"Haa... honestly, that was a bit unexpected."
"Guruu."
As if agreeing with Rei's words, Set let out a cry.
Ahead of the pair, only the empty night stretched out before them.
But just minutes ago, a Fire Whirlwind had swept through that very space—and not just any Fire Whirlwind, but one bristling with Wind Blades erupting from all over.
Those Wind Blades were the result of using the Wind Magic Stone Rei had received as a reward from Liberte—specifically, the extra barrel he'd been given as additional compensation when Liberte asked him to demonstrate the Fire Whirlwind. The purpose was to flaunt the influence of Liberte's—no, Duke Kerebel's—House, and to deliver a parting blow against Marquis Seisole's House.
Of course, he hadn't used the entire barrel—only about half.
(Thinking about it now, the fact that he had an extra barrel of Wind Magic Stone ready so readily means he probably knew from the start that I'd accept the request.)
Rei couldn't say he didn't feel a little played, but he had still received more than enough compensation, and above all, he had been able to test the Fire Whirlwind using the Wind Magic Stone. As far as he was concerned, he was thoroughly satisfied.
"I never expected Wind Blades to sprout out, though... there's no doubt it became more fearsome."
Until he actually tried using the Wind Magic Stone, he hadn't known what specific effect it would produce.
Because of that, the result was unexpected, but at the same time, Rei's honest feeling was relief that he hadn't tested it for the first time in actual combat.
Wind Blades... they weren't physical blades in a literal sense, but intangible blades constructed from wind.
(When I was in Japan, there were beam sabers in manga and anime... is this Wind Blade somewhat similar in a way? ...Though wind and beams are completely different.)
Recalling his time in Japan, Rei stroked Set while gazing up at the sky.
It was beautiful. Despite being a winter night, not a single cloud marred the sky, and the moon and stars shone clearly.
As Rei admired the sight, he eventually sensed a presence approaching through the darkness.
The newcomer wasn't particularly trying to hide their presence or footsteps, so he could plainly hear their steps.
"What is it, Elena? Do you have some business with me?"
Rei asked without even turning to look, but the person whose name he'd called showed no particular confusion and spoke.
"I don't have any particular business. I just came to check on you for a bit. So, how was the Wind Magic Stone?"
"How was it, you ask... I can only say it was exactly as you saw."
"Wind Blades, huh... if you directed that at an enemy encampment, you could expect considerable destructive power."
"I won't deny that. To be honest, I never imagined it would become something that fearsome."
Of course, what Rei had imagined was something that continuously fired Wind Blades in every direction—something like the Flying Slash skill from Death Scythe—and in that sense, it could be called even more fearsome than the Wind Blades in terms of destructive power, annihilation capacity, and raw attack power.
In that respect, "somewhat disappointing" might also be a fitting description from Rei's perspective.
"But well... at least in terms of spectacle, it was pretty good, don't you think?"
"Umu. There's no doubt it was flashy. Most of those watching were delighted... though there were some who felt fear."
"Ah... well, that's to be expected."
At Elena's words, Rei nodded in understanding.
When considering things purely from the Noble's Faction's perspective, Rei was ultimately the combat power of a different faction—the Neutral Faction.
Currently, relations between the Noble's Faction and the Neutral Faction were good, but there was no guarantee that would last forever.
If relations between the two factions soured to the point of open conflict, the members of the Noble's Faction would end up fighting Rei.
What's more, if asked whether Elena, the symbol of the Noble's Faction, would fight Rei in that situation... that would be a delicate matter.
The nature of Rei and Elena's relationship had already spread quite widely as information.
Given that, it was hard to imagine Elena being able to fight Rei.
...Putting it the other way around, that also meant Rei might not be able to fight Elena either, but for some reason, they seemed to believe Rei would be able to.
Of course, given that Rei had shown no mercy in unleashing his power even against nobles up to now, and if one gathered the various rumors and information about him, it wouldn't be strange for them to reach such a conclusion.
"Well then, there's no point staying here forever... shall we head back?"
"Is that alright?"
"Yeah. It's not like I was deep in thought or anything... right?"
"Guruu?"
Called upon by Rei, Set rumbled as if asking, "Is that so?"
It had stayed silent so as not to interrupt Rei and Elena's conversation, but if that was the case, it wished they had said so sooner, rubbing its head against Rei.
"Hey—, Set. What's gotten into you all of a sudden? Come on, that tickles."
"Fufu, you two are the same as always... come now, let us return. My father and the others are waiting, after all."
With that, Elena stopped Set from fawning over Rei, and the three of them began walking together.
"Still... it's gotten quite warm."
A winter night should normally be cold enough to make one shiver.
But here, in this particular spot, the residual heat from the Fire Whirlwind still lingered, providing considerable warmth.
Of course, before long that warm air would likely be carried away and scattered by the wind.
"Only for a little while, though... More importantly, when will you be heading back to Gilm? I've done everything I needed to do in Anesis, so anytime is fine with me."
As they walked, the topic suddenly shifted.
In response to Rei's question, Elena thought for a moment before speaking.
"I'm sorry, but I'd like you to wait a few more days. Normally I'd want to say tomorrow, but... with yesterday's incident, I have various things I need to take care of."
"Ah... figured as much."
What Elena was trying to say was naturally clear to Rei as well.
To begin with, the famous Black Wolf had died in Anesis, and Celestan, the head of the organization connected to Black Wolf, had also died.
