At night, moonlight fell from the sky into the surrounding darkness. 1 person and 1 creature flew through the sky as they were illuminated by the moonlight.

Needless to say, it was Rei and Set. Their goal was part of the mountains off the road.

「Whew, it’s good that it’s a cloudless moonlit night.」

「Guru~」

Set glanced back with a cry at Rei’s murmurs.

Unlike Rei, who had basically been sleeping in the carriage during the march, Set had lead the forefront of the army alongside other adventurers.

Not that Set was tired as he wouldn’t be injured or have his abilities compromised by monsters like the Goblins that had attacked without care.

Still……to Set, it was a lonely time to be away from Rei during the entire march. For that reason, he replied to Rei with a cry asking to be spoiled more than usual.

Rei, who understood what Set wanted to say due to the magical connection of the Magic Beast Art, stroked Set’s head with a smile.

「Even so, although he is a bandit that is close to a hero to the general public, I didn’t think the Prairie Wolves would be allowed to join.」

While muttering to himself, Rei recalled what he had proposed.

Runo, who had been listening in next to Rei, had looked at him dumbfounded, not expecting Rei to have connections to a group like the Prairie Wolves. The two knights that had been assigned to escort Rei had raised their eyebrows, not impressed at Rei’s proposal to invite bandits to be their allies and complained to Daska. Daska, the key person in this, had an amused expression as he urged Rei to continue.

When Rei had passed by here previously as part of an escort request, they had been attacked by a group of murderous bandits. After repelling them, Rei worked with the other escorting adventurers to track them to their hideout in an attempt to launch an attack. However, when they had finally arrived at the bandit hideout, it was already on the verge of being destroyed at the hands of the Prairie Wolves. Eventually, Rei had appeared on the battlefield and let them go in return for a favour from the bandits of the Prairie Wolves.

Did the knights not know about the Prairie Wolves, who were famous bandits outside the frontier, because they were knights? Runo was at a loss as to whether he should be impressed by Rei’s story or think of them as still bandits, but Daska had different thoughts.

Since he was a lord, he knew about the Prairie Wolves, and from the information gathered, he also knew about the honour of their leader, Egg. Daska immediately realised the usefulness of making the Prairie Wolves their allies and immediately requested Rei to pull in the Prairie Wolves into the Rowlocks Army.

The fact that it was a request and not an order was likely proof of how much Daska valued Rei.

As a result, after Rei finished distributing lunch and dinner, handing out tents for the night and various other work with the Misty Ring, he flew with Set into the night sky.

Of course, it wasn’t clear where the Prairie Wolves kept their hideout. So……

「Guru~……」

As Set flew through the night sky, wings flapping and eyes on the ground, he gave a soft cry.

「Did you find them? As expected of you. Good boy.」

「Gurururu~」

Set gave a happy cry after being praised by Rei.

While stroking Set’s neck with a smile, Rei spoke.

「Then……let’s say hi to those bandits moving around at night.」

「Gurururu~!」

Gliding with his wings, Set plunged into the forest. Seeing the forest grow near, Rei took out a dagger from the Misty Ring with no sign of fear, awe or surprise. Normally, Rei would use spears for throwing, but they were too powerful here. It would have been fine if he had come to eliminate the bandits, but his goal this time was to integrate them into the Rowlocks Army, so he wanted to avoid killing them as much as possible. After all, that would only reduce the strength of their own forces.

「……Fuu~!」

Rei quickly threw the dagger from atop Set, who had been gliding and flapping his wings. Even though it was spring, nights were still chilly. The dagger flew as if cutting through that cold air……

「Ahh-!」

A light cut was made on the bandit’s thigh by the dagger before it pierced into the ground.

「Set.」

「Guru~」

Replying with a short cry, Set tilted himself at an angle as he flew down to make it easier for Rei to land on the ground.

Rei rolled off from Set’s back as he landed in the forest.

He landed from a height of almost 5m but killed the impact, hardly making a sound.

Of course, as long as it was forest ground that hadn’t been compacted, there are various things like soft soil and fallen leaves that would reduce the impact to some extent. However, to someone who lived in the forest, landing without a sound could only be considered abnormal.

「Who’s there!?」

The man shouted sharply as he held onto his right thigh, which had been slashed by the thrown dagger.

But, Rei simply took off the hood of his Dragon Robe and approached the wary man without any concern.

「I’m Rei, an adventurer from Gilm.」

「Tch, an adventurer!? How did you sniff us out!?」

The man didn’t seem to react to Rei’s name as he held an axe that had hung at his waist.

The man’s axe wasn’t a battle axe that was designed for combat but a hachet for chopping wood.

「……Looks like it’s someone different?」

If he had been a member of the Prairie Wolves, he should have reacted to the name Rei. Even Egg had a strong impression of his name. In other words, Rei guessed that the bandit in front of him was completely unrelated. Rei called out to him as he took another dagger out of the Misty Ring.

「Do you know where the Prairie Wolves hideout is>」

「Hah? I don’t know. And even if I did, did you think I would tell a little shit like you who attacked me?」

The man yelled with blue veins on his forehead.

Hearing that, Rei threw the dagger in his hand with a frown.

Thump. The man heard a light sound in his ears.

「……Eh?」

Just one moment. It had really just been a moment. But the next moment, the little kid who looked to be in his mid teens had turned towards him and the dagger in his hand had disappeared and reappeared deep in the tree trunk just behind him. Yes, normally it was very had task to stab a dagger into a live tree, all the way to the hilt. It was only possible by a master that he couldn’t even imagine or someone with extraordinary strength. And……

The man glanced at the tree that the dagger had pierced all the way into. He then looked at the Rei’s robe, which looked like an ordinary mage’s robe with no particular features.

