"This is... I see."
Elena, who had come to the construction site on Daskar's recommendation, stepped through the gap where the wall once stood and nodded in understanding.
The reason Daskar had suggested she come take a look here had become clear.
A large number of people were currently at the construction site. Looking around, there were close to several hundred—perhaps even over a thousand—all hard at work.
But among them, one figure stood out conspicuously. And since that person was the most important person in the world to Elena, it was only natural that her gaze was drawn to him first upon arriving.
"Is that... Lord Rei?"
Beside Elena, Ara also spotted Rei and let out a surprised voice.
No—it wasn't that she was surprised simply at seeing Rei. She had met him many times before, after all. But watching the moment Rei thrust the ferrule of his Death Scythe into the ground and the earth began to writhe... who wouldn't let out a gasp of surprise?
The Rei that Ara knew was, of course, a highly skilled—no, a mage whose abilities couldn't be summed up with mere words like "highly skilled." Even so, the magic Ara associated with Rei was exclusively Flame Magic. She had certainly seen him use Wind Magic—Flying Slash—and various other spells, but they had always paled in comparison to the flashiness of his Flame Magic.
Yet the magic Rei had just used, even though it was Earth Magic, was extraordinarily flashy. The earth itself writhing... Ara hadn't known he could use such magic. Of course, Rei wasn't exactly showing Ara all of his cards, so it wasn't that strange.
"Elena? It's Elena, isn't it?"
Elena had been watching Rei lower the ground when she heard a familiar voice and turned toward it.
Standing there was Marina, wearing a Party Dress that exposed her chest and back far more than anyone else's at the construction site. ...Of course, the people working on the expansion included professional craftsmen, hired commoners, adventurers—a diverse group, and not everyone wore a uniform outfit.
"Hmm. It hasn't been that long, has it? We've talked through the Paired Orbs many times."
Elena smiled and said this to Marina as she approached. Marina, however, wore an expression of astonishment, wondering why Elena was here.
"You should have told me if you were coming.... But if you're here, that means what I've been seeing through the Paired Orbs these past few days was..."
"Inside the carriage."
Normally, if the interior of a carriage was reflected through the Paired Orbs, one would have noticed. However, Elena's carriage used Space Magic, making its interior a proper room more solid than an average inn—a room fit for a noble, even a member of a ducal house. Because of that, seeing a bit of a room through the Paired Orbs hadn't seemed particularly out of place.
"Hehe."
Seeing Marina surprised, Elena smiled with the satisfaction of having pulled one over on her. Beside Elena, Ara looked down with an apologetic expression.
"...Well, whatever. More importantly, go show your face to Rei. I'm sure he'll be happy."
"Hmm. I shall do just that... hmm?"
Elena nodded at Marina's words, but then glanced toward Rei and tilted her head slightly. As she did, her golden hair caught the summer sunlight, and those around who had been entranced by Elena and Marina squinted against the glare. Elena herself showed no sign of noticing. Her attention had been captivated by the figure of an excited old man near Rei.
"Marina, who on earth is that person?"
"Eh? ...Ah."
Marina followed Elena's gaze, and upon seeing Malz excitedly talking to Rei, she immediately understood.
"Ah, Malz. He's not quite an authority on Earth Magic, but he's a well-known mage around these parts as an Earth Magic practitioner. As you can see, he's full of curiosity."
"...That is unusual."
The one who murmured this in response to Marina's words was not Elena, but Ara.
Fundamentally, Rei was poor at socializing. Because of that, he inevitably had many enemies, and not many he could truly call allies. Of course, it wasn't as though he had none at all, including Ara and the others. Even so, those who became friendly with Rei after a near-first meeting were quite rare.
"It seems he took one look at the magic Rei uses and was instantly taken with it."
Strictly speaking, the Terrain Manipulation Rei used was not magic, but a skill of the Death Scythe. However, only Elena and Marina here knew that. Even Ara, Elena's close friend and aide, was unaware of this secret. Because of that, Marina covered it up by claiming it was magic.
Elena briefly returned her gaze to Marina, but seeming to have no particular objection to her attitude, she once again looked toward Malz... or rather, toward Rei, who was being addressed by Malz.
Elena stared intently at Rei for about ten seconds. Suddenly, Rei, who had been talking with Malz, lifted his gaze... and his eyes met Elena's.
At first, Rei stared at Elena as if wondering whether he was dreaming, but after a few seconds passed, his eyes widened greatly beneath the hood of his Dragon Robe. He must have realized that the person standing there was the real Elena.
Without even noticing that Malz was still talking to him, Rei took one step, then two. He continued walking for several more steps, and it didn't take long before his walk became a fast walk, and then a run.
Seeing Rei rapidly approaching, Ara stepped back a few paces. She judged that she didn't want to interfere with Elena and Rei's reunion.
"Elena!"
Saying this, Rei stopped in front of Elena, pulled her close, and embraced her. Elena, in turn, embraced him back.
