Elena's return, and the visit of Rei, Bearer of the Crimson Moniker.
That report spread swiftly to the nobles in Anesis, as was to be expected.
In Anesis, the stronghold of Duke Kerebel, many nobles of the Noble's Faction maintained estates—not to mention those of the King's Faction and the Neutral Faction.
This was much like how Gilm had estates for various nobles; all of it was to obtain even the slightest bit of information.
There was still a fair amount of time before the new year began, but for various reasons—discussions with other nobles, or to build connections with nobles beyond one's acquaintances—some had already arrived in Anesis despite the time remaining.
Such nobles naturally included many who gathered intelligence on Duke Kerebel's House, and those aiming to make Elena their own or their son's marriage partner were by no means few.
...Though the nobles seeking Elena as a marriage partner were also numerous within the King's Faction.
Elena had become a symbolic figure even among nobles as the Princess General.
She herself was highly capable and beautiful.
If a noble of the King's Faction could take such an individual as his wife, the Noble's Faction's power would undoubtedly decline.
Of course, the Noble's Faction had not reached its current size on Elena's alone, so her absence would not cause it to collapse outright. Nevertheless, a drop in influence was certain.
Meanwhile, the Neutral Faction nobles were also present in Anesis in respectable numbers, but among them—at least on the surface—none expressed the desire to make Elena their wife.
Though, the reason such a thing was possible was likely because the Neutral Faction was a smaller faction compared to the King's Faction and the Noble's Faction.
Precisely because it was a smaller faction, it maintained its unity through the strong charisma of its leader, Daskar.
That said, while smaller than the King's Faction and the Noble's Faction, the Neutral Faction was still one of the factions known as the Three Great Factions.
Its scale was overwhelmingly larger than any gathering of the riffraff nobles roaming about.
Even so, it was not as though not a single member harbored dissatisfaction toward Daskar.
At any rate, with various nobles gathering in Anesis, those who learned of Elena's return and Rei's visit each took the news to heart and began to act.
"Don't screw with me! He may be an Alias Holder, but a mere adventurer is traveling with Elena? Quit your joking!"
The man shouted and hurled the wine glass in his hand with full force at the man who had brought the report.
The glass shattered upon striking the man's face, and the wine—along with the man's blood from cuts caused by the shards—spilled onto the floor.
Even so, the man did not flinch, nor did he show any sign of complaint toward the master he served.
Perhaps intimidated by the man's gaze, the noble man who had thrown the wine glass sat back down in his chair, though his displeasure was still plain on his face.
"Tch. I came here on my father's orders to get close to Elena, and yet... Elena, too, is being foolish. As a noble of the Noble's Faction, she should prioritize associating with other nobles rather than mingling with some stray dog of an adventurer."
The man before him was bleeding from his face, but the complaining man showed no sign of caring.
If anything, acting as though the man was not even there, he poured red wine into a new glass and brought it to his lips.
As the mellow flavor of the wine spread through his mouth, the irritation within the man may have eased slightly.
He reconsidered what he should do next...and a smile soon formed on his face.
However, that smile was one of sadistic cruelty.
"That's right. No matter what alias like 'Crimson' he holds, in the end he's nothing more than a mere adventurer. In that case, making him regret intruding between me and Elena would be the best course of action. From what I've heard, he has a Gryphon as a Tamed Monster. Or no, perhaps it would be better to have him surrender his Item Box?"
Muttering, the man imagined the moment he would obtain something that other nobles...no, even royalty, sought but could not have.
But if the man were merely imagining and reveling in the fantasy, that would be one thing. If he actually attempted to carry it out, it would bring about the worst possible result.
Precisely because he understood this, the man—whose face was dripping with blood and wine—opened his mouth.
"Please stop, Lord Gaiska. I have heard that Crimson Rei does not hesitate to use force even against nobles. If you do something here that tarnishes the name of Marquis Seisole's House..."
"Silence."
Perhaps displeased that the man's warning had interrupted his visions of the future—or more accurately, his delusions—Gaiska glared at the man before him.
"What are you saying? I am of Marquis Seisole's House. Do you think a mere adventurer could do anything to someone like me?"
A mere adventurer could not possibly do anything to harm him. No, such a thing could not be permitted.
As Gaiska declared this, the man shook his head.
...At that motion, droplets of blood and wine scattered about, but rather than worrying about that, the man had a job to do first.
The job of stopping Gaiska from picking a fight with Rei.
Having lived his entire life being bowed to and revered by everyone, Gaiska likely did not even consider the possibility that an adventurer—Alias Holder or not—could cause him harm.
By Gaiska's common sense, that was certain. It was certain, yes...but that was a matter confined entirely to the narrow world Gaiska inhabited.
The world held any number of things beyond Gaiska's imagination.
And Rei, Bearer of the Crimson Moniker, was undeniably a being beyond the bounds of Gaiska's imagination.
"Do you remember Lord Lunojis, who was to become the next head of Marquis Imahen's House?"
"Marquis Imahen's House...?"
Gaiska wondered why that name had suddenly come up.
Marquis Imahen's House was, like Marquis Seisole's House, a noble family belonging to the Noble's Faction.
Being fellow marquis houses, they harbored a fierce rivalry toward one another.
It was an intense rivalry that could easily devolve into outright hostility with the slightest misstep, and for that reason Gaiska was also knowledgeable about Marquis Imahen's House.
However, compared to Lunojis, the heir to the house, Gaiska was merely the fourth son despite also being a son of a marquis house.
The difference in standing between the eldest son and the fourth son was vast, even if both shared the same marquis rank.
Had he been the second son, he would have been treated as a backup in case something happened to the eldest, and thus held in relatively high regard. But as the fourth son, he became the backup of the backup of the backup for the eldest son.
