「What can I say, I didn’t think they would be this fragile.」

Rei muttered as he watched the punitive force flee the battlefield from the rebel camp.

The others seemed to agree with Rei’s opinion. Besides Rei, most of the others who had been left behind to guard Mercurio at the camp nodded in agreement.

「Fufu, I think I said this before, but the punitive force was made up of people who were intended to lose. I think they were trying to expose our cards as much as they could.」

As Mercurio spoke, his eyes were fixed on Vihera, Gurgast, Tilleyle, and Theorem’s troops, who were pursuing the enemy as they fled the battlefield.

It was clear that the attacks as they retreated were causing significant damage.

「Normally, if there was a unit that could act as a rear guard and prevent the enemy pursuit, the retreating army would suffer less losses, but unfortunately, it seems that there was nothing the punitive force could do, as they were unable to even form a unified command」

「……Well, that makes sense.」

Rei nodded at Mercurio’s words as the others nodded as well.

If you joined a punitive force, you had to keep fighting, even if you died.

However, it didn’t seem like there were any soldiers capable of doing that in the punitive force, filled with incompetent people as it were.

(It might have been a different story if there had been a commander with good skills, but the punitive force didn’t even have a clear chain of command. Although the unit the fled at full speed probably has a better eye for the battlefield.)

Rei muttered to himself, but in reality, some had surrendered when they realised there was nothing they could do, and the others who saw that surrendered as well……so the punitive force’s losses ended up being less than what he had expected.

In particular, soldiers who put down their weapons wouldn’t be attacked, just taken prisoner.

That that only applied to soldiers. The nobles, were making an unsightly fuss with many of those who had been captured crying out that they weren’t being treated well.

「Shouldn’t we get rid of them?」

Looking at the nobles, Rei asked, but Mercurio replied smiling happily for some reason.

However, despite his happy smile, there was something dark……and malicious about it.

「You can’t do something like that. They’ll make useful prisoners.」

「Useful?」

Looking at the nobles who had been captured, Rei was puzzled.

Even as prisoners, they only seemed like a waste of food.

However, Mercurio continued with a smile on his face.

「Of course. First we can receive a ransom when we hand them over, and to negotiate, there should at least be a temporary truce with the Second Prince, Shurus.」

「……Would he go out of his way to pay a ransom to help someone who he believes to be incompetent?」

Though Rei felt like that wasn’t possible, Mercurio’s words indicated that it was a given.

After all, they had gathered those who were said to be incompetent to use as pawns to gauge the rebel army’s strength, leading to the sight before him now.

Mercurio understood Rei’s thoughts. He smiled lightly again as he continued speaking.

「I’m sure Shurus wouldn’t pay the ransom himself. But what about the families of the nobles who were taken prisoner? Most of the nobles who were captured this time are the heads of families or heirs. Brother wanted to get rid of the useless ones and replace them with capable one. That was no doubt what he was thinking.」

「……The heads or heirs of families, huh.」

As Rei thought to himself, he saw a succession of people, led by Theorem, with weapons pointed at them. Some seemed to be yelling something or shaking to the point they couldn’t even speak.

If they had been imposing, they would have looked more like nobles. But the scene before Rei’s eyes didn’t seem to show them as such.

(Well, I already knew that there are a lot of nobles like that in the Mireana Kingdom.)

He had seen several nobles from the Mireana Kingdom before. Among them, there were some dignified nobles like Daska, but on the other hand, there were many who were obsessed with their own sense of privilege and looked down on commoners for simply being commoners.

As Rei followed that train of thought, he was brought back to reality when Mercurio spoke again.

「No matter how powerful Shurus is, he can’t be careless and intervene if someone from his faction is negotiating a ransom with us. If he intervenes now, he might not be able to negotiate ransoms in future if other members of his faction are captured. That is when people will start getting suspicious. From Shurus’ point of view, he would like to ransom back the capable people and kill those who aren’t. I think he honestly would rather us kill these nobles than make them prisoners and waste time negotiating a ransom.」

It’s difficult, Mercurio told him.

But, the one who was putting his brother in this difficult situation was the one who said those words.

There was something scary about that. It was only natural for Rei to feel that way when looking at Mercurio now.

Karaza, who, like Rei, had no role to play this time, spoke up, as if to change the topic.

「More importantly, I heard that Prince Shurus’ knights was here……are you sure that you will be able to deal with them? It seems that Theorem’s troops are targeting them first, but they’re still knights. It’s probably impossible to kill them all. In that case, wouldn’t it be better for Rei to go over with Set?」

It was true that Karaza’s words lightened the mood a little.

However……

「That is fine, but I didn’t bring Set with me this time. Are you saying I should run after them? ……No, that’s impossible, right?」

Rei had a sudden thought while mid sentence.

Considering the speed he moved at with Overlord’s Armour active, it would be easy to catch even knights. But, the problem was that Rei hadn’t mastered using it yet.

If he wasn’t careful, he might end up being overwhelmed by the power of Overlord’s Armour and fail to catch the knights, which could end up given information to Shurus……and ultimately the Empire, that a huge force like Rei was cooperating with the rebels.

