"...Huh?"
Who exactly let out that bewildered voice was anyone's guess.
What was clear, however, was that the arrow which had just fallen from the sky had prevented a fatal clash between Rei and the men who had suddenly appeared.
An arrow... and truly just an ordinary one at that.
Unremarkable, normal—not even the sort of thing one would classify as a magic item.
Yet that arrow had unquestionably halted what had been a hair-trigger situation.
"This arrow..."
The first to move after the arrow struck was the man in his thirties among the Three Tattooed Men.
Gazing at the arrow embedded in the ground as though separating their group from Rei, he muttered under his breath.
"Hoh? You recognize it?"
"Yes. If he—the Heavenly Bow—has made an appearance, I believe we should avoid further combat in this location. A battlefield with this many hiding spots is precisely where he excels most. I'm not saying we would necessarily lose if we fought here. However, there is a distinct possibility that this entire block would be obliterated."
The man in his thirties answered the old man, and the man in his twenties nodded in agreement.
"I agree. I also support withdrawing from here for the time being. If he has stepped in, I believe we should wait before carrying out the divine punishment against Crimson. Against those two as opponents, even unleashing the Stigma wouldn't guarantee we could deliver divine punishment."
"Hmm, you're right. Even without unleashing the Stigma, he's a man who took your strike and stood right back up. Facing someone like that and the Heavenly Bow at the same time would be troublesome. In that case... we withdraw."
The instant the old man declared that, an intense light erupted across the area, blocking everyone's vision.
"You think I'll let you escape?!"
Judging that the opponents were retreating, Rei squeezed his eyes shut the moment the light flared, pulled a spear from his Misty Ring, and hurled it in a single fluid motion.
It wasn't the perfect throwing form he usually employed, complete with a full body twist—it was a throw powered by pure arm strength alone—but the spear left Rei's hand and flew straight into the blazing light.
Then the intense glare illuminating the surroundings faded... and when Rei opened his eyes, he saw his spear embedded in a wall.
It wasn't as if he had accomplished nothing, though. A few drops of blood were spattered on the ground along the spear's likely trajectory.
"...Tch. They got away after all. With better timing, I'd have pinned one to the wall."
Clicking his tongue, he approached the wall where the spear was lodged and reached for the shaft... only to immediately furrow his brow.
Naturally so—the shaft snapped the moment he gripped it.
Then again, the spears Rei used for throwing were typically ones with chipped tips and the like. Precisely because they could break at any time, they were spears he could afford to throw away.
He had plenty of perfectly good spears as well, but the one he had thrown this time had been one of those on the verge of breaking.
Even so, he hadn't come away empty-handed—he had at least managed to draw blood from someone on the other side. Managing to calm himself with that thought, Rei turned his gaze toward Ealand.
However, Ealand and his guards all seemed unable to recover from the overwhelming presence and shock they had received from the three men who had just appeared, standing frozen as if time itself had stopped for them.
If even Ealand and his guards, who possessed a certain level of skill, were in such a state, then some of the assassins who had been fighting the guards here had likely been crushed psychologically.
Rei swept his gaze across the surroundings, and his eyes finally settled on the arrow stuck in the ground.
Toward that arrow, Rei held complicated feelings—a mix of resentment and gratitude.
It was true that it had thrown cold water on his counterattack right when he was about to strike back. But it was equally true that he had taken some degree of damage from the man in his twenties' attack.
They had closed the distance and struck without Rei detecting them at all.
He understood full well that they were no ordinary fighters, but there were at least three individuals of that caliber. And precisely because there were those capable of approaching Rei without being noticed, it wouldn't be strange if others still lurked nearby.
If asked whether Rei alone could prevail against opponents of that level—while also protecting a burden like Ealand—the answer would be difficult.
(No, I don't want to say impossible... but it would definitely be a hard fight. It was a brief exchange, but it's safe to rate them as having A-Rank Adventurer-class ability. Three opponents like that, huh. Could I have managed if Set were here?)
