As the light of the sun gradually rose and spread to the surroundings, Rei and Set landed at Hobbes’ position.

「How did it go?」
「No problems. The leader of the Orcs has been taken out.」
「I see.」

Giving a small nod at Rei’s words, he took out a small whistle from his chest and blew with all his might.

Simultaneously, a shrill sound resounded throughout the area.

The thing Hobbes was blowing on was a Magic Whistle, a kind of magic item. However, contrary to its exaggerated name, it was a cheap item that could be bought for a few gold coins. Its effect was simple. Using the user’s magic power, it would produce a shrill sound into the surrounding area. But, at times where a simple clear signal needs to be used, it was quite useful.

As for Hobbes who just blew the Magic Whistle, it was decided previously that it would be used to inform the members of the subjugation force that the leader of the Orcs had been defeated. Once the participants of the night attack had finished hunting the remnants of the Orcs, they would return immediately.

「With this it’s good. ……Now then, let’s hear from you first.」

Returning the Magic Whistle to his chest, Hobbes directed his gaze to Rei.

「That’s right. To start, as expected, Dark Night’s Star attacked me during the night attack, so I defeated them.」
「……So, what happened to Dark Night’s Star?」
「They’re all dead.」
「I see……didn’t you think it would be better to catch them alive and arrest them?」
「And not kill the opponents who are trying to kill me?」
「Well, I cannot say for sure……however, there would be benefits if you had caught them alive.」
「Benefits?　In addition to getting information?」

Listening to Hobbes words, he asked curiously.

In the first place, you could understand Dark Night’s Star party by simply looking at the party composition, because there didn’t seem to be anyone behind them, he didn’t think he would be able to get any significant information from them However, after hearing that there might have been benefits from it, Rei’s interest sprung up and he prompted Hobbes to continue his story.

「Ah. If the members of Dark Night’s Star had been caught alive, they would have been branded as criminals and sold as slaves. And from that, you would have received half the sales.」
「Slaves, is it.」
「Hm?　Ah, right. You lived with your magic teacher until you came to the city of Gilm. Then you haven’t seen slaves before?」
「Well, something like that. Though I’m not interested in slaves, I’ll remember the information.」
「Ah, please do. For your information, the guild is thankful if you catch them alive. Basically, if you catch a thief alive, they will be sold as slaves and half the sales will go to the adventurer.」

That was the end of Dark Night’s Star. For Hobbes, he didn’t have the time to pay attention to to a party paying the price they deserved.

「So, to change the subject……even if you came to tell me that the subjugation has been completed, who defeated the Orc leader?」
「Ah. We discovered some Orcs trying to escape the settlement under the cover of darkness. We met with Milein’s Scorching Wind and exterminated them.」

While explaining the circumstances to Hobbes, he retrieved the corpse of the Orc King from the Misty Ring’s list in his mind.

The corpse of a monster 3m in size appeared in front of his eyes. The body was in a state where it was cut in two at the middle, connected only by a piece of skin. The Orc King’s head lay next to it. Hobbes directed a stunned gaze at the corpse.

「Oi, you don’t mean this guy……」

Looking at the corpse of the monster, Hobbes turned sharply to Rei. As expected of a veteran adventurer, he knew what the monster lying on the ground in front of him was.

「Ah. I heard from the mage of Scorching Wind. It’s probably an Orc King?」
「……You’re right. A rank B monster, Orc King. Though I have had the experience of fighting one several times when I was an adventurer……defeating one by yourself. No, there is Set, an A rank Monster and the C rank party Scorching Wind, it might be possible.」

Hobbes nodded as he muttered. Rei saw this and realised the misunderstanding immediately, he judged that it would probably be easier for him to rank up in the guild if he honestly told him that he had defeated the Orc King by himself.

(As well as that, Scorching Wind probably……I mean, Milein will probably spread the news that I defeated it.)

The magic used on Milein, Seed of Contract, only forbade her from speaking any information about Set’s Fire Breath, Water Ball and Rei’s Corrosion. Since telling people that Rei defeated the Orc King wasn’t forbidden, the information would spread around sooner or later.

