Leaving Marina behind at the Lord's Manor, Rei, Vihera, and Set — two people and one creature — arrived at Marina's house without getting caught up in any particular commotion.
The fact that it was originally midnight was certainly a factor, but even at such an hour, it wouldn't have been surprising to find drunkards outside under normal circumstances.
Moreover, it was summer now.
Even if they got drunk all night and slept outdoors... they might catch a cold, but they wouldn't freeze to death.
However, since Antelme was currently presumed to still be hiding somewhere in Gilm, many guards and searchers were combing the streets for him.
Given the situation, drunkards and the like were fundamentally few in number.
...There were some, but such individuals had been swiftly hauled away by the guards before they could even approach Rei's group.
(The Antelme situation is already resolved, but... I can't exactly go around telling people that.)
In the first place, Daskar had ordered him to keep the Antelme matter strictly confidential. Even if he ran into familiar guards or knights in town, he couldn't speak of it.
If that was the case, then the report that Antelme had been captured would likely be made tomorrow morning — since the date had already changed, it would be more accurate to say today.
Who captured him might become a topic of discussion, but Daskar couldn't carelessly reveal Rei's name.
"I'm home."
Upon entering the grounds of Marina's house, Set headed for the courtyard before Rei could say anything.
And almost simultaneously as Set disappeared, Vihera, who had been beside Rei, spoke up.
"Welcome back."
"...Wait, shouldn't I be the one saying that to you? You came back with me."
"Oh, what does it matter? More importantly, come on. I said 'welcome back,' so don't you have something to say to me too?"
"Right, right. Welcome back."
"I'd appreciate it if you put a little more heart into it... well, I suppose that much is to be expected. Anyway, let's go inside. Elena and the others were probably worried."
The fact that Vihera was in a subtly good mood made Rei wonder.
The battle against a strong enemy that Vihera had been hoping for had vanished when Rei defeated Antelme. In other words, her trip to the Lord's Manor had ended up being completely meaningless.
...Though precisely because she was at the Lord's Manor, she was able to immediately confirm that Rei had returned safely after defeating Antelme.
Figuring that being in a good mood was better than being in a bad one, Rei decided not to press the matter and entered the house together with Vihera...
"Rei, you're safe."
The moment they stepped through the entrance, Elena came to greet them, bringing Ara along.
Elena must have sensed the presence of Rei, Vihera, and Set as well.
But even so, she couldn't feel at ease until she saw Rei with her own eyes.
It had been an event where he had suddenly burst out flying on Set in the middle of the night, after all — that was surely why she felt that way.
In reality, Rei's opponent had been Antelme, an A-Rank adventurer, so Elena's concern was by no means exaggerated.
It was precisely because Rei was the one who fought Antelme that he was able to win like this... but against an A-Rank adventurer, there were decidedly not many people who could achieve victory the way Rei did.
"Yeah. For now, this whole matter is resolved. As for the details... let's talk over some tea."
"Very well. Ara, if you would."
At Rei's words, Ara gave a quick nod and began preparing tea.
The current time was nearing two in the morning.
Sitting around drinking tea at such an hour would inevitably leave them sleep-deprived.
It was inevitable, but since the circumstances of this incident needed to be explained, sleep deprivation was simply something they would have to accept.
(Tomorrow might be rough... well, considering this body of mine, a day or two of lost sleep won't be a problem.)
Rei's body, created using the Zephyle Clan's technology to the fullest, was beyond comparison to an ordinary human's in terms of performance alone.
Because of that, a little sleep deprivation was nothing.
...Though in a different sense from whether it was actually a problem, there was still the possibility that Rei might feel drowsy.
At any rate, Rei headed to the living room with Elena and the others and sat at the table.
Ara quickly prepared the tea, but since it was the middle of the night, there were no tea snacks to accompany it.
As far as Rei was concerned, eating a proper meal even in the middle of the night like this wouldn't particularly affect him, though.
"Come to think of it, what happened to Byune?"
After taking a sip of tea and feeling the warmth of its taste along with the relief of having returned safely, Rei asked.
It was not Elena or Ara who answered Rei's question, but Vihera.
"Knowing Byune, she probably went right back to sleep after we left the house? She looked really sleepy when she woke up, too."
At Vihera's words, Elena nodded in agreement.
"Considering Byune's age, that's only natural. ...Now then, let me tell you about this incident. However, Lord Daskar said I could tell Elena and the others, but not to speak of it to anyone else, so please keep that in mind."
"I don't mind. ...Though I do feel somewhat guilty about keeping the fairy matter from my father."
"Sorry about that. But if you keep that to yourself, Lord Daskar will probably... or rather, provide some kind of favorable treatment to the Noble's Faction. That's just my prediction, mind you — it's not a guarantee."
This much, even Rei couldn't say for certain.
It would ultimately depend on the negotiations between Elena and Daskar.
"Hmm. ...Understood. Tomorrow will be busy, so once a few days pass and things settle down somewhat, I shall go see Lord Daskar."
For Elena, there was also the question of whether this was her responsibility.
But in reality, considering the current situation, she was the only person who could negotiate with Daskar regarding this matter.
...No, the instruction not to tell anyone was a request from Daskar, and Elena was not necessarily obligated to comply.
