「The vanguard for the Neutrals? Well, with Rei’s skils, that’s not too surprising.」


  Runo muttered as he maintained his sword.

  Rei heard that as he was lying against Set, who was sprawled on the ground.

  「Where were you assigned?」


  「Me? I’m near the middle. Unlike Elk and you, who specialise in combat, I’m more of the dexterous kind, so I’m not suited for the vanguard.」


  「You’ve been in charge of guarding me though. Since I’m considered an important person, you can’t be lacking in fighting strength right?」


  He had been in charge. After arriving at the battlefield, Runo was relieved of his job as Rei’s escort and was now back to being an ordinary adventurer.

  Even so, the reason why he was still sticking around Rei was because they were reasonably well acquainted with each other from past association.

  「Haha, even if I’m one of your guards, do I even need to protect you? Now that I think about it, I was probably appointed to be your guard to keep you company. After all, my escort target is stronger than the escort, there’s even Set as well, right? I don’t even know why I was told to guard you.」


  Although he said that in a self-depreciating manner, Runo’s eyes seemed to show that he was quite happy to have such an easy job.

  「Someone to keep me company……hey. Maybe that’s the truth.」


  Rei looked up into the sky where the spring sunlight was pouring down and sighed at the cloudless sky.

  「What’s up with that sight? You’re not the kind to be scared of war are you?」


  「No, not at all. I’m not worried about the war itself. But, how do I say this……」


  Rei tried to express his feelings, but couldn’t find the right words. Regardless, he started to speak.

  「We set up camp here last week, didn’t we?」


  「That’s right, we arrived here in the afternoon last week.」


  「……How long do we have to wait here? Hasn’t the war started yet?」


  「What, you aren’t scared of the war? You aren’t satisfied it hasn’t started yet? 」


  「That’s not the case. But I don’t like this atmosphere before the start of a war. Up until now, I could always decide when to fight. But this time, it’s a war between countries, so I don’t know when it will actually start.」


  「That’s true. Although it’s a periodic war, it’s a war between countries. I think the war can only start after we’ve gone through the formalities. If we ignore the formalities and start the war, even if we win, the surrounding countries won’t leave us along.」


  「……Is that so.」


  Rei nodded at Runo’s words, but inside, he thought differently as he leaned his neck into Set while feeling his warmth.

  (They were the ones who caused so much trouble in the Mireana Kingdom even before the war started. Do the formalities matter to them at all?)

  As he thought that, he continued to watch Runo maintaining his sword. At some point though, it turned into a stare and Runo looked at Rei with an unhappy expression.

  「It bothers me if you watch me like that. Don’t you have to take care of your own weapons?」


  「Since the Death Scythe uses my magic power, there’s almost no need to maintain it. All my other weapons like my Mithril Knife, skinning knives and spears were all taken care of by the blacksmiths before we left Gilm.」


  While saying that, Rei recalled the face of the blacksmith Pamidor, who he had left the maintenance of his weapons to.

  As far as Rei could see, Pamidor was a man with a face so vicious looking that he could be mistaken for a bandit, but he was really a family man. Although he was such a person, his blacksmithing skills were quite considerable and had come all the way from the Royal Capital to Gilm to use his skills for the sake of those on the frontier.

  Pamidor had initially turned down the job when Rei had visited his store to ask for weapon maintenance due to his participation in the war. His skills were not intended to be turned against people but to protect people on the frontier from monsters. But, when Rei told him that those on the frontier would be the ones to suffer the most if the Bestir Empire was allowed to invade, Pamidor reluctantly agreed to take care of his weapons. But even if he was reluctant, he did not cut corners on his work. All Rei’s weapons aside from the Death Scythe - the Mithril Knife, Spear of Thorns and the Dagger of Flowing Water, a useless weapon due to Rei’s fire attribute specialisation - were returned to Rei in good condition.

  As expected, Rei didn’t ask him to maintain his throwing spears as they were disposable weapons, but it still cost him several silver coins, a large expense, to maintain his magic items.

  「Tch, isn’t it nice being rich. If that’s the way things are……」


  As Runo was speaking, several soldiers ran into the Rowlocks camp while shouting.

  「The Bestir Empire’s army has arrived at the Selemous Plains! It seems they have already started to set up camp. Maybe the war will start tomorrow! Don’t neglect your preparations! I repeat, the Bestir Empire has arrived at the Selemous Plains.」


  Hearing those words being shouted, Rei muttered to himself.

