『……』

Rei couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at the over 100 soldiers standing in front of him in silence.

He had promised Karaza that he would train his soldiers, but when he said it was a unit, he had assumed it would only be about 10 people.

However, right now, Rei was looking at over 100.

No matter how you looked at it, Rei’s thinking had been naive.

Karaza, who was standing to Rei’s left, opened his mouth wide to speak to his troops.

Set was standing to Rei’s right, which was probably why none of the soldiers were talking nonsense.

「Everyone, we’re changing the schedule for today’s training and have Rei-sama here take care of it. I’m sure many of you know about Rei-sama, who joined us last night, but let me explain again. He is a B rank adventurer with the title of Crimson. You can tell by his title and the Griffon next to him that he’s someone who caused great damage to our army in the Spring War.」

A certain number of soldiers standing before Rei and Karaza frowned at his words.

Though he assumed that they had lost acquaintances in the Spring War……Rei thought to himself that there was no need to say anything in a place like this.

「I’m sorry, Rei-sama. But, by telling everyone like this, we can prevent any strange trouble from cropping up later.」

A man in his forties, who was standing behind Karaza, spoke in a low voice so that Rei could hear.

Although his physique looked quite well trained, in terms of skill, he was still only above that of a soldier but below that of a knight. However, in reality, he was the de facto commander in charge of Karaza’s troops.

He had served Count Grat’s family, Karaza’s family, for generations and also acted as Karaza’s supervisor regarding his participation in the rebel army.

That said, the Count Grat family had publicly stated that Karaza had left on his own and that they wouldn’t be held responsible if he died in the civil war. On top fo that, they were also cooperating with First Princess, Frizione’s faction, so they had made arrangement if either side won.

Of course, since they had publicly stated that they wouldn’t be held responsible if he died, Karaza was merely an insurance policy.

The same was true for the families of the other two nobles who had challenged Rei alongside Karaza. Each of them had been sent with attendants who, like Karaza’s, acted as supervisors, guards, and actual commanders.

「I don’t really mind. I was prepared for that when I came to the Bestir Empire. More than anything, it’s better to be targeted with clear hostility than by assassins.」

The man’s eyes widened at the word ‘assassins’, but he soon came to an understanding. If he himself had played a major role in determining the outcome of a war, he too would have been resented by many people.

「I see. ……On behalf of Karaza, I would like to thank you for accepting this training knowing that. ……Sorry for the late introduction, I am Tharja, I am in charge of assisting Karaza. I’m sure Karaza has caused you a lot of trouble, but I hope you won’t be too upset……」

As he had been assigned to take care of Karaza, the man who called himself Tharja knew his personality well.

Knowing that Karaza was especially attracted to Vihera’s beauty, it was only natural for the two of them to clash after finding out Rei had a close relationship with Vihera.

「I know he caused me some trouble, but I’m not too upset about it. I understood that if I demonstrated by abilities, he would understand. That’s why he decided to train with me.」

「……Thank you very much.」

As Rei and Tharja were talking like that, Karaza continued his speech and seemed to have gotten excited as he shouted loudly at his soldiers.

「The enemy is the Imperial Army, and you could could say their numbers are overwhelming. But do not fear! We have Vihera-sama. And we also have Rei-sama, Crimson! Given that, it should be impossible for us to lose. ……However, as far as we know, the Imperial Army has many elite soldiers. At the same time, some of the adventurers employed by the Imperial Army will have titles. When faced with such an opponent, will you be defeated without being about to do anything?」

The soldiers listening to Karaza’s words were confused.

Of course, they didn’t want to die quietly. However, what could they do against people with titles?

To ease the soldiers’ anxiety, Karaza waved his hand as he spoke.

「No! Absolutely not! However, it is true that if you encounter such an opponent on the battlefield without any preparations, there is nothing you can do. For such situations, in order to respond appropriately, Rei-sama, Crimson, has been chosen to take on the role of an enemy. Everyone should be grateful!」

His words caused a tense atmosphere to spread as the soldiers turned to look at Rei.

「Rei-sama, please say a few words.」

Rei hesitated for a moment when Karaza said that, but since they were going to train with each other anyway, he took a step forward.

……At the same time, Set, who was next to Rei, also stepped forward for some reason, causing the soldiers to involuntarily take a few steps back, but that was only inevitable.

Rei glanced at the soldiers and began to speak slowly.

「I am Rei, a B rank adventurer. As Karaza said earlier, there are many powerful people in the Imperial Army. When you encounter such an opponent, will you instinctively stop moving……or will you not? It will be the difference between your life and death. I would be happy if you could experience that through training with me.」

Though Rei said that, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly at himself.

Though he spoke arrogantly to the soldiers, he had also desperately tried to hide the sweat that seeped from his palms when he first met Noiz. The same was true when he had encountered Grimm, the Lich.

No matter what, it sounded unconvincing if he couldn’t put his own words into practice.

