When Rei took off from Marina's house atop Seto, it naturally didn't go unnoticed by the people lurking around the estate.
Some among them tried to figure out where Rei was headed so they could negotiate with him directly, but given Seto's flying speed, that was nearly impossible.
Still, if they could at least confirm the direction Seto had flown off in, they'd know which way to head.
Without even that much to go on, finding Rei or Seto would be all but impossible.
...Though that would be a different story if they had some means of locating their target—through a Skill or Magic Item, for instance.
Unaware of—or perhaps simply ignoring—the commotion unfolding on the ground below, Rei spotted some familiar faces while traveling atop Seto.
"Vihera... I heard she went to the Treant Forest, but she's already back? I might as well go say hello. Elena was at Marina's house, and I already stopped by the treatment center where Marina works to see her. If I skip Vihera, she'll probably sulk."
If they hadn't crossed paths here, he might not have had the chance to contact Vihera at all. But right now, there she was on the road below, riding on horseback.
More precisely, Byune was there too, cradled in Vihera's arms.
Didn't we bring a deer back from another world? ...No, that was Byune, wasn't it? But I thought I heard they released it into the Treant Forest... Was I imagining that? If not, maybe I should warn Bob. No, he's already inside the Fairy Dwelling now, so he wouldn't need to hunt, right?
When it occurred to Rei that Bob might have hunted the deer, he felt relieved that it apparently hadn't come to that.
"Seto."
"Gururu!"
Without Rei needing to say another word, Seto immediately began his descent toward the ground.
Naturally, Vihera and Byune weren't the only ones on the highway. A considerable number of merchants, adventurers, and other travelers were making their way along the road as well.
Many of them noticed Seto descending from the sky.
Some apparently knew that Rei had defeated the Crystal Dragon, because they looked delighted to see Seto swooping down toward them.
If this had been in the middle of the city, Rei would never have attempted such a descent, knowing full well it would cause a scene.
But this was the open highway.
With expansion construction underway in Gilm at the far end of the road, the number of people traveling back and forth was quite large.
Those heading toward Gilm, and those coming from it.
As their gazes converged on him, Rei called out to Vihera.
"Vihera. It's been a while since we've met face-to-face like this."
"It has. We've talked so often through the Paired Orb that, honestly, it doesn't really feel that way."
True to her words, Vihera didn't show any exaggerated delight upon seeing Rei in person.
Even so, meeting the man she loved directly was clearly a joy. A smile graced her lips.
"It's been a while for you too, Byune."
"Nn."
Byune, as usual, barely shifted her expression and simply uttered that single syllable.
Unlike with Vihera, Rei had rarely spoken with Byune even through the Paired Orb.
And yet, Byune showed no particular change in expression upon seeing Rei.
...Though he thought he saw the corners of her mouth curve ever so slightly when she looked at Seto.
"So? You're coming from Gilm, which means your business there is already finished, right?"
The slight note of dissatisfaction in Vihera's question was likely because, had she known Rei would be returning to Gilm today, she would have waited in the city instead of heading out to the Treant Forest.
That way, she could have had a proper conversation with him—and more importantly, they could have had a mock battle.
In reality, after arriving at Marina's house, he had gone straight to the lord's manor—stopping at a few food stalls along the way—explained the defilement situation to Daskar, then stopped by the Guild to pick up some Crystal Dragon materials a bit ahead of schedule. After that, he'd wandered the streets a while before heading to the treatment center to see Marina.
Hm? Wait. Now that I think about it, it seems like I actually had plenty of time to spare. Still, if I'd tried to have a mock battle with Vihera, there would've been all sorts of problems.
A mock battle with Vihera would mean both of them moving in highly flashy fashion.
And since they'd be focused on the fight itself, the collateral damage to the surroundings would be considerable.
...The one saving grace was that Vihera had no long-range attacks.
When fighting monsters, she would sometimes pick up stones from the ground and hurl them, but fortunately she never resorted to such things during their sparring matches.
Thanks to that, Marina's courtyard never got too devastated.
...Though it would still end up fairly torn up from the force of their footwork alone.
"The Chief of the Fairy Dwelling asked me to come. I had something I needed to report to Lord Daskar."
"To Lord Daskar?"
At first, Vihera seemed to think Rei was leaving her out of things. But once he explained that he'd come at the Fairy Dwelling Chief's request to see Daskar, she couldn't exactly voice any complaints.
While they talked, Byune slid down from in front of Vihera and began stroking Seto.
Byune's expression almost never changed, but when she was petting Seto, the faintest—truly the faintest—smile would appear on her lips.
It was a smile that only those close to her, including Vihera, could even recognize.
Watching Byune, Rei nodded.
"Yeah. I've already told Elena and Marina the details, so once you're back in Gilm, you can ask them."
He could have gone into the specifics here, but he judged it would be better not to with so many people around.
