Grusso, Courage, and Conomir all had expressions of disbelief as they turned to look at Rei, who had completely overwhelmed them
It was frustrating to lose a one on one fight, but at least they could understand that.
However, even three against one, they lost without being able to do anything.
Although they were rookies……Grusso and Courage in particular had been confident in their strength, so they couldn’t believe it.
「……」
Courage was the fastest to come to his senses as he quickly looked at his surroundings.
Milein, who had told them to fight Rei, and the rest of her party members, Sulunin and Ekril, all seemed to think that Rei would win. As for the other adventurers in the training grounds, none of them looked particularly surprised when they saw Rei fight.
(In other words, is he that strong?)
Although she couldn’t read Courage’s mind, Milein clapped her hands as she spoke up to attract everyone’s attention.
「Now then, do you all understand your own capabilities? And, as you can see, even if he looks like that, what you see is not always what it seems.」
「Milein-san, who on earth is he……?」
At Courage’s confused question, Milein must have decided that there was no point in teasing them any further as she turned to look at Rei.
「Well, I guess you’re wondering if I was going to keep his name a secret forever. He’s Rei. He’s a B rank adventurer. If you’re thinking of becoming an adventurer in Gilm, the name should at least sound familiar, right?」
「Rei? ……Rei? Do you know who that is?」
Contrary to Milein’s words, it seemed that Grusso didn’t know who Rei was as he asked Courage next to him.
But…….as for Courage, he had a startled expression on his face as he looked at Rei with wide eyes and an open mouth.
The same was true for Conomir, who had a surprised expression replace his usual confused look.
「B rank adventurer Rei……Crimson!?」
「Huh-!?」
Hearing those words from beside him, Grusso’s eyes went wide as he turned to look at Rei.
Crimson. That was the name of the adventurer who had done enough in the Spring War to recieve a title from people.
Grusso himself had been very excited when he heard the rumours that Crimson had burned the whole Bestir Empire army on his own in the war against the Mireana Kingdom.
The figure Grusso had imagined when he heard the rumours was that of a big, muscular man, he had never thought Crimson would be the small man in front of him……or rather, small kid.
Grusso wasn’t the only one who thought that. So was Courage, who was the first to realise Rei was Crimson, and Conomir.
「Um……you’re joking, right?」
Ekril let out a small sigh as she replied to Courage, who asked nervously.
「I understand how you feel……didn’t you set the Griffon, Set, when you came here today? Rei only got back to Gilm yesterday after a long absence, so there should have been a lot of people who adore Set around him, though not to the same extent as Milein.」
At the end of her words, Ekril turned to look at Milein.
It was already an open secret that Milein really loved Set……or rather, it wasn’t even a secret at all.
She was usually a reliable party leader, but when Set was involved, she would become entirely useless.
The rest of her party was worried that in the worst case, she might even say that she wanted to marry Set.
「Um, come to think of it, there was a crowd of people around the guild’s tamed monster space, but we were in a hurry to get to the training grounds.」
「Yeah, come to think of it, there were definitely people gathered there.」
「……Mm.」
As Courage muttered to himself, remembering what he saw on the way in, the other two also nodded in agreement.
「Mm, ahem. That is what I mean. This is Rei, a B rank adventurer known as Crimson. Rei’s case is……special in many ways. But, it’s clear that you can’t judge and adventurer by appearances alone, right? Of course, contrary to Rei, a big muscular man might just only look like that.」
Milein spoke like that because she wanted to raise her own reputation, which had fallen due to the mention of Set, but the three rookies had already all turned to Rei.
Most adventurers stopped advancing at C and D rank, there were very few adventurers at the higher ranks, such as A and B.
Being able to see such a high ranked adventurer up close like this was good luck for a rookie.
Especially in Rei’s case, who disliked going to the guild when it was crowded and would only come over outside of the normal rush hours.
「Um, I heard that Crimson uses a huge scythe taller than he is as a weapon……」
「Hm? Oh, this is it.」
Seeing the expectant gaze from Courage, Rei took the Death Scythe out of the Misty Ring.
Seeing the scythe suddenly appear out of nowhere, the three of them widened their eyes again.
「This……this is the reaper’s scythe used by Crimson.」
「It’s so big that it can’t be compared to my battle axe……」
「Wow.」
Along with Set, the Death Scythe was one of the symbols that represented Crimson.
Scythes were by no means easy weapons to use, and very few people used one. That was why seeing a scythe up close like this was rare as a normal adventurer.
「……Mm?」
Just as Rei was showing the Death Scythe to the three rookies, he suddenly noticed someone quickly walking over to them.
With her characteristic cat ears and flamboyant expression, Rei immediately knew who it was.
(Kenny?)
Yes, it was Kenny, the guild receptionist.
Milein and the others seemed to have noticed as well. Milein looked at Kenny questioningly, but Kenny completely ignored her as she spoke to Rei.
「Rei-kun, Rei-kun. Someone is looking for you. You’ve been requested to go to the lord’s residence as soon as possible.」
「The lord’s residence?」
Surprised by those words, the rookie trio unconsciously turned to look at Rei.
