate for a battle.
"Very well... Tonight, then."
"Yes, tonight. Let's make it a wonderful... yes, a night so deeply etched in our memories that it can never be forgotten."
Leaving it at that, she left Rei and the others behind and walked off in a direction different from the place where the carriage is parked, heading back toward the House Silwa estate.
Byune followed after her without a word, glancing back at Rei and Elena once before vanishing.
"Are you sure about this? There was no real need for you to fight Vihera, was there?"
"I thought so at first, too... But the intent in Vihera's gaze was vastly different from her usual invitations to fight. I have to assume there's some kind of reason behind it. Besides, she's helped us in all sorts of ways, hasn't she? If I can repay that debt by going along with this, then it's not a bad deal."
Whether it was when they challenged the dungeon, while they were inside it, or outside within Exil.
Ultimately, they had even ended up involving her in the fight against the Holy Light Religion and House Marstchel. If Rei could repay that favor just by fighting her, it was well worth it.
Though in the case of House Marstchel, it likely involved Byune’s own circumstances as well, the fact remained that she had helped them, and Rei felt indebted for that.
"As for me, I am not particularly keen on the idea."
"Why not?"
"...No, it is just a feeling."
Elena trailed off as if there was something she wanted to say, but in the end, she simply brushed it off.
Tilting his head at her behavior, Rei puzzled over how to spend the time until nightfall.
"Normally, we'd be heading to the dungeon right about now... but we've already obtained the magic item we were looking for."
"Indeed. It was unexpected, but considering there was no guarantee we would find it in the dungeon, it was actually quite fortunate."
Since their original goal was the Paired Orbs that allowed for long-distance communication, there was almost no need for them to dive into the dungeon anymore.
If there was any reason, it would be to obtain magic stones... Thinking that far, Rei remembered that he had some magic stones he hadn't absorbed yet.
(One Forest Panther magic stone and three Kamaitachi magic stones... well, having more than two doesn't mean much. But the problem is where to absorb them. Seto isn't here, either... I suppose I'll save that for later.)
As he was thinking, Elena, who was walking beside him, turned her gaze toward him.
"What is it?"
"Oh, I just remembered I had some magic stones to absorb. But considering the time and the place, I thought I'd better hold off today."
"I see... Now that we have the Paired Orbs, I suppose it is almost time for my holiday to come to an end as well."
In the middle of her sentence, a faint shadow of sadness flickered in Elena's eyes.
Yes, the reason Elena had come to the Labyrinth City of Exil was to obtain the Paired Orbs.
Since she had convinced Ara to handle her duties so she could take this time off, it was only natural for her to return to Duke Kerebel's Territory now that she had obtained what she came for.
And for Rei, that meant his time spent here in Exil was coming to a close.
"All things considered, these have been fulfilling days."
It hadn't even been a month since Rei and Elena had arrived in Exil. Despite that, the days they had spent here were fulfilling... or perhaps it would be better to describe them as intense.
"Indeed. Although I left everything to Ara, I can practically see her drowning in paperwork."
"Like Guild Messenger?"
That comparison seemed to fit perfectly. A smile spontaneously appeared on Elena's lips.
Seeing the sadness vanish from her eyes, Rei gave a satisfied nod.
Continuing their walk, the two boarded a carriage again from the same spot where they had been dropped off when they first arrived at House Silwa.
"So, have you decided what we're doing now?"
Rei nodded in response to Elena's question as she gazed at the scenery outside.
"Yeah. I'm thinking of restocking my spears."
"Now that you mention it, you used quite a few in the fight against Oricule last night. How many do you have left?"
"If we're talking about the ones I can use for spear throwing and treat as disposable, I'm getting quite low."
Of course, he still had things he couldn't treat as disposable, like the magic item Thorn Spear or the spears he had purchased at the weapon shop, but those were his real trump cards.
When it came to spear throwing, disposable ones were still the easiest to use.
"I see. In that case, I shall accompany you. I wish to buy something for Ara and my father as well."
"...Just so we're clear, I'm going to a weapon shop, okay? Not a souvenir shop."
Rei asked to confirm, and Elena nodded as if it were obvious.
"But we might find something on the way, don't you think?"
"I won't deny that, but is it okay to bring something like that back as a souvenir for the Duke? I'm sure Ara would be happy with anything you gave her, though."
As Rei said this, he realized that the kinds of souvenirs he typically imagined—like steamed buns or chocolates—didn't even exist in Exil.
Cookies were fairly common, but whether they would stay fresh long enough to serve as a souvenir was another story.
"When it comes to souvenirs from a Labyrinth City, I suppose things from the dungeon are the most common. Rei, if you think of anything good, please let me know."
"From the dungeon, huh? Maybe materials, then?"
While they were talking, the carriage stopped. As they had discussed, Rei and Elena bought things that looked like they might make good souvenirs, stopped by weapon shops and blacksmith shops to buy up all the nearly-broken spears they could find, and then returned to the inn while snacking on street food, just as they did when returning from the dungeon.
From an outsider's perspective, it would have looked like nothing other than a date, but unfortunately for them, the fact that neither of them was conscious of it was very much like Rei and Elena.
Regarding the shopping trip they had taken when going to the desert floor, Elena had been looking forward to it as a date, but...
And so, after returning to the inn and resting a bit early to prepare for the fight with Vihera... night fell.
"Even at night, it's not exactly what I'd call cool compared to the day."
Rei frowned at the temperature, which showed no sign of dropping even after dark, and pulled up his Dragon Robe's hood.
Just as Vihera had mentioned during the day, there wasn't a single cloud in the night sky, and only the brilliant moonlight came pouring down.
Moon Rain. That phrase suddenly flickered through Rei's mind, but he gave a small smile and shook his head, thinking it wasn't like him.
"What is it?"
Beside him stood Elena. She, too, was wearing the same equipment she wore when heading into the dungeon.
"No, it's nothing... More importantly, are you really coming along?"
"Yes... Is it a bother?"
Rei silently shook his head as Elena asked with a hint of anxiety.
"It's not a problem... It's just that, from the looks of Vihera, today's fight won't be like the half-playful ones we've had before. It seems like she has something on her mind. I don't know the reason, but I don't want to do anything that would trivialize that."
"I understand. I shall make sure not to interfere."
Relieved by those words, they moved to the stables and brought Seto and Iero with them as they headed out into the night city.
Given everything that had happened yesterday, there were fewer people out than usual, but the summer night still had a way of drawing people into the streets. There were people heading to the bars, others returning from them. There were those visiting the brothels, the downtown district, and so on.
Basking in the gazes of these people, they continued walking... and eventually arrived at the park where Rei and Vihera had fought before.
"Did I keep you waiting?"
Rei called out to Vihera, who stood ahead of them, her body bathed in the pale moonlight.