Rei spent some time quietly examining his Magic Stones. At this hour, it wouldn't have been unusual for him to be falling asleep within the next few hours, but instead, he found himself receiving a visitor.
Rei understood that he was an adventurer whose name had become fairly well-known. Because of that, he knew it wasn't out of the ordinary for someone to seek him out at this time—though it was still a bit early to truly call it late at night.
(Is this some urgent request... or perhaps someone trying to make a name for themselves by defeating me? Or maybe it's something else entirely. Well, I wonder who it is?)
Approaching the door while remaining ready to handle any sudden developments, Rei called out to the person on the other side.
"What do you want?"
"I have a private matter to discuss. If you would be so kind, might you let me into your room?"
The voice was one Rei didn't recognize. Thinking it was likely someone he was meeting for the first time, he opened the door. Standing before him was, as expected, a man he had never seen before.
"...Who are you?"
At Rei's question, the man—who was of average build and appeared to be in his mid-twenties—bowed deeply.
"A pleasure to meet you, Rei-san. My name is Siesto. I have brought a proposal for you from a certain individual. Would you be willing to hear me out?"
"...Well, fine. Though, it might be better to talk in the dining hall rather than in the room?"
"The dining hall, you say? I would prefer it if our conversation wasn't overheard by others, if possible."
"Even so... my room is the only other option."
"Yes, that would be perfectly fine. In fact, it would be a great help. It would be a supreme joy to be allowed into the room of the famous Rei-san."
As Siesto rejoiced with a touch of exaggeration, Rei directed a somewhat exasperated look at him but invited him inside anyway.
Inviting a total stranger into his room was the height of carelessness. However, in Rei's case, he was confident that he could deal with any ordinary opponent immediately, even if something unexpected happened. Unless the opponent happened to be someone like Noise, the S-Rank adventurer he had fought in the Bestia Empire.
"Fine, come in then. Unfortunately, I don't have a sofa, so please sit in that chair."
After inviting Siesto in, Rei sat down on the bed. Siesto's expression stiffened for a fleeting moment, but he wiped it clean in the next instant and spoke.
"Thank you. Then, if you'll excuse me."
Siesto entered the room and sat in the single chair as Rei had suggested. Once he saw that, Rei promptly got to the point.
"So, what did you come for at this hour? It's not that late, but still. And to see me, someone you've never met before."
"Yes. It concerns Lord Keep, your opponent in the duel three days from now..."
As soon as he mentioned the name, Rei felt a faint sense of foreboding. However, he didn't voice it, instead prompting him to continue with a look.
"He says he wishes to recruit you. Furthermore, he is willing to pay several Platinum Coins as a signing bonus."
"I thought so."
Hearing the proposal, which was more or less what he had expected, Rei let out a sigh.
Siesto, hearing Rei's remark, likely didn't understand its meaning. He looked at Rei with a puzzled expression.
"In other words, he realized it would be impossible to win against me if the duel actually took place, so he tried to buy me off? And quite politely, with a mere several Platinum Coins at that."
To an average person, a Platinum Coin was undoubtedly a high-value currency. However, to an adventurer of a certain level of skill, they were by no means rare. Above all, there were quite a few Platinum Coins stored inside the Misty Ring.
The most recent acquisition was likely from the Gamelion hunting just the other day. He had extorted Platinum Coins from the adventurers who had tried to steal the carriage Rei was riding in... or more accurately, the carriage belonging to the former Mobile Unit. To Rei, being told to betray Muet for several Platinum Coins was a joke.
"To begin with, if I win this duel, half of the property of Count Eriel's House will belong to Baron Cisne's House. If that happens, I don't think the amount paid to me for winning would be something as small as several Platinum Coins."
"That... but your opponent is Count Eriel's House, you know? If you go through with the duel, various inconveniences might befall you, Rei-san..."
Rei cut him off with a smile as he was about to continue.
"Do you really think so? I don't mean to boast, but as long as I'm in Gilm, I don't believe any inconveniences will affect me. It would be a different story if I went to the Royal Capital, though. Besides, if things truly become untenable, I can simply vanish from the Kingdom of Mireana. After all, I am but a footloose adventurer."
In reality, it wasn't quite that simple. If he were to flee the Kingdom of Mireana, it was certain that it would become difficult to see Elena. He spoke with Elena through the Paired Orbs fairly frequently, though not every night, but it was only natural that he would want to meet her in person if possible.
However, Siesto, who didn't know that, could only stare in shock as Rei spoke so casually of abandoning the country.
"Well, our talk is over. Now, please leave. I can imagine who your master is from what you've said, but I'll refrain from prying."
Since he had asked Rei to enter Keep's service, it was easy to imagine whose man Siesto was. However, Rei knew that stating it outright would only lead to trouble, so he simply parried the issue.
(Still, to think they'd come to buy me off first. I thought they would launch an attack on Baron Cisne's House... did I misread the situation?)
As he looked at the man before him, Rei felt a complex mixture of relief and disappointment at his own miscalculation. In truth, they had already attempted a raid, and it was precisely because it had failed that they had turned to bribing Rei, but Rei had no way of knowing that.
"A-Are you serious?! Your opponent is Count Eriel's House! They are nobles with a certain level of influence even within the King's Faction. And yet, you would refuse a request from the next head of that house?!"
Siesto muttered with wide eyes, as if he couldn't believe what he had heard. Rei's only response was a predatory grin.
"Why on earth should I bother serving a man like that? If he wants to command me, tell him to show me his own strength, not his parents' authority or his family's money. If he does that, I might not be opposed to considering it. ...Though, I doubt a mediocre vessel could ever contain the waters that are me."
