There was a space near the entrance to the inn. Sofas were placed there to allow the nobles, adventurers, and merchants who stayed at the Golden Wind inn, the most expensive inn in Exil, to converse with visitors.
It was there that Vihera, who had been waiting, called out to Rei and Elena as they entered the inn.
That in itself wasn’t an issue. Both Rei and Elena had fully expected that to happen.
The problem……was the person next to Vihera.
It wouldn’t have been a problem if it had been Byune, who was usually by Vihera’s side.
However, the person with Vihera was neither Byune nor Vosk. Nor was it Essetus or Nakuto, members of Sonic Blades, who were somewhat acquainted with Rei and the others.
With black hair and standing 180cm tall, about the same height as Vihera, he looked at Rei and Elena with a sharp gaze.
The moment they saw the man, Rei immediately took out the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring while Elena unsheathed her sword whip.
Their sudden actions drew the attention of other nearby guests and inn staff.
The commotion gradually spread and some of the guests headed back to their rooms, unwilling to be dragged into any trouble.
On the other hand, there were those inquisitive people who deliberately stayed behind to watch.
「……Why are you here?」
Rei threw those words out at the black haired man who was looking at him sharply while ready to attack with the Death Scythe.
Seeing that, the black haired man also reached out to the sheath at his waist without letting his guard down, ready to respond to any action Rei might take.
The man’s response only made Rei and Elena more tense as any movement would definitely result in a battle.
「Wait. ……Rei, please.」
Vihera’s tone was unusually pleading.
Rei frowned slightly at those word.
He could only assume Vihera knew who the person was and was protecting him with that knowledge.
It made some sense if Vihera was the one to bring the man over.
But, whether it was Rei or Elena, they couldn’t fully understand Vihera was protecting him.
Compared to when they had first met, the impression the man gave off was quite different.
Of particular note, the black hair that had stretched down the man’s back had been cut short.
Even if one knew of his name, it would still be difficult to recognise him due to all the rumors about him that had spread.
……Yes, unless you had met with the man before, like Rei and Elena had.
Only a few months had passed since they met. There was no way they could forget that face and aura.
「Flash.」
Rei quietly whispered the man’s title.
The reason he whispered it was because he didn’t want the people around them to hear.
Even though Exil was an autonomous city, it still belonged to the Mireana Kingdom. If it became known that Theorem Enerji, who was known as Flash, one of the Bestir Empire’s generals, was in the Mireana Kingdom, there would definitely be a huge uproar.
They might even see it as an opportunity to kill him.
The reason Rei thought this was because he knew the strength of the man in front of him.
If he was able to freely use his skills on the battlefield, there would be no doubt that the Mireana Kingdom would suffer greatly. That being that case, it wouldn’t be strange for someone to consider killing him while he was in the Mireana Kingdom.
Accompanied by Demon Soldiers, he had used advanced magic items created using alchemy to launch a large scale teleportation, attacking the Mireana Kingdom’s main camp from the back.
In addition, Theorem was not just a figurehead and held significant combat power befitting title of Flash.
「It’s been a while, since spring at least. ……Regardless, I’d like to talk with you in more detail. I for one have no intention of causing trouble for Vihera-sama by running amok here.」
Hearing his words, Rei showed surprise again.
That was because Theorem’s words definitely held some respect.
It was unusual for a general with a title to speak to Vihera, a mere adventurer, like that.
That was why Rei involuntarily turned to Vihera as he asked.
「Vihera, what’s your relationship with that man?」
「……I’m sorry, but I can’t talk about it in a place like this. If possible, could we talk about it in your room?」
Vihera hesitated for a moment before deciding that it would be too risky to explain here as she gave a suggestion.
「Elena, what do you think?」
Rei asked Elena, who was next to him, but he quickly understood her thoughts as Elena returned her sword whip to her sheath.
「I don’t mind. ……Rei, are you fine with this?」
「If you don’t mind, I don’t mind……is this okay though?」
Elena nodded in response to Rei’s second question.
If Elena, a noble of the Mireana Kingdom, could temporarily tolerate Theorem’s existence, then Rei was fine with it as well, as he stored the Death Scythe back into the Misty Ring.
Most of the inquisitive observers scattered with disappointed expressions after seeing the commotion settle down so quickly.
Only a few people, who had recently taken a room at the Gold Wind inn, had wide eyes as they saw the Misty Ring Rei had. However, they all ignored such gazes as they headed for the stairs.
「Then, let’s got to my room first. ……You okay with that?」
Theorem gave a silent nod to Rei, who asked him for confirmation.
Inwardly, Rei was a little surprised at Theorem’s response.
After all, the people standing before him were Elena, the General Princess which the Bestir Empire feared, and Rei, who had burned and cut down most of the Bestir Empire’s vanguard troops during the Spring War. Ultimately, that battle had decided the outcome of the war and Theorem, who was a general of the Bestir Empire, could have been expected to hold some resentment.
(Even so, when we drew our weapons, he acted on reflex, but that was it. He’s clearly wary of us, but there’s no hostility. ……What’s going on? There’s also no doubt that he has some sort of relationship with Vihera. In other words, Vihera is related to the Bestir Empire?)
Rei didn’t feel anything strange as he reached that conclusion. Considering Vihera’s free-spirited personality, it didn’t feel strange that she might have come from the Bestir Empire to their long time enemy, the Mireana Kingdom.