The Dragon Robe had an effect of hiding its own effects, so to the man, who wasn’t a mage, it looked just like an ordinary mage’s robe. And that was the cause of the man’s misfortune.

(He looks like an apprentice mage. But, he didn’t chant any spells. In that case……a magic item? He must have just been trying to bluff, but letting of that magic item was a fatal mistake.

There was no doubt that this man, as could be seen from the fact that he could act alone in the forest at night, was a strong man among the bandits. However, he was nothing more than a bandit. For adventurers from Gilm, the difference in his strength was like comparing acorns.

If he could feel the difference in strength between himself and Rei, he might have tried to run away and escape like a bandit. No matter how low his chances of survival, it would still have been better than fighting Rei. But, the man had been fooled by Rei’s appearance. Perhaps another reason that the man failed to realise his crisis was that Set hadn’t shown himself and remained on lookout duty in the sky.

「That’s a shame, but it’s not going to work on me!」

The man shouted and quickly leaped backwards before Rei could take action. Beside where he had leapt to was the tree where Rei had thrown the dagger into.

The man quickly reached for the handle of the dagger that had pierced into the tree.

(I’ve won! In order to beat me, that brat would have to get to this magic item before me. But I’m faster!)

He turned his proud expression towards Rei as he grabbed the dagger. But……

「……Eh?」

He gave a surprised sound when the dagger didn’t budge. And……

「It seems you’ve misunderstood something, but that dagger isn’t anything special. It’s just something you can easily buy in the city.」

「-!?」

When the man heard Rei’s voice from a few metres away, who was supposed to have been much further, he turned to look immediately.

「In the meantime, let’s teach you the difference in strength.」

Along with those words, he felt a strong shock at his belly and his consciousness faded into darkness.

「Seriously. Even up to now, do I look that childish?」

With a bitter smile, Rei looked at his own body, wrapped up in the Dragon Robe.

As someone who lived in Japan, he didn’t think himself to be that short. But even so, every one in this world seemed to be taller than him, due to the taller average height. While remembering the numerous troubles that had occurred because of that, Rei shook his head lightly as he reached out to the dagger in the tree and pulled it out easily.

Yes. The same dagger that the man had pulled on with all his might but hadn’t budged at all.

If the unconscious man had seen that, he would have been stunned by Rei’s strength. But fortunately or unfortunately, the man was unconscious and lying on the ground.

「Now then……」

With the dagger in his hand, so as to not injure the man further……Rei kicked the man’s thigh with just the right amount of force.

「Guah!?」

The man woke up in an instant from the pain. He had no idea what was going on. He looked around constantly, but Rei spoke up before long.

「You’re awake?」

「Hiii-!」

And the moment he saw Rei, he remembered what had happened before he had fainted. He screamed as he tried to run away, forgetting the attitude he had before completely. But……

「Guru~」

「Eh? Hi-Hiiiii-!」

Realising it was some kind of large creature that had knocked him back, he looked back at the face with a sharp beak before screaming further and distancing himself from Set.

「Now then, do you know your position?」

Perhaps he thought that Rei was better than a monster, he nodded earnestly while hiding behind Rei.

「Then, I’ll ask again. Do you know where the Prairie Wolves’ hideout is.」

「W-Well……I don’t know exactly, but if it’s just the general direction……」

「Alright. Guide me there then. I’ll release you when we arrive. Aren’t you lucky? After all, I’m a C rank adventurer and I’m letting a bandit like you leave.」

「……R-Rank C!?」

「Ah. Didn’t I show you earlier? I’m telling you, you shouldn’t underestimate your opponent just because of how they look.」

「……」

The man nodded silently at Rei’s words.

「If you understand, that’s fine. Then, lead the way.」

「Ah, ahh. ……It’s this way.」

Perhaps he knew what would happen if he resisted any further. Especially since there was a rank C adventurer in front of him. He understood that he had little chance of winning even if he was brave and would die in vain in this hopeless situation. As a result, he guided Rei to location where the Prairie Wolves were rumoured to gather. Probably due to the injury from Rei’s kick to his thigh earlier, he walked with staggered steps.

(If those rumours aren’t true……am I going to die?)

Thinking of that, the man led Rei and Set through the forest.

For a moment, he turned around to look at them and was met with Set looking straight back. An hour passed without the man feeling alive comfortably.

「As far as I’ve heard, the Prairie Wolves’ hideout should be near here.」

The man who had led them up to this point explained as they arrived near a pile of rock 5m tall.

「Is it here? Well, this is certainly and easy to mark to locate, but……no, it seems to be the right place.」

Rei muttered as he gazed at the fantastic marker as moonlight poured down on it. But he immediately turned his eyes to his surroundings.

He could feel numerous signs rapidly approaching.

「Guru~」

It was the same for Set. He gave a short cry in agreement with Rei.

「Okay, you seem to be right. ……You can go now. But, if you try to attack us again……you know what will happen.」

「Ah, ahh.」

At Rei’s cold gaze, as if he were looking at a rock on the roadside, the man nodded as he swallowed his spit……there was no further point in staying here so he turned around and ran away.

Rei watched him leave before looking around at the seemingly silent forest and speaking up.

「I’m Rei. A rank C adventurer from Gilm. Tell Egg that I’ve come to collect my favour.」

Rei called out to the people watching him.

At this point in time, Rei had no thoughts that the people surrounding him were not from the Prairie Wolves. It was because the man who had guided him here had been scared himself and because the people around Rei knew who to hide their signs compared other bandits.

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