「Damn it!」

With a shout, the table in the room was destroyed by a fist that was swung down.

This was a waiting area for competitors in the fighting tournament, the tables that were placed here were quite sturdy, but it still wasn’t strong enough to withstand Rhode’s fist.

But……even after destroying the table in front of him, the anger and humiliation in Rhodes’ heart did not fade.

「Rei……what am I to him? I’m not even an obstacle to him!」

The words he spoke only cause his irritation to grow stronger.

He understood that. But his feelings of anger and frustration didn’t care fore reason.

In the first place, Rei didn’t even know about his feelings for Vihera.

But still……he couldn’t supress the feeling in his chest.

Hate, jealousy, envy, irritation……he held all those feelings within him.

Even Rhodes felt it was strange. But still……he clenched his fist as he helplessly tried to hit the remains of the table in front of him.

「That’s not very impressive, taking it out on a table.」

At the voice that suddenly rang out inside the waiting area, Rhodes reflexively turned to face it with murderous eyes.

Standing there……was a man in his 20’s.

However, the man’s appearance would be better described as effeminate.

Because it reminded Rhodes of Rei to a certain extent, it was only natural that Rhodes’ responded the way he did.

「I’m sorry, but I don’t want to deal with anyone right now. Please go away.」

「I thought it was quite amazing that you made it to the third round in your first time participating.」

However, the man just spoke as if he hand’t heard Rhodes at all.

His attitude only reminded Rhodes even more of Rei as glared at the man.

「Go away. I’ve told you. Didn’t you hear me?」

「Still, Crimson’s strength is far superior to others. There is not doubt that the finals of this tournament will be between Immovable and Crimson.」

「……I’ll say it one last time. Go away.」

An ultimatum. It wasn’t just a threat. Murderous intent started to radiate from Rhodes’ body.

The man with him was clearly weaker than him. However, he continued to act in a very irritating way, as if dealing with Rhodes was nothing at all.

「I get it, are you trying to pick a fight with me? Then I’ll take it……!」

With those words, Rhodes leaped at the man to slam his fist into his face……but just as he was about to do that, a hand suddenly reached out, grabbing his wrist.

His fist was stopped, protecting the man. Even if it wasn’t a full force punch from Rhodes, the fact that his punch was stopped by being grabbed from the side showed that the person had completely seen through the movement of his attack.

Just now, there had only been one person in the room with Rhodes, so where had the other person come from?

The two men continued their conversation, ignoring Rhodes’ confusion.

「See, that’s why I told you, right? Your attitude is annoying to ordinary people. You should have just stayed quiet and left it to me.」

「Why? I’m just doing things rationally, right? In the first place, if I leave it to you, this guy might end up useless. There’s no point in doing that, so that’s why I told you to leave it to me.」

「……Well, he’s only this strong. To begin with, he can’t even take me on……」

Rhodes’ face twitched as he heard the conversation taking place while his hand was still held down.

Just as he was already irritated, the two men had appeared, ignoring him and acting as if he wasn’t worth dealing with.

「Don’t……joke…….」

As Rhodes seethed, the man grabbing his wrist turned his attention back to him.

He had a surprised expression on his face, as if he couldn’t understand why Rhodes was angry with him.

「What, what’s going on? Oh, I’m sorry, we’ll talk to you later. Right now we need to talk about this……」

However, the man’s light tone only made Rhodes even angrier.

「Don’t joke around!」

Ignoring the man grabbing his wrist, Rhodes forcibly pulled it back.

He then reached for the sword at his waist.

That said, he wasn’t completely out of his mind yet. Instead of pulling out his sword, he just swung it along with the sheath towards the man who had been grabbing his wrist.

「Oh-! What’s this all of a sudden?」

The man took a step back as the sheath swung at him. The sheath swung by a few centimeters in from of the man’s face, it seemed like he had seen through the attack after seeing Rhodes use it in his match against Rei.

The first spoke up in surprise as he watched on.

「I told you already when I was advising His Highness. This Rhodes has some skill, but his personality makes him prone to exploding.」

「No, this is your fault, not mine, right?」

The man spoke as he dodged Rhodes’ repeated attacks with no sign of impatience in his expression at all.

As if this situation were a common occurence, they continued to talk as the man avoided Rhodes’ attacks.

Because of this, Rhodes felt like he was being looked down on and he increased the speed of his attacks.

But, as the blood rushed to his head, his attacks natrually grew rougher. ……Eventually, the man got tired of dodging his attacks and caught the sheathe swung at him with his bare hands.

「Hey, mind easing up on me? There’s no way you can hit me with your skills, right? Let’s approach things more realistically.」

「You-!」

Those words made him very angry. Rhodes wanted to shout in anger, but the man who had first called out to Rhodes spoke first, interrupting him.

「Bratta, get over it. I came here to draw him in, what’s the point in making him angry?」

「……No, but weren’t you the one to make him angry first, Sobble?」

The man called Bratta replied, looking somewhat taken aback, but the man called Sobble didn’t seem to care as he called out to Rhodes.

「Right then, there seems to have been some misunderstanding……let me introduce myself again. My name is Sobble. Along with Bratta, I serve His Highness Kabajid, the First Prince of the Bestir Empire.」

「……What?」

The blood was still rushing to Rhodes’ head, but he stopped his attacks when he heard the words ‘First Prince’.