As a duke's daughter... and as a key figure of the Noble's Faction bearing the alias of Princess General, it was clearly an improper act. But as a woman who loved Rei, there was no more correct action she could have taken.
"Rei..."
Seeing Rei for the first time in a while, Elena could only manage those words, holding him tightly as if to confirm that he was truly there.
With the absolutely radiant beauty that Elena was, embracing a man in public—naturally, it drew every eye. What's more, the alias Princess General was quite famous. Many had seen her figure on battlefields and elsewhere. Especially now, with more people gathered in Gilm than usual.
"H-Hey. Say... if my eyes aren't deceiving me, the one embracing Rei looks like the Princess General."
"...Yeah. I thought I was seeing hallucinations from the heat, but it doesn't seem like it's just my imagination."
"Rei and the Princess General? What kind of relationship is that?"
"No, what kind of relationship—you can tell just by looking at them doing that."
"Well... that's true, but..."
"How wonderful."
"It might be wonderful, but is this really something we should be watching? Maybe it's... not a good idea?"
Not a good idea. The people around the woman who said that all nodded in agreement.
The Princess General was essentially the symbol of the Noble's Faction. For such a person to be embracing a mere adventurer—and one rumored to be Daskar of the Neutral Faction's right-hand man, at that. It was absolutely not something that could be made public.
However... while it couldn't be made public, the fact that they were embracing in full view was undeniable. It was certain that this incident would eventually spread as a rumor. Some would spread it out of amusement, some who bore ill will toward Rei would distort and spread it, and some who were here to gather intelligence would report it to their employers. The reasons and the people involved would vary, but the rumor would spread without fail.
In particular, Rei had no shortage of those who envied him due to his personality and—above all—the fact that he monopolized women like Marina and Vihera, who, while different in type, were just as breathtakingly beautiful as Elena.
Perhaps not reading the atmosphere around them, Rei and Elena continued to hold each other tightly, lost in their own world, until Marina approached them.
Marina would have preferred to leave them alone for a while, but at this rate, they might get carried away and do more than just embrace. Since they were already drawing so much attention from their embrace, she judged it best to stop things from going any further.
(Well, if they want to spend time together, my house would work just fine.)
Thinking that, she clapped her hands lightly to draw the attention of Rei and Elena, who were immersed in their own world.
The sound must have brought them back to reality. Elena soon understood the situation she was in and stepped away from Rei, her cheeks flushed.
"Th-That is... we simply got a little carried away, and, um..."
"Yes, yes, I know, so leave it at that. I'll make sure you two get proper time together later. ...Anyway, you're in the middle of work right now, so please wait."
Marina looked up at the sky, checking the position of the sun. It was still mid-morning work hours, but lunch break wasn't far off. She told them to finish the current task and then talk leisurely over lunch.
Rei hadn't intended to stop work midway either, so though he regretted not being able to spend time with Elena, he nodded at Marina's words.
...Incidentally, the one who was most pleased by Marina's words was not the craftsmen who had been forced to stop working, but Malz, who had a strong interest in the magic and Death Scythe that Rei possessed.
"Lord Rei, please continue with the next one!"
At Malz's shout from afar, Rei gave a small smile as if to say he had no choice and began to leave... but then something caught his attention, and he stopped.
"Hey, Elena. What happened to Ielo?"
What had caught Rei's attention was Ielo, Elena's Familiar. Rei had found it strange that Ielo, who should always be by Elena's side, was nowhere to be seen, so he asked. Elena looked up at the sky and smiled at him.
"On the way to Lord Daskar's manor, it flew off toward the sky."
"Ah... I see."
With just that, Rei somewhat understood where Ielo was. Currently, Set was flying in the skies above Gilm. Because the Barrier had lost most of its effectiveness as a result of the wall being demolished, Set was on alert against flying monsters. Whether Ielo had spotted Set, or sensed Set's magical power—whatever the reason, Ielo must have detected Set overhead and gone to find him.
"Ielo will return eventually, so there's no need to worry."
At Elena's words, Rei tilted his head. "Really?"
"It's been a while since they last saw each other, so I'd expect them to play together for as long as they want..."
"That's..." Now that it was mentioned. Elena faltered at Rei's words, and Ara and Marina, who knew how well Ielo and Set got along, agreed.
"Ah... well, Set is the older one, so let's hope he brings Ielo back properly. Besides, they'll come back when they get hungry."
Murmuring that he hoped so, Rei drew nods of agreement from those around him.
"Anyway, it's almost lunchtime, so wait until then. I've got a lot to do right now."
"Hmm. I shall watch you work here. Fortunately... though I hesitate to put it that way, I have nothing I must do today."
In reality, if it became known that Elena had come to Gilm, any number of people would seek an audience with her. But to Elena, watching Rei work was countless times more important than dealing with such people—dozens, hundreds of times more. Or perhaps beyond comparison.
Of course, if there was some important matter, Elena intended to prioritize that.
(Terrain Manipulation, huh. It can be used for construction like this, and it would be effective for quickly building fortresses and the like.)
...What she thought while watching Rei was not always solely about her beloved.