Rei was confident in his stamina, but fighting monsters and dancing in front of a crowd were fundamentally different endeavors.
It shouldn't have been that much exertion for him under normal circumstances, but dancing while being watched by so many people was apparently exhausting even for Rei.
"Phew."
He downed the fruit water that a maid—not Miranda, but one working as a server at the party—had prepared for him, and a breath of relief finally escaped his lips.
Seeing Rei ask the maid for another glass, Elena spoke with a smile.
"Hehe. It seems you're more tired than you expected."
"Yeah. A little... no, considerably more than I expected. When it was just the two of us dancing, I didn't feel that tired at all."
"It's likely because there were so many people watching."
Elena, too, was accepting a glass of fruit water from a maid as she said this. Rei glanced around the room and nodded in understanding.
There were plenty of people watching Liberte and Arcadia dance, but just as many were looking toward Rei and Elena.
For some reason, whenever those people made eye contact with Rei, they quickly averted their gaze.
(No, it's not like I go around biting everyone I see, you know? ...Ah, come to think of it.)
The word "biting" reminded Rei of Lirin, and he scanned the room for her.
Judging by how she had been harassing Elena, she might still be at the party.
At least, that's what he thought—but she was already nowhere to be seen.
Elena, too, showed no trace of the irritation from her earlier exchange with Lirin.
That irritation had likely been largely resolved by dancing with Rei.
"Rei? What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
Rei brushed off the question and glossed over the topic. If he said something careless here, there was a chance it would remind Elena of Lirin, whom she had currently forgotten about.
"Is that so? ...Still, Father and Mother certainly look like they're enjoying their dance. Don't you think?"
"From my perspective, I don't think it's particularly worth commenting on to that extent."
Elena gave him a look that seemed to say, Can you really not tell?
But from Rei's perspective, they appeared to be dancing normally and elegantly, though they didn't particularly look like they were having fun.
Since his relationship with Liberte wasn't that long, Rei could only accept that if Elena said so, then it must be the case.
"Hey, hey, Rei. How much did you practice dancing?"
The one who interrupted their conversation was Bluitt.
He probably never expected Rei to be that good a dancer.
Smiling as though he found it genuinely fascinating, he brought the wine in his hand to his lips... and looked slightly disappointed.
"What's wrong? I don't think that wine tastes that bad."
Seeing Bluitt's reaction, Elena immediately asked. Since this party was hosted by Duke Kerebel's House, she felt there could be no oversights.
That was why she asked about Bluitt's demeanor, but Bluitt simply shook his head and told her it was nothing.
"Ah, there's no problem with the wine's taste. It's just, I can't say I'm that fond of fancy wines like this. I prefer ale—the kind they serve at taverns in town."
For Bluitt, who often went out into the town alone, he preferred the ale that commoners drank normally over the wine that nobles and the wealthy consumed. ...Even though Bluitt himself was a proper noble.
That was why he couldn't drink his preferred alcohol at a place like this, and once again, he found himself unsatisfied with the taste of the wine.
Even so, the fact that he could clearly tell the wine he was drinking was of high quality showed that he possessed a sharp palate.
"I see. ...If you'd like, I could have them bring some ale or something?"
"Nah, it's fine. Drinking ale at a place like this would be a bit... ...More importantly. Like I said earlier, how come you can dance so well, Rei? Look, even now the others are glancing your way."
Telling Elena not to worry about it, Bluitt looked around the room.
When Rei followed his gaze, several nobles hurriedly averted their eyes upon making contact, others offered small smiles and slight bows, and among them was even a woman whose cheeks were faintly flushed.
Though he had only danced with Elena, it had been enough of a performance to earn the acknowledgment of some of the nobles attending this party.
Those who acknowledged Rei were only a portion of the nobles; naturally, there were also many who still regarded him with hostility.
Even so, there was no noble who would consider picking a fight with Rei now.
To be precise, there were nobles who thought about picking a fight with him even now, but they had been stopped by the surrounding nobles—that was the truth of it.
With several nobles now viewing Rei favorably, any noble who tried to pick a fight with him would undoubtedly be met with contemptuous stares in social circles.
For nobles, reputation wasn't everything... but its influence was significant.
Given that, no one would normally wish to take actions that would damage their reputation.
"...Oh. It seems you've become quite popular. That woman is Viscount Mule's younger sister, if I recall. She's known for being quite cute... You're quite the dark horse, Rei."
Looking at the woman blushing as she gazed at Rei, Elena laughed as she said this. ...She laughed, but her eyes were decidedly not smiling.
She was smiling, yet not smiling.
Faced with that gaze, Rei hesitated, unsure of what to say, as if thinking, Uh...
He knew what Elena was bothered by, but he wasn't sure whether he should bring it up himself here.
(Come to think of it, I thought Elena was tolerant of polygamy... Is this something different from that?)
Or perhaps it was because the other party wasn't someone like Marina or Vihera.
