It was summer, so even though the 6 o'clock bell had only just rung, the morning sun was already shining brightly.
In the temperature, which was still quite cool compared to the heat of the day, a large number of travelers had already gathered near Exil's main gate.
There were adventurers and merchants, and even a fair number of nobles.
Among them, one group stood out remarkably.
"Rei, once you arrive, please deliver the letter I gave you last night to Lord Daskar. After that, if you contact us via the Paired Orbs, we can explain the circumstances from our end as well."
Even though it was early morning, Elena spoke to Rei with her usual dignified aura, though she sounded somewhat worried.
The morning sun reflected off her golden hair, making her vertical rolls shimmer brilliantly.
"Don't worry. I'm flying through the sky with Seto, so there's really nothing to be concerned about."
"……I hope so."
She trailed off, her words growing vague.
Naturally, Elena trusted Rei's combat prowess more than anyone else's.
However, in contrast to that combat power, it was also a fact that Rei could be quite airheaded and frequently made unbelievable blunders.
Furthermore, those mistakes invariably occurred in situations completely unrelated to combat.
Even though their time together had been relatively short, Elena understood this all too well from the days she had spent with him.
"Rei, we'll be leaving Exil sometime today or tomorrow as well. We'll head straight for the Village of Goto near the Seremuse Plain that we discussed last night, so let's meet up there. ……Since you're the one who defeated me, I'm sure there's no need to worry, but please be careful."
Vihera spoke while stealing a glance at Theoreme, who stood by her side.
Because he was a famous figure who held the alias of 'Flash', Theoreme wore a robe and was taking precautions to hide his face from the public; he nodded silently as if in agreement with Vihera's words.
The news that someone had defeated the woman known as the Mad Beast caused the people nearby to buzz with excitement, but Vihera herself simply smiled, seemingly unbothered.
It was a smile of trust, but at the same time, the smile of a maiden in love.
Despite the refreshing coolness of the summer morning, she wore provocative attire reminiscent of a dancer or a prostitute, composed of many layers of thin raiment.
Even in such an outfit, the person standing there now was simply a girl in love with one man.
"……Nn."
While watching Vihera, Byune gave a small nod toward Rei.
However, her hands never stopped stroking Seto's body and head.
"Yeah, I know. You do your best as the Head of House Flaut, too."
"Nn!"
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to educate Byune properly so she can lead House Flaut."
Bosk was likely working so hard on the paperwork and the aftermath of the recent series of disturbances that he was sacrificing sleep. While yawning sleepily, he lightly tapped Byune on the head.
"Nn!"
"Ow!"
However, the meaning of 'lightly' for Bosk, who freely swung a claymore as tall as himself, and 'lightly' for Byune were entirely different things.
Byune, who had taken a blow to the head that was more of a strike than a tap, kicked Bosk's leg with all her might in retaliation, causing him to let out a scream that didn't suit his rough face.
"Ah—well, try to get along with each other."
Are they actually a good duo? As Rei muttered this thought, Sanctions, who was standing behind Bosk, stepped forward.
"Lord Rei, please take this."
He handed over a basket.
The savory aroma drifting from inside seemed to guarantee how good the contents tasted.
"Guruuu."
"Kyu kyu!"
At that scent, Seto and Iero—who had been exchanging farewells as fellow tamed monsters—turned their eyes toward the basket. Rei gave a wry smile at their reaction and stored it inside his Misty Ring.
"I'll gratefully eat it."
"No, you have been a great help to us this time, Lord Rei. I do not believe we can ever truly repay our debt with a mere gesture like this."
He shook his head regretfully while maintaining his cool expression, but Rei shook his head back at Sanctions.
"Ever since the anomaly species incident, I've been handing things over and getting rewards for them, so you don't need to worry about it. Besides, I was able to properly obtain the magic item I was looking for."
"But…… no, you are right. I shall stop speaking of it. However, when you come to Exil again, we shall welcome you grandly for this matter as well."
"Please do. ……Bosk aside, I'm counting on you to look after Byune."
"Yes, leave it to me."
Byune was moving quickly around Bosk with the agility characteristic of a thief, repeatedly landing kicks on his legs.
Bosk tried to catch her but couldn't keep up, his hands grasping only at empty air.
As Rei watched the exchange, which brought an involuntary smile to his face, he spoke to Sanctions. The cool-headed head butler, who was also known as House Silwa's right-hand man, nodded with a brief reply and stepped back.
Next to step forward were the three members of Sound Blade: Tibia, Ecethesus, and Nakt.
"Rei-san, we've done nothing but receive help from you……"
"That's right. If I remember correctly, when we first met, you saved us when we were being attacked by that skeleton anomaly species."
"Yeah. At that time, if Rei and the others hadn't helped us, we definitely would have been wiped out there."
The three of them recalled the time they first met Rei.
Beyond that, he had exterminated a wyvern that attacked them while they were harvesting materials, raided the Holy Light Religion hideout, and ultimately even infiltrated House Marstchel's residence.
In many ways, Sound Blade and Rei's group could be called comrades who had made it through the same troubles together.
Though for Rei, getting caught up in such disturbances was nothing new.
"What are you guys going to do now? Even if you continue as a party……"
Rei stole a glance at the one-armed Tibia.
However, the person in question spoke without appearing particularly depressed.
"Of course we'll stay as a party and continue being adventurers. I was surprised to find we'd become affiliated with House Silwa before I knew it, though……"
"No, well, you see, that was to help Tibia—"
As Ecethesus hurriedly tried to explain, Tibia laughed as if she didn't mind.