「I rather not do that if possible. Rei’s strength is as a trump card that can turn the tide in an instant. It would be one thing if we were in a desperate situation, but I don’t want to risk being discovered here. Besides, you still haven’t mastered the use of that Overlord’s Armour skill, have you?」

Mercurio asked, partly to confirm, and Rei answered with a small shrug.

「Plus, we need to let them know our strength to a certain extent. It’s a little difficult to get the balance right, but……I’m sure Theorem and sister will be able to make the adjustments.」

As Mercurio said that, he watched Vihera chase down the fleeing cavalry on horseback before lightly touching their armour.

Though she only touched their armour, the next moment, the soldier collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.

The Magic Palm skill allowed her to deliver a magical shock to the internal organs of an enemy just by touching them. And, since it didn’t require a large impact, it was faster to use than weapons like long swords and spears.

Even in Rei’s eyes, the skill, which could easily knock an enemy unconscious with a glancing blow, seemed easy to use.

(Compared to Overlord’s Armour, which I can’t even control properly, it’s incredibly useful.)

Though he thought that, Magic Palm only looked easy to use, Rei understood that it actually required a great deal of skill.

That said, it was certainly an easy to use and convenient technique in comparison to Noiz’s Overlord’s Armour, one or two levels lower in difficulty.

「In the current situation, it’s fine for someone not as conspicuous as Rei to join. With Rei here, he’ll be sufficient escort, so I’d like you guys to join as well. To be honest, I don’t like this kidn of one-sided battle, but I still want to use this opportunity to reduce their forces as much as possible.」

Karaza and the others looked at each other at Mercurio’s words.

It was certainly the battlefield and being able to breathe the air around them without any danger was a blessing considering the battles to come.

But even so, was it okay to leave Rei behind on his own? Those were their thoughts.

「Don’t worry.」

Rei spoke, as if to cut off any hesitation.

「Rei-sama?」

「I’m here. That alone will protect him from most dangers. That is, unless someone extraordinary, like Noiz, comes.」

Fearless. That was the best way to describe Rei’s expression as Karaza and the other nobles present agreed without further hesitation.

As long as Rei was here, no matter what happened, Mercurio, the leader of the rebel army, wouldn’t not be harmed.

「That is……no, it’s nothing. Anyway, there may be many battles from tomorrow onwards, it would be better to get used to the battlefield now than later for the first time, right?」

「……Um, it’s not like we’re new recruits fighting our first battle or anything.」

A noble standing near Karaza muttered in response to Rei’s words.

However, Rei just responded with a slight shrug.

He had been through countless battles in the two years since he had come to Elgin, the battles the people in front of him had experienced were nothing to him.

(It would be a different story if there was an actual legendary hero or something among them.)

Though he thought that in his mind, Rei spoke differently.

「Besides, I’m not the only one staying behind.」

「……You’re not the only staying behind? What do you mean by that, Rei-sama?」

When asked by one of the nobles, Rei turned to look at Mercurio.

However, Mercurio just shook his head.

Seeing that, Rei understood that Mercurio wanted to stop him from revealing the existence of the Demon Soldiers, so he evaded the question.

Even so, he glanced down to the ground for a moment, sensing the presence of someone hiding underground.

(Is it a Demon Soldier with the characteristics of a mole like monster?)

「Well, you’ll find out about that eventually. Anyway, just hurry up and get going.」

「Yes, please.」

It would be one thing if it were just Rei, but when Mercurio spoke up as well, they couldn’t not follow.

Even so, there was no way they could all head to the battlefield without leaving anyone behind, so in the end, they each decided to leave a few of their soldiers behind.

「Well then, Your Highness Mercurio, Rei-sama. We’re off to battle.」

With that, Rei watched as the nobles left the camp to lead their troops before looking back towards the battlefield.

There, the battle had already turned into what could be best described as a hunt for the remnants, and even that was coming to an end.

「I hope we can get them in time.」

Rei muttered softly and Mercurio smiled as he spoke.

「It would be best if we could make it in time, but if we can’t, that’s also fine. As long as they can experience the atmosphere of the battlefield just a little. ……More importantly, I’m grateful for your silence.」

As he said that, Mercurio lightly tapped the ground.

Rei’s mouth formed a smile when he realised that this was about the Demon Soldiers hiding underground.

Rei had a lot of history with the Demon Soldiers, but from his experience fighting them countless times, he believed that he understood their value as a combat force more than anyone……even more than the people of the Bestir Empire.

「Um, what is it?」

A soldier, suspicious of Rei and Mercurio’s meaningful conversation, asked. But, all he got in response was ambiguous smiles.

There was no point in asking any further……in fact, the soldier felt it could even be dangerous as they looked away.

「Oh, Karaza and the others have arrived. They made it sooner than I had expected.」

At Rei’s words, everyone looked relieved as they turned their gazes towards the battlefield.

In the end, the battle between the punitive force and the rebel army that day ended in an overwhelming victory for the rebel army.

While that was expected by Shurus, his biggest miscalculation was that out of the knights under his direct command that he had sent to the battle, only one made it back alive. Upon hearing this, Shurus shook his fist at his desk in frustration.

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