"It's over!"
Even as Daskar's declaration echoed through the area that had been transformed into a dueling arena, the surroundings remained deathly silent.
The spectators only began to cheer after Rei pulled his Death Scythe away from Zelos’s throat and deactivated his Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, causing the red magic power to vanish from sight.
In that moment, the tension and heat Rei radiated subsided, and the crowd's excitement reached its absolute zenith.
"Uooooooooooooooooooooh!"
A cheer like a primal roar erupted from the audience. Instinctively, they understood the immense height of the skill they had just witnessed.
"Hey... did you see that? The pressure the moment Rei looked at him..."
"Yeah, I felt it too. And that red haze around Rei? Was that an aura?"
"Definitely. It must be one of his skills."
"I’d heard he was good at flame magic, but was that red light flame magic too? Even from here, the heat was blistering."
"Who knows? But while Rei might be famous for flame magic, he uses wind magic pretty often too, right? You know, like when he releases those flying slashes. Besides, he couldn't use that Flame Tornado without wind magic."
"Crimson Rei, huh... I knew he was said to be strong, but I never imagined he possessed such truly overwhelming ability. Usually, rumors are exaggerated, but..."
"Ah... yeah, I get it. In Rei’s case, the rumors actually seem quite tame."
"Still, that guy, the Next Head of Count Eriel's House or whatever—how on earth did he work up the nerve to duel Rei? And wagering half the property of his house for just one woman..."
"Hmph. That man has caused quite a lot of trouble in the short time since he arrived in Gilm. He’s probably learned his lesson a bit now."
"No, no, that's way more than just 'a bit.' Half their fortune is gone, you know? Won't they be unable to manage Count Eriel's House Territory anymore?"
"The man who brought that upon them will undoubtedly be disinherited."
"Yeah, that’s for sure. But even if he is disinherited, this duel was already carried out under the name of Count Eriel's House, so they can’t exactly go back on it."
The voices of the crowd carried clearly, and naturally, they reached Keep’s ears.
"I lost...? I, the Next Head of Count Eriel's House, lost to such a poor noble? This... this is impossible..." Keep muttered, his eyes wide and vacant.
He couldn't believe Zelos had been defeated. He looked around, hoping it was a nightmare, but Zelos remained slumped on the ground.
As he looked at his surroundings, it seemed as though even the knights were distancing themselves from him. No, beyond that, they even seemed to be wearing sneers of derision.
Those sneers were entirely a product of Keep’s imagination, but in his current state, he showed no sign of realizing that.
Then, he suddenly noticed that his trousers felt cold.
"What is this?"
Surprised by the coldness for the first time, he looked down. A dark stain was spreading across his trousers. On the dirt that had been cleared of snow for the duel, urine that had flowed from Keep’s crotch was spreading into the earth.
Keep’s mind went blank for a moment as he realized... and in the next instant, he was forcibly hauled to his feet by Fultos.
"Everyone, I am terribly sorry, but it seems my master is feeling somewhat unwell, so we shall take our leave for now. Margrave Larkus, regarding the duel incident, we shall contact you again at a later date. Would that be acceptable?"
"U-Umu. Yes. That would be for the best."
Even from Daskar's perspective, it was clear that Keep had soiled himself out of sheer terror, and he seemed dazed and stupefied, perhaps because he couldn't admit it to himself.
Judging that they wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation like this, Daskar nodded at Fultos’s words. However...
"Regardless of what becomes of Lord Keep, the duel has been properly settled. As such, the Results of the Duel shall be treated as official and legally binding. Naturally, that includes the stakes wagered on the duel. You understand this, I trust?"
"Ha! I promise to inform the house of that fact without fail."
"I see. Then that is fine. You may withdraw."
"Pardon us. ...Hey, we’re going!"
Fultos shouted at the knights, who were wearing expressions of utter disbelief at the event that had occurred before their eyes, and left the area with Keep in tow. Once the knights came to their senses, they hurriedly followed after him.
"Honestly... to go so far as to soil himself... he is nothing but a disgrace to the nobles of the King's Faction."