Well, though in that case, it might be awkward if they are asked how it was defeated……Rei hoped that they would keep it in mind so as to not trigger the Seed of Contract.

From the feeling in participating in a fight with them, he didn’t worry about it too much. He intuitively understood that he was able to trust them, unlike the unreliable Dark Night’s Star.

「I’ll say it first, the Orc King also led 5 ordinary Orcs as well as one Orc Archer, Orc Mage and Orc General. Scorching Wind defeated the 5 Orcs and Set killed the Orc Mage and Orc Archer. I killed the Orc General and Orc King.」

The moment Rei said that, Hobbes suddenly stopped moving. He cautiously turned his eyes from the Orc King to Rei.

「Just now, what did you say?　I’m sorry but I’m missing half an ear so I didn’t hear that clearly. It’s seems I misheard it one way or another.」

Saying so, Hobbes pointed to his half torn right ear. However, it wasn’t unreasonable. He had just heard a G rank adventurer say he defeated an Orc King, a B rank monster, by himself. Even though Hobbes knew that Rei wasn’t normal, no matter what, he still couldn’t believe it.

If it were Set, he might have been able to accept him defeating the Orc King. Because after all, the Griffon was an A rank monster, it shouldn’t be too difficult to defeat lower rank Orc King.

But……

「I defeated the Orc King……No, well, I understand that it sounds unbelievable. It will become clear if you ask Scorching Wind later.」

Saying that, he saw several sets of adventurers trickling back from the Orc settlement and stored the corpse of the Orc King back into the Misty Ring as he didn’t want to cause any meaningless noise about it.

「Heeyy~、Hobbes, Rei and Set! 」

While lending a shoulder to Min, who was walking unsteadily, Elk, the leader of Axe of the Thunder God, waved his hand while shouting. The colour of fatigue from fighting Orcs all night long could hardly be seen on his face. As for Min who was being carried on his back, maybe because she had overused her magic and had hardly any magic power left, she looked understandably pale and exhausted. Their son, Rhodes, was next to his parents……Or should you say, was looking at his mother anxiously.

The figures of all the people who participated in the Orc subjugation could be seen behind them. From Rei’s brief look, the number of people seemed to have decreased from the strategy meeting. As expected, it was too selfish to hope that all members would survive attacking an Orc settlement lead by an Orc King.

Still, as it was a night raid, it was good to get off with this degree of casualties. All the members of the subjugation force understood that if they had fought during the daytime, the casualties would be much greater.

「Oh, Rei. You beat the boss of the Orcs in the end didn’t you?」

Arriving at where Hobbes was, other adventurers who had sat down because of fatigue, to treat their wounds or to pick up their belongings from the horse drawn carriages cast skeptical looks when Elk asked in a loud voice.

Next to him, Rhodes looked at Rei and frowned.

「Dad, no matter what the circumstances, this guy wouldn’t be able to kill the leader of the Orcs. Certainly, I understand that Rei has ability beyond G rank. But……」
「Gururu~」

Set growled to criticize Rhodes who was about to say something.

「……Tch, anyway!　I won’t believe that this guy defeated the Orc leader. Hey, Mum. You should go take a rest now.」

To Set’s growl, Rhodes left a parting shot and left, taking Min towards the carriages. Min followed Rhodes with a wry smile.

Seeing the wry smile on his wife’s face, Elk smiled as he saw them off before giving a small apology to Rei.

「Sorry about this. Hey, you know the Orcs that were going to sneak round behind us?　Though he now admits that you have skills after seeing you defeat those guys, it seems he won’t honestly say that in the open to you.」
「Guru~……」

To Set who gave a sullen cry, Rei stroked his back to calm him while smiling back at Elk with a similar wry smile.

「Hey, calm down. His attitude as already become a lot better compared to when we first met, so don’t be too displeased.」
「Gurururu~」

There’s no helping it, Set seemed to say as he swung his tail and lay down to rest a bit further away.

「Well, Rhode’s attitude is justifiable. When he matures, he will be forced to admit the strength of the strong.……」

To Elk who spat out a sigh, Hobbes came over and passed him a glass of water.

