One could say the man serving as a member of the Fighting Tournament’s Management Committee was cursed with the worst possible luck.
While he had been walking around searching for a colleague who had vanished some time ago, he suddenly heard a noise. It wasn't just any noise, but a cacophony of destruction—the sound of someone, or something, rampaging.
Despite a sinking feeling in his gut, the official approached the room. He knew that if a problem occurred and he ignored it, the administrative fallout would be a nightmare later on. As a member of the management committee, he was well aware that this particular area was being used as a participants' waiting room.
He assumed it was simply a defeated fighter taking their frustrations out on the furniture. He even worried that his missing colleague might have been caught up in the tantrum. However, when he peeked inside the waiting room, the scene that greeted him far exceeded his wildest expectations.
He found the colleague he had been looking for swinging a dagger at a man who was famous—or perhaps infamous—in this tournament: Crimson Rei.
Rei seemed to view the official’s arrival as a stroke of luck. He swung his great scythe to strike Lironei, pinning him to the floor and effectively neutralizing him. Then, he looked up at the newcomer and asked if he intended to take custody of the attacker.
"Huh?! No, what on earth is happening here? Why is Lironei attacking you?"
For a fleeting second, the official wondered if Rei had picked a fight with Lironei, but he dismissed the thought immediately. Lironei was the one one-sidedly lunging at Rei, while Rei himself had been focused entirely on defense.
...Though, as the official watched, Rei did strike Lironei quite forcefully with the Death Scythe's butt end.
Above all else, there was one question burning in the official’s mind. "And what did you mean by brainwashing!?"
"Exactly what I said. ...Tsk, don't move."
Keeping his weight firmly on Lironei’s back to prevent him from rising, Rei used the Death Scythe's butt end to strike Lironei’s hand—specifically, the one clutching the dagger—and sent the weapon spinning across the room.
"Based on the committee's deliberations, the use of that whip is now prohibited. Do you act with the understanding that violating this rule will result in disqualification?" Lironei muttered from the floor.
"...Hey, Lironei? What are you talking about at a time like this?"
The official couldn't make sense of his colleague's words. Rei simply shook his head at the man's confusion.
"It's no use. I told you, this Lironei guy is brainwashed. He probably doesn't even understand what's coming out of his own mouth."
"Brainwashing... even if you say that, what am I supposed to do...?"
The man looked at Rei, his expression one of pure bewilderment. It was only natural. While working for the management committee meant he was more used to rough business than a commoner, he was still just an ordinary citizen. He couldn't begin to compare to the warriors participating in the fighting tournament.
Faced with a room slicked with blood, several corpses on the floor, the interior in shambles, and his colleague attacking a contestant while reciting nonsense, his confusion was inevitable.
However, Rei showed the man no leniency.
"If you won't take responsibility for him, I'll have to kill him. If that happens, I'll need you to testify that I had no other choice but to use lethal force."
"Wait! Please, wait!" the man shouted instinctively.
He didn't doubt for a second that Rei was serious. The words didn't sound like a bluff or a cruel joke, especially with the evidence of the other corpses scattered nearby. Realizing his colleague was seconds away from being put down, the man panicked.
Rei pressed him for a decision. "Then decide now. I’m holding him for the moment, but he’s got incredible strength."
Despite his words, Rei's face didn't show any sign of struggle. But that was only because he was Rei; an ordinary person would have found it nearly impossible to pin the current Lironei. The man possessed the unnatural physical strength common to those adjusted into dolls.
"...I understand. Just... keep him like that for a little longer. I'll go get my superior immediately. This is far too much for me to handle."
To be precise, he simply didn't want the weight of a death on his conscience. Rei understood this and nodded. It was obvious he couldn't just ignore the official's request and slaughter Lironei then and there. He let out a small sigh and accepted the compromise.
"Fine. But he’s the one who tried to take my life. Bring your people back as fast as you can before this Lironei guy tries something else."
"Right away... I'll be right back! So please, whatever you do, don't kill him!"
The man turned and fled the room in a state of near-collapse. Once he was gone, Rei looked down at the man beneath his boot.
"You're lucky to have such a loyal colleague."
"Regarding foul play, you should have received a briefing beforehand, so please refer to those documents. In particular, the use of tamed monsters or summoning magic is strictly prohibited. Utilization will result in immediate disqualification and, in certain cases, may lead to criminal punishment," Lironei continued to drone.
He thrashed about, trying to buck Rei's weight. His strength was far beyond that of a normal human, but against Rei, it made no difference. He remained firmly pinned. It was also a stroke of luck that Lironei had only carried the one dagger Rei had disarmed.
Eventually, Lironei must have judged that simple thrashing was ineffective. He shifted his body, attempting to manipulate the angles to slide out from under the pressure of Rei's foot.
"His personality and memories are a wreck, but the fact that he's still capable of making tactical judgments is a pain," Rei muttered. He adjusted his center of gravity to match Lironei's shifts, keeping him trapped.
A few minutes passed before footsteps echoed in the hallway once more. This time, it was a group.
(If these turn out to be more Requiem Bell agents, it won't even be funny.)
Rei tightened his grip on the Death Scythe. In any other situation, such a suspicion would have been paranoid, but given that a tournament official had been turned into a literal doll, nothing was off the table.
