Turning time back a short while, as Rei was heading towards the Royalist camp of the Mireana Kingdom to report on the success of the ambush, the Bestir Empire’s army, which had begun its withdrawal, was moving under the leadership of Theorem. Of course, the Mireana Kingdom’s army had tried to give chase, but since the Demon Soldiers had been entrusted with the rear guard, the Mireana Kingdom’s army suffered more losses as they pursued and the nobles in charge eventually gave the order to give the chase rather than suffer more losses.

Led by Theorem, the Bestir Empire’s army didn’t head straight back towards the Bestir Empire. Knowing that General Kastom had already fallen and knowing where their main camp had been, Theorem moved so as to avoid that location. It wasn’t even a small detour, but a large loop, as if moving along the edges of the vast Selemus Plains.

Even though they had wagons loaded with supplies, didn’t mean that they had much room for food. Given the rations required for tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, it was clear that considerable rationing had to be put in place. Of course, many complained about it. However, they had all been silenced by Theorem’s words.

「According to my information, General Kastom has been defeated by an ambush force. And, among the ambush forces, there is a person called Crimson, who was the one who created the fire tornado. If he’s followed by his Griffon, there’s a good chance he will report that they have defeated General Kastom. What would happen if he ends up creating a second fire tornado in areas with high troop density as we are retreating?」

The majority of the withdrawing troops belonged to the main army, where they had seen the fire whirl appear in the densely packed vanguard, even if they were some distance away. They had seen the sight of people being lifted like leaves as they were thrown around in the air. Fortunately, they hadn’t been able to see the sight of the fire whirl burning people alive from that distance, but the horror of it was still more than enough.

And, it went without saying what the vanguard soldiers that had been absorbed into the main army thought of it. If that fire whirl appeared as they were withdrawing. Just imagining it caused them to bite their rattling teeth as they hugged their bodies to suppress the shaking. There were many who couldn’t stand as they crouched down on the ground.

Even if it didn’t go that far, some people still went pale. For the Bestir Empire’s army……no, for those who had participated in this war, the title of Crimson was synonymous with the god of death. As for the title of the General Princess, Elena had a beautiful appearance and many people had feelings of longing rather than fear. But as for Rei, who had showcased overwhelming power, there were very few people who felt anything other than fear and awe.

The commanders of the Bestir Empire’s army, who had seen what had happened in various ways, agreed to return to the Bestir Empire in a way that largely bypassed the location where General Kastom had been, in accordance with Theorem’s words.

「Even so……it will be difficult to fight the Mireana Kingdom from now on. That Griffon was as strong as the stories I had heard.」

As they travelled through the Selemus Plains, Cyanus, who was travelling next to Theorem, spoke to him in a voice that wouldn’t be heard by others.

Both of them were mounted on warhorses, but they were bascially moving at walking speed as most of the main army was made up of foot soldiers. Because of that, their horses were moving slowly and they didn’t need to worry about fatiguing them compared to when they had been galloping at full speed.

「That’s right. According to the information I have, almost all the Dragon Knights were killed by him. In that case, we can’t even buy time by gathering up the Dragon Knights, which are considered the most elite soldiers in the army. Honestly, I can’t think of how to fight him. The best way is to not fight him, but even if we use some means to pull him away from where the fighting is taking place, distance doesn’t matter as long as that Griffon exists.」

Set had been the first real Griffon that either Theorem or Cyanus had seen, but there had been records of past encounters with Griffons in the history of the Bestir Empire. From the information left behiind in the books, it was easy for they to imagine the speed of a Griffon.

If it was just either Rei or Set, they could still manage. However, the fact that the two of them were always together was a cause for concern.

「For the Bestir Empire……no, for the Third Prince’s faction, the best option would be to make him defect……」

「Even if he defects, how would we make him defect? If you think about the usual methods, it would be status or money. Leaving those out, the only option left is women.」

Theorem shook his head after thinking about Cyanus’ words for a moment.

「According to the information provided, he’s done many big jobs as an adventurer and isn’t troubled for money. Even before that, he didn’t appear to be obsessed with money. His status is……I wonder what it is. With his strength, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to be picked up by Margrave Rowlocks if he wanted to. Even if he didn’t want to, the nobles from the Royalist or Nobles factions would be racing to employ him. All that’s left are women, but……」

Saying that much, he recalled the information that had been collected on Rei, but shook his head again soon after.

「It’s no good. There are no reports that he lusts after women. On the contrary, it will be difficult to catch him with a honey trap unless we get any reports that he has a lover. If I dare say it, it seems that he is on good terms with the receptionists of Gilm’s adventurers guild, but even then, they are only on good terms. If we at least knew his tastes, we could try fishing around with a woman.」

Luckily, Vel hadn’t known about the relationship between Elena and Rei. Of course, Vel knew that Elena favoured Rei, but thought that it was more of something between friends than between lovers. In addition, while Vel knew that Elena favoured Rei, he didn’t leak that information to the Bestir Empire as he felt that he might be able to use it for his own benefit at some point.

「His type of woman? Since he was so active in this war, even if he doesn’t like it, Rei will still stand out. If that’s the case, it has always been said that heroes are fond of sensual pleasures, so it might be possible to find that information. Besides, he’s only 15 years old. It wouldn’t be surprising for someone of that age to have a strong interest in women’s bodies.」

Theorem suddenly turned towards Cyanus at her reply and stared at her face.