But if she did such a thing, how would Rei perceive her?
Considering that, there was no way she could so easily discuss this matter with others.
Or perhaps, if this were something that would cause great harm to the Noble's Faction or Duke Kerebel's House, Elena might have acted not solely for herself and told someone about it.
However, this matter was not that critically important.
Given that, Elena had no intention of discussing it with others.
"Alright. Then I'll explain."
Seeing Elena nod at his words, Rei began recounting the events that had occurred in the Treant Forest.
What made the listeners furrow their brows most during the account was, as expected, the fact that Antelme had massacred the wolves.
Knowing the wolves, it must have been unpleasant to hear.
As for Antelme's strength, they nodded in understanding.
Regardless of his personality, his strength was apparently convincing enough as an A-Rank adventurer.
That said, they were equally convinced by the fact that Rei had overwhelmed such an Antelme — and emerged victorious without even using a trump card like the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.
Since they were people who knew just how strong Rei was, it seemed only natural to them that things had turned out that way.
"In other words, it's safe to say the Antelme matter is resolved... though it won't be publicly announced immediately."
"Right. Given that the circumstances surrounding this matter are complicated, that may be unavoidable."
"...Whatever the reasons, it's a good thing the Zolgela Count House situation didn't get any worse."
Elena nodded at Vihera's words.
This incident must have given Vihera quite a bit to think about as well.
"Does that mean we'll go back to our usual days starting tomorrow? ...Well, our ordinary days themselves are bound to be quite busy, that's for sure."
That was probably something only Vihera would say, given that she patrolled Gilm.
Since brawls were an everyday occurrence, those on patrol inevitably became busy.
...Though there were also cases where people who didn't know Vihera approached her based on her appearance and caused incidents.
Given such circumstances, it was only natural that Vihera's work would be busy.
Elena's work as well — likely due to the Zolgela Count House incident, the number of people requesting meetings with her had probably increased.
The reason for those meetings would differ depending on the noble — some trying to sell their own information to Elena for as high a price as possible, others trying to extract information she was likely to know.
And Rei went without saying.
Transporting lumber felled in the Treant Forest to Gilm, hauling materials that had run short at the Expansion Construction sites... and beyond that, there were tasks like the fairy situation and checking on Anastasia, who was conducting research in the Underground Space beneath the Treant Forest.
In addition to such work, he also needed to visit Grimm to hear experiment results and discuss what kind of Magic Items to create.
(Yeah, even without the Antelme matter, I'm still going to be busy.)
Rei nodded to himself, though in reality, beyond those reasons, there was currently a plan being discussed between Marina and Daskar to promote Rei to A-Rank adventurer.
That said, an A-Rank adventurer — aside from the three S-Rank adventurers in existence — was the entity that could be called the pinnacle of adventurers.
Promoting someone to A-Rank was not something that could be done lightly.
They would need to undergo a proper examination.
...How Rei would react when Marina brought it up to him was uncertain, though.
"Probably so. I think things will go back to normal for the most part... though everywhere else aside, the Noble District won't be returning to business as usual."
Given the Zolgela Count House incident, it went without saying that the Noble District was currently in a rather tense state.
Even with the culprit Antelme captured, that alone wouldn't immediately make everyone in the Noble District show signs of relief.
Precisely because they were nobles, they couldn't simply carry on as before under the current circumstances.
For many nobles, the thought that such an incident could occur in the Noble District had probably never crossed their minds.
Because of that, just because it was resolved didn't mean they could straightforwardly return to the way things were.
Perhaps the adventurers they employed might do the same thing... or perhaps adventurers employed by other nobles might come to kill them for some reason.
It was only natural to have such thoughts.
When Rei explained as much, the listeners showed expressions of understanding.
"Even a capable noble can't avoid making enemies... or rather, it's not that simple."
Elena murmured with feeling.
In truth, those words were by no means exaggerated.
If anything, a capable noble was all the more likely to inspire resentment and jealousy.
Especially nobles who were noble-like nobles... the kind of nobles Rei despised, were highly likely to make enemies no matter how competent they were.
Because of that, there was no doubt that caution was necessary given the current situation.
"Will the nobles in the Noble District be keeping each other in check for a while now?"
Looking slightly anxious... and slightly dissatisfied, Ara murmured.
For Ara, it must have been unpleasant that events occurring in places unrelated to them could negatively affect Elena.
...Though it wasn't exactly unrelated to them — the original incident had been caused by the trouble between Rei and Antelme.
Because of that, Elena and Ara, as Rei's companions, were not merely uninvolved parties in this incident — they could even be called concerned parties.
"Anyway, that's the situation, so everyone should stay cautious for a while. Though this house is protected by Marina's Spirit Magic, so unless someone is a truly exceptional powerhouse, they wouldn't be able to get inside."
An A-Rank adventurer like Antelme could probably break through the spirits' protection, but... A-Rank adventurers were not common.
No, in Gilm's case, since it was a frontier, there were a fair number of both A-Rank adventurers and Alias Holders.
However, such individuals being hired as Noble District escorts... while it couldn't be said to be absolutely impossible, Rei still couldn't imagine anyone willingly accepting such work.