Going outside the magic tent, Rei faced the men.

Two of them held long swords while one held a a spear.

As they were at the center of the Third Prince’s camp, there were naturally no other tents nearby.

Because of that, there was enough room for a mock battle to be carried out.

「Gururu~?」

Set, who was lying down, watched Rei and the men from a short distance away.

The men, who had heard of Set but had never actually seen him, including the others who had come out of the tent, all had looks of shock on their faces when they saw Set lying down outside the tent.

The two knights outside the tent were also visibly tense.

It was inevitable that having a Griffon so close to them would make them tense.

The fact that Set’s master, Rei, was inside the tent and not outside was also largely to blame.

It was clear from the way Set acted that he was a familiar, he was naturally not wearing a Necklace of Subservient Monster as he wasn’t inside a city, but standing near a Griffon without its master was causing the knights a great deal of tension and exhaustion.

However, just when they thought they could finally be relieved from that tension and exhaustion, the leaders of the army came out of the tent one after another with three facing down Rei menacingly.

Why did this all have to happen while it was their turn on duty……it was no use thinking about such thoughts.

Leaving the knights alone, Rei and the men faced each other.

The others, including Theorem, Mercurio, Tillyele, and Gurgast watched on from a distance.

Standing between them, Vihera spoke.

「We’re going to start the mock battle now, but please make sure you don’t inflict any fatal injuries or injuries that impair their ability to move. Got it?」

The reason why Vihera was acting as the referee was simple.

Apart from Rei, she was the strongest one here.

The men facing Rei knew that Vihera held feeling for him and in that sense they felt she wasn’t fit to be a referee.

However, since the main reason the men were fighting this battle was to impress Vihera, it was also true that it would be best for her to watch from as close as possible.

「No problem.」

The man who held the initiative among the three, looking a few years older than Vihera, nodded to confirm the rules.

「I have no problems either.」

Rei also nodded at Vihera’s words.

Having confirmed that, Vihera looked at both parties for one final confirmation. The men and Rei had no particular objections and looked back in silence.

But……Rei soon had to speak up.

That was because two of the three men stepped back.

The man who was left, who wasn’t the leader, held onto his long sword.

Rei spoke while taking the Death Scythe out of the Misty Ring.

「What are you planning? Are you going to fight me on your own?」

Rei’s words must have sounded insulting. The man in his 20’s stood there twitching.

「Crimson Rei, are you? You may have a title, but were you planning on taking all three of us at once? It seems like you’re underestimating us.」

The man pulled his long sword out of his sheath as he glared at Rei.

(Can he not understand the difference in strength even when facing each other like this?)

Rei muttered as he turned to look at Vihera, but all he got in return was a silent shake of her head.

To put Vihera’s response into words, she was basically saying『They won’t understand no matter what they say, so teach them with your strength』.

Hearing Vihera’s silent response, Rei gave a sigh as he swung the Death Scythe.

The sharp swing tore through the air, causing those watching Rei and the man to gasp.

Rei’s opponent and his two companions, who were watching from a distance, seemed to finally realise how powerful Rei was. He put all his strength into the long sword in his hands as he pointed it at Rei.

(He’s tensing up too much.)

Humans could move much more quickly when their muscles were moderately relaxed.

However, the man in front of him had clearly tensed up greatly after seeing Rei’s swing and it didn’t seem like he could fight properly.

That said, the final countdown had already started……

「Do your best, show your pride as a noble!」

Hearing the voice of one of his companions behind him, the man placed even more strength into his body.

As someone who’s intention was to provide support, the result wasn’t something they had likely meant to cause. But, even so, the movements of Rei’s opponent were clearly getting worse.

(Even though he has feelings for Vihera, maybe he’s not used to fighting in front of people like this?)

Rei thought.

Of course, that was one reason, but the bigger reason was the fact that he was standing in front of Rei.

Rei himself was hardly aware of it, but after all the intense battles he had experience since coming to this world, not to mention surviving the fight against Noiz, just standing face to face put a lot of pressure on his opponent.

As Rei wasn’t aware himself, he could only hide his confusion at the man’s actions.

If the man had actual combat experience, he might have been able to endure Rei’s pressure, but unfortunately, he had very little combat experience.

In actual combat, he would leave it to his subordinate who were good at it.

Of course, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Being able to delegate people was a talent and an important one for a noble.

But, right now, facing Rei, that experience was of little use.

He had been able to hold his own against elite knights in training, but training and real combat were two different things.

「Well, are you both ready?」

Rei responded by readying his Death Scythe and the man responded by somehow managing to ready his long sword.

The outcome of the fight was already clear, but Vihera still shouted out.

