The triumphal parade wound its way through the main street of the Imperial Capital and finally reached the castle, where the procession drew to a close. Of course, the soldiers didn't simply disperse upon arrival; the event would only truly end after they received a formal address from the Emperor.
However, those permitted to have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor were almost exclusively limited to the royalty and nobility within the Mercurio Army. The adventurers, mercenaries, and volunteer soldiers were led to a different wing of the castle. There, the grand drinking party that Theoreme had requested from Chancellor Peshe was already in full swing.
Needless to say, this was exceptional treatment. Commoners who would normally never be allowed past the castle gates were now drinking, eating, and making merry with food and wine provided by the crown. For those who wished to avoid the stiff, suffocating atmosphere of a royal audience, it was the finest hospitality imaginable.
An opportunity to meet the Emperor was something that usually happened only once in a lifetime—if at all. Most people would go to their graves without ever seeing the sovereign. Considering that, a fair number of people were genuinely disappointed to have been guided here instead.
"Ah, we really lucked out. Listening to those big shots drone on is just a bore. Don't you think so, Captain Rei?"
One of the Mobile Unit soldiers, gulping down wine from his cup as if it were water, turned to pose the question to Rei. For his part, Rei was ignoring the alcohol entirely, focused solely on sampling the various dishes spread before him.
"True enough," Rei replied. "Besides, I get the feeling I’m not exactly popular with the people in this castle."
In truth, as the leader of the elite Mobile Unit within the Mercurio Army, Rei was more than entitled to an audience with the Emperor. However, he had also skipped the award ceremony following the fighting tournament as if he couldn't be bothered with it.
From Rei's perspective, he had already attended the ceremony held at the arena, but to the castle staff, that had been a mere formality. The "true" award ceremony was the one intended to be held within the castle walls.
Yet Noise, the tournament champion, had already departed for the Mountain of Magic and was nowhere to be found, and Rei, the runner-up, had vanished from the Imperial Capital without attending the official presentation. To make matters worse, while his reasons had been unclear at the time, Rei had gone on to side with the forces calling themselves the Rebel Army.
Naturally, the nobles and officials in charge of imperial protocol found Rei's behavior utterly galling. In fact, they likely harbored a deep, simmering resentment toward him. That bitterness was undoubtedly fueled by their frustration with Noise, who was just as prone to ignoring these official functions.
Because of this, a civil official had sarcastically asked Rei if he intended to participate in the audience. The man had sneered, suggesting that since Rei hadn't bothered with the tournament's award ceremony, surely he wouldn't mind skipping this audience as well. The official had likely expected Rei to panic and beg for a seat at the table.
Instead, Rei had taken the opportunity to happily excuse himself and join the Banquet Unit.
Incidentally, the nobles of the Mercurio Army who were present for the audience had watched the exchange between Rei and the official with breathless tension. They had looked on with dread, wondering when Rei might explode as the official treated him like a common nuisance, clearly having no idea what kind of monster he was dealing with.
The man who had addressed Rei was a relatively high-ranking civil official, and he was well aware that Rei had been the tournament's runner-up. But to a bureaucrat like him, that was merely an achievement as an adventurer. He had convinced himself that such feats were irrelevant to the world of civil officials.
In a narrow sense, he wasn't entirely wrong. To the bureaucracy, Rei was ultimately just a single adventurer. The official’s true misfortune was that, because he remained sheltered within the castle, he only knew of Rei’s battlefield exploits through sanitized reports. Had he realized that Rei was the Mercurio Army's trump card—a man capable of dismantling an entire legion single-handedly—he never would have dared to take such a condescending tone.
While Rei was actually grateful for the excuse to leave, the soldiers and officers of the Mercurio Army found the slight intolerable. Even those within the White Rose Knight Order who personally disliked Rei were visibly incensed, declaring that this was no way to treat a hero.
After Rei departed, the official found himself pinned by the murderous glares of the assembled nobility. He eventually fled the room in a cold sweat. Several people had asked Theoreme, Mercurio, and Frizion if they should call Rei back, but since all three knew how much he loathed formal settings, they refused to intervene.
"Hehe, what fools. They have no idea what it means to make an enemy of Rei right now. But if I may say so, not everyone in this city is that blind."
Vihera approached with a plate piled high with succulent fruits and sat down beside Rei. He took a slice of a fruit that looked like a white kiwi from the plate she offered and popped it into his mouth.
"!? "
The moment the fruit hit his tongue, Rei’s expression froze. He had been expecting the tart, acidic zing of a kiwi, but instead, a rich, concentrated sweetness flooded his mouth. There wasn't a hint of sourness to be found.
Seeing Rei’s stunned reaction, Vihera tilted her head curiously.
She doesn't look like she's trying to pull a prank, Rei thought. Which means this is just the normal taste to her.
He turned his gaze back to the kiwi-like fruit, reached out, and tried another piece. Now that he knew what to expect, he was able to truly appreciate the flavor. In terms of texture and taste, it was actually closer to a mango, yet the cross-section looked so much like a kiwi that the visual dissonance was jarring.
"What is it? You look so shocked," Vihera said.
"No, it's nothing. This fruit is just... much better than I expected."
"Well, naturally. It’s an Imperial Purveyor item. They use a special cultivation method that isn't shared with the public."
A sudden stir went through the room. It wasn't just the Mobile Unit soldiers near Rei; men from other units nearby turned their eyes toward the plate.