However……Karaza, perhaps misinterpreting Rei’s mood, spoke with an expression of insufferable emotion.

「You heard him, everyone. Rei-sama has said that much. You must live up to his expectations. I’ll train with you, so let’s overcome this wall together.」

『Yes!』

The soldiers all responded to Karaza’s words.

Seeing that, Rei couldn’t help but wonder if it was really okay.

However, the conversation continued on, leaving Rei behind.

「Now then, split up into your squads. Rei-sama, please.」

After hearing Karaza’s words, and to a lesser extent, Rei’s, even those who held some thoughts regarding Rei put them aside for now as they grouped up.

The number of people in each squad varied slightly, but there were roughly 10 in each one.

The first 10 to appear in front of Rei were clearly determined not to retreat or lose no matter what.

But……

(……It’s still not enough.)

As Rei muttered to himself, he activated Overlord’s Armour as a sort of intimidation.

Roar-! Even though Rei hadn’t done anything, the pressure that emanated from him made the people around him feel……like something close to death.

No, it wasn’t just pressure. The soldiers, Karaza, as well as other soldiers watching from nearby, saw Rei’s magic power compress to the point where it became visible.

Nobody noticed, but the ground directly beneath Rei’s feet were shattered and cracked.

Absolute and irreversible death. That was all they could feel when they saw Rei right now.

The soldiers and Karaza were unable to even tremble, all they could do was to stand their and hold onto their consciousness.

Even Tharja, who was standing nearby as Karaza’s guard, was unable to move a single step.

Furthermore, although Rei never found out, those in the camp who had the ability to sense magic power either lost consciousness or started to crouch down like children frightened by ghosts.

Set was the only one who didn’t seem particularly bothered by Rei’s state and just lay on the ground, watching as if it were just a normal thing.

「……」

Glancing at the people in front of him, unable to move, Rei took a step forward.

In fact, even when doing that, Rei had very precise control over his magic power.

But, unlike Noiz, Rei couldn’t keep the magic power for Overlord’s Armour within his body, due to his immature level of skill.

(This is my limit. Even so, I still can’t fit Overlord’s Armour inside my body.)

Compared to when he had fought the bandits on the way to the camp, the spread of his magic power was definitely thinner, but it still wasn’t as thin and Noiz’s.

(I wonder, how precise would his control over magic power have to be to be able to do that.)

As Rei though about Noiz’s strength and precision……that one could almost describe as some out of place art, he took a step forward.

Also, unlike when he had fought the bandits with Overlord’s Armour active, which had drained a lot of his magic power, enough to drain and consume the life force of an ordinary mage, Rei was now able to move without too much issue.

Crack.

The moment his foot touched the ground, it caved in lightly with a sound.

It didn’t seem like he had used any force at all, but that wasn’t the case.

At first glance, it was clear that it was a result of Rei’s great strength, but in fact, it was also proof that he wasn’t able to fully control his strength when using Overlord’s Armour.

He frowned slightly at the sight……and when he saw that the soldiers, including Karaza, were unable to even breath, he deactivated Overlord’s Armour.

In an instant, Karaza and the others collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. The soldiers who had been watching around them also started breathing heavily.

Then, noticing a presence approaching from the camp, he turned to and saw Vihera, still dressed provocatively as usual, with Gurgast, Theorem, and other members of the rebel army who were confident in their strength, behind her.

The three of them had serious expressions on their faces, but when they realised it was Rei, they looked taken aback for a moment. Vihera gave an amused smile, Gurgast gave a ferocious one, and Theorem gave a tired one as they all stopped running.

「I thought an enemy was coming……was that you, Rei?」

Although she spoke in a surprised tone, the smile on her lips betrayed Vihera’s feelings.

In the short time she had parted ways to Rei, Vihera had acquired a new skill called Magic Palm, but Rei, the man she loved, had acquired an even greater skill.

Just having him standing in front of her now, with his overwhelming presence and lingering scent of magic power from the remnants of Overlord’s Armour made her realise just how powerful Rei was in battle.

Gurgast was aware that Rei had used a skill he hadn’t shown when they had fought the other night……in other words, he had clearly gone easy on him. But, as a result, he smiled ferociously at the even fiercer battle that would occur.

As for Theorem, he just smiled wearily as he imagined the troubles that would arise in future now that Rei, who was already overwhelmingly strong, had even more power in his hands.

Looking at the three of them, each with a different smile on their faces, Rei, who had deactivated Overlord’s Armour for now, began to speak.

「What’s wrong? All of a sudden.」

「……What do you mean all of a sudden, it wasn’t that sudden.」

Rei seemed completely unaware of what he had done and Vihera’s smile turned to that of a wry one as she muttered with a sight.

That said, after seeing Overlord’s Armour up close, Karaza and his subordinates all said that they no longer felt any fear of the enemy.

In particular, the soldiers who had been up close alongside Karaza all achieved the great feat of raising their heads as captains later on.

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