「The match is over.」

Hearing Vihera’s words, Rei moved the blade of the Death Scythe away from the neck of the man with the spear.

The blade was over 1m long and the man with the spear gave a sigh of relief, seeming to realise that Rei could have just tugged it lightly to cut off his head.

「……We were wrong. It seems it was just our false accusations. You certainly have the skills you say you have and I’ll admit that you are strong enough to defeat Vihera-sama.」

Hearing the voice from behind, Rei stored the Death Scythe into the Misty Ring as he turned around.

It was the leader of the trio, who had been swept off their feet as Rei had passed them by earlier.

(Wow)

Rei thought to himself with admiration.

He had thought for sure that the man would have said he had just tripped at that the match was still undecided.

He didn’t expect him to concede so easily.

(It’s a bad thing to be overconfident in your own abilities, but it’s also admirable to admit defeat when you’ve lost.)

Since the three, who had been the most hostile towards him, had admitted defeat, it was unlikely that there would be any further commotion.

Rei’s prediction was correct, even those who had held some doubts about his strength no longer thought the same.

「Well, you’re really impressive. To think you could do this alone against three people.」

Rei nodded back as one of the nobles spoke to him with a smile.

「I’m glad to hear you say that. So……will I be allowed to join the army?」

It wasn’t the noble who spoke to him that replied, but Mercurio, the supreme leader of the Third Prince’s army, who nodded with a small smile.

「Yes, of course. We welcome someone with your abilities.」

As Mercurio spoke, his attitude was not the same as it had been in the morning.

It was partly because of his position, but also because he had finally seen a small part of Rei’s strength after hearing about it from Vihera and Theorem.

That said, Mercurio himself had a desire to keep Rei, who was close to Vihera, within his reach.

「So, Your Highness Mercurio, how should we treat him?」

After hearing the words of the nobles around him, Mercurio thought for a moment before speaking.

「How about using his outstanding fighting power and mobility that comes from his tame Griffon to act as a guerrilla force?」

Mercurio’s answer seemed unexpected, the noble who asked initially couldn’t help asking again.

「A guerrilla force? I thought for sure you’d have him lead the mercenaries.」

「I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered that, but my sister told me he specialises in individual combat strength. Rei, are you better at leading subordinates and fighting in a group or fighting as an individual.」

As Mercurio responded to the noble and asked Rei, Rei replied without hesitation.

「No matter how you look at it, it’s the latter. I have almost no experience in leading people in battle and, if I did, I wouldn’t be able to make use of Set’s high mobility.」

Some frowned at the way Rei spoke to Mercurio, but they didn’t speak out in particular and just watched the conversation unfold.

「I suppose so. In fact, it would be a waste to throw away the mobility of you and your Griffon. We don’t have any Dragon Knights in our army, so we’d be helpless if the enemy took control of the air. You’ll probably have to take care of that, is that okay?」

「……You’re pretty quick to leave important positions in my hands.」

In response to Rei’s doubts about entrusting air superiority to him, Mercurio turned to Vihera as he spoke.

「You have my sister’s approval. And you have the ability to come second in the fighting tournament, so I can leave it to you with peace of mind.」

Approval? Rei turned his eyes from Mercurio to Vihera.

Vihera nodded with a charming smile as Rei looked at her.

「The Rei I know should be able to handle Dragon Knights with ease. You did that during the Spring War, didn’t you?」

「Well, if you put it that way, I can’t deny it.」

When Vihera asked for confirmation, Rei could only shrug his shoulders.

The fact was that Rei and Set had taken down many Dragon Knights during the Spring War.

「And, as Mercurio said, Set’s mobility is a powerful weapon, so there’s no reason not to use it. We can’t have Set teaming up with someone else other than Rei.」

「Gurururu~」

Set gave a cry in response to Vihera’s words.

Several nobles were surprised when Set, who had been watching from a distance, suddenly gave a cry.

「Vihera-sama, that……does that Griffon understand human language by any chance?」

「Of course he does, doesn’t he? He’s an A rank monster, you know? Even if it can’t speak it, he can still understand it, right?」

「Guru~!」

Set gave a cry as if to say ‘of course’ and the nobles all looked at each other in surprise.

They knew Set was an A rank monster and they knew his power from the Spring War. But, they probably didn’t think that his intelligence was high as well.

Giving the nobles a side glance, Vihera turned back to Rei.

「So, what do you think? Can we consider you as a reserve force?」

「Yes, that would be great for me.」

Thus, Rei’s position was easily decided.

However, that wasn’t all that needed to be discussed. The next topic Mercurio brought up wasn’t something Rei had expected.

「By the way, Rei. I have one more request for you. I’d like you to train the soldiers in the army.」

「…….Training? From me?」

Rei couldn’t believe what Mercurio had asked, but all he got back was a nod.

There was no sign of playfulness in his eyes, Rei understood that Mercurio was making the request in all seriousness.

(Even if he says training……it is okay to think of it like training Luzi and the others from Wind Dragon’s Fangs?)

Thinking like that, he eventually looked over at Vihera, who had an apologetic expression on her face as she nodded back.

To be honest, as they were overwhelmingly outnumbered by the Imperial Army, they had to improve the quality of their soldiers.

