The area directly in front of the Adventurers Guild building. Currently, Rei was facing down the four drunk adventurers who had picked a fight with him inside. ……To be more accurate, it was a full-blown confrontation.

「Heh, it’s too late now, kid. Even if you’ve got some skills, we aren’t going to forgive you, even if you start crying.」
「I’ll make you pay for insulting the Claws of the Hawk!」

Vargas hefted his heavy battleaxe, while Zorito drew a long sword, both men threatening Rei directly.

The two other adventurers stood in the back, brandishing a drawn bow and a dagger respectively as they glared at Rei with cruel grins.

None of the four men were wearing armour, and they were all dressed in ordinary civilian clothes.

Residents of the city had already gathered at a safe distance, forming a wide circle as they curiously watched Rei face off against the four men.

At this point, Vargas and his party were still heavily intoxicated. There were plenty of worried murmurs coming from the crowd who had seen Rei walking down the main street with Set earlier, but the drunks failed to notice the warnings.

As for Set, he had instantly noticed the flare of magic power when Rei stepped out of the Adventurers Guild. When he lifted his head, he saw Rei give him a subtle wink. Understanding the signal, Set closed his eyes and comfortably rested his head back on his paws.

Although Set was constantly pampered by Rei, his sharp instincts easily gauged the combat abilities of the four adventurers standing before his master, judging that there was absolutely no danger.

Furthermore, because Vargas was so drunk, it simply hadn’t occurred to him that a Griffon could ever be found casually resting in the middle of a city, so he remained completely oblivious to Set’s presence.

To be fair, expecting to run into a Griffon downtown was absurd to begin with.

「Well then, you good-for-nothing ‘Goblin’s Drool’. Why don’t we make a bet?」
「……A bet?」

Hearing the disgraceful fake party name again, thick blue veins popped on Vargas’s forehead, but he urged Rei to continue.

By the way, even the onlookers who heard the name were struggling to suppress their laughter. However, everyone quickly shut up when the man holding the bow glared menacingly at the crowd.

「Ah, a bet. I heard your little story earlier. Miraculously, perhaps by burning through a lifetime’s worth of luck, you actually managed to complete a request? And while celebrating your rare success, you decided to pick a fight with a novice who was just trying to register. Pathetic pride is a pointless thing, that’s the truth……」
「Shut the hell up! Stop running your damn mouth! ‘Burned through a lifetime’s worth of luck’?! ‘Miraculously’?! You’re looking down on us even though you’re just a brat who registered today!」

Enraged by Rei’s calm provocation, Vargas roared threateningly, aggressively swinging his battleaxe.

The sharp sound of the heavy blade cutting through the air proved that Vargas wasn’t just all talk.

「Well, it’s hard to say who’s looking down on who. Anyway, the terms of the bet are simple. I’ll fight all four members of Goblin’s Drool at once. If you win……I’ll give you these.」

He pulled a heavy pouch of gold coins from his robes, drew the mithril knife from his waist, and removed the Misty Ring from his right arm.

「7 gold coins, a knife forged from high-quality mithril, and a magic item equipped with an item box function. If you win, I’ll give all of these to you.」

The crowd instantly erupted into noisy chatter when Rei displayed the items for Vargas to see. Several onlookers who possessed some knowledge of magic items immediately began explaining the absurd value of the goods, especially the Misty Ring, to the people around them.

「Don’t screw with us! You’re just a kid who registered today! Don’t try to cheat us with cheap fakes!」

Vargas yelled angrily. His disbelief was justified. Setting aside the gold coins, a genuine mithril knife and an item box were priceless. Purchasing them on the open market would cost dozens of light gold coins, and in fact, hundreds might be necessary depending on the item box’s capacity. While a mithril knife was incredibly expensive, functional item boxes were practically mythological artefacts.

Fully aware of this, Rei looked haughtily at the four men in front of him.

「Whether they’re real or fake, you can judge that for yourself after you beat me. However, since I’m putting up articles of this calibre, you guys have to wager something of equal value.」
「……」

Rei’s demand was met with stunned silence. It was only natural, as Vargas was just a D rank adventurer. This was the first time he had ever seen an item box in his life, so there was absolutely no way his party possessed goods of equal value. However, having been made a fool of in front of a massive crowd, he couldn’t back down now. He could only glare at Rei with murderous intent.

「What’s wrong? Show me what you’re betting. ……Though I suppose that’s impossible for a party like Goblin’s Drool. Therefore, I’ll be generous and allow you to bet everything you currently have on you. Since you just came from celebrating a successful request, you should have your payout, right?」

Hearing Rei’s mocking words, the murderous glint in Vargas’s eyes intensified.

