The day after Ilse's revenge was settled, Rei woke up — not as usual at the Wheat Inn at dusk, but at Marina's house.
In the end, after yesterday's battle ended, Rei's associates and Ilse had all come to Marina's house, talked for a while, and then fallen asleep.
...Rei was supposed to have been sleeping on the sofa in the living room, but when he came to, he was on a bed.
"Nngh...?"
Rei looked around despite his lack of sleep, but faced with an unfamiliar scene, all he could do was stretch his back.
Well, had he not been half-asleep, it would have been a different story, but the current Rei was completely groggy.
The lack of sufficient sleep was certainly a factor, but the biggest reason was undoubtedly that he was still half-asleep.
"Ah—..."
And so, after silently looking around for about five minutes, his consciousness apparently finally recovered from its half-asleep state, and Rei looked around once more.
"Come to think of it, I stayed at Marina's house yesterday. ...I completely forgot, though."
Muttering that, he got dressed and left the room.
"Oh, good morning. You could have slept a little longer."
The one who said that in the living room was Marina.
Seeing her cooking with what seemed like genuine enjoyment, Rei noticed that no one other than himself and Marina was present.
"Where are the others?"
Even as he asked, Rei could tell that Elena and Vihera were in the courtyard.
That was because the sounds of intense combat could be heard even inside the house.
When he turned his gaze in that direction, there was Elena wielding Mirage in its whip form, and Vihera closing the distance while evading it.
A battle intense enough to make calling it a mock fight slightly difficult.
Of course, for the two actually fighting, the understanding that this was a mock battle was probably sufficient.
But to someone who knew nothing, seeing this scene would make them think the two were in a duel.
Both possessed power that could be called first-rate — no, beyond first-rate. First-rate among the first-rate, the kind that deserved a "super" prefix. Precisely because they were at that level, what was merely a mock battle to them would look like something entirely different to anyone else.
However, Rei was one of those rare beings who could be called super first-rate, and the same went for Marina.
That was why, even with such fierce combat unfolding in the courtyard, he could understand it was a mock battle and saw no need to make a fuss over it.
"Ara and Ilse are still sleeping. Oh, come to think of it, Byune is still asleep too."
"Byune aside... that's unusual."
What he muttered that for was not about Ilse, but because he heard that Ara was still sleeping.
To Ara, Elena took priority over everything.
So much so that it wouldn't be strange for Ara to prioritize Elena even over her own life — that was how deeply devoted Ara was to Elena.
That was precisely why it was unexpected for Rei that Ara was still asleep despite Elena having woken up... and even being in the middle of a mock battle with Vihera.
"She was probably tired from yesterday's incident. It seems she was talking late into the night with Ilse."
"Ah... I see."
If asked who was the closest person to Ilse among those currently in this house, including the Crimson Lotus Wings, Rei would answer Ara.
Of course, Ara's full name was Ara Scarley, and she held the position of the third daughter of Count Scarlet's House.
As a noble's daughter, she was fundamentally different from Ilse, a commoner, but the members gathered here were mostly extraordinary in various ways.
Among them, Ara, with her position as a count's daughter, was arguably closer to a commoner.
...Of course, Ara possessed far greater physical strength than some random Adventurer Man.
But even so, there was no denying that she was overwhelmingly inferior in combat power compared to Rei and the others.
Incidentally, in terms of pure combat power, Byune was inferior to Ara, but in Byune's case, she could not communicate smoothly with others.
Vihera could fully understand Byune's intentions, but asking Ilse, who had hardly any contact with Byune, to do the same would be unreasonable.
For those reasons, it was a natural conclusion that Ara became the closest to Ilse among Rei's group.
Becoming friends might not have anything to do with abilities, but at the very least, that had been helpful this time around.
"Then we can let Ara and Ilse keep sleeping. Fortunately, Ara isn't really doing any work to begin with, and while Ilse does have a job, she's not an irreplaceable presence."
"Ara does have work too, you know? Guarding Elena, cooking, things like that."
"...Guarding Elena aside, I don't think cooking is something a knight order commander should be doing."
Even though Ara understood that she was a knight order commander — the commander of the Elena Escort Knight Order — she casually did things that a knight order commander normally wouldn't.
This was likely largely due to the fact that Ara was Elena's childhood friend.
After all, even now she had left the Knight Order under her vice-commander's management and come to Gilm alone with Elena like this.
Granted, as the commander of a knight order whose mission was to protect Elena, what she was doing wasn't necessarily wrong.
"That's exactly what makes it so like Ara. If Ara were the kind of commander who acted like a proper one, she wouldn't have fit in with us this well."
"I can't deny that."
Rei nodded at Marina's words, and eventually, Marina turned her gaze outside the window, toward the courtyard.
"Now then, breakfast is almost ready, so could you go call those two? To stop those two, having Rei go is the best option."
"...Right."
Rei, who had turned his gaze in that direction as if drawn by Marina, eventually nodded with a somewhat resigned look.
A battle so fierce it was mysterious that no damage had been done to the yard.
Both of them accepted that this was a mock battle, so even though it looked like a flashy fight, that was probably why the courtyard remained unscathed.
Rei understood that as well, so even in his somewhat troublesome post-sleep state, he headed for the courtyard.
"Ahaha, hahahahaha! Yes, that's it! That's exactly how it should be!"
Vihera wore a smile of someone enjoying the fight, trying to close the distance with Elena head-on.
"You think I'll let you get close that easily!"
Attempting to keep Vihera at bay, Elena swung Mirage in its whip form in all directions.
