The only two left standing in the gymnasium were Rei and Grink.
Everyone else—men and women alike—was either slumped on the floor or collapsed entirely.
The sweat beading on their faces came less from physical exertion than from the sheer disbelief of having been so utterly defeated. Rather than simple exhaustion, it would be more accurate to say they sat on the floor, unable to process the reality before their eyes.
Starting with Insula, who had fought Rei first, Rei had faced all forty students one after another—and defeated every single one of them.
What's more, it was painfully obvious from his performance that he hadn't been fighting at full strength.
Even when the students swung their weapons, not only did their attacks fail to connect with Rei, but it was rare for them to even touch the spear in his hands. And on the rare occasion a weapon did make contact with the spear, the student would find their blade entangled and torn from their grasp before they could blink.
The only thing that vanished was their own weapon—the spear remained firmly in Rei's hands—and the next thing they knew, the spearhead was hovering inches from their face.
To have it done so effortlessly was nothing short of a nightmare for the fourth-year S-Class. These were students gathered from the highest grade, boasting the top academic records, every one of them fully aware that they were the elite of the Officer Academy.
Many among them suffered severe shock from the realization that no matter how many times they swung their weapons to deflect the spearhead, it would be thrust at them again in the very next instant. They simply could not comprehend how a spear could move like that.
There had been many who possessed absolute confidence in their own abilities. But that confidence existed only within the walls of the Officer Academy. More than a few were now being forced to realize that the moment they stepped outside, they were nowhere near as formidable as they had believed.
"Impressive, Rei-san. To put on such a display against this many opponents. Honestly, I didn't expect it to go this far."
Rei's response to Grink's polite praise was a simple shake of his head.
"It's not worth that much praise. There are still plenty of strong people out there. I'm not strong enough to face them yet. ...But that's beside the point."
Pausing his conversation with Grink, Rei turned his gaze toward the students sitting on the floor in a daze. The look he gave them was tinged with exasperation.
"Did you guys seriously think you could beat me? Well, I guess Set isn't here, and I don't have my signature weapon, the Death Scythe, so I can't blame you for thinking that way... but I'm still a B-Rank Adventurer, you know? I can't afford to struggle against a bunch of greenhorns."
Every student who heard those words gritted their teeth—those collapsed on the floor and those still sitting upright alike.
His tone carried the implication that his victory was as natural a law as snow accumulating after it falls. Frustration took root in their hearts, and some even harbored feelings bordering on hatred toward Rei.
Watching those students, Rei was inwardly impressed.
Huh. After being beaten that one-sidedly, not a single one of them has a broken spirit. The emotions they're feeling may differ, but the fact that no one here has dropped out shows they deserve to be called the elite.
Being sore losers probably had something to do with it. Or perhaps it was pride, or any number of other things. Driven by those emotions, all forty students remained standing—or sitting—without their spirits being crushed.
If that's the case, they might be able to get quite a bit stronger. This job was supposed to be little more than a way to kill time, but now that I'm actually doing it, it might turn out to be pretty interesting.
Facing the students whose eyes declared that even if they had lost the match, their spirit would never surrender, Rei smiled.
He himself thought it was a look of genuine interest. To the students on the receiving end, however, it was a smile that could only be described as ferocious—a grin that made them wonder, just for an instant, whether they had made a terrible mistake.
That impression was proven correct the very next moment.
"Alright, I'm getting into this. What we just did was one-on-one fights with everyone. Next, let's change things up a bit..."
What words would come from Rei's mouth next? The question burned in every student's mind as Rei smiled and delivered his pronouncement.
"Me alone against all of you. One versus forty."
For a moment, not just the students but even Grink failed to comprehend what Rei had said. Rei had hinted at something along those lines earlier, but none of them had expected him to be serious.
The first to recover his senses, as expected, was the instructor Grink.
"Rei-san, are you serious? It goes without saying, but when the number of opponents reaches forty, the difficulty increases exponentially."
"No problem. As we continue with mock battles, I'm planning to cover not just one-on-one but also many-versus-many, one-versus-many, and many-versus-one formats. Think of this as a preview of what's to come."
"...Understood. You're right, Rei-san. You've been through countless battlefields. I shouldn't have needed to remind you of that."
As Grink bowed his head slightly, Rei shook his head to brush it off. When he turned his gaze back to the students, he found the fourth-year S-Class already recovering from the crushing loss of confidence they had suffered moments ago.
"You've got to be kidding... He's going to take on all of us!?"
"We definitely lost one-on-one... but does he seriously think he can handle this many of us?"
"He's younger than me, but I've already thrown out the word 'mercy.'"
"Calm down, you guys. Crimson supposedly took down a large force of the Bestia Imperial Army single-handedly during last year's Spring War. In other words, he was originally skilled at fighting large numbers."
"But that's—!"
"Yeah. Out in an open area, he'd be able to use large-scale magic. Plus, he doesn't have that Gryphon from the rumors or his scythe. In other words, Crimson right now isn't at full capacity."
"...But you saw the fights just now, right? You experienced them firsthand? Even if he's not at his best, we simply lack the ability."
"We're doing it anyway! After being looked down on that much, can we just let it slide? Us—the elite of this Officer Academy!"
"Right. There's no doubt that Crimson's ability surpasses ours even in this situation. But that doesn't mean we have no chance. Crimson this, Crimson that—at the end of the day, he's still one human being. Which means he only has one set of eyes."
