「AHHHHHHHH-! Don’t mess with me, don’t mess with me, don’t mess with meeee-!」

Along with the angry, or rather desperate, voice, a battle axe was swung down towards Rei.

The blow would have smashed a normal human’s head in half before they would even know what was happening.

But, the person in front of the man was Rei. He didn’t even raise his Death Scythe……as he had done so many times before, and just gently stretched out his free left hand above his head.

The man smiled for a moment when he saw that.

The tournament had ended and bandits were now targeting those returning to their home towns and villages from the Imperial Capital.

The bandit group led by the man had made money attacking dozens of travelers before, and he had judged that this time would be no different.

The decision wasn’t wrong on its own. The three adventurers employed as guards were quickly killed by his own group of nearly 30 bandits, due to the difference in numbers.

But, after killing the guards, as they turned their fangs towards their prey……the Grim Reaper appeared.

Yes, a literal Grim Reaper. A man with a with a Griffon, known as the Reaper of the Sky, showed up.

His face was hidden by the hood on his robe, but the man could still tell it was a small person.

That said, he had appeared riding on the Griffon, so the man hadn’t let his guard down by any means.

Just like the adventurers before, he tried to push through with sheer numbers……but a giant scythe had appeared out of nowhere, cutting several people in half. When they saw their lives end, organs and blood splattering all around, they realised that the person before them was nothing less than a symbol of death.

But, it was already too late as the enemy’s giant scythe swung like a dance, slaughtering the bandits one after the other.

One of the bandits tried to take a traveler hostage, but he was easily blown away by an attack from the Griffon’s front claws. Despite wearing some kind of leather armour, he died in one strike with his internal organs scattered everywhere, just like the bandits killed by the giant scythe.

As the number of bandits was gradually reduced, the man, who was also the bandit leader, overheard what some of the travelers were saying.

That the person before him was the runner up of the fighting tournament, a high ranking B rank adventurer……and one with the title of Crimson.

The bandit leader heard that was was shocked……and by the time his few seconds of shock ended, he was the only one left in his bandit group.

All of his subordinates, who he had lived with for so many years, were all dead.

No matter what he did, he wouldn’t be able to leave this place alive. Having reached that conclusion, the man roared as he swung his battle axe down at the small person before him……Rei.

An attack with all his might.

If it it, even a high ranking adventurer would be injured. Perhaps he could take advantage of the opportunity to escape……or even kill Rei.

Such thoughts flashed through his mind for a moment.

Part of the reason was that Rei had raised his empty left had to protect himself instead of his scythe.

With such an impulsive action, there was no way he could protect himself.

However……the bandit leader’s confidence disappeared the next moment……as his consciousness faded into darkness.

「……Damn it. I guess I still haven’t mastered it.」

Rei frowned slightly as he deactivated Overlord’s Armour.

At the same time, the magic power wrapped around him, compressed to the point it was visible, disappeared like mist.

Overlord’s Armour had only be activated for a few seconds. It had been activated immediately after the battle axe was swung down and Rei had tried using it to block the blade……but, he hadn’t been able to control his strength and instead of block the blade, he had crushed it like wet newspaper. His momentum had continued and his outstretched hand easily crushed the man’s head as well.

「The power still needs to be adjusted and the magic power consumed is enormous. There’s still a long way to go.」

If there was anyone here who could directly sense or see magic power, they would have noticed that the amount of magic power that Rei had just used to activate Overlord’s Armour was comparable to the output of dozens of mages giving it their all.

Rei, who understood just how much magic power was consumed, frowned slightly.

「Is this after a few seconds of activation? I wonder when I’ll be able to activate it whenever I want, as much as I want, like Noiz.」

He sighed, shaking his head as he looked at the corpse of the bandit, now missing his head……not just his brain, but also his bones, flesh, and blood had been destroyed as it splattered all over the ground.

「Plus, it’s impossible to find out where their hideout is now.」

Everyone he had attacked with the Death Scythe were dead, same for everyone attacked by Set.

Originally, he had intended to head for the bandits’ hideout to take everything they had stored up, but……his aim had completely missed the mark.

「If I can’t control it……it’s hard to use it whenever I want.」

In his conversation with Noiz after the tournament, he had said that even if he mastered Overlord’s Armour, he would do it in a different way to Noiz. But, how far, long, and distant would that road be?

How could he reach the same heights as Noiz? Thinking about it made Rei sigh unconsciously.

The difficulty in controlling Overlord’s Armour only contributed to this.

To give an analogy, it would by like running at full speed, holding a screw less than 1mm in size, putting the screw into the hole where it needed to be, and screwing it in with a screwdriver in the blink of an eye.

Normally, this would be considered impossible, but Overlord’s Armour was something that could only be mastered by doing the impossible.

Noiz, who had completely mastered Overlord’s Armour, was at a level where he could crack open an egg with his left hand while accurately replying to several people talking to him at the same time, in addition to running at full speed with a screw and screwing it in.