Fruit from an Imperial Purveyor, grown through secret techniques. Hearing those words, it was only natural for the soldiers to want a taste. For many of them, this was their first and last time inside the castle; their interest was piqued by food that was normally reserved for the Emperor and his kin. Of course, while these items were "imperial," high-ranking nobles could obtain them with enough effort.
"Whoa, that’s sweet! And look—it’s so clean! It doesn't leave that sticky aftertaste!"
"It’s delicious... truly wonderful..."
"Incredible! Man, this definitely isn't the kind of stuff they usually feed the likes of us."
The soldiers were full of praise as the fruit vanished. Seeing her plate emptied in the blink of an eye, Vihera glanced toward a maid waiting in the corner of the hall.
The maid immediately understood the silent request. Seemingly delighted to be of service to Her Highness Vihera, she offered a beaming smile and a small bow before slipping out of the hall to fetch more.
Normally, imperial delicacies would never be distributed so freely. But Vihera was the exception. Although she claimed to have already left the Bestia Empire, her influence remained formidable, as evidenced by the loyalty of men like Gurgast and Tilleul. There were many in the castle who still admired her, and beyond that, the men in this room were the victorious soldiers of Prince Mercurio. Now that he had secured his right of succession to the throne, the castle staff knew it was in their best interest to stay on the soldiers' good side.
"So, Rei. What will you do now—"
Vihera was about to continue when she noticed a group of people entering the hall. It wasn't just Rei and Vihera; many of the soldiers who had been boisterously drinking noticed them as well. The newcomers looked completely out of place in a rowdy gathering of soldiers.
The Mobile Unit soldiers, in particular, took on irritated expressions when they recognized a familiar face among the group. It was the very official who had sarcastically suggested Rei skip the audience with the Emperor.
Rei himself had been happy to escape the formality, but his soldiers didn't find the mistreatment of their captain the least bit amusing. Consequently, they directed a barrage of unfriendly glares toward the new arrivals.
The newcomers clearly sensed they were not welcome. The group hesitated for a moment, but when the man at their head stepped forward, the others followed in his wake.
Approaching Rei, the lead man offered a polite bow.
"Her Highness Vihera, it has been far too long."
"Yes, it has. I certainly didn't expect you to be the one to come out here," she replied.
"...One of my subordinates has committed a grave folly. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Crimson Rei. I am Jive Rasno. I am the superior of Cuerda, the man who acted so rudely toward you earlier."
Jive gave Rei a bow that was every bit as deep and respectful as the one he had given Vihera. He appeared to be in his fifties and stood about a head taller than Rei. He had a standard build and wore a gentle expression, but his eyes possessed a piercing depth, as if he could look right into a person's soul.
Jive reached out, placed a hand on the back of Cuerda’s head, and forced the man into a low, apologetic bow.
"Cuerda, I believe you have something to say as well?"
"Y-Yes! I acted with terrible insolence toward Lord Rei today! I am deeply, deeply sorry!"
Cuerda seemed genuinely flustered, his voice cracking as he repeated his apologies. His current behavior was a pathetic reversal of the arrogant attitude he had displayed earlier.
"I offer my own apologies as well... Lord Rei, please accept our sincerest regrets," Jive added, bowing once more.
Rei and the Mobile Unit soldiers watched Jive with varying degrees of surprise. They were baffled as to why an official who had been so hostile was suddenly groveling.
Amidst them all, only Vihera remained unfazed. Jive was a high-ranking official, and precisely because of his rank, he was sharp. Vihera had correctly predicted that he would realize that making an enemy of Rei in the current political climate would cause catastrophic damage to the Bestia Empire.
(Honestly, anyone with a modicum of intelligence should have reached that conclusion. To counter Rei now, you'd have to find someone on the level of Noise. ...Though I suppose Gurgast would probably be happy to fight him if he were here. If he hadn't already left for his territory, he might have been delighted to stir the pot.)
The image of Gurgast, who had refused to participate in the triumphal parade because he found it tiresome and had already returned to his lands, floated through Vihera's mind. Mercurio and Theoreme had both requested his presence, given that his unit was one of the army's elites and had performed brilliantly, but Gurgast had simply ignored them.
"Don't worry about it," Rei said, breaking the silence. "I'm not one for formal events anyway. I'm much more comfortable making a racket with everyone else here. ...More importantly, if you're concerned about me, I'd appreciate it if you looked after Seto as well."
At the mention of the name, Jive immediately recalled Rei’s tamed gryphon. He smiled and nodded.
"He is currently in the castle stables, where he is being provided for."
"I see. I wish Seto could have come here too..."
Hearing Rei's words, the soldiers throughout the hall nodded in agreement. While Seto was viewed as a symbol of death by the Subjugation Army, to the soldiers of the Mercurio Army, he was practically a guardian deity. Above all else, countless people simply wanted to be near the creature to witness his famous adorableness.
Jive gave Rei a wry smile and bowed his head slightly.
"I'm afraid I must ask for your forbearance on that particular matter."
No matter the circumstances, bringing a gryphon inside the castle proper was deemed too great a risk, so Seto had been left in the castle stables. However, as Jive had noted, the creature was being provided with an enormous amount of food.
Initially, some of the staff had been disgruntled at the idea of serving high-quality meals to a monster. But Seto’s hearty appetite and friendly nature had quickly charmed those entrusted with his care... a development that no one in this room was yet aware of. Though Rei had a feeling that was exactly how things would turn out.
"In any case..." Jive continued, his tone shifting to something more official. "His Majesty the Emperor personally wishes to meet with you."
Jive announced the summons to Rei as if it were a matter of no great consequence, even as the room fell silent in shock.