The sound of a glass shattering echoed through the room, followed by the voice of the man who had been holding it.

「Impossible……is that really true!?」

There was disbelief in his voice. In addition to disbelief, there was also hatred……no, something like resentment, mixed in.

As a result, the other nobles around the man who had spoken……Count Schwindel, instinctively took a few steps back.

「The punitive force organised by Prince Kabajid……suffered devastating losses at his hands……」

That’s right. The rumour he had heard from a fellow noble was the that the punitive force had been nearly wiped out.

Those here who held a grudge against Rei had been desperately searching for him ever since he had disappeared from the Imperial Capital.

Hadn’t he already returned to the Mireana Kingdom? Some people had expressed fears that they would not be able to avenge themselves against their enemy, but Count Schwindel hadn’t given up……no, he continued to search with an almost obsessive tenacity.

When he contacted Requiem’s Toll, he had only heard that Rei’s whereabouts were still under investigation, so he continued the search himself……and today, he finally heard news in the form of a rumour.

And in a way, it was close to the worst possible outcome.

Natrually, Count Schwindel and the nobles with him knew that a punitive force had been dispatched, primarily made up of the First Prince’s faction.

However, several days had passed and there had been no reports at all, not even progress on any battles, which had left them wondering. But, they had never imagined that the reason was their arch enemy.

「How could he have annihilated the punitive force by himself……and especially those under Prince Kabajid’s command?」

「No, the rumours say it was only Crimson, but that can’t be true. In the first place, Crimson might be able to use powerful magic, but even so, I can’t imagine 6,000 people being killed at once.」

「But, it’s true that the punitive force was annihilated.」

「Wait. If the punitive force was annihilated, why are such rumours circulating? If they were truly completely destroyed, surely the people in the Imperial Capital would have no way of knowing what had happened?」

「It’s a bit of an exaggeration to say there would be no way to know. It’s possible that merchants, adventurers, or travelers passed by and informed others of the annihilation of the punitive force.」

「Anyway, it’s strange that the entire punitive force could be destroyed by Crimson alone. I’m not an expert on military affairs, but I can see that this is an abnormal event.」

「Um, could he have used the same fire tornado that was used on the Selemus Plains?」

「But even then, only the vanguard was affected at that time and there were survivors.」

「That’s……」

「So, isn’t this what it means? Crimson’s efforts did indeed cause devastating damage to the punitive force. But it wasn’t just Crimson who did it, others helped out too. THe ones Crimson missed were killed by others and the survivors returned to the Imperial Capital to report it.」

The words of one of the nobles made the rest in the surroundings, who had been confused and shouting, suddenly come to a realisation.

「But……」

Just as a noble was about to speak again.

「Don’t mess around with me!」

An angry voice echoed through the room.

The angry voice came from Count Schwindel, the leader of the nobles present.

Normally, Count Schwindel was a noble who could be described as solemn, but right now, the only thing on his face was hatred.

His eyes bulged out with it and it was hard to believe that he was the same person as the usual Count Schwindel.

Until now, he had held a grim expression whenever Crimson’s name was mentioned. But, he had never shown such raw emotion as right now.

Count Schwindel had become enraged many times before, but he had only done so where no other people were present……or more accurately, no nobles were present.

The maids and butlers who had to clean up after him naturally knew that something was wrong with the Count.

Still, they felt that this was only inevitable, give that his only daughter, Weir, had shut herself in her room following the death of her fiancee.

However……he had now revealed his true nature in front of the nobles that he had been keeping a low profile towards up until now.

To those who only knew of his usual appearance, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to think he had gone mad.

However, Count Schwindel didn’t seem to notice the gazes of those around him as he swung his fist down against the table he was sitting at.

Fortunately, this was a room inside the castle and the furniture was naturally of first class quality and sturdiness.

Thanks to that, he didn’t destroy the table when his fist swung down. Instead, it made a loud noise that would have certainly been enough to destroy the table if it had been one used by commoners.

Since his fist had been unable to destroy the table, it naturally suffered more damage. His skin was torn and flesh was visible as blood started to flow out.

「C-Count Schwindel?」

One of the nobles asked timidly.

Count Schwindel tilted his head to look back, which wasn’t much different from his usual response……except that his eyes were bloodshot.

「Eeek-!」

That scream seemed to bring him back to his senses. Count Schwindel finally understood what he had done as he cleared his throat.

「I’m sorry, I showed you something unseemly. Anyway, as for what we should do from now on……does anyone have any opinions?」

Count Schwindel asked, as if trying to cover up his previous attitude, but all he got back were confused looks.

One noble spoke up, as if hesitant about something.

「You ask us what we should do, but since we’ve left the disposal of Crimson to Requiem’s Toll, is there really a need for us to do anything? If we were to do something on our own accord, it might get in the way of whatever they’re doing.」

That was what the noble said, but to be honest, he didn’t really want to do anything.

The only reason this noble had joined Count Schwindel’s group was because his younger brother had been killed in the Spring War.

That said, considering his status as a noble, it was rare for him to get along well with his family.

