「Cloudy, is it? If only it had been a spring sunshine, that would have added to my victory. But…..」

One man looked up into the sky as he muttered at the clouds that covered the sun.

With sword in hand, his armour and cloak were fancy, but still practical.

That man was currently standing in front of the tent at the headquarters of the Mireana Kingdom’s army. All the nobles, except those who were delirious after seeing Rei’s magic power, were spreading out to watch the fight that would take place.

There was nothing wrong with that in itself. This was an opportunity to show others his skill and engrave his name into the mind of the General Princess, who was in love with someone else. At the same time, it was a chance to do the same to Philma, the general of the Nobles faction.

(Although he might be the Knight Commander of Duke Kerebel’s knights, he is only a second son. How dare he give orders to me, the heir to the Marquis Imarhen family, he should know his place.

While cursing Philma in his mind, he turned his eyes to someone he hated even more.

It was a person wearing a robe that seemed to have some kind of magic effect. He was just a kid that was a whole head shorter than him.

However, Renodis had no intention of going easy on such an opponent. It was because the gaze that the kid, the adventurer Rei, looked back at him with was so unpleasant. Renodis, with his pride as a noble, couldn’t bear for a mere adventurer to look at him as if he was nothing special.

The situation might have been different if Rei hadn’t acted so casually with Elena and Elena with Rei. That was something absolutely unforgivable to Renodis.

(If I beat this filthy adventurer, Elena-dono will realise her mistake. And eventually, we will marry and unite our houses together……)

Although he didn’t realise it, the main reason Renodis was so hostile to Rei was largely due to Elena’s attitude.

The action that Elena had taken when Renodis and Ara had clashed the day before. It hadn’t been to reprimand Ara, but to destroy Renodis’s sword. In other words, to Renodis, Elena sided with Ara more than him and eventually sided with Rei, who was with Ara, which only made him more jealous. The fact that the person himself was unaware of this made it a tragedy……or, maybe a comedy.

The only thing that had stuck in his mind was the fact that Elena had defended both Ara and Rei. And, since Rei was a man, his jealousy towards him was much greater than towards Ara, who was a woman. When he heard that Rei was being assigned to the vanguard, his jealousy easily turned into hatred.

「Well, I am ready! Let us see if you are really capable of leading the vanguard!」

With a shout, he drew his sword, ready for the fight to begin at any time.

Seeing that, Rei turned to glance at Daska for a moment. Then, after seeing Daska give a small nod, Rei opened up the Misty Ring’s list in his mind and took out the Death Scythe, the weapon that could be called another part of him that was created alongside Set.

「An item box!?」

「No, wait a moment. Isn’t that just a space expanded container and not an item box? How could a mere adventurer have an item box……especially such an unknown kid.」

「Your information is outdated. Didn’t you know that the Rowlocks army is having a much better time that the rest of us? I heard that they had someone with an item box carrying items for them……he seems to be the one.」

「I heard that as well, but actually seeing an item box like this, the impact is completely different.」

Daska gave a bitter smile as he heard the conversations of the nobles around him.

There some people who nodded in silence towards the Neutral nobles who were talking with them while others had their eyes blatantly change as they looked around themselves. It wasn’t just one or two of them. More than half the nobles here were looking at Rei’s item box with greed. Of course there were differences. They ranged from some that thought 『An item box, that’s nice』 to ones that thought 『That magic item. I must get that no matter what』.

(Well, well. Considering the rarity and convenience of an item box, it’s no wonder. It can’t be helped.

Thinking to himself, Daska spoke out in a voice that all the nobles around him could here while pretending to be only talking to his fellow Neutral nobles.

「It’s true that the item box is valuable, but it seems that it has severe restrictions on who can use it as a result. The wavelength of magic power is slightly different for each individual, so if someone with different magic power tried to use it, the results would be quite terrible. Besides, the item box records the magic power of the first person to use it, so it seems that it can’t be used by anyone else.」

「……What, it’s that strict?」

Daska continued to explain, as if he were unaware of the greedy eyes from the other nobles looking at him.

「Now, I don’t know the details……but it is still a measure implemented by an alchemist that can make a magic item like an item box. At the very least, I don’t want to find out what those measures are myself.」

Almost all the nobles who heard Daska, as they tried to get whatever information they could, looked disappointed. Yes, almost all. Even after hearing Daska’s explanation, there where still some that hadn’t given up as they directed their greedy eyes towards Rei.

(I’ll need to be careful of these guys.)

That was what Daska thought to himself. But, ignoring the exchange between the nobles, Rei and Renodis were ready to exchange blows at any time.

「I’m always ready. ……Come.」

While holding the Death Scythe with his right hand, Rei provoked Renodis to come over with his left hand.

Renodis, with his high pride, was unable to bear such an action. The next moment, he dashed forward with his sword, quickly closing the distance to Rei.

(He’s certainly quick to rush forward. But if he’s that easy to provoke……)

Compared to his provocative expression previously, Rei looked disappointed. But the next moment, his expression turned to one of astonishment.

「Hah-!」

Rei thought that Renodis would slash downwards once he got into range. But the moment Renodis got close, he jumped sideways. At the same time he moved sideways, Renodis used the momentum from his feet pushing against the ground to slash at Rei’s waist……

Kin-!

A high pitched metal sound echoed around.

