LEGEND

Chapter 297

Rei emerged from the tent where Count Arius and various other Royalist nobles had gathered and gave a small sigh before welcoming the approaching Set.

(Anyhow, this is the end of the war. I hope I don’t get dragged into any troubles after this.)

While muttering to himself, he judged that it would be difficult.

After all, he had stood out too much in this war. He stood out enough that even he recognised the issues himself.

(That said, it will be inevitable that I’ll stand out as long as Set is with me. Thinking about that, it’s a good thing I told them that if anyone tried to mess with Set, they were going to get hurt.)

In particular, Rei’s use of the fire whirl, which was more of a natural disaster than magic, was part of his plan to dissuade anyone from trying anything within the Mireana Kingdom.

(Well, that said, there seem to be some people who think it will still be fine for them to try something……)

「Guru~?」

Rei was thinking of that when Set gave a cry and looked at Rei with round eyes that seemed to ask if there was anything wrong.

「It’s nothing. Rather, I have to report to Daska-sama. Can I leave it to you?」

「Guru~!」

「Kyu!」

Set gave a cry at Rei’s words, which was followed by another cute cry at almost the same time.

Rei turned towards the familiar voice and saw Yellow, who was sitting on a nearby tent.

「……I see, now that you mention it, Elena sent you back to liaison with the camp.」

Reaching out as he spoke, Yellow gave a happy cry as it jumped into Rei’s chest, looking as if it were complaining about something.

Seeing that, Rei guessed what Yellow was probably worried about. Stroking its small head, he spoke to reassure Yellow.

「Elena……your master is safe. She hasn’t suffered any injuries in particular either. So you don’t need to worry.」

「Kyu!」

It must have felt some relief at Rei’s words. Giving a cry, it flapped its wings and landed on Set’s back.

「Kyu!」

「Gururu?」

「Kyukyukyu!」

「Guru~」

As usual, the two of them communicated with each other without any issues despite being different species. Rei got on Set’s back.

「Yellow, I’m going to report the success of the ambush to the Neutrals and Nobles. Do you want to come with me?」

「Kyu?」

Yellow tilted its head at Rei’s words.

When Yellow, a baby Dragon about 15cm in length, made that gesture, it looked like a lovely stuffed toy.

In fact, regardless of gender, the soldiers, knights and adventurers who were watching the interactions between Rei and his Griffon all looked over with a gentle expressions.

Maybe it was because the war was over that they were able to hold such expressions.

「I’m Rei, an adventurer who was dispatched to the ambush unit. I would like to report to Daska-sama, so can I ask you to let him know?」

「Ah, you’ve come back? Both Daska-sama and Philma-sama are waiting for your report. I’ll bring you over soon, please wait a moment.」

As one of the guards went into the tent, Rei handed over the Mithril Knife at his waist to another guard.

「That said, seeing that you’ve come back safely, I assume the ambush was successful? The noise from the front lines has also stopped for a while.」

As he received the Mithril Knife, the guard looked at Griffon standing next to Rei and Yellow on his back before asking.

「Ah. The enemy’s chief commander was defeated by the commander of the ambush unit, and as you can see, the enemy has withdrawn. If you just consider the results, you could say it was our overwhelming victory.」

When it came to damage suffered in this war, the Royalists had taken an overwhelming large amount. That was because Rei had used the fire whirl in the fight between vanguards, drastically reducing the damage to the troops of the Neutral and Noble troops.

However, that didn’t mean that the Neutrals and Nobles hadn’t taken any damage. During their full-scale attack, taking advantage of the confusion caused by the fire whirl, their forces had still been worn down. However, in terms of the relative damage they suffered, damage to the Royalist forces was overwhelmingly greater. Considering the losses they had suffered from the ambush by Theorem and his Demon Soldiers using transition stones and the losses from the main attack as they drew attention away from the counter ambush, the damage taken by the Neutral and Noble factions was insignificant.

「Really? I had only known about the withdrawal from the mages and archers who were entrusted with providing back line support.」

The guard nodded in admiration as the previous guard came back from inside the tent.

「Daska-sama and Philma-sama will meet with you. You mustn’t be impolite.」

「I don’t have too much confidence in that area, but I’ll be careful. ……Set, please wait outside with Yellow.」

「Guru~」

「Kyu!」

The Griffon and Dragon responded to Rei at almost the same time. Like with the guards at the Royalist tent, the two guards here also smiled involuntarily.

However, they soon remembered their roles as guards. They forced themselves to put a serious expression on their faces before speaking.

「Well, come in. ……Ah, no, before that, your weapons.」

「I’ve already got it with me.」

The other guard replied as he showed the sheathed Mithril Knife to his fellow guard.

「That’s fine. Come in. Everyone wants to hear your report, including Daska-sama.」

Rei entered the tent.

The first thing he felt was the strong gazes of the nobles who were inside the tent. Of course, when he had come here before joining with the ambush unit, he had been exposed to the same gazes. But this time, the pressure was incomparably higher.

The strength of their gazes represented the nobles’ interest in the report that would come from Rei.

Because of that, Daska asked immediately without bothering with greetings.

