Daska and his entourage’s arrival at the remote village of Goto was quite sudden.
Naturally, the arrival of a noble caused some chaos in the village for a period of time. Fortunately, the chaos soon settled down due to the fact that their group of about 20 people was still relatively small.
That said, Goto was also a small village, so there was no room to accommodate another 20 or so people.
In the end, Daska’s group just set up tents in the village to rest in.
The village chief did ask Daska to stay at his house, but Daska rejected the offer he needed to discuss some secret topics, making his own tents a better option. In addition, Daska himself didn’t mind camping out in a tent and, in fact, rather enjoyed doing so.
As for the village chief, if the lord of the area knew that he had let Margrave Rowlocks, the leader of the Mireana Kingdom’s Neutral faction, stay in a tent, he didn’t know what words would be told to him. He had strong feelings about Daska’s decision, but since Daska had said he would stay in a tent himself, there wasn’t much he could do.
However, Daska did understand the position of the village chief, so he intended to talk with the lord of the area to clear things up.
Anyhow, the sudden visit of a noble meant that the wheat harvest was cut short mid afternoon as a banquet was held, albeit a simple one.
……As had been said when Rei first came to the village, they had little food to spare. However, the problem was solved by a combination of the meat from the giant boar Set had killed a while back along with the food Daska had brought himself.
In addition, the fact that the wheat harvest had already started gave them some leeway of food to spare.
「Gahahahahaha. It’s delicious, really delicious.」
「That is good to hear. This boar this bacon was made from was killed by Crimson-dono and his tamed monster.」
「Huh, Rei and Set?」
Daska ate a boar bacon steak as he sipped some ale.
For an ordinary noble, the meal was extremely simple, but for Daska, who used to be a knight, he was familiar with this kind of meal……or rather, he quite liked it.
「Yes. When they first came to this village, there was a lot of commotion, but luckily, there was an excellent young man named Ruchard in the village. Thanks to him, there wasn’t too big of a fuss. Crimson-dono and his tamed monster have also been taking care of the children and they are now close to being a member of the village.」
「I see, I see. Putting Rei aside, Set is quite popular with children even in Gilm……no, not just the children. It there are also quite a number of adults who flock to him.」
「Is that so? It’s no wonder with how adorable he is.」
The village chief agreed with Daska’s words as he asked if Daska wanted more ale.
Aside from Daska, the escorting knights, attendants, and carriage drivers also enjoyed the food as they rested up from the weariness of their trip.
However, Axe of the Thunder God, led by Elk, was not in the group.
Naturally, they had been invited, but Elk had declined on the pretext of keeping watch of the village surroundings.
The knights did want to ask how Elk planned to guard Daska, who was attending the banquet, during that time, but none of them spoke up, partly because it hadn’t been that long since they had felt Elk’s bloodlust.
That said, since the knights also had the job of guarding Daska, it wasn’t that big of an issue overall.
And in terms of guarding Daska, Rei and Set were also present.
If anyone tried to attack Daska in this environment, it would basically be committing suicide.
At least, that was the conclusion the knights reached. While they did enjoy the food, they didn’t drink much as they continued to stay on guard.
Rei didn’t like the taste of alcohol to begin with, so he just enjoyed the food as usual.
「Hey, is it because we’re here that Axe of the Thunder God are not joining?」
Vihera asked as she also enjoyed the boar and vegetable soup beside Rei.
「I guess so. ……Well, it’s mostly Theorem, to be exact.」
As Rei replied, he looked over at Theorem, who was sitting next to Vihera, slowly eating his hardened bread and boar bacon steak.
Normally, Theorem ate quite a bit.
However, he knew that a battle that might cost him his life was awaiting him tonight, so he only ate to the point it wouldn’t affect his movements during a fight.
「Guru~?」
Giving a cry, Set looked over the village square where the banquet was being held.
Set felt it was a pity that he didn’t see Elk as he was quite fond of him.
Although he still disliked Rhodes, it was mostly due to the bad impression he had given Set when they had first met.
「Well, by tomorrow, Elk will probably be back to normal, so no need to worry.」
「Gururu~?」
Is that true? Set seemed to ask with as Rei stroked his head.
「It’s true that Elk is very angry right now, but he’s a simple man in the end. If he get his way in the upcoming battle later tonight, he won’t stay angry……..or, at least, I don’t think he will.」
「Guru~」
I do hope so. Set seemed to say with a cry.
「After he settles things with Theorem, I wonder if he’ll fight me too. It looks like it will be quite the tense fight.」
「……I don’t want to cause a commotion right now, so please wait if you can.」
Rei replied to Vihera, who was muttering next to him with eyes shining in anticipation and excitement for the battle.
For Vihera, seeking combat was already ingrained in her instincts. For that reason alone, she turned to look at Rei, who had told her hold of on fighting, with a disatisfied expression.
No matter how much she might like Rei, fighting was a completely different matter.
「……」
At first, Rei just ignored Vihera’s dissatisfied stare, but he eventually couldn’t endure it. Rei let out a small sigh as he spoke.
「It doesn’t mean you have to fight Elk right now, right? There’s still several more nights before we reach the Bestir Empire, so why don’t you just fight then?」
「But, wouldn’t that just be taking things half heartedly? Even thoguh I could have a serious fight with the Axe of the Thunder God now.」
「……If you don’t mind losing some strength to save your younger brother, do whatever you want.」
After being told that, Vihera seemed give up on it for now, although she maintained her dissatisfied expression as she ate some boar meat that had been steamed with herbs.
Her temporary desire verses her brother’s life. If you asked her which one was more important, it would obviously be the latter.