「Guru~」

As he looked away from the long road and towards the clear autumn sky, Set, worried about Rei, rubbed his face against him while giving a cry.

For Set, who had been confirmed to the stables for a long time, flying freely through the skies with Rei was a very happy event. That was why Set didn’t want Rei to look as sad as he did right now.

Rei seemed to realise that and stroked Set’s head with a small smile on his face.

All around there were the corpses of the bandits……or rather, what could be best described as bit of flesh of what used to be bandits, scattered all over the ground. It was a scene that some would describe as hellish, but the two of them continued to frolic around without a care.

This was the kind of behaviour they were used to after doing it so many times, but this that was only for Rei and Set.

For the travelers, who had just been attacked by bandits, this wasn’t a relaxing sight to them at all.

But, having just been saved by Rei and Set, they couldn’t leave the two of them alone either.

There was also, no doubt, an ulterior motive that they might be able to replace the adventurer escorts that had been killed by the bandits.

With those thoughts in mind, a man in his forties, who represented the travelers, called out to Rei, who was playing with Set.

「Um……I believe you are Crimson Rei, thank you so much for helping us out this time. It was unfortunate for the adventurers escorting us, but thanks to you, we were saved. Thank you very much.」

Finally noticing the man, Rei turned to look at him as he continued stroking Set’s head.

「Oh, I’m glad you’re safe. But, I hadn’t expected bandits to appear here.」

The man nodded in agreement at Rei’s words.

「Normally, this time of the year is relatively safe, as the Imperial Army hunts down bandits to protect the safety of people like us, who come for the tournament. Why are there bandits at this time of the year? I hope they’re just newcomers who don’t know the situation.」

Although Rei nodded outwardly at the man’s words, he denied in his mind.

(Information has probably leaked out that a civil war is on the verge of breaking out……or that it is already happening. An information network unique to bandits. If that’s the case, many bandits will start gathering here. There will be a lot of damage. I hope the Imperial Army will do their best in this regard.)

Rei wouldn’t hesitate to swing the Death Scythe against bandits if they appeared before him. But, going out of his way to eliminate bandits one by one was a lot of work.

There were also so many bandits that for everyone you did find, there would be 30 more.

Of course, since this was the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, there weren’t that many around, but it wasn’t hard to imagine that many would have gathered here after hearing about the civil war.

「So, um……I know I shouldn’t ask after you helped us, but what are you planning to do now, Rei-sama? This place is a bit far from the Imperial Capital.」

「Hm? Ah, I see. I’ve got some business to attend, so I’m heading there for it.」

「Business, you say? Could you tell me more about it?」

The man’s gaze sharpened for a moment.

Now that the adventurers he had initially hired as escorts were dead, he needed to find new escorts somehow.

And, the person before him was perfect for the role.

That was why he had asked Rei that question, knowing he couldn’t let him go. Regardless of whether Rei noticed or not, he spoke without any particular concern.

「I have some business to take care of in Count Obrisin’s territory.」

Rei’s words were indeed a welcome one for the representative of the travelers.

「Oh, well……our village is actually close to Count Obrisin’s territory. If you don’t mind, why don’t you come with us for part of the way? Of course, it won’t be for free, we’ll reward you generously.」

「Hey, that’s impossible.」

As the man spoke with a smile, one of the travelers spoke up in a panic.

What’s wrong? When the representative looked at him……a woman about the same age as the man also responded in a panic.

She was probably scared of the corpses and pieces of flesh of the bandits lying in front of her. She quietly averted her eyes from Rei and Set as she spoke.

「Look, since you came second in the tournament, there will be an award ceremony, right? We’re just going back to our village, but you have to attend the award ceremony……」

Even as she said that, her fear of Rei was visible in her eyes.

Of course, she knew that Rei was strong. But that was just at the tournament……a fight under rules that would see that no one died.

There had been several deaths in this year’s tournament, but those had all occurred due to unavoidable circumstances.

But, Rei had easily killed the bandits that had attacked them.

Yes. He had taken the lives of bandits with a huge scythe, as if here were cutting weeds.

Considering that, it was no wonder the woman was scared of Rei.

「……But……」

The representative of the travelers was not completely unafraid of Rei. But still, he was convinced that it would be best to ask for Rei’s help here.

「Well, there’s no need to worry.」

Hearing Rei’s words, the travelers turned to look at him.

As they silently asked Rei what he meant, Rei turned to look towards the Imperial Capital.

Following his gaze, they saw a group that still appeared quite small heading towards them.

However, even though it was a group approaching them, they weren’t like the bandits that had attacked them earlier. Everyone was wearing matching armour and riding horses, so there was no doubt that they were knights.

「With them, you won’t need to worry about an escort for the time being. So, if you could tell me the way to Count Obrisin’s territory, that would be a great help.」

「……Eh? Ah, sure. I understand.」

If knights had showed up, it was only natural for the travelers to rely on them instead of Rei.

So, he quickly told Rei the way to Count Obrisin’s territory. After hearing that, Rei got on Set’s back and flew into the sky.

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