After the assassins retreated, Rei, Rhodes, Luzi, Vaycul, and Mosst moved to a different location.

Their reasoning was that with the smokescreen appearing, it wouldn’t be hard for others to guess that something had happened here, even from a distance.

Fortunately, the smokescreen dissipated shortly after the assassins retreated, but it had still been large enough that it would be strange if no one came over to see what had happened.

If Rei and the others were still around at that time, there was no doubt they would end up being questioned by the guards.

Of course, there wasn’t anything wrong with that, that wasn’t the issue, but it was troublesome and would take up their time, not to mention that there was no guarantee that some of the guards would not have grudges against Rei as well.

「Haah, haah, haah, haah…..phew.」

Rhodes, the only one in the group who was out of breath, took in a deep breath as he finally calmed himself down.

In his hands was some fruit juice that Rei had taken out from the Misty Ring.

「Isn’t it a bit of a problem as a warrior to run out of stamina?」

Luzi muttered in surprise but Rhodes just looked back at him with annoyance as he drank the juice.

「Then why don’t you try training to your limits with Rei before being attacked by assassins?」

「……I’m sorry. That’s impossible. I mean, you were able to survive in pretty good condition considering that.」

Luzi seemed to recall his training with Rei. Not just Rhodes, even Vaycul could understand why he went back on his words so quickly.

The only reason why Mosst didn’t say anything was because he was a mage, and so hadn’t received as much physical training as the other two.

……That said, he had also been required to train with daggers for quite a while.

「Well, anyway. I guess we should go back to the inn for now. There’s definitely going to be some guards going over soon.」

Due to the fact that the fighting tournament was currently being held, security in the Imperial Capital was tighter than usual.

Moreover, there were a considerable number of participants who hadn’t made it through the qualifying rounds who were still in the Imperial Capital.

While they were still participating, most of them would stay on the down low because any incidents they caused might end with their disqualification. However, after losing in the qualifying blocks, those shackles no longer existed.

That was why fights and other disturbances had started to occur more frequently and, with the large number of invited guests and VIPs present, the patrols had become stricter as a result.

「That’s right, it’s probably a good idea to warn mother and Daska-sama about this as well.」

Rhodes muttered to himself.

The fact that he didn’t mention Elk’s name just went to show how much trust Rhodes had in him.

In fact, Luzi and the others, who were listening in to Rei and Rhodes’ conversation, were surprised that Elk’s name wasn’t mentioned.

However, Rei was already aware of Rhodes’ attitude towards his mother, so he simply nodded without going any further.

「Then you go. I’ll keep an eye on the surroundings. They might have pretended to retreat just to come back and ambush us again. There’s also the possibility that a completely different organisation will attack us.」

「Will they attack so persistently?」

He couldn’t believe it. Mosst had such an expression on his face, but Rhodes just nodded as if it were natural as he replied.

「We were attacked on the way to the Imperial Capital. I don’t know what method they used, but it seemed to be something that numbed pain and granted unnatural strength. We were attacked by people like that. They were also controlled, so after capturing them, they all fell into a coma. It’s a bit hard to predict what methods they will use.」

「Well, Requiem’s Toll seems to be a rather famous organisation. I guess it doesn’t matter too much.」

Requiem’s Toll. The moment that name came out, Luzi and the others froze.

「……H-Hey? You didn’t by any chance just say Requiem’s Toll, did you?」

Vaycul asked with a timid expression on her face.

Since she was a thief by profession, she seemed familiar with associated rumours.

No, it wasn’t just Vaycul. Luzi and Mosst were also looking at Rei and Rhodes with disbelief.

「According to the information we were given, it seems like an organisation called Requiem’s Toll is targeting us.」

Rei replied nonchalantly.

When Luzi and the others heard that, they stopped walking.

Rei and Rhodes continued for a few steps more before noticing the three of them weren’t following, so they also stopped and turned around to ask.

「What’s wrong?」

「……No, what’s wrong with you? You’re being targeted by Requiem’s Toll, so why are you acting so naturally?」

Vaycul asked, unable to believe the state of the people before her.

As someone who worked in the Bestir Empire, she knew the horrors of the organisation known as Requiem’s Toll.

Of course, she had never been directly involved with them.

If she had, she probably wouldn’t be here right now. As one might have guessed, Requiem’s Toll was very well known within the Bestir Empire.

That was why she couldn’t believe how unfazed Rei and Rhodes were, even after being targeted by such an organisation.

「Even if you say that, we are adventurers from the Mireana Kingdom, and, no matter how well known they are in the Bestir Empire, it’s too late to do anything about it now.」

Rei replied casually.

In the first place, Rei had made himself an enemy of the Bestir Empire during the Spring War. He was also currently employed by Vihera and Theorem to assist with actions that might lead to a civil war.

Above all, he had the experience of facing down Noiz, one of only three S rank adventurers in the world. As a result, no matter how infamous Requiem’s Toll was, he didn’t feel much of a threat in comparison.

「Well, I understand what Rei is saying. After working together with my father, there’s no need to worry too much about it……」

The same was true of Rhodes.

Not just the Mireana Kingdom, even the Bestir Empire and other surrounding countries had heard of the title Axe of the Thunder God.

Rhodes was the son of such a person and had seen their near inhuman feats from up close.

Even though he was much weaker than Rei in many ways, Rhodes also didn’t feel much of a sense of crisis after learning of an organisation acting behind the scenes.

「……I heard that they have some people who had compete with A rank adventurers.」

Seeing the two of them like that, Vaycul spoke a bit halfheartedly.

However, the reaction her words caused was unexpected.

「Heh. A rank, did you say?」

Rei had a fierce smile on his lips.

Seeing that up close, Vaycul took a few steps back without even knowing why.

