Legend

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(Well, I’m not the only one, of course.)

To be exact, half the eyes were on him while the other half were on Set.

「Is it fine for Set to come along as well?」

「Yes, I have been informed that it is fine.」

Rei asked the person who brought him here just in case, but was told that it would be fine.
After entering the lord’s residence with Set……a maid eventually approached them and spoke with Rei’s guide.

The guide nodded before turning towards Rei.

「I’m sorry, but we’re running a little late, so I’ll bring you straight to the meeting room, is that fine with you?」

「That’s fine, but is it okay to wear what I’m currently wearing?」

Rei asked as he looked down at his Dragon Robe.

The Dragon Robe itself was a high quality magic item, but since it had the effect of concealing it’s uniqueness, many ordinary nobles might not realise how good of an item it was.
But……

「It’s fine.
If they can’t see what’s special about your robe, they don’t have the qualifications to try to recruit you.」

Rei’s eyes widened slightly at those words.

The guide wouldn’t have been able to say those words unless he had been able to see through the Dragon Robe’s concealing effect.

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「So, this way please.」

With those words, he led Rei to a door.

Behind the door was the garden area of the lord’s residence.
And……

「Umu, you have arrived.
I have been waiting for you!」

It was Marka, who was wearing a pale green dress.

Of course, there were many nobles other than Marka.
As far as Rei could see, there were almost 30 of them.
Some were familiar faces, like Alnicht and Orkide, but the rest of them he had never seen before.

Most of the nobles were talking as they stood or eating the food placed on plates that were arranged on the tables in the garden.

It was basically a garden party.

「This is……」

After Rei had heard it was going to be a dinner party, he had expected a meal that would require formal manners.

However, what he saw was nothing like that.
It was more like a house party held between friends.
It wasn’t even a party held inside the building, but a standing party held in a garden, which was why the atmosphere felt so relaxed.

In fact, while some of them were wearing dresses like Marka, many others were wearing casual clothes.
Among the escorts of the nobles attending the party, Rei could see mages in robes, knights in armour and warriors with swords.

Fortunately, none of the mages seemed to be able to directly sense magic power, so there were no scenes of surprise at Rei’s magic power, which had become somewhat of a regular occurance at such occasions.

(I see, it’s true that my outfit doesn’t stand out too much.)

As Rei thought that, a man came over to him.

「Hahaha.
How is it, are you surprised? Well, I don’t like dealing with etiquette or things like that either.
It’s easier to stand, talk and eat freely.」

「Thank you for inviting me, Daska-sama.」

Rei gave a bow towards Daska, who walked over with a bold smile on his face.

However, Daska waved his left hand, the one not holding his wine glass, as if he didn’t care.

「I’ve already told you.
You don’t need to worry about etiquette.
At least not here.
I’m going to introduce you to everyone, so come over here for a moment.」

With those words, Daska brought Rei and Set over to the centre of the venue, the centre of the garden.

The nobles who had been enjoying their conversation and food, or enjoying the sights of the summer garden, started to notice them.

No, rather, the nobles here had all gathered to meet with Rei and Set, so it would be strange if they didn’t notice them at all.

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「Pardon me, everyone, could I have your attention please.
As you can see, Rei, the leading factor of this gathering, has arrived.
Next to him, as many of you may know, is his tamed monster, Set, the Griffon.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a Griffon before, but I’m sure you’ve at least heard of it.
Griffons are called the reapers of the sky, but Set is quite docile and won’t hurt anyone.
……However, if any of you try to hurt him, that’s a different matter.
I’d like you all to keep that in mind.」

Any noble with a difficult personality would have complained at Daska’s words.
Or maybe they would make a fuss over how a monster like a Griffon was let into the venue.

However, any nobles who were likely to cause problems had already been filtered out of this gathering.
Because of that, those that remained had already collected sufficient information on Rei and Set in advance and knew that Set, a Griffon, was included as part of Rei’s evaluation.
In fact, in the war with the Bestir Empire, where Rei had gained a title, it wouldn’t have been possible to cause great damage to the enemy vanguard without Set.

And, having collected information on them within Gilm, they knew how friendly Set was.
Because of that, the nobles accepted what Daska told them without any complaints.

……That said, even if the escorts of the nobles who were participating knew that Set was friendly, they still prepared themselves for the worst case scenario.

「Thank you for your invitation to such a wonderful gathering today, Margrave Rowlocks.
……Rei, it’s been a few days.
How have you been doing after your promotion to B rank?」

After Rei and Set were introduced, someone immediately approached them.

The reason why the person approached them without worry was because they knew Rei.
It was Alnicht, who had been with Rei and the others during their rank up test.

Rei noticed Alnicht’s attitude was much milder than it had been during the test and was surprised for a moment before immediately realising.

(So his attitude during the rate up test really was a facade.)

「Yo, how are you doing.」

As if following after Alnicht, Orkide raised his hand as he greeted Rei with a languid expression on his face.

Alnicht’s cheeks twitched as he called out his friend’s attitude.

「Hey, Orkide.
If you’re going to greet someone, it should be Margrave Rowlocks first.」

「Hahaha.
I don’t mind.
It’s a casual gathering today anyway.
Otherwise I wouldn’t have called Rei here in the first place.」

「……I’m sorry, Margrave Rowlocks.
My friend here……」

「Ouch-, come on Alnicht.
Get your hand off my head.」

Orkide protested against Alnicht, who forcibly pushed his head down, but Alnicht ignored him of course.

After seeing their exchange, the other nobles started to feel like they could speak with Rei and many of them called out to him.

That said, since Rei had already declined an invitation to serve under Duke Quent, they mostly focused on getting to know him rather than recruit him.

 

 

While Rei dealt with some of the nobles, Set was fed by others and enjoyed his time at the dinner party eating delicious food or being petted.