In that sense, in this noble’s case, his younger brother had been aiming for the position of family head, so he felt more like a rival than a brother.

So, why had he participated in this gathering? It was simply because he judged that joining this group would be in the best interests of himself and his family.

They were all united in the pursuit of their prey, Crimson.

Creating an external enemy to unite a group had been a common technique since ancient times and this gathering could be useful to him if he became the head of his family. That was why he had joined.

But……it seemed like the discussion had been going off topic recently.

Targeting an external enemy aside, the problem was that the enemy was too strong.

Even Requiem’s Toll had been unable to do anything to him. That was the kind of opponent he was.

「……」

Hearing the noble’s words, Count Schwindel looked at him, urging him on.

However, Count Schwindel’s eyes were already half filled with insanity and the noble felt chills run down his spine when he noticed as he tried to speak in a way that wouldn’t provoke him.

「So, since we’ve already commissioned the job, we just need to wait for the results.」

「……You say that, but they couldn’t do anything to him even when he was in our hands. If he’s in the rebel army, don’t you understand that it will be even more difficult to eliminate him?」

If he said something careless, he might just die here. The noble wrung his brain to think of a way out of this situation under that insanity filled gaze……and the rebel army suddenly came to his mind.

「So……how about joining a punitive force? Until now, we’ve only asked Requiem’s Toll to help us without using any of our own men because we couldn’t make any flashy moves. But now, we have a just cause to oppose Crimson.」

「I thought about that too. But, the reason we asked Requiem’s Toll in the first place is because we knew we couldn’t defeat him with our own forces」

「That’s true, if it were just our forces. It’s frustrating, but his fighting strength is so abnormal that it could be called monstrous. Anyone who saw the finals of the fighting tournament would agree.」

Everyone here had seen the battle that had unfolded against the Immovable Noiz, and S rank adventurer.

They had come together out of a desire to not forget the person who had killed their family and friends, but seeing him fight on equal terms with Noiz reminded them of his strength.

The other nobles in the room also seemed to remember had happened as their momentum weakened.

Not wanting to miss the momentary opportunity, the noble continued to speak.

「But, this time is different. We can count on not just ourselves, but also Prince Kabajid and Prince Shurus. Besides, both of the princes’ have lost to the rebels, so they have no choice now. If things continue as they are, we will soon fall to Prince Mercurio, so they will want to achieve a major victory over the rebels at all costs.」

「Go along with them? But what about Princess Frizione?」

「I don’t know how Princess Frizione will act, but she doesn’t like conflict in the first place. She might not join the punitive force and opt to strengthen the defense of the Imperial Capital instead.」

The other nobles seemed convinced by his explanation.

In fact, considering Frizione’s character, it wouldn’t be strange for such a situation to occur……no, it would even be understandable.

「……I see. There is certainly room for consideration.」

Count Schwindel nodded as he turned his gaze to the other nobles in the room.

Even without saying a word, the nobles could tell what he wanted to say as he looked at them.

For the nobles who bore deep resentment towards Rei, this proposal was a godsend.

「Let’s do it, Count Schwindel!」

「That’s right! Requiem’s Toll can’t kill Crimson no matter how much time passes. So let’s do it with our own hands!」

「After all, even if Requiem’s Toll is said to be skilled, they are only at this level. There’s no need to rely on them.」

「No, wait. There’s still a ‘what if’ situation. It would be better not to withdraw the request to Requiem’s Toll and leave it as it is.」

「No……but they’re people who haven’t achieved anything so far, right? There’s no need to rely on people like that……」

「Maybe so. But, if something happens, even a new adventurer can be lucky enough to kill a Dragon. In that case, maybe Requiem’s Toll might be able to achieve something.」

The noble seemed to get more and more excited as he spoke. Most of them didn’t even seem to notice the way he was insulting Requiem’s Toll because of how riled up they were.

It was an explosion of the frustration they had all been holding back.

In the middle of all this, the noble who had earlier advised Count Schwindel to join the punitive force was breathing a sigh of relief.

(Thank goodness. There was no outburst and, even if we clash with Crimson, there will be soldiers from the punitive force and not just ourselves. At the very least, our chances of survival will be overwhelmingly higher than if we went at it alone.)

To this noble, the other nobles……and even the punitive force, were nothing more than a means to shield himself and ensure his own combat force would not be wasted.

In the first place, he honestly wanted to express gratitude to Crimson, rather than resentment, for eliminating his younger brother, a potential enemy of his.

However, it was also true that gaining some kind of benefit from this group was of greater value than such feelings of gratitude.

Even if he had the opportunity to help Crimson, he would never do it.

Rather, he would gleefully secure custody in order to maximise his own gains.

He could hand him over to Count Schwindel, or he could take Crimson’s head himself.

(However, I heard that he had a number of magic items, so I’d like to get a hold of as many of them as possible. And the Griffon. It’s probably impossible to tame it, so it could be used as material……but maybe it’s best not to get my hands on it. It’s nearly impossible to defeat the reaper of the skies.

Thinking of the unseen benefits in his mind and imagining himself obtaining them, he smiled slightly as he joined in the other nobles’ conversation about joining the punitive force.

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