  「Since they’re in the middle of setting up camp, I think we would be able to use that to our advantage if we attacked them right now?」


  Hearing Rei’s thoughts voiced, Runo smiled as he shook his head.

  「Didn’t I tell you? The formalities are important. If we tried to win using such means, the Bestir Empire would probably happy for the rest of the surrounding countries to join in an condemn us.」


  「But, aren’t we a big kingdom? I don’t think it would make that much of a difference even if all the small countries condemned us.」


  「Well, if it’s only military strength, then yes. But, consider the Magic City Ossus, which is the home of alchemy. If it were to side with the Bestir Empire and reduce the export of magic items to the Mireana Kingdom, that would be an unfortunate situation.」


  「……I see.」


  「Besides, weren’t you assigned the position at the vanguard of the Neutrals? If you did that, even if we did win, you would be reprimanded by the Royalists. You would be accused of damaging the Kingdom’s prestige or something. At worst, you would get the death penalty.」


  Pausing his hand from sharpening his sword, Runo tapped his neck with his hand several times.

  Not liking that, Rei frowned.

  Of course, Rei didn’t intend to lose even if he fought against an army. In a war, five people with the strength of two each may be more effective than a single person with the strength of ten. However, Rei preferred to be someone with the strength of ten. Because that way, he could move as he liked to target others.

  (In the worst case, I can always hide back in the lab inside the Forest of Monsters.)

  Rei thought to himself.

  In the Forest of Monsters, there were some creatures, such as Dragons, which the current Rei and Set couldn’t fight. Still, he could return to the lab without anyone finding them. And once inside the Forest of Monsters, it would be impossible for even A rank adventurers to get to them.

  「Anyway, I understand the situation. So I can’t do anything until the war officially starts.」


  「That’s right. However, once the war starts, there’s no problem in attacking the enemy’s camp. Well, if you can penetrate that deeply into the enemy’s ca…m…p……」


  Runo’s words trailed off without finishing. He turned, not to look at Rei, but at Set, who Rei was leaning against.

  「I see, that’s right. You can make a surprise attack on their camp.」


  Guessing Rei’s goal, Runo spoke with a grin.

  「That won’t happen. ……A preemptive attack would be difficult if not impossible.」


  「Why?」


  「That’s because I’m planning on using a wide area annihilation magic from the vanguard. If I use that, I’ll definitely be noticed by the guys from the Bestir Empire. In that case, Set will also draw attention. No, rather, because he’s a Griffon, he’ll probably draw more attention than me.」


  「Wide area annihilation magic? It sounds amazing just hearing that, but there won’t be any damage to our side, will there?」


  「I don’t think there will be any damage since the plan is to use it in the centre of the enemy army. But, if a powerful force like Elk charges to far, they might get caught up in it.」


  「Hey, hey, is that okay?」


  Turning towards Runo, who was looking at him suspiciously, Rei gave a small shrug and spoke as if were nothing.

  「If it’s Elk, I don’t think my attack would do too much if it hit him.」


  「……」


  The reason why Runo went silent at Rei’s words was because he himself thought that Elk would actually be okay for a moment.

  「I mean, it can’t be. There’s no way……」


  「I know. I’m joking. I’m not going to drag Elk into this. I’ll give him a proper heads up before the battle begins.」


  「Are you really sure? Something tells me you would drag Elk into it just for the fun of it.」


  As they were talking, they soon noticed a familiar knight coming their way. It was one of the knights that had escorted Rei on the way here.

  Seeing that, Rei stopped leaning against Set and got up to meet the knight.

  Because the knight was heading straight for him, Rei guessed that he had some business with him. And, Rei’s judgement was correct as the knight called out to Rei.

  「Rei, Daska-sama has called for you. I need you to come with me right away.」


  「Is that so? The soldiers were just saying that the war was going to start tomorrow. Is that why?」


  Rei guessed that it was a meeting of the leaders including Elk. However, the knight shook his head at Rei’s question.

  「No, not really. ……That is, I’m sorry. We need you to head over to the headquarters tent as soon as possible.」


  「……Headquarters tent?」


  The headquarters. In other words, the Royalist camp. As long as it was called the Mireana Kingdom army, it was natural that the Royalists, the King’s faction and the one with the greatest strength, would have the headquarters in their camp.

