"Hm... ah...?"
As Rei woke up, it was only then that he remembered he had been asleep.
Last night, after returning to the Duke Kerebel Mansion following the destruction of Celestan's house, he had waited in his room, thinking he might be summoned for some reason or another—but...
(Is this what they call falling asleep reading?)
Gazing at a book lying on the floor, Rei thought with a mind not yet fully functioning from just waking up.
The book on the floor was one he had borrowed from the library in the Duke Kerebel Mansion.
It went without saying, but if he had damaged it—specifically, if he had gotten drool or something on it, or, depending on the circumstances, torn pages in a sleep-dazed state—he would have had to pay for it.
Fortunately, the book had simply fallen to the floor, and it hadn't ended up stained or torn by Rei.
Even so, as he flipped through the pages in a half-awake state to check whether it had been damaged when it fell, he was suddenly interrupted by a knock on his door.
"Pardon me, Rei-san. Are you awake?"
"Yeah... I'm up."
The voice wasn't particularly loud, but it must have carried to the other side of the door.
A moment later, the door opened, and Miranda appeared.
Seeing that the person before her was Rei as usual, Miranda felt slightly relieved.
The Rei who had come to wake him last night was clearly different from the Rei she knew, so she must have been anxious, worried he might be the same today.
"What would you like to do about lunch?"
"...Lunch? Not breakfast?"
"Yes. It's already the afternoon. And quite a while past noon, at that."
"I see," Rei muttered, sounding just a little disappointed.
That was probably because he had missed Georgima's breakfast.
No—if it was already well past noon, then he hadn't just missed breakfast but lunch as well.
The dishes that Georgima and his disciples prepared all possessed a deliciousness that could only be called superb.
Missing two meals' worth of that cooking was a significant blow to Rei.
But Miranda, not understanding how he felt, spoke up while wondering about his shocked expression.
"Rei-san? Is something wrong?"
"Hm? Ah, no. It's nothing. So? Did you come to wake me because you figured I'd be getting up around now?"
"That too, but Master is calling for you. If you're awake, that is. He said there's no need to force yourself if you're still sleeping, but... what would you like to do?"
In this case, the "Master" Miranda referred to was Liberte, the Duke Kerebel.
Being summoned by the master of this mansion—and being awake on top of that—he couldn't very well ignore it.
Moreover, Liberte wasn't just any noble; he was Elena's father.
"No, it's fine. I'll get ready right away, so give me a moment."
Saying that, Rei quickly got dressed and left the room with Miranda.
...For the record, the book that had been on the floor when Rei woke up was checked again, and as expected, there were no signs of damage anywhere on it.
It was only natural that Rei felt relieved all over again about that.
"Thank you for coming. Were you able to sleep yesterday?"
In the room Miranda guided him to, besides Liberte, there were Elena and Ara—the two who had been involved in yesterday's incident—and Liberte's wife, Arcadia.
The absence of Elena's familiar, Ielo, was probably because it disliked stiff conversations.
Rei sat down on the sofa Liberte offered and nodded with a smile.
Normally, most of that smile would have been hidden by the Dragon Robe's hood, but since he had taken the hood off at present, the smile was plainly visible.
"Yes. ...Or rather, I overslept a bit and was actually asleep until just a moment ago."
"Hm? In that case, did I end up forcing you awake because I asked Miranda to do so?"
"No, I was already awake a little before Miranda came."
"I'm glad to hear you say that. ...Now then, the reason I formally called Rei here is that I wanted to hear the details of yesterday's incident directly from your own mouth. I've already heard from Elena and Ara, but with matters like these, it's best to hear from multiple people from various angles to accurately grasp what happened."
Though, Liberte added with a slightly disappointed tone, Ara hadn't actually entered the space where the Flesh Cocoon was.
At Liberte's remark, Ara wore an apologetic expression, but before she could say anything, Elena spoke up.
"Father, I believe I have already spoken about that matter. Besides, wasn't it precisely because Ara was investigating the documents that we learned various things?"
The slightly reproachful tone in her voice was probably meant to defend Ara.
...Indeed, after returning to the mansion last night, Rei had handed over the documents that had been inside his Misty Ring, and those documents contained various important information.
The kind of documents they had been searching for—ones proving the relationship between Celestan and Black Wolf—weren't there, nor could they find any documents showing that Gaiska had hired Black Wolf.
But while it wasn't exactly a substitute, there were several documents that were of great interest to Liberte as Duke Kerebel.
Documents whose contents would definitely put several Noble Faction Nobles under Liberte's scrutiny.
They had failed to obtain their targeted documents, but they had succeeded in acquiring different ones than the ones they originally sought.
The mere fact that they had been able to carry those documents out of the vanished estate was undoubtedly a sufficient gain.
At the very least, compared to the house simply vanishing without them doing anything, it was more than enough.
"Ah, yes. I have no intention of blaming Ara either. Rather, I'm grateful she managed to bring out this many documents in that situation."
"...I'm glad to hear you say that."
Ara, seated next to Elena, bowed her head while still looking apologetic.
At the sight of Ara, Liberte—receiving reproachful gazes not only from Elena but also from Arcadia—spoke up as if to cover his own discomfort.
"And so. The mass of flesh, was it? That Rei witnessed? I'd like to hear about that."
At Liberte's words, Rei nodded and recounted what he had experienced.
