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Chapter 371

「So this is the village Ara told me about. ……There really aren’t many people here.」

「Guru~」

At Rei’s words, Set gave a cry in agreement as he walked alongside.

After two weeks of travel from Gilm, he arrived at the village where he was going to contact Elena.

What surprised Rei more than anything was that the gatekeeper at the entrance to the village was not afraid of Set, despite being surprised to see him.

Most of the cities that Rei had gone to in the past had some form of threat in the vicinity. That was why quite a few would panic upon seeing Set, a Griffon.

「Well, I guess that’s the sign of a peaceful village.」

Looking around, he could see that the village was quite expansive.

Because the farmlands were located within the village grounds, it had an idyllic feel to it. Most of the people were still working in the fields under the summer heat and very few noticed Rei and Set.

Those that did notice greeted them without any sign of fear.

Even the children came up to them with happy shouts when they saw Set.

(I guess there really aren’t any threats near this village.)

Rei thought to himself as he watched several children petting Set.

Because this was far from the frontier, the threat of monsters was much less compared to Gilm. Duke Kerebel, who ruled this area, had also kept bandit at bay, which was why the area was so quiet.

As they walked through the village, Rei called out to a man who happened to pass them by.

「Excuse me, could you tell me where the bar is in this village?」

「What? Going to the bar in the middle of the day? Ah no, I can understand why you’d want to have a drink and enjoy yourself in this weather……must be nice being a traveller. The monster you have with you is also quite cute.」

The villager with a hoe looked over towards Set enviously.

At first glance, the village might be described as quiet and idyllic. But even so, farming under the blazing sun was quite unbearable.

(I don’t even like alcohol, but why am I being seen as a daytime drunk?)

Rei, who wasn’t a big fan of alcohol, replied as he gave a sigh in his mind.

「I just arrived at this village. I want to go to the bar to collect some information.」

「Hmm, well, I guess that’s fine. There’s only one bar in this village you know? As you can see, it’s a small village.」

「That’s convenient.」

「……Convenient?」

The man seemed quite puzzled as Rei realised that he wouldn’t need to look through several bars.

Rei shook his head to indicate it was nothing before asking for directions to the bar.

Given the size of the village, it was only natural that there would only be a single bar, but that made it convenient for Rei as he didn’t need to search through several bars to find the person who had a means of contacting Elena.

「So, I’ve got some work to do, I’ll leave you on your way. It’s a pretty empty village, but at least you can relax.」

The man with a hoe in his right hand waved with his left hand before leaving.

Seeing him leave, Rei followed the directions he was given. ……After about 10 minutes, he found the bar.

It looked like an ordinary house, but the sign near the door with a glass of wine indicated what building it was.

「I guess there’s only village residents here. ……Hm?」

Thinking of that, he realised something.

If the main guests of the bar were the village’s residents, then there would be no reason for the bar to be open during the day when all the residents of the village would be busy with work out in the fields or other activities.

「Guru~?」

Is anything wrong? Set seemed to ask as he gave a cry.

Hearing Set’s cry, Rei decided that he could just check if the bar was open and play around with Set until it did open if it wasn’t.

「No, it’s nothing. Set, wait here a moment. It will be hard for you to fit through the door.」

「Gurururu~」

Understanding Rei’s words, Set lay down to sleep under a tree a short distance away from the bar.

Fortunately, there was plenty of summer grass belown him, so it felt like a soft carpet to Set.

……That said, as a Griffon, it didn’t really matter if he was lying on dirt, in a meadow or even on a rocky hill.

Glancing over at Set for a moment, Rei put his hand on the bar’s door……and to his suprise, found that it wasn’t locked as he easily pushed it open and went in.

「Welcome.」

The moment Rei walked inside, a voice came from within.

Turning towards the voice, he saw an older man in his 50’s.

He had a smile on his face, but his eyes were sharp as he looked at Rei. His mouth and eyes seemed to have completely different expressions.

However, that was only for a moment. He smiled again as he turned his eyes towards a counter seat.

「What would you like to drink? An ale in this heat?」

「No, just water or tea.」

At Rei’s response, the man frowned slightly.

「You know that this is a bar right?」

「I don’t really like to drink alcohol. ……Fine then. Give me some diluted wine. I’d like something to eat while I’m at it.」

「Hah, I should have expected that when a kid like you walked in. Give me a minute.」

Saying that with sigh, he poured some wine into a glass and diluted it with water before placing it in front of Rei. He also gave Rei a plate with some fruit, mushrooms and sausages.

「Here. That will be two copper coins.」

「……That’s cheap.」

Rei was surprised at the price requested by the man as he placed two copper coins on the counter.

「That’s because all the wine and food are made here in this village. It’s still profitable though. ……So, is your name Rei?」

Rei’s hand stopped reaching out for his glass when he heard the man’s casual question.

He looked at the man, observing him, as he brought the glass to his mouth.

Needless to say, there was no magic item to cool things down in a village like this. The watered down wine in the cup wasn’t very cold.

「Did you here that from Ara?」

「Yeah. I’ve heard what you generally look like. A teenager with red hair, blue eyes and looks like an apprentice mage. However, you also have a large attitude despite how you look.」

Hearing the man’s reply, Rei was convinced as he stabbed his fork into a sausage on his plate and brought it to his mouth.

