「-!?」

Rei instantly pulled the Death Scythe out from the Misty Ring and took a combat stance to counter whoever, or whatever, had suddenly burst into the office.

Since he had to protect Daska behind him, he couldn’t make any reckless moves, but Rei was still confident he could handle any ordinary opponents.

However, the presence that had forced the door open with enough momentum to nearly shatter it was ferocious. Rei judged them to be a threat that warranted his caution.

As he was about to launch a preemptive Flying Slash from the Death Scythe, he suddenly realised the intruder was a familiar face and lowered his weapon.

The only reason he didn’t store the Death Scythe back into Misty Ring immediately was because the person before him was radiating bloodlust.

If anything happened, he still had to protect Daska. With that thought, Rei called out the name of the person who had stormed into the office.

「Elk, it’s been a while.」

Rei’s voice was somewhat stiff, but it was still a tone used when talking to a friend.

The main reason for that stiffness was partly because of the sudden intrusion, but more than anything, it was the way Elk had practically kicked the door down. Rei didn’t know the door’s exact value, but knew enough to know that it was far from cheap.

Hearing his name being called, Elk finally noticed Rei. His fearsome, beast-like aura he had been radiating began to subside.

「……Rei.」

「Hey. I literally just got back. What’s the matter with you? Charging into the lord’s residence while giving off an aura like that.」

「……O-Oh. Sorry. I heard a rumour that you’d returned, and well……sorry.」

After apologising twice, Elk took a deep breath to calm himself and bowed his head toward Daska.

「My apologies, Daska. I heard about Rhodes’ situation, so I……」

「Indeed. Normally, I would have to punish you for your disrespect. I’m only letting it slide because it’s me.」

Daska was a man of considerable skill himself. That was why he could continue speaking without showing any signs of fear, despite being subjected to Elk’s ferocious aura. If anyone unrelated to combat had been in his place, they likely would have collapsed or even lost consciousness from the pressure Elk exerted.

Rei looked around for Min, Elk’s wife and the one usually responsible for reining him in. He spotted her just as she poked her head through the open door, having chased after her husband.

「Elk, could you……」

Min was about to complain about her husband’s rampage, but she stopped in her tracks when she noticed Rei inside the office.

She looked away, surveyed the surroundings, and then looked back at Rei. After a few seconds of silence, she directed a suspicious gaze at him before finally speaking.

「Who are you? You’re……not Rei, are you?」

「Huh?」

Rei let out a dumbfounded sound in response to Min’s words.

It was only natural. While it might have been understandable if he were wearing his hood, he currently had it down since he was meeting with Daska. In other words, his distinctive feminine face was clearly visible.

Including his small stature—which could even be described as petite for a man, Rei’s characteristics were obvious to anyone. That was why everyone in the room, Elk included, froze, taken aback by Min’s words.

The first to move was Elk, who believed his wife’s words without a shred of doubt. Although he was unarmed since they were in the lord’s residence, he positioned himself to shield Min while glaring at Rei with a sharp gaze, ready to intercept him if he moved toward Daska.

「You……who are you?」

「Look, I’m sorry to interrupt your serious question, but I am the genuine Rei you know. In the first place, who else could I possibly look like?」

Elk frowned slightly at Rei’s words. Although they had only exchanged a few words, the person in his line of sight looked like no one but Rei.

Then there was his presence. The way Rei carried himself while holding the Death Scythe was clearly not that of an ordinary person. He was undoubtedly a warrior of equal or greater skill than Elk himself. Above all, the Death Scythe in his hand was proof that Rei was Rei.

The handle was nearly 2m long, and the blade was about 1m. A scythe was already a difficult weapon to use, and a scythe of this size would usually be impossible to handle. The only person Elk knew who used such a weapon was Rei.

To Elk, there was no doubt the person before him was Rei. Yet, despite his own impression, he trusted his wife’s judgement. In fact, he suspected that Min’s intuition might be more accurate than his own. Even so, the person in front of him still looked exactly like Rei. He was conflicted.

「……Min, to my eyes, it can only be Rei. Are you saying he’s different?」

The momentum he had when charging into the office was gone. Now, plagued by indecision, he looked back at Min.

「Yes. From the outside, he certainly looks like Rei. That item box and the Death Scythe are undoubtedly the items Rei possesses. However……even so, from my perspective, I cannot believe he is Rei.」

Rei was actually the one most surprised by Min’s firm assertion.

「How can you be so certain I’m not Rei? You should know that the item box can’t be used by anyone other than its owner, right? Since I’m using it, I don’t see how I could be anyone else.」

「Then let me ask you this. Why can’t I feel any magic power from you? No, I feel about as much as an ordinary mage. But the Rei I know possesses so much magic power that it’s a wonder it even fits inside a human body. To someone with the ability to sense magic power, it’s the kind of power that one can never forget once they’ve seen it.」

「……Oh, I see.」

Rei finally understood what was going on at Min’s words and looked down at the ring on his finger.

It appeared to be a perfectly ordinary ring. In reality, however, it was a magic item from the ancient magic civilisation, the New Moon Ring, which had the effect of hiding the wearer’s magic power.

Rei hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was okay to remove the item in front of her, but he firmly considered Min an ally and a fellow adventurer of Gilm. He decided that leaving her suspicious would only lead to a troublesome situation later, so he quietly slipped the ring off his finger.