His explanation, unlike Elena's, wasn't particularly easy to follow, but Elena supplemented the areas where Rei's account fell short.
"Hmm. Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, was it? I had heard that Rei could use such a skill, but hearing it directly from the one who actually uses it—I must say, it's impressive."
The words that came from Liberte's mouth gave Rei a slight surprise.
But given Liberte's position as Duke Kerebel, it wouldn't be strange for him to know about Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, which could be called one of Rei's trump cards.
Moreover, Rei had used it at Elena's side, so it wouldn't be unusual for information to have leaked from there.
It had been treated as a trump card to begin with, but Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor wasn't exactly a hidden skill.
...In the first place, if it were a skill that had to be kept secret, he should avoid using it in public as much as possible, but Rei didn't seem particularly concerned about that.
"Should I just say thank you, in that case?"
"I wonder. ...Regardless, I understand Rei's account. You were caught up in quite a lot in this incident."
"Not at all. In this case, I'd say I was the one who got others involved. I never expected Gaiska to do something like hiring Black Wolf."
After conversing for a few more minutes, Liberte moved on to the main topic.
"Now then, let us proceed to the actual reason I called Rei here today."
A serious expression, however slight, settled on Rei's face.
He was wondering what he was about to be told.
At the end of Rei's gaze, Liberte rang a small bell.
Then, in less than ten seconds, a knock came at the door.
"Master, I have brought the items you requested."
"Yes, come in."
At those words, the door opened, and a butler appeared.
Rei thought for a moment that it was a face he had seen somewhere, but then remembered it was the man who had been called to Liberte's table during the year-end party.
A man judged to be among the most capable of those serving Duke Kerebel's House.
Following behind that man, two more men entered the room carrying wooden barrels.
They were men who could plainly be described as heavily muscled, evidently very strong, yet their faces were quite red.
It was clearly visible that they were giving everything they had even in their current state.
Even in that condition, the two men slowly and carefully set the wooden barrels on the floor so as not to scratch it.
Rei couldn't tell exactly how far they had carried the wooden barrels, but from the way they looked, it was certain they had carried them a considerable distance.
(If they'd used one of those carts with wheels... like the ones they use to bring tea and such... ah, no. Looking at them like this, they seem quite heavy, so if they tried to transport them that way, the cart itself would probably break. Or even if it didn't break, the weight would probably leave tire marks on the floor.)
As Rei looked at the wooden barrels the two men had carried in, Liberte smiled and spoke.
"Rei, this is your reward."
"Reward?"
For a moment, Rei didn't understand what was being talked about.
Breaking into Celestan's house had been, if anything, more for his own sake.
There was no reason to receive a reward... or so he thought.
Seeing Rei's reaction and judging that he had misunderstood, Liberte spoke before Rei could say anything.
"I'll have you know, this Wind Magic Stone has nothing to do with yesterday's incident. ...Don't you remember that I promised to pay you a reward for the mock battle?"
"...Ah, now that you mention it."
Prompted by Liberte's words, Rei thought for a moment and finally remembered.
That's right—he had agreed to receive Wind Magic Stone as a reward.
Seeing Rei finally recall it thanks to his own words, Liberte showed a faint expression of exasperation.
Two wooden barrels' worth of Wind Magic Stone—that was an item which, converted to cash, would amount to a considerable sum.
For Liberte as Duke Kerebel, that much money wasn't particularly significant, but for an ordinary adventurer, it wouldn't be strange for it to be worth something on the order of a hundred small fortunes, if not quite a single grand one.
Of course, to Rei, Liberte was both a client and Elena's father.
On top of that, he was someone who had arranged various conveniences for Rei, and honestly, Rei was fine with or without the Wind Magic Stone reward.
Even so, the fact that Liberte dutifully prepared it—and with more Wind Magic Stone than Rei had expected—made Rei feel favorably toward him.
That said, Liberte wasn't doing this out of goodwill alone.
Even setting aside the matter of his daughter's sweetheart, it was better to maintain a friendly relationship with an Alias Holder adventurer.
That was precisely why he had prepared the Wind Magic Stone, fully understanding it was a considerable expense.
"It seems you had forgotten, but... a promise is a promise. Please, take it."
When told that, Rei couldn't refuse.
Also, while it was true he had forgotten about the Wind Magic Stone, once he remembered it, it was equally true that he found the Wind Magic Stone appealing.
His other trump card, different from Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor... no, considering that Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor was almost entirely unknown, Fire Whirlwind was what was generally regarded as Rei's trump card and ace in the hole.
What would happen if he used Wind Magic Stone with it?
Rei did want to test it, but even if there were two wooden barrels' worth, using it would naturally mean it would deplete.
Given that, he couldn't afford to waste it carelessly.
(Still, I'll need to actually try it at least once and see what kind of reaction it produces. I'd want to avoid using it blindly in combat when I have the time to test it.)
It was only natural to want to confirm what specific—well, what could be called additional effects—the Wind Magic Stone would produce.
"Thank you very much. Then I'll gladly accept these."
Saying that, he stood up from the sofa and reached out toward the two wooden barrels on the floor.
The next moment, as if the wooden barrels' presence there had been a dream or an illusion, they vanished in an instant.
Seeing that, the men who had carried them in wore dumbfounded expressions.
The wooden barrels containing Wind Magic Stone that they had struggled so hard to carry here had disappeared in the next moment.
It would have been impossible for them not to be surprised.