Just as Rei was about to extract information from the man at the business end of the Death Scythe, a voice suddenly rang out around him.
Shifting his gaze toward the source, Rei saw a man clad in silver-shining armor.
He appeared to be in his twenties. Among the crowd watching the exchange between Rei and the Captain, one woman let out an involuntary sigh of admiration; the man’s features were certainly refined enough to warrant it.
However, Rei merely directed a silent, cold stare at him.
Considering the man had spoken up at the most perfect timing imaginable, Rei couldn't rule out the possibility that he was an associate of the man currently crouching on the ground with a giant scythe at his throat.
"And you are?"
"I am the one responsible for the safety of this region, more or less. I am Claudis Noble, Vice Commander of the Unicorn Knight Order."
"…Hmph."
Rei's involuntary murmur was prompted by the man's position as a vice commander, but even more so by the fact that he was a Surname Holder. In other words, the man before him was a noble.
Rei quickly followed up with another question.
"So, why is the Vice Commander of the Unicorn Knight Order only showing up now?"
"To apprehend those committing illegal acts here, of course."
At Claudis's words, the Captain—still pinned by Rei’s Death Scythe—spoke up as if unable to help himself.
"Hey, Claudis! Do you even know who's backing me?!"
"Yes, of course I do. It's true that I couldn't touch you until now, Dune. However, you picked the wrong person to target. Regardless of who is truly standing behind you, harassing a guest invited by the Empire is going too far. I don't care who your patron is; this ends now."
Hearing those words, Rei caught the gist of the relationship between the two.
He also vaguely sensed that, as Claudis had implied, the person behind the Captain—Dune—was likely not the Second Prince, despite his earlier claims.
"…Now then. Lord Crimson. My apologies, but would you mind leaving this matter to me?"
"You're telling me to back off?"
"Yes. Surely it wouldn't be in your best interest to waste more time here? From what I can see, you appear to be in quite a hurry."
At Claudis's words, which sounded as if he were seeing right through him, Rei twitched an eyebrow beneath the Dragon Robe's hood.
"True enough. But wouldn't it be faster to just finish this guy off here and now? That would end it quickly."
"I would prefer if you didn't… there are many things we need to ask him."
"…Hmph."
Rei grunted and turned his gaze toward Dune, who was glaring hatefully at both him and Claudis.
Handing him over to Claudis wouldn't cause any particular trouble, but Rei felt a lingering desire to know what was going on behind the scenes.
Normally, he would have handed the man over without a second thought, but this time, the issue potentially involved the right of succession to the throne.
Since Rei was currently in the employ of Vihera and Theoreme—the Third Prince Faction—it wouldn't be a bad idea to gather whatever information he could.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to refuse Claudis's offer, a voice came from behind him.
"Fine. We'll leave that man in your care."
Rei turned around to see Min holding her staff.
With her usual composed expression, she directed her gaze at Rei and continued.
"I understand what you're thinking, Rei, but it would be unwise to get into a dispute with the Bestia Empire's authorities here and now."
"But…"
"These are instructions from Lord Daskar."
Rei tried to argue further, but having Daskar's name invoked left him with no choice but to back down.
He let out a heavy sigh, making no effort to hide his reluctant expression.
"Fine. Whatever."
"Good. That helps."
In truth, Min felt the same as Rei regarding the desire for information. However, if asked whether it was worth making an enemy of the man before them, the answer was a firm no.
Giving Rei a small nod, she turned her gaze back to Claudis.
"We will hand this man over to you. However, should something similar happen on the way to the Imperial Capital… do not expect us to resolve things so peacefully next time."
"…Yes, I shall keep that in mind."
Although she spoke of a "peaceful" resolution, quite a few men were already nursing injuries. Nevertheless, considering there were no fatalities, Min likely felt she had been quite lenient.
Then again, considering Rei's personality—showing no mercy to those who opposed him—that perception was perhaps understandable.
Whether he truly grasped Min's underlying meaning or not, Claudis nodded with a firm expression and looked over his shoulder.
"Apprehend them. Try not to be too rough. However, if they attempt to escape, I leave their handling to your individual discretion."
A Knight who had approached unnoticed gave a small nod and signaled to the roughly thirty Knights waiting further back.
As soon as they saw the signal, they fanned out and began to restrain Dune and his subordinates.
It was clear from their practiced efficiency that they were well-versed in subduing criminals.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
Claudis gave a slight bow to Rei and Min as they watched.
Despite the simplicity of the gesture, it was exceptionally refined, prompting cheers from the young women in the surrounding crowd.
There were even some middle-aged women among them; apparently, the allure of a handsome man remained constant regardless of age.
Rei thought it was rather fickle of them, considering they were too terrified to even breathe while Dune was in charge, but he chalked it up to Claudis being a "prince on a white horse" coming to save them from villains.
"Well, whatever. As long as it doesn't happen again."
"Indeed. The Bestia Empire is not composed solely of people like this. There are many good-natured people as well."
"…I hope so."
As he replied, images of Vihera and Theoreme crossed Rei's mind.
Though in the latter's case, it might be more accurate to say he "had some nerve" rather than a good personality.
"Well then, excuse me. We're not far from the Imperial Capital now, so you should arrive well in time for the fighting tournament."
Claudis left with a faint smile.
Watching his retreating figure, Rei stroked Seto's Neck, thinking the man was quite a handful to deal with.
"Guruuu."