Thinking that if Set had been present, he could have tracked the three retreating men by scent, Rei felt the loss all the more keenly.
"So then... whose handiwork is this arrow, ultimately?"
He muttered, examining the arrow once more.
Having once been targeted by poison arrows known as Tears of Heaven, Rei had no fond memories associated with arrows.
Then, he noticed something highly peculiar.
The arrow embedded in the ground had not a single degree of tilt.
It was planted as though someone had dropped it straight down from directly above.
Rei cast his gaze skyward, but naturally, there was no one there.
In other words, the one who fired this arrow had loosed it upward, and the arrow had flown in an arc before descending in a perfectly straight line without changing angle.
Moreover, considering that no one was visible within the range Rei could perceive, it had been fired from a considerable distance.
"They mentioned something about the Heavenly Bow... who is that?"
The moment Rei muttered those words, Ealand turned an expression of sheer disbelief toward him.
Just moments ago, Ealand should have been completely frozen and unable to move... which meant that the words from Rei's mouth had been that unexpected.
"You don't know!?"
"Hm? Know what?"
"The Heavenly Bow—Lord Sardat!"
"Sardat?"
At the familiar name, Rei closed his eyes as if trying to recall something... and immediately placed it.
"An S-Rank Adventurer belonging to the Kingdom of Mireana?"
"That's right. Sardat the Heavenly Bow. His arrows are said to pierce any target no matter the distance... I had always assumed that was an exaggerated rumor, but from the look of this, it seems it was far from wrong."
At Ealand's words, Rei wore a conflicted expression.
He was certainly grateful to the owner of this arrow, but the feeling that his fight had been interrupted still lingered.
Not that he would go out of his way to say so aloud.
That was precisely why he intentionally steered the conversation elsewhere.
"No matter the distance, you say... With your level of perception, Ealand, can you really get a proper read on the surroundings like that?"
Rei knew the person before him was in the Second-year S-Class.
But even so, that was the extent of it—and the fact remained.
Judging from the abilities of the Third-year and Fourth-year S-Class students, none of them should be exceptionally strong.
In fact, when Rei had first caught up with Ealand, the man had shown signs of being rattled by just four assassins.
"That's..."
Ealand himself must have understood his own shortcomings. He fell silent, looking somewhat displeased.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring you down that much. Besides, what you're saying isn't wrong at all."
Shifting his gaze from Ealand to the arrow stuck in the ground, Rei continued.
"I may not look it, but my five senses are sharp. And I was dead serious facing those three just now—yet I couldn't even begin to comprehend where that arrow was fired from. Before I knew it, it was just falling out of the sky like this. ...I see, so that's why they call him the Heavenly Bow?"
An arrow falling from the sky. One fired from a distance so great that even Rei's senses couldn't grasp it—that would be an extreme threat indeed.
Even Rei, if he were facing Sardat the Heavenly Bow directly, could handle an arrow falling from directly above without much trouble.
But if an arrow were loosed with pinpoint precision in the middle of a chaotic melee, he would have to split his attention to deal with it, making it far more difficult to counter.
"Lord Sardat is S-Rank, naturally. It's not just dropping arrows from above—he apparently possesses a wide range of exceptional archery skills. The story of him shooting through a bandit who was trying to infiltrate the Officer Academy from the main gate of the City of Gracial is well-known."
"...What kind of joke is that?"
The distance from the main gate to the Officer Academy—Rei had walked it himself, so he understood exactly how far it was.
For one thing, the path turned several times along the way. It was by no means a straight line.
On terrain like that, how could anyone possibly accomplish what Ealand had just described?
He initially wrote it off as an exaggerated tale, but Ealand was visibly someone who deeply admired this person named Sardat, and Rei wasn't about to voice that thought aloud.
"More importantly, what do we do about—"
Rei was about to ask "what now?" but sensed someone approaching and readied his Death Scythe.