Especially because her reason for coming to the labyrinth city in search of strong enemies, Rei felt that it would be ridiculous to suspect her.
(That said, there are probably labyrinth cities in the Bestir Empire as well……even if it wasn’t a labyrinth city, there’s even a dungeon close to Gilm, so I wonder why she bothered coming all this way to the Mireana Kingdom.)
Thinking of that as he walked, Rei eventually reached his room.
Opening the door, Rei welcomed the three of them in.
「For now, please take a seat.」
Rei said that as he looked over at the sofas in his room.
As expected of a high class inn used by nobles and wealth merchants, the private rooms had sofas and tables to recieve people.
Following Rei’s prompt, Vihera and Elena both took a seat, but for some reason, Theorem didn’t sit down as he stood behind Vihera instead.
It was as if he couldn’t possibly sit in the same place as Vihera.
Looking on with some puzzlement, Rei asked the inn staff to bring over some chilled fruit juice.
「Look, even if you are an unwelcome guest, a guest is a guest. Don’t just stand there, take a seat.」
「No, I’m fine here.」
Rei let out a sigh as he continued speaking to Theorem, who replied as if there was no room for discussion.
「No, no, sit down. In my mind, you’re still an enemy. I’m not happy for you to stand in a position where you can attack at any time. If you really can’t sit down, then go outside the room until Vihera explains everything.」
「That’s……no, but……」
Theorem probably wanted to refrain from leaving the room while leaving Vihera behind. He turned to look at Vihera as if he wasn’t sure what to do.
Seeing Theorem’s look, Vihera gave a sigh before speaking.
「Sit down. Right now, I’m just an adventurer. You don’t have to worry about that.」
「……I understand.」
With that, Theorem reluctantly sat down on the sofa.
Placing a glass of fruit juice in front of each of them, Rei once again looked towards Vihera as he spoke.
「Now then, I would be happy if you could explain the relationship between the two of you.」
Vihera hesitated for a moment at Rei’s words, but before long, she let out a small sigh, as if giving up, before speaking.
「I guess so. If I stay silent any longer, I’ll feel like I’m deceiving you, and that doesn’t feel good. ……Vihera Estee Bestir. That’s the name I used to have.」
「……Bestir?」
Sitting beside Rei, Elena involuntarily spoke out at Vihera’s words.
Only a specific family in the Bestir Empire used the name Bestir as their family name. Namely……
「The Royal Family?」
Holding his head in his hands, Rei took over from Elena.
From Theorem’s actions, Rei had expected Vihera to be someone with a higher social standing, but it was unexpected for her to be a member of the royal family.
「That’s right. This lady here is the second princess of the Bestir Empire.」
As soon as Theorem said that, the lady in question put a stop to his words.
「Wait a moment. It’s true that I was the second princess of the Bestir Empire. I’ll admit that. But I’ve already abandoned the royal family. I’m just Vihera the adventurer now.」
「But it’s true that Her Imperial Highness……」
「Now you’re being stiff, aren’t you? Vihera is fine. In fact, you haven’t used Her Imperial Highness up until now.」
Vihera waved her hands in annoyance, but Theorem shook his head slightly as he spoke.
「That won’t work. Calling someone from the Royal Family……」
「Eh? Do I still belong to the Royal Family? I ran out of the house so violently and haven’t been in contact since, so I just assumed that I had been expelled from the family register as either dead or missing,」
Vihera asked in surprise, as if she hadn’t expected that to be the situation.
「Yes. In the first place, Your Highness……」
「Vihera.」
「Your Highness.」
「Vihera.」
Theorem’s way of addressing Vihera and her correction repeated for about a dozen times.
「I understand, then at least let me say Vihera-sama.」
「……Well, fine. So, what were you saying?」
「His Majesty, the Emperor, thought that someone with strength like Vihera-sama wouldn’t die so easily. And……I don’t mean to be rude, but a woman of royal blood, especially someone as beautiful as Vihera-sama, would be a great help to the country……no, it’s nothing.」
Seeing Vihera’s mood worsen at an accelerating rate in the middle of his words, Theorem stopped speaking any further.
As a royal woman, she would marry a stranger for the sake of her country. That wasn’t strange at all for the common sense of this word.
Rather, it could be said that it was her only and greatest duty as a princess.
Especially for Vihera, who was now somewhat aware that she liked Rei, it was decidedly unpleasant to be made a pawn for a political marriage.
An intimidating aura could be felt floating around Vihera.
There wasn’t any particular fallout as a result, as Rei, Elena, and Theorem all had extraordinary strength. However, if there had been any ordinary people present, they would have run away immediately.
That was the kind of intimidation that Vihera was giving off.
Rei spoke up at this point as the discussion wouldn’t progress otherwise.
「Vihera, calm down. In the first place, Fla……no, Theorem, didn’t come here to ask you for a political marriage.」
Stopping himself from saying Flash, Rei calmed Vihera down before looking at Theorem.
Theorem seemed to grasp the meaning of Rei’s gaze. Surprised by the relationship between Rei and Vihera, the Empire’s princess, he spoke up with a sigh in his heart, thinking that things had become troublesome.
「Of course. THe reason I cam all the way to the Mireana Kingdom at this time……is to ask you to help Vihera-sama’s younger brother, help rescue the third prince, Mecurio-sama.」
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