  But for Rei, those words from the knight made no sense. Since he was hired by Daska, why would he be called to the Royalist camp?

  The knight might have seen Rei’s confusion. The knight spoke with a somewhat apologetic expression.

  「Roughly speaking, there’s no doubt that the war will begin soon. But, the Royalist general in charge has been accused by a noble saying that it is impossible to leave the vanguard to just Elk and some unknown, no name adventurer.」


  「……」


  Runo seemed to look at Rei with eyes that seeme to say, my condolences.

  Seeing those looks from Runo, Rei spoke out.

  「Are you serious?」


  「At the very least, they are serious. They’re not crazy……at least I wish I could say that.」


  As the knight replied, he could understand Rei’s mood. The knight gave a bitter smile.

  「No, you have the right to say they’re crazy. In the first place, didn’t the Royalists leave the Neutrals and Nobles to take the lead? In that case, it shouldn’t matter if I’m in the vanguard. I’m also sure it’s not just me and Elk in the front lines, but other soldiers, knights and adventurers as well. Is it even possible for all of them to be famous people?」


  「……No. It may be strange to say this, but there are many soldiers without a name. Not even all the knights, who boast higher fighting strength than ordinary soldiers, are well known. I don’t need to say anything regarding adventurers.」


  「Then, why am I being targeted?」


  「Do you know someone called Renodis Imarhen?」


  At the name that came from the knight’s mouth, Rei had a sudden bad feeling.

  「Yes, he was some noble knight or something. I got dragged into something with him yesterday.」


  「That’s probably the cause. He’s complaining that he’s not going to share the battlefield with some no name like Rei.」


  「……Are you serious?」


  At Rei’s repeated question, the knight shook his head regretfully.

  Understanding the situation, Rei gave a sigh of annoyance.

  「Even if he was a noble, we could ignore this if he was from a house of a lower standing, but……he’s from a Marquis house.」


  「But, he’s a noble, right? In that case……」


  Wouldn’t Elena, who knew him well, chide the other party for making such a fuss over such a stupid issue? Rei spoke with those thoughts in mind, but the knight silently shook his head.

  「I know you have relations with the General Princess. Definitely, there wouldn’t have been a problem if it was only within the nobles. Unfortunately, the Royalists have gotten wind of this. Because of that, both of them have been making a fuss about it and the General Princess can’t do anything about it.」


  「So it’s faction dynamics, is it?」


  Rei remembered something he had seen on the TV news or something when he had been back in Japan.

  At Rei’s words, the knight looked surprised.

  「Yes, you know some difficult words.」


  「Who did you think I was? ……So, what do I do?」


  「Well, that’s not hard task. The bottom line is that Renodis guy seems to have the idea that since Rei isn’t a famous adventurer, it must mean your skills aren’t that good.」


  「……I’m sure Elena knows my capability.」


  The knight looked surprised at Rei for casually saying the General Princess’s name, but he quickly decided that he shouldn’t be surprised since it was Rei.

  「The General Princess’s prestige is certainly great, but it seems that the Royalists aren’t convinced with just the General Princess vouching for you.」


  The knight muttered that with a sigh, but there was actually someone else here who knew of Rei’s abilities aside from Elena. It was Philma de Giel, the Knight Commander of Duke Kerebel’s knights. But because he only knew of Rei’s abilities in the midst of the turmoil that had occurred in Gilm, he was unable to say that out.

  「……I understand. They want me to demonstrate my strength, right? Set, let’s go.」


  「Guru~」


  At Rei’s voice, Set stood up from the ground.

  However, the knight seemed to have anticipated that.

  「We’ll be going to a place with a lot of higher ups, so I would like to show some restraint with Set.」


  「……Doesn’t my strength include Set?」


  「I know, but the other party argued otherwise. ……Maybe Renodis felt that he couldn’t beat a Griffon.」


  Sighing at those words, Rei stroked Set’s head as he spoke.

  「Apparently that coward is scared of you. I’ll go shut him up for a bit so wait for me here.」


  「Gururu~」


  That’s a shame, Set seemed to say. Rei turned to leave after seeing Set lie back down on the ground.

  「It’s hard being famous. Well, do your best. Just don’t kill him or anything.」


  As Rei headed for the main camp with the knight, Runo’s somewhat amused voice could be heard from behind.