(Well, since she knew I would be coming around this time, it’s only natural that Ara would have told him what I look like.)

「Then, can I assume you know why I’m here?」

「Yeah, I’ll send a bird to Anesis later.」

Rei looked confused as the man smiled at him.

「A bird?」

「Yes. It’s about a whole day’s trip from here to Anesis by carriage, but it won’t take that long for a bird. They’ll know that you’ve arrived in this village by the end of the day.」

「Even though it’s only a day’s journey from Anesis, this village isn’t really that developed. Normally, a village on the route to a major city would be developed accordingly.」

The man shrugged his shoulders at Rei’s reasonable question.

「This village is located in the middle of nowhere. There are some roads, but they’re not very well maintained. Besides……this village has intentionally remained as such for various reasons.」

Rei was curious why the man stopped speaking halfway through, but decided it was probably something to do with the Duke’s family and gave up asking further.

Instead, Rei asked a question as he stabbed his fork into some fruit.

「So, when will Elena arrive in this village?」

The man’s expression twitched when he heard Rei call Elena by just her name.

(Was it bad to call her that since he was a former escort knight?)

He thought about that for a moment but decided not to worry about it thinking that it would end up being the same anyway once Elena arrived at this village.

However, the man didn’t call Rei out on his casual language.

「Ah-ha-ha-. I never thought I’d here someone call the General Princess, Elena-sama, like that. It seems like what Miss Ara told me was true, that there are various complicated circumstances.」

The man started laughing instead of getting angry.

His reaction was completely unexpected for Rei.

When it came to Elena’s escort knights, both Kuust and Ara had left a striking impression on him and both had held a strong sense of respect towards Elena.

In particular, Kuust would probably swung his magic spear at Rei if he had called out Elena without any honorifics.

The face of the man who’s personality was thoroughly at odds with him to the moment of his death passed through Rei’s mind.

That said, Kuust and Ara were both special, there were many other talents within the escort knights, especially Machen, who served as Ara’s assistant.

But because Kuust and Ara had both left a strong impression on their first meeting, it was inevitable that they would become what Rei expected from the other escort knights.

「So, when will she be able to get here?」

Rei asked the laughing man.

At Rei’s question, the man gave a small shrug as he shook his head.

「I can send the message to Anesis today, just as I said earlier. However, since Elena-sama has her own schedule, I’m not sure when that will be. If she can leave right away, she will arrive tomorrow. If she still has something she needs to do, it will be delayed by however long that takes.」

「……I see.」

Rei could only admit it was a reasonable response.

Seeing that, the man smiled as he took out another cup and poured some wine into it.

「Didn’t I say I didn’t like to drink alcohol?」

「Don’t worry, this isn’t for you. It’s for me.」

「You drink what you sell……?」

Rei couldn’t help but ask in confusion at the man’s actions.

However, the man just downed the glass of wine immediately without caring for Rei’s expression.

「Pwaah……don’t say that. There’s been quite a few remarkable events, so let me drink like this for a bit. ……By the way, Rei, was it? Do you have anywhere to stay in this village while waiting for Elena-sama and Miss Ara?」

「No, that’s right. Now that you mention it……」

「Hahaha. Well this is a small village and there aren’t that many travellers. There’s an inn, but it’s not that big. Why don’t you just stay at my place? I’d like to hear more about your relationship with Elena-sama and Miss Ara.」

「That’s fine……but is it okay with you to let a strange traveller stay with you?」

Or is it because it’s a quiet village? ……That was what Rei thought to himself, but the man just poured more wine into his glass as he brought it to his mouth again.

「Hah, don’t worry about it. I don’t have anything to worry about being stolen. Even if there is, it’s basically only preserved food. More than that, I’d rather listen to your story.」

「Well, if you say so, I’ll be in your care for the night. ……I also have a Griffon with me, is that okay?」

「A Griffon? You have a hell of a monster, don’t you? I don’t have a stable, so it’ll have to stay outside if that’s okay with you.」

「Outside, like the front of this bar?」

「Yeah, that’s right. If you don’t mind, I don’t mind. I’ll serve you food here until you’re full. ……How about it?」

Although Rei was a bit worried about where Set would sleep, Set was still a Griffon, so it probably wouldn’t bother him. Rei got up from his seat.

「Pardon me, I’ll just have to ask Set……my Griffon. I’ll get back to you in a bit.」

「Sure. ……A Griffon, is it? These adventurers seem to have changed quite a bit since I served in Elena-sama’s escort.」

The man seemed somewhat puzzled at Rei’s words, but Rei just answered with a small shrug.

「That’s because I’m an adventurer from Gilm.」

「……Gilm, it seems to be quite different from what I remember……has that much changed in the past few years?」

Leaving the man’s common sense twisting into a knot in his head, Rei went out the bar and over to Set, who was lying under a nearby tree.

「Set.」

「Gururu~?」

What’s the matter? Set seemed to ask as Rei stroked his head and spoke.

「I’ve been invited to stay in the bar. Do you mind sleeping out here?」

「Guru~」

Set nodded at Rei’s question to say there was no problem.

Thus, Rei’s worries about Set were solved and he decided on which inn to stay at.