「Guh, geh……」

Rhodes, who had fallen to the ground, groaned as he stood up……before realising he was missing his left arm and collapsing to the ground again.

Blood continued to flow from his left arm, where it was missing from the elbow, but the amount of blood flowing out wasn’t that high.

Rei was puzzled for a moment as he picked up Rhodes left arm, that was lying on the ground, before remembering the potion that Rhodes had drank during the fight.

「I see, it must have been a fairly high quality potion.」

Rei figured it must have been thanks to the potion that Rhodes wasn’t bleeding that much as he walked over to him.

The referee was already there, lending his shoulder to Rhodes as he helped him up.

「I’ll help too. You’ll need to reattach his arm.」

「Sorry about this, thanks.」

「……Hmph.」

Hearing the referee’s words of thanks, Rhodes seemed a little unhappy……more precisely, he snorted as he looked away from Rei.

That said, the atmosphere wasn’t too bad. Although he was disappointed in his loss, he had still been able to perform to the best of his ability.

Knowing that, Rei held the Death Scythe as well as Rhodes’ left arm, which was now barely bleeding, as they walked to the edge of the stage.

There, he held the severed left arm against Rhodes’ injury before he left the stage.

「……Oh?」

When he left the stage, Rhodes’ body flashed for a moment and, before he knew it, his arm, which had been cut off by Rei’s Death Scythe, was firmly reattached to his body. It was as if everything had just been a dream.

If his arm had actually disappeared, it would have been re-created from nothing. But, since his actual arm was still in one piece, it was just fused back.

「This……is amazing.」

Rei murmured.

Of course, Rei knew that once Rhodes left the stage, his injuries would heal……or more accurately, would disappear as if it had never happened.

However, for better or worse, Rei had never inflicted a wound on his opponent that had caused a limb to be amputated in the tournament. Because of that, this was the first time he had seen such a serious injury disappear so completely.

He had used attacks that broke the bones of his opponent, but it was much harder to see the recovery effect on broken bones from the outside.

「It is, isn’t it? It’s because of this that even though the matches can be very intense, there are almost no fatalities. It’s the key to this tournament.」

The referee responded proudly after hearing Rei’s words.

There’s no reason for you to be so proud, right? Rei thought of that, but considering they were able to use an ancient relic like this, he supposed it was only natural to brag about it.

「Yeah, it really is amazing. The pain is completely gone.」

Rhodes murmured as well as he clutched his left arm.

In all of Rhodes’ tournament victories so far, he had not only injured his opponent, but also himself.

However, most of his injuries were just scratches or minor cuts. While he had seen others lose limbs in the tournament, it hadn’t happened to him before.

「Well, I’m glad you’re fine. I don’t know what Elk and Min would have said if you stayed injured.」

Rei spoke to Rhodes as he gave a sigh of relief.

At those words, Rhodes nodded as he gave a wry smile……then, looking at Rei again, he remembered that he had lost.

No, he knew that he had lost, but he had been so focused on the loss of his arm up until now.

In any case, after Rhodes realised that his arm was back to normal, so did the realisation that he had lost to Rei.

The high quality potion he had used was something he had bought with his own money. Even though he had used it out of desperation, a trump card in some sense, Rei had overpowered him without using any form of attacks other that counters.

It was a complete defeat that he could say nothing to.

(Did I……lose? Does that mean I was unable to retaliate at all?)

As those thoughts floated into his mind, he realised what it also meant as an empty feeling welled up in his chest.)

(How can I defeat Rei……I need to show Vihera-san how strong I am. I lost so easily and couldn’t even cause Rei to get serious……)

The more Rhodes thought about it, the more he fell into self loathing due to his misery and lack of strength.

From Rei’s point of view, Rhodes, who had been talking normally up until now, had suddenly become very despondent. As expected, Rei couldn’t help but be concerned as he reached out for Rhodes’ shoulder.

「Hey, Rhodes.」

But, the moment Rei’s hand touched Rhodes’ shoulder.

「Don’t touch me!」

With a sharp voice that echoed out around him……even to the audience seating, Rhodes flicked away Rei’s hand.

That action was done almost on reflex.

「……Rhodes?」

Why did he suddenly respond like this? Just a few minutes ago, they had been talking normally after the end of the match.

It couldn’t be helped as Rei didn’t know what Rhodes was thinking about, but his next words felt extremely cruel to Rhodes.

「Well, don’t worry about it. It’s not like you’re at your limit now either. You’ll get even stronger from here.」

The person who defeated him. And the person that his first love held feelings for.

How humiliating and pitiful must it have been for Rhodes to hear words of comfort from such a person?

Because of that, it was unavoidable for Rhodes to turn to look at Rei with murderous eyes.

「……e……upid……」

「Rhodes?」

「Don’t be stupid!」

With that shout, Rhodes pointed the tip of his long sword at Rei.

The murderous intent he gave off made it feel like he was someone completely different.

Rei was confused for a moment as to what was going on, but since he was being attacked with murderous intent, he couldn’t just stand there as he moved to ready the Death Scythe……

「That’s enough!」

At this moment, a voice rang out.

Turning to see who it was, it was the referee.

The referee looked at Rei and Rhodes with a sharp gaze.

「Trouble between competitors during the fighting tournament will result in disqualification. I believe you were told this when you joined, right? No matter who you are, the rule does not change.」

『……』

Hearing the referee’s words, Rhodes and Rei looked at each other silently before lowering their weapons.

