"Haaaaaaaaaaah!"
With a thunderous cry, Rhodos lunged forward, gripping his longsword.
He closed the distance instantly, bringing the blade down in a sharp diagonal slash.
The sheer precision of the strike made one thing undeniably clear: his rapid ascent to the rank of C-Rank Adventurer while still in his teens was no mere result of riding on his parent's coat-tails.
However...
"Too naive."
Vihera, his opponent, shifted her stance ever so slightly. She met the descending blade with her gauntlet, parrying the edge away with a casual flick of her wrist.
Even if the longsword Rhodos used was a blunted weapon intended for mock battles, such a maneuver was normally impossible. It was a display of martial prowess achievable only by someone of Vihera’s caliber—a woman who, while perhaps not an equal to Rei, possessed the skill to hold her own against him.
Forced off its path by her gauntlet, the longsword’s sword tip slammed into the earth.
The blow carried tremendous weight. Grass, soil, and stones sprayed into the air as the blade bit deep. But because the force of the impact was so great, the shock rattled Rhodos’s bones, numbing his hands and freezing his movements for a heartbeat.
"And that’s that."
In that frozen instant, Vihera saw an opening large enough to drive a carriage through.
In the blink of an eye, she was inside his guard, her body pressed nearly flush against his. Then came a light tap against the side of his head.
Realizing that the object resting against his temple was Vihera’s gauntlet, Rhodos let out a faint, defeated sigh.
He knew all too well that if Vihera had delivered that strike in earnest, a concussion would have been a mercy; his skull likely would have been shattered.
"I... I lose..."
Rhodos found himself unable to finish his sentence. Standing so close, he was suddenly overwhelmed by Vihera’s presence and her alluring physicality.
The faint, sweet fragrance wafting from her made him catch his breath. He quickly regained his composure, however, and retreated several paces, inhaling a deep, grounding breath.
(Hmph.)
Elk, watching the duel from the sidelines, muttered inwardly.
Rhodos had always looked up to his mother, Min, and had shown remarkably little interest in women his own age. Yet his behavior toward Vihera was distinctly different from anything Elk had seen before.
Has he finally found a woman other than his mother to take an interest in?
The thought crossed his mind, only for him to immediately shake his head.
While he was glad to see his son finally taking an interest in the opposite sex, the choice of partner was catastrophically poor.
She was the Second Princess of the Bestia Empire. Moreover, according to Rei, she was a battle maniac known as the Mad Beast in the Labyrinth City Exil.
That alone made her far more than Rhodos could ever handle.
But there was an even more decisive factor...
"So, Rei? Did my strength captivate you even a little?"
Indeed. Having pulled her gauntlet away from Rhodos, Vihera turned toward Rei with a flirtatious smile.
Despite the short time they had spent together, it was painfully obvious to Elk that Vihera was aggressively pursuing Rei.
(I pity my son... and in Rhodos's case, it's not like he's the type to try and steal another man's woman, anyway.)
Contemplating the bleak future of his son's first love, Elk turned his gaze toward the Seremuse Plain, his eyes distant.
While Elk held complicated feelings toward Theoreme, he had no particular grievance against Vihera. She was merely traveling with the general, having fled her own empire years ago.
The fact that she was the Second Princess changed nothing. More importantly, Elk had already settled his score with Theoreme during their duel; he had no intention of hounding the man further.
Regardless of his inner feelings, the conflict was over.
While Elk stood lost in thought, Rei—who had been observing the mock battle while leaning against Seto’s flank—nodded in approval.
"As expected of Vihera. Your movements were fluid. I couldn't find a single flaw to criticize."
"Fufu, but of course. ...So, how about it? Would you like to go a round, Rei?"
She gave him a seductive, lingering look, but Rei simply offered a wry smile and shook his head.
"Unfortunately, we have more traveling to do this afternoon. I'd rather just relax for now."
"Oh, honestly."
Vihera pouted, her lips curving in a display of genuine dissatisfaction.
The contrast between her earlier seductive gaze and her current sulking expression was too much for several of the guarding knights; their faces turned beet-red all the way to their ears.
Vihera must have noticed. Her pout vanished, replaced by a mischievous grin.
"What do you say, sir knights? Would any of you like to spar with me? If you win, something very good might happen."
Before her defeat at Rei’s hands, she had lived for the thrill of the hunt, using her beauty as bait and declaring that any man who bested her could have her.
Now that she was in love with Rei, she had no intention of actually following through with such a thing. Nevertheless, she couldn't resist a bit of playfulness, even if she had no intention of surrendering her chastity.
In a sense, she was like a beautiful, carnivorous flower.
Fortunately, no one took the bait—or rather, they didn't have the chance. Before any of the knights could respond, a voice boomed across the campsite.
"The midday break is over! We're moving out!"
Daskar appeared, a weary but amused smile on his face as he addressed Vihera.
"Her Highness the Princess, if anything were to happen to you under my watch, I could never hope to explain it away. If your opponent were an adventurer, I might find an excuse, but if it were a knight..."
"Oh, what a pity. Still, Margrave Larkus, your knights seem quite capable."
"Well, my territory is the frontier Gilm, after all."
Whenever a monster stampede occurred, the Guard Force and the Knight Order of Gilm were naturally called upon to handle the crisis alongside the adventurers.