Of course, Mercurio didn’t think he could make his soldiers strong enough to rival a thousand men. That was only to be expected as each soldier had their own talents.

Still, training with someone like Rei would undoubtedly give the soldiers some confidence. And, above all, training with Rei would increase their chances of surviving when fighting against overwhelmingly stronger opponents.

In terms of training with strong people, there were others like Vihera, Gurgast, and Theorem. However, as senior officers within the army, it wasn’t like they could easiy find the time to do that.

……That said, Gurgast himself looked like he really wanted to say something.

What did he want to say? Rei, who understood the kind of person he was after talking and fighting a little yesterday, gently averted his gaze.

Gurgast probably wanted to say that if Rei was going to fight, he might as well join in. However, as a senior army officer, he didn’t have the time to do that.

(Well, he might join in anyway for the fun of it, but……before that, I need to learn how to properly use Overlord’s Armour. That’s my top priority.)

Gurgast had a dissatisfied look on his face as Rei looked away, but he probably realised that even if he did speak up here, his opinion would be rejected, and so stayed quiet.

「That’s settled. Then, everyone, please inform your subordinates that Rei will be supervising their training. ……Well, I’d like to introduce Rei to the unit training this afternoon. Is that okay? Is there anyone in the unit that’s training this afternoon that would like Rei to train them?」

Several nobles wanted to speak up in response to Vihera’s question, but before they could, the leader of the trio that had fought Rei spoke up.

「Vihera-sama, my troops will do it.」

「……Is that okay?」

「Yes. Now that I understand the difference in strength between us and Rei-sama, I have no objections. Besides……I would also like to see more of Rei-sama’s power, having captured Vihera-sama’s heart.」

His expression and attitude were completely different from when he had first met Rei.

The shock he had felt in the mock battle with Rei must have been very great.

The surrounding nobles all looked at the man with expressions of surprise.

Among them, only a few, including Theorem, seemed convinced.

「How about it, Rei-sama? Would you be so kind as to train my troops?」

「No, I’m fine with that……」

Rei seemed overwhelmed by the man’s forceful approach.

Seeing that, Vihera gave a slight smile at the rather unusual sight before speaking.

「That’s right. If it’s okay with you Rei, then it’s fine. ……Oh, come to think of it, you should at least introduce yourselves first.」

The leader of the trio cleared his throat as soon as he heard Vihera’s words.

「Hmm, ahem. That’s true. I am Karaza Grat. I’m the third son from the Count Grat family.」

After the man named Karaza introduced himself, the man with the spear came forward.

「I’m Chare Tenda, the second son of Viscount Tenda.」

Lastly, the man with the long sword that Rei fought first spoke up.

「I-I’m Galateo Morse. I’m the sixth son from the Baron Morse family.」

「……Sixth son?」

Rei couldn’t help but mutter out loud in response to the title of the person who introduced himself as Galateo.

「Y-Yes. Well, I’m the sixth son.」

His way of speaking and attitude had changed a lot from the first time he had met Rei.

「Well, your family has a lot of children, doesn’t it? I always thought that nobles didn’t have that many children.」

Of course, to pass on the bloodline, a certain number of children were necessary. But, if there were too many children, the fight for family succession would also become more intense.

In addition, children here only included those that were officially recognised and did not include illegitimate children.

「Yes. I got tired of fighting among my family, so I decided to go out on my own……」

On his own? Rei was a little puzzled, but ended up coming to the conclusion that even if he had gathered some forces with the help of his family, he probably still considered himself to be acting independently.

(Although, if he’s cooperating with the Third Prince’s faction, which are currently considered rebels, I think his family would also be considered responsible. But, the fact that he’s here so openly means that they must have taken some sort of measures……probably.)

Thinking like that, Rei turned back to the leader of the three, Karaza, before speaking.

「So, speaking of training, should we do mock battles?」

「That would be helpful. My unit doesn’t have any military duties like keeping guard or scouting today.」

「I see. Well, it’s true that since we’ve gathered as an army, such activities are only natural.」

If they had no military duties, they could simply undergo training.

As the rebel army, it was certain they would clash with the Imperial Army in the near future. With that in mind, it was only natural that they would constantly scout the surrounding area to be prepared for the Imperial Army to show up at any time.

「Well then, that’s what I’d like you to do. My unit conducts their training with theirs in the morning on the plains to the east of the camp, so if you could come in the afternoon after that, it would be great.」

Karaza glanced at a noble standing a short distance away as he said that.

As each unit was dispatched from a different territory, it was only natural that they would train together in order to deal with emergency situations.

In terms of the chain of command, Mercurio was at the top, but not everyone here was part of the Third Prince’s faction. There were many different people including those who had gathered through Vihera’s connections, like Tillyele and Gurgast, in addition to those who had come here following the scent of money.

Naturally, in such situations, probably would arise with command authority and coordination between units and resolving these discrepancies was something the rebel army, a largely ragtag group, needed to do as soon as possible.

「Well, looks like that’s all been decided. Let’s get moving then.」

With Mercurio’s words, Rei’s introduction to the rebel leaders ended without incident, despite the commotion.

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