A noble of the King's Faction who had been dispatched to Gilm muttered loathingly.
Gilm was a land ruled by Daskar, the Central Figure of the Neutral Faction, and was simultaneously a frontier. In other words, it was a place where it would not be strange for anything to happen at any time. There was even the possibility of monsters attacking in a swarm.
Since they were dispatched to such a place, it was only natural that those with courage were generally chosen, whether they were nobles of the King's Faction or the Noble's Faction.
...Granted, there were also many nobles whose courage led them to act in an arrogant and audacious manner. Of course, there were some among them who were not that brave. Even so, none of them had ever made such a pathetic display as Keep had just now.
"Compared to that... despite having faced that Rei at close range, that man called Zelos is quite impressive for being able to stand up like that."
At the words muttered by one of the nobles, the other nobles nearby turned their gazes with admiration toward Zelos, who was attempting to stand. Rei turned toward Zelos and spoke while sliding on the Ring of the New Moon.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"An? What do you mean, what am I going to do?" Zelos muttered, leaning on his halberd. He tilted his head, genuinely confused.
"What do I mean...? You lost to me. If that’s the case, you’re the very person who brought ruin upon Count Eriel's House. At worst, they might send assassins after you, you know?"
"Hah! Assassins sent by someone like that are just small fry to me. Small fry. It’d be a different story if there were monsters like you around... There aren't, right?" Zelos asked as if to confirm, perhaps having become anxious at his own words.
However, Rei didn't understand the detailed circumstances of that area either, so all he could do was give a small shrug of his shoulders.
"Fumu. If you are worried, it might be better to head to another city," Daskar interjected, having overheard the exchange. "The King's Faction's eyes are sharp in the Royal Capital, of course, so why don't you try going somewhere in the countryside?"
"Another city, you say?" Zelos asked with a tilt of his head.
Zelos had intended to return to Abuelo as he was. While staying in Gilm was an option, he didn't want to leave Abuelo, where his lover lived. Because of that, Daskar's suggestion to go to another city—neither Gilm nor Abuelo—was completely unexpected.
"That Keep shouldn't be a problem, but sooner or later, an Associate of Count Eriel's House will come to Gilm. At that time, if you were to show your face carelessly, it wouldn't be pleasant for them, whether it be in Abuelo or Gilm."
"And so they’d release assassins?"
"Well, that part is up to luck. If the person who comes to Gilm is someone with deep loyalty, they might send them. But wouldn't it be better for you to have as little danger as possible?"
"If it were just my own problem, I wouldn't care that much, but..." Zelos thought for a moment at Daskar's words, but eventually let out a sigh and looked up.
While a brilliant blue sky, unimaginable for winter weather, spread above, Zelos’s heart alone was far from clear.
"Ah, what a pain. Why did things turn out like this?"
"No, that’s because you took a request from a guy like that without thinking," Rei muttered, his tone saying it was the man's own fault.
"Hahaha. Well, don't say that. For now, I have prepared a room for you during this festival, so please recover from your fatigue there."
At Daskar's words, Zelos let out a sigh of relief, feeling saved.
The time he had spent facing Rei while he had Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor active was not very long. But in that short time, Zelos’s mental energy had been greatly exhausted. Though he was acting as if he were fine now, Zelos’s honest feeling was that if he were told to continue fighting someone else like this, it would probably be impossible.
Compared to Zelos, Rei showed no particular signs of fatigue as he shook his head at Daskar.
"No, I want to enjoy the festival, so I’ll decline. Besides..." He turned his gaze toward the three people—Muet, Basrero, and Ashie—who were rejoicing.
It was true they had won today’s duel, and with this, there was no longer any danger of Ashie being taken by Keep. However, the opponent was that Keep. Half the Property of Count Eriel's House had been wagered on the duel. Rei could not believe Keep would be willing to hand it over quietly.
They had attacked Baron Cisne's House several times before the duel and failed. But once Keep realized he truly had nothing left to lose, he wasn't the type to just give up. In fact, if Muet and Basrero were to die, the wager would effectively be nullified. To be precise, it was more accurate to say that if there were no one left to receive it, the wager would vanish.
