The day after Rei arrived at the officer academy, perhaps because talking with Elena the previous night had put him in a good mood, he woke earlier than usual and headed to the back of the staff dormitory.
An open space stretched out behind the building, where the snow had been cleared away to make enough room to move around.
This made it ideal for what he wanted to do.
「Mm……it’s bright.」
Squinting at morning sunlight reflecting off the snow, Rei lightly stretched.
After finishing his stretches, he took the Death Scythe out of the Misty Ring.
With the Death Scythe in hand, he swung the massive blade through the air as if checking something.
Rei had never formally trained under any specific combat school, relying strictly on a self-taught style.
Because of that, properly trained warriors found it impossible to react to his tricky movements, which made full use of his physical abilities.
Even before considering his tricky movements, the sheer rarity of people who used a scythe to fight played a major role.
While Rei remained mostly oblivious to the fact, he had rapidly climbed to B rank as an adventurer using the Death Scythe as his weapon, made enough achievements in war to earn himself a title, and even tamed a Griffon, an A-rank monster.
A figure like that naturally drew attention, and among adventurers, there was a fair share of people, who could only be described as eccentrics, who admired Rei.
Naturally, such people wanted to be just like him.
They understood that taming an A-rank monster like Set was virtually impossible.
Because of that, the next thing they tried was to use a scythe, Rei’s signature weapon.
However, a scythe was an exceptionally difficult weapon for an ordinary person to handle.
Even if it was an ordinary sickle rather than a great scythe, that fact remained unchanged.
In the end, several of those eccentric adventurers went out of their way to have blacksmiths forge them great scythes, but hardly anyone could master them.
That was only natural, scythes were never meant to be used as practical weapons in the first place.
Those unable to handle a scythe eventually realised that imitating Rei was impossible for them and quietly went back to searching for weapons suited to their own skills.
Even so, having trained to handle a scythe……or rather, a polearm, many of them ended up using polearms such as spears or halberds.
A few adventurers also appeared who, while falling short of mastering the scythe, learned to wield one to a decent degree, which would later slightly raise the weapon’s profile, but that was a story for another time.
「Hah!」
With a sharp breath, he swung the Death Scythe with a flash.
The strike cleaved through the fresh morning air with such speed that anyone watching would have wondered just how much the Death Scythe truly weighed.
Rei swung it around so effortlessly, showing no sign of feeling its weight at all.
After swinging the Death Scythe for about ten minutes, he paused his movements.
「Phew……well then.」
Holding the Death Scythe at the ready, he closed his eyes.
In his mind, he pictured the strongest opponent he had ever faced.
The S-rank adventurer he had fought in the Bestir Empire, Noiz the Immovable.
Though he had fought Noiz only twice, the sheer amount of combat packed into those clashes had been extraordinarily intense.
Battles at that level were something he would rarely experience again.
As the figure solidified in his mind, he opened his eyes, faced his mental projection of Noiz in the open space before him……and dashed forward.
He did not activate 『Flame Emperor’s Crimson Armour』, which could be considered his ultimate technique, relying solely on his physical body.
Charging towards the imaginary Noiz, he closed the distance in an instant.
Noiz’s hand seemed to twitch, and a sudden gleam flashed through the air.
Tilting his body slightly, Rei dodged the strike and swung the Death Scythe in a counterattack.
If Rei only had ordinary physical capabilities, the long sword would have cleanly slashed him during that split-second dodge.
Yet being able to seize that exact timing was precisely why Rei had earned the title of Crimson.
Under normal circumstances, his horizontal sweep would have cut his opponent’s torso in two, a slash truly worthy of the reaper’s scythe.
However……the Noiz Rei created was already gone the moment his attack had swung out……and before Rei knew it, the edge of a long sword was pressed against his neck.
「That’s match, then. Damn it, couldn’t win today either.」
Before he realised it, the imaginary figure of Noiz had vanished from his sight.
「That was wonderful!」
A voice called out to Rei.
Storing the Death Scythe inside the Misty Ring, he turned toward the voice to find Samarun standing there.
Seeing Samarun look at him with admiration in his eyes, Rei felt somewhat uncomfortable.
He understood that the man genuinely respected him, but it felt a bit over the top.
「No, truly wonderful. Your movements just now……unfortunately I couldn’t follow everything, so I can’t point out specifically what was so magnificent, but there is no mistaking how amazing it was.」
「Right, glad you liked it. ……So, what brings you out here?」
「Ah, yes. I woke up and went to your room to meet you, but you weren’t there, so I went looking for you. I thought you might have gotten lost while taking a walk.」
Rei briefly thought he was exaggerating……before realising that given the scale of the officer academy, that was not entirely unreasonable.
The grounds were quite spacious, with numerous buildings spread all over the place.
While people familiar with the area would have no trouble finding their way, someone who had just arrived at the officer academy could easily get lost.
In fact, one reason Rei had chosen to train here was because wandering too far from the staff dormitory might cause him to get lost.
(If Set were here, I could still manage if I really did get lost.)
He thought of his absent partner, conveniently overlooking the fact that Set could not simply fly around the city as he pleased.
Though given this was the officer academy, they might have overlooked it to some extent.
「I see. Sorry for making you go out of your way.」
「Don’t worry about it. More importantly, it’s almost time for breakfast, so what would you like to do? There’s still a little time to go if you need, though.」
「My training is done for now, so let’s head over.」
「……Is that so?」
Samarun replied, a faintly disappointed look on his face.
His expression clearly showed that he wanted to discuss magic with Rei, but Rei pretended not to notice as he walked toward the staff dormitory.