Perhaps that alone was enough for Seto to sense Rei's intentions. Deciding there was nothing left for them there, Seto turned back toward the rear where Daskar's Entourage was waiting.
Behind them, the line of carriages finally began to move, and traffic on the highway started to flow smoothly once more.
"I'll speak to Lord Daskar about what happened. Don't worry about it, Rei. Though I imagine he'll call for you if he decides he wants to hear the details."
Rei offered a short word of thanks to Min, who had spoken to him near Daskar's carriage, and approached the escort Knights.
One of the Knights, noticing Rei's approach, widened his eyes slightly. He had sensed a disgruntled aura hanging over the adventurer.
However, that was only because that particular Knight was sharp; the others weren't quite as perceptive.
Consequently, they called out to Rei as if nothing were wrong.
"Hey, Rei. What was all that in the end? You were gone quite a while."
"…It was a mess. It seems some of the Bestia Empire's Knights had blockaded the road on their own and were extorting money from travelers."
"Huh? If they did something that reckless, their heads would roll. And I don't mean that metaphorically—I mean literally."
Rei shrugged at the Knight’s exasperated mutter.
"Who knows. I suppose they thought they had some way to handle the consequences."
"Even after playing at being thieves so brazenly?"
"Knights acting like thieves. It's a ridiculous story, but unfortunately, they must have had some perceived chance of success. Otherwise, they wouldn't have pulled a stunt like this."
It wasn't just Daskar's Entourage. Many others from surrounding nations had been invited to the fighting tournament, and this highway led straight to the Imperial Capital.
Though Rei didn't know it himself, there were messengers from other countries caught in this traffic jam, and more importantly, there were surely guests from other nations among those who had already paid the extortion and moved on.
Small countries surrounding the Empire might be one thing. Since they were treated practically as vassal states, it wouldn't be difficult to hush things up later if one had enough power within the Bestia Empire.
However, among the invitees were countries that, while perhaps not as large as the Bestia Empire, were not to be underestimated.
Above all, they had tried to steal money, magic items, and even Seto from Daskar—a noble of the Kingdom of Mireana, which had defeated the Bestia Empire in the Spring War—and Rei, his guard.
No matter how one looked at it, it should have been a fatal mistake.
"Hmm. Well, I don't know the inner workings of this country, but I suppose the larger a nation is, the harder it is to feel the corruption at the top."
The Knight muttered as if it were someone else's problem, seemingly forgetting that the Kingdom of Mireana was also considered a major power.
Perhaps he lacked a sense of reality because he was based in the frontier of Gilm.
"More importantly, look, things are moving. Let's get going too."
Following the Knight's words, Rei looked ahead and saw the carriages in front of Daskar's Entourage finally beginning to advance.
However, for those near their group, it was likely that many wanted to get away from the Gryphon, Seto, as much as they wanted to hurry along.
Some were even whipping their horses to distance themselves as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, some directed hateful glares at Rei and Seto.
They were likely those who had realized Rei was Crimson during the previous incident and had lost someone close to them in the recent war.
But Rei simply parried those gazes full of murderous intent and hatred; he was already used to it.
Those looks weren't a problem in themselves, but considering that agents of the group known as the Requiem Bell might be hiding among those directing such gazes, the inability to weed them out was the real trouble.
(They've undoubtedly made some sort of move. There's no way there's nothing else beyond that one incident… If so, it wouldn't be strange if their agents were hidden among those directing these glares.)
Despite the thought, there was nothing he could do for the moment, so he was forced to let it be.
"Hey, Rei. Move out."
As Rei was lost in thought, he was suddenly called back to reality.
Looking toward the voice, he saw that the carriage carrying Daskar had already started forward, and the Knight who had called out was advancing alongside it.
"Oops, my bad. Seto, let's go."
"Guruuu!"
Seto gave a trill at Rei's call and began to follow the carriage.
Even with Rei on its back, it was hardly impossible for the Gryphon to catch up, and it easily pulled up alongside the Knight.
"What's wrong? Deep in thought?"
"Well, yeah. I have quite a few things to consider, despite appearances."
"…I bet. After all, you're practically the protagonist of this whole incident."
"There's that, too… but I'm more worried about the Requiem Bell."
"Ah, them."
"They're quiet for now, but there's no doubt they'll start making moves again once we reach the Imperial Capital."
When they had attacked before, they only possessed paralyzed pain receptors and enhanced physical strength.
Considering they were troublesome enough back then, it would be impossible to avoid collateral damage if they attacked in force.
Whether it was confidence or overconfidence, Rei was thinking not of how difficult it would be to defeat them, but how difficult it would be to prevent damage to the surrounding area.
"True, those kinds of enemies are a pain. Especially considering the possibility of ordinary people nearby suddenly attacking…"
Even for a Knight, it was impossible to stay on guard against every single person in the vicinity all day long.
In that sense, the Requiem Bell was already attacking them by wearing down their mental state.
"At least we can take some comfort in the fact that Elk is guarding Lord Daskar. It's only because we have the absolute security of the Axe of the Thunder God that we can afford this much composure."
The Knight muttered as he walked along the highway, gazing at the surrounding scenery.
It was a change of seasons; compared to summer, the nameless flowers growing by the roadside had thinned out, lending a certain melancholy to the air.
Watching him, Rei was actually surprised that the Knight possessed such a sentimental side.
They continued their journey for several more days, remaining wary of enemy attacks. Eventually, the massive Imperial Capital finally revealed itself before Daskar's entourage.