The sun was high in the sky, asserting its presence with overwhelming intensity.

It seemed to be declaring that the snow that had been falling until just yesterday was nothing more than an illusion. That said, the temperature was by no means warm, and even with the sunlight pouring down, the snow that had fallen previously showed barely any signs of melting. If anything, the sunlight reflected off the snow, dazzling the eyes of those walking nearby.

Under normal circumstances, it was the kind of weather where only children would willingly venture outside. But amidst such weather……a massive crowd of people had gathered near the Margrave’s residence in Gilm.

Street stalls were set up everywhere, selling various hot dishes to ward off the cold. Commoners rarely approached the Margrave’s residence, but today was a different story. After all, today was a festival. It was a festival that seemed to sweep away the somewhat lonely atmosphere unique to winter.

Of course, since it was a festival held right near the Margrave’s residence, security was tight. Knights and guards patrolled the surrounding area, keeping a strict eye for anyone trying to sneak into the Margrave’s residence, anyone attempting to stir up trouble, anyone getting violent after getting swept up in the festival atmosphere, or anyone getting rowdy after drinking to the point of losing consciousness.

Those with a guilty conscience kept quiet, while those with nothing to hide purely enjoyed the festival.

「Gamelion skewers here! Today is a special bargain! Buy five and get one free!」

「How about some udon? Stewed udon made with Gamelion meat!」

「Gamelion stew right here! Delicious Gamelion meat with extra effort put in just for today! You’ll definitely regret it if you don’t try it today!」

「Soup made with plenty of Gamelion meat! In this cold weather, it’s guaranteed to warm your body right up!」

「Sandwiches made with Gamelion meat! Anyone want a sandwich? Gamelion meat sandwiched between freshly baked bread, a sandwich available only at this time of the year!」

There were numerous street stalls like that, all selling Gamelion dishes. Because the distribution of Gamelion meat had been delayed compared to typical years due to the dungeon, many merchants likely wanted to make a quick profit here today where a massive crowd had gathered.

Of course, it wasn’t just Gamelion dishes, there were also plenty of street stalls selling other types of food as well. The main reason there weren’t man stalls selling non-food items was largely because this festival had been decided on short notice, just a few days ago. Furthermore, selling goods in the snow didn’t generate as much revenue compared to street stalls serving hot food.

Even so, there were a few people who had obtained information about the festival ahead of time and sat around bonfires, spreading rugs over the snow to sell accessories, clothes, and trinkets. Meanwhile, at the end of the street lined with food stalls and vendors was an open space where Margrave Rowlocks’ knights held their training, and that was precisely where the festival’s main event would take place.

「The reason for this duel started when Keep-sama, the next head of the Earl Eliel family, set his eyes on a maid of the Baron Cisne family. The Earl Eliel family, belonging to the Royalist Faction, possesses immense power, and it seemed the Baron Cisne family would have no choice but to quietly obey the demands of an opponent superior to them in every way. However……however! Mouet-sama, the head of the Baron Cisne family, resolutely refused!」

At the entrance of to the space that would serve as the stage for the duel, a man recounted the sequence of events that had led to the duel. Most of those who had come to enjoy the festival had no idea why such a duel was taking place, most of them listened with great interest.

「Naturally, Keep-sama was not pleased that Mouet-sama, who was of a lower rank than him, opposed him. So he proposed a duel. Of course, a duel in this case isn’t fought by the two themselves, but by proxies acting in their place. At this point, Keep-sama was undoubtedly convinced of his victory. And why wouldn’t he be? The Earl Eliel family is extremely wealthy. He could simply use his endless money to hire high-rank adventurers or mercenaries!」

Listening to the man’s words, the crowd wore dissatisfied expressions as they voiced their grievances about Keep to those nearby.

「But! ……But, but! Keep-sama never could have imagined at that moment that the person standing near Mouet-sama and the maid was an extraordinarily skilled adventurer! That individual was someone who had previously accepted a request to train the heir of the Baron Cisne family, and had dropped by after a long time to see the results of that training. There was no way such an adventurer would stay silent while someone connected to him was in danger. That man is none other than the B rank adventurer, Rei! The man holding the title Crimson!」

The exact moment Rei’s name was mentioned, the audience’s excitement reached its peak. Noticing that, the storytelling man wore a triumphant smile.

