LEGEND

Chapter 195

The purple fog burned up in the sky.

Rei flew around with Set for several minutes to visually confirm that the fog had completely disappeared before returning down to Seis.

During that time, there were some people who were astonished by the purple tornado that suddenly appeared in Baar, growing before there eyes. But seeing the tornado disappear, they realised that the crisis the city was facing had passed. Gradually, cheers began to be heard.

「……It seems this matter has been settled I guess?」

「Gurururu~」

Set gave a cautious cry, as if saying that it was too early to say.

Hearing Set’s cry, while it might have been too early to relax, Rei still felt some relief. Rei thought about that, but nevertheless, he had destroyed the dungeon core that had caused this and was mostly confident that there would be no further commotion as he descended back into the city.

However, when Rei flew back down, what he saw was……

「Guild master!?」

Seis had collapsed and was lying on the ground.

「Set, quickly, to the guild……no, to the lord’s residence!」

Rei quickly changed his instructions upon remembering that large numbers of people sick with Magic Fever or paralyzed by the fog had been moved to the lord’s residence.

Where there were sick people, there would be more doctors and mages who could use healing magic.

「Gururu~!」

Rei put Seis on Set’s back as Set gave a short cry. In addition, Rei also picked up the Necklace of Resonance he had thrown to the ground earlier along with Seis’s cane. He stored the two items as well as Death Scythe into the Misty Ring before starting to run.

While Set was carrying Seis on his back, Seis was still an older man with most of his equipment consisting of robes rather than armour like a warrior. While moving at speeds that would make people think that Set wasn’t carrying anyone, Rei ran alongside.

While passing by cheering residents, with Rei and Set’s leg strength, they arrived back at the lord’s residence in less than half the time they had taken previously.

He probably saw Rei and Set. Diarog was busily giving out instructions but gave surprised frown when he saw Set approaching. His nimble movements were as expected of a former thief.

As Diarog left his subordinates were they were and came over, Rei gasped for breath.

「Rei, what happened to Seis!?」

「It might be a side effect of using magic beyond his limits. Fortunately, as far as I can tell, there’s no danger to his life. But as I thought that there were more doctors here, I thought I would quickly bring him here.」

「Mm, I understand. Hey, Guild master Seis has collapsed. Call a doctor! Mages who can use healing magic come here immediately!」

Instructions to the doctors in the lord’s residence were immediately conveyed through Diarog’s subordinates.

At the same time, Rei lifted Seis off Set’s back and left him to one of Diarog’s subordinates, who also seemed to be one of his bodyguards.

「I’ll leave him to you.」

「Ahh, leave him to me. He is one of the heroes who saved Baar. We will not take care of him badly.」

The bodyguard was dressed in armour that was easy to move in. Wearing chainmail, he received the unconscious Seis and quickly entered the lord’s residence.

「……Phew. Despite being being old, he still tries to do his best. More importantly though. I was looking from here but it seems you managed to do something about the fog. Thanks for your hard work.」

Diarog watched one of his bodyguards carry Seis in before giving a sigh of relief and calling out to Rei.

Although his expression still held a tinge of worry for his close friend, he was still aware that the crisis Baar was facing had passed. He seemed to be in a good mood.

「Yes. The guild master used magic to gather the fog and carry it out of the city, after that I burned it all up with fire magic. ……However.」

「However? Is there still something left?」

「No, in order for the tornado to gather all the fog inside the eastern storage facility, where it originated from, the storage facility was almost completely destroyed.」

「……I see. That certainly does hurt the city, but it’s still better than letting the fog remain here. You’ve done well.」

「I am grateful that you’ve said that. ……Oh, and this.」

Saying that, he took out the black cane that Seis had used and one of the Necklaces of Resonance from the Misty Ring and handed them over to Diarog.

「You see, by the time I had returned to the ground, the guild masted had already fainted and collapsed. Because of that, I collected these.」

「I understand. Seriously, that idiot should think about his age.」

Diarog muttered the same thing he had said earlier, but more earnestly than before. Diarog carefully received the two magic items from Rei.

While looking at the situation, Rei wondered if there was some sort of message coming. He could see several soldiers running towards them.

「Diarog-san. I think it would be best to tidy up this disturbance now. Especially in the eastern area, there are a lot of people who were left behind and paralyzed by the fog.」

「……Ah, that’s right. I should postpone indulging in my own emotions. As for you and Set, you can take the rest of the day off. ……Or rather, if you move about with all the commotion, it will probably only cause more trouble. You can stay at the same inn from this morning. I’ve already spoken to them.」

「I understand. Then, I’ll do as you advised. Please tell the guild master to take care of himself.」

As expected, it was decided that seeing Set, a Griffon, moving around the city would cause a commotion among those who didn’t know about him. As a result, Rei headed to the inn following Diarog’s suggestion.

「Ah, Rei-san! Did you see that fog!?」

As soon as he returned Set to the stables and entered the inn, the young man managing the inn immediately asked him.

This inn was in the southern part of the city, but the tornado had sucked up all the mist in the east side of the city. Finally, he had seen it go up in flames.

「Ahh, about that……」

Rei was about to continue, but the next moment he realised that if he talked about the dungeon core, a lot of people asking about the situation would probably hear about it.

