It had been two days since they entered the Selemus Plains. It was close to evening as the sun started to set. Daska’s group, including the carriage Cyanus was riding in, finally exited the Selemus Plains.

It would have originally taken them another day, but they were faster than expected due to the skill of the carriage drivers, the exceptional horses, and a tailwaind. Various such reasons naturally increased the speed of the carriages over the relatively smooth ground of the Selemus Plains.

In any case, they left the Selemus Plains sooner than expected and stopped to discuss what was to come.

「Then, we will part here as planned.」

「Understood. We’ll act as previously discussed, so you won’t have to worry about anything. Regarding our means of communication……」

「Yes, I will send out a contact. We’ll give them a dagger like this so you won’t mistake them. If someone appears without this dagger, they’re probably from another faction, so please be careful.」

Saying that, Theorem took out a dagger with a butterfly crest on the handle.

It wasn’t a magic item, but rather a work of art.

Seeing it, Daska gave a small nod.

While listening in, Rei stroked Set’s head, who lay on the ground as he kept watch of the surroundings.

「Crimson-dono.」

A voice called out to Rei.

Turning to see who it was, he saw Cyanus, the beautiful but stern adjutant of Theorem.

(She’s finally decided?)

Rei thought to himself.

After Cyanus had joined up, Rei had felt her looking at him time after time.

Of course, her gaze wasn’t the kind of one filled with lust or fighting spirit that Vihera would look at him with occasionally.

Rather, her gaze held observation and vigilance.

But, despite looking at him every now and then with such eyes, she hardly had any contact with him……including when they had set up camp.

「What do you want?」

「Gurururu~」

Rei scratched Set’s throat, who gave a cry in a happy mood.

Despite only having the lower body of a lion and the upper body of an eagle, it seemed he still enjoyed having his neck scratched.

Cyanus was momentarily taken aback by Set’s appearance, which seemed different to what he had seemed like when he had driven back the Bestir Empire to defeat during the Spring War.

However, she had seen similar responses from Set several times when the camped out or during meal breaks, so her expression immediately returned to normal as she spoke.

「Crimson-dono. Thank you for lending us your help in this dispute over the Bestir Empire.」

Saying that, Cyanus bowed lightly as Rei moved away his hand from stroking Set and shook his head.

「It was a request from Vihera, and above all, I’ve been promised a reward for this request.」

「No. To be honest, I can only say that it was a stroke of luck that someone with your power, Crimson-dono, would cooperate with us. If you had sided with an another faction, would would have lost this fight. ……I don’t want to say that, but it is true that we would have been at a great disadvantage.」

That was why they were lucky to be able to have Rei join them. Rei must have judged that there was no point pushing the point further to Cyanus, so he just shrugged lightly as he responded.

「Well, I’ll do the work that’s expected of me. Luckily, I heard that as long as an attack doesn’t kill you instantly, you can’t die in the arena.」

Rei no longer had the psychological burden of killing people, but he still didn’t like to kill people if he didn’t have to.

It was a different story if he had no choice, but if he didn’t need to kill, he’d rather not kill.

Because of that, he was quite relieved to fight in a tournament that would barely have any casualties thanks to the legacy of an ancient civilisation.

「……I see. Even if Crimson-dono isn’t at the same level as Vihera-sama, it seems you also have a nature that likes fighting.」

「It’s Rei. I know I’m known by my title, Crimson, but if possible, please call me by my name instead of that.」

At his words, Cyanus nodded after a few seconds of silence.

「Understood. Then, Rei-dono.」

「Please do that. I don’t really like being held in such a high regard.」

「Gururu~?」

Set gave a cry towards Rei, who had neglected him during his conversation with Cyanus.

Seeing Set like that, Rei gave a wry smile while Cyanus was surprised.

She probably hadn’t expected Set, Rei’s Griffon and a symbol of fear in the Bestir Empire, to be this friendly.

「Really, um……he have a different personality from what I expected.」

「He’s usually like this. Friendly and a sucker for good food. ……Right?」

「Guru~!」

Of course! The sight of Set giving a cry was quite unbelievable to those who had seen Rei and Set on the battlefield, including Cyanus.

「Anyway, I’m sure there will be a lot of trouble for Rei-dono this time. Especially since you have the role of attracting the attention of the upper echelons. There will be inevitably be some who hold grudges against you from the Spring War.」

「I know. Well, I’ll see what I can do about it.」

「……Thank you very much.」

Bowing toward Rei, Cyanus let out a sigh of relief.

The reason she had called out to Rei after entering the Bestir Empire’s territory before they parted was because she wanted to know what kind of person Rei was.

Although it was only a short conversation, she was able to understand his personality to some extent.

Although he seemed to like to fight, he took the requests he received seriously. And……

(He’s also very confident.)

His confidence may have come from his skill and strength, but considering Rei’s role was to intentionally stand out this time, it could be said to be quite convenient.

Rather than putting Vihera in danger, it was……just as Cyanus was thinking about that, she heard Daska and Theorem, who had been discussing between themselves, call for Rei and herself respectively.

Their discussion had already ended and Cyanus’ conversation with Rei was also devolving into small talk, so it wasn’t a surprise.