It was as if Mirage had created a barrier of its own.
At a speed that made one think so even at a glance, Mirage was being wielded.
(They both understand it's a mock battle, but they're going all out within those bounds.)
Elena wasn't using anything like Dragon Language Magic, and Vihera wasn't using One-hit Kill skills like Magic Impact Palm either.
(I've become the go-to person when it comes to fighting large groups, but honestly, Elena's Dragon Language Magic is more than sufficient for wide-area attacks. In fact, during the war with the Bestia Empire, she apparently used Dragon Language Magic and played a significant role.)
Compared to such Elena, Vihera did not possess wide-area attacks.
...Of course, that didn't mean Vihera wasn't dangerous — that would be a mistaken notion.
If Rei and Elena specialized in wide-area attacks, Vihera's combat style was the exact opposite, specialized in one-on-one combat.
No matter how sturdy the armor one wore, being able to deliver a shock directly into the body while ignoring the armor's defensive power with just a touch was extremely troublesome when considered normally.
(Anyway...)
Rei switched his focus.
He could keep watching the fight, but he had come to inform them it was breakfast time, so he couldn't just stand by.
Toward the two, who were putting on a battle worth charging admission for, Rei took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"That's enough! Mock battle, over!"
Rei's voice echoed through the surroundings.
Not an angry shout filled with rage, but a cry purely to deliver his voice to the two.
"Whoa!"
"Oh my."
Naturally, Rei's voice reached both of their ears.
And then, Mirage, which had been creating a barrier, returned to its longsword state, and Vihera, who had been trying to dive into an opening in the barrier to reach Elena, relaxed her stance.
"Good grief, there was that much commotion yesterday, and yet you two are full of energy."
"I mean, sure the incident itself was big, but there weren't any strong opponents."
So rather, she was feeling unsatisfied — or so Vihera conveyed, still carrying the afterglow of combat.
"It wasn't that much for me, but sparring with Vihera makes for good training."
Elena, lightly swinging Mirage once before sheathing it, said so with a smile.
"Well, I understand where you two are coming from, but it sounds like breakfast is almost ready. We have work today too, so maybe you should stop moving around for now. ...Well, Elena, I think you'll be on standby here today though."
"Kyu!"
When Rei said that, a cry answered in Elena's place.
Hearing a familiar cry, Rei turned his gaze in the direction the voice had come from.
And, as expected — or rather, naturally — there was Ielo.
Ielo, riding on Set's back, let out a happy cry upon seeing Rei.
"Gurururu."
And Set, naturally, purred happily as well.
It had only been a few hours since Rei had separated from Set.
Even so, Set, who loved being doted on by Rei, would of course want to be spoiled like this.
"Looks like Set and Ielo are energetic too. ...Well, I suppose they wouldn't be exhausted by something like yesterday's commotion."
"Gururu!"
"Kyu!"
At Rei's words, the two cried out as if to say "Obviously!"
As he petted the two, Set narrowed his eyes happily, but after being stroked for about ten seconds, Ielo seemed satisfied and flew off toward its master... Elena.
"Fufu, what is it? Does Ielo want to be spoiled like Set too? There, there."
Elena stroked Ielo from above its scales.
"...I'm a little jealous."
Watching the two, Vihera murmured with, as her words suggested, just a hint of envy.
Rei had Set, Elena had Ielo — they each had a companion filling the role of a beloved pet.
But Vihera had no such existence.
(When I was absorbing the Unbris, if only I could have somehow made it into something like that... but no, that's impossible.)
In the first place, there had been no such margin when Vihera absorbed the Unbris.
She had barely won this life in a desperate struggle.
If asked whether she wanted to do something similar again, she would absolutely refuse.
"You have Byune, don't you, Vihera?"
Rei muttered while petting Set, and Vihera, hearing that, burst out laughing despite herself.
"If you put Byune in that role, you'll definitely get scolded."
"Really? In Byune's case, I think as long as you feed her until she's satisfied, that's more than enough for her."
"...That's..."
At Rei's continued words, Vihera tried to say something in return but was at a loss for words.
In truth, perhaps due to the influence of her childhood — though she was still quite small now — Byune had a strong attachment to food.
Also, she ate an amount that made one wonder where it all went in her body.
The fact that she showed no signs of gaining weight was probably because she moved more than she ate through training and requests.
"Nn!"
And right on cue, Byune, having just woken up, stuck her face out the window and let out a sound demanding they come quickly.
Byune, who usually showed little change in expression, was a different story when it came to food.
At Byune's voice, Rei and the others headed back inside the house.
Set and Ielo also moved closer to the house and lay down.
Until moments ago, they had kept their distance because of Elena and Vihera's fight, but now that the mock battle was over, they had approached like this.
Upon entering the living room, freshly baked bread, soup, ham, salad, and other breakfast items were already laid out on the table.
"You're back. Well then, let's eat. ...Rei and Vihera are likely to be busy again today with various things. Especially Rei — given yesterday's incident, the Guild might summon you."
"From the Guild? Not from Lord Daskar?"
"Yes. Daskar is probably quite busy with various things right now. Of course, I think you'll eventually hear from Daskar, but given the location, well..."
"...Are you hiding something?"
Rei asked, feeling suspicious of Marina's meaning-laden murmur, but what came back was, as usual, only her bewitching smile.
"Well, you'll find out eventually, so you don't need to worry about it now. More importantly, let's eat."
Still harboring a somewhat unresolved feeling, Rei couldn't win against the appetite-stimulating aroma drifting through the air, and took his seat.