「No, that’s right. Diarog will probably give an announcement sometime today, so please hear the details from that.」

「Come on, if you know something, you should tell me……」

Perhaps Rei knew something, or maybe he knew from his own work as an adventurer that it had something to do with Rei’s request. Although the young man kept asking, Rei shook his head with a sigh.

「As an adventurer, you should know about the dangers of leaking information about request. Anyway, I’ll just say that you don’t need to worry about the fog any more. Wait for Diarog’s announcement later.」

「……I understand.」

Although he was reluctant, as an adventurer, he couldn’t complain about what Rei had said. He quietly withdrew.

「Don’t forget food for Set.」

Leaving that to the young man, Rei went back to his room.

The next day. While wrapped up in a blanket and feeling the cold, he awoke to the sound of several people coming up to the second floor.

If it was just guests moving into other rooms, Rei would have continued sleeping. But he couldn’t do that when he heard sounds of people running up swiftly.

「……What?」

While waking up somewhat crankily, he considered the various event that had happened since he had come to this city and decided they probably had some business with him. He started putting on his accessories and as he wore his Dragon Robe……

Kan-, kan-, kan-, the sound of someone hitting the door rather than knocking echoed into the surroundings.

「D rank adventurer Rei. You have been summoned by Baron Soleil Levin, lord of this city. Please come out of your room.」

(Why is it the lord? If I’m not mistaken, the governance of the city should have been entrusted to Diarog. In that case, has he come back now that the case of Magic Fever has been cleared up? And is it because he knows about the matter that he became curious about me?)

「I understand, please wait a moment for me to dress myself.」

After replying to the soldier, Rei heard him click his tongue from the other side of the door.

Normally, one wouldn’t be able to hear someone click their tongue from the other side of the door. It was probably because of that that the soldier did it, but unfortunately for him, Rei’s hearing wasn’t ordinary.

「All right. However, if you make Soleil-sama wait too long, he will rush to this inn. So for the inn’s sake, you’re going to have to hurry up.」

「Rush into the inn?」

「Ah, Soleil-sama doesn’t know how to retreat when it comes to something he is interested in. Because of that, if you are late, he will definitely charge into this inn.」

While replying to the person on the other side of the door, who seemed to be a soldier, Rei was puzzled at the different attitude than he had expected.

Thinking of the way he had knocked and clicked his tongue, he had thought the person was a fox borrowing the tiger’s authority. However, hearing his words, it sounded like he was in a rush because he didn’t want to bother the inn.

(As far as I’ve heard, he was a noble who cause various problems. Is this soldier his babysitter or something? It seems like nobles have their own various problems.)

Thinking to himself, Rei opened his door after checking his appearance.

The person standing there was a man in his mid twenties. However, his face had a somewhat troubled expression. He looked like someone would say a lot of things while drinking or would rather drink than work.

「You are?」

「Ah. I’m Comish, Soleil-sama’s bodyguard. More importantly, if you’re ready, we will head over right away.」

「I don’t mind, but where are we going?」

「Because he is the lord of the city, we will be going to the lord’s residence of course.」

While answering Rei’s question, he continued to advance down the corridor. As he was about to leave the stairs and walk out……

「Wait.」

Rei spoke to Comish from behind.

「Yes?」

「Is it okay if I go alone?」

「……I heard that you were a solo adventurer?」

Is it different? Comish asked in confusion.

Rei nodded at that question.

「You’re not wrong that I’m a solo adventurer, but to be exact, I have a tamed monster. It’s because of that that I can go solo. So, I don’t need to bring my tamed monster?」

「Ah……I don’t mind. I was only told to bring you over. And you don’t want Soleil-sama to be interested in your tamed monster do you?」

「……I understand. In that case, just don’t forget to feed him.」

Rei called out to the young man behind him, the temporary manager of the inn, who was surprised at how things were proceeding, before leaving the inn with Comish.

「It’s Comish. I’ve brought this man on Soleil-sama’s orders. I’m coming in.」

「Yes, come in.」

Calling out to the gatekeeper to the lord’s residence, Comish entered the mansion. Rei followed after him without saying anything in particular.

Then after walking through a slightly different set of corridors from yesterday, he eventually arrived in front of a room.

「Here?」

「Ah. Soleil-sama is inside this room. He doesn’t want to be rude……no, it’s different. He might do a lot of rude things, but please don’t react too badly.」

「……Huh?」

If Rei was told that he shouldn’t be rude to nobles out of courtesy, it was something that he would expect. However, to be told that the noble would be rude and to mind his own reaction, Rei replied reflexively. However, Comish knocked on the door without saying anything more.

「Soleil-sama, it’s Comish. I’ve brought the person you wanted.」

「I see, let him in right away!」

At that reply, Comish opened the door and Rei walked inside.

The first thing that came into Rei’s view was a person sitting on the sofa.

In terms of age, he looked to be about the same as Comish, in his twenties. His thin, fox like eyes stood out. He had the atmosphere of a researcher rather than a noble.

「Heh, so you’ve rescued this city……Rei……?……」

As he spoke, his mouth gradually stopped moving as his expression stiffened.

「You……what are you!?」

Soleil muttered instinctively and tried to move backwards, forgetting that he was sitting on a sofa. With his back hitting against the backrest, the momentum caused the sofa to tip over, knocking him out as his head hit the floor.