Rei tilted his head at Marka’s words.
Thinking he might have misheard, he turned his gaze towards Coan, who was standing behind Marka, but the response he received was a smile and a nod.
In other words, what Marka’s had said was neither a misunderstanding nor Rei’s imagination, but what she had actually said.
「Uh, sorry. I’m not really following the conversation right now. To begin with, the issue is that I humiliated Keep……or more accurately, his family, the Earl Eliel family, right?」
Keep had suffered the massive humiliation of wetting himself in front of such a large crowd.
Without a doubt, here in Gilm, the Earl Eliel family and wetting oneself now meant the exact same thing.
Furthermore, because many people visited Gilm, there was no stopping the information from spreading outward.
Perhaps the only saving grace was that it was currently winter.
By the time the snow cleared and the flow of people and goods became active, perhaps……just perhaps, there was a possibility the rumours might have already died down.
Though, it was questionable whether information about the next head of an earl family wetting himself in public would settle down in just a few months.
「Indeed. That is certainly true.」
「……So why does that lead to me becoming an instructor? Or rather, an instructor for what?」
「Umu. In the city of Gracial, which is also the Duke Quent family’s main city, there is an officer academy for the Quent Ducal Knights. I want you to be an instructor there.」
「No, were you even listening to me? Why do I have to go out of my way to that officer academy and work as an instructor? What are you even asking me to teach in the first place?」
「Were you not the apprentice of a magician? In that case, I think there is plenty of knowledge you could teach.」
Hearing those words from Marka, Rei remembered his own background story.
(Come to think of it……yeah, that was the backstory I gave myself up. Damn it, I never expected something like this to come up. Wait, should I just teach some random knowledge from over there? ……No, that’s not it.)
Noticing that he was already thinking along as if he had accepted the instructor job, Rei let out another sigh as he spoke.
「That’s not what I’m asking. I want to know why I would even leave Gilm and go all the way to……Gracial, was it?」
「……Ngh. Must I really say it?」
Marka looked up at Rei from beneath her eyelashes.
If he did not know Marka’s true personality, there was an adorable charm there that would make anyone unconsciously nod in agreement.
However, Rei knew what she was like.
Letting out a sigh, he spoke once more.
「So, why is it?」
「Hm. ……How strange. I was told that if I asked like this, you would agree to my request in an instant.」
Who gave her such useless ideas? Holding back the urge to retort, Rei prompted her to continue with his gaze.
Seeing that, Marka seemed to give up as well. Wearing a slightly displeased expression, she spoke up.
「To put it simply, we decided to use this incident to enforce official discipline within the Royalist Faction.」
Sitting on the chair with her feet dangling above the floor, swinging back and forth, Marka looked like a doll, aided by her natural cuteness.
However, the reason Rei did not feel any sense of dissonance hearing the words ‘enforce official discipline’ from her mouth was probably because he knew at least a bit about her true character.
「Enforcing official discipline?」
Turning his gaze to Coan, who was standing behind Marka, Rei saw a faint smile on his face.
Without knowing the reason for his smile, Rei prompted Marka to continue for now.
「Umu. As you probably know, the Royalist Faction is the largest faction within the Mireana Kingdom. And being the largest faction……in other words, having a great number of people, means there are all kinds of individuals among them. One particularly terrible example is Keep, whom you clashed with this time.」
The fact that she referred to Keep without any honourifics, unlike earlier, was likely because he had been caught attempting to attack the Baron Cisne residence.
He had caused such a massive uproar and dragged the prestige of the Royalist Faction through the mud like never before.
If he had at least paid the price for losing the duel quietly, he might have still been able to remain in the Royalist Faction.
However, the attempted raid on the Baron Cisne residence that occurred afterwards was something that could not be covered up under any circumstances.
「However, as I just said, while Keep was an exceptionally terrible case, there are quite a few people who act in ways that can hardly be considered noble, even if not quite as bad as him. Having learned of this, by order of His Majesty the King, it was decided that a purge to enforce official discipline within the Royalist Faction would be carried out.」
「I’d like to say good luck with that, but how does that connect to me becoming an instructor?」
「Just listen until the end. The trigger behind this enforcement of discipline is undenialbly you. To be more precise, it would be accurate to say it is both the Baron Cisne family and you. Because of that, the resentful glares of those targeted in this purge will naturally turn toward you. However, allowing them to harm others out of such misplaced resentment is something that my pride……or more accurately, the pride of the Royalist Faction, cannot permit. Of course, there is also the issue of public reputation.」
Shrugging her shoulders lightly, Marka turned her gaze toward Rei to check if he understood.
When Rei nodded in response, Marka continued her explanation.
「In any case, that is why you are facing misplaced resentment from nobles who are being backed into a corner within the Royalist Faction.」
「What about Mouet……Baron Cisne? If all this was caused by the recent incident, wouldn’t he be in even more danger?」
To begin with, this matter started because Keep set his sights on Ashie, a maid serving the Baron Cisne family.
Given that, the one in the greatest danger was undoubtedly Baron Cisne……and specifically Mouet, the current head of the family.
The faces of the three people, Mouet, Baslero, and Ashie, crossed Rei’s mind.
However, at Rei’s words, Marka shook her head, indicating there was no issue.
「Following this incident, the Baron Cisne family has apparently officially joined the Neutral Faction. Once that has happened, those in the Royalist Faction cannot lay a hand on them. If anyone were to lay a hand on a member of the Neutral Faction here in Gilm, which Daska-dono rules, there would be no excuse for them. However, you are different.」
Once again, Marka turned her gaze toward Rei.
Her eyes held a look of concern for him.
「If you were Daska-dono’s subordinate and acted as a member of the Neutral Faction, there would be no issue. But……although you are close to Daska-dono and accept many requests from him, you are ultimately just a solo adventurer and not part of the Neutral Faction, are you not?」
The words that Marka’s spoke succinctly described Rei’s position.
He possessed strength that set him apart from ordinary adventurers and had a Griffon, an A rank monster, as his tamed monster. Yet, he was very particular about who he liked and disliked, holding an especially poor impression of most nobles.
Normally, such a person would be treated with caution as a dangerous individual, and it would not be strange if someone tried to frame him with false charges or capture him.
Yet Daska tolerated Rei, partly because letting his strength go to waste would be a loss. In fact, Daska even looked out for him in various ways.
It was not strange for Rei to feel goodwill and gratitude toward Daska.
Even so, Rei hated the idea of belonging to a single faction, losing his freedom of movement, or being forced to take actions against his will through orders, so he had never considered formally joining the Neutral Faction.
「So that really is the cause?」
「Umu. There are those who do not understand what happens if they truly anger you, those who understand but believe your wrath would never be turned against a noble like themselves, and even those who think everything they hear about you is a fabrication spread by you to make yourself look formidable.」
「Even though there are people who actually saw me fight? To begin with, the war last spring was led by the Royalist Faction, wasn’t it? Theorem’s strategy struck them from behind and many died, but there should still be survivors.」
「The Flash, was it? That is certainly true, but there are still people who can only believe what they want to believe, or refuse to believe anything else. Such people might try to lay a hand on you. However, if you are in Gracial, which is my stronghold, they will not be able to act against you carelessly.」
「That may be so, but if they come at me, I’m fine with fighting back.」
「If we were to cause trouble for you because of our internal circumstances, the Royalist Faction would lose all standing.」
「No, asking me to come all the way to your stronghold in the first place is quite a hassle on its own.」
Marka took a deep breath at Rei’s words.
Rei’s confidence was not mere talk. He possessed the pride of actually having that level of combat power, and it was a fact that he had accumulated the achievements to prove it. That was precisely why……
「Daska-dono likely wishes to avoid you going on a rampage in Gilm. Of course, we are not demanding you to do this. If you truly dislike the idea, I will not force you. However……well, if you agree to act as an instructor, I can pay you in Flame Ore. Naturally, we can handle it through the guild as a private request as well.」
Rei paused at Marka’s words.
That was the name of the magic ore Rei had previously found with Freon, Brazos, and the others.
Rather, to be more precise, it had transformed into Flame Ore due to the fire magic Rei used.
While it was an extremely rare material for blacksmiths and alchemists, the same was true for Rei.
If he mixed Flame Ore into his trump card, the fire whirlwind, its destructive power would increase explosively compared to mixing in something like iron scraps.
(Besides, it’s winter right now, and the truth is I don’t really have anything specific I need to do.)
With the mention of Flame Ore, the scales in Rei’s heart were already tilting halfway toward accepting Marka’s request.
He also thought that if it took the form of a private request, it would serve as an achievement toward ranking up.
「Flame Ore, huh. Specifically, how much will I get?」
「It seems you’ve become interested. ……Fumu, how about one barrel roughly the same size as me?」
Marka was a little over 1m in height.
A barrel of that size would be of immense value.
It could even be said to be worth platinum coins……or rather, light gold coins.
However, Rei thought for a moment and shook his head.
「Two. How about that?」
「Fumu……you are quite greedy.」
「Originally, I was dragged into an issue involving the Royalist Faction, so isn’t it fair for you to be a little flexible?」
「You really know how to hit where it hurts. ……Coan, what do you think?」
Marka turned her gaze to Coan standing behind her and asked.
「Indeed. Hiring someone of Rei’s calibre would undoubtedly cost around that much. After all, he defeated the S rank Immovable Noiz.」
At the words that came from Coan’s mouth, Rei tried to suppress his look of surprise, but failed.
If Coan had said Rei lost to Noiz, it would clearly refer only to the fighting tournament.
However, saying he won meant Coan had to know about Rei fighting Noiz during the civil war, or those words would never have been spoken.
「……You’re remarkably well-informed.」
At Rei’s words, Marka smiled broadly as she spoke.
「Being the largest faction in the Mireana Kingdom is not just for show.」
「Considering that, Keep didn’t seem to know anything about me at all, though?」
「Information is meaningless if it merely exists. One must make proper use of it. Especially since a house like the Earl Eliel family is disliked, they inevitably end up out of the loop.」
From that alone, Rei vaguely grasped the situation.
(This purge to enforce discipline was probably planned for sometime down the line anyway. It just so happened that I was the one who pulled the trigger.)
That was why their course of action was already decided, and why they had come all the way to Gilm while snow was falling in winter, only a few weeks after that duel took place.
Having vaguely guessed that, all Rei could do was……
「Just to be clear, it’s not like I beat Noiz. He simply conceded the victory to me, and practically speaking, he just let me off the hook.」
All he could do was state the truth of that battle.
Those who knew the circumstances told him that since Noiz retreated, it was Rei’s victory, but Rei still strongly felt that he had simply been spared.
If they ever fought again, he would truly defeat him next time.
Hearing Rei’s words spoken with such determination, Marka and Coan both showed slight looks of surprise on their faces.
「Fumu, well, that depends on your perspective. So, how about it? Will you accept my request?」
With Noiz brought up by Marka, Rei also remembered that the Mireana Kingdom also had an S rank adventurer.
「Alright. Two barrels of Flame Ore, and I want you to arrange a meeting with the S rank adventurer in the Mireana Kingdom. With that, I’ll take the instructor job. However, the only thing I can do is fight. I won’t be teaching academics, so make it practical skills like mock battles.」
「……Fumu, you are surprisingly greedy. Well, very well. As for the S rank adventurer, Sardat-dono, I cannot guarantee it for certain. How about changing the condition to as much as I can arrange?」
「Understood. What is the duration for being an instructor? I have some plans in the spring.」
「It should be fine. That matter should be concluded during the winter.」
In this way, Rei was assigned the job of instructor, a role that did not suit him in the slightest.
「By the way, Rei. Your magic power……」
「Ah, this, right?」
Rei pointed to his ring in response to the question Marka brought up in passing, and proceeded to explain its effect.