The First Prince’s faction was on the move.
The news spread through the Imperial Capital in the blink of an eye.
The speed at which the rumors spread was completely different to when the Second Prince’s faction had made their move.
There were many felt there was something artificial about the way the news had spread, but the majority of the Imperial Capital’s residents were mostly interest in how the battle between the punitive force and the rebel army would turn out.
That was only natural. If the punitive force lost, the next battle would likely be fought closer to the Imperial Capital, and if the civil war didn’t end there, there was a possibility that the Imperial Capital itself would become a battlefield.
It was already widely known that the rebel army was about two days’ distance from the Imperial Capital. This was normal travel time of course, as an army would take somewhat longer.
As such, some of the Imperial Capital’s residents had already fled, not wanting to be drawn into the civil war.
The same could be said for those who had come to watch the fighting tournament and had taken the time to see the sights of the Imperial Capital while they were there. Many people lined up at the main gate every day to go through the procedures of leaving the Imperial Capital.
Among those who were escaping from the Imperial Capital in this way were, naturally, some of Theorem’s ment.
Both the First and Second Prince’s factions were wary of such people, but unlike Mercurio’s group, which was only made up of rebel forces in a temporary camp, there were countless people who lived in the Imperial Capital.
There was no way they could control everyone, and as a result, the rebel army had the advantage in terms of intelligence.
Those who escaped from the Imperial Capital headed straight for the rebel army camp.
Of course, there were members of the punitive force scouting out the rebel army’s camp, so they had to be careful not to be seen by them.
The rebels considered anyone who entered their camp to be dangerous and would eliminate them, but they wouldn’t intervene if they only scouted from a distance……at least from a distance that they were sure to escape even if the rebels chased after them.
No, it was more accurate to say that the rebel army left them alone because scouting from that distance posed no harm to them.
Of course, there were rebels who argued it would be better to capture or kill everyone, including those who scouted from that distance.
However, while it was hard for anyone without specialised training to infiltrate the rebel army, scouting could be done by ordinary soldiers.
In other words, no matter how many people you captured or killed, there would always be more.
If anything, it was a possibility that the amount of supplies the rebel army consumed would increase as a result.
And, as the saying went, every little bit counts, so the rebel army wanted to avoid wasting any supplies, which were not as plentiful as the punitive force.
The result of that was that they didn’t bother attacking soldiers who came over to scout from a distance.
Of course, there were exceptions as the rebel army would occasionally leave the camp to clear out nearby monsters or bandits.
If they ran into any soldiers who saw something they shouldn’t have, they would be taken out.
「AAAAAAAAAAH-!」
Yes, like now.
The soldier, who had been hiding in the forest, screamed the moment he noticed something flying towards him and died with the scream still in his throat.
All that was left was a corpse with a shattered head and upper torso.
The remains of the head, brains, bones, flesh, blood, and bodily fluids, were stuck to trees and scattered all over the ground, giving off a strong smell of blood.
「Thank you for your hard work, Captain Rei. We will dispose of this body appropriately after investigating it.」
「Yeah, I’ll leave it to you.」
Rei picked up the Death Scythe that was lying on the ground after throwing a spear and nodded in response to the words of his companion.
The people here were those who had endured training with Rei and Set and were recognised by the upper echelons of the rebel army as possessing excellent abilities. In addition, Theorem had been thinking of gathering these soldiers together to form an elite unit.
Nominally, the one to lead this unit would be Rei. In reality, it would be led by the person Rei had just spoken to, a soldier named Pernyx, who had been seconded from Theorem’s unit.
The main reason for forming such a unit was that, with the growing size of the rebel army, having a unit comprising of only one person didn’t set a good example, even if it was Rei.
As a result, although Rei insisted it should just comprise of him……or rather him and Set, Theorem believed that it would be more convenient to have a unit cover for Rei in case something happened. And, after some discussion, Rei eventually gave in.
Still, Theorem didn’t want Rei to get upset over this, so he proposed that they operate as a guerrilla force alongside Rei and allowed them to act separately under Rei’s command when necessary, which Rei accepted.
Since they would be working with Rei, the soldiers would be expected to have some level of skill. So, in addition to Pernyx, Rei was given a total of 30 elite troops.
「Seriously, they wouldn’t have run into us if they had just scouted outside the camp, so why did they go into the forest? What an unlucky lot.」
Rei muttered as he watched the corpse being carried away.
The surrounding soldiers looked at Rei with awe.
Rei’s main form of long range attack was throwing spears, but he had never used it in the tournament and he had never used it after joining the rebel army.
In other words, everyone here was seeing Rei use throwing spears for the first time, something that many adventurers in Gilm knew about.
「Gururu~」
Set, who was standing next to Rei, gave a cry as he looked at him. Rei smiled back as he stroked his head.
His expression showed no signs of guilt for having just taken a life.
This wasn’t because Rei was cold hearted, but because he simply saw the other person as an enemy.
「Now then, let’s continue with out training. If you’re going to work with Set and me, I want you to know our abilities.」
Hearing Rei’s words, the soldiers felt conflicting emotions, slight regret as well as expectation.
It was already widely known that this unit was an elite unit, and if they could survive this civil war, they would undoubtedly be counted among the heroes.