「Now then, Keep-sama has gone and made an enemy of an opponent like that. Was he able to prepare an adventurer who can fight Rei!? Come on, place your bets, place your bets! The long shot is Rei losing, a victory for Keep-sama’s representative! The odds are five hundred to one!」

The odds coming from the man’s mouth were enough to make anyone think it wasn’t worth betting on. However……even so, a few among those who heard the story participated in the betting, believing in the possibility of a sudden turnaround.

The others placed their bets based on how long Rei’s opponent could hold out. Even though the name and identity of the Earl Eliel family’s representative that would be fighting Rei had still not been revealed, the fact that betting was taking place at all spoke volumes about how widely known Rei was in Gilm.

「Say, Johanna. Aren’t you going to join in on the betting?」

「Hmm, even if you call it a bet, Rei-san winning is already a foregone conclusion, right? If that’s the case, it all comes down to Rei-san’s mood. Like whether he finishes it in a few seconds or pulls out a certain amount of strength from his opponent.」

Rent, who had fortunately succeeded in inviting Johanna during her break in her bodyguard work, spoke to her while holding a Gamelion skewer, but the response he received from Johanna was somewhat half-hearted. It wasn’t that she wasn’t enjoying the festival, but rather that she was disappointed she couldn’t meet Set.

As a former guerrilla force member guarding the Baron Cisne family, Johanna had taken a break with the goal of seeing Set. And yet, when she went to the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, Set had already left for the duel alongside Rei, and on her way back, Rent had invited her to come to the festival.

「Well, the outcome of the match is obvious anyway…… The biggest problem will be tonight after the duel concludes. Since he was foolish enough to wager half of his family assets, the ultimate measure left is to make sure there’s no recipient around to claim it.」

「Hey, hey, don’t say such terrifying things.」

「I mean, thugs have been sent to the Baron Cisne residence for days on end, you know? If anything, I wish they’d send someone stronger. Do they really think wretches like that can do anything against us?」

Johanna muttered with dissatisfaction, but Keep and Furtos had their own reasons, sending someone with ties to them risked exposing their actions. Of course, for the Baron Cisne family, who had lived a peaceful daily life until now, facing repeated attacks the moment a duel was decided made it blatantly obvious who was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

However, as long as there was no evidence, they couldn’t denounce Keep. Taking advantage of that, Keep and Furtos used multiple intermediaries to send thugs who couldn’t be traced back to them even if they were captured, doing so time and time again.

Of course, they didn’t actually expect to kill Mouet and the others, if they managed to kill them, it would just be considered good luck. Their true objective was intimidation, wearing them down mentally through relentless daily raids to force them to withdraw from the duel.

Since they had no expectation of being able to defeat Rei, this was the best measure Keep and Furtos could take. ……However, Mouet, Ashie, and Baslero, the members of the Baron Cisne family, knew Rei’s true strength. And they trusted him from the bottom of their hearts.

Furthermore, because the time remaining until the duel wasn’t very long, they were able to endure it.

「They really resorted to a foolish move, didn’t they? If they had fought fair and square at least, Rei-san probably would have held back to a certain extent.」

「Well, when half of your family assets are at stake, you can’t afford to be picky about your methods.」

For Rent, who had heard about the situation from Rei, that was all he could say. The reality was, if he were in Keep’s position, since dealing with Rei was practically impossible, his only choice would be to do something about Mouet instead.

Of course, the best choice would have been to apologise to the opponent and have the duel called off. However, due to his status as the next head of the Earl Eliel family, Keep’s own pride, and above all, the fact that the story had been spread far and wide under the guise of a festival, it was impossible to apologise to Mouet and have the duel called off at this point.

「What a complete clown……」

Rent muttered with pity for Keep as he looked up at the sky where the sun was shining brightly. However, Rent, who failed to notice that the members of Scorching Wind……or more accurately, Milein, was approaching him and Johanna, didn’t realise that he himself was quite close to ending up as a clown himself.

 

 

While Rent was trembling in fear beneath the sun at the blizzard created by Johanna and Milein, Rei was eating lunch in the area set up as a waiting room.

As a participant in the duel, he couldn’t carelessly wander around the festival, so he had no choice but to have one of the knights serving as his bodyguard to buy as much food from the food stalls as he could. Being originally sent here as a bodyguard, the knight momentarily questioned being used like an errand boy, but if asked whether Rei actually needed a bodyguard, as someone who had participated in the Spring War, he could only say no.

Furthermore, the knight himself was interested in the food served at the festival stalls, so he bought all kinds of food, bringing it back to the waiting room where Rei, Set, Mouet, Baslero, and Ashie were staying, before going back out to buy more.

「Um, Rei-san. Is it alright to eat your fill when you have a duel coming up?」

Baslero asked with an anxious look at Rei, who was happily eating soup packed with Gamelion meat and vegetables while biting into a skewer. For Baslero, this was a critical moment where Ashie, whom he looked up to like an elder sister, might be taken away. Although he believed in Rei’s strength, he couldn’t help but worry about the worst case scenario.

「Gururu~」

Set gave a low cry as if to tell Baslero not to worry. ……As the sauce from the Gamelion stew he had been eating until just moments ago was smeared around his beak.

「I’m about to fight, so filling my stomach is necessary, right? Eating so much that I can’t move would be a problem, but this much is no issue at all.」

Chewing on the Gamelion meat and enjoying the flavour and texture filling his mouth, Rei handed a skewer he hadn’t touched yet to Baslero.

「Here, training is necessary to get stronger, but eating properly is just as necessary. We still don’t know who my opponent is for today’s duel, but you don’t need to worry about me losing. The fight itself will probably end so easily it’ll be almost disappointing.」

「Is that true? No, I know you’re strong, Rei-san, but we don’t know what kind of person the other side has prepared.」

「True, if a genuinely strong opponent shows up, I might need to use my trump card, but……well, I wonder if it’ll even come to that.」

The trump card he was talking about naturally referred to the Flame Emperor’s Crimson Armour, but Baslero, who obviously didn’t know that as looked at Rei with sparkling eyes at the words trump card.

「I-Is that what you call a special move!?」

「A special move……huh. Who knows? I don’t really think of it as a special move, though.」

To Rei, a special move was an attack meant to slaughter the opponent in a single strike. He strongly associated it with the literal one-hit kill skills. Of course, if he attacked while using the Flame Emperor’s Crimson Armour, an ordinary opponent would be defeated in a single blow.

However, the Flame Emperor’s Crimson Armour was fundamentally a support type skill that covered his body in magic power, compressed to the point it became visible. Regardless of how others saw it, in Rei’s mind, his Fire Whirlwind was much closer to a special move than the Flame Emperor’s Crimson Armour. Especially if he threw metal fragments into the Fire Whirlwind, which would cause its destructive power to skyrocket drastically.

(Though, precisely because its attack power is so absurdly high, it’s hard to use in a place like this.)

A Fire Whirlwind had enough coverage to wipe out an entire army or an entire military encampment at once. If he used something like that in a place like this, Gilm itself might literally cease to exist if things went wrong.

「Is that so……」

Baslero looked down in disappointment at Rei’s words. No matter how mature he acted, he was still just a child, so his eyes naturally lit up when he heard that Rei had a special move he could do. Gently placing his hand on Baslero’s head, Rei spoke.

「I probably won’t be able to show you a special move today, but watching my fight is part of your training too.」

「Yes!」

To call them master and disciple didn’t seem quite right as their exchange was one where the master seemed rather unaccustomed to the role, but Mouet and Ashie wore somewhat heartwarming expressions as they watched the two. The fact that they didn’t even entertain the thought of what would happen if Rei lost the duel showed that they trusted him completely.

In the midst of that, a knock echoed through the room. When Mouet responded, a knight acting as a guard entered the room.

「Rei, it’s time for the duel.」

Rei nodded at those words, stuffed the last remaining Gamelion skewer into his mouth, and left the room with everyone following behind him.

……To head toward the dueling arena.

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