As far as he could tell, no one was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.
However, that was only based on what Rei himself could perceive.
He couldn't entirely rule out the possibility that someone was listening in through some unknown method.
That was why, in a matter like this, keeping the chance of any information leaking to an absolute minimum was essential.
Well, as long as Seto is here, anyone with only mediocre abilities would be caught immediately.
Rei placed deep trust in Seto when it came to that sort of thing.
Of course, the best-case scenario was that it never came to that at all.
"Hmm. If you say so, Rei, then I suppose I will. The fact that you're being so cagey probably means I'll get to cut loose as much as I want."
"No, that's... well, when you put it that way, I suppose you might be right."
Rei himself didn't know exactly how the defilement situation would unfold.
But given that there were people targeting Bob, it was an undeniable fact that individuals connected to the defilement were active and on the move.
Bob was currently in the Fairy Dwelling within the Treant Forest, while Vihera's duties involved patrolling the city streets and making trips to the Treant Forest.
Under those circumstances, the possibility of Vihera crossing paths with the people after Bob was by no means zero.
Even so, Rei couldn't accurately predict exactly what would happen if they did encounter each other.
Still, knowing Vihera's personality, if she came across such opponents, she would undoubtedly pick a fight.
Whether the people connected to the defilement would welcome that challenge was another matter entirely.
"See? Hehe, things are starting to get interesting. I wonder when that kind of fight might happen."
Vihera murmured, casting a meaningful look at Rei.
She looked genuinely excited at the prospect of fighting a strong opponent, but there was no way Rei could know when that might occur.
"If I knew that, it'd be pretty convenient. Besides... I hate to say it, but the people coming after us aren't necessarily strong, you know?"
Vihera didn't enjoy fighting just anyone.
She had no interest in battling run-of-the-mill weaklings. What she craved was a fight against a worthy opponent.
She could enjoy fighting people like Rei or Elena, but fighting Goblins was nothing more than a chore—completely uninteresting.
And from what Rei had seen, while the people who attacked Bob were certainly strong by conventional standards, whether they possessed enough strength to satisfy Vihera was another question entirely. The answer was no.
Even so, the ones who attacked Bob aren't necessarily the strongest among those connected to the defilement. There are definitely stronger ones out there.
That was only speculation, but it wasn't entirely baseless.
Defilement was an existence that could, in the worst case, destroy the entire continent.
If the people connected to something like that were only that strong, Rei genuinely couldn't comprehend how that could be possible.
"They're opponents you fought, Rei. There's no way they're weak. If they were, you wouldn't have needed to fight them yourself."
"That's... I'm not sure what to make of that reasoning. Well, what you're saying isn't wrong."
"See? Then things are looking like they'll get quite interesting. And the idea that I might not get to participate... doesn't sit well with me at all, you know?"
It was simply unthinkable for her not to take part in the fighting.
That was the kind of person Vihera was, and Rei didn't deny her words.
Vihera was a battle maniac, but her ability was undeniably first-rate.
Moreover, while she was a battle maniac, she still possessed a reasonable degree of rationality.
In that sense, she was exactly the kind of person Rei wanted on his side as a combat asset.
Their opponent was an existence that could, in the worst case, destroy the continent.
The more combat power, the better.
Besides... Vihera probably wouldn't like it, but her position might end up carrying significant weight.
Although she had fled, Vihera was still a princess of the Bestia Empire's Imperial Family.
Vihera herself had no intention of using her authority as a member of the Imperial Family now that she had left.
However, Rei could predict that if the situation truly demanded it—if it reached the point where nothing could be done without using that authority—Vihera would probably use it.
Unfortunately, Rei had no way of knowing exactly how much weight that would actually carry.
"Fair enough. If anything comes up, I'll ask for your cooperation, Vihera. I'm not sure exactly what that'll look like, though."
At first, Rei hadn't been particularly enthusiastic about the idea, but now the situation was different.
Vihera was a Party Member of Rei's, and more than that, a companion connected to him on an even deeper level.
It was only natural for Rei to ask such a person for help.
"Hehe, I'm glad you understand. ...So, what are you going to do now, Rei?"
"I'm heading back to the Treant Forest."
To be precise, he was returning to the Fairy Dwelling. But if anyone had overheard their conversation, uttering the words "Fairy Dwelling" would be like handling a powerful poison.
That was why he'd used the phrase as camouflage.
Vihera seemed to understand Rei's reasoning and nodded without any particular surprise.
"I see. Take care, then."
"Yeah. ...Still, you're traveling on just one horse. It's not that Byune can't ride a horse on her own... right?"
He figured that since it was Byune, she could probably ride just fine. But either way, it didn't seem like a problem.
"That's true. But Byune said she preferred it this way. ...Come on, Byune. We're going."
"Nn."
At Vihera's words, Byune stopped stroking Seto and nodded.