"Rei, will you be coming back again soon?"
"I'd like to."
Sipping black tea while sampling an assortment of baked sweets, fresh fruit, and dried fruit, Rei gave Elena his answer.
There had been a slightly—truly only slightly—awkward atmosphere at first, but after talking for about ten minutes, that subtle tension had resolved itself.
Now, Rei and Elena were alone, speaking in a relaxed mood.
Ara had already left the living room, claiming she had errands to attend to.
Whether she genuinely had business to take care of, or whether it was merely a pretext to leave Rei and Elena alone together—Rei couldn't tell.
He couldn't tell, but the fact that he was currently spending time alone with Elena was undeniable.
"It seems dangerous, but the other world sounds fascinating too. ...I'd love to visit it at least once."
"It might not be possible right now, but once some time passes, maybe it will be? Though that's just an optimistic guess."
"If there were no visitors requesting audiences, a day or two... or perhaps even a little less, it wouldn't be a problem."
Elena didn't hide her disappointment as she said this.
She couldn't possibly take the measure of rejecting all visitors requesting audiences.
Many of the audiences were for the purpose of having her remember their faces, but among them were some who came seeking consultation as nobles.
...Honestly, Elena couldn't do anything in particular about noble troubles.
Even so, if someone came to her with a serious expression seeking advice, she couldn't help but want to do something for them.
Of course, some people brought truly hopeless matters, in which case nothing could be done.
"Are you tired, by any chance?"
Elena, who had been recalling consultations from several nobles, snapped back to herself at Rei's words.
Even though she was with the man she loved, she had forgotten that and become absorbed in her own thoughts.
Thinking that, she shook her head.
"No, not really. ...No, that's wrong. I might be a little tired from the Vihera situation, but only a little."
Seeing Elena's demeanor as she said this, Rei wondered if that was really the case.
Elena wasn't tired to the extent that it showed on her face.
For example, she wasn't haggard, nor did she have dark circles under her eyes—she didn't show fatigue in such obvious ways.
But her aura... yes, the aura Elena carried about her seemed somehow tired to Rei.
It was only that it appeared that way to Rei, and he couldn't be certain how things actually were, but from the way she spoke, he felt there was no mistaking it.
"In any case. ...Have you decided what to do today, Rei? Will you stay here, or return to the other side?"
"Sorry, but I'll be heading back. If Vihera is there, combat power shouldn't be a concern, but if a large number of Dragonias show up at once, Vihera alone would struggle."
That wasn't to say Vihera would lose to the Dragonias.
If it were Vihera, even against a hundred... or more Dragonias, she would undoubtedly win.
But Vihera's combat style was specialized for one-on-one combat.
When fighting over a hundred Dragonias, she didn't have the kind of wide-area annihilation magic that Rei used... or even skills or magic that could attack several enemies at once, if not to that extent.
As a result, when fighting Dragonias, simply put, she would need to repeat one-on-one battles a hundred times.
...In reality, since she could land attacks on two or three enemies with a single strike, the number of battles could be reduced considerably when accounting for that.
However, fighting small numbers like that naturally meant the combat time would be longer than usual.
As a result, the possibility that Dragonias not yet engaged in combat would head for the Centaur settlement couldn't be denied.
After all, the Dragonias were driven by hunger.
No matter how much soft-looking flesh Vihera possessed, if she was being swarmed by other Dragonias, the chances were high that they wouldn't come around to where she was.
That was precisely why they would attack nearby settlements to satisfy their hunger there.
There was no guarantee that none of them would think that way.
(In other words, if Vihera encountered a horde of Dragonias in a place with no settlements nearby... like the middle of a grassland, she could take them all down without any problem. Even if she encountered a golden-scaled Dragonias, with Magic Impact Palm, it wouldn't be an issue.)
The golden-scaled Dragonias had even deflected a strike from Rei's Twilight Spear, though not without its scales taking damage.
But no matter how powerful its defensive ability was, if that defense could be nullified, it meant nothing.
And Vihera's Magic Impact Palm could do exactly that.
"I see. ...So you're going to the other world."
At Rei's words, a disappointed voice slipped from Elena's lips.
As Elena, she would love to go to the other world with Rei if possible.
But given the current situation, doing so was simply impossible.
"Sorry. But to find Anastasia and Fana, I need to go to the other world."
"I know that... but still."
A small sigh escaped Elena's lips.
Though she probably didn't intend it, her current appearance was filled with an intense charm that would draw in anyone who saw her.
"Once this matter is settled, I'd like to go somewhere fun."
"Fun, huh. Given the current situation, that would be a bit difficult."
If she had enough leeway to go on an outing, she could go to the Centaur world right now even under the current circumstances.
After that, they talked a bit more... and the topic turned to Marina.
"So, if you're going to the other world, won't you go see Marina first?"
"I'm planning to stop by the clinic before heading back. ...If Marina were here, it would be a different story."
"That's not happening."
Elena replied immediately to Rei's words.
However, Rei also had no doubt that he readily understood Elena's words.
Due to the expansion construction, injuries there were inevitable.
Or rather, among those working on the expansion construction were some short-tempered individuals, and it was common for such people to fight over disagreements and get injured.
