"Hm, I see. A festival... It’s certainly not a bad idea. That bastard Keep already seems to be reaching out to various King's Faction nobles in Gilm, after all."
Daskar muttered the words as he sat at his office desk. His gaze rested on Rei, the man who had brought the proposal for a festival to him.
"I thought as much. He has a personality that craves the spotlight. He likely wants to make a grand show of seizing Ashie in front of his many acquaintances to establish a fait accompli."
"Well, if he could pull it off, it would deal a massive blow to Baron Cisne's House. ...Though, that is assuming he can actually succeed."
In Daskar's mind, the winner of this duel had already been decided. Given that he knew Rei's true strength, it was only natural. Normally, Daskar's position required him to be fair and neutral. However, as the leader of the Neutral Faction, now that the formal procedures were properly established, his personal feelings naturally aligned with Rei. Of course, he had no intention of showing blatant favoritism during the duel. To do so would cost him his just cause for driving Keep out of Gilm.
"You're right. If he could pull it off..." Rei flashed a meaningful smile.
From Rei's perspective, Keep was the typical noble in all the worst ways. Whether such a man could recruit a truly capable adventurer in Gilm to his side was a question that left him skeptical. Certainly, many adventurers were blinded by gold—especially those who had failed to make their winter preparations. However, whether they would actually step onto the field once they realized their opponent was Rei was another matter entirely. In a simple mock battle, fighting Rei could be a valuable learning experience; in a duel, it was a matter of life and death. And it was common knowledge in Gilm that Rei showed no mercy to those who stood against him.
"However, there is a problem," Daskar continued. "Since this is a duel conducted with proper legal procedures, the property of Count Eriel's House will undoubtedly fall to Baron Cisne's House. The amount is staggering—staggering enough that they might lose their heads trying to overturn the result."
"So you're saying Baron Cisne's House will be targeted?"
"The probability is high. How to handle the aftermath is the real issue."
"...Are you suggesting it might be better if I don't win?"
"Not at all," Daskar immediately countered. While his position required some degree of consideration for Count Eriel's House, he saw no reason to prioritize that over preventing a tragedy for those living in his own territory.
"Then I have permission to win?"
"Yes. It might cause some headaches, but I’ll pull whatever strings I can on my end. You just fight to your heart's content. ...Though, from their perspective, it’ll be nothing short of a nightmare."
If they fought Rei and lost, they would forfeit half of their family fortune. It was not an exaggeration to say this outcome was almost a certainty.
"At any rate, back to the point. I agree with turning this into a festival. The Gamelion hunting hasn't been very productive this year, so if possible, I’d like to let the citizens blow off some steam."
"Was the haul really that low? When I looked around, there were quite a lot of people participating in the Gamelion hunting."
"True. Thanks to you, the Gamelions finally started appearing, but the slow start in the first half really dragged down the numbers. In the end, we only hit about eighty percent of a typical year."
"Then we shouldn't expect much in the way of Gamelion Dishes at this festival?"
"Well, who knows? On the contrary, some might see this as the perfect time to profit and put out more Gamelion Dishes than usual. Regardless, that depends on the individual shopkeepers. I can't force them."
"I see. Then I'll pray that Gamelion Dishes make an appearance. I hope Baron Cisne and Basrero can enjoy them too."
"Hahaha! How magnanimous of you. I suppose for you, losing the duel is an impossibility unless the world turns upside down." Daskar gave a hearty laugh and nodded. "Leave the festival to me. There are several things I've wanted to try. Since the other side has surely spread word of this duel to everyone they know, gathering a crowd shouldn't be difficult."
"I'll leave it in your hands. ...I think it would also be quite interesting to have people make Snow Statues and judge who made the best one."
"Hmm, I'll take that into consideration. However, time is short. We only have four days left for festival preparations, so there’s likely no leisure for snow statues. ...Ah, and though I'm jumping around a bit, you should send guards to Baron Cisne's House. If the other side realizes your true identity, they’ll naturally want to cancel the duel itself."
Rei's eyes grew sharp at Daskar's warning.
"And to cancel a duel, the quickest way is to remove the opponent. But since trying to do anything to you is a lost cause, the next target would be..."
Daskar didn't need to finish the sentence for Rei to understand. If the cause of the duel vanished, the duel itself would be void. And Baron Cisne was not a wealthy man; his house employed no knights, soldiers, or personal adventurers.
"That's dangerous."
"Isn't it? Normally, I'd like to dispatch guards myself, but in my position, I cannot—unless it’s the day of the actual duel. That said, hiring adventurers would be a heavy burden on Baron Cisne's finances. If that's the case..."
"Then I have to be the one to move," Rei said, finishing Daskar's thought.
"Exactly. Well, fortunately, if you win this fight, half of Count Eriel's family property... well, getting the full half might be difficult, but a significant sum will still flow to Baron Cisne's House. You’ll naturally receive a reward as well. In that case, hiring adventurers as guards shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
"You're right. I'll see to it. ...It’s a bit sudden, but I'll take my leave now. I need to go to Baron Cisne's House and then to the Guild to find some free adventurers. Ideally, I'd like to find some skilled ones who haven't finished their winter preparations yet."
"That's impossible," Daskar said, flatly rejecting Rei's hope. "Skilled adventurers wouldn't fail at their winter preparations in the first place. ...No, wait. Adventurers are a peculiar bunch, so I suppose there’s always a chance."
