"...What?"
He likely couldn't believe the sight before him—both of his arms, from the shoulders down, had been sliced clean off in a single heartbeat. Lunojis let out a dazed, hollow cry.
An instant later, blood erupted violently from the stumps, and a level of agony he had never known ravaged his body.
"Gwaaaaaaaaaahhh! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
Unable to endure the excruciating pain, he collapsed and rolled across the ground, staining the earth around him crimson.
"Rei-san... don't you think you went a bit too far?"
The adventurer man muttered the words in an exasperated tone. He had approached Rei’s side without anyone noticing. Even though he had been the one to betray Rei, it seemed that watching a man lose both arms was a sight too gruesome even for him.
"You think so? ...By the way, should I conclude that you aren't my enemy after all? I realize you were just part of this guy's trap."
"Well, obviously! There’s no way I could ever hold a candle to you, Rei-san!"
The man shook his head violently, acting as if the very idea of opposing Rei was insanity.
Rei stared at the man in silence for a few seconds, the screams of Lunojis providing a background drone, before eventually letting out a small sigh.
It was a fact that the man had led him here, but he had also been nearly killed by Lunojis alongside Rei. Considering that, Rei judged that the man was, at the very least, not an enemy.
"I’ll set you aside for now. More importantly, there’s this guy."
Rei spun the shaft of the Death Scythe in his hand and pressed the edge of the massive blade against the throat of the thrashing noble.
Perhaps finally sensing the symbol of death touching his skin, Lunojis stopped rolling. He looked up at Rei, his body trembling as he suppressed screams of agony.
In his mind, he was the next head of Marquis Imahen's House; his value as a human being was supposed to be light-years beyond that of a mere adventurer. He couldn't fathom why he was suffering like this, yet he understood well enough that his life was currently balanced on a razor's edge.
An ordinary person in this state would likely have begged for mercy. Others might have accepted death in silence. However, Lunojis was possessed of a noble's arrogance that forbade such things. He could not tolerate the reality of his life being held in the hands of a mere adventurer. And so—
"You... you bastard! To me, the next head of Marquis Imahen's House... such insolence... do you think you’ll be forgiven?! I won’t allow it! I will never forgive you! I’ll make you regret this for the rest of your life. Your friends, your acquaintances, your lover, your family—I will make every single one of them pay for what you’ve done to me!"
Even as he was tormented by the loss of his limbs, Lunojis glared at Rei with eyes of pure venom. His gaze was no longer filled with mockery; it was stained with the colors of hatred and murderous intent. It was a certainty that if Rei released him now, he would carry out every word of his threat. However, Lunojis’s greatest mistake was speaking those words aloud to Rei's face.
Rei looked down at the man with a cold, mocking sneer. Without a word, he began to slowly push the blade of the Death Scythe further into Lunojis’s neck. Slowly—painfully slowly—the edge advanced, slicing through the skin of his throat, moving forward with an unstoppable, methodical pace.
Eventually realizing the blade was meant to reap his life, Lunojis stopped his frantic thrashing. He turned eyes of sheer shock toward Rei.
"H-Hey! You, what are you doing?! Do you really intend to kill me?! Enough, just get that vulgar weapon away from me!"
"Why should I? I have an opportunity to process an opponent who has declared himself my enemy. If I just process you here and now, the problem is solved."
He didn't say "disposal," but "process." At those words, which treated him as if he were nothing more than a piece of waste, Lunojis’s face drained of color as he finally grasped his situation.
"Don't mock me, you bastard! Do you really intend to kill me, a noble?!"
"Yeah."
Rei's nod was as casual as if he were agreeing that the weather was pleasant.
At long last, Lunojis understood. The person standing before him possessed not a shred of respect for the nobility. If he got in the way, Rei would take his life as easily as he would sweep away dust.
It was far too late for this realization. In the Kingdom of Mireana, and indeed the world of Elgin, nobles were treated as special beings. Of course, there were those who didn't care for such status, but for better or worse, Lunojis had never encountered such a person until now.
"I’ve already received permission to process any nobles who mess with me. And it’s a fact that you tried to have me murdered. In that case, why would I hesitate to process you here? Fortunately, no one will notice a death in a place like this."
"Wai—"
Just as Lunojis was about to scream, the blade of the Death Scythe prepared to harvest his neck. Blood should have erupted in a fountain, higher than the flow from his shoulders. ...Or it would have, if the adventurer man hadn't placed his longsword on top of the Death Scythe's shaft to arrest the motion.
Normally, the weight of a single longsword would have meant nothing to the Death Scythe in Rei's grip. Nevertheless, Rei stopped because he was puzzled by the man's intervention.
Meanwhile, Lunojis, unable to bear the terror of imminent death, had fainted and slumped to the ground. A dark stain spread across the crotch of his trousers; it was obvious what the liquid was.
Though he was unconscious, blood continued to seep from his stumps. If left alone, he would bleed to death within minutes.
Rei turned his gaze to the adventurer, wondering if the man intended to prevent the kill for some reason, but he saw that the man wasn't looking at him at all. His eyes were fixed on the forest.
(Come to think of it, the arrows stopped.)
As the thought crossed Rei's mind, a man suddenly pushed through the brush and emerged from the trees.
Rei initially thought it might be another of Lunojis’s knights, but the newcomer was a face he recognized well.
His face was marked with numerous scars, giving him a fierce, intimidating appearance that practically screamed "mountain bandit." In his hand, he gripped a battle axe.
"Egg?"
Yes, the man emerging from the forest was none other than Egg, the leader of the Prairie Wolves.
"Yo. Looks like you’re doing fine over here."