"I see! Then if we attack from blind spots, like behind him—!"
"Yeah. Our attacks should be plenty effective."
Naturally, the content of their discussion was perfectly audible to Rei. With senses far sharper than those of an ordinary person, catching their words was trivial. Yet even while conversing with Grink, he let the students talk freely without interruption.
About ten minutes passed.
"Well then, are you about ready?"
Holding a practice spear, Rei addressed the students. His gaze was heavy with provocation, which only further stoked their fighting spirit.
All forty students took up their practice weapons. The expressions on their faces ranged widely—hostility, competitiveness, the look of being cornered, fighting spirit, self-deprecation, smiles—but nowhere among them could a trace of resignation be found.
They would defeat Rei and make him acknowledge them. With that single thought burning in their hearts, they stood before him.
Facing the students whose stance declared them fully prepared, Rei readied the spear in his hands.
"Now then, let's begin. Show me how you struggle. What you do when you encounter an overwhelmingly powerful enemy—that should be something essential for those of you who will go on to become knights and adventurers."
"......"
What came back in response to Rei's words was silence. But the aura radiating from the students was anything but resignation.
Confirming this, Rei nodded with satisfaction and turned to Grink.
"Grink, if you would."
"Understood. Both sides, please refrain from inflicting fatal injuries."
Though he said "both sides," Grink's gaze was fixed squarely on Rei. Naturally, the caution was directed at Rei, not the students. The students weren't pleased about it, but having been shown the overwhelming gap in skill during the previous mock battles, none of them talked back. Right now, their priority was to scrutinize Rei for even the slightest opening and somehow find a path to victory.
"Begin."
The moment the word left Grink's mouth, every student present moved in unison. Rather than charging blindly toward Rei, they each moved according to the plan they had hashed out beforehand. Some charged straight at Rei to act as decoys; others nocked arrows—practice rounds with rounded heads—to provide support; still others moved to positions that would surround him.
"Your teamwork in group combat is quite solid," Rei remarked.
In truth, Rei's battles rarely involved fighting cooperatively with anyone. He often fought alongside Set, but Set—a creature born of Beast Magic—couldn't be compared to ordinary adventurers. The gap in ability between Rei and a typical adventurer was so large that they would only become a burden, forcing him to divide his attention to accommodate them. On the other hand, adventurers skilled enough to keep pace with Rei were few and far between. As a result, it was relatively rare for Rei to work alongside other adventurers at all.
"Still, you're students. You've got a long way to go."
A student acting as a decoy brought his longsword crashing down from the front. Rei caught the blow with the spearhead and simultaneously deflected it, guiding the attack along the shaft of the spear. In the same motion, he entangled the longsword's blade and hurled it at a man closing in from behind and to his right, who had been winding up for a strike.
Pulling the spear back, Rei deflected a woman's thrust from behind with the butt cap, then—using nothing but a flick of his wrist—wrenched the spear's trajectory sideways to sweep her legs out from under her and send her tumbling. But he hadn't simply knocked her down; her body rolled directly into the path of a man charging toward Rei. Unable to step on his fellow student, the man was forced to alter his landing—and that split-second delay cost him his chance to track Rei's movement.
The shaft of the spear, swept horizontally, blew the man sideways. He crashed into another student at the point where he landed, and both crumpled to the floor in a heap.
"What's wrong? Come at me harder!"
At Rei's goading, the students' attacks grew fiercer—but not a single one touched him. In fact, Rei rarely even bothered to block with his spear; almost every attack was simply evaded. And the moment they let up their assault even slightly, a single strike from Rei's spear would send them flying—knocking them unconscious, or at the very least dealing enough damage that they couldn't stand again.
And yet, the fact that he hadn't delivered a single fatal blow was proof that Rei still had ample room to spare.
"Damn it! Everyone, attack him more seriously! We're being completely toyed with!"
The one shouting was Insula—the first student to have fought Rei in a mock battle. He possessed upper-tier strength within the S-Class, but to Rei, even that difference was negligible.
The blade of the longsword Insula swung as he shouted, as a matter of course, never touched Rei—cutting only air. Slipping past the longsword strike, Rei passed by Insula's side and flicked the spear in his hand. The butt of the spear struck Insula from behind, catching him squarely on the right shoulder, and sent him pitching forward.
"Six left, huh..."
Before they knew it, only six students remained standing with their consciousness intact. Having witnessed Rei's fighting throughout the battle, they had likely come to understand the overwhelming gap in ability once more. The gazes they now directed at Rei no longer carried the fighting spirit that had been there at the start.
Still unable to give up, all six coordinated and charged at once, determined not to go down without a fight—and were promptly sent rolling across the floor by Rei's spear, losing consciousness or collapsing from the pain of their bruises.
"Well, that's about it. ...Though, you fought far better than I expected. You deserve to be called this school's elite. But ultimately, you're the elite among students. I'm sure you understand from this fight just how different that is from real combat. I'll be stricter starting tomorrow, so make sure you think carefully about where you fell short today and how to fix it. Pass that along to the ones who've passed out, too."
With those words, Rei's first lesson with the fourth-year S-Class came to an end.
...After this, Rei would conduct a similar lesson with the other class under his charge—the third-year S-Class—and demonstrate the difference in power there as well.