In reality, Rei had made a slight miscalculation. He had assumed the four men wouldn’t carry their entire fortunes on them and would have left the bulk of their savings hidden at their inn. However, fearing theft, Vargas and his party had brought every single coin they owned with them. It wasn’t an entirely strange decision, as while Gilm was a relatively secure frontier city, thieves still existed.

「……Alright. We accept.」
「Vargas!?」

Zorito and the other two men stared at Vargas with wide, critical eyes when he suddenly agreed.

「Prepare yourselves! We’d be the laughingstock of the entire city from tomorrow onwards if we ran away from a kid now! We just have to win. If we win, that mithril knife and the item box are ours!」

Whether Vargas’s words successfully stoked their greed, or they simply realised they couldn’t retreat without destroying their reputations, the three men steeled their resolve and glared daggers at Rei.

「If you’ve decided, then put your entire fortunes on the line.」

At Rei’s command, the four men each pulled heavy coin pouches from their clothes and tossed them onto the ground near where Rei held the Misty Ring.

Seeing this, Rei opened his mouth, a wide grin floating onto his face. As if timing his entrance perfectly, a man walked out of the guild doors just then.

「Now then, we’ll leave the wagered items right here while we fight. It would be a shame if someone tried to steal them during the commotion. ……Set!」

Though Vargas was initially confused about who Rei was calling out to, he understood a moment later. ……Or rather, he was forcibly made to understand.

「Gurururururu~!」

With a powerful, rumbling cry, the massive Griffon, measuring over 2m in length, that had been quietly resting nearby instantly leaped to its feet. As half the crowd screamed and scattered in terror, Set stepped forward, standing proudly like an impenetrable fortress over the mithril knife, the Misty Ring, and the piles of gold coins. Even though half the onlookers fled, the other half stayed rooted to the spot. Whispers that Rei was accompanied by a tamed Griffon quickly rippled through the remaining crowd, likely reassured by the official tamer’s necklace clearly visible around Set’s neck.

……Of course, an average person would normally be terrified seeing a Griffon suddenly stand up in a crowded street.

「Hii, Hiii~!」

Zorito, the man holding the long sword, screamed in terror and fell flat on his backside. His legs turned to jelly, leaving him completely unable to stand.

Starting with Vargas, the other three men were completely stunned into silence upon seeing Set.

Looking at the four frozen adventurers, Rei smiled in open ridicule.

「Don’t worry, I don’t need to borrow Set’s claws to deal with Goblin’s Drool. I’m your only opponent. Set, I’ll be fighting these four one by one. The prize at your feet goes to the victor. Though the chances of these guys winning are less than zero.」
「Guru~」

Set gave a small, agreeable chirp. After checking his grip on the Death Scythe, Rei called out to Vargas.

「No need to worry, I’ll make sure to knock you all out safely. Now, let’s get started. Who’s first?」
「……」

Faced with Rei’s casual challenge, the aggressive bravado Vargas had displayed just moments ago vanished completely. He stood in stunned silence, his face turning pale blue. The heavy flush of alcohol had instantly drained from his cheeks.

「Haa, the silent treatment, is it? ……Fine. We’ll start with the guy who can’t even stand up, Zorito. Here I come.」

Declaring his target without waiting for an answer, Rei casually stepped toward the trembling Zorito, his massive Death Scythe resting easily in his hands.

「Hii, Hiii~! Don’t come near me……stay awaaaay!」

Consumed by terror as Rei slowly approached, Zorito desperately grabbed the long sword he had dropped and swung it wildly at Rei in a sheer panic.

The attack lacked the skill or experience expected of a D rank adventurer, as it was just a frantic, desperate flailing intended to keep Rei away.

「Small fry.」

Naturally, such a clumsy blow couldn’t even graze Rei. To his enhanced eyes, the sword was moving in slow motion. Shifting his body ever so slightly to effortlessly evade the wild swings, he smoothly brought the heavy handle of the Death Scythe into motion.

(Since this easily pierced the tough hide of the Water Bear, I probably shouldn’t lead with a direct stab.)

Even if they had picked the fight, Rei still didn’t know what the guild’s exact penalty was for accidentally killing another adventurer in a street brawl. Therefore, his goal was simply to knock all of them unconscious. Easily judging the reach of the long sword, Rei ducked under a wild horizontal swing and stepped smoothly into Zorito’s guard. Using the momentum, he hammered the blunt handle of the Death Scythe directly into Zorito’s side, holding back to about 30% of his full power.

