In the end, one bottle of potion wasn’t enough. It was only by using several more bottles that Sistoi was able to survive with his life.

Of course, even if he was able to survive, his limbs that had been cut off by the Death Scythe had not been reattached.

Sistoi might not have to worry about his life, but he wouldn’t be able to walk on his own feet or hold anything with his hands.

(Well, this is the Bestir Empire. Alchemy is still rapidly developing. Magic items such as prosthetic arms and legs are quite common, so he should have any problems moving around. That is, if he can obtain them.)

Leaving Mulla and Sistoi alone, Rei turned his attention to Sobble.

Unable to escape due to Set’s presence, he was still standing there motionless.

「Well then, I’m sorry that you went to all the trouble of getting away from the rebel camp, but I’m going to have to take you prisoner again.」

「……」

Sobble returned Rei’s gaze without saying a word.

He already knew that it was impossible to escape from here.

Seeing how Mulla and Sistoi, who had brought him this far, were one-sidedly crushed, it was easy to see that there was no point in him resisting.

「Well then, let’s go. They’ll be setting up camp shortly and I’ll have to report you do them.」

「Can you really guarantee our safety?」

Mulla asked Rei, who was still holding the Death Scythe in one hand.

「You should talk to Theorem about that, not me. I’ll defend you, since I did promise, but if they still decide that there is no use for you, I don’t know what will happen after that.」

「……Yes, I’ll do that.」

「Of course, you don’t have to worry about your life, so don’t worry about it.」

Rei said that to Sobble, who was still motionless in front of Set, but in his mind, Rei thought that it would depend on what commotion occurred when they had made their escape.

There was no way they could have rescued Sobble using ordinary means.

(Well, if I were to guess, they definitely caused a lot of trouble, so I won’t say anything for now. My role is to guard Frizione’s army, not to recapture Sobble after his escape.)

Rei had recaptured Sobble purely by chance, his primary role was still to guard Frizione’s army.

In that sense, fighting Mulla and Sistoi had been an entirely unnecessary event.

That said, considering the intelligence Sobble knew, he would likely be praised for recapturing him, not blamed.

「……Well, I guess it’s time we got going. If we stay in the forest for too long, monsters might come after us.」

「Will monsters attack us even with a Griffon present?」

Rei went over to Set as he replied to Mulla.

「Most monsters will run away if they sense Set’s presence. But there are some monsters that can’t sense his strength, or those that don’t understand what it means even if they do sense it. Like Goblins. Those kinds of monsters will still attack even if Set is here. ……Well, in the end, they’ll just be wiped out anyway.」

Mulla gave a sigh in relief at Rei’s words.

Sistoi’s life might not be in danger anymore, but he still had no arms or legs.

With that in mind, even if the enemy was a Goblin, any attack against Sistoi could still be fatal.

Knowing that there was no need to worry was good for Mulla in the sense that it eased her tension.

「But, with some people holding us back, it would be tough to leave the forest if we had to protect them while fighting at the same time.」

Rei knew that Mulla was capable of fighting, because he had experienced it first hand.

But a limbless Sistoi and Sobble, who could only defend himself to a certain extent, were not people who could comfortably take on Goblins alone.

「Now that I’ve heard all that, I’d be happy if we could leave the forest right away.」

「I thought as much.」

With a quick nod, Rei asked Set to carry Sistoi on his back.

「Gururu~」

Set reluctantly accepted it.

Knowing that Sistoi had once been Rei’s enemy, Set didn’t really want to carry such a person on his back.

Rei understood that, but in their current situation, they didn’t have much choice.

He had to react immediately if any monsters appeared and since Mulla was a woman, it would be hard for her to carry Sistoi out, even without his limbs. The same could be said for Sobble, who had no stamina.

In the end, only Set was left.

Fortunately, Set was perfectly fine with carrying someone other than Rei, as long as they weren’t flying.

「Well, let’s go. I have to explain all this to Frizione, so we’ll be hurrying a bit.」

Mulla’s eyes widened in surprise when Rei called the First Princess by her first name.

It was the same for Sobble.

The royal family were the highest ranking people in the Bestir Empire.

To think that Rei would use such language with such people.

(It would be best to return to the Imperial Capital, but observing this person up close may be beneficial for Prince Kabajid in the future.)

With that in mind, it didn’t seem so bad for Sobble to stick with Rei for now.

Set carried Sistoi on his back while Mulla and Sobble walked close by to protect him.

Rei walked by himself a short distance away, with the Death Scythe in hand, so that he could react quickly if any monsters attacked.

Of course, he was also ready to quickly catch Sobble in the off chance he made a desperate attempt to run away.

Unable to read Sobble’s thoughts, Rei guessed that he might still be waiting for an opportunity to escape.

「……It’s taking a while.」

Mulla’s voice echoed out among the silent group.

It had been 10 minutes since they had started walking, but they still hadn’t left the forest.

「That’s true. We ran in desperately without thinking of the consequences. We ended up going a lot deeper than Mulla thought.」

Sistoi replied from Set’s back.

His expression still showed pain, but he was no longer in danger of death.

It was hard to move without his limbs, but his arms and legs had long be left behind, deep in the forest.

(So we were done in here after all. But, can we still call it a victory since we survived against Crimson?)