「……What is it?」

It was a bit rude to have her face stared at and Cyanus asked as she looked back at Theorem.

「No, I’m just wondering if Rei would fall for a honey trap if you were the one who tried to tempt him.」

「Me?」

Cyanus looked back at him without a change in her expression.

As for herself, she had always considered herself a knight, so she was surprised by Theorem’s words due.

However, ignoring the lack of expression on her face, it was definitely true that Cyanus had a well proportioned face. She liked clothes that didn’t stand out because she didn’t have the habit of dressing up, but that was more due to her personal taste. She had a fit body from physical training with no excess flesh and was like an agile feline beast. Her body was more on the slender side, but Theorem didn’t think that it would be an issue.

However, that didn’t mean he was actually asking Cyanus to seduce Rei.

「Just kidding. I don’t want to lose my reliable lieutenant. Don’t take it seriously.」

「……Yes.」

At Theorem’s words, Cyanus nodded back in dissatisfaction as she urged her warhorse forward a little faster.

 

 

「Oh, Rei. Since you’re back, that must mean that the ambush unit was successful in defeating the enemy chief commander.」

As Rei was explaining Elena’s status to Ara, who appeared from nowhere as soon as he had left Daska’s tent, another voice called out to him from behind.

Turning around to face the familiar voice, he saw all the members of Axe of the Thunder God, led by Elk.

「It looks like you’re safe as well.」

「Well, enemy soldiers are humans after all. It’s definitely easier than dealing with rank C or B monsters. Rather than that, the girl beside you is……」

Seeing Elk, Ara placed Yellow down from her arms onto Set’s back and bowed her head.

「It’s been a long time Elk-dono. I’m Ara from Elena’s guard knights.」

「Oh right, Ara was it? It’s been a while since we met at Gilm’s gates. ……Hm? Wasn’t your weapon a sword? That battle axe is……」

Elk looked at the Power Axe on Ara’s back as he asked. Although he was already using a magic battle axe himself, the Axe of the Thunder God, he was still curious about the Power Axe as he looked over at it with interest.

Unfortunately, Elk, who was staring at the Power Axe, looked to everyone else that he was staring at Ara’s body, especially the part of her body that was bearing the weight of the Power Axe, her chest. He probably didn’t intend for that to happen, but when viewed from the surroundings, he could only be seen as a middle-aged man staring at the chest of a young female knight. And, of course, the looks from the surroundings became quite sharp. Noticing those looks, Ara’s cheeks went red from embarrassment.

「Hey.」

Contrary to that light tone, a cane was slammed into the back of Elk’s head like a mace. The sound of the impact didn’t sound like something hitting someone’s head.

「Ow-! Hey, Min, what are you doing all of a sudden!? Even though I survived the war, are you trying to crush my head and kill me!? I’m not a Hydra, if I lose my head, I won’t grow it back!」

「Is that so? In that case, it’s a surprise you grew up at all. ……Rather, you should pay attention to your current appearance. What do you think people will think if they see you staring at the chest of a young female knight.」

With those words, Elk finally noticed Ara’s chest, wrapped in half-plate, in his line of sight. Elk frantically shook his head as his cheeks went red.

「Wai-, no! I wasn’t looking at her chest, I was just curious about Ara’s battle axe! Look Min. Maybe it’s a magic item?」

He pointed at Ara in a hurry as he shouted, but it was unconvincing as his fingers happened to be directed at Ara’s chest instead of her battle axe due to his sudden confusion and hastiness.

「……Kyu!」

Yellow flew up from Set’s back and tried to kick Elk in the face with his small feet.

……But, as expected, Elk wouldn’t bit hit by something like that and just looked puzzled as he easily parried the attack.

「What is this small……dragon?」

「Oh, yes. This is a familiar created using Elena-sama’s magic. I guess it’s correct to call him a small Dragon?」

「Hmmm, is that so. Rather than that. I’d like to continue what I was saying.」

「No, you having been staring at Ara’s chest as soon as you got here.」

「I have not!」

Elk immediately cut Rei off. The reason why Elk’s forehead was covered with cold sweat as he shouted was probably because he didn’t want to cause any rumours in such a crowded place.

「We were talking about what we plan to do from now on. The war is over, but we can’t just disband here, can we?」

「That’s natural. You can request to disband here if you are a knight or a soldier, but there are some adventurers who have problematic behaviour. If they group together and become bandits, it would be bad in various ways. In particular, those who participated in this war are all rank D or higher, so their skills have reached a certain level. If people of that level of skill group together to become bandits, the military force required to suppress them would be no joke. In order to prevent this from happening, they basically disband after returning to a city first.」

「Heh, is that so?」

Elk nodded at Min’s words, but Rei asked in puzzlement.

「Aren’t you guys quite a high rank? Is this the first time you’ve participated in a war?」

「Ahh, that’s right. Until now, we haven’t had the opportunity. I’ve been in some skirmishes, but never such large scale battles.」

「As Elk said, most high ranked adventurers tend to not participate in wars. However, that’s just a tendency and that can easily change depending on the person’s personality. Well, this time, I participated to take revenge on the people who tried to harm us.」

You reap what you sow. Min had a nasty smile on her face as she said that.

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