A room inside a mansion in the Imperial Capital. Two people, a man and a woman, were consulting with one another regarding their next move.
"Well, for now, our target has started wandering around outside. He seems quite careless, but..."
"Yeah. From the outside, it might certainly look that way."
Mura and Shistoi, both members of the Requiem Bell, exchanged a meaningful glance.
Ever since their initial attack on Daskar's entourage, they had followed the group, and they were now in the Imperial Capital, preparing to sink their fangs into their prey.
"Since he's relaxed his guard, it seems other organizations are considering an ambush as well... I wonder how that will go."
"True. Normally, targeting someone during the interval between the Qualifying Rounds and the start of the Main Tournament—when their tension has snapped—wouldn't be a bad plan."
As Shistoi spoke, a look of dissatisfaction flickered across his face.
While observing her partner, Mura popped a bite-sized piece of fruit from the table into her mouth.
The soft sweetness was undercut by a faint acidity and astringency. She smiled at the addictive flavor before opening her mouth again.
"Does the current situation bother you?"
"Yeah. Even if we attacked now, we probably couldn't win. I don't know the reason, but there’s no doubt they’ve taken some kind of countermeasure. His senses have been incredibly sharp, especially since he went out yesterday. ...He likely encountered something during the time we lost sight of him."
"Didn't he disappear with a man you didn't recognize? Most likely, that man was an operative from another organization."
Mura let out a sigh, as if annoyed by the interference.
Neither Mura nor the sharp-sensed Shistoi could have imagined that the person Rei had met was actually the S-Rank adventurer Noise, the only one in the Bestia Empire, disguised as a commoner.
Nor could they have guessed that Rei had judged Noise to be an opponent he could not easily defeat, leading to his heightened state of alertness.
Following the reports from the previous day, their scouts had confirmed that Rei was once again out in the city.
Under normal circumstances, one might assume he was simply riding high on the excitement of advancing to the Main Tournament.
However... to Shistoi, it only looked as though Rei was using himself as bait to lure in enemies.
He was looking for prey to sharpen his fangs against, seeking out a sense of crisis to hone his instincts even further.
Now that the specific appearance of the individual known as Crimson had been revealed, the number of people targeting his life easily exceeded several dozen.
Of course, not all of them belonged to organizations like theirs; some were merely individuals acting on their own.
To Rei, such opponents were likely nothing more than a nuisance—fodder to be used for his own training. It was a logic akin to killing two birds with one stone.
"...So, what's the plan? We haven't heard anything from the higher-ups, but the client must be pestering them by now, right?"
The Requiem Bell trusted Mura and Shistoi because they had almost never failed a job.
The leadership likely assumed there was a valid reason why the two were holding back.
Their past achievements gave them a degree of autonomy, but given the sheer number of groups currently circling Rei, the client was undoubtedly growing anxious, pestering the organization to finish off Crimson quickly.
"Still, I wish they wouldn't ask for the impossible when it comes to Crimson. The rabble are perfect pawns to exhaust him and measure his strength. Since I don't even have to use my dolls yet, I’d say the current situation is actually in our favor."
"Even so, the client must be worried sick. The idea of Crimson—their hated enemy—being killed by someone else would be... unacceptable."
Shistoi reached for the plate in front of Mura and popped a few fruits into his own mouth.
"Hey, those are mine."
"A few shouldn't hurt."
"...Fine. Still, I wonder why they're in such a rush. If Crimson is going to die anyway, it shouldn't matter whose hand delivers the blow."
Mura voiced her protest to Shistoi, directing a reproachful look at him even as she spoke with genuine curiosity.
Shistoi, smiling at Mura’s reaction, gave up on stealing any more fruit and answered her.
"That's exactly it. There is meaning in having the people they hired kill Crimson. If someone from another organization beats them to it, then they’ve failed to personally exact their revenge."
"Dead is dead, as far as I'm concerned."
Her gaze tinged with sorrow, Mura looked out the room's window.
As a member of the Requiem Bell, famous as one of the most skilled organizations in the underworld, Mura had absolute confidence in her own skills and those of her partner.
However, if someone else were to kill Crimson for them, she would consider it a stroke of luck.
She had seen Crimson's combat ability several times now. While she didn't believe they would lose if the two of them challenged him together, she had to acknowledge that his power was staggering.
They had attended the tournament qualifiers just to be safe, and even the Flame Magic he had displayed there was enough to catch them off guard.
It was true that the spells had been held back to comply with the rules, but they had still been able to witness the nature of Crimson’s magic.
He had magic that caused a flame ball to explode into countless smaller projectiles to strike a wide area.
He had magic that manifested a massive number of flame arrows to sweep the surroundings clean.
Both were wide-area attack spells, but that was likely only because it was a battle royal.
After all, the name Crimson had first become famous because of the Flame Tornado incident. It was already common knowledge that he excelled at wide-range destruction.
"Well, at least we know some of his moves now. Besides..."
Mura’s gaze shifted toward the leather pouch on the table.
The fruit Mura was eating was a high-class item in the Imperial Capital. With the earnings they usually made, it wasn't a complete impossibility to buy, but it would have been a significant expense.
The only reason she could afford it now was because of the gold and silver coins inside that pouch.