On top of that, Celestan's house had vanished—so many major events had occurred in a single day.
As someone involved in much of it, Elena, given her position as the Daughter of Duke Kerebel, couldn't very well skip out on cleaning up the aftermath.
If she were to leave Anesis without doing at least some degree of cleanup, it would reflect poorly on her.
Had there been some kind of emergency—say, an urgent need to subdue a powerful monster—it would have been a different story.
"I'm sorry."
At Elena apologizing once more, Rei shook his head, telling her not to worry about it.
If this required something on the order of weeks or months, Rei would have had various thoughts about it, and he might have gone back to Gilm alone for the time being and returned to Anesis once some time had passed.
But if it was only a matter of a few days, it wasn't particularly a problem for Rei.
The Duke Kerebel Mansion had a library that still housed a massive collection of books Rei hadn't read, and mock battles with the Knight Order led by Filma were also something he was reluctant to pass up.
Alternatively, he could go out into the city and look for some delicious food.
For all his eating around here and there, Rei still hadn't found anything he could call a specialty of Anesis.
Given that, he had a desire to try searching for a local specialty dish.
From Rei's perspective, it was almost like a kind of treasure hunt.
He didn't know exactly what kind of dishes he might find, but there was no doubt it was something that set his heart racing.
...Of course, among local specialty dishes there were also ones that were nearly inedible or that one wouldn't even want to eat, so it wasn't necessarily the case that such dishes were always delicious.
"Don't worry about it. I'd like to look around Anesis more myself, too."
Since coming to Anesis, Rei had gone out from the Duke Kerebel Mansion multiple times to explore the city.
But Anesis was called the second city of the Kingdom of Mireana for a reason, and its sheer size was considerable.
So much so that just walking around a few times wasn't enough to see everything.
In that sense, Elena's words about staying in Anesis a little longer were by no means a bad thing for Rei.
Elena seemed to understand that Rei wasn't just saying that out of consideration for her. She looked relieved—and right at that moment, the group arrived at where Liberte and the others were waiting.
"Ooh, Rei. Thank you for honoring my request. That was a magnificent Flame Tornado. So much so that one could hardly look away."
The first to call out to Rei was, naturally, Liberte.
This was to show the other nobles that he and Rei were on close terms, while also preventing Rei from feeling unpleasant due to a rush of other nobles swarming him.
"I'm glad it pleased you. It was quite helpful for me too, since I was able to conduct an experiment using the Wind Magic Stone."
Hearing the words "Wind Magic Stone," the nobles stirred among themselves.
Naturally. Wind Magic Stone was one of the ores classified as wind-based magic metal, and its production volume was by no means high even when looking across the entire Kingdom of Mireana.
Low production meant high value, and in that sense, it was a topic of great interest to the nobles present.
(Huh? Did he not explain that part?)
While conversing with Liberte, Rei observed the other nobles' reactions and thought as much.
"I see. I'm glad the reward I paid was of use to you. Now then, with that wonderful—and beyond-expectations—spectacle seen, let us return to the city. I would prefer to stay and bask in this afterglow indefinitely, but with this cold, some people may start falling ill."
At those words, several nobles nodded in agreement.
Being nobles, they were of course wearing warm clothing, but even under such circumstances, standing in a place like this on a winter night was still cold.
If they were trained individuals like knights or soldiers, they might have been able to endure the chill.
As everyone began heading back toward Anesis together, someone approached Rei and Elena.
"Rei, honestly, I was surprised. How the hell did you pull off a Flame Tornado like that? I understand why you earned the alias Crimson."
The one speaking with such earnestness was Bluitt.
Beside him were Ranigus and Teles.
All three wore expressions bright with excitement, visible enough that even Rei could tell.
Perhaps because they were still young, they didn't seem bothered by the cold as much as the other nobles.
"You guys were here too, huh... No, you were here yesterday as well, so it's not strange you'd be here."
Rei said as much upon seeing the three familiar faces, but a smile floated on his own.
Rather than becoming a spectacle for nobles he didn't know—or nobles he'd only seen in passing—it was far more comfortable to act alongside acquaintances like this.
If there were some reason for it, Rei wouldn't have minded being a spectacle either.
"Honestly, coming all the way out here was a bit of a hassle, but I'm glad I came. You really showed me an amazing sight."
Unusually, Ranigus spoke with evident excitement.
Ranigus also knew of Rei's abilities, but there was a world of difference between knowing something as information and confirming it with his own eyes.
Particularly for Ranigus, who belonged to the King's Faction, he inevitably had fewer occasions to interact with Rei.
It wasn't that they had no contact at all, but the frequency was inevitably lower.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
"Ah... so, I wanted to ask one thing."
Bluitt, who had been listening to the conversation between Rei and Ranigus, called out to Rei.
That demeanor, so different from Bluitt's usual attitude, carried a slight sense of incongruity even from Rei's perspective.
"What is it? That's unusual for you, Bluitt."
"That's right. The Bluitt I know is more... rough-mannered."
At Rei's words, Teles nodded in agreement.
Ara, who had somehow drifted over to Elena's side, nodded as well.
"Shut up... so, I wanted to ask. Do you think I could pull off something like that Flame Tornado?"
"That's... hard to say. You might be able to do something similar, but I don't think you could do exactly the same."
Since it was a combination of skills and magic, Rei told him honestly, not believing Bluitt could replicate it exactly. But at those words, Bluitt wore a disappointed expression.