Furthermore, with so many adventurers gathered in one place, disputes were a daily occurrence. Normally, the Guard Force suppressed such riots, but when things spiraled out of control, the knights were called in as reinforcement.
To be a knight of Gilm meant being prepared to face adventurers that even the Guard Force couldn't handle. Their strength was forged in a very different fire than the capital's nobility.
"Gilm, hmm? Rei’s home base. Perhaps I’ll pay a visit once this whole mess settles down."
"That is... well, I cannot say for certain," Daskar replied with a small, strained smile.
As the lord of the land, Daskar welcomed any skilled adventurer, and he had no reason to turn one away. However, Vihera was the Second Princess of the Bestia Empire.
Even if she claimed to have fled and abandoned the Imperial Registry, her presence in Gilm would inevitably invite a political storm—largely from the King's Faction.
At the same time, while they were currently cooperating with the Noble's Faction, they were hardly true allies. While Duke Kerebel and his inner circle were reasonable enough, there were plenty of other nobles in that faction who viewed commoners as little more than refuse.
(Well, it's not like my own Neutral Faction is entirely beyond reproach, either.)
The faces of several members of the Neutral Faction who were secretly in bed with the King's or Noble's Factions crossed his mind. He shook his head to clear the thought.
"Indeed. Once this mission is over, you may consider it at your leisure. As the lord of Gilm, I naturally welcome any adventurer of talent."
"Is that so? Then I look forward to it."
Deciding she had secured enough of a promise, Vihera donned the robe she had left on the grass during her fight. Several knights let out audible sighs of disappointment, which vanished the moment Daskar turned his stern gaze upon them.
Daskar himself sighed as he contemplated the upcoming fighting tournament in the Bestia Empire and the mountain of headaches it represented. He had weighed all the risks before deciding to assist Theoreme, but that didn't stop him from feeling the weight of the decision.
As the man holding the title of Margrave Larkus and the leader of the Neutral Faction, he could not afford to waver.
Steeling his resolve, he raised his voice again.
"I said the break is over! Move it! We don't have all day!"
He hurried the entourage along. They had only rested for about 1 hour, but he wanted to put as much distance behind them as possible before sunset.
Once night fell, the undead—even if they were mostly just weak Skeletons and Zombies—would rise to wander the Seremuse Plain and hunt the living.
(The heat only makes it worse.)
Recalling the cloying stench of rotting Zombies, Daskar grimaced.
The lingering grudges of those who fell during the Spring War had manifest as undead across this land. Though the war had been a decisive victory for the Kingdom of Mireana's side, it hadn't been bloodless. Among the Zombies roaming the plains, many still wore the tattered armor of the Kingdom of Mireana Army.
Adventurers, knights, soldiers—so many had died, and their collective resentment now gave birth to monsters.
(If only we could purge this place, it would make for the finest settlement site.)
Setting aside politics for a moment, he thought purely as a noble of the kingdom, only to immediately shake the thought away. Now was the time for the Bestia Empire mission, not land reclamation.
"Lord Daskar, everything is ready. We can depart whenever you wish."
The voice from behind pulled him back to reality.
Looking around, he saw that everyone had already dispersed to their horses or carriages. Rei was already mounted atop Seto; it seemed he was the only one left standing.
He glanced at his own carriage, where Elk and the Axe of the Thunder God were waiting. As his personal guards, they were obligated to remain outside until he was safely inside.
"My apologies. Let’s move."
Muttering to himself, he stepped into the carriage. Elk and his party followed immediately after, finalizing the preparations.
Under the harsh afternoon sun, the entourage pressed forward across the Seremuse Plain.
Since it was still day, the undead remained dormant, and regular monsters were rare on these plains. Even a powerful beast would find itself overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the undead once night fell.
Most monsters seemed to understand this. Only those exceptionally confident in their strength—or those too stupid to know better—lingered in this wasteland. The lucky ones fled; the rest became food for the undead, eventually rising to join their ranks in a never-ending, macabre cycle.
The only reason people continued to use this route at all was because it provided the shortest path between the Bestia Empire and the Kingdom of Mireana, and the terrain was relatively flat and easy to travel.
Eventually, the group spotted a lone carriage approaching from the direction of the empire.
As a precaution, the knights shifted their hands to their weapons. Theoreme and Vihera retreated behind the shadow of one of the larger carriages, hiding themselves and their horses in case someone recognized their faces.
Rei likewise prepared himself, drawing the Death Scythe from his Misty Ring.
Holding the massive scythe, Rei briefly wondered if he was being a bit too conspicuous, only to realize that since he was already riding a Gryphon, a giant weapon wasn't going to make much of a difference.
(Still, they only have one carriage while we have three. No one would be crazy enough to attack us, especially since our combat power is practically a small army.)
With Elk, Rei, Vihera, and Theoreme all in one place, they possessed enough martial strength to level a fortress. Add to that Seto and the Gilm knights, and any attacker would have to be either a god-tier warrior or a complete moron.
(It’s probably just a merchant carriage heading for Mireana.)
Yet, as the approaching carriage spotted Daskar’s entourage, it began to slow down.
Realizing the newcomers had business with them, the entire group tensed.
When the carriage finally came to a halt beside Rei and the others, the door swung open.
A woman in her twenties stepped out.
She possessed a striking, cold beauty. As she descended and looked over the group...
"Siance?"
Theoreme's voice rang out, breaking the silence.