Those coins had been obtained from the prize money she won by betting on Crimson—no, on Rei—during the qualifiers.
Indeed, while watching the matches, Mura had known Rei was a guaranteed winner and had placed her bets accordingly.
Of course, she hadn't bet a fortune like Rei or Daskar's entourage had.
If she had done that, Daskar's people might have noticed her presence. The amount she had wagered was strictly within the bounds of a normal person's bet.
However, as a result of betting solely on Rei, the return had been substantial.
The fruit before her and the heavy leather pouch were the fruits of that gamble.
"He brought us a nice profit. Considering that, let's leave him be for a little longer. It'll be fine if others reduce his strength in our place."
"...And if someone else takes Crimson's head, or the head of Margrave Larcus?"
"That's simply impossible. ...Well, if that happens, it happens. Regardless of what the client says, our mission is simply to end the lives of Crimson and Margrave Larcus."
Mura spoke with a small smile and reached for the fruit once more.
"Hey, where exactly are we going?"
Ruzy, carrying a claymore on his back, asked Rei as they walked through the city.
Beside him were the other members of Wind Dragon Fang, Veikyul and Most.
Rhodos also followed the group, his expression slightly exasperated.
As a gathering that could be described as Rei's group of disciples, they were quite conspicuous.
Rei himself had his identity hidden by his Dragon Robe's hood, but anyone watching could see that everyone else in the group was a participant who had advanced to the Main Tournament.
Since they were traveling with such notable individuals, it was obvious to the residents of the Imperial Capital that the mysterious hooded figure—Rei—was also someone of importance.
"Hey, isn't that..."
"Yeah. They're all finalists for the Main Tournament. ...Hm? Who's that small one in the robe?"
"If they're with the others, they must be a finalist too... was there anyone like that?"
"Weren't they in G Block?"
"No, a robed person definitely won there, but I think they were much taller."
"Hmm... in that case..."
"...Eh? Wait?"
"Hm? What's wrong? Do you recognize him?"
"No, as far as I know, there shouldn't be anyone that small in the finals... no, I must be imagining it. Yeah, definitely imagining it."
Given the time of year, the city was full of people obsessed with the Fighting Tournament, and some were on the verge of uncovering Rei's identity.
Rei listened to these whispers from inside his hood, frowning slightly as he hurried past.
If his identity were revealed here, it was a certainty that he would be swallowed by a massive commotion.
However, with so many tournament finalists bunched together, it was impossible to avoid drawing attention, and the group remained the center of focus until they reached their destination.
"We're here."
"Where is 'here' exactly?"
The place they arrived at was on the far outskirts of the city.
It was near the city walls, and there were almost no people in sight.
While not completely deserted, the number of eyes on them was overwhelmingly fewer than in the city center.
The site appeared to be the ruins of a once-large building; pampas grass grew from the ground, swaying in the autumn breeze.
"Even if we're just training, unlike the qualifiers, people will use all kinds of methods once the Main Tournament starts. There will be scouts trying to analyze our fighting styles. I asked the inn staff for a recommendation on where to go to avoid that."
Everyone nodded in understanding at Rei's explanation.
The Main Tournament would be a tournament format. Unlike the battle royal of the Qualifying Rounds, people could—and would—focus their intelligence-gathering on specific opponents.
Information was power. That fact was as true on Earth as it was in Elgin.
"That's why I thought we should train here. ...Though, since it's not impossible that we might end up fighting each other, you should probably avoid using any techniques you want to keep as a secret trump card."
"Hmm, still, that's a surprise. That inn even looks after details like this?"
The others nodded in agreement with Ruzy.
"They don't call it the best inn in the capital for nothing. I'm just grateful they provided a spot like this."
Usually, when one thought of an area with few people, the slums were the first thing to come to mind. But this wasn't the slums. As such, there were no petty thugs around to bother them.
"Now then, let's begin. ...Sorry, but I'm in the mood to be a little more serious with our training today."
"Ugh."
Ruzy let out a groan of genuine dread.
As the most promising member of Wind Dragon Fang, he was often the one subjected to Rei's direct instruction.
Hearing that Rei intended to be even more "serious" than usual made a terrifying thought cross his mind: he might collapse from exhaustion before the Main Tournament even began.
"Why the sudden spike in motivation?"
Most asked Rei, his curiosity piqued. It wasn't that he felt sorry for his leader—if anything, he believed that the more Rei trained Ruzy, the stronger Ruzy would become. That, in turn, would raise the overall strength of Wind Dragon Fang for future requests.
His honest feeling was that he wanted Rei to push them even harder.
The others turned similarly puzzled gazes toward Rei.
"Let's see... to put it simply... a wall appeared."
Rei murmured, to no one in particular.
Flickering through his mind was the image of Noise, the S-Rank adventurer who was one of only three in the entire world.
They hadn't fought. They had only spoken. Yet, just that brief interaction had soaked Rei in an awe and terror that made his spine freeze.
If he ever had to fight that man... could he win? He asked himself the question, and he found that he couldn't say for certain that he would.
That was why... he needed to sharpen his strength even further now, preparing for the moment the inevitable arrived.
Because if Vihera and her faction took action, the one standing in Noise's way might very well have to be him.