"Likely so. But if I can't find anyone suitable at the Guild, I'll check the taverns for anyone making a ruckus. Even if they're drunk now, most of them will be fine by tomorrow. Besides..."
Rei stopped himself mid-sentence, but the faces of Johanna, Sergio, Maruno, and the other former Mobile Unit members flashed through his mind. They were people he trusted, and their skills were more than adequate. Furthermore, they had only just arrived in Gilm and winter was already upon them. Even if they had secured housing, they would benefit from extra funds, and it would help them settle into Gilm more quickly.
(That's right. If the Guild is short on people, I'll try reaching out to them.)
He judged that Muet would surely agree to hire adventurers to protect Basrero and Ashie, even if he didn't care about his own safety. If Baron Cisne's House lacked the immediate funds, Rei could front the money since he had plenty. Once the duel concluded, Baron Cisne's House was guaranteed a massive profit.
(In that case, I'll head to Baron Cisne's House first.)
Having decided his course, Rei bowed to Daskar.
"Well, since time is of the essence, I'll be going."
"Yes, be careful out there."
As Daskar watched Rei leave the office, the tone of his voice was far more than a mere courtesy. To Gilm, Rei's presence was indispensable. To state Daskar's honest feelings, a hundred... no, a thousand or ten thousand Keeps wouldn't equal the value of a single Rei.
"Huh? Fight Rei? You're kidding, right? ...Wait, you're serious? No way, no way. That’s impossible. Are you telling me to go commit suicide? Forget it. Not interested."
"Against Rei? What? Are you sane? Oh, sorry. You're serious? But if I'm being honest, I want to ask if you're the one who's sane. Me? Absolutely not. If it were a mock battle, it might be a good chance to test my skills, but this is a duel, right? I'm too young to die."
"You want me to fight Rei... You've got to be joking. If I did that, Seto would hate me. That’s no laughing matter."
"With Rei-san, you say? ...Sigh, I'm sorry, but I value my life too much for that. I'll have to decline."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you right in the head? You want me to fight Rei? Absolutely not. What? A coward? Heh, you've got some nerve. Then you try fighting Rei. Since you're so quick to call others cowards, surely you can do at least that much, right?"
"Re... Rei!? H-Hieeeeeeeee!"
Fultos had used his subordinates to reach out to numerous adventurers about the duel, but every single one of them had refused. If they had pitched the offer without mentioning Rei's name, they might have found a taker. However, it was all for naught if they couldn't actually win against Rei. It had already been legally finalized that half of the Property of Count Eriel's House would be forfeited upon defeat. Since they had to win no matter what, they couldn't afford a proxy who would turn tail and run the moment they saw Rei's face.
"Damn it! What are we supposed to do!?"
Alone in his room, Fultos slammed his fist onto his desk with all his might. The skin on his knuckles split and bled, but he was in no state to worry about such trifles. He reached a hand up to his fleshy chin, agonizing over a way to break the current deadlock. No matter how he looked at it, Rei's presence was the bottleneck. In the first place, how were they supposed to win against an opponent who could take on an entire army alone? A duel against an opponent whose quality far surpassed any quantity... essentially, a pure contest of quality was one he didn't think they had any chance of winning.
Fultos wasn't the only one who felt this way; Keep felt it too. That was likely why Keep had ordered Fultos, his eyes bloodshot, to hire an adventurer who could beat Rei, declaring that money was no object. If they had months until the duel, they might have been able to leverage the King's Faction's authority to summon an S-Rank adventurer from the Royal Capital, but they didn't have nearly enough time.
And the result was total defeat. Everyone refused the moment they heard the opponent was Rei. In fact, some had even told him it wasn't too late to go to Rei, apologize, and beg for forgiveness.
"If we could do that, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
Why had he ever thought of a duel in the first place? Now, Fultos felt that if he could go back in time, he would have punched his past self to prevent it. That one decision had brought them to the very brink of ruin.
Keep had been sent to Gilm specifically to cause an uproar, but the current situation was beyond help. Normally, this incident was supposed to be a triumph for Count Eriel's House—and by extension, a credit to Fultos for orchestrating it. But in this state, they couldn't even rely on the other King's Faction nobles in Gilm. The legally binding duel documents were an anchor dragging down everything they tried to do.
As Fultos agonized over their next move, the door to his room was suddenly thrown open with a violent crash. It would be more accurate to say it had been kicked in.
"――!?"
An enemy!? That was the first thought that flashed through Fultos's mind. He was well aware of the numerous uproars they had caused in Gilm. It wouldn't have been strange if someone had come to exact revenge.
However, the one who entered was Keep. His expression was a mask of pure rage. Flushed red with fury, he screamed with visible irritation.
"What is going on!? What is with those looks the King's Faction nobles in Gilm are giving me!? I am the next head of Count Eriel's House!"
From those words, Fultos understood exactly what had happened. Keep had been shunned by the very King's Faction nobles who were supposed to be his allies. Even as he watched the infuriated Keep, Fultos felt a sense of resignation. He would have done the same in their position. There was nothing to be gained from making an enemy of a natural disaster like Rei. On the contrary, it was the worst possible move. Normally, commoners showed restraint when dealing with nobility, but in Rei's case, that restraint was non-existent. It was clear he held neither awe nor respect for the aristocracy. That was precisely why he would think nothing of raising a hand against them.
"Lord Keep, if we are to salvage this situation... the only way left is to somehow ensure that Rei, the opponent's proxy, never reaches the dueling grounds."
With a grim resolve, Fultos voiced his proposal to Keep.