As he spoke with a smile, Rei found himself completely unable to imagine serving a noble. To begin with, he often acted alone in what could be called independent action; he strongly felt that he was an existence that only functioned effectively when acting as an individual, and that if he acted in coordination with other knights, he would be unable to demonstrate his abilities to their fullest extent.
"...I understand. If you're going to go that far, then I shall take my leave. However, please understand that an opportunity like this is normally unheard of."
Directing a gaze that suggested he couldn't comprehend the person before him at all, Siesto stood up from the chair, bowed, and left the room. After seeing him off, Rei took off his Dragon Robe, stored it in the Misty Ring, and lay down on the bed.
"Well, the fact that they tried to buy me off means they've realized who I am. I feel like their movements are a bit slow, though."
Thinking about his actions for tomorrow, Rei took a book out of the Misty Ring and began to read.
"...What? Say that again."
A voice echoed through the room, sounding as if it couldn't comprehend what the other person was saying. Listening to those words, Fultos wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve. The sweat wasn't due to the Magic Item heating the room, but rather from pure tension.
"Rei has refused to serve you, Lord Keep."
"...What is the meaning of this? Just what is going on? I am the heir of Count Eriel's House! And a mere adventurer dared to refuse an offer of service to me? Who does that man think he is?!"
A fist swung with a roar of anger, slamming onto the desk. The skin split and blood flowed, but in his excitement, Keep didn't seem to feel the pain at all as he screamed.
"Don't mock me! Even though I went out of my way to offer him a position, he refuses?! Curse him, to pull such a stunt on a noble—I will never forgive this!"
In Keep's mind, it was as if the hand he had graciously extended to an adventurer had been bitten. He... no, his status as a noble had been insulted by a mere adventurer, and there was no way he could let it slide.
"Fultos! Find someone who can kill that... that lowborn named Rei in the duel! I'll make him pay for insulting me with his very life!"
He commanded Fultos with a gaze filled with rage, but Fultos's response was to shake his head.
"Have you forgotten, Lord Keep? The reason we tried to bring Rei over to our side in the first place was because we couldn't find anyone capable of defeating him. That hasn't changed. This Gilm is originally the Neutral Faction's Headquarters. We cannot fully exert our influence as the King's Faction, or as Count Eriel's House."
"Gunuuu... then what am I supposed to do?! If we can't hire a strong adventurer here in Gilm... no, wait? If we can't hire a strong adventurer here, we don't need to be obsessed with Gilm. I believe there were other towns nearby? Abuelo and Sablusta, I think..."
Keep broke into a smile, thinking he had come up with a last-ditch plan, but Fultos shook his head yet again. When he realized they would have to fight Rei, Fultos had considered that as well. However, he had been forced to reject the idea immediately.
"Lord Keep. This is Gilm. It is a place where adventurers with strength that rivals or even exceeds those in the Royal Capital gather from across the Kingdom of Mireana. If you ask whether an adventurer from another town would duel Rei, who is famous as a powerhouse even within Gilm... Besides, there is almost no time left."
"Don't give me that! You have to do something anyway! At this rate, half of our family's property will be taken away!"
Keep screamed, but Fultos wanted to ask why he had gambled half of their fortune in the first place.
(If only he hadn't made a formal legal contract and kept it as a verbal promise, we could have talked our way out of it somehow.)
Even as he muttered bitterly to himself, Keep's shouting continued to echo through the room. While letting the noise wash over him, Fultos was trying to think of some way to break the current deadlock when Keep suddenly stopped moving, as if he had thought of something. Sensing a bad premonition from his master's behavior, Fultos opened his mouth.
"Lord Keep, what is it?"
"...The reason I'm in this mess is because the document bearing my Blood Seal is currently held by Margrave Larkus, right?"
"Eh? Well, yes. It's a fact that because that document exists, we're in a situation where we can't make excuses."
"Then, wouldn't it be fine if we just did something about that document? Yes, for instance, if some Thief or another were to break in and steal it."
"That's impossible."
Suppressing the urge to scream "Are you kidding me?!", Fultos spoke with certainty.
"That is where the Lord lives. Naturally, the security is properly maintained. In particular, the knights of Margrave Larkus's Territory have a reputation for being elite. I don't think it's possible to slip past their eyes and break in."
Fultos didn't say it out loud, but he also thought there was a possibility that Daskar had already seen through their potential moves. He believed that Keep was exactly the kind of person who would attempt such a short-sighted action.
"Then what do you want me to do!"
"That is..."
"You have no alternative plan, yet your complaints are top-tier! But if attacking the Lord's Mansion is difficult, then why not just wipe out Gilm itself? If we hire people to set fires all across the city at once, there won't be any duel to speak of."
"Please stop! If you do such a thing, Count Eriel's House will be ruined!"
"Then give me an alternative plan if you're going to complain!"
Even though he was yelled at, no alternative plan came from Fultos's mouth. But even so... he could absolutely not let his master break into the Lord's Mansion or set fire to Gilm. If he allowed such things, it was certain that not only Keep's life but his own would be in danger. In order to save his own life, there was only one thing Fultos could do.
"I understand. I will find someone with the strength to defeat Rei. So please, refrain from any reckless actions."
There were only a few days left until the duel. In that time, he had no choice but to prepare someone who could rival Rei. Keep nodded with satisfaction at the words that came from Fultos's mouth. If a person capable of winning against Rei could be found, then there was no cause for worry.
Of course, Keep didn't understand just how difficult that would be to achieve. That was why he spoke, believing that Fultos's suggestion would be fully realized.
"You should have just said that from the beginning. Fine, I'll leave it to you."
...And so, as time flowed on, the Day of the Duel finally arrived.