Having finished the worm subjugation, Rest and the others were set to return to the royal capital.
They had already received permission from the Second Prince, Andrew Aiwood.
He apologized for overworking them, and promised that he would definitely bestow an appropriate reward.
"At last, we can head back to our townhouse in the royal capital. It was only a short while, but I do miss our home."
"Living in the cottage in the frontier village was fun too. The house was small, so we were always close together."
Of course, their fiancées Viola and Primula were joining them on the trip home.
The three of them shared the same carriage, surrendering to its intermittent sway as they made their way toward the royal capital.
The carriage had been prepared by Andrew as a gesture of gratitude.
With springs fitted inside, the seats were soft, and the ride was quite pleasant.
"Still… it feels like it's been a while since it was just the three of us, doesn't it?"
Viola said with quiet sentiment.
There were only three people in the carriage. Urla had parted ways with them on the eastern side of the plains, and Yuri on the western side.
When they had been about to board the carriage, Rest had asked Yuri to come along as well… but, for once, she had turned him down.
"I have a little errand to run, and a place I need to go. Let's say our farewells for today. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon…"
He hadn't asked what the errand was about… but somehow, she felt different from the Yuri he was used to.
Listless, perhaps. Wistful, maybe. Mature, in a sense… She had none of the innocent, energetic aura that was so typically Yuri.
(Well, I say childish, but we're the same age… And when it comes to her figure, she's actually incredibly mature…)
"Rest?"
"Rest, my lord?"
"Brrr…"
Just as Rest was recalling the sensation of being clingily attached to him during their night together in the tent, Viola and Primula called out to him at the perfect moment.
Startled, Rest couldn't help but flinch.
"What's wrong, making such a startled face?"
"Did something happen?"
"N-No… it's nothing. Come to think of it, over on the eastern side of the plains…"
They say a guilty conscience makes a man loquacious, and sure enough, Rest launched into a story about what had happened on the eastern side of the plains without even being asked.
He glossed over various things — mainly the events of the night — and the two of them wore expressions of astonishment.
"An Elder Worm… that's incredible! You defeated such a huge monster?"
"Leonard Gascoigne of the Council of Sages… don't tell me you actually met him!?"
A worm as massive as a mountain, and the person who served as chairman of the Council of Sages.
Both were truly startling revelations.
Running into two things rarer than natural monuments in a single night — was that incredible luck or terrible luck?
"An ancient worm that likely lived for hundreds of years… its remains, even if damaged, would probably fetch more than a hundred platinum coins, wouldn't it?"
"A hundred platinum coins…"
A single platinum coin was worth ten million yen.
A hundred of them meant one billion yen.
That was a sum an ordinary person would never see in their entire lifetime — and yet, for some reason, Rest felt a twinge of dissatisfaction.
"Compared to the Sabnock reward, it's really not much… My senses really have gone numb…"
The reward for subjugating Sabnock.
The inheritance of Rodele Aiwood.
Because such enormous sums of money had rolled in time and again, his sense of currency had become completely warped.
"With ten platinum coins, you could build a mansion in the royal capital's most prestigious district."
"You could keep as many concubines as you like, too. The child-rearing costs would be more than covered."
"Concubines and children… You're joking, right?"
"………"
"Wh-What? Why the silence? That's creepy, you know…"
Rest didn't know this, but the Rosemary sisters had received a talk from their mother about Rest's potential love interests.
That was presumably why they had casually prodded to find out whether Rest had any interest in keeping a mistress.
"Well, let's put this topic aside for now."
"We'll bring it up again… at the appropriate time."
"Wait, 'appropriate time'? What's going to happen…?"
"That aside… Why did that 'Heavenly Emperor' Leonard Gascoigne appear in front of Rest, I wonder?"
Viola murmured with a puzzled expression, deep in thought.
"Of course, there's no way to know if he was the real thing, but assuming he was—why did he show himself to Rest?"
"Hmm… Who knows, really…"
He hadn't told anyone about being told he was a reincarnated person.
(That explosion's mana—I think he probably sensed that, or something along those lines… But the purpose was to keep me in line, maybe?)
That magic—[Primordial Flame God]. He had told Rest not to fire it at people.
(It seemed like he wanted to prevent [Primordial Flame God]from ever being used against humans… Maybe he was trying to stop mass-destruction magic from being exploited in warfare?)
[Primordial Flame God] is magic with destructive power rivaling that of nuclear weapons.
If he said it shouldn't be aimed at people, then at the very least, he isn't an enemy of humanity.
(Still… he dropped cryptic remarks about "that side" and "don't fall" before vanishing. Can't help but wonder about that…)
"Um… how about we try asking the headmaster?"
Primula suggested.
"The headmaster… Verroid Hahn was a member of the Council of Sages, wasn't he? If we spoke with him, we might learn something?"
"Now that you mention it, that's right."
"Makes sense… When we get to the royal capital, let's swing by the academy."
And so the three of them continued their conversation as they headed toward the royal capital.