「Ahh, you ended up doing everything in the end, Rei. Sorry about that.」

Ranga scratched his head and called out to Rei as he came out from the bushes along with the rest of the subjugation force,

Rei shrugged his shoulders as he replied to Ranga, who thanked him.

「This bandit incident was an official request, so I did what needed to be done. ……That aside, would it be better to tie them all up before they get any funny ideas?」

「Hm? That’s true. ……Everyone, get to work.」

『Understood.』

In response to Ranga’s instructions, the soldiers of the subjugation force replied in unison as they quickly tied up the members of Bloody Blades with rope.

While keeping an eye on the bandits to stop them from doing anything strange, Ranga called out to Rei, who was also keeping an eye on the bandits.

「It’s a bit strange that there are so many dead Goblins here, what’s this all about?」

「These guys were fighting the Goblins when I got here. From what I heard in Gilm, some party destroyed a Goblin settlement deep in the forest, so these were probably the survivors.」

「……I see. Come to think of it, we did get some information about that. It’s only natural that they’d end up clashing since they both considered the forest their territory. ……How do you want to handle the Goblin corpses, proof of subjugation, and magic stones?」

「Good point, in that case, I’ll just take the Hobgoblins’s magic stone. It’s a magic stone I still haven’t collected.」

Magic stones couldn’t be absorbed by the Magic Beast Art unless either Rei or Set were involved in the fight. However, since he had previously said that he collected magic stones as a hobby, it would be strange if he didn’t pick the rarer magic stone here. Ranga nodded gratefully as Rei said those words to him.

「If the Hobgoblin’s magic stone is enough, then I have no complaints. No, rather, I would be quite thankful. With regards to the goods stolen by the bandits, it will all go to Daska-sama, but the rest of us can split the Goblin magic stones and proofs of subjugation.」

「……They’re only Goblins though, right?」

「They might not be worth a lot, but even so, with so many, the rewards will add up.」

「Is it enough to cover the cost of this expedition?」

A knight emerged from the bushes as he asked Ranga.

As someone dispatched from Gilm, he had no objection to Ranga’s plan.

「Yes. We had already allowed for enough to cover the cost of the expedition, but if we can earn a bit more here, the pay will be better.」

As their leader, it was probably important for Ranga to work hard for his subordinates’ benefits.

That would probably be impossible for me. As Rei thought of that, he started a conversation with the knight before the soldiers eventually finished tying up all the bandits.

「We have completed the capture of the Bloody Blades.」

「Understood. Move them a bit further away and keep an eye on them. Also, what did they steal from all the merchants?」

「That is……」

Hearing the knight’s question, the soldiers seemed troubled.

Rei, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.

「It seems like their hideout was attacked by Goblins when they weren’t around. All the things they looted ended up being taken away by the Goblins.」

Rei looked over at a Goblin that had been slashed to pieces.

It was already dead, but it was still holding onto a 30cm long crystal.

As a jewel, it wasn’t that expensive, but it was a useful material for making magic items.

Both the knight and Ranga seemed to notice the crystal the Goblin was holding. Their eyes went wide for a moment before they sighed.

In other words, they would have to search the whole hideout to find where all the dead Goblins were.

As for the Goblins that did manage to escape, they would have to give up on anything they took.

(No, if anything, it might end up being a reward of sorts for Milein and the others who will be hunting the remnants of the Goblins tomorrow.)

While thinking like that, Rei turned to the knight and Ranga.

「Yeah……all that, I’ll take care of it. What about you Rei? You can take what you want from what the bandits stole, right?」

「Yes. Well, normally, if bandits are destroyed, the adventurers who did it can take everything. ……But, this time, it’s a direct request from Daska-sama.」

Rei replied with a small sigh.

「It can’t be helped. A request from the guild and a direct request from Daska-sama are two completely different things. I’m sure you know that. The important thing to remember is that the request was to support the subjugation force, right? ……Well, this is how everything turned out in the end though.」

「I have some things to deal with myself as well, so I wanted to refrain from wasting too much time here.」

In response to the knight’s comment, Rei shrugged his shoulders as he replied.

For the time being, they headed over to a tent that the soldiers had been using as a temporary storage area.

 

 

「Tch, they’re basically doing the same thing as us, aren’t they? The only difference is whether they’re taking it from merchants or us.」

One of the Bloody Blades spat out as they watched Rei, along with the knight and Ranga, over to the tent where they had desperately collected all their loot.

Hearing those words, a soldier who had been left as a guard gave him a sharp look, but didn’t say anything.

That was to avoid focusing on the man by talking.

After all, the mercenaries in front of the guard were the Bloody Blades, well known for their strength and mobility.

In addition, they were well known for their lack of mercy.

For that reason, the guard didn’t want to risk carelessly showing an opening.

That said, as long as Crimson was nearby, he didn’t think they would try anything funny, but it was better to not let his guard down.

(Tch.)

Seeing the soldier’s attitude, Everogi clicked his tongue internally.

It was true the Everogi had chosen to quietly surrender in front of Rei, but it would still be best if he could find an opportunity to escape.

The Griffon’s ability to fly was troublesome, but considering the geographical environment of the forest, he could probably still escape if he was alone.

However, the surrounding soldiers didn’t let their guard down, despite them all being tied up.