Egg raised his free hand in a casual greeting, his tone suggesting that Rei's safety was a foregone conclusion. Rei looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but... why are you here?"
"What are you talking about? You’re the one who brought me the offer to cooperate with Margrave Larcus in the first place, aren't you?"
"...In other words, Lord Daskar saw through this whole thing?"
"That’s about the long and short of it. That’s why we got Berda involved."
"Berda?"
Rei tilted his head at the unfamiliar name.
Egg let out a dry chuckle and glanced at the adventurer man, who was finally removing his sword from the shaft of the Death Scythe.
"What? You haven't even introduced yourself?"
"No, no, there wasn't exactly time for pleasantries. ...Right, let me introduce myself properly. The name's Berda. I'm an old acquaintance of Egg's."
"An adventurer's old friend is a bandit?"
"Funny, isn't it? I was shocked myself when I reunited with him here. I never dreamed he’d become a bandit... much less end up serving under Margrave Larcus."
"Shut up. I’ve got my reasons. ...Anyway, Margrave Larcus noticed this man's suspicious movements. We used Berda to let him take the bait."
Don't take it personally, Egg said, but the grin on his face didn't hold a hint of an apology.
Seeing that smile, Rei finally grasped the grand design of the incident.
"I see. So I was the bait."
"Well, that’s about it. Still, nobles are a terrifying lot, aren't they? To think he’d use his own subordinate—even a temporary one—as bait just to whittle down an opposing faction. And this after they were all supposed to be united against the Bestia Empire."
"Oh, I'm shaking, truly," Egg said, theatrically shivering his shoulders. To anyone else, it looked less like he was hiding fear and more like he was suppressing laughter. At least, that was how it looked to Rei.
Berda seemed to sense Rei’s cheek twitching beneath his hood and spoke up hurriedly.
"Even if you were bait, you’re the kind of bait that eats the fish that bites it. That’s why Margrave Larcus felt safe using you. You’re the 'Crimson' who earned a name for himself in this war, after all. I’m sure he never had any intention of letting you be a sacrificial pawn. ...More importantly, Egg, what are we doing with this half-dead young master?"
Sensing it would be wise not to provoke Rei further, Berda turned his attention to the unconscious Lunojis.
Though both arms were missing, the bleeding had mysteriously stopped. Even the shallow wound on his neck from the Death Scythe had closed, leaving only an ugly scar.
"...Why are the wounds closing already?"
"You're right. ...Well, if he's a noble..."
Muttering to himself, Egg checked Lunojis’s person. He soon spotted a necklace around the man's throat.
"Just as I thought. I’ve seen this before. It’s a magic item that automatically triggers to heal a major injury, though it only works once."
"You call that 'healing'? He's still missing his arms."
"Of course. It’s not that high-level of a magic item. 'Healing' in this case just means the bare minimum: stopping the bleeding and keeping him from dying. Besides, it’s single-use."
Egg glanced at the necklace, which now looked like nothing more than a common pebble. Its magical charge had clearly been spent saving Lunojis’s life.
"Well, it’d be a pain for me if he died here, so I’ll be taking him."
Letting go of the necklace, Egg slung the unconscious Lunojis over his shoulder with a wry smile.
"...So, what's going to happen to him?"
"Who knows? That’s for Margrave Larcus to decide. But no matter how you look at it, this guy doesn't have a happy future. He tried to assassinate Rei, an ally, over a petty grudge. On top of that, he's lost both arms. There’s no way he’s inheriting his house now. So, I’d like you to back off, Rei. It's not like you absolutely must kill him, right?"
"I don't have to, though it wouldn't be a problem if I did."
Despite his words, Rei stored the Death Scythe back into his Misty Ring.
While he claimed he didn't mind killing him, the truth was that Egg's arrival had drained his interest in the matter.
(And for Lunojis, dying here might have been a mercy. Once the word gets out that he lost his arms trying to assassinate an adventurer out of petty jealousy, he’s as good as dead as a noble anyway.)
Rei mused privately. He could easily see that even if Lunojis survived, he had exposed himself as such a pathetic failure that he would never be allowed to step into the light of high society again.
If he had remained whole, he might have found a way to save face as a knight or an adventurer, depending on his pride. But without arms, such a path was closed to him.
(Well, since magic items exist, there might be some kind of prosthetic arm... in any case, I’m done with him. He can do whatever he wants.)
Rei cast one final, fleeting glance at the man on Egg’s shoulder before looking away, his interest completely evaporated.
"So, Egg, are your duties done once you deliver him to Lord Daskar?"
"Nah. My promise to you was only until the war ended... but Margrave Larcus turned out to be a very different kind of noble than I expected. I’ve decided to stick around a bit longer."
"A bit longer?"
"Yeah. He invited me to handle Larkus Territorial Army Intelligence and some other odd jobs. More than half of the Prairie Wolves are being hired along with me."
"Heh..."
Rei widened his eyes slightly at the unexpected news.
By now, Lunojis was completely forgotten, pushed entirely out of his field of vision.
"To think a bandit until yesterday would be in a noble's employ. Maybe I should sign up too," Berda muttered with a hint of envy.
Egg shrugged at his old friend.
"If you're serious... and if you're willing to give up the adventurer life, I'd welcome you. Anyway, I'm heading out. I need to get this cargo to Margrave Larcus."
"Yeah, go ahead. As for the rest..." Rei glanced at the numerous corpses littered across the clearing. "I suppose they can just become undead and wander the Seremuse Plain."
Egg and Berda nodded in grim agreement, and the three of them began the trek back to the army's encampment.