Fortunately, that particular fear proved unfounded.
"Is he still alive!?" the official from before shouted as he burst back into the room.
Several other figures followed him—the reinforcements he had gone to fetch. One of them, an elderly man in his 50s, stepped forward.
"I am the supervisor of these men; my name is Asha. ...Crimson—no, Rei. Based on what I heard from Ilusibel, Lironei is being manipulated by someone. Is this the truth?"
"Manipulated... I suppose you could put it that way. Why don't you ask him yourself?"
Rei glanced down at Lironei, who was still squirming underfoot. Fortuitously, unlike the other dolls Rei had fought, Lironei hadn't lost consciousness upon being subdued. Rei wasn't sure if it was because the man didn't realize he was "captured" or if his original role as an official played a part, but he considered it a lucky break.
"...Lironei, can you hear me?" Asha called out, his voice heavy with concern as he recalled the report Ilusibel had given him.
"Regarding magic, contestants are free to utilize it as they see fit, but please remember that killing your opponent will result in a loss by foul," Lironei recited.
"Lironei? Hey, Lironei! Do you not hear my voice?"
"As long as you do not die, your injuries will be healed once you leave the stage. Therefore, please fight without hesitation."
"...Lironei..." Asha whispered, horrified.
He had likely never experienced anything so chilling as a conversation that refused to connect. His cheeks twitched.
Rei decided Asha had seen enough evidence. "It's exactly what it looks like. Now that you understand the situation... what's the plan for him?"
"...Before that, may I ask why this happened?"
"It’s likely the work of the Requiem Bell. They're targeting me."
At the mention of that name, Asha momentarily ceased to process the world, his mind going blank. Ilusibel and the other committee members had the same reaction. In the Bestia Empire, the Requiem Bell was a name that commanded that level of dread.
Asha, having spent many years working at the arena, managed to pull himself back to reality. "Is it true? That the Requiem Bell is after you?"
"Yeah. If you live in this country, you should know why. Things got complicated between me and the Empire during the Spring War."
At those words, several people behind Ilusibel and Asha narrowed their eyes. Rei assumed they had lost someone in the war, but in a conflict of that scale, death on both sides was inevitable. They had volunteered for the military knowing the risks; Rei felt that being blamed for doing his part as a combatant was somewhat unfair, though he could logically understand their resentment.
Regardless, he didn't have time for a debate. He brought the focus back to the matter at hand.
"Anyway, the Requiem Bell has people who can brainwash others—or rather, control them like puppets. I'd bet anything this Lironei guy fell victim to one of them."
Asha’s face twisted in a grimace of pure disgust. It wasn't directed at Rei, but at the organization that had done this to his subordinate.
"Will Lironei... will he ever be normal again?"
"I couldn't say. I heard that a guy who attacked the inn I was staying at lost consciousness after he was caught. I left the city right after, so I don't know his ultimate fate."
Rei gave a neutral answer, but his private intuition suggested the man would likely never wake up. However, he had no proof. He chose to leave a small opening for hope, as he knew it was something Asha needed.
"So, what's the final call? Based on what you've said, I assume we're opting to save him?"
"Yes. I cannot abandon a subordinate I have worked beside for so many years. We will take custody of him and hand him over to the guard force."
Asha's expression was pained. Rei nodded, though he added a firm warning.
"Just so we’re clear, I'm only handing him over this once. If he comes at me again, I will deal with him permanently. ...If you don't want it to come to that, make sure he doesn't escape."
Asha signaled the other committee members. As they approached to restrain Lironei, Rei finally lifted his boot.
In that instant...
"That is a violation of the rules, a foul-foul-foul-foul-l-l-l-l-l-l-l!" Lironei shrieked, his body jolting into a violent rampage.
"Whoa!"
"Damn, he's strong!"
"Lironei, snap out of it!"
"Mmuuuuuu!"
The four men pinning Lironei’s limbs shouted in surprise. Despite his unnatural strength, they were four against one. They managed to secure him and began the slow, difficult process of carrying him out of the room.
Rei watched them go, then turned to Asha, who looked utterly dejected. The supervisor clearly didn't want to believe one of his own had met such a fate. As he watched, Rei stored the Death Scythe back into his Misty Ring.
"Can I leave the rest to you?"
"...Yes. Our man caused you a great deal of trouble today."
They exchanged a few more brief words before Rei finally stepped out of the waiting room. The place was a wreck; it wouldn't be seeing any more use during this fighting tournament.
"Gugh... hah... hah..."
"Sistoi, stay still. I'm pulling the dagger out. And take this—it's an antidote potion."
Inside one of the several hideouts the Requiem Bell maintained within the Imperial Capital, Mura and Sistoi were hurriedly tending to their wounds.
Ordinarily, the poison on the dagger Rei had used would have killed a man instantly. Fortunately, Sistoi had made it a habit to consume a potion that partially nullified toxins and paralysis before every mission. It was the only reason he had managed to escape the waiting room, regroup with Mura, and survive long enough to be treated.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Even after drinking a high-grade resistance potion crafted by the organization's alchemists, Sistoi was clearly in agony. It was a testament to just how potent the poison truly was.
"But we're alive," Mura muttered, continuing her work. "Whatever we decide to do next, we have to get these wounds healed first."