Milein and the tohers already knew that Rei had a fairly close relationship with Daska, but even Courage, who was of noble descent, had no acquaintance with Daska, the lord of Gilm.
「……I see.」
Rei muttered to himself without caring for the surprised looks.
It was because he could guess why he was being summoned.
Perhaps there had been some progress regarding the Bestir Empire.
「Could this be the urgent business Rei-kun was talking about?」
「Probably. Sorry, Milein.」
「No, it’s fine. I’ve seen enough from the mock battles. I don’t know what you have to do, but be careful.」
She stopped her words there for a moment before continuing with a tone that made Rei feel a sudden intense pressure.
「Understand? Don’t you E V E R do anything to hurt Set-chan. If anything happens……you know what, don’t you?」
「Y-……Yeah, I know. Of course, I’ll be careful, so don’t worry.」
Pressured by the mysterious aura emanating from Milein, Rei quickly stored away the Death Scythe into the Misty Ring before quickly leaving the training ground.
「Ah, wait a moment, Rei-kun. I’ll go with you.」
Even if it was just a short walk from the training ground to the guild, Kenny left with him because she wanted to walk with Rei.
……Another reason was because she wanted to escape from the pressure Milein was giving off.
「……Well then. Now that Rei is gone, let’s do what we need to do. I’ve said this many times before, but please don’t judge an opponent’s strength just by their appearance. As a rookie, that is the trap you are most likely to fall into.」
「Eh? What about Rei……no, what about Rei-san?」
Courage unconsciously asked Milein, who proceeded to talk as if nothing had happened, but all he got back was a silent response as Milein looked away.
「Well, he’s extraordinary in many ways. Sooner or later you won’t mind it anymore.」
For some reason, Sulunin said that while looking somewhere far away and the three rookies decided there was no point in asking further, so they silently focused their attention on the Goblin subjugation that would take place the next day.
「Huh? Bandit subjugation……?」
Upon reaching the lord’s residence, Rei could help but ask at Daska’s unexpected words.
Since he had been summoned, he thought it would be about the Bestir Empire, but it was actually about exterminating bandits that had nothing to do with the matter.
「Yes. I don’t know if you know about it, but there’s a large group of bandits infesting the area around Abuelo right now. Apparently they came here from another area.」
「It’s true that there would be a lot more opportunities closer to the frontier, so it’s not too hard to see why……」
There were monsters and materials that could only be found on the frontier, as well as magic items, weapons, and armour that used those materials. In addition, merchant caravans would carry other goods, such as the meat of high ranking monsters. They were nothing but the finest prey for bandits who wanted to make some easy money.
Strong monsters existed on the frontier, so it wasn’t uncommon for merchants to hire adventurers as escorts.
Bandits raiding in the area could only be described as taking high risks for high rewards.
「But, haven’t knights and guards been dispatched already? I heard from the main gate that Ranga was also dispatched.」
「That’s right. However, it seems like they are quite skilled, since they were willing to come to the frontier. Above all, they are highly mobile and it seems the strike team has yet to make contact with them. I would like you to reinforce them. You can take whatever you want from the bandits’ hoard……within reasonable limits of course.」
「I see……so that’s the reward? This sure is tempting for me.」
Daska nodded at Rei’s words.
「That’s right. It will all be items they have stolen from merchants and traveler who came to the frontier. Naturally, there are many items of value. ……However, you don’t seem to have much attachment to money. You want magic items like the magic tent I gave you.」
After saying that, he turned to look at Rei meaningfully.
「That’s right. I’m certainly more interested in magic items than gold and silver, but……」
「Fufu, if that’s the case……what do you think? As bandits raiding at the frontier, there’s a high chance you’ll find a magic item you like.」
「That……is true.」
Rei was a bit troubled by Daska’s words.
Of course, he was interested in magic items and already had no intention of refusing Daska’s request as he was indebted to him in many ways.
Considering Set’s speed through the sky, with Vihera and Theorem moving along the ground, he should have plenty of time to spare.
「However, if possible, it would be a great help if you could send a nominated request through the guild.」
「Understand, I’ll take of that part.」
Hearing Rei’s reply, Daska placed his weight against hte back of his desk as he let out a sigh of relief.
For Gilm, a frontier city, there was no doubt that it would be bad if the damage from bandits increased and merchants no longer came.
However, with Rei going to deal with them, the fate of the bandits had already been decided.
「Give this to Ranga, he will understand the situation.」
Saying that, Daska placed a letter on his desk.
「You’re very well prepared. Did you consider I might refuse?」
「With your hobby of collecting magic items, I didn’t think you would miss the opportunity to acquire some.」
At Daska’s response, Rei stored the letter into the Misty Ring with a wry smile on his face.
「Understand. Well, I’ll be on my way to Abuelo as soon as I can.」
「……Yeah, I’ll leave it to you.」
Rei bowed his head slightly to Daska, who’s expression was that of his position of Margrave Rowlocks, before leaving the office.
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