"Hand over the magic items you possess to me."
This was the first demand Boluntar, the Chairman of the Azoth Firm, barked at Rei upon their meeting.
Due to the friction with the gatekeepers, it had taken some time for the meeting to be arranged, but the moment Rei stepped into the office, those were the words that greeted him.
Meanwhile, after seeing Rei into the mansion, Set lay sprawled on the garden lawn, basking in the autumn sun and utterly ignoring the two gatekeepers who watched the beast with trembling eyes.
"...What?"
"Did you not hear me? Your magic items. To be precise, those shoes and that great scythe. And most importantly, hand over that Item Box."
Is this man sane? Rei wondered, fixing his gaze on the man seated before him.
Rei, the guest he had summoned, was left standing while the old man remained seated in his chair. Looking at his appearance, he was certainly an old man—but not a typical one. He was the sort of elder who remained insatiably greedy for power and wealth. He had a sturdy, robust build for his age, which made him look somewhat younger than he likely was.
(Basically, he’s an old fossil,) Rei thought.
He remained silent, staring back at the old man.
As for the Item Box, Rei hadn't hidden the fact that he possessed one since arriving in the City of Gilm, so it wasn't surprising that Boluntar knew of it. The same went for the Death Scythe. However...
(He knows about the Sleipnir's Shoes, huh?)
Very few people were aware of them. The most likely source of the leak was one of the adventurers Rei had worked with during the Orc settlement incident...
(Well, no point dwelling on it now. Now, what to do about this old fossil?)
As Rei considered how to handle someone who clearly believed his demands would be obeyed without question, a voice suddenly cut in.
"Please, wait! Lord Boluntar, did you really summon him here just for that?"
It was Galahat, who had escorted Rei to the room. He looked at Boluntar with a gaze full of admonishment.
"Who gave you permission to speak? A son of a concubine should act like one and simply listen to what I say."
Boluntar dismissed him without even a glance. Beside him, Rei could hear Mult clenching his teeth so hard they practically creaked.
(Son of a concubine? I see. Quite a complicated family tree they have here.)
Rei compared the two. One was in his sixties, the other in his thirties. Even with a thirty-year age gap, the fact that they were paternal half-brothers was quite a shock.
"...My apologies."
Galahat suppressed his emotions and stepped back. Boluntar let out a derisive snort, as if he had just watched a tedious play, before turning his eyes back to Rei.
"I've heard of the quality of those magic items. I can put them to far better use than you can. If you understand, then hand them over immediately. Oh, and that Gryphon you have. Leave it here as well. I'll sell it to some eccentric or have it slaughtered for its materials. It's far too good for a mere adventurer to own."
Rei’s cheek twitched. His gaze shifted past exasperation, past icy coldness, and settled into the look one gave a common stone on the side of the road—something he could crush underfoot without feeling a shred of guilt or hesitation.
"What are you waiting for? Be quick about it. Unlike a mere adventurer, I am a busy man. Do not waste my time."
"..."
Silently, Rei opened the Misty Ring List in his mind and withdrew the Death Scythe.
"Ooh! So that is the rumored great scythe? Indeed, I can tell it is a masterpiece just by looking at it!"
Boluntar let out a rare cry of admiration.
The man certainly had a first-rate eye for trade. While most who saw the Death Scythe assumed it was simply a massive scythe, he had instantly recognized it as a magic item—specifically, a magic catalyst.
However, those words were born of his total ignorance of the person standing before him. Among the adventurers of Gilm, Rei was already being treated as someone one simply did not touch.
Rei gave the Death Scythe a single rotation in his hand and pointed the Death Scythe's shaft toward Boluntar. Then, he drew it back in a wide arc—
"Stop!"
Galahat, realizing Rei's intent, lunged across the floor to stand in front of Boluntar.
Boom!
The Death Scythe's shaft swung down with zero restraint.
Perhaps Rei's reason was still somewhat intact, as he hadn't used the blade. However...
"Gwah!"
Galahat, likely expecting the weight of a normal spear, had the sword he used to block shattered instantly. He was sent flying sideways.
A grown man in his thirties, wearing leather armor, was blasted horizontally. He smashed through the office wall, crossed the hallway, smashed through the wall of the room opposite, and only then did his momentum stop. Mult, who had been unable to follow the movement with his eyes, stood in dazed silence, finally understanding the sheer power of that single strike.
Galahat's mistake had been judging Rei by his appearance. No matter the rumors, he had assumed they were exaggerated because of the A-rank Gryphon he led. He never imagined that a boy like Rei—barely 165 centimeters tall and seemingly frail—could possess such monstrous strength. Consequently, he had been blasted through two walls and lay incapacitated.
"..."
Rei glanced briefly at the holes in the walls. Boluntar, his face now twitching with a terror that completely replaced his previous arrogance, spoke up, likely thinking that momentary pause was his chance.