"If I were in the same situation as you guys, I would have relied on House Silwa…… or rather, Lord Bosk, too."
"R-Right! Relying on Lord Bosk in that situation was the best choice, wasn't it?"
Ecethesus let out an obvious sigh of relief.
In fact, Bosk had gone to great lengths for the three of them.
It was a statement born from her understanding of that fact, but……
"That's right, he said he'd give me a prosthetic arm magic item. I have nothing but gratitude for Lord Bosk. It won't be tomorrow, but I heard I should be able to return to adventuring in the not-too-distant future."
Tibia's cheeks were faintly flushed red as she murmured, and it was clear what kind of feelings she held toward Bosk.
"……Hey, Nakt. Did I make a wrong choice somewhere?"
"Who knows? But it's certain that Lord Bosk has become your rival. ……It's a steep road, but do your best."
Ecethesus muttered with distant eyes, while Nakt patted his shoulder comfortingly.
Rei watched the two of them with a small smile, and then exchanged brief greetings with the other adventurers, merchants, and residents he had become close with who had come to see him off.
Naturally, the one whose departure was most mourned was Seto.
A massive amount of food had been prepared for Seto as souvenirs, and Rei stored those offerings into his Misty Ring with a wry smile.
"Uuuu, Seto-chan. Stay healthy. Please come again. Come visit anytime. ……Ah, yes, take this."
A salesgirl who sold sandwiches at a stall stroked Seto regretfully and gave him a sandwich she was holding. Seto let out a happy purr, skillfully caught the sandwich in his beak, tossed it into his mouth, and savored it slowly.
Watching Seto, who looked so happy it could make anyone feel good just by seeing him, the other well-wishers also took turns saying their goodbyes and fed him the food they had brought.
Aside from that, there were also the numerous food items Rei had accepted, proving just how much Seto had been embraced by the residents of Exil.
Eventually, the goodbyes with the people who came to see them off came to an end.
To be precise, Bosk had forced things to a close, as they never would have been able to depart at this rate.
"……Well then, I suppose it's about time to leave. Rei, Seto. Take care. Thanks to you two, Exil was saved in many ways."
"Yeah, I might come back again someday, so when that time comes, I hope I don't get caught up in a mess like this again."
"Hmph, aren't you the one attracting the trouble?"
Rei and Bosk exchanged light banter…… and suddenly, Elena stepped forward.
Seeing this, Bosk followed his intuition and stepped back.
"Rei, thanks to the Paired Orbs we can talk anytime, but it seems it will be a while before we meet in person like this again. Regarding this urgent matter, I know it will be dangerous in many ways, but for my part, I do not think anything will happen to you. ……Still, I'll do this just in case. This is an incantation."
Having said that, she stepped forward and pulled down the Dragon Robe's hood from Rei's head.
She stared into Rei's face, which was positioned slightly below her own…… and softly pressed her lips against his.
It was a kiss that lasted for about ten seconds, a mere touch of the lips.
Nevertheless, when a beauty like Elena did such a thing, it couldn't help but draw attention, attracting the eyes of not only those who had come to see them off but even the random travelers nearby.
The gazes directed at Rei were half-envious and half-surprised.
Elena tried to pull her lips away and step back, but she was suddenly pulled by her hand and embraced somewhat forcefully by Rei.
Their lips met once more.
After they separated, Rei smiled faintly and whispered into her ear.
"We'll see each other again soon."
"……Yes."
Kissing him herself and being kissed by Rei must have been quite different.
She nodded slightly, her cheeks flushed bright red.
As Vihera watched that scene, she let out a small sigh, and Theoreme, whose identity was hidden by his robe, whispered in a low voice that only Vihera could hear.
"Are you alright with this?"
"What, should I have stepped in and told him to kiss me too? If I did something so tone-deaf, Rei would hate me. ……By the way, Theoreme, can you even approve of the relationship between Rei and me?"
"If I were to speak my honest feelings, I do find it rather undesirable. However, that is merely my personal emotion from the previous war. Looking at it objectively, for Lady Vihera and Rei to be together means we could draw that massive military force to the Bestia Empire's side. ……Of course, whether the people of the Empire would accept it is a different matter."
Vihera was highly popular among the people of the Empire because of her appearance.
……No, that wasn't in the past tense. Even after Vihera had fled the Empire, her popularity remained strong.
If it were known that such a Vihera was in love with an adventurer who had killed a large number of the imperial army, what would happen? It didn't take much thought to figure that out.
This might be different if he were the heir of a high-ranking noble within the Bestia Empire or royalty from a neighboring country.
"Well then, everyone, let's meet again. I'm glad I came to Exil, and I want to come back someday. Next time I'm here, I'd like to conquer the dungeon."
"Gurururururuuu!"
Rei spoke to the people who had come to see him off and headed toward the main gate with Seto, who let out a loud cry as if in agreement with those words.
Watching his departing back, the people who had come to see him off felt a sense of loneliness, yet they watched him leave without trying to hold him back.
They watched intently as Rei handed his guild card and tamed monster's necklace to the guard, finished the procedures, and headed outside of Exil.
The time Rei and Seto had spent in Exil was less than a month.
Even so, Rei had undoubtedly displayed a presence greater than anyone else in Exil, leaving a strong impression of his existence on the residents and adventurers alike.
Bathed in those gazes, Rei exited the gate, moved to a spot slightly away so as not to bother others, climbed onto Seto's back, and after a few steps of a running start, soared up into the sky.