The First Prince. He was the older brother of Vihera, whom Rhodes had fallen in love with at first sight, and was one of the main opponents stopping the rescue of the Third Prince, who was currently under house arrest.

People working under the First Prince had contacted him? Had they found out his connection to Vihera? That was what Rhodes thought.

However, the other side’s attitude seemed to be quite easy going.

Rhodes wondered to himself if this could be an opportunity.

(I might be able to get close to them and gather information, or take action in the case of an emergency……maybe I can help in that way? Fortunately, Rei is still around……)

As he thought about it, Rhodes suddenly had an idea.

He thought that if he joined the other side, he might be able to fight Rei again.

Of course, he had no intention of betraying Daska, Elk, or above all, Vihera. But still, if he could have a rematch Rei……who had so callously trampled on his pride, that would be the greatest reward of all.

Once he had collected all his thoughts, he lowered his sheathed sword that he had pointed at Bratta.

「Tell me more.」

Although he had complicated feelings towards Rei, their plans might still be useful to Vihera.

Bratta and Sobble couldn’t believe the sudden change in Rhodes’ attitude and although it wasn’t the most obvious, Bratta tried to say something.

However, Sobble stopped him with a look.

Originally, even Sobble hadn’t through that Rhodes would truly pledge his allegiance to Kabajid, he could tell that his actions were based on some sort of calculation.

It’s not that he didn’t have his own thoughts about it, but having Rhodes as a pawn would be useulf. And, above all, if he knew that Rhodes had his own agenda, he could treat him accordingly from the start.

「Then Rhodes, let me ask you. Will you pledge your allegiance to His Highness Kabajid and become his friend?」

「……That’s right. As you you, I have my own reasons for wanting to join you. I cannot swear allegiance to His Highness Kabajid, but I can assure you I will be a useful force.」

Hearing what Rhodes had to say, Bratta gave an unamused snort.

「Hmph, you’re telling us you’ll be of use with your skills? The best you could do would be to not hold us back.」

From Bratta’s point of view, he probably didn’t like the fact that Rhodes was receiving special treatment from Sobble, despite being weaker than him.

Sobble spoke to interrupt Bratta as he invited Rhodes.

「It’s true that Rhodes isn’t particularly strong right now. However, if he’s weak right now, he just needs to get stronger.」

Sobble’s words weren’t something that Rhodes, who wanted a rematch with Rei, could ignore.

「What……do you mean? Is there a way to get stronger that easily?」

「It’s true that it’s impossible to make you stronger from the ground up. However, for example, you could change your long sword and leather armour for magic weapons and armour. You could also change your accessories, such as bracelets, anklets, necklaces, and earrings to magic items as well.」

「……Would you give me those magic items?」

Rhodes was skeptical, but it was only natural as most magic items were expensive.

However, Sobble responded with a faint smile, as if it wasn’t a problem.

「Our master is His Highness Kabajid, the one most likely to become the heir to the throne. Moreover, the Bestir Empire had put a lot of effort into alchemy, so magic items are not that rare. If I say that much, you will believe me, right?」

「I see. It’s true that the First Prince would be able to access magic items as he wants.」

「That is right. However, I can’t have you meet His Highness Kabajid directly……now then, is it okay to assume you will join us?」

At Sobble’s question, Rhodes hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding.

「Yes. If I can really become stronger than I am now……and if I can have a rematch with Rei, I’ll gladly cooperate with you.」

「……Hm. If that’s the case, we would be happy to welcome you.」

Rhodes grasped Sobble’s outstretched hand.

Of course, Rhodes had no intention of remaining loyal to Kabajid to the very end. He had no intention of betraying Vihera.

However……a rematch with Rei was definitely appealing.

Since they wanted to bring him to their side, Rhodes could guess that Kabajid probably wanted to set something up regarding his father, Rei, or Margrave Daska Rowlocks and wanted to use him for that purpose.

However, Rhodes didn’t mind that being the case.

(That’s my father and Rei. My mother is also there with them. Even if something were to happen, I’m sure they will be able to deal with it if I pass the information on to them. ……That said, Rei, I will fight you again. I’ll make sure I fight you again.)

As Rhodes was thinking like that, Sobble let go of his hand and turned to Bratta.

Bratta sensed something that annoyed him from Sobble’s gaze as he frowned.

「……What?」

「Now that Rhodes is a friend of ours, I would like Bratta to train him, what do you think?」

Bratta had an annoyed expression, as if the topic was as troublesome as he had expected.

「Why do I have to go out of my way to train him? It’s not like I approved of him joining us.」

「That’s why I’m asking you to do it. You are one of the strongest among us. If he trains with someone like you, he will be able to raise his level of skill. How to put it. You understand his personality. In that sense, I think he’s a good match to train under you, right?」

Although the words were half flattering, there was no doubt that it also contained Sobble’s true feelings.

Bratta was definitely one of the strongest fighters in the First Prince’s faction.

To keep an eye on Rhodes, in case he was thinking of doing anything funny, and to improve his skill. Sobble’s proposal was aimed at hitting two birds with one stone.

As for Bratta, there was no way he would be unhappy with being praised. Especially considering Sobble was always nagging him.

「Hm, hmm. Well, if you’re going to say that much, I guess I’ll train him a little? ……Hey, Rhodes. I’ll train you, so come with me.」

With those words, Bratta pulled Rhodes along with him.

Seeing that, Sobble smiled in satisfaction.

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