Regardless, Rei shot a half-lidded glare at Bluitt, who was looking on with an amused expression, and spoke.
"Let's just say... there's no need to worry."
"......Oh."
It was the same word as a few seconds ago, but the time it took for that single word to come out had definitely increased.
Whatever Elena thought of Rei's words, her cheeks turned even redder than the woman she had called Viscount Mule's sister, and she said nothing further.
"Heh heh heh. No, you two are truly entertaining."
Looking back and forth between Rei and Elena, Bluitt spoke as though unable to contain his laughter.
There was a teasing tone somewhere in those words, which was very much like Bluitt.
"So, anyway. ...What are you going to do now? Want to try dancing one more time?"
"I'm pretty tired from that last dance. Honestly, I don't want to dance anymore today. ...I told Elena this too, but I never expected dancing while being watched would be this exhausting."
"I'd imagine not. I have experience with that too."
"......Bluitt does? You, of all people, don't seem like the type who'd suit dancing."
"Listen, Rei. You seem to have completely forgotten, but I'm the next heir of a Count's family. I can do that much normally. ...Unlike a certain someone."
It was obvious who "a certain someone" referred to, and Bluitt showed Rei a slightly malicious grin as he said it.
Apparently finding Bluitt's attitude disagreeable, Rei looked at him with a smile and spoke.
"Being able to dance and having someone to dance with are two different things, aren't they? ...So, does Bluitt have someone willing to dance with him?"
"Guh, y-you..."
Bluitt understood full well that he had a large build.
His massive frame was more than helpful when it came to brawling in town, but he also understood that it was not suited for dancing at a party like this.
There were even noble women who would scream just from seeing Bluitt's size alone.
Those who would want to dance with Bluitt... it wasn't that there were none, but it was a fact that there weren't many.
"Hehe."
A laugh suddenly slipped from Elena's mouth as she watched the exchange between Rei and Bluitt.
It was a laugh like someone who had tried to hold it in but simply couldn't.
Rei and Bluitt both turned their gazes toward her at the sudden laugh, and Elena apologized while still chuckling.
"S-sorry. The conversation between you and Bluitt was just so amusing. I couldn't help it..."
"Was it that funny? I don't think it was anything that special."
"No, you two are quite in sync. Like old friends."
Ugh.
At Elena's words, both Rei and Bluitt simultaneously let out sounds of disgust.
The fact that they were in sync once again stimulated Elena's funny bone.
Normally, Elena would not have laughed this openly.
That she was doing so now was undoubtedly because this was a party setting, and she was in high spirits from having danced to her heart's content with Rei.
"Ah... Anyway. Shouldn't we look over there?"
Judging that saying anything more on the subject would only make Elena's teasing worse, Bluitt noticed an old woman looking their way with a beaming smile and gestured for them to look.
That old woman was, naturally, someone both Rei and Elena recognized.
"Remuria. So she's back."
Though she likely hadn't heard Rei's murmur, Remuria approached them with a smile.
She looked to be in exceptionally high spirits—probably because she had succeeded in sending Set's fresh feathers to her territory.
At least, that was what Rei thought, but...
"Foh foh foh. It seems you've done quite the flashy thing, hm?"
Remuria spoke with a kindly smile, and as she glanced at the nobles observing the situation around them, she wore an almost refreshed expression.
Those who knew Rei had left the party venue with Remuria earlier aside, many in this spacious hall did not know that.
Because of that, there were certainly no small number of people wondering what kind of relationship Rei and Remuria had.
Some were surprised to hear the information from acquaintances, while many others nodded in understanding, knowing that Rei was an Alias Holder adventurer.
Feeling somewhat annoyed by the increased number of gazes from his surroundings, Rei nonetheless called out to Remuria.
"That was fast."
A stir ran through the crowd.
Many of those who heard Rei's words were surprised by his manner of speech.
They knew he was an adventurer, but to speak that way to someone who was the head of a ducal house...
Remuria was known for her gentle personality now, but until a little over a decade ago, she had been famous for her fierce temperament.
So much so that it was not uncommon for her to deal severe punishments to those who acted discourteously toward her.
Because of that, more than a few people thought that if someone spoke to her the way Rei just did...
Among those who disliked Rei, there were even some who hoped he would get what was coming to him at Remuria's hands, but... such hopes would never come to pass.
"Indeed. It is precisely because she can summon a monster with exceptional speed that I hired her."
Remuria's satisfied demeanor showed no sign whatsoever of being offended by Rei's manner of speech.
It was only natural that many people wondered what on earth had happened.
But Remuria paid no mind to the surrounding gazes and continued speaking.
"So then, I would like to pay the reward for the request, but how shall we handle it?"
"Are you asking when I'm free?"
"Indeed. I would like to say any time you are available, but unfortunately, I cannot stay here indefinitely either. So, I would like you to come tomorrow, if possible."
"Understood. I can't promise for certain, but I'll try to make it so."
At Rei's words, Remuria floated a satisfied smile.