「Rei, seeing that the enemy has withdrawn, can I assume the ambush was successful?」

「Yes. The ambush was successful.」

For a moment, Rei wonder if he should say that he was the one who killed the enemy general or that it was Siminar, but before he could say anything, the nobles exploded into noise.

「Alright! Does that mean we’ve successfully fought off the Bestir Empire’s army?」

「It was a close bet by Count Arius……」

「It might have been a close bet, but a win is a win. In fact, Count Arius will undoubtedly be credited with the outcome of this ambush. Even if you take into account his blunder of being ambushed himself, the successful ambush will still be evaluated highly.」

「Hmm, in that case, I should have put more people into the ambush unit.」

「No, because Elena-sama was part of the ambush force, that’s not a problem for the Nobles. But for the Neutrals……」

A few of the noisy nobles turned to look at Rei.

Their gazes were filled with complex looks and emotions. It was a fact that Elena, a symbol of the Nobles faction, had joined the ambush unit and ultimately contributed to the fight that decided this war. However, Rei was in a different position to Elena. No matter how much he had contributed to this war, he was still only an adventurer. And compared to the Nobles, the Neutral faction had achieved far less merits.

「Should we have sent out the Axe of the Thunder God?」

「No, no, it’s also true that the strength of the Griffon was also very important. It’s true that the Axe of the Thunder God is a powerful force, but considering the pair of Rei and Set, they were a good choice. Besides, since it was an order from Count Arius that Rei had to join the ambush on the enemy chief commander, it would have been difficult for Daska-sama to add any other adventurers.」

「No, it might have been possible if it were just an adventurer. It would be impossible for knights, let alone nobles, but for adventurers……」

While the Neutral nobles argued with each other, saying that they should have done this or that, the nobles from the Nobles faction just looked on.

This time, they had coordinated with the Count Arius, and by extension, the Royalists. Because both Daska and Philma knew that, they had told those in their factions to not cause trouble with people from the other factions. They were fighting with the Bestir Empire and they would lose if they didn’t cooperate with each other.

Among them was Elena, who had no desire to be hostile with Rei. Philma, taking Elena’s feelings into account, had also avoided hostilities. But, now that the war was over, they were back to being on different factions. In particular, the Nobles faction had always been causing trouble for the Royalists in an attempt to narrow the power gap. The petty troubles they had caused may have stopped for now, but there was a high chance that they would start to pick up again in the future.

Above all, the Nobles faction still paid a great deal of attention towards Rei. He was only C rank, a low rank……but it wasn’t a suitable rank given his ability. With that much strength, if they could pull him in, he would be a great force. For Philma, considering Elena’s feelings for Rei, if Rei became a noble……he thought that it might be a good idea to make him a direct vassal of Duke Kerebel.

(Or, it might be interesting to welcome him as my successor.)

Philma was thinking of that when Daska spoke up.

「So, Rei. You’re the one who killed the enemy chief commander, General Kastom, right? In that case, as I said before you joined up with the ambush unit, there’s no doubt you will have the greatest merits in this war.」

「……No.」

The question caught Rei by surprised and he was lost for words for a moment before denying it.

「Unfortunately, I wasn’t the one who killed General Kastom, it was Siminar-sama, the commander of the ambush unit.」

「Of course he did, didn’t he.」

They probably understood the meaning of those words. Daska and Philma both gave a faint smile.

「In that case, won’t the person with the greatest achievements in this war be the one who killed the enemy commander, Siminar-dono, instead of Rei?」

「……That is likely.」

「In other words, you won’t be able to get the heirloom magic item you wanted, right?」

「That’s looks to be the case.」

Rei frowned slightly.

Of course, he knew that this would happen and he had talked with Elena and Siminar about this. Even so, the magic item handed down the Margrave Rowlocks family, located at a unique frontier location, had still been very attractive.

Daska looked at Rei funnily while Philma sighed somewhat troubled manner.

A subtle silence spread through the tent, but Daska broke it as he spoke up.

「Certainly, Rei did miss out on killing the enemy chief commander. That is a fact. ……At least that’s what we’ll say. However, considering all your other merits, even if you don’t have the most, you will be at least second. Because of that, while I won’t give you a magic item handed down my family, I will give you a similar magic item as a reward.」

Daska words seemed to be unexpected. Rei looked back at his stern face.

Perhaps the nobles around Daska felt the same. The Neutrals eyes widened while the Nobles turned to look at Daska bitterly.

Even if it wasn’t an heirloom magic item, Daska would give a magic item of a similar level. Of course, part of the reason was due to Rei’s achievements, but it also served to keep the rest of the nobles that wanted to solicit Rei in check. At the same time, it was a way of showing that he held Rei in great importance and did not want him to leave Gilm.

Of course, Daska didn’t think he could take Rei in as his subordinate, aside from keeping Rei in Gilm, his territory, and hiring him temporarily like in this war. He understood that Rei wasn’t someone ordinary and wasn’t someone who could fit under his control. Even if he could force Rei under him, it would only lead to Rei causing all sorts of issues.

Those from the Nobles faction sent Daska nasty looks, but Daska himself was unconcerned as he happily continued his conversation with Rei.