Legend

Being summer, by the time the 6AM bell rang, the morning sun was already shining down.

Unlike later into the day, the temperature was still quite cool and many travelers had already gathered near Exil’s main gate.

There were quite a few adventurers, merchants, and nobles.

Amon them, one group stood out.

「Rei, when you arrive, give the letter I gave you last night to Daska-dono.」

Even though it was still early in the morning, Elena spoke to Rei in a dignified, but seemingly worried, manner.

Her golden hair reflected the morning sun, making her curls glow.

「Don’t worry. I’ll be flying on Set, so there’s nothing to worry about.」

「……Then I guess it’s fine.」

Elena said those words with concern.

Of course, Elena trusted Rei’s combat strength to the point where she couldn’t be more confident.

However, it was also true that contrary to his combat skills, Rei often made unbelievable mistakes.

And, such mistakes always happened in places completely unrelated to battle.

Although her time with Rei had been short, Elena understood that more than enough in the days she had spent with Rei.

「Rei, we’ll be leaving Exil by tomorrow latest. We’ll head to the village of Goto near the Selemus Plains that we discussed about last night, so let’s meet up there. ……You defeated me, so there isn’t a reason to worry, but be careful.」

Vihera glanced over at Theorem, who was by her side, as she said those words.

Theorem, who was wearing a robe just in case someone recognised him as Flash, careful not to reveal his face to those around him, silently nodded in agreement with Vihera.

Rei had defeated Vihera, the Mad Beast. Hearing that, a commotion arose among the people nearby who heard her words. However, she paid them no mind as she smiled.

It was a smile of a maiden in love, filled with trust.

Contrary to the refreshing early summer morning, Vihera was dressed like a dancer in layers of thin, sensual clothes.

Although she was dressed like that, she was still just a maiden in love.

「……Mm.」

Seeing Vihera like that, Byune nodded slightly at Rei.

However, her hands were stroking Set the entire time.

「Yeah, I know. Do your best as the head of the Fraut family.」

「Mm!」

「Don’t worry. I’ll make sure thea Byune is properly educated as the head of the Fraut family.」

Vosk must have been working hard enough to the point he couldn’t even sleep as he had to clean up after all the commotion that had been going on recently, processing documents. As he yawned sleepily, Vosk patted Byune’s head lightly.

「Mm!」

「Ouch!」

However, a light pat for Vosk, who could easily swing around a claymore as tall as himself, and a light pat for Byune had completely different meanings.

Byune, who recieved a blow to the head that was closer to a punch for her, kicked Vosk’s leg with all her strength in revenge, causing him to let out a yelp that didn’t suit his appearance.

「Ahh, well, at least you’re getting along.」

Are they an unexpectedly good combination? While Rei thought to himself, Sanctions, who was waiting behind Vosk, took a step forward.

「Rei-sama, please take this.」

Sanctions handed over a basket.

The fragrant smell that wafted out from inside indicated the contents and how good it probably tasted.

「Gururu~」

「Kyukyu!」

Sensing the smell, Set and Yellow, who had been saying goodbye to each other as fellow tamed/summoned monsters, turned to look over, but Rei just gave a wry smile as he stored it into the Misty Ring.

「Thanks for the food.」

「No, we are extremely indebted to Rei-sama this time. I don’t think we could ever repay you for this.」

Sanctions shook his head ruefully at those words, but Rei just shook his head back in return.

「Since I recieved a reward for handing over various things related to abnormal species, you don’t have to worry about it.」

「But……no, I guess you’re right. Let’s not mention it anymore then. However, if you ever come back to Exil, you will always be welcome.」

「Please visit again. ……If not for me, at least for Byune.」

「Yes, I will.」

Byuen moved around Vosk with a speed unique to thieves as she continued to kick his legs.

Vosk tried to catch Byune, but he couldn’t grab her as his hands kept cutting through the air.

Replying to Sanctions while watching the exchange between Vosk and Byune brought a smile to Rei’s facce. The clever butler, who was also known as the Silva family’s sword, gave a small nod as he stepped back.

The next three to step forward were Tivia, Essetus, and Nakuto.

「Rei-san, we’re really indebted to Rei-san……」

「That’s right, when we met you for the first time, you saved us from that Skeleton abnormal species.」

「Yeah, if Rei and the others hadn’t helped us at that time, we would definitely have been wiped out there.」

The three of them recalled the first time they had met Rei.

In addition to that, Rei had killed the Wyvern that had attacked them while they were stripping materials, attacked the hideout of the Church of Holy Light, and finally, infiltrated the Marschel family residence with them.

In many ways, it could be said that Sonic Blades and Rei’s group were comrades who had survived the same conflicts.

That said, it wasn’t the first time Rei had been involved in such a commotion.

「What do you all plan to do? Even if you continue to work as a party……」

Rei glanced over at the one armed Tivia.

However, the person in question replied without looking particularly depressed.