Given such a position, he had conversed with Lunojis only a handful of times.
Recalling the face of the man who had left an impression full of confidence, Gaiska wondered: why is that name coming up here?
And that question was, naturally, directed at the man before him who had just uttered Lunojis's name.
"Why does Lunojis's name come up here?"
"Do you remember the war with the Bestia Empire that occurred some years ago?"
"Of course. In that war, it became clear that our nation is of a higher rank than the Bestia Empire."
That his country had triumphed over a nation it had fought countless times before was a cause for celebration for Gaiska.
Those barbarians were ultimately beneath them.
That was what the war had made clear.
...And yet, the fact that he knew almost nothing about a being named Rei, the greatest factor behind that victory, was ultimately because, to Gaiska, an adventurer was nothing more than a lowly person.
"Lord Lunojis fell from his position as the heir of Marquis Imahen's House due to the influence of Crimson Rei."
"...What? Speak in detail."
"Yes, my lord. On the battlefield, Lord Lunojis caused trouble with Rei, and as a result, he suffered the injury of having his arm severed by Rei's hand."
At those words, Gaiska could not comprehend what he had just been told for a moment.
By Gaiska's common sense, for a noble—and the heir of a marquis house at that—to be injured by a mere adventurer was something that should never happen.
And not just a scratch, but the severe injury of having an arm severed.
"Is that a fact?"
"Yes, my lord. Because of that, Rei came to be recognized as someone who shows neither hesitation nor mercy, even when the opponent is a noble."
"...How displeasing."
To Gaiska, who took pride in his marquis bloodline, Rei's very existence—an adversary who did not respect nobles—was nothing but displeasing.
However, if he would so easily sever the arm of even the heir of a marquis house, then it was easy to predict he would not hesitate to raise his hand against Gaiska, who held the position of a fourth son.
That thought further irritated him, and Gaiska glared resentfully at the food on the table as though it were Rei's face.
"Oh my... A man in Lady Elena's company, hm? Is he handsome? He's an adventurer with the Crimson alias, right?"
Some distance away from Marquis Seisole's House where Gaiska was, there lay the estate of Count Myruzu's House.
Telese Myruzu, the second daughter of Count Myruzu who had been entrusted with managing that estate, sipped her tea as she asked the person who had brought the information.
"According to what Mary told me, he's a small, boyish young man."
"A boy? But the one who came with Lady Elena is an Alias Holder adventurer, so isn't that description strange?"
"You're right. Calling him a 'boy' might be an exaggeration, but...I believe he is certainly on the smaller side."
The network among maids was fast when it came to information.
Even if they served different houses, there were times when they obtained information before the head of the house did.
Telese had taken note of this and had actively instructed the maids working at the Anesis estate to socialize with maids of other houses.
As a result, she had become able to obtain information relatively quickly—a credit to Telese's initiative.
...Though, given that the source of such information was word of mouth among maids, rumors and wishful thinking were sometimes mixed in.
"Well then, shall I go visit Lady Elena tomorrow or so? I'd like to see this Crimson Rei person with my own eyes as well."
"You do have unusual tastes, my lady....No, I'm sure there are many who would be interested upon hearing this."
To the Noble Faction nobles...no, to nobles outside the Noble's Faction as well, Elena—who bore the alias of Princess General—was a figure of great significance.
For such a person to return with a man, those who did not take interest were fewer.
Whether that interest was well-intentioned or malicious was another matter entirely.
The maid smiled at Telese's words, but then tilted her head.
"But, my lady. If Lady Elena has returned, there will certainly be many people requesting an audience. In that case, I don't think even you could meet her so easily..."
"As for that...well, I think I can manage something if I just visit Ara. Besides, I never said I'd go see Lady Elena all by myself. I'll invite a few friends along."
Smiling with delight—from the very bottom of her heart, truly—Telese beamed.
"What? That Crimson Rei? ...I see. Come to think of it, the Noble's Faction and the Neutral Faction have been growing closer lately."
Upon hearing the information that Elena had returned and Rei had accompanied her, Ranigus Myuzei, the second son of Baron Myuzei's House and a noble of the King's Faction, nodded in understanding.
At Ranigus's words, the knight who had brought the information tilted his head.
"Is that so? When I saw them before, a Noble Faction noble was picking a fight with a Neutral Faction noble....Though they fled the moment Margrave Larcus showed up."
"Well, the Noble's Faction isn't as large as the King's Faction, but it's still sizeable. There are plenty of foolish nobles who possess nothing but a sense of entitlement. But the ones at the top...at the very least, Duke Kerebel is genuinely trying to ally with the Neutral Faction. As proof, he sent his beloved daughter to Gilm during the Expansion Construction."
The King's Faction, of course, had received intelligence that Noble Faction nobles had found Gilm's expansion displeasing and attempted to interfere.
The King's Faction, the largest faction in the Kingdom of Mireana and one that upheld the King—the entity seated at the pinnacle of power—as its leader, naturally possessed very high intelligence-gathering capabilities.
That was precisely why they had obtained the sort of information Ranigus was now speaking of.
"The top, hm. I just hope this matter doesn't turn into something troublesome."
"Who can say. The King's Faction is without a doubt the largest faction. That means there are plenty of people acting as they please, and those seeking to curry favor with His Majesty are by no means few."
At Ranigus's words, the knight grimaced in distaste.
"When you say things like that, Lord Ranigus, it usually ends up causing a commotion."
"Blame me if you want....Anyway, the fact that Crimson Rei has come here now means he will undoubtedly attend the New Year's party. If that happens, probably...no, it is certain that some kind of incident will occur."
"That's exactly why I wish you wouldn't say things like that."
Imagining the trouble that lay ahead, the knight let out a sigh.