All the troops that had been lying in wait for Frizione’s army to appear were routed. ……Or wiped out.

The cavalry that had attacked Frizione’s army from behind had suffered losses, but had managed to retreat before suffering too many casualties.

The troops led by Bratta had also suffered heavy losses, but still managed to retreat before suffering fatal losses.

As for the troops that had been waiting in ambush in the forest alongside the road, they were completely annihilated by Set.

Lastly, although they were part of the main ambush force, Count Schwindel’s unit, which had gone berserk after seeing Rei, were literally burned to ashes by Rei’s magic.

「……If you just consider the results, you could call it a great victory for us.」

Angela muttered gloomily as she watched the soldiers dispose of the bodies lying on the battlefield. Frizione watched sadly from inside her carriage.

Frizione was a peace loving person who hated conflict after all.

Even if they were an enemy, death would only bring sadness.

「But, you raised an army with the goal of joining up with Mercurio and the others, so you knew there would be battles, didn’t you? You must have known that you would see this result.」

「That’s true. We acted after understanding everything. But seeing someone die like this is the hardest thing for Princess Frizione to bear. She is a kind person.」

The White Rose Knights around Angela nodded in agreement.

……However, the White Rose Knights were also looking at Rei with some sort of awe.

It was same for the knight who had initially held dislike for Rei. Their previous looks towards him……which couldn’t be called hatred, but were definitely unfriendly, were gone.

That was only natural. They had seen Rei’s magic burn the enemy soldiers to ashes with their own eyes.

They were forced to realise that Rei was someone beyond their reach, and that if they incurred Set’s displeasure, all that awaited them was death.

When they thought of how they had treated Rei up until now, they would feel chills down their spine.

……Rei was the only one who felt that though. As for Set, he still felt loved as always. Was that a good or bad thing?

(Well, it’s probably a good thing. Set is friendly, so he would be very sad if people started to dislike him.)

Rei stroked Set while standing next to Angela as he watched the soldiers clean up the battlefield.

He felt the silky smooth texture in his hands.

Squinting at that feeling, which made him want to stroke Set forever, Rei asked Angela a question.

「Are we going to camp here today?」

「Yes, I suppose so. We can’t just leave the corpses here and Princess Frizione has said she wants to preserve keepsakes as much as possible.」

「……I guess it can’t be helped, considering how we’ll have to deal with the bodies.」

They were only two hours away from the Imperial Capital, so as a member of the royal family, it would be completely unacceptable to leave the corpses here.

(well, it’s autumn now and will be winter soon. Considering that, I don’t think we need to worry about diseases……but that’s not absolute, and there’s always the possibility they’ll turn into undead, so there’s a need to dispose of them properly.)

Fortunately, there weren’t that many corpses for the soldiers to collect.

Of course, considering they had failed to meaningfully reduce the military strength of both Kabajid and Shurus, it could hardly be called fortunate.

「There aren’t that many bodies, but disposing of them before marching again will affect morale. No matter how elite our troops are, they’re still human and there will be mental fatigue.」

Angela muttered gloomily. She had seen people die many times before, some she had killed with her own hands.

But, it was still hard to get used to the death of people.

While she wouldn’t get to the point of saying 『I……I killed them!』, it still wasn’t a pleasant experience.

「If you mean clearing out the bodies, I could have gathered them up somewhere to burn them.」

「That would be a burden for you alone and, since we can’t go any further today anyway, I think it would be better for everyone to deal with it together to make it easier.」

「……Well, if we’re going to camp here anyway, that’s fine. I’ll go on patrol for a bit. Even if we managed to get rid of the last group, there’s no guarantee that the others aren’t also looking for us.」

Rei said that as he thought it might make the people around him nervous if he stayed. Angela seemed to understand his feelings.

She looked at Rei apologetically and nodded.

「Yes, please. I’ll talk to Princess Frizione about it.」

「Sorry. ……Set.」

「Gururururu~!」

Set answered Rei’s call and crouched down. Rei jumped onto his back before they flew up into the sky.

The people who were cleaning up the corpses on the ground were distracted by Set for a moment, but then quickly returned to their task.

Looking at the soldiers, Angela headed to the carriage to tell Frizione about Rei.

 

 

「……No good. Looks like they’re planning to camp near the road.」

A short distance away from Frizione’s camp, Sistoi reported to his companions about what he had just seen.

Mulla looked annoyed at his report as she thought about what to do.

They had found their target, Sobble, and rescued him from the rebel camp, reaching this point with minimal rest.

Just as they had gotten this far without kill their horses, lucky enough to almost reach the Imperial Capital, a battle had broken out nearby.

「One option is to work together with others to get by……」

Mulla glanced at the others around them……merchants, travelers, and adventurers.

Since this was the road to the Imperial Capital, it was obvious that Mulla and her companions weren’t the only ones stuck here.

The people gathered here were either just waiting around or exchanging information with those nearby.