「Begin!」

With that voice, it wasn’t Rei who dashed forwards first to launch an attack……but his opponent.

It wasn’t so much a bold move than one made in a semi-confused state. That said, the fact that his body had memorised those movements meant that the man was at least serious about his training.

「UWAAAAAAAAH-!」

The man closed the distance and swung his long sword with a roar that sounded almost like a scream.

It was a horizontal slice that aimed to cut a body in half.

Since this was a mock battle, he should have stopped his movements just before it hit, but the man wasn’t in a state to be able to do that.

「AHH-!」

The one who shouted out was one of the nobles who had responded amicably to Rei.

The noble seemed to have seen a future where the long sword would cut Rei in half.

But, the next moment, the noble……and the others, saw Rei catch the long sword with the shaft of the Death Scythe, entangling it as the Death Scythe slid up the blade of the sword before sending it flying into the air.

In addition, as he had used the shaft of the Death Scythe to catch the blade, by the time everyone noticed, the blade of the Death Scythe was pointed directly at the man’s neck.

「Wha……」

He didn’t know what had happened. The man wanted to shout that out, but the outcome of the battle had already been decided.

「That’s enough. The winner is Rei.」

With Vihera’s words, the winner was decided.

Many of the murmurs from the surroundings were discussing how Rei’s strength was the real deal.

That much was true. The match had been decided with just one exchange of attacks. Even so, Rei clearly had strength to spare.

(I would have liked to use Overlord’s Armour as a form of practice. But……it’s extremely difficult to control its strength. If I use it poorly, it might end up like what happened to that bandit.)

It would be different if it was a clear enemy trying to take his life, like a bandit, but the person in front of him now was more or less a friend. ……He wouldn’t go as far as to call them a definite friend, considering they had treated him with hostility.

Looking at the remaining two, the one with a spear and the other with a long sword, Rei spoke up.

「It’s too much trouble to deal with you one by one. You can come all at once.」

「Wha-, are you trying to make a fool out of us?」

That was what the man with the spear shouted.

However, they understood better than anyone else that he was only shouting because he was in a position where he couldn’t retreat.

He had gasped as he watched the long sword fly into the air before plunging into the ground.

He knew what had happened. As someone who also used a long weapon, he could also do the same against a weaker opponent.

However, what Rei had done was amazingly smooth, if asked whether he could do it at the same level, the answer would be no.

A similar action and a similar level. The difference was only one word, but the difference was so vast that the man couldn’t imagine himself ever catching up.

The leader of the trio also seemed to understand the difference in strength. Eventually, he nodded at the man with the spear beside him.

「He said he doesn’t mind if we go together. In that case, I will take him at his word. In fact, it seems like we’re not a match for him individually.」

「Heh.」

Rei couldn’t help but to express his admiration for the leader’s words.

Thinking about the nobles who had challenged him up until now, he never thought they would ever admit that they were in a disadvantage.

Vihera smiled lightly at Rei.

To Vihera, the trio who harboured an affection for her were a bit of a nuisance, but if they really meant harm, she would never have let them join the army even if they had come.

(They do have some personality issues, but it’s true that they’re pretty good among the nobles.)

As Vihera muttered to herself, the two of them faced down Rei.

The first battle had been enough to show Rei’s strength. While not as tense as the first man, the two also looked nervous.

「The rules will be the same as before. ……Start!」

With those words, Rei was the first to move.

He dashed straight towards his opponents.

With the starting signal, the two men had split into vanguard and rearguard, but they were probably surprised to see Rei, who had waited in the first match, suddenly charge forward. They were momentarily shaken, slowing their movements and by the time they regained their senses, Rei had already caught the leader in the range of the Death Scythe.

「What-!?」

Stunned by the speed of Rei’s movement, the man swung his long sword down.

The attack, which was intended to put some distance between him and Rei, was easily deflected by the Death Scythe.

「Gaah-!」

The impact of the clash with the Death Scythe was like slamming a long sword into a block of metal and was far too much for him to bear.

Kiin-, with a metallic clang, the long sword slipped out of his hand, numb from the impact.

Seeing that, Rei knocked him over before passing through.

With the leader on the ground, he charged towards the man with the spear.

「U-UWAAAAAAAAH-!」

Seeing their leader, the most skilled of the three, knocked down so easily, the man with the spear probably understood that he would lose one-sidedly if things continued as is. He gave a shout to encourage himself as he thrust his spear towards Rei.

「Not bad……」

Rei had expected him to run away or surrender, but instead, he admired the man’s courage as he used the shaft of the Death Scythe to send the spear flying into the air.

「Eh? What?」

The man let out a cry when he felt the weight of his spear disappear from his hands……but the next moment he noticed the blade of the Death Scythe against his neck.

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