Even so, the tense atmosphere between them did not ease up.

It would be dangerous for things to stay this way, so the referee made a decision as he spoke out.

「Your match has finished. There’s still another match, so you two should hurry up and get out of here.」

Hearing the referee’s words, Rhodes cast one last murderous gaze at Rei before leaving.

As Rei saw Rhodes leave, he was very confused as he left in the other direction, having no point in staying here any further.

The referee gave a sigh of relief as he watched the two of them leave, although he didn’t show it on his face.

Fighting on the arena was one thing, but if a fight were to break out here, there was no doubt that the outcome would be horrific in various ways.

At the very least, if it had been on the stage……the referee couldn’t help but think about what he had heard earlier and concluded that their conversation after the match had been the cause for all this.

The referee hadn’t been the only one chilled by the exchange between Rhodees and Rei. So were the audience.

And, out of the audience, Elk and Min, who had been watching from the VIP seating, were the most concerned.

However……on the contrary, some people smiled enthusiastically after seeing what had happened.

「That man……he had complex feelings towards Crimson, including resentment, admiration, hatred, and friendship. What’s more, he had been barely maintaining a balance, but after this match, the scales shifted greatly to the negative side. He seems quite useful as a pawn.」

「Is that so? Well, I won’t deny we could try to bring him in. But, would he be of any use to His Highness Kabajid at his skill level?」

As the two men exchanged words, one of them voice their concerns.

However, the other man just responded as if it were natural.

「Of course.」

「……With that level of strength? From the looks of it, he should only have a level of skill matching his rank, right?」

「It’s true that his strength is only that of a C rank. But, you have a misunderstanding. In the first place, C rank adventurers are considered strong people already. Besides……he is useful. I don’t mean in terms of pure strength. Rather, it’s Axe of the Thunder God and Crimson. Since he’s familiar with them, he will be the perfect pawn to use against them.」

「What, not pure strength? ……Then I don’t care.」

One of the men lost interest in Rhodes entirely, like a child throwing away a toy he no longer cared about.

The other man could only smile bitterly at his words.

The man was very straightforward in a sense. You could even say that he had grown up keeping this straightforward mindset. Although it made him a little difficult to deal with, he was still a good companion to have at his side.

「Hey, let’s go. Anyway, for now, I will ask His Highness to intercede on the matter of Rhodes. If I get permission, I’ll make a move.」

「Hmmm……well, if you’re going to make a move, I guess I’ll make a move as well. If possible, I’d like to fight Crimson.」

Rei had never showed the depths of his strength, even in his fight against Rhodes.

The man must have been interested in his skill. However……his partner just tapped him lightly on the head.

「Calm down. If you were to fight, the arena would collapse. Besides, I know your strength and I trust you, but Crimson’s strength is also unparalleled. At least for now, you won’t have a chance to fight.」

「Ehh……not even a little bit?」

「Not even a little bit.」

「……Really?」

Of course not. The man was about to say that, but seeing the look in his partner’s eyes, he decided not to say anything.

His partner had the eyes of a carnivore who just had the finest meat placed before him……it was that kind of expectant gaze.

If he were to speak carelessly here, his partner might go straight to Crimson to test his strength.

But, fortunately, the man had the magic words that could quiet down his partner immediately.

It would lose its effectiveness if used too many times, but now was the time to use it.

「If you act selfishly here, His Highness Kabajid will be angry.」

No other words would have had a bigger effect.

His partner, who had been about to look for Crimson, changed completely.

「I-I know, I know. I’m not going to go charging in without thinking. Don’t tell anything to His Highness, okay? Okay? Okay?」

「It’s fine. If you just stay calm and listen to me, you won’t have to worry about it.」

「……Hmph.」

As if those words bothered him, he sat down with a snort.

The other man let out a sigh of relief as confirmed that his partner had given up on his plans for now.

(First of all……I have to set up an opportunity to make contact with Rhodes. I can’t completely let my guard down when it comes to the nobles belonging to other factions as well as His Majesty the Emperor. Also, the Third Prince’s faction……do we need to prepare more forces?)

As the man thought about what needed to be done from here on out, he considered how he should advise his master on what needed to be done and who should do it. Although he voiced his complaints out loud, his expression was undeniably happy.

 

 

「It just happened all of a sudden.」

Inside a waiting area, Rei couldn’t help but mutter to himself as he recalled his exchange with Rhodes after the match.

There was no one else in the waiting area right now aside from him.

Competitors might have been assigned their own waiting areas, now that the tournament had progressed to the third round. Either way, Rei thought it was a good thing that he was the only one here.

From Rei’s point of view, he couldn’t understand why Rhodes had been so angry, so as a result, he had an unpleasant feeling in his heart.

He knew that if he tried to talk to Rhodes in his current state, more problems would probably occur as a result.

「Well, there’s no choice but to leave Rhodes to Elk. If Min steps in as well, I guess things will be sorted out in no time.」

Rhodes had a strong, maybe even excessive, love for his parents, so Rei felt that things would work out somehow.

In fact, considering all the time he had spent with Rhodes up until now, the issue would certainly be resolved easily.

At least, that was what Rei thought.

The extent of his naivety became clear when Rhodes did not return to the Eternal Sky Pavilion that night.

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