「Oh, so you can stop my attack? You seem to be quite strong for an adventurer. Or is it just the power of that stupidly huge weapon?」

「I don’t know what you’re talking about.」

Blocking the sword with his Death Scythe, Rei replied as the look of astonishment on his face disappeared.

「But still, to not take any damage from my magic sword. Where did an adventurer like you find such a high quality magic item?」

「Are you jealous? Well, you’re not going to get it anyway.」

「Screw you!」

Rei parried his sword again with the shaft of the Death Scythe.

A metallic sound, one even higher pitch than before, echoed into the surroundings.

The metallic sound echoed outwards the same way as before, but there was one difference. That was……

「Guh……impossible, it’s like cutting into a wall……no, it’s like cutting into a metal wall!」

Taking advantage of the impact from the clash with the Death Scythe, Renodis put some distance between himself and Rei as he frowned at the numbness in his hands. Perhaps it was because he muttered those words, the only person to hear them was Rei.

In addition to Rei’s own strength, the Death Scythe’s weight was also overwhelming. At the same time, Rei had been pouring magic power into the Death Scythe, increasing its power further. Even if it was a magic sword, it would have shattered the first time it clashed with the shaft of the Death Scythe unless it was a high quality magic sword. Considering that, Renodis’s magic sword, which was still intact, must have been quite a powerful weapon.

Renodis’s hand relaxed its grip on the magic sword he was holding to relieve the numbness in his hand, but Rei wasn’t naive enough to miss that.

「Well, it seems your attack is over, it’s my turn next. You’ve been ridiculing people a lot. At least survive this first attack?」

The moment he heard those words, the veins on Renodis’s forehead began to appear.

From Renodis’s view, those weren’t words that an adventurer was allowed to say to a noble.

『Fire, burn your enemies~』

Rei quickly cast a his magic. At the same time he activated it, a fireball 30cm in diameter was created at the butt of the Death Scythe’s shaft.

「Ohh, that large scythe is also a magic invocation tool?」

「Having an item box and a magic invocation tool like that. I suppose it’s fair to say that he had a certain level of skill, but……」

Rei swung the Death Scythe around as he heard the voices of the nobles watching on.

『Fireball』

The fireball flew through the air as it shot toward Renodis.

Fortunately for Renodis, it wasn’t that fast. Of course, the reason was because Rei had intentionally slowed it down.

This was because he didn’t want the fireball to miss and hurt the nobles in the surroundings and the blame extend to Daska.

「You think you can insult me with magic of that level?!」

Since Rei’s fireball was so slow, Renodis assumed that Rei’s combat style was to use magic to assist him. Making that judgement and deciding that there wouldn’t be any problems, he dashed forward and shifted his body to avoid the fireball flying past……

Snap-

The sound of a finger snap was heard and the next moment, the fireball next to Renodis exploded in a big bang.

Fortunately, it was a small explosion, so none of the nobles spectating nearby were hurt. Renodis himself was only injured to the point of slight burns.

However, Renodis hadn’t expected that explosion to happen and was unable to react as he was blown sideways.

「Guah-!」

Still, with his pride as a noble, his training and spur of the moment decision making, Renodis stabbed his sword into the ground to support himself rather than rolling on the ground and dirtying himself.

Indeed, the reason why Renodis had been able to survive that attack was because he had a high level of combat skill, better than that of the adventurers around him. But, in the end, he was only better than the average adventurer.

「Here, I’ll attack your body. Block it or dodge it.」

Calling out where he would attack, the Death Scythe swung in from the side.

Renodis tried to block it with his magic sword, but because the tip was buried in the ground, it took him a moment to pull it out, delaying his defence. And that moment, was enough to be fatal.

「Guaaah-!」

If he had held firmly onto his magic sword and blocked Rei’s attack, he could have endured it to some extent. Renodis’s magic sword was a high quality item and was able to contend with the Death Scythe. However, that was only if he was in a perfect posture. With his defensive posture not fully ready, his actions led directly to the end of the fight.

With his magic sword still in hand, he was knocked aside. Most of the nobles in the surroundings couldn’t believe the sight of an adult man in full plate being thrown around.

Only three people were not startled by the sight. Daksa, Elena and Philma.

Even the Neutral nobles, who had been told about Rei’s abilities by Daska in advance, were unconsciously rubbing their eyes at the scene that unfolded before them.

Under such astonished gazes, Rei slowly walked up to Renodis, who had fallen to the ground and was covered in dirt.

His armour, which had been polished to reflect the sun’s rays before the fight had begun, was now covered in dirt. His face was also fill with small cuts from contact with the ground.

「Guh, damn it……this, this is……」

Renodis tried to push the sword in his hand into the ground to support himself, but the damage that Rei had dealt to him was too great.

Taking slow steps towards Renodis, who was unable to stand up after that last attack……Rei gently placed the blade of the Death Scythe against his neck.

All he had to do was pull the Death Scythe towards himself and Renodis’s head would separate from his body.

「……」

Renodis glared at Rei. However, disregarding his glare, Rei looked towards Arius, the Royalist noble and commander in chief.

「……That’s enough.」

Arius gave the signal to stop the fight. Perhaps he understood that any further fighting would only waste their strength/

Although the aim of the Royalists was to exhaust the power of the Nobles and Neutrals, it would be meaningless to reduce their strength by too much before the start of the war if they ended up losing the war.

As Arius’s voice was heard, Renodis turned to glare at Rei hatefully.

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