Could the three from earlier have come back? That was what crossed his mind, but... eventually, the figure that emerged from the alley entrance was Grink.
Seeing his face, Rei let out a small breath of relief and lowered the Death Scythe.
"Rei-san? What happened here? Is it safe to assume these men are the assassins?"
"Yeah... Well, the bigger fish got away, though."
At Rei's words, Grink's face shifted to sheer astonishment.
He understood more than well enough just how powerful Rei was, having worked alongside him in classes for some time now.
Of course, the students were less skilled than Grink. Even so, he couldn't so much as imagine himself defeating Rei in a fight—or even putting up a decent struggle.
Hearing that someone had escaped from Rei, a man of that caliber, the memory of the poison arrow fired at Rei during class flashed through Grink's mind.
Thinking along those lines, he also noticed the single arrow standing upright in the ground.
Some of Ealand's guards used bows as well, but the arrows they had fired were lying flat on the ground, not embedded in it.
"Another arrow?"
"No, it's different. This arrow belongs to the one who backed us up. ...Would the name Heavenly Bow mean anything to you?"
"!?"
Shock once more.
Naturally—there was no one living in the Kingdom of Mireana who didn't know the name of their country's S-Rank Adventurer.
...Rei hadn't known, but whether fortunately or unfortunately, Grink hadn't noticed that fact.
"Lord Sardat backed you up? ...That's, well, quite unusual. Not that I have any intention of doubting your word, Rei-san."
"Unusual? How so?"
"I thought the same, Instructor Grink."
For some reason, while leaving Rei completely out of the loop, Grink and Ealand exchanged knowing glances, both wearing expressions that suggested they understood the situation.
What passed between them was a wordless conversation born of some shared understanding.
Rei found it puzzling, but Grink, upon receiving the look, opened his mouth as if to deflect the topic.
"So, these men... shall we handle them the same as before?"
"Yeah... Though how many of them are still alive is another question. That part is a little doubtful."
"If we're going to extract information from them, wouldn't it be better not to kill them?"
At Grink's words, Rei sighed, looked up at the sky, and made his dissatisfaction plain through his attitude.
"It's not like I killed them. These are the ones we were fighting before the Heavenly Bow showed up."
"...The ones you were fighting, Rei-san—are they the 'big fish' you mentioned?"
"Yeah. Caught off guard or not, I never expected to take a direct hit like that."
Rei said, rubbing his side through the Dragon Robe.
The pain still lingered, but it was probably because he had instinctively jumped the moment the attack landed, dissipating the impact. His ribs hadn't been broken.
Of course, that also meant the blow had dealt effective damage even against Rei, who had tried to jump and kill the shock.
(Still... divine punishment... divine punishment, huh. No way.)
For a fleeting moment, the incident that had occurred in Labyrinth City Exil crossed Rei's mind, but before he could consider that possibility, Grink spoke up.
"It seems a rather troublesome situation has developed in more ways than one. ...For now, what about you, Ealand? I intend to hand these men over to the city guards."
"...Then we will accompany you. Since we've dragged you into our affairs, an explanation is certainly in order."
His manner of speech was quite different from how he addressed Rei, but considering the difference between speaking to an adventurer versus an instructor, it was only natural.
"Understood. Then please come with me. ...Rei-san, I apologize, but could you urgently report this matter to the Academy Headmaster? I believe the headmaster should be in the headmaster's office today as well. Having you present here would make the aftermath considerably more complicated."
"Got it. I'll leave the rest to you. Also, regarding the ones targeting me..."
"Yes, I'll gather as much information as we can."
And so, Rei temporarily left the scene and headed for the Officer Academy.
"Why, hello there. You must be Rei? The rumors said you were a man, but it seems that was a lie."
As Rei arrived at the headmaster's office, an elf spoke these words and approached with a grin that seemed to make their teeth gleam.