「Hah, hah, hah……」

As the setting sun shone through, Rhodes lay sprawled on the ground while panting.

A nearby person, not Bratta……someone that Rhodes had never seen before, sighed as he looked at Rhodes.

That said, it was probably the same for the other person. In fact, considering the First Prince’s faction as a whole, Rhodes was a very late entry.

「What’s wrong, are you out of breath already? How did you manage to get into the main tournament like this?」

「You, have any idea hour many hours……I spent in mock battles?」

Rhodes finally managed to catch his breath while speaking, but the other person……a woman in her late 20’s to early 30’s, about 10 years older than Rhodes, cut off his words in a blunt tone.

「I don’t know. In the first place, all Bratta told me was to spar with you.」

「A spar……is this what this is!?」

Rhodes couldn’t help but shout out.

But, that was only natural. Rhodes’ body was bruised all over, it was probably even worse under his armour.

However, the woman just nodded back as if it were only natural.

「Of course. Normally, actual combat would be the best way to improve your skills, but if you did something like that, you’ll end up getting injured. Right now, we need to conserve potions as much as possible. This is just a spar.」

At the woman’s words, Rhodes suddenly thought of something and as he pretended to ask casually.

「Why do you need to conserve potions? I want to train as much as I can, so I would like to use potions. No, rather, before this, I could still use potions. Isn’t it cruel to take them away?」

「Hmph, is that what you say when you’re in a state that can’t even be considered injured? It really shows how spoiled you have been.」

「……So, you’re not planning on letting me use potions?」

「No.」

Rhodes was a bit puzzled as he expressed his dissatisfaction.

「If you’re from the First Prince’s faction, you should have plenty of funds, right? Why do you need to save so much? We were just using potions this morning.」

「According to some information we received a few hours ago, there seems to be some people making a move. I guess Bratta is looking to crush them and score some brownie points with the Prince. Which is why I’m here instead of Bratta.」

「……I don’t know what to say, but is it okay to say things like that about the person you serve? Won’t you be punished for lese majeste?」

At Rhodes’ words, the woman snorted with a smile.

「His Highness Kabajid isn’t that narrow minded. ……Besides, have you got your breath back? The sun hasn’t completely set, so let’s keep training for a bit longer.」

Saying that, the woman pointed the tip of her training sword at Rhodes.

Rhodes, who had only just recovered his breath, hurriedly spoke up, hoping to have a little more time to gather his strength.

「W-Wait. To start, I don’t even know your name yet. I’m glad you’re training me, but please at least tell me your name!」

That was right, Rhodes didn’t even know the name of the woman who had beaten him up so badly.

He was originally supposed to train with Bratta, but something urgent had come up and the woman in front of him had suddenly showed up as a replacement.

Then, after meeting Rhodes, they had start a mock battle without even introducing themselves……the result was Rhodes’ current state.

Hearing Rhodes’ desperate cry, the woman tilted her head before nodding in understanding.

「Now that you mention it, you’re right. My name is Pelfiel. I’ll be in your care.」

「Y-Yeah. As you know, I am Rhodes.」

「I see. Well then, Rhodes. Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, let get back to sparring……」

Let’s get back sparring.

As Pelfiel said those words, she stopped as she turned to look at the entrance towards the training ground.

There, a single soldier was heading towards them……or more precisely, towards Pelfiel.

「Pelfiel-sama, there is a report for you.」

「What is it?」

「That is, if possible, it’s only meant for Pelfiel-sama……」

The soldier turned to look at Rhodes as he spoke, seeming to wonder if he should be allowed to hear it.

(It’s no surprise I guess.)

Rhodes thought to himself as he looked at the soldier, who seemed to be from the First Prince’s faction.

After all, he had just become their ally……and he was an adventurer who belonged to the Mireana Kingdom, a nation hostile to the Bestir Empire. It would be unreasonable to not be suspicious.

That was what Rhodes thought, but Pelfiel responded saying that it didn’t matter.

「Rhodes has become one of our allies. Considering that, I don’t mind talking about the report here as long as it’s not a highly confidential matter. ……Is it a highly confidential matter?」

「No, that is……not that much.」

Pelfiel asked for confirmation and the soldier shook his head.

「Then I don’t mind.」

「……I understand.」

The soldier hesitated for a moment a Pelfiel’s words before speaking.

「It appears there was a commotion in the arena.」

Hearing those words, Rhodes’ twitched.

He didn’t know what the commotion was……but considering what he had heard before.

(Rei……what happened?)

Rhodes thought to himself as he focused on not missing a single word from the soldier. But, because of that, he didn’t notice that Pelfiel’s eyes were on him.

「The disturbance was caused by Crimson, Rei……or rather, the people that attack him. The attackers seemed to be from Requiem’s Toll and brainwashed dolls were used.」

「……Them?」

Hearing the soldier’s words, Pelfiel looked away from Rhodes as she muttered in disgust.

For Pelfiel, who considered herself a knight, it was difficult to accept the existence of people such as assassins and thugs.

「It’s not certain, but it shouldn’t be anyone else.」

「So, what about Crimson?」

「Of course he’s safe. In fact, he captured one of the people who attacked him. The captured person has been handed over to the guards by the tournament management committee and is currently being held is isolation.」

「Huh. Even someone who was turned into a doll was captured, are they still conscious? That’s quite a clumsy move for Requiem’s Toll.」

A smile appeared on Pelfiel’s lips as she muttered out loud.

Requiem’s Toll and Crimson. Pelfiel didn’t really like either of them, but if you were to ask here which one she hated less, it would be Crimson, who didn’t seem to make underhanded moves.

