Inside Rei's room at night.
There, present was the figure of Black Wolf, who by all rights should have been targeting Rei's life.
The hunter and the hunted.
Despite the two of them being in the same room, there were no signs of combat breaking out.
No, if anything, they were even conversing in a calm manner.
...If someone who knew the circumstances were to see this sight, it would not be strange for them to harbor deep doubts as to how they could remain like that.
That said, Rei had absolutely no intention of losing to Black Wolf in a head-on fight, even if they did battle. That was precisely why he was able to adopt such an attitude.
"So, now that your skill is clear to me, I want to ask. Why are you following me around? Despite that, you haven't tried to kill me. ...Well, we had a light skirmish on the balcony, but that wasn't a serious fight either."
"..."
In response to Rei's question, what came back was, as expected, only a silent reply.
He had no idea what Black Wolf was thinking to take such an attitude, but from Rei's perspective, his honest feeling was, "What am I supposed to do about this?"
(Should I just call Elena or someone? No, but even if Elena shows up, I don't know whether Black Wolf would stay silent.)
Black Wolf showed no particular reaction in front of Rei, but there was no guarantee that would continue in front of Elena.
It was possible that he might react excessively and it could turn into an intense battle.
If that happened, things would definitely become troublesome.
Naturally, Rei had no desire to end up in such a situation, and he wanted to somehow handle Black Wolf on his own for now.
"The fact that you're nodding at my words means it's not that you don't understand the language, right?"
It was a question for confirmation, but Black Wolf frankly nodded at Rei's words.
"Then... could it be that you simply can't speak, or something like that?"
To the next question, his head was tilted.
Neither denying nor affirming.
Not white, not black, but gray, so to speak.
(How am I supposed to interpret this? Whether he can understand my words or not...)
Rei was troubled in front of Black Wolf, but considering that Black Wolf was looking at him with a gaze that could even be called innocent, he was unsure of what to say to that.
In the first place, Black Wolf was looking at him with an innocent gaze, but this Black Wolf was an assassin who had killed many people up to now.
...When it came to killing people, if one included the Bestia Empire war, Rei had taken lives in the tens of thousands.
Be that as it may, the fact remained that standing before Rei was a highly skilled assassin, someone who had even used drugs to make them attack Rei and his group.
Given that, the very fact that he was directing such an innocent gaze at Rei was strange in various ways.
It was strange, but... even so, Rei did not feel like doing anything about Black Wolf right in front of him right away.
That said, it wasn't as if he intended to just let things slide with Black Wolf indefinitely... He fully understood that eventually, a time would come when they would settle things once and for all.
But still... even so, Rei currently could not bring himself to do anything to Black Wolf.
(It's not like I've grown attached to him from talking... or so I think, but...)
He had no such intention himself, but perhaps he had naturally grown fond of him.
Harboring such doubts, Rei decided to at least do something for now and took out chilled fruit water from his Misty Ring.
Originally, it was currently winter.
Rather than cold fruit water, it would be more appropriate to drink something like warm soup or tea.
But this was the Duke Kerebel Mansion, and as a matter of course, Magic Items with air-conditioning-like effects were in use.
The effects of those Magic Items were spread throughout nearly the entire mansion, which was grand enough that one might mistake it for a castle at a glance, demonstrating just how many... or how high-performance Magic Items they had prepared.
Because of that, naturally, Rei's room was also comfortable to stay in, and by Rei's personal sensation, the temperature was around twenty degrees Celsius.
It was not a temperature that would make one hesitate to drink cold fruit water.
"...?"
At first, when Black Wolf was handed the fruit water in a cup, he wore a questioning expression as if to ask, "Why me?", but he was apparently drawn in by the sweet and sour smell wafting from the cup. Eventually, he gently brought the cup to his mouth.
Softly.
A beaming smile appeared on Black Wolf's face.
For Black Wolf, was fruit water something he was drinking for the first time... or was it his first time drinking chilled fruit water?
(No, but... he's a skilled assassin who can even kill an Alias Holder, right? Moreover, he's hired for exorbitant fees. Then, I don't think he would have any money troubles...)
Rei thought this way based on the rumors about Black Wolf, but... from what he could see, Black Wolf did not look like someone who lived luxuriously at all.
The clothes he wore were suited for practicality—in this case, combat—but they were not particularly expensive-looking clothes.
Of course, highly practical clothing sometimes naturally came with a corresponding price.
Moreover, when it came to clothing worn by a highly skilled assassin like Black Wolf, the materials naturally required a corresponding quality, and the price would skyrocket.
...That said, as far as Rei could tell, the clothes Black Wolf was wearing did not seem to use such rare materials.
"Want another cup?"
In response to Rei's question, Black Wolf returned a nod.
For Rei, this fruit water was something he had stocked up on during the summer and stored in his Misty Ring, and he was used to drinking it.
In reality, there were a fair number of stalls selling fruit water, and the taste varied greatly depending on the shop.
The quality of the procured fruit, the combination of fruits, and what ratio of juice to water was used.
These factors intertwined complexly, and despite being a drink made by simply squeezing fruit and diluting it with water, the taste differed greatly from shop to shop.
That was why it was difficult to find a flavor to one's liking, and at the same time, one could enjoy it like a treasure hunt.
Also, there were stalls that sold fruit water chilled using Magic Items for cooling.
...What was in Rei's Misty Ring was fruit water that had been chilled for him by Marina's Spirit Magic.
