「Hmm, I see. A festival……that certainly isn’t a bad idea. That bastard Keep has apparently been reaching out to various nobles of the Royalist Faction present in Gilm anyway.」

Daska spoke as he sat at his office desk. He looked over towards Rei, who had brought forward the suggestion of holding a festival.

「I thought so. He seems to have a personality that loves being the centre of attention, so he probably wants to display his blatant seizure of Ashie to a massive crowd of his acquaintances to prevent anyone from stopping him.」

「Well, if he succeeds, it will undoubtedly deal a massive blow to the Baron Cisne family. ……Though that’s assuming he can pull it off.」

Within his mind, Daska had already decided that the victor of this duel would be the person standing right before his eyes. Knowing Rei’s true strength, it was only natural. Under normal circumstances, Daska’s position dictated that he remain fair and neutral. However, as a member of the Neutral Faction, now that the formal procedures had been properly completed, it was only natural for him to emotionally side with Rei.

Of course, he had no intention of showing blatant favouritism during the duel itself. If he did such a thing, he would lose his justification for legally expelling Keep from Gilm.

「True. Assuming he can pull it off……」

Rei wore a meaningful smile. Even from Rei’s perspective, Keep was a textbook example of a corrupt noble in the worst way possible. If asked whether such a person could win over any well known adventurers to his side here in Gilm, he couldn’t help but doubt. Of course, there were definitely many adventurers who would be blinded by gold. This was especially true for adventurers who had failed to prepare for the winter.

However, if asked whether they would actually step up to fight upon learning their opponent was Rei, it would be highly unlikely. If it were a mere mock battle, fighting Rei would serve as valuable experience, but a duel meant their lives were on the line. Furthermore, it was common knowledge in Gilm that Rei showed absolute no mercy to those who antagonised him.

「However, there is also a problem. Since the duel is being held with proper legal processing, the property of the Earl Eliel family will undoubtedly belong to the Baron Cisne family. The amount will be astronomical. It will be enough to make them frantic to somehow alter the outcome.」

「Meaning the Baron Cisne family will be targeted?」

「The probability is high. The problem lies in how we find a compromise.」

「……Don’t tell me it would be better if I didn’t win?」

「That’s impossible.」

Daska immediately rejected Rei’s thought. From Daska’s position, he needed to show a certain degree of consideration towards the Earl Eliel family, but even so, there was no need to extend that consideration to the point of permitting a tragedy to befall someone living in his own territory.

「Then I’m allowed to win, right?」

「Yeah. It might lead to some troublesome complications, but I will pull as many strings as I can on my end. You just need to fight to your heart’s content, that is all. ……Well, as far as the other side is concerned, it will be close to a living nightmare, though.」

To fight Rei and lose meant losing half of their entire family assets. It would not be an exaggeration to describe that result as an absolute certainty.

「At any rate, returning to the topic at hand, I agree with turning this into a festival. Since the Gamelion hunting didn’t progress very well this year, I’d like to let everyone make some noise and blow off some steam if possible.」

「Were the numbers really that low? When I looked around, quite a lot of people were participating in the Gamelion hunting.」

「True. Thanks to you, the Gamelions finally began showing themselves again, but our progress was ultimately dragged down during the first half of the season. In the end, we only managed about eighty per cent of a typical year’s haul.」

「In that case, I shouldn’t expect that many Gamelion dishes to be available at this festival?」

「Well, who knows? If anything, there is a possibility that a massive number of Gamelion dishes will appear, as merchants might see this exact moment as a golden opportunity to turn a profit. But well, that depends entirely on the thoughts of whoever actually sets up shop. I can’t force them.」

「I see. Then I’ll pray that plenty of Gamelion dishes show up. I hope Baron Cisne and Baslero look forward to it too.」

「Hahahaha. You certainly are bold. Well, as far as you’re concerned, there’s no way you could lose a duel unless something extraordinary happens.」

Daska raised a hearty laugh and nodded.

