Inside the rebel camp. Mulla and Sistoi were observing the surroundings of the tent where their target, Sobble, was being held from a distance.

They were both pretending to be soldiers training as they observed the tent, but all Mulla could do was sigh.

「Seriously, it doesn’t suit me to dress like a soldiers and I wasn’t able to get any information in the end either……」

As she sighed, Mulla swung the long sword in her hand, as if it to test something.

Contrary to her words though, the swing of her sword resulted in a sharp sound.

It was only natural. Mulla had survived the slums from a young age. Even if she wasn’t suited for the front lines, she still had some skill.

And, as a member of Requiem’s Toll, she was strong enough to handle a few soldiers with just one hand.

That said……

「Don’t say that. We don’t even know where Crimson is, so we can’t stand out. For now, we should just stay out of sight.」

「……Then, at least ease up a bit.」

The halberd Sistoi wielded made a roar as it was swung with such force that it seemed to destroy the air.

No matter how skilled Mulla was, she was still clearly inferior to Sistoi, who was a pure frontline combatant.

An adventurer, who had been watching the two of them train from afar, had his eyes go wide.

However, Mulla and Sistoi continued exchanging words without seeming to care.

「But, there are rumours that Crimson isn’t here, right? So why don’t we just attack now and take back that guy called Sobble?」

According to the information they had had received from the soldier helping them, Crimson hadn’t been seen in camp for the past few days.

No, to be exact, it wasn’t Crimson that hand’t been seen, but his Griffon familiar.

Though he wore a robe and had good looking features, the robe of Rei’s robe hid his face, so as long as he was quiet, no one would notice him blending into a crowd.

But, a Griffon was different.

It was a clear, conspicuous presence and it was impossible to hide its movements like Rei.

That was why some people had started to think that Crimson wasn’t in the camp after not seeing Set in the past few days.

However, neither Mulla nor Sistoi were willing to make any drastic moves until they were sure Crimson wasn’t in the camp.

No matter how wary they were, they could never be too cautious. Having crossed blades once, it was more than enough for Crimson to recognise them.

If they let their guard down and moved assuming that Crimson wasn’t in the camp, running into him would be the worst thing that could happen.

「Seriously, he’s such a nuisance when he’s here and a nuisance when he’s not.」

Her long sword, swung in frustration, cut through the air with a sharp sound.

A passing knight stopped in his tracks when he saw Mulla’s sword swing.

Noticing that, Mulla had an expression on her face that said “Now I’ve done it!” for just a moment.

「Hey, you’re pretty good. How about joining my unit?」

「I’m sorry, but I don’t intend to move from my current unit……」

「Really? Even if I treat you better than your current unit?」

「I’m really sorry.」

Mulla bowed her head, looking apologetic as she replied.

Nearby, Sistoi tightened his grip on his halberd.

If the knight tried to force things, he would stop them, even if it meant killing them.

Of course, if he did something like that, they wouldn’t be able to stay inside the camp. But, it was better than abandoning his partner.

「I see, you have such good skill, it would be a shame to waste it. If you change your mind, please contact me right away, I’m Aurena, a knight serving Baron Hyndor.」

But, fortunately for them, the knight called Aurena left without trying to forcefully recruit Mulla.

If anything, it was Mulla who had a look of surprise on her face after hearing the knight’s words.

She had thought for sure that the knight would come up with some kind of strong excuse to drag her away. She had considered the possibility, but never expected for the knight to be so accepting of her response.

「He’s quite different from the knights we know.」

「……Indeed.」

Sistoi nodded in agreement and relaxed the grip on his halberd.

「To be honest, when I see things like this, it makes me feel closer to this side of the world than the other side.」

「Don’t say that. We’ve already decided on what we need to do. You’ll just weaken our resolve.」

「I know. I was just saying. I’ve never had any intention of going easy on them or betraying Requiem’s Toll.」

「Well, that’s fine. But, we don’t know where the members of the organisation are. Be careful what you say and do.」

「You’re such a worrier.」

Mulla replied to Sistoi, understanding what her partner was saying.

Considering the size of Requiem’s Toll, there were surely other members and allies of the organisation hiding around aside from the soldier who had told them where Sobble was.

There was no way that the soldier would be only one among the rebel army.

If others heard what she had just said, they might see the two of them as people who had changed their mind regarding the organisation.

The duo of Mulla and Sistoi were top class in Requiem’s Toll, but it didn’t mean there weren’t others with similar strength.

「Anyhow, we’ve confirmed where the target is. So the next question is when we should do it.」

Judging that there was no point in saying more to Mulla, Sistoi moved the topic back to their original mission.

「That’s right. If Crimson isn’t around, I’d like to take action quickly……but even if we do that, I’ll need some time to prepare some dolls.」

「How long will that take?」

「It won’t take that long if we just need numbers. But if we go that way, we’ll need a lot of them.」

Fortunately, there were a lot of people around. Mulla continued and Sistoi nodded in agreement.

Among those who had gathered to join the rebel army, there were even some who could be called local thugs.

Rather than turning soldiers or knights into dolls, it would be less likely to cause a commotion if those people were turned into dolls instead.

「In that case, we must first prepare a place, a place with few people.」

「If possible, an enclose room would be better……」

Mulla stopped talking as she looked around.