In that instant, Min felt a sudden surge of magic power radiating from Rei’s body and stumbled back several steps.

「Th-This is……」

「It seems you’re convinced now.」

Judging by Min’s reaction that there were no further issues, Rei slid the Ring of the New Moon back onto his finger.

「Wha-!?」

Another cry of shock escaped Min’s lips. It was only natural. The magic power she could sense just a moment ago had been suppressed back down to the level of an ordinary mage in the next heartbeat.

To put it in perspective, it was like looking at a vast ocean, only to find that the ocean had been replaced by a few drops of water in the blink of an eye.

「Do you understand now?」

「……It’s that ring, isn’t it?」

「Yeah. It’s a magic item called the New Moon Ring, and it has the effect of hiding my magic power. I don’t have the ability to sense it myself, but apparently, to those who do, I’m very easy to identify for a number of reasons. This magic item prevents that.」

「Even so, a magic item capable of hiding your level of magic power……where on earth did you get it? If you don’t mind, can you tell me?」

Min looked at the ring on Rei’s hand with intense interest. The doubt had already vanished from her face. She understood that the magic power she felt when he removed the ring was undoubtedly Rei’s.

Under Min’s gaze, Rei stored the Death Scythe to the Misty Ring and spoke as he sat back down on the sofa.

「It’s a magic item I received as a reward for my work in the Bestir Empire. The effect is as you saw, it hides my magic power. Thanks to this, people who can sense magic power can only see me as an ordinary mage, and people can’t identify me by my amount of magic power.」

「……I know such magic items exist, but I didn’t think any of them could actually contain your magic power.」

「It’s a relic from an ancient magic civilisation, so it was probably made with more advanced technology than what we have now. ……Anyway, what did the two of you come here for in the first place?」

「Indeed. I never expected my office to be the target of a literal assault. I’d like to hear an explanation.」

Daska’s remark seemed to remind Min of where she was. Or rather, she realised that her attempt to unmask an impostor had been meaningless.

「My apologies, Daska. I truly thought some enemy agent was infiltrating this place disguised as Rei.」

Min bowed deeply. Seeing her like that, Daska let out a small sigh.

「Well, don’t worry about it. It’s understandable that someone like you, who can sense magic power, felt something was wrong with Rei. ……That’s fine. So, what did Elk come here for?」

「Hm? That would be, you know……」

Elk looked around as if trying to recall his original purpose, and soon enough, he remembered.

「Right, that’s it! It’s about Rhodes! How did he end up like that!? I mean, I heard he hasn’t regained consciousness!」

Elk’s gaze was fixed on Rei. Having heard that Rei had returned to Gilm, Elk and Min had naturally assumed Rhodes would be there as well. But when they arrived at the lord’s residence, they found Rhodes in a state of unconsciousness.

They had heard about Rhodes’ situation beforehand, but seeing him with their own eyes was clearly a different matter.

Rhodes had no visible severe injuries and looked as if he were simply sleeping. In reality, he had sustained significant injuries during his fight with Rei, but those had already been erased by the effects of magic items. To Elk and Min, his condition looked utterly abnormal.

「If you’re asking why, it’s likely the influence of the magic item Kabajid gave him. His will was essentially stolen, or rather, he was brainwashed, in order to attack me. I had to repel him. As time passed, the brainwashing either progressed or he was intended to be disposable from the start……anyway, Vihera found him wandering the battlefield during the final battle and took him into custody.」

At Rei’s explanation, Elk struggled to suppress his anger, while Min knit her brows slightly. Naturally, their displeasure was not directed at Rei. It was directed at Kabajid for doing such a thing to their son.

「……That Kabajid fellow, he’s dead, right?」

「Yeah. He took his own life to atone for losing the civil war.」

Strictly speaking, Rei felt it was less about taking responsibility for the defeat and more that Kabajid had been seeking an end. Considering that Kabajid seemed to have been in a similar circumstance to himself, Rei found him to be a person of great interest.

(If I had known the circumstances when we met at the castle, we could have talked about a lot of things.」

Even though some time had passed since that battle, Rei still couldn’t help but feel that way.

「I see. I would have preferred to deliver the final blow myself, but if he’s dead, there’s nothing to be done. ……So, do we know when Rhodes will wake up?」

Rei shook his head at Elk’s question.

「I have no idea. I’ve never anything like this before. I don’t know if he’ll wake up naturally if we wait, or if we need to take some kind of action.」

「From what I’ve seen, we have no choice but to give it time. Using a standard potion won’t be enough to wake him. I’ll look into whether there’s any other method, though.」

Min murmured and Elk nodded in return.

「If you need any tools or materials, let me know. I’ll go harvest them as quickly as possible.」

Listening to their exchange, Rei suddenly remembered something he needed to mention regarding Rhodes.

「I brought Rhodes from the Imperial Capital to Gilm while he was bedridden……I paid a reward to the person who took care of him during the trip, so I’d like you to reimburse me for that.」

「Hm? ……Ah, I see. He was bedridden the whole way. Understood. How much was the reward?」

「About 2 gold coins.」

「I see, 2 gold coins then. Understood.」

Min nodded as she took a pouch from her pocket and handed the gold coins to Rei.

Watching his wife, Elk let out a breath. Whether it was a breath of relief, a sigh, or something else entirely, only he truly knew.

[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]