「It looks like we’ve been called. Well then, I’ll excuse myself. While this request is ongoing, I probably won’t see you again, so I’ll ask you to do your best in the fighting tournament.」

「Yeah.」

「Gururu~!」

Rei will be fine! Set seemed to say with a cry. Cyanus’ cheeks seemed to loosen slightly as she left.

The next person to show up, as soon as Cyanus had left, was Vihera, who had previously been talking to Theorem and Daska.

She spoke up with a somewhat mischievous smile.

「Oh, not just me, you’re also trying to get your hands on Cyanus?」

「……No, I have no intention of doing that.」

Rei shook his head immediately, wondering what Vihera was trying to say. But Vihera just told him it was a joke as she smiled back.

「That girl probably has no interest in anyone other than Theorem.」

「……Is that so?」

「What, you didn’t notice?」

Vihera sounded exasperated, but Rei felt that Cyanus’ feelings for Theorem were more admiration than love.

However, Vihera seemed to think differently.

「Well, I can welcome the fact that there won’t be any more competitors.」

Saying that, Vihera gently reached out her had to stroke Rei’s cheek with a smile.

「It goes without saying since you defeated me, but please be very careful. Once we are in the Empire’s territory, I will be acting separately from you.」

「Yeah, I know. I beat you, so I’m not going to lose to those guys.」

「Oh? That’s good then. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon, so I’m looking forward to that day.」

She continued to stroke Rei’s cheeks for a few seconds, as if to say goodbye, before gently touching her lips against his cheek before leaving.

「Guru~?」

While rubbing his cheek that had just been kissed with one hand, Rei stroked Set with his other.

 

 

The carriage carrying Theorem, Vihera, and Cyanus headed off in a different direction than Daska’s carriages.

Seeing them off, Daska’s group continued towards the Imperial Capital to fufill their role.

For the first few days, they were still close to the Selemus Plains, so there were many villages similar to Goto, or ones in worse condition that had been deserted. But, as they approached the Imperial Capital, the number of travelers, adventurers, and merchants walking along the highway naturally increased.

And, the more people that saw them, the more attention that Rei and Set drew, as the most conspicuous members of Daska’s party……

「H-Hey. He’s riding a Griffon.」

「……Y-Yeah.」

「So, is that Crimson?」

「I can’t see his face because of his hood, but he can’t be with that physique, right? He’s a child……or a woman at best.」

「But, have you heard of anyone else having a Griffon as a subordinate other than Crimson?」

「That is……no, but.」

The people who saw Daska’s group each had their own speculations, but one of them dropped their luggage to the ground as he hugged his trembling body.

He was in his mid 30’s and didn’t seem like someone who would act like that, so he caught the attention of those around him.

「Hey, you. Are you okay?」

A nearby merchant asked the man, which seemed to trigger something in him.

「HI-HIIIIII-!」

With that cry, the man ran away as fast as he could, as if trying to get away from him.

The people around were stunned, but convinced themselves that the heat must just have driven the man crazy.

The man ran straight into the woods that bordered the side of the road and hid himself so as to not be seen.

「Shit, shit shit……why, why is he, that devil, in a place like this? We’ve escaped from the army and are living in peace……why, why-!」

With a bloody cry, he smashed the tree he was hiding behind.

His fist, skin torn by the tree truenk, was only bleeding slightly. It was clearly the fist of a trained person.

Yes. The man had served in the Spring War as a member of the vanguard.

The fire whirl created by Rei with metal shard thrown into it. He had been one of the lucky ones to survive it and the one-sided slaughter from Rei’s Death Scythe that followed after.

Running away, running away, running away, just running away. The man managed to survive by escaping the battlefield, becoming a deserter.

However, he was lucky enough to not be pursued as a deserter as the identity of soldiers had not been recorded in great detail.

But, although he had manged to escape, as a deserter, he couldn’t return to his home town.

After half a year of living like that, maybe it was finally time to return to his hometown. Just as he was thinking of that, he had met……that being.

A being that embodied fear, death, despair that had driven him to the deepest abyss.

「Why……why, why-!」

It was a voice that you wouldn’t expect from a grown man. He wailed as he slammed his fist into the tree trunk over and over again.

The skin on his fist had already been torn and the tree trunk was covered in blood, but he didn’t care as he continued to punch.

After a few minutes, the feeling in his hands seemed to return as he leaned his back against the tree and sat down……

「Do you hate him?」

Suddenly hearing such a voice, the man’s movements stopped.

Where had the voice come from? He didn’t understand at all.

He frantically looked around, but all he could see were the trees as the season changed from summer to autumn.

「W-Who are you?」

「It doesn’t matter who I am. Rather than that……do you hate that man, the Griffon, Crimson, the one who degraded your existence to this state?」

「……」

Why was he listening to those words.

The man thought about it for a moment, but he soon spoke up, as if guided by something.

「I hate him……I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!」

His hatred seemed to envelope him as his voice echoed out through the trees.

「Is that so, then become one of our companions. That hatred……let us dispel it.」

What am I doing? The man seemed to think as he nodded before entering the depths of the woods, guided by the voice.

All that remained was the bark of the tree that had fallen to the ground from the man’s blows as well as a few drops of blood. And a sweet scent that was somehow enchanting.

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