If they worked together with those people, they might be able to get to the Imperial Capital just fine. That was what Mulla implied, but Sobble, who had been listening in, dismissed the idea.

「No, it would be best not to do that. Since the people over there are from the First Princess’ faction, we’d better assume they know my face. ……Honestly, if the ambush force had won, I wouldn’t have had to worry about that at all. Alternatively, if we had arrived here a little earlier, we could have joined up with them before they retreated.」

「There’s no use in saying that. We barely made it here without killing our horses, so if we rushed it any more, we wouldn’t even have gotten here at the time we did, you know?」

Mulla’s words were true, so Sobble didn’t say anything more and stayed silent……

「-!?」

Sistoi, who had been watching Mulla and Sobble converse, suddenly turned serious.

Naturally, Mulla, his partner, was the first to notice the change, followed by Sobble several seconds later.

「……What’s wrong? Did something happen?」

「I don’t know. But I felt a terrible premonition run through my body for a moment. If possible, it would be best to leave here right away.」

「But even so……where do we go? Taking the highway from here and heading towards the First Princess’ camp is reject for many reasons, so the only option left is to go back or……」

Mulla glanced towards the forest beside the highway.

Because they were traveling along the road, they didn’t need to worry about monsters or bandits, but that didn’t mean they were completely safe.

There were still bears, wild boars, and ferocious wild animals that lived in the area.

Normally, such wild animals would live deeper in the forest and rarely get close to the road.

Still, it wasn’t foolproof, so it was better to be careful.

「That’s right. Let’s get into the forest now. Hurry!」

Hearing Sistoi’s urgent tone, Mulla judged that they would be in serious danger if they stayed any longer. She quickly unloaded only the bare necessities from her horse.

Sobble watched on, but knowing that the pair were from Requiem’s Toll, he had no choice but to follow their orders.

If he went against them and was left behind, it was clear that his situation could only get worse from what it was now.

「Hurry, they’re here!」

Sistoi spoke sharply.

Mulla and Sobble reflexively turned to look towards the road, but the only people there were those waiting to pass through.

However……that moment of hesitation was what led to the worst possible outcome.

「Gurururururururu-!」

A cry reverberated through the area, not from the ground, but from the sky.

Most people present froze at the sound of the cry, with only a few turning to look towards it.

Among them, only three people took a different action.

That was to run into the forest.

That was because all three of them knew who that cry belonged to. At the same time, they knew the person who had that creature as their familiar.

「Why is this……this isn’t just bad luck!」

Mulla shouted, but it wasn’t a leisurely shout.

If she didn’t shout, she wouldn’t have been able to bear her fear of those who had just appeared.

At Mulla’s shout, Sistoi called out to her.

「Mulla!」

Shouting would mean letting others know where they were.

Sistoi would have known that normally and wouldn’t had shouted out.

But this time, they had simply picked the wrong opponent.

They were being chased by Rei and Set, the epitome of fear.

If they were caught, they would die. Since that was the case, they coulnd’t let themselves be caught.

With those thoughts in mind, the three of them ran. But, no matter how skilled they might be, they were still human. There was no way they could escape Rei, who was riding on Set.

Furthermore, as if to restrict the direction of their escape, a Flying Slash was also unleashed……

「Well, the chase ends here.」

The three of them suddenly found Rei and Set in front of them.

「I see. I was wondering who was running away, but it’s a pretty unusual combination. Two from Requiem’s Toll and Sobble, who should have been held prisoner.」

「Gururu~?」

What are we going to do? Set asked with a cry as he tilted his head. Rei wasn’t sure.

(As for Sobble, we could just capture him again. But what about the other two? They’re from Requiem’s Toll, so there’s no doubt they know a lot of information. But, since they’re from that organisation, there’s no telling what they’ll do if we let them live. In order words……)

Rei spun the Death Scythe around in his hand, revealing his murderous intent.

「If you two are alive, things will get complicated. ……I’ll give you a choice, if you say quite and surrender, I’ll guarantee your lives. But, if you don’t, I’m sorry, but your lives may end here. ……What will you do?」

Sistoi and Mulla exchanged glances after hearing Rei’s words.

It was true that if they quietly surrendered, their lives would be safe.

But the fate that would await them wouldn’t be a pleasant one.

It was clear that they wouldn’t be seeing a peaceful retirement.

And while they might have their own thoughts regarding Requiem’s Toll, Requiem’s Toll had also been the ones who had had employed them until now.

With all that said, they couldn’t just sell out Requiem’s Toll.

(I can’t believe I’m doing the organisation a favour. But, maybe it won’t be so bad in the end.)

Once they made their decision, their hearts cleared up strangely.

With that thought in mind, Mulla called out the name of her partner for what would likely be the last time.

「Sistoi!」

「Got it.」

A brief exchange.

However, having been partners for so long, that brief exchange was enough.

She leaped back to provide support as Sistoi stepped forward to face Rei and Set head on.

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