She looked at most of things she could see.

There were some huts and places used by many people, so it was impossible to condition dolls in such places.

「In that case, tents are the only option.」

「But, they’re small, aren’t they? Surely we can’t take a tent being used by knights or nobles.」

「That would be best, but if we did that, Crimson would find us in no time. Well, if he is still here.」

Mulla gave a sigh as she complained.

In the end, no matter what happened, there would be nothing they could do if they found themselves in front of Crimson.

They had seen Crimson fight many time before and had faced him in person, so they knew how strong he was.

Especially when they had attacked him in the arena’s waiting room. He had managed to slip through the waves of attacks from Sistoi and her dolls, both of which had been strengthened to their limits, without a single scratch.

……No, it was more than just slipping through. Sistoi’s weapon had been snatched away and used to attack back, almost killing him.

It was a miracle that Sistoi was still alive.

Knowing that, Mulla had no intention of making the foolish move of facing Crimson head on.

 

 

Inside the castle at the center of the Imperial Capital, Rhodes was training to master the Fire Eater that Kabajid had given him.

His training partner was a mage employed by a noble who belonged to the First Prince’s faction.

And, among those mages, he was a mage who was particularly skilled in fire magic.

Of course, this wasn’t the only training Rhodes had been doing. He was already training regularly with Pefiel and was now training to use the Fire Eater on top of that.

「Alright, here it comes!」

Rhodes focused his mind on the bracelet on his right wrist as he heard the voice of a man in his fifties holding a long staff.

That bracelet was the Fire Eater. A magic item that could absorb fire magic and turn it into the user’s magic power, but only against fire magic.

「Okay, do it!」

Nodding at Rhodes’ words, the mage started an incantation.

Then, the next moment, three fire arrows formed around his staff.

『Fire Arrow!』

The magic was released.

The three fire arrows headed straight for Rhodes.

「-!」

Just before the fire arrows hit him, Rhodes raised his right arm and poured magic power into the Fire Eater, activating it.

As he did that, the fire arrows were sucked into the Fire Eater before they could hit him.

All that remained was a faint heat.

The heat quickly faded into the cool autumn air, disappearing without a trace.

「……Hmm. Well, that was okay.」

Seeing the fire arrows being absorbed by the Fire Eater, the mage muttered with satisfaction……and a little regret.

For a mage, it was impossible to feel good seeing their magic nullified so easily.

His only consolation was that the Fire Eater was a very expensive and rare magic item.

If he didn’t look at it that way, his pride as a mage wouldn’t allow it to exist.

「Fuu, fuu, fuu…….」

Rhodes breathed heavily.

No matter how the Fire Eater could consume fire magic, as it’s name suggested, he still had to point the bracelet on his right wrist towards it.

In other words, he was leaving himself defenseless against the magic.

He felt a natural fear against the magic flying towards him and it was hard to move his body he normally would.

What if he failed? Even if he succeeded, would it really work?

He had to fight those fears and doubts as he acted.

(This time it was just three fire arrows. But……the fire magic that Rei can use is nothing compared to this. Can I do it? Do something about magic like that?)

The fire tornado that Rhodes had seen during the Spring War crossed his mind.

It had been something that had caused great damage to the Bestir Empire’s army with what could only be described as vicious power.

No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like something he could deal with on his own.

(No, I’ll do it. I have to do it. I’ll definitely do it!)

He repeated those words in his mind, as if to convince himself.

Seeing Rhodes like that, the mage smiled slightly.

It looked like the fire arrows he had shot out had really frightened Rhodes.

It was a complete misunderstanding, but it had filled the mage with pride, so it wasn’t a bad misunderstanding for either of them.

「What would you like to do? Train a bit more or take a rest? Either way is fine with me.」

「……Please go again. I can’t deal with Rei’s fire tornado unless I keep going.」

「Very well. If you say so……I’ll make it a bit harder this time.」

「Okay!」

After seeing Rhodes nod, the mage started his incantation again.

Ten fireballs floated around the staff he was holding.

From Rhodes’ perspective, they didn’t’ look very powerful. ……However, since they were smaller than the fire arrows, they were probably faster.

『Fire Blitz.』

As the name suggested……small fireballs shot out and flew towards Rhodes.

What surprised Rhodes was the fact that the small fireballs all flew towards him following a different trajectory.

One flew at him from his right side in a large arc while the others flew straight at him or floated towards him from below.

「Tcch-!」

Rhodes was confused for a moment.

Since each one was coming towards him on a different trajectory, he couldn’t absorb them all at once.

He had to prioritise which ones to absorb first.

He reached that conclusion……but too late.

「Woah, woaaaaaah-!」

He hesitated for a moment, and that moment proved to be fatal.

Boom- Boom- Boom-

Fortunately for Rhodes, this was all for mastering the Fire Eater, so the fireballs didn’t contain much power.

There was only a slight impact and a bit of heat, but not enough to cause fatal injuries.

「Hahh, haah, haah……」

「You’re being too naive. Set your priorities faster and move quicker.」

「Y-Yes. I know.」

There was no room for complaints. He had to do his best, no matter what, until he could fully master the Fire Eater.

With that determined look on his face, Rhodes spoke again.

「Once more, once more!」

And so, Rhodes’ training to master the Fire Eater continued.

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