As they ate and conversed like that, Rei suddenly noticed someone coming over to him.
It wasn’t just Rei who noticed, Vihera, Theorem, and Set noticed as well.
Turning to see who it was, it was a young man a little older than Rei.
It was Elk’s son, Rhodes.
Surprised by the sudden number of gazes directed towards him, Rhodes paused for a moment before continuing to walk over to Rei.
「What’s up?」
「Well, I would like a moment with you Rei. ……Is that okay?」
Rhodes asked with his face fully dyed bright red as he looked over towards Vihera, who was still dressed in her semi-see through clothes.
This wasn’t unexpected for a young man of his age, but in Rhode’s case, since his family had formed an adventurer party, he couldn’t even go to a brothel, so it was all a bit much for his young mind.
That was why Vihera’s exposed skin seemed to be a bit too stimulating.
As he waited for Rei’s reply, Rhodes continued to look at Vihera’s arms and legs.
Set tried to restrain him with a growl, but Rei looked at Set to stop him.
「Fufu~」
Vihera looked back at Rhodes with a smile on her face, despite understanding his thoughts.
From Vihera’s perspecting, Rhodes’s gaze primarily held shyness and admiration. Of course, there was also some desire in his eyes, but only slight. It wasn’t the lustful gaze a grown man would have when looking at her.
「-!? Rei, this way!」
The moment Vihera smiled at him, Rhodes averted his gaze on reflex.
He forcibly grabbed Rei’s hand before dragging him away.
「Guru~」
Set, who had been feeling a bit grumpy ever since Rhodes showed up, gave a low cry.
Set personally didn’t want to let Rei leave with Rhodes, who he despised, but Rei had stopped him when Rhodes had first come over, so he had no choice but to watch in silence.
「Ara~, Set, do you dislike that kid?」
「Gururu~」
Of course, Set seemed to say as he stretched out his beak towards some bread, which had been placed on a plate for him.
「Isn’t it unusual for Set to dislike people?」
「According to the information I got, it seems that there was some sort of trouble when they first met.」
Theorem, who had been silently eating, even after Rhodes came over, replied to Vihera’s mutterings.
The first time Rei and Set had showed their strength was at the Orc Settlement. Theorem must have researched all the information available after learning of Rei’s existance.
He had also gathered such information in order to pit the mighty forces of Elk and Rei against each other.
「Heh. ……From what I can see, he must have had a strong attitude and didn’t get along with Rei.」
「At that time, Rhode’s mother had also showed some interest in Rei.」
Vihera twitched at Theorem’s words.
Leaving aside the relationship between Rhodes and Rei, it was a different story if it was Min who showed interest in Rei.
Vihera recalled Min’s appearance in her mind.
Vihera had only seen Min when she got out of the carriage, but she could still visualise her appearance well in her mind.
Min gave off a strong refreshing rather than feminine appearance. Her hair was also short, so as to not get in the way of her movements, unlike Vihera’s, which extended down her back.
「Could Rei be into older women?」
「Considering the General Princess, I guess that’s only natural.」
Theorem said that as a matter of fact, but Vihera shook her head in denial.
「That’s not right. Older women means older women, they have to be at least 10 to 20 years older than him.」
「……That’s exactly what the General Princess is, is she not?」
Vihera couldn’t find any words to counter Theorem, who gave the same answer as he had just a few seconds earlier.
Beside the two of them, Set also gave a soft cry, as if agreeing with Theorem’s opinion.
「But, if that Min is interested in Rei……」
「Interested in Rei? Who’s younger than her own child? I don’t think so.」
「Is that so? I hope you’re right.」
Vihera muttered to herself as she reached out for some herb bread in an attempt to hide her inner anxieties.
Rei and Rhodes left the village square where the banquet was being held, completely unaware of the conversation that happened after they left, which could have led to an outrageous misunderstanding.
It was now evening……no, it had been evening when the banquet started, but it was now dark as the moon rose into the night sky.
The two of them relied on the moonlight to move before they eventually stopped a few minutes later.
「We’ve come this far so it should be fine. ……So what did you want to talk about?」
「It’s about my father.」
「I guessed as much.」
Rei had already expected the topic of discussion to be this.
Although Rhodes was a mum-con, he naturally also held affection and respect for his father, Elk, though he rarely showed it.
It was because of this that he couldn’t overlook his father’s bloodlust, even if it was due to the fact that Rhodes himself had been held hostage.
「I know it might not be possible, but I’m begging you. If my father seriously tries to kill that guy called Theorem……could you please stop him?」
Rhodes usually held mixed feelings towards Rei, but he didn’t show any of it as he bowed his head deeply.
Rei looked silently at Rhodes.
Amidst the laughter of the banquet that the could hear from the village square, Rei spoke up.
「Are you okay with that? The reason Elk is angry in the first place is because you were taken hostage and your life placed in danger.」
「I know that. It’s true that I don’t have good feelings towards that guy called Theorem. But, it’s just my personal feelings compared to the opportunity to form a new relationship with the Bestir Empire. I can’t ruin that.」
At Rhodes’ words, as his head stayed bowed, Rei showed an expression of surprise.
Disregarding his personal thoughts for the greater cause.
It was easy to say, but not an easy thing to do.
What was more surprising was that Rhodes was capable of doing such a thing.
When they had first met, Rhodes had rushed at Rei in an attempt to draw his mother’s attention away from Rei.
「……I understand. It’s impossible to stop the fight itself, but if it goes too far, I will stop them.」
In the end, Rei gave into Rhodes’ pleas and gave his word.
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