Sistoi wondered to himself, not as surprised as he thought he would be at the loss of all his limbs.

His gaze was now on his partner, Mulla.

Regardless, the biggest point was that Mulla had survived unscathed.

(Of course, if they find out we’re still alive, Requiem’s Toll will send someone. Either they’ll come to rescue us, or to take our lives to prevent any information from leaking. Either way, we’ll do what it takes to keep ourselves alive.)

As Sistoi was thinking of that, a gap in the trees finally appeared.

As they exited the forest, the first thing they saw were a group of female knights in white armour.

Everyone knew who they were.

They were the White Rose Knights, Frizione’s personal knight order.

The White Rose Knights were relieved to see Set at first, but looked suspicious when they saw Sistoi on his back, missing arms and legs, and went on guard after seeing Mulla and Sobble close to Set.

In particular, many members of the White Rose Knights were familiar with Sobble’s face.

That was why they went on guard until Rei eventually appeared at the back of the group.

……The only ones who didn’t let their guard down were those who still held some thoughts against Rei.

It hadn’t been like that when the previous battle had ended, but since some time had passed, it appeared that their resentment had also returned.

「Rei-Sama, I’m glad you’re safe. When I heard the news that you and Set had chased someone into the forest, I wondered what had happened.」

「Sorry about that, did I worry you?」

It was only natural, Rei thought as he gave a wry smile.

A Griffon had suddenly landed among a group of people before chasing several of them into the forest, who had fled after seeing them.

It was only natural for the gathered group to be concerned about the people who had been chased.

They were wondering what to do after seeing Set chase the trio into the forest, some of them wanted to help, others thought they would be in danger if they remained where they were. Eventually, they made up their minds to contact Frizione’s army.

After hearing that a Griffon had attacked some people, chasing them into the forest, it was easy for those in Frizione’s army to guess who it was.

Widele knew that Rei had gone scouting as well.

Judging that Rei had probably found enemies, she hurriedly reported it to Angela and Frizione before leading her subordinates to the scene.

Originally, she had only wanted to bring her own subordinates from the Third Unit, as they were friendly with Rei. But, as everyone was busy with different tasks at the time, she ended up gathering those who were nearby and bringing them along.

Naturally, there were some who weren’t happy with Rei and carried reluctant or disbelieving expression……

Regardless, they were successful in recapturing Sobble.

「Sobble, huh? Rei-sama, what do you want to do with him?」

「I’ll leave him to you.」

「I understand. Take Sobble to camp. Make sure he doesn’t run away and keep a close watch.」

『Yes-!』

Four knights responded at Widele’s words as they escorted Sobble back to their camp.

Having seen them off, Widele turned her gaze back to Rei……or to be precise, towards the man missing his arms and legs, riding on Set’s back, as well as the woman accompanying him.

「So, Rei-sama. These two are……」

「They are the assassins who went after me in the Imperial Capital. It seems they sneaked into the rebel camp to rescue Sobble, who we had captured.」

The moment she heard those words, Widele’s hand reached for her magic sword.

However, Rei stopped her.

Before she realised it, Rei had close the distance and grabbed the hilt of her sword before it could be drawn.

「Don’t worry. I’ve already bound them with magic. They can’t harm me again. More importantly, I can get information out of them now, so it would be a waste to kill them here.」

「……If you say so, Rei-sama. I believe you, but can we have someone watch over them just to be sure?」

「Of course. As for information, if only Frizione were to hear it now, I think it would be bad for all parties involved, so it would be best to ask questions together with Mercurio and Vihera after we arrive at the rebel camp.」

「Yes. That’s true. Since we’re going to join up with Prince Mercurio and his people, it would be best not to start with any awkward situations.」

Seeing Widele nod, Rei lightly signaled to Set.

Seeing that signal, Set silently went over to Widele and turned his back.

He wasn’t asked her to get on, like he would with Rei. He was just asking them to quickly get Sistoi of his back.

Although Sistoi was being treated like unwanted baggage, there was nothing he could do without his arms or legs.

If anything, Mulla looked a little annoyed at Set’s attitude.

However, knowing the situation she was in, she couldn’t bring herself to say that aloud.

「Well, we’ll take care of these people. What will you do now, Rei-sama? The sun is about to set. The post-battle cleanup at the camp is almost done, so it about time for you to return.」

「That’s right, let’s do that then. We’re going to set up camp as well, so we’ll need time to do that.」

「Gururu~?」

Really? Set seemed to ask as he tilted his head, feeling refreshed now that Sistoi was finally off his back.

In the first place, for Rei, setting up camp was really just taking out his magic tent.

As for keeping watch, Set could do that, There was also a lot of food in the Misty Ring and they had the Dagger of Flowing Water for water.

As Set looked at Rei with those thoughts in mind, Rei smiled as he spoke.

「We have to butcher the bear, don’t we?」

「Guru~!」

Set must have remembered the prey he had killed at Rei’s words and he gave a happy cry.

「If I recall correctly, the bear is with the supply carriages, right? Is it still edible after the battle?」

「Hm? Oh, I’m sure it won’t be a problem. We made sure to secure it properly.」

Set gave another happy cry at Widele’s words as he rubbed his head against Rei, telling him to hurry up.

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