「Come now, take a drink and a break first. Seriously, you’re asking for too much from your son. In the first place, as a C rank adventurer for his age, he’s the top of his generation of adventurers in the city of Gilm. ……Well, though there are exceptions to everything.」

For an instant, Hobbes glanced at Rei, hinting. As for Elk, from what was said, he understood that his intuition was correct.

「That was it after all. I thought so.」
「Yes, yes, if Rei wasn’t there, it would have been impossible to defeat the Orc King.」

Suddenly interrupting the conversation was Milien, the leader of Scorching Wind, who had fought in the battle with the Orc King with Rei.

The moment the words Orc King came out, Hobbes, Elk and the nearby adventurers who heard the story about Rei became noisy.

「Hey, what I heard just now.」
「If I didn’t mishear, I heard Orc King.」
「I heard that as well.」
「But come on, that kid has Set. Then maybe……」
「But, didn’t Milein just say that they would have lost to the Orc King if Rei wasn’t there?」
「Well maybe, could it be that Scorching Wind, with Rei’s cooperation, defeated the Orc King?」
「With Set-chan there, anything can be done!」

While hearing the voices around him, Elk looked to confirm it with a surprised face.

「Oi, it is seriously an Orc King?」
「That’s right. I already thought we were finished when I first saw the Orc King. After all, aside from the Orc King there was also an Orc General, an Orc Mage, an Orc Archer and 5 more ordinary Orcs……」
「How to say, it certainly was a difficult situation.」
「I know right?　Well, we managed somehow in the end thanks to Rei and Set.」
「Hey, Rei. You put the corpse of the Orc King into the Misty Ring right?　Could you show me the Orc King for a moment? Fortunately or not, I’ve never seen an Orc King directly.」
「I would like to take a short break as soon as I can first of all. As expected, I’m tired after fighting all night.」

Muttering as he spat out a sigh, Hobbes lightly tapped Rei’s shoulder.

「Give up, Elk won’t listen once he starts. As for the members of the subjugation force, they participated regardless of the danger. For that, I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to take a look at the Orc King that you defeated.」
「That seems to be so. After continuously fighting the whole night, are there any adventurers not tired?」

Following up from Hobbes, Elk continued. Moreover, thought the people resting nearby didn’t say anything, the light of expectation could be seen in their eyes. As for the people resting in the carriages or taking a spare portion of drink or food from their baggage, hearing the noise, they sent glances of expectation.

「Come on, come on. Now that it’s come to this, surely you have to show it?　Because you killed it, you shouldn’t be so modest.」
「……Though the commotion escalated because of you……Well, fine. Since things have gone this way, I can’t not show it.」

Giving a sigh of resignation at Milein’s words, Rei once again took the corpse of the Orc King from the Misty Ring.

There might also have been some people who saw the effect of the Misty Ring close up for the first time. Several voices of surprise were heard.

And there were also surprised voices when the corpse of the Orc King appeared, everyone in the area made similar sounds.

「It’s huge.」
「Ah. Obviously when you compare it to an ordinary Orc. In addition, its neck has been cut. It must have been a very sharp blow.」
「Its body is almost split in two. This, did that kid Rei really do this?」

The body was almost cut in two, only connected by a piece of skin. And right next to the body lay the head of the Orc King

The surrounding adventurers who saw that carved into their mind the ability of Rei, who was originally a G rank.

「Right?　Wasn’t it good to show it?」

As if his mischief had succeeded, Elk smiled like a naughty brat as he slapped Rei on the back.

「At the very least, the people who participated in the subjugation force will never see you as a mere G rank anymore.」
「……Was that your aim. Well, I would like to thank you for that.」
「Ah, no need to thank me. It’s not a bad thing to make a talented guy like you owe me a favour.」

Thus, after everyone had taken a good look at the Orc King, the look out was left to Elk and Hobbes, who still had strength to spare. Most of the adventurers slept well after fighting all night long and recovered from their fatigue while being cautious of attacks from remnant Orcs and other monsters.

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