No, on the contrary……

「Guru~」

Set, who hadn’t gone to the tent with Rei, gave a cry as as he lay down near Everogi and the rest of the Bloody Blades.

Set might have had his eyes closed, but his presence meant that Everogi had no choice but to give up any idea of escaping.

「Hey, hey. Is this fine?」

「Yeah. The captain gave his permission. Or rather……the captain asked Rei to send Set over.」

「……I see. Well, it’s true that it’s a lot safer with Set keeping an eye on them.」

The soldiers who were watching over Everogi and the others exchanged whispers while looking at Set, who was lying down nearby.

In fact, it was as they said.

As long as Set was here, it was pointless for the members of Bloody Blades to try anything.

The soldiers gave a sigh of relief after hearing that, but they continued to monitor Everogi, not neglecting their job.

 

 

「Ohh……no, well, I guess I should have known.」

Rei muttered involuntarily when he saw the inside of the tent that the soldiers brought him to.

It was true that there were a wide variety of goods stored in the tent. ……Yes. The key point was that there『were』.

Most of what had been inside had been taken away by the Goblins, leaving only a few old items behind.

The Goblins probably didn’t want the items either because they didn’t think that they were worth anything.

Rei looked around the looted tent with a sigh as he turned towards the knight and Ranga, who had the same mournful expression as himself.

「So……what should we do?」

「No, even if you ask me……I guess at least the Bloody Blades killed a lot of the Goblins.」

The knight seemed to agree with Ranga’s words, which leaked out with a sigh.

「So, I was told you could chose your reward from among these……but as expected, you wouldn’t want to pick from just these, right?」

Just as the knight said, what was left in the test didn’t seem to have much value.

……Rei thought that as well and was about to say he would take a look again after recovering all the items the Goblins had stole.

His eyes suddenly turned to a broken wooden box.

He wasn’t interested in the wooden box itself. Rather, he was distracted by something reflecting the sunlight coming through the Goblin torn tent and into the box.

「……Wait a moment.」

Rei called out to Ranga and the knight before taking something out from the broken wooden box.

Inside was something round made from metal, about the size of his palm, with a chain extending from the top.

However, the thing that surprised Rei more than anything else was……

「It’s made of mithril?」

Yes. The item Rei held in his hand was completely made from mithril, both the body and chain.

Mithril was a rare magic metal that could easily absorb magic power. Even Rei, who liked to collect magic items, only had a knife made from mithril.

It was that rare of a magic metal.

「This is also……」

At the top of the round item was a push switch. Pressing it, the surface of the item opened up around the switch.

Inside were numbers from 1 to 12.

The numbers were made from embedded gems while the hands that rotated through them were also made of mithril.

There were three hands indicating the hour, minute, and second. In other words……

「A watch, huh?」

It was a kind of pocket watch.

Just like the bells that rang in Gilm and Exil at fixed times, clocks also existed in this world.

However, the clocks most used by adventurers were really just hourglasses.

An ordinary hourglass was fine if it was just for timing several minutes, but for something that needed to last several hours, an hourglass would be too big, so it was common to make magic items for that purpose instead.

Rei also had a magic hourglass, but for the item he was holding in his hand……it was the first time seeing something like a watch that would be sold in Japan.

In the first place, it was difficult to even make such a magic item and craftsmen, including alchemists, who could make such a thing were extremely rare.

It wasn’t something you could buy with money, you needed to have contacts and connections.

The pocket watch in Rei’s hands was probably something ordered by a noble or rich merchant.

「……Heh, a watch? And, since it’s made from mithril, it will probably use less magic power.」

「This……is amazing.」

The mithril cover of the pocket watch had intricate carvings of trees growing around a fountain.

The knight was surprised to see that.

Rei glanced at the knight and Ranga, who exclaimed in admiration, before looking back at the watch.

As Ranga said, the watch would probably need less magic power to activate due to it being made of mithril. When Rei, with his enormous magic reserves, held it, it felt very comfortable in his hand. This was probably due to mithril’s high affinity for magic power.

「This was really an unexpected find. ……In that case, I’ll take this as my reward.」

「That’s fine. With something like this, you’d normally pick it over anything else.」

「Yeah. Daska-sama has several watches, but compared to something like this……」

As Rei heard the two of them talk, Rei tried to put the watch into the Misty Ring before instinctively stopping.

(Time stops inside the Misty Ring, so wouldn’t it be bad to put the watch inside?)

Putting an hourglass into the Misty Ring already had issues, let alone a pocket watch. As Rei realised that, the knight noticed him stop moving with the watch in hand and spoke up.

「Anything wrong?」

「No, I’m just thinking if it’s okay to put this inside my item box.」

「Come to think of it, time stops inside the item box.」

Rei nodded at Ranga’s response.

「Yeah. So, I thought that if I put it inside the item box, the time would be off.」

「I don’t think you need to worry about that.」

The knight easily rejected Rei’s concerns.

Rei was confused as he looked at the knight, who continued on with a smile.

「All magic items, not just watches, are powered by magic power. Especially in the case of such a watch, it should have the function of automatically adjusting the time when it receives magic power. All the watches I’ve used have had the same function, so this watch, which is of the highest quality, should be fine.」

Even though Rei was puzzled by the knight’s answer, he decided to store the watch into the Misty Ring for now because it would be hard to tell if it was the truth without testing it out.

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