「Rei, sorry to call you here. You weren’t busy, were you?」


  「No, don’t worry about it. The tents had already been set up, so all I needed to prepare was dinner. That said, after doing this for so long, I’ve gotten used to it.」


  At night, Rei went to Daska’s ten. Aside from Daska, there were about 10 knights serving as guards and 10 nobles, probably from the Neutral faction, sitting in chairs.

  「Daska-sama, is the the person you mentioned earlier?」


  「No, no matter what……isn’t he too young?」


  The nobles of the Neutral faction looked at Rei with slight frowns.

  Rather than contempt though, they seemed to be thinking if Rei was really the right person. They were looks of worry.

  However, Daska had no such worry as he turned to the noble who said that Rei looked too young.

  「What, you don’t trust my eyes?」


  Daska’s tone wasn’t a blaming one, but rather, one that was interested in the reactions of the nobles that saw Rei.

  「No, I’m not doubting your eyes. After all, it’s Margrave Rowlocks, the Lord of the Frontier.」


  The noble next to him nodded at his somewhat hurried response.

  「But, that is because it’s Daska-sama, Margrave Rowlocks. The rest of us are nothing but rural nobles, not on the frontier. I have had many opportunities to meet with adventurers in my territory, but most of the ones I saw were muscular people……」


  「That’s right. It’s the same for me. Maybe it’s because I’m in a rural area, but there aren’t many mages, only warriors.」


  The nobles voiced their agreement one after another. But, Daska just smiled at them sarcastically.

  「Then is there anything wrong? Rei is also a mage. I can’t feel it myself, but if get a mage who can detect magic power, it looks like they can see that he has an incredible amount of magic power. But, he’s a magic warrior, not a true mage. In other words, he’s someone who wields magic while fighting in the vanguard.」


  「……Eh?」


  One of the nobles made a dazed sound. Only one of them made such a sound, but all the nobles turned to look at Rei.

  But then……


  「Ah, ahh. Is that so. Was he the one with the Griffon following him? In that case I understand. He let’s the Griffon fight in close combat while he focuses on magic.」


  Those words came out with some struggle, but because of that, they seemed to be more persuasive. Most of the nobles present nodded, thinking that that was something they could agree on.

  But, Daska shook his head with a smile as he denied it again.

  「Indeed, Rei has a powerful tamed Griffon. But, I’m talking about Rei himself. In fact, he is strong enough sweep away the knight guards who protect the General Princess. I assume you can tell how strong Rei is when I say that?」


  「……Certainly. I know that Duke Kerebel loves Elena-dono, the General Princess, while making the most use out of her. And, of course, he has also attached an excellent guard to protect his dear daughter.」


  One of the nobles nodded as he turned to look at Rei again.

  「However, that’s just the ability of a single person, right? That’s why I’m saying this, but even if you tell us his individual ability, to ask if we can entrust Daska-sama’s plan to him……」


  (What’s this all about? Since they’re talking about my ability, it must be related to the war.)

  Rei knew that he was the cause of some debate, but he didn’t know what the debate was about. Rei frowned slightly at the way they were discussing about him without telling him.

  Probably noticing the situation, Daska, who had been talking to the nobles with a smile, called out to Rei.

  「Rei, these people are my allies. ……Rather, you can call them my friends.」


  Allies. Friends. From those words, Rei understood what kind of nobles were here.

  Margrave Daska Rowlocks, who wielded a large amount of power on the frontier. The people that Daska could call his allies and friends were few. In other words……


  「The Neutral faction.」


  「Exactly.」


  Daska nodded with a satisfied smile at Rei’s response.

  After having said that much, the nobles finally realised they hadn’t introduced themselves. On behalf of the rest of the nobles, an older man in his fifties spoke up.

  「We’ve been too impatient. I and the others here are part of the Neutral faction led by Daska-dono. We were told by Daska-dono about your strength, but your appearance is……」


  Rei, who had gotten into trouble many times due to his outward appearance up until now, shook his head at the man.

  「I am fully aware that I don’t look very strong. So don’t worry about it.」


  「Mm-mm. I’m sorry. ……Daska-dono, we can’t keep him standing forever, why don’t we sit down and talk?」


  Daska nodded at those words and looked at one of the guards, who brought another chair over.

  As could be imagined, the tent owned by Margrave Rowlocks wasn’t as big as the one Elena had but was still sizable at 10 tatami (~16m^2).

  While marching here, Rei had come in this tent several times due to events with the Prairie Wolves. However, he was still impressed by its size.

  「Please.」


  Rei sat down on the chair presented by the knight and turned to look at the Neutral faction nobles, including Daska.

  The first to start talking was, of course, Daska, the leader of the Neutral faction.

  「Actually, I’ve been discussing the war with the nobles and Royalists since noon today. ……The Royalists seem to think this war is going to be the same as previous ones.」


  「Seriously! Even though Daska-sama captured those people from the Bestir Empire and sent them to the Royal Capital to get information from them! Despite that, they still overlook it all.」


  Perhaps he couldn’t bear it any more, the man who had called out to Rei previously spoke gruffly.

  「Well, calm down. ……Then, returning to the main point, the Royalists seem to think this will be a regular war, which means that the Mireana Kingdom will win by protecting this area of the Selemous Plains. Now, the question. If the Royalists think we will definitely win, what will they do next?」


  「What……? Avoiding the amount of damage done to them by the Bestir Empire army?」


  Even though this kind of war occurred regularly, the Mireana Kingdom had to dispatch troops each time. Of course, this costed money.