Be that as it may, the fruit water Rei favored seemed to have been well-received by Black Wolf too.
"Have you never had this kind of thing before?"
"..."
The question Rei casually posed.
It was a question born from the hope that he might be able to understand at least a little about Black Wolf's background or daily life, but... Black Wolf showed no particular reaction to it.
Whether it was because he discerned Rei's intent, or for some other separate reason.
Regardless of the reason, it was a fact that Black Wolf did not react to Rei's words.
Because of that, Rei momentarily wondered if this strange time would also end and turn into a battle again, but fortunately, Black Wolf showed no such signs and was simply savoring the fruit water.
(Could it be that he was just so absorbed in the fruit water that he wasn't listening to my words... or something like that, right?)
Rei harbored such doubts, but since Black Wolf was currently drinking it little by little rather than gulping it down all at once, Rei couldn't discern the circumstances around that.
(Since he was this happy about the fruit water, could it be that there's a possibility he might let his guard down around me if I give him food?)
Thinking this, Rei took out a nikuman from his Misty Ring.
"...!?"
But upon seeing the nikuman, Black Wolf showed a far greater reaction than Rei had expected.
He was staring intently at the nikuman... with a gaze truly like that of a wolf eyeing its prey, just as his name, Black Wolf, suggested.
While surprised by Black Wolf's demeanor, Rei slightly understood why the person standing before him was called Black Wolf.
The reaction upon seeing the nikuman, which was currently wafting an appetite-stimulating aroma, seemed not much different from that of a wolf finding its prey.
(Though, it's not like he's splitting the nikuman open or anything, so I don't think the nikuman as it is now stimulates his appetite to that extent.)
What wafted from the nikuman was a faint sweet scent.
That was the scent of the dough.
That scent alone was certainly enough to stimulate one's appetite, but compared to the scent that drifted from the toppings inside when the nikuman was split open, it was obvious which one stimulated the appetite more.
"Want to eat?"
To Rei's question, Black Wolf showed a brief moment of hesitation before eventually returning a nod.
For Black Wolf, he probably couldn't understand why Rei was doing this much for him.
But perhaps unable to resist the appeal of the nikuman, Black Wolf gently reached out and accepted the one Rei held.
(Well, from his perspective, he might be wondering why his target is giving him food, or something like that.)
While Rei was thinking such things, before his eyes, Black Wolf was eating the nikuman deliciously.
What slightly surprised Rei was that Black Wolf used both hands when eating the nikuman.
That said, if it was about using hands to eat, he had used both hands normally when drinking the fruit water earlier, so that probably shouldn't have been surprising.
Munch, munch. Watching Black Wolf eat the nikuman in a manner fitting such a sound effect, Rei honestly felt his umpteenth wave of uncertainty about what to do from here.
After all, he was currently feeding him with nikuman like this, but in reality, the one in front of him was an assassin targeting his life.
Given that, Rei couldn't just keep going like this forever... He knew that.
He knew that, but... he just couldn't bring himself to particularly do anything about the current situation.
"..."
As Rei was wondering what to do about Black Wolf, Black Wolf, having finished eating the nikuman, eventually turned his gaze back to Rei.
The fact that he still said nothing was by now a familiar behavior to Rei.
"Ah... want to eat another nikuman?"
To Rei's question, Black Wolf returned a nod.
What Black Wolf was thinking to take such actions, Rei had no idea. He had no idea, but... even so, for Rei, he somehow felt the urge to meddle.
(Taming... that's right, from an onlooker's perspective, this is probably taming. ...It's just that the subject of that taming being Black Wolf is a delicate matter.)
After handing Black Wolf a new nikuman, Rei brought one to his own mouth as well.
Compared to the nikuman from Japan that Rei knew, the taste was somehow different after all.
But Rei understood full well what was causing that difference in taste.
Various seasonings and spices were different between Japan and... no, between Earth and this Elgin.
The problem was that even understanding that, there was nothing Rei could do about it.
He was not particularly good at cooking to begin with, and whether it was this nikuman or other dishes like udon, what Rei remembered was the finished product, and he only roughly recalled the recipes.
And Chinese Cuisine uses various spices.
There was no way Rei could remember all of those spices, and as a result, the nikuman he was eating was indeed a nikuman, but it had become something that was subtly not quite a nikuman.
(Well, it's not like it tastes bad because of that, though.)
Precisely because he knew the taste of nikuman from Japan, there was a sense of incongruity, but to the residents of this Elgin, this was the only nikuman they knew.
In other words, to those in Elgin, this was the taste of nikuman.
"...Hm? What's wrong?"
While savoring the nikuman, Rei had been thinking about the taste that still felt somewhat off somewhere, when he suddenly noticed Black Wolf staring intently at the nikuman.
"I'm telling you, there's no poison or anything like that in it, so you can rest easy. First of all, I'm eating it too, right? ...Well, since we're not eating the same nikuman, you might not be able to completely trust it, though."
Rei told him this, but Black Wolf was staring at the nikuman as if he couldn't hear Rei's words at all.
As if he were looking at prey... with the same gaze as when Rei had taken out the nikuman earlier.
(What is it?)
Rei harbored doubts about Black Wolf's demeanor, but Black Wolf showed no sign of noticing Rei's gaze at all and merely stared at the nikuman.
What on earth was going on.
Harboring such doubts...
"Huh?"
The moment Rei opened his mouth, Black Wolf's figure vanished from before Rei.