Next to Pelfiel, Rhodes let out a sigh of relief.

「Good for you, your nemesis is safe and sound.」

「I expected that much. In the first place, it’s Rei, right? I didn’t think someone who could beat my father would lose to assassins.」

Facing Rhodes, who gave a snort, Pelfiel continued speaking, as if teasing him.

「You seem quite relieved?」

「That’s because……well, it would be troublesome if he were to die before I could beat him.」

「Hmm, let’s leave it at that.」

Rhodes frowned slightly at the words that seemed to see through his thoughts, but Pelfiel didn’t seem to care as she prompted the soldier who had brought the report to continue.

「We have received orders that there is no need to make any particular moves. So, I don’t think there is any need for you to be concerned about this, Pelfiel-sama.」

「I see. That’s a bit of a shame.」

Rhodes, who had been listening in to Pelfiel and the soldier, couldn’t help but ask.

「A shame?」

「Yeah. Perhaps this would have been a good opportunity to meet with Crimson. He’s the one who almost single handedly annihilated the Bestir Empire’s army in the Spring War, determining the outcome. I would like to meet such a person. Is that strange?」

「……I’m telling you, I’ll be the one to fight him.」

He was here to fight Rei and to gain the strength to fight him, so he absolutely couldn’t tolerate someone else stealing his target.

Seeing Rhodes’ look at her with that expression, Pelfiel shrugged her shoulders.

「I know. It’s not like I want to fight Crimson either. I just want to meet him once. ……Besides, it seems like you’ve recovered enough strength to fight. If you want to fight Crimson, you’re still very lacking in power. Let’s continued training to gain that power.」

As she held onto her training sword, Pelfiel spoke with an amused smile on her lips.

「……I know.」

Rhodes couldn’t complain after Rei’s name was brought up and he readied the training long sword in his hands as he stood up.

The soldier who had brought the report on Rei looked at Rhodes with a bit of pity before bowing his head and leaving.

If he stayed, he might end up getting dragged into Pelfiel’s training. He knew that.

Pelfiel was one of the most rational people in the First Prince’s faction and she was considerate of her subordinates and friends while keeping an unwavering loyalty towards Prince Kabajid.

In that sense, Pelfiel was an ideal companion to have, if it weren’t for her fondness for training.

Even though she mostly trained on her own, she would always invite others to join. Moreover, as someone at the same level as Bratta, even among the First Prince’s faction, it was certain that he would go through hell if Pelfiel forced him to join the training.

……That said, the effectiveness of Pelfiel’s training was undoubtedly high.

「UOOOOOOOOH-!」

「What’s the matter, naive, naive! If you do that, not only will you not beat Crimson, you’ll even to lose to soldiers in the arena!」

The soldier left while hearing such cries behind him.

 

 

「Hah, hah, hah. ……That damn woman. Does she even know what she’s doing?」

Rhodes was the only one left in the area and, about five minutes after Pelfiel left, he finally regained his breath as he stood back up.

In the end, Rhodes had been forced to spar until he could barely stand. After confirming that there was no one around, he let out a sigh.

(Some movements and the restrictions on the use of potions……no matter how I look at it, it’s probably the Third Prince’s faction. Even though there are only a few days to go, to be discovered now……it hurts. Anyhow, I need to let them know about this……)

Although it was necessary to inform someone, the biggest problem was that he didn’t know who to inform.

He had met Keuken in the morning, but that was only because she had been the one to meet with him, he had no way to contact her himself.

(It would be nice if I could make contact with someone from the Third Prince’s faction that Keuken had mentioned.

He sighed as he headed for the room he was given.

Even though it was now autumn and a lot cooler, after moving about vigorously for several hours, he was still sweating profusely.

Rhodes planned to wash off his sweat first, but……

「Um, please use this.」

Before he realised it, a maid, who had been some distance away before, handed him a cloth.

「Oh? Thanks. I had just wanted to wipe off my sweat……-!?」

The reason Rhodes suddenly gasped mid sentence was because of the dagger the maid was holding under the cloth.

There was no mistaking it. It was the same dagger that Keuken had.

In other words……

「Wha-!?」

「Please be quiet.」

The Third Prince’s faction. Rhodes was about to say something when the maid stopped him sharply.

She had confirmed that there weren’t any people close enough to hear what they were saying, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t any people good enough at hiding that she couldn’t detect them.

「From your information, I have since heard that Crimson has repelled the attack against him.」

「Y-Yeah. No. I already heard about that.」

「That seems to be so.」

The maid seemed to realise that. She didn’t seem particularly disappointed as she spoke in a matter of fact manner.

「Then, do you have any new information?」

This was probably the main topic. Understanding that, Rhodes flashed a bitter smile for a moment before becoming serious.

Wiping his face with the cloth, he told the maid the information he had heard from Pelfiel.

「Please be careful. It seems that the First Prince’s faction is making some moves. They didn’t explicitly say it was the Third Prince’s faction, but they seem sure that something big will happen soon. There are now restrictions on the use of potions.」

The information that Rhodes spoke seemed unexpected even for the maid as she revealed a slight expression of surprise.

「That’s……a little faster than expected. It would have been better if they had found out later, but……」

「I guess so. Also, do you know anything about the female knight called Pelfiel?」

「Yes, she’s a strong fight among the First Prince’s faction, so I have information on her.」

As he rested his body and wiped away his sweat with the cloth, Rhodes continued to exchange information with the maid.

……However, from the outside, it just looked like a meeting between Rhodes and a maid.

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