That was exactly why Rei had gone out of his way to remove the Ring of the New Moon and sear his existence into their minds as a deterrent. Even if none of Keep’s subordinates had the ability to sense magic power, it was certain that some of the nobles employed people with those kinds of abilities.
Rei spoke while hoping that the story would spread from there and prevent them from taking any useless actions.
"I’m thinking of acting as a House Cisne Guard for a little while. Fortunately, I have Seto with me, so we’ll be fine even if someone tries to sneak up on us."
Seto likely understood that Rei had called its name. It approached Rei while trilling in its throat. Zelos was surprised by the Gryphon suddenly appearing right next to him, but Seto didn't mind Zelos and happily rubbed its face against Rei while trilling.
Though they had been opponents, Seto showed no signs of hating Zelos. At the very least, it could be said there was a world of difference compared to the attitude it had shown when it hated Rhodos.
"Ah, Seto-chan, you can't go!" As soon as the duel ended, Johanna, who had been petting Seto, cried out regretfully and reached out her hand as if to chase after it.
"Wait, Johanna! What do you think you’re doing, hogging him all to yourself!" The one who called out to Johanna was Mirene. As usual, she had Sulnin and Ekryl following behind her as she raised a voice of denunciation against Johanna.
Though the two of them had an exchange that was halfway to a duel a few days ago, in the end, no winner was decided, and they had remained at a stalemate. Mirene was superior in terms of pure ability, but the gap had narrowed thanks to the special training Johanna received from Rei—or perhaps it was what Johanna called her "Love for Seto."
"What? Is there a problem with me being with Seto-chan? If anything, it’s only natural!"
"There’s no way that’s true!"
To call it a catfight... the aura of anger emanating from Mirene and Johanna was far too great for such a word. Still, the reason it hadn't reached the level of murderous intent was likely because they understood that Seto would be saddened if they did such a thing.
"Guruuu?" In fact, Seto, who had been frolicking with Rei, turned its gaze toward the glaring Mirene and Johanna and tilted its head slightly as if asking what was wrong.
"I-It’s nothing. I was just talking with Johanna for a bit. We aren't fighting, so please rest easy."
"Yeah, yeah. Mirene and I are good friends, after all."
They each wore a smile while shaking hands to show Seto how well they got along. ...Granted, they were both putting all their strength into their grip, clearly intending to crush the other's hand.
"Ah... yeah. Sorry, but Seto and I are about to go enjoy the festival."
"Ah, then I'll guide you!" Mirene chirped.
"Wait, Mirene, don't butt in! I’m obviously the one who’s going to guide him."
"Oh? First come, first served for things like this, isn't it? Come on, Seto-chan. Shall we go? And Rei, you too."
Rei gave a wry smile at being treated as an afterthought, but seeing Sulnin bowing apologetically behind Mirene, he shook his head to indicate he didn't mind.
"Well then, I guess we’re going. ...Ah, Johanna's party, could you please continue the guard duty for a bit longer? I'll be looking around the festival to see if there's anyone making suspicious moves."
"...It can't be helped, I suppose. It’s true that looking at the way things are, there’s no telling what kind of means they might use. And since I’m being employed, I’ll make sure to work hard."
Johanna nodded, though she was somewhat reluctant.
Lento, who was nearby, turned a gaze of gratitude toward Rei, appearing relieved for some reason. Lento had fallen in love with Johanna at first sight and had been trying to win her over, but Johanna was obsessed with Seto.
Since she herself hadn't had much interest in such romantic affairs until now, she recognized the affection Lento directed at her not as romantic interest, but as camaraderie between companions. The greatest obstacle in courting Johanna was, as expected, Seto. ...And Mirene as well.
Seto goes without saying, and whenever Mirene met Johanna, they would bare their rivalry and squabble. Such a battle between women was something Lento didn't really want to touch, even if it involved the woman he loved.
...Granted, while Mirene and Johanna were directing their full affection toward Seto, the fact that Rei remained number one in Seto’s heart would never change.