What's more, the number of people participating in the expansion construction numbered in the thousands... or perhaps even tens of thousands.
Naturally, the clinic was undoubtedly bustling, and Rei himself had stopped by several times before and seen injured people lined up.
(Occasionally... truly occasionally, there were times when there were almost no injured patients, but that must have been quite rare. In that case, I'll just show my face if there aren't many people when I stop by. The slum district... I probably won't have time for that.)
Rei tried to convince himself that he didn't have time, but in reality, a considerable amount of time had passed since he had annihilated many organizations in the slum district.
The organizations that hadn't been able to attack due to lack of time had most likely already withdrawn from the slum district... no, from Gilm by now.
Or perhaps... as a truly remote possibility, they might have misunderstood something and remained, believing Rei wouldn't dare lay a hand on them, but when asked whether that would really happen, Rei honestly couldn't bring himself to nod in agreement.
"In any case, the clinic might be busy, but I'll at least show my face."
Setting aside the slum district for now, he said this.
At Rei's words about visiting the clinic, Elena nodded in agreement that it was a good idea.
As a woman who loved Rei just as she did, since Rei had returned after such a long absence, Marina would surely be very disappointed if she couldn't see him.
After talking a little more... Rei, told by Elena that he should go see Marina a bit earlier, rose from his chair.
"Gruu..."
Set, walking through town, was purring with an unusually disappointed tone.
Normally, it would be happy just being together with Rei.
This difference was probably because Set hadn't been able to play with Ielo to its heart's content.
It had been quite a while since Set last met Ielo.
That was why Set probably wanted to take its time and play with Ielo more.
Even so, Rei had been implicitly urged by Elena to go see not just her but Marina as well, and since he felt that was the right thing to do, the option of not complying didn't exist.
"Once this matter is settled, I think you'll be able to play with Ielo again at your own pace, so just bear with it a little longer, okay?"
"...Grururu"
At Rei's words, Set purred as if resigning itself.
Soothing Set, Rei headed toward the clinic...
"Looks like I'm lucky."
Seeing no line of injured people in front of the clinic, he muttered that.
Judging from the sight, today the clinic, while not exactly idle... was probably not that busy.
"Set..."
"Gruu"
Perhaps still not fully in a good mood, Set moved to a spot away from the clinic before Rei could say anything, looking slightly sulky.
(Set will just be lying down like this while I'm inside the clinic. I guess it can't be helped that it's sulking.)
However, after meeting and talking with Marina, Rei would head straight to the Treant Forest... and then to the other world.
Given that, he couldn't leave Set behind at Marina's house.
Should he have brought Ielo? Rei thought that for a moment seeing Set like that, but immediately rejected the idea.
Ielo was a Black Dragon, but still only a child.
As a child, it possessed defenses far beyond what one would expect, as well as abilities like disappearing from sight, but this was Gilm.
Because it was the frontier, there were many skilled adventurers, and among them, quite a few would do anything for money.
If they knew Ielo was the familiar of Elena, who held the alias of Princess General, they wouldn't recklessly try to lay a hand on it, but those who didn't know... or those who would do it without hesitation for money even if they did know, existed in considerable numbers.
Given that such people existed, Rei couldn't let Ielo roam freely in Gilm.
Ielo had high intelligence, but it was still undeniably a child.
In other words, the possibility of it being caught due to a childish mistake could not be denied.
That was why Rei immediately dismissed the thought of whether he should have brought Ielo.
"Well then, eat this and wait a bit."
What Rei placed in front of Set was baked sweets.
Not the kind sold at any ordinary shop, but the ones Ara had been proud of, the ones that Rei and Elena had found delicious.
When Rei and the others were eating them, Set and Ielo had been playing together, so Set hadn't eaten any.
Because of that, Set gazed at the baked sweets on the plate Rei had placed with evident interest.
Rei gave Set a light pat and headed toward the clinic.
And when he opened the door...
(Yep, today was a hit after all.)
There were injured people inside the clinic receiving treatment, but the number of patients wasn't that large.
Looking around the clinic, Marina's figure was immediately found.
Naturally. Those who worked at the clinic basically wore clothing that was easy to move in.
Among them, if there was a woman wearing a party dress, it would be impossible for her not to stand out.
What's more, if that woman was a Dark Elf woman with a beauty that radiated an overwhelming feminine allure, it would be more unreasonable to expect her not to draw people's attention.
And, naturally, Marina also noticed who had entered the clinic.
"Oh, Rei. ...It's been a while."
Marina said this with a smile, but just like Elena had shown earlier, it was a smile that contained something.
And what was contained within that smile—Rei naturally knew as well.
"It's been a while. Have you been well?"
"Yes. It was lonely without you, though."
A stir.
Those around who heard Rei and Marina's voices began to buzz.
Since they knew Rei had come to see Marina before, few among those working here were surprised.
Among the injured were adventurers who had been in Gilm for a long time, so such people also knew Rei and Marina's relationship and weren't surprised.
However... those who didn't know these circumstances, who had recently come to Gilm... especially those whose souls had been captivated by Marina's beauty, were simply astonished at Marina's words.