「Leave the festival to me. There are various things I’d like to try out as well. Since the other side is bound to have brought up the topic of this duel to a great number of people, gathering a crowd shouldn’t be much trouble.」

「Please do. ……I think making snow statues and competing to see who makes the best one would be quite interesting as well, you know?」

「Hmm, I shall take that into consideration. However, we don’t have enough time on our hands. We have to prepare for the festival in the remaining four days, so there won’t be time to make snow statues. ……Ah, also, to backtrack a bit, it would be best to dispatch bodyguards to the Baron Cisne family. Once the other side figures out your true identity, they will undoubtedly want to call off the duel itself.」

At Daska’s words, Rei’s eyes suddenly grew sharp.

「And to call off the duel, getting rid of their opponent would be the quickest way. However, even if they attempted to deal with you, Rei, it would be practically impossible. Which means the ones targeted will be……」

Even without finishing the statement, Rei could understand. If the original cause of the duel vanished, the duel itself would cease to exist. Furthermore, Baron Cisne was not wealthy, and he did not have any knights, soldiers, or adventurers hired by his own household.

「That is a dangerous situation.」

「Right? Under normal circumstances, I would like to dispatch guards myself, but from my position, that is impossible. It would be a different story on the day of the actual duel, though. That said, hiring adventurers would place too heavy a burden on Baron Cisne as well. Since that’s the case……」

「I have no choice but to do something about it myself.」

Rei continued the sentence Daska had cut short.

「That’s right. Well, fortunately, if you win this match, obtaining half of the Earl Eliel family’s property……might be difficult in reality, but a considerable amount of money will still enter the Baron Cisne family, and you will naturally be paid a reward as well. If that’s the case, hiring adventurers to act as guards shouldn’t be too difficult, right?」

「True, I shall do that. ……Well, it’s a bit sudden, but I’ll take my leave now. I need to head to the Baron Cisne residence and the guild to look for some available adventurers. If possible, it would be best if there are some skilled experts among the adventurers who haven’t finished preparing for the winter yet.」

「That’s impossible.」

Daska rejected Rei’s words without a second thought.

「In the first place, a highly skilled adventurers wouldn’t fail to prepare for the winter. ……No, wait. Adventurers are a collection of eccentric individuals, so perhaps it is a possibility?」

「That’s true. However, if it’s absolutely impossible to find anyone among the adventurers currently at the guild, I’ll reach out to the guys being noisy in the tavern. Even if they’re drunk right now, a lot of them should be fine by tomorrow. Besides……」

Rei stopped mid-sentence as the faces of Johanna, Sergio, Marno, and the other former guerrilla force members crossed his mind. They were individuals he knew well, and their skills were appropriately high. Furthermore, they had only recently arrived in Gilm, and it was already winter. Even if they had hired a house to stay in, it would be best for them to have some margin financially, and at the same time, the sooner they integrated into Gilm, the better.

(True. If there aren’t enough people at the guild, I’ll try reaching out to them as well.)

Rei judged that Baron Cisne would undoubtedly hire adventurers to protect Baslero and Ashie, even if he didn’t care about his own safety. Of course, if the Baron Cisne family lacked the money, Rei, who possessed plenty of funds, could simply advance the money for them. Once this duel concluded, it was certain that the Baron Cisne family would make a massive profit.

(Which means I should head to the Baron Cisne residence first.)

Having decided on his next destination, Rei bowed his head to Daska.

「Well, since it’s best to hurry as much as possible, I’ll take my leave.」

「Yeah, take care.」

Daska spoke as he watched Rei leave the office, and his tone was by no means mere lip service. To Gilm, Rei’s existence was absolutely indispensable. If Daska were to state his honest feelings, even if there were a hundred……no, a thousand or ten thousand instances of Keep, they wouldn’t match the value of Rei alone.

 

 

「Hah? Fight Rei? You’ve got to be joking. ……Eh? You’re not joking? No, no, that’s impossible. Completely impossible. Are you telling me to go die? No thanks, absolutely not.」

「Against Rei? Eh? Are you out of your mind? Ah, sorry. Are you serious? But if I’m being completely honest, I want to ask if you’re out of your mind instead. Me? Count me out. If it were a mock battle or something, it might be a good opportunity to fight Rei, but it’s a duel, right? I don’t want to die at this age.」

「Fight Rei…… You’re joking, right? If I did something like that, Set would end up hating me. That isn’t something I can laugh off.」