With a sickening baki~ sound, Rei felt the distinct sensation of Zorito’s ribs shattering through the handle. Even though Zorito was a full 30cm taller than him, the sheer kinetic force blew his body completely off its feet.

With his ribs crushed, Zorito flew through the air and slammed violently into the solid stone wall of the Adventurers Guild……

「Gafu~!」

A wet, heavy thud echoed as he crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

「That’s one down. Next up, the guy with the dagger over there. Come on.」

Without even glancing at the unconscious Zorito, Rei beckoned to the dagger-wielder, who was standing frozen in shock.

「……」

Unable to process how quickly the situation had escalated, the man remained completely motionless.

「Haa. Are you guys really D rank?」

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Rei stepped forward and blew the man away with a single strike from the scythe’s handle, just like he had done to Zorito. He then immediately targeted the archer, blowing him away with a similar strike. Both men ended up unconscious with broken arms and shattered ribs.

Glancing at the three men who had fainted so ungracefully, Rei finally turned his attention to Vargas, the only one left standing……

「Tch!?」

Staring intently at Vargas’s face, Rei waited for the exact moment the battleaxe swung down before stepping in to intercept it with the Death Scythe.

Gyin~! With a shrill shriek of grinding metal, the shaft of the Death Scythe perfectly repelled the heavy battleaxe.

Even though Rei was holding back to avoid killing him, he felt a surprising amount of resistance when the weapons clashed. An intrigued look sparked in Rei’s eyes.

Needless to say, the Death Scythe was manifested from Rei’s enormous magic power……no, to be precise, it was a unique magical artefact. Considering its ability to continuously evolve and enhance its performance by absorbing magic stones, it was actually a far rarer and more powerful item than the Misty Ring.

「That axe……is it a magic item?」
「Shut up! Shit, shit, goddamn it!」

Glaring at Rei with hateful, bloodshot eyes, Vargas swung the battleaxe down, violently wrenched it back up, and struck again in a rapid frenzy.

His speed and technique were surprisingly refined, and anyone watching would likely agree that his close-quarters combat ability was higher than the average D rank adventurer. It was certainly leagues better than Zorito, who had just blindly swung his sword using raw strength.

In truth, because a few moments had passed since Rei had dispatched his party members, Vargas had managed to somewhat pull himself together, sobering up through sheer adrenaline.

However, despite Vargas’s desperate onslaught, it wasn’t particularly difficult for Rei to defend against him, given his vastly superior physical abilities and enhanced senses. Tilting his stance and smoothly rotating his body, Rei evaded the heavy blows and effortlessly repelled the rest with the sturdy handle of the Death Scythe. When Vargas aggressively scraped the axe along the ground for a rising strike, Rei simply angled the scythe’s shaft, seamlessly diverting the attack and letting the axe blade slide harmlessly past him.

This intense exchange of offence and defence continued for a few minutes. As expected, Vargas couldn’t maintain the stamina needed to swing a heavy battleaxe with full force indefinitely. Taking advantage of a slight opening, Rei forcibly swept the axe aside and leaped backward to create some distance.

「Haa, haa, haa……」

Breathing heavily, Vargas maintained the distance, checking the feeling in his numb arms as he desperately tried to catch his breath.

Extreme weight reduction was one of the Death Scythe’s unique characteristics. However, while the massive weapon felt as light as a pair of disposable chopsticks to Rei, anyone struck by it felt the full kinetic impact of a 100kg mass of solid metal. Considering that, Vargas was holding up remarkably well after exchanging so many heavy blows.

「Well, are your arms getting tired? Then allow me to take the offensive.」
「Shut uppp!」

Triggered by the light provocation, Vargas recklessly charged forward again, even though he hadn’t fully recovered his breath. This lack of tactical patience was likely the exact reason he was still stuck at D rank despite his impressive combat skills.

Vargas swung the battleaxe down with a furious roar. Seeing the telegraphed attack, Rei stepped diagonally forward, slipping smoothly past Vargas’s guard. Then, utilising the magical properties of the Shoes of Sleipnir, he literally kicked off the empty air!

Launching himself toward Vargas in a rapid triangle hop, he expertly caught the arm wielding the battleaxe. Before the heavy blade could even complete its downward arc, Rei ruthlessly struck Vargas’s elbow, ribs, and knee joint in rapid succession with the blunt handle of the Death Scythe.

His elbow shattered instantly, causing the battleaxe to slip from his grasp and crash to the ground. His ribs caved in from the second blow, and with his knee joint completely destroyed, his leg gave out entirely.

The devastating combination was executed in the blink of an eye. Overwhelmed by the sheer agony, Vargas fainted instantly, his massive body toppling heavily to the cobblestone street.

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