「Of course I will continue to be an adventurer with my party. I was surprised that we ended up working for the Silva family before I knew it……」

「No, you see, it was to rescue you Tivia.」

When Essetus rushed to give the reason, Tivia smiled, indicating she didn’t mind it.

「If I were in the same situation at you guys, I would also have relied on the Silva family……or rather Vosk-sama.」

「T-That’s right! Relying on Vosk-sama would be the best choice.」

Essetus let out a sigh of relief.

In fact, Vosk had done quite a bit for the sake of the three of them.

It was precisely because Tivia understood it that she continued on.

「Yes, he also said he would give me a magic prosthetic arm. I can’t thank Vosk-sama enough. It’s not like I’ll be able to go right back to adventuring tomorrow……but I’ll be back to adventuring before long.」

As she said those words, Tivia’s cheeks flushed red, making it clear what kind of feelings she held for Vosk.

「……Hey, Nakuto. Did I make a mistake somewhere?」

「Who knows? However, it’s clear that Vosk-sama has become your rival. ……It’s a rough road, so do your best.」

As Essetus murmured with distant eyes, Nakuto tapped his shoulder to comfort him.

Looking at the two of them with a small smile, Rei exchanged light greetings with the other adventurers, merchants, and friendly residents who came to see him off after finding out he was leaving Exil today/

Naturally, Set was the saddest one to leave.

At the same time, a large amount of food was prepared for Set by the people as a souvenir, which Rei stored into the Misty Ring with a wry smile.

「Uuu, Set-chan. Take care. Please come again.」

The daughter of a stall owner that sold sandwiches hugged Set while giving him a sandwich she was holding. Set gave a happy cry as he skillfully picked up the sandwich in his beak before slowly savouring it.

The rest who came to see Set off said their goodbyes one after the other as they gave him the food they had brought along as an extra bonus.

From the amount of food Rei accepted, it showed how well recieved Set was by the residents of Exil.

Before long, the farewells came to an end.

Or rather, if things kept going as they were, Rei and Set would never be able to leave, so it would be more accurate to say that Vosk forced them to get going.

「……Well then, it’s about time to leave. Rei, Set. Cheer up. Thanks to you guys, Exil has been saved in various ways.」

「Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be back again soon, so please don’t get caught up in any commotions like this one.」

「Hmph, weren’t you the one who caused this commotion?」

Rei and Vosk exchanged some light jabs……when Elena suddenly stepped forward.

Seeing that, Vosk stepped back thoughtfully.

「Rei, thanks to the paired orbs, we can talk at any time, but I think it will be a while before we can meet in person like this again. I didn’t think it would end up like this……but even so, just to be sure.」

Saying that, Elena took at step forward and took off the hood of Rei’s Dragon Robe.

Looking at Rei’s face, which was slightly below her……she gently brought her lips to Rei’s.

A 10 second kiss where their lips just touched.

With a beauty like Elena doing such a thing, it was impossible to not draw attention. Not just the attention of those who had come to see Rei off, but also those who had been watching casually.

The gazes Rei drew were a mix of jealousy and surprise.

Elena tried to move away as she stepped back, but was suddenly pulled back by Rei’s hand as he hugged her.

Their lips overlapped again.

After finally separating, Rei whispered into Elena’s ear with a small smile.

「See you again soon.」

「……Yeah.」

There must have been a big difference to Elena between kissing Rei and being kissed by Rei.

She gave a slight nod with bright red cheeks.

Vihera, who was watching, let out a small sigh as Theorem, who was hiding under his robe, whispered in quiet voice that only Vihera could hear.

「Are you sure?」

「What, can I step out now and kiss him too? Rei will hate me if I don’t read the situation properly. ……Rather, Theorem, can you accept my relationship with Rei?」

「To be honest, I don’t think it’s desirable. However, this is just my personal feelings from the last war. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have a good relationship with people from the Mireana Kingdom. ……Whether the people of the Bestir Empire would approve is a different matter.」

Vihera was very popular with the people of the Bestir Empire because of her good looks.

……No, not just in the past tense. Even after Vihera left the Empire, her popularity remained strong.

What would happen if it was found out that she was in love with an adventurer who had killed a large number of Empire soldiers? It didn’t take a lot of thinking to reach a conclusion.

It would be a different story if Rei had been the heir to a high ranking noble in the Bestir Epmire or a member of royalty from a neighbouring country.

「Well then, let’s meet again everyone. I’m glad I came to Exil and I’d like to come again someday. Next time, I want to clear the dungeon.」

「Gurururururu~!」

After saying that to everyone who had come to see him off, Rei headed out the main gate together with Set, who gave a loud cry in agreement.

Seeing him leave, everyone else felt slightly lonely, but they saw him off without stopping him.

Handing over his guild card and Necklace of Subservient Monster to the guards, he completed all the exit procedures before heading out of Exil.

Rei and Set had been in Exil for less than a month.

Still, there was no doubt that Rei had left a strong impression in Exil, residents and adventurers alike.

Under the eyes of those people, Rei moved to a place a bit further away from the gate, so as to not disturb anyay, before getting on Set’s back and flying up into the sky.