「Against Rei-san? ……Hah, my apologies, but I value my own life too much, so I’ll have to pass.」

「Hey, hey, hey, hey, is your head screwed on straight? Fight Rei? Absolutely not. Ah? A coward? Heh, you certainly talk a big game. In that case, why don’t you try fighting Rei yourself? You’re calling people cowards. Surely you can manage at least that much, right?」

「R……Rei!? H-Hiiiiiiiiiii!」

Furtos used his subordinates to approach numerous adventurers with proposals for the duel, but every single one of them turned him down. If they had approached the adventurers without mentioning Rei’s name, someone might have accepted the offer. However, unless they could actually defeat Rei, it was completely meaningless.

The legal agreement that had been signed specified that if they lost the duel, half of the Earl Eliel family’s property would be transferred. In other words, since they absolutely had to win, they couldn’t afford to choose someone who would run away at the mere mention of Rei’s name as their proxy for the duel.

「Damn it, what should I do!」

Alone inside his room, Furtos slammed his hand onto his office desk with all his might. The skin on his knuckles split and bled, but he was in no position to worry about such a thing right now. Reaching his hand up to his fleshy chin, he desperately tried to devise a way to break the deadlock. However, no matter how he looked at it, the obstacle remained Rei’s existence.

In the first place, how were they supposed to win after antagonising an opponent who could fight an entire army by himself? A duel against an opponent whose quality overwhelmed sheer quantity……meaning he couldn’t see any hope of victory in a contest of pure quality. It wasn’t just Furtos, Keep felt the exact same way. That was undoubtedly why he had commanded Furtos with bloodshot eyes to hire an adventurer who could defeat Rei, stating that money was of no concern.

If they had a few months until the duel, it might have been possible to pull strings with the Royalist Faction in the Royal Capital and exercise their authority to summon an S rank adventurer, but they had nowhere near that much time.

And……the outcome of their attempts so far was a total defeat. The exact moment they heard the enemy was Rei, every single person declined. Far from accepting, it had reached the point where they were even told it wasn’t too late to apologise to Rei and beg for forgiveness.

「If we could do that, I wouldn’t be dealing with this in the first place!」

Why on earth had he thought of a duel as a solution at that moment? By now, if Furtos could travel back to the past, he would have punched himself to prevent such an action. That decision was precisely what brought about their current situation, which left them a single step away from total ruin.

They……or rather, Keep had been sent to Gilm for the very purpose of stirring up trouble, but there was nothing they could do about the current situation. Under normal circumstances, this commotion should have become an achievement for the Earl Eliel family of the Royalist Faction……and by extension, a credit to himself for helping orchestrate the situation. But now that things had turned out like this, they couldn’t even rely on the nobles of the Royalist Faction.

The legally processed documents for the duel restricted their movements no matter what they tried. As he agonised over what to do next within his mind, it happened. Suddenly, the door to Furtos’s room burst open with a loud crash. No, rather than saying it opened, it would be more accurate to describe it as being kicked down.

「-!?」

An enemy!? That word crossed Furtos’s mind. He understood the numerous commotions they had caused in Gilm. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone had come to seek revenge. However……the person who entered the room was Keep. Except that he had a expression of pure rage on his face. Turning bright red, he bellowed with clear irritation.

「What is the meaning of this! What is with the looks those nobles of the Royalist Faction in Gilm are giving me!? I am the next head of the Earl Eliel family!」

Furtos could understand what had occurred from those words. Keep had likely been distanced by the nobles of the Royalist Faction in Gilm, who under normal circumstances should have been their allies. Furtos understood why, even as he watched the infuriated Keep. If he were in their position, he would do the exact same thing. There was absolutely nothing to gain from making an enemy of Rei, an existence akin to a natural disaster. If anything, they were basically in what could be described as the absolute worst-case scenario.

Under normal circumstances, a commoner would show deference when dealing with a noble. In Rei’s case, however, that deference was entirely non-existent. It was blatantly obvious that he harboured neither awe nor respect for nobility. That was precisely why he would think nothing of raising a hand against a noble.

「Keep-sama, to handle the current situation……our only option is to somehow prevent Rei, their proxy, from appearing at the duel.」

Harbouring a single firm resolve, Furtos voiced his proposal to Keep.

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