Seeing that permission to explore the Demon Mountain had been granted, Noiz gave a bow with a small smile and stepped back.

After that, a small round of applause started from within the stadium……before gradually growing louder.

Amidst the sound of applause from the audience, both the general seating and VIP seating, the voice of the noble conducting the ceremony echoed inside the arena once again.

As if replacing Noiz, Rei walked from the edge of the arena to the center.

Then, stopping in front of the tournament management committee member, unlike Noiz from before, he knelt towards the emperor.

Rei didn’t like to kneel in public, but even though it was from a different country, he was still in front of an emperor. Moreover, considering that he was Vihera’s father, Rei felt that it was impossible for him to refuse the action.

Also, not kneeling in front of the emperor was only allowed because Noiz was an S rank adventurer. No matter how well Rei had fought against Noiz, there was no way for him to do the same as a B rank adventurer.

Seeing Rei’s actions, the noble in charge of the award ceremony breathed a sigh of relief.

After what Noiz had done, he had wondered if Rei would similarly ignore etiquette.

The person to breath the biggest sigh of relief was probably Daska, who was watching from the guest seating.

As someone close to Rei, Rei’s attitude would inevitably affect how people viewed Daska as well as the Mireana Kingdom.

If Rei were to ignore courtesy towards the emperor of another country……especially the emperor of the Bestir Empire, which held significant national power, it might even become an international issue due to Daska’s position as a representative of the Mireana Kingdom.

『Runner-up of the fighting tournament, Rei. What would you like as your prize?』

Rei was asked the question as he knelt.

In response, Rei looked up as he responded.

「A magic item that can be used in real battle.」

Even though that was Rei’s reply, he honestly thought that he wouldn’t get anything.

It might have been fine if the prizes were directly award here, but the formal presentation of the prizes would be held in a large ceremony inside the castle at a later date.

(The explosion earlier was probably the work of Vihera and the others. In that case, there is a high probability that the ceremony will not be held at all.)

Hearing Rei’s request, Tragist nodded as he looked down towards Rei from his seat.

「Hmm, I understand. I promise to give the runner-up a suitable magic item. Please look forward to the ceremony in future.」

Rei nodded at Tragist’s words and stood up from his kneeling position before returning to the edge of the arena.

It was quite a big deal that he wouldn’t be able to receive his prize, but Rei was thinking about something more important right now.

That is, Noiz’s request.

Demon Mountain. He could imagine what kind of place it was. And Noiz would probably head there as soon as the tournament finished.

That was why……Rei couldn’t help but have mixed feelings.

(Certainly, in the event of a civil war, the Third Prince’s faction would be grateful to not face Noiz. If Noiz were to support their enemy, who know how much damage they would suffer.)

Yes, if purely considering the chance of victory for the Third Prince’s faction, that was the best course of action. Rei understood that too.

But……

(With no limits on the battlefield……I had wanted to fight against Noiz alongside Set. Set and I make up Crimson. Because of that, I had been thinking of joining up with Vihera.)

In the fighting tournament, due to the size of the arena and past history, it was prohibited to use summoned or tamed monsters in battle.

However, there were no such restrictions on the battlefield.

Considering that, it was only natural for Rei to want to face the wall that was Noiz with all his strength.

(Well, before that, there’s nothing I can do unless I can fully utilise Overlord’s Armour.)

Fighting Noiz meant fighting while moving at high speed using Overlord’s Armour.

In Rei’s current state, Overlord’s Armour consumed a huge amount of magic power to barely wrap around his body. Rei’s analysis was that he might be able to collect Overlord’s Armour to just his feet to enable high speed movement, but it would be very difficult to achieve.

In fact, he had tried to do that in his match against Noiz, even with his inexperience, but he didn’t remember much of it, probably because he was knocked unconscious shortly after.

(It’s far too difficult right now. But even so, I could see the path to reach Noiz. The rest is up to my own strength.)

Thinking to himself, Rei glanced towards Noiz before turning back to the center of the arena when the tournament management committee was gathered.

As if waiting for that moment, Tragist spoke from his seating.

「This year’s combat tournament was wonderful. I was able to see power, skill, magic, and many other things, making me very happy. I am glad to have seen so many battles. It’s a little disappointing when I consider that next year’s tournament will not be as exciting as this year.」

In this year’s combat tournament, the S rank adventurer Noiz had appeared. Furthermore, Rei, who was infamous in the Bestir Empire, had also participated. Both of them held highly valued titles, for better or worse, which was why this year’s fighting tournament was more exciting than usual.

However, the two of them hadn’t been the only celebrities. There were several other A rank adventurers, including the Water Dragon, Digma, who were well known to those in the circle, or those who had made a name for themselves in their home villages, towns, and cities.

Still, if Noiz and Rei hadn’t participated in this year’s tournament, no one would be able to confidently say it would have been as exciting as it was.

(Besides……it’s unclear whether there will be a fighting tournament next year.)

Rei glanced over at Noiz, who was standing next to him, as he thought to himself.

The turmoil that would occur could even develop into a civil war in the Bestir Empire in the worst case.

In general, civil wars tended to last a long time as they were fought within the same country. It wasn’t uncommon for them to end up being more tragic than fighting wars with other countries because the people all belonged to the same country.

(However, I guess that’s what the Mireana Kingdom is aiming for, as it has been at war with the Bestir Empire so many times before.