  Rei’s thoughts were a matter of course, particularly because he remembered Sabrusta’s deputy lord, who had dispatched a small force because he didn’t want to spend that much money. But when Daska heard that, he shook his head. At the same time, the rest of the nobles also shook their heads.

  The reason was a misunderstanding, but their gazes towards Rei softened somewhat. They had become accustomed to power struggles among the nobles, so it was natural for them to read into things. Rei’s thoughts were immature and naive, but it was pleasant for them.

  Many were still skeptical about Rei’s strength, but if it was even half of what Daska told them, it would be quite terrifying. There was no doubt that such a person would be considered a high risk factor if he had a sharp brain in addition to his fighting capabilities, but after hearing Rei’s thoughts, it looked like that wasn’t the case. On the contrary, everyone other than Daska showed signs of relief.

  Rei wouldn’t have been amused if he found out that the nobles had let their guards down due to his own lack of understanding. However, whether fortunate or not, Rei didn’t notice and the conversation continued.

  「Ahem. So, let me continue……」


  As Daska had met with Rei several times up until now, alongside reports from Ranga and the Adventurers guild, he had a good understanding of Rei’s character. Because of that, he was not worried about Rei’s political ambitions at all.

  「Sorry, Daska-sama. Pardon the interruption.」


  The noble said that while looking apologetic.

  Shaking his head to say he didn’t need to worry about it, Daska continued speaking to Rei.

  「So, the Royalists, which expects to win this war. What they are aiming for, of course, is to increase their faction’s influence.」


  「……In other words, the Royalists want to conduct a full scale attack on the Bestir Empire army?」


  「No.」


  Daska shook his head decisively at Rei’s words.

  In response, Rei asked with a confused expression.

  「Why? If they want to increase their influence, then of course, you have to win the war right?」


  「Certainly, if the can make some great achievements in this war, the influence of the Royalists will increase. But, it also comes with a high risk. For example, let’s say they launch a full offensive against the Bestir Empire. If they rout the enemy, the influence will definitely increase, but if the attack fails, their influence and strength will decrease. But, what if the Neutral or Nobles factions led the attack?」


  「……I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be the same as the Royalists?」


  In response to Rei, Daska shook his head again.

  「It may be the same in terms of influence risk and reward. However, the initial influence that each faction had is different. The Royalists faction is centred around the King and is a large force itself. Even if the Neutral or Nobles faction achieved great merit in this war, there wouldn’t be a large effect.」


  After being told that, Rei understood what the Royalists were thinking.

  「Then, they want Daska-sama’s Neutral faction and the Nobles faction to fight for them?」


  「That’s right. If we win the war, the influence we will gain will be limited. As the Royalists are the largest faction, they would never allow us to have more influence than themselves. Even if we win, our forces will still decrease. It is not possible to win without anyone dying.」


  「That is true I guess. No matter how big a victory, there can hardly be no losses.」


  (If there is a possibility, could you destroy the other side with a unilateral attack from long range before they can get close? No, there is a way to attack from long range, but, I can’t say there will be no losses even with that.)

  Rei nodded at Daska’s words as he thought to himself.

  「And, the worst case for us, and the best case for the Royalists, is that they will attack when the Neutral faction, Nobles faction and the Bestir Empire’s army are exhausted and can no longer hold a front line. The Royalist forces will come in then and decided the battle.」


  At Daska’s words, the nobles in the room frowned at him.

  Rei finally understood what the Royalists were trying to do, based on what Daska said.

  「Your face seems to show you understand. Yes, what I have just said is how the Royalists intend to fight this war. ……Now then, the backstory was long, but the reason I called you here comes up now.」


  「……You want me to be in the vanguard?」


  「Yes.」


  Without hesitation, Daska nodded at Rei’s words.

  Of course, Daska’s original thoughts were to put Rei on the front line. ……In other words, he didn’t dislike the idea of his army being used as a shield. However, the current situation of the Neutral faction didn’t allow it. Of course, the adventurers, knights and soldiers from Gilm, led by Daska, were well trained from being on the frontier and they numbered among the best in the Mireana Kingdom in terms of discipline. However, what was more important in a war was five people with the strength of two each rather than a single person with the strength of ten. Of course, there were various exceptions.

  「I understand the situation, but if it’s leading the vanguard, wouldn’t Elk or someone else be better?」


  「Ahh. Of course, Elk was the first person I spoke to. And he accepted without hesitation.」

  「……I see.」


  At those words, Rei was certain that Elk was really doing his part to defeat the enemy in this war as a means of apologising to Rei.

  「The previous events between you and Axe of the Thunder God came into play here. It was a big reason why Elk accepted this request.」


  Daska was probably thinking of the same thing as Rei. Daska nodded as he replied.

  And Rei, who had been thinking to himself for a few seconds, recalled a magic that would be convenient to use in this situation.

  It was wide area of effect annihilation magic that he could use in cooperation with Set.

  「……Daska-sama, if you were to clash head on with the Bestir Empire, it would be nice if we didn’t take that much damage, right?」


  「Mm? Well, to be honest, yes.」


  「What if there was a way to do that?」


  「There’s no problem if it’s a method normally used in war. However, if you’re thinking of things like taking hostages, the Royalists might say something about the pride of nobility after the war, so it would be a great help if you didn’t do anything like that. 」


  「……Then, what about something like this?」


  With that, Rei explained one of the magics he could use as a trump card as he suggested it to Daska.