Rei didn’t seem to notice this as he clenched his fast, as if expecting an A rank enemy to attack him.

People called him inhuman, but from Rei’s point of view, Noiz, an S rank adventurer, was the real inhuman one.

He wanted to beat him. With that thought in mind, Rei actually welcomed the possibility of an A rank level enemy.

If he was looking for A rank people, Elk and Min were also A rank adventurers. However, since they had been hired by Daska as bodyguards, there was no way Rei could ask them to help with combat training. And, above all, if Elk and Rei were to seriously engage in combat training, there was a high possibility that the entire surrounding area would be reduced to ashes.

In other words, from Rei’s point of view, in order to fight Noiz……no, in order to defeat Noiz, it was essential to fight against strong enemies. And, if there was someone with A rank level combat power, he hoped they would show up.

「Wait, wait a moment. You’re not thinking of anything strange, are you?」

Vaycul seemed to regain her senses as she asked nervously, but Rei just removed the ferocious smile from his face as he nodded.

「Well, I won’t do anything myself. But, if they are the ones to attack, I believe I’ll have no choice but to deal with them.」

「……You seem very determined……」

Listening in to the two of them, Mosst muttered in shock.

As they walked through the city while holding this somewhat dangerous conversation, passersby began to appear around them again.

The place they had previously been was a location given to Rei by the Eternal Sky Pavilion as a place to train due to its remoteness.

In other words, the forces from Requiem’s Toll had probably attacked them there because there were few people around. That was Rei’s reasoning.

In reality, the assassins had been sent from a completely different organisation, unrelated to Requiem’s Toll, but during their fight, Rei had just assumed them to be from Requiem’s Toll.

That said……because of that misunderstanding, the number of people from that orgnanisation targeting Rei decreased from that day.

After returning, the assassins had informed their higher ups that Rei was being targeted by Requiem’s Toll. Learning that they had been on the verge of stealing a target from Requiem’s Toll, they decided to quietly withdraw against Rei.

What would happen if they got on the bad side of one of the Bestir Empire’s largest and most powerful organisations? They knew what would happen and so made that decision.

Rei, completely unaware of what his actions had caused, suddenly turned his attention in a direction where he smelled a scent that stimulated his appetite.

There was a stall selling skewers with the smell of burning sauce wafting out.

It wasn’t just Rei who stopped. Other passersby also stopped involuntarily as they turned their attention to the stall where the smell was coming from.

「It looks delicious. Would you like to have some?」

The first person to speak was not Rei……but Luzi.

His eyes were already fixed on the meat skewers.

It was the same for the others.

Rhodes had exercised a lot during his mock fights with Rei followed by the assassins’ attack. The other members of Wind Dragon’s Fang, aside from Luzi, didn’t want to miss out on it either.

Of course, there was also Rei.

Just like that, their group headed over to the food stall.

「Welcome. How about our signature skewers? They’re freshly grilled and delicious!」

The stall owner called out to them as another person coated the skewers before putting them over the fire.

The smell of burnt sauce spread out again, stimulating their appetite.

「Give me 5.」

「3 please.」

「3 here as ell.」

「2 is fine.」

Luzi, Mosst, Rhodes, and Vaycul each placed their orders, followed by Rei. However……

「30.」

The amount he ordered was different.

「Eh?」

「Yes?」

The man, who seemed to be the stall owner, and a woman, who seemed to be his wife, looked at Rei, stunned at his order.

That was only natural. The skewers they made were delicious, but they were also more expensive than regular skewers.

Rei had just ordered 30 at once, so maybe they had heard him wrong? They couldn’t help but think that.

However, Rei didn’t seem to correct them as he just repeated his order.

「30 pieces.」

「……Y-Yes, right away!」

The owner hurriedly started to prepare more freshly grilled skewers.

In the mean time, he handed over the amount ordered by everyone else aside from Rei.

Lastly, he handed over Rei’s order.

Fortunately, they had a decent number of skewers prepared after the current ones had finished cooking, so luckily, they were able to fulfill Rei’s order for 30 skewers.

After buying those skewers, Rei and the others left.

They immediately ate the skewers as they exclaimed happily at the rich taste of the sauce and the flavour of the meat.

It was hard to believe that they had just been fighting for their lives against assassins just earlier.

Even after Rei and the others left, the food stall continued to sell skewers……and before long, within the hour, all the skewers they had prepared were sold out.

Many customers wondered why they had only prepared that many skewers, but the stall owner just bowed his head before closing shop.

 

 

「……What did you think after seeing him up close?」

「He’s a monster, isn’t he?」

As they pulled their stall away, two people exchanged words in low voices to prevent others from hearing.

Even if someone had wanted to hear what they were talking about, it would have been lost among the hustle and bustle of the surrounding crowd.

The two of them were actually Mulla and Sistoi, members of Requiem’s Toll.

The two of them had been gathering information on Rei and Daska when they learned that assassins from other organisations were on the move, so they had decided to disguise themselves and observe Rei and the others up close by opening a food stall.

As for why they had gone to all the trouble of opening a food stall, it was because they had heard that Rei was quite greedy for food.

As a result, they had been able to observe the person called Rei up close without any particular difficulty……however, the result was what Sistoi had said.

「Honestly, compared to our previous attack, the impact was quite different. It might have something to do with the time we lost sight of him.」

「……In the end, all we’ve found out is that Crimson has become more formidable, huh.」

When Noiz had come in contact with Rei, Requiem’s Toll had naturally been watching. However, because Noiz had been using a magic item to disguise himself, no one had realised who he was.

As a result, most people, not just the two of them, ended up having no idea that Rei had become more greedy for strength due to the influence of his meeting with Noiz.

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