The Mireana Kingdom……or more precisely, the Neutral and Aristocratic factions involved, hoped that the national power of the Bestir Empire would decrease due to a civil war. Rei could understand the strong feelings regarding that.

The Royalist faction, the largest faction in the Mireana Kingdom, wasn’t involved in any of this, but that had nothing to do with Rei, as a mere adventurer. Elena’s father, Duke Kerebel, and Daska would but the ones to deal with that.

As Rei was thinking about that, Tragist continued speaking.

As the emperor of the Bestir Empire, his charisma was definitely top notch……or even beyond top notch.

(Certainly, with such a person leading, it is understandable why the Bestir Empire became so powerful. Considering the impression he gives, it all makes sense.)

Tragist’s voice, as it echoed through the stadium, carried something that could gather the attention of all the audience. Just being able to understand that made it worth participating in the tournament.

Although that was what Rei was thinking to himself, he ignored everything that Tragist was saying.

「……-!?」

However, maybe Tragist noticed Rei’s attitude, or maybe it was simply a coincidence.

In any case, Tragist gaze suddenly turned to Rei.

Not to his friend, but to Rei, who was next to Noiz.

Despite that, Tragist continued speaking……while keeping his eyes fixed on Rei, finishing his speach after several more minutes.

(What was that? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was only interested in me from his position as Emperor of the Bestir Empire. However, I don’t think he was looking at me in that way……he can’t know that I’m working together with Vihera and Theorem, right?)

Even though Rei had a slight bad feeling about it, the award ceremony continued as usual.

The formal ceremony would be held at the castle at a later date, so what was held here was just a simple ceremony. Naturally, it didn’t take that long to complete and, once the tournament management committee finished everything they needed to say, the award ceremony naturally concluded.

『Now then, this concludes the award ceremony.』

With the words of the noble in charge of proceedings, applause erupted naturally from the audience.

It wasn’t just from the VIP seating either, but also the general audience.

This rarely happened in previous fighting tournaments. The reason for this was probably because this fighting tournament had been more exciting than ever.

Rei and Noiz left the arena with such applause behind them.

 

 

Many people saw the two of them……or more precisely, Rei, leave.

They all had their own thoughts, but for now, they had no choice but to see him off in silence.

Hatred, admiration, envy, respect. Amidst the gazes, which carried a wide variety of emotions, one person muttered out loud.

「……He really is a monster.」

His voice was low and, since this was the general audience seating, none of the people in his surroundings heard his voice as they all exchanged their thoughts on the tournament.

Yes. Except for the person next to him.

「Yeah. Even when we attacked him, he didn’t use his full strength and went easy.」

If Rei were here, he probably would have taken out the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring and slashed at them. Or maybe he would throw a spear or use his newly acquired magic item Nebula’s Eye to shoot arrowheads at them.

Regardless of the method, there was no doubt that Rei would have attacked them.

That was because the two people were Mulla and Sistoi, who had blended in with the audience. The assassins from Requiem’s Toll who had attempted to kill Rei a few days ago.

Sistoi had been stabbed in the back by a poisoned dagger that had been thrown back at him, but as a member of Requiem’s Toll and one with top class skills, he had managed to avoid instant death from the poison and had managed to recover by using potions and antidotes to heal his injuries.

The most surprising thing was that Sistoi, who had been on the verge of death, was now able to walk around normally, just after a few days.

Although the potion they had used was expensive, it was still only possible due to Sistoi’s own physical body.

「He copied the skill that Noiz was using, right?」

「It seems so. From the look of it, his usage was still extremely immature, but I don’t want to believe he actually stole the skill of an S rank adventurer.」

「……Perhaps, if he sees a skill even once, he can imitate it? That’s not too out of the ordinary, is it?」

Sistoi fell silent at Mulla’s words.

Certainly, thinking about it normally, it would be absolutely impossible. But, since they had just witnessed the impossible, he couldn’t deny the possibility.

And, there was also Rei’s strength back in the waiting room……thinking back to it, it could only be described as a one sided beat down. He couldn’t deny that Rei was that strong, even when he wasn’t using his full strength.

Seeing Sistoi in such a state, Mulla frowned in annoyance as she continued speaking.

「Hey, snap out of it. Since Rei is such a monster, what measures can we take?」

「I don’t know……but, we have no choice but to figure something out. We can’t just abandon our job.」

Mulla sighed at Sistoi’s words.

As an assassin for Requiem’s Toll, there was no way she could give up such a serious job.

They were indebted to the organisation for taking care of them in the past and there were also some people within the organisation that they were close to.

Throwing away this job from Requiem’s Toll meant throwing all that away……not to mention they might even be hunted down.

However, from Mulla’s perspectve, if asked if they could do anything to Rei after seeing today’s battles, all she could say was that it would be extremely difficult.

That was why she thought it might be easier to work something out with Requiem’s Toll than to fight Rei.

「Well, even I think that, it’s not something we can do……the next opportunity will be the castle.」

They had already received information that Vihera was rampaging around in the castle.

With Rei and Vihera’s friendly relationship, there was a possibility that Rei was involved as well, if they aimed for that……Sistoi nodded in response to Mulla’s words.

Like so, the two assassins from Requiem’s Toll readied themselves to thrust their fangs at Rei once more.

[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]