"Y-You! What do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea who I am to commit such an outrage!?"
"...Are you going to stand in my way too?"
Ignoring Boluntar’s high-pitched screeching, Rei cast a glance at Mult behind him.
"!?!"
The moment their eyes met, Mult shook his head violently from side to side. It was a reflexive action, born of an instinctive realization that he could not win—that he would be crushed like a bug on the pavement if he tried.
"...I see. Good."
Averting his eyes as if Mult was no longer worth his time, Rei turned back to Boluntar. The old man’s face was alternating between the blue of fear and the red of rage.
"Hey! Are... are you listening!? You're doing this knowing full well who I am, aren't you!?"
"I don't really care about myself. I look like this, so I've been looked down upon plenty of times since I got to Gilm."
Rei spoke calmly, as if Boluntar hadn't said a word.
"And you aren't the first person to target my magic items, either. There were those fools from the Stars of the Night, too."
That was the name of the party that had schemed to steal the Misty Ring, only to be wiped out by Rei at the Orc settlement.
"But... what did you say you'd do to the Gryphon? To Set, my partner? Sell him? Slaughter him for parts?"
The Death Scythe spun rhythmically in his hands. Every time the blade brushed against the furniture, the wood was shredded and pulverized. Rei took a slow step forward, then another, closing in on Boluntar. The Chairman remained pinned to his chair, unable to move as his face contorted.
"You... you bastard! Do you think a mere adventurer can get away with opposing me in this city!? I am the Chairman of the Azoth Firm!"
"So what? Go ahead and use that Azoth Firm power to protect yourself then. Look... your death is right in front of you."
The rotation of the Death Scythe accelerated. Even Galahat hadn't been able to block it. Now, with the centrifugal force of the spin, its power was increasing even further. Faced with that overwhelming terror, Boluntar finally realized he had stepped—no, trampled—on the tail of a tiger he should never have touched.
But it was too late. The bringer of death was already carving through the office desk. It was a specially made desk designed to protect him from assassins, yet it was being sliced through like a hot knife through bread.
"Hieee...!"
Just as Boluntar let out a pathetic shriek—
"...Wait... please."
A faint voice reached them. The Whirlwind of Death, which was only centimeters away from Boluntar’s hideously distorted face, came to a dead stop.
With the sound of falling rubble, Galahat appeared from the adjacent room.
His leather armor was little more than scrap after the impact, and he was clearly in a state of critical injury. His ribs were shattered and likely piercing his organs; his face was so pale he looked like a corpse. Blood leaked from the corners of his mouth, which he had clearly tried to wipe away.
Yet, he was alive. Not only was he alive, he was moving—despite taking a blow from Rei’s Death Scythe delivered with almost no mercy. Even though it had been the shaft and not the blade, the combined weight of the weapon and Rei’s strength should have been fatal to any normal human.
Rei, who had been about to execute Boluntar with an expressionless gaze, was genuinely surprised.
"Please... don't take his life. Don't... kill my big brother."
That surprise faded the moment he heard Galahat’s words.
"Why protect him? He’s just an old fossil who’s lived far longer than he should have."
"You—!"
Boluntar instinctively tried to snap back, but Galahat cut him off. He knew that the boy before them was a Grim Reaper. One wrong word and Boluntar’s head would be separated from his shoulders in an instant.
"Even so... even if we have different mothers... he’s my brother. We’re connected by blood. Cough."
He spat out more blood, likely from the strain on his internal organs. But he didn't stop. Knowing this was his only chance, he forced the words out.
"And... as he is... it is a fact that he has built a position of power in Gilm. If you kill him... you'll become a bounty... the Guild will hunt you... forever."
Galahat knew he couldn't save his brother with sentiment alone. He was a B-rank adventurer; he knew that if sentiment failed, he had to appeal to self-interest. His judgment was correct. The thought of that annoying future crossed Rei's mind, and he lowered the Death Scythe with a slight frown.
"But if I let him go now, he'll just try something else later, won't he? It’d be easier to just finish him off here."
"...I'll stop him. I will. If he tries anything else... I will stop him personally. So... please, just this once... turn a blind eye."
Silence fell over the ravaged office. Almost no furniture remained intact. Rei and Galahat’s gazes locked.
Mult was still trembling at the entrance, and Boluntar remained paralyzed in his chair, the memory of imminent death fresh in his mind. Eventually, Rei let out a long sigh and stored the Death Scythe back into the Misty Ring.
Relief washed over Galahat’s pale face.
"One time. I'll let it slide this once. As long as you don't mess with me or Set again, I won't do anything."
"...Thank you..."
Overwhelmed by the pain, Galahat managed those final words before collapsing to the floor.
"Lord Galahat!"
Mult crawled toward the fallen man. Rei watched for a moment, then turned and walked out of the room, having no further business there.
He could feel Boluntar’s gaze, heavy with every ounce of hatred the man possessed, burning into his back as he left.