……That was right. If they could survive.
Since this was an elite unit, it was certain that they would be deployed to the toughest places on the battlefield.
The rebel army already had fewer soldiers than the punitive force, so they could afford to let a unit with such high combat power sit idle.
That was why they were having Rei training them. Soldiers, knights, and adventurers. It was so that they could survive, ignoring the barriers between them.
「Set and I. Well, I know I shouldn’t need to say this, but we’re pretty strong.」
The soldiers who heard that all agreed while thinking 『You’re more than just strong!』.
No one actually said that aloud though.
If they had said it, they believed that the training they were about to go through would end up being even tougher.
The accuracy of this judgement was something you’d expect from an elite unit.
……Although if they had heard that, they probably wouldn’t have been very happy about it.
If you were called into this unit, you couldn’t refuse. The pay was high and there were paths to promotion, but that was only if you survived.
High risk, high reward in the literal sense wasn’t something the soldiers who actually made up the unit enjoyed.
「So, since you’ll be working together with us, even if only occasionally, it is natural that we expect you to have a certain level of strength as well. yes, I know that you are a unit made up of the finest from the rebel army, but it is also true that there are some areas where you are lacking. ……Specifically, I would like you have the fighting power of a C rank adventurer.」
A murmur arose from those listening to Rei.
That was true. A C rank adventurer was someone who ranked highly, even among veterans. Although not the same as B rank, which was considered top class, it was safe to say that they were still considerably than ordinary soldiers.
The fact that Rei expected that level of skill from all the soldiers here was more than enough to cause murmurs.
「Be quiet! Captain Rei hasn’t finished speaking yet! You can make noise after that!」
The murmurs quieted down at the sound of Pernyx’s shout.
Looking at his 30 subordinates, Rei spoke again.
「Anyway, that’s why we’re going to start combat training now. The training involves you all scattering in the forest. After about 10 minutes, I’ll chase after you. If I land a blown on you with this weapon, you’ll be out. But, if you can land a hit on my with this, you’ll pass and I’ll give you a small monetary reward.」
Saying that, Rei took out a long sword used for mock battles from the Misty Ring.
Seeing that, the soldiers breathed a sigh of relief.
That was because Rei was famous for his huge Death Scythe.
At the very least, there was no one among them who wanted to fight against Rei’s scythe.
Some of them wondered if the Death Scythe’s size would make it difficult to swing inside a forest. But, there had been rumors of Crimson slicing through metal armour and a few of those who had participated in the Spring War had actually seen it happen.
As a result, no one here was willing to commit suicide by fighting a serious Rei.
Only people who could recognise crisis and have the tact and ability to survive were present.
No one wanted to fight a Death Scythe wielding Rei.
「Oh, and don’t worry. I’m the only one chasing you today. Also, you can only hide within the forest. Anyone who goes outside the forest will be disqualified and undergo stricter training, so be careful.」
『……』
The soldiers were speechless at Rei’s words.
They had been trained by Rei several times before.
The training included withstanding Rei’s almost physical pressure as he deployed Overlord’s Armour, covering himself in a visible layer of magic power, without backing down as well as facing Set, an A rank monster, with his ferocious and murderous aura active.
The training had never consisted of mock battles or anything similar.
But even so……with just that, after their training, there were very few who could even stand. They had undergone such training countless times.
It was hard to motivate the soldiers after hearing that their new training would be even more rigorous, even if they would be given a reward.
However, Rei was merciless towards the soldiers.
「Okay? I’ll be moving in 10 minutes. ……Start-!」
With those words, the 30 soldiers all dispersed into the forest.
Even so, they didn’t make any careless noises, such as footsteps or rustling grass and branches, which was part of the reason why they were considered elites.
……Although, from their own perspective, they had been assigned to Rei’s unit because they could be considered elites, so they probably weren’t very happy about it.
After about 10 minutes, Rei also began to move.
Set silently watched him leave from a short distance away before lying down on the spot.
If he closed his eyes, Set’s keen sense of hearing and smell, as well as his ability to sense magic power, allowed him to understand the situation in the surrounding area.
Set wasn’t trying to help Rei, but rather was looking out for any members of the punitive force that might be nearby, such as the soldier from earlier.
Rei ran through the forest, ignoring Set.
Because there were plants and branches in the way, and more importantly, because he had to avoid killing any soldiers, he wasn’t using Overlord’s Armour.
He charged forward using only his physical abilities and eventually found the first soldier in his unit hiding in the bushes.
「What-!?」
The soldier let out a cry of shock as he noticed Rei charging straight towards him.
However, Rei didn’t care as he lightly swung his long sword used for mock battles to strike the soldier.
「Wait outside the forest.」
Rei told the soldier he had hit and continued through the forest, looking for the other soldiers.
The soldier sighed and left the forest after seeing that.
About 20 minutes passed……and the training came to an end when the last person emerged from the forest.
「Well, for first timers, you did pretty well. You were pretty good and blending in with the surroundings. However……」
Just as he was about to say something, Rei noticed a cavalryman heading towards them.
When he arrived, the rider quickly dismounted from his horse and bowed before speaking.
「Rei-sama, please return to camp immediately! A new punitive force has been dispatched!」