Samarun followed right behind him.
「We’ll head to the headmaster’s office once we finish breakfast. You went there yesterday, so you’ll be fine, right? If you’re concerned, I can come with you. What do you think?」
Samarun asked with an expression showing he would rather come along, but Rei shook his head.
「I’ll be fine. Besides, don’t you have classes to prepare for? If you spend all your time looking after me, won’t you get scolded?」
「No, it’s not a problem. I was told to support you, so there is no issue at all. If anything, I would love to accompany you.」
Rei knew those words stemmed from an interest in magic, yet he still found it hard to accept something about Samarun’s attitude.
(Is it because his only goal is magic, and he isn’t looking at me as a person, or something like that?)
As he thought about Samarun’s behaviour, he eventually arrived at the entrance of the staff dormitory.
「Come to think of it, I need to see Set after breakfast.」
「Set, was it? I went to take a peek last night, and since it was my first time seeing a Griffon, I was amazed.」
「……You’ve got guts. To think you went alone.」
Anyone familiar with Set’s friendly nature would not be surprised to hear someone went to see him alone.
Yet for Samarun, who had never interacted with a Griffon before, to visit Set alone without Rei was completely unexpected, even in Rei’s eyes.
「Ah, hahaha. A Griffon……Set, right? It was last night when I thought about visiting him. I assumed you were already asleep, so I went by myself.」
「……You’re quite something in more ways than one.」
「Really? He is your tamed monster, isn’t he? In that case, I didn’t think there would be any real danger.」
Seeing Samarun say that as if it were obvious, Rei was at a loss for how to respond.
Should he get angry and tell him not to trust him so blindly, or thank him for placing that much trust in him?
As he weighed his options, they arrived at the dining hall.
The breakfast prepared here was largely the same as what the students at the officer academy ate.
In other words, it was plain food, leaving something to be desired for Rei’s tastes.
(The portion isn’t enough to fill me up either.)
Bread, a soup with few ingredients, and stir-fried vegetables. A single slice of cheese sat there almost out of pity.
The only saving grace was that the bread was white bread.
……Though for Rei, it amounted to nothing more than a snack rather than a proper meal.
「This officer academy trains adventurers and knights for the ducal knight order, right? Yet the meals are rather plain.」
「Hahaha. If it weren’t winter right now, it would be a bit more luxurious.」
Sitting across from Rei, Samarun spoke with an apologetic look.
「Ah, well, I suppose that can’t be helped. Considering it’s winter.」
Muttering to convince himself, he wondered what prepared food remained inside the Misty Ring……before suddenly realising something.
「……Hey, Samarun.」
「Yes? What is it?」
Drinking his soup, Samarun replied immediately to Rei’s words.
He seemed thoroughly delighted that Rei had spoken to him.
Feeling somewhat guilty toward Samarun, Rei continued.
「If we’re eating this little, what about Set?」
「Ah……I wonder. His body is large, so I imagine he eats more than we do.」
「I see. In that case, I’ll go check on him.」
「Eh?」
Leaving Samarun behind, who let out a somewhat confused sound, Rei shoved the remaining food into his mouth.
Swallowing the food that was neither bad nor particularly delicious, he picked up his tableware and stood up.
Returning the dishes to the kitchen counter, Rei left the dining hall, leaving a stunned Samarun behind.
「Ah, wait, Rei!? I’ll come too, so please wait a moment. Rei!?」
Samarun shouted in a fluster, but Rei stepped out of the staff dormitory without waiting for him.
Samarun tried to give chase, but as a slender mage, he was by no means a fast eater.
Even so, he could not simply leave his meal unfinished to chase after Rei.
He could have done so if he really wanted to, but doing that would invite severe punishment from the kitchen staff.
In short, for Samarun to follow Rei, he had no choice but to finish every bite of food in front of him.
「Ah well. Samarun got turned down.」
「Hey, don’t say stupid things. That’s him, right? The mock battle instructor the headmaster brought in as a special guest. The one with the title of Crimson.」
「Still, he doesn’t look all that strong.」
「Looks can be deceiving. Trying to judge someone who holds a title by ordinary standards is a mistake to begin with. Speaking of which, take a look at the S-rank adventurer in this kingdom……he’s like that, isn’t he?」
「……Yeah. Sorry.」
「Hey, hey. We don’t have time to chat here! We need to get ready for school soon!」
The other teachers in the dining hall were curious about the interaction between Rei and Samarun, but needing to prepare for their classes, they could not talk forever and finished their meals.
「Set?」
「Gurururu~?」
When Rei called out to Set in the staff stable, he immediately heard the familiar cry.
The sound showed no sign of hunger or sadness.
It was simply a joyful cry welcoming Rei’s visit.
If this were the Dusk Wheat Pavilion, his regular inn in Gilm, Set could go outside with some degree of freedom, even if only within the grounds of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion.
Here, however, they had only arrived yesterday, and more people feared Set than doted on him.
Because of that, Set had been told not to wander outside on his own.
「Set, how are you holding up? Though it’s only been one night.」
「Gururururu~!」
Set cried happily at Rei’s words.
Stroking Set’s head, Rei could tell he was not particularly hungry.
「Looks like you got plenty of food.」
「Guru~.」
He gave a cry, as if saying he was not hungry at all.
「They gave more food to my tamed monster than to the instructor? ……Ah, because it’s Set, I suppose.」
Whether they were terrified of Set, as a Griffon, or their hearts had been captured by